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Dwarf Fortress => DF Community Games & Stories => Topic started by: Bralbaard on March 10, 2020, 01:56:10 pm

Title: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Bralbaard on March 10, 2020, 01:56:10 pm

Welcome to the third museum adventure game!

Note that this succession game runs only in an older version of DF, version 0.47.05.

The first museum games can be found here: The Museum I (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=104399.0), The Museum II (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=143382.0)
The museum game world now has it's own  wiki site (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Outline_of_Orid_Xem), curated by Lurker Z. information on the wiki project and further links can be found  here (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8290481#msg8290481)

How does this succession game work?
The game is centered around a museum. The idea is that our adventurers are going to fill it with artifacts and treasure that they collect from all over the world.
When it's your turn your adventurer has one (real time) week to collect an item and bring it to the museum or die trying. To keep things interesting there's something extra: if you die early, or if you manage to collect an item well ahead of schedule you can use the rest of your week to (secretly) build a fortress, for future adventurers to adventure in. adventurers that survive can be retired at the museum or elsewhere. Please save often and consider making back-ups: this game is stretching the limits of what DF was intended for and some parts of the world may crash your game. 
I did a more extensive write-up of the rules, read this if you are going to play a turn:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Rules and advice:

-Adventurers have to start as heroes or peasants (no demigods).
-Feel free to pick any adventurer race EXCEPT for Charcoal brutes/demons, they are playable for some civs, but way too overpowered.
-Rules on adventuring parties: When you start as a peasant you can have up to two other peasants in your starting party. When starting as a hero you are on your own (but can recruit people in game)
-Death is the end. no savescumming unless you need to avoid crashes/bugs. losing is fun, and some of the best stories from the last game were short tragedies.
-You have one week, or untill your character dies, (but you can spend the rest of your week building an adventure site/fortress, see below)
-you can only submit -one- official item, but you can gather other stuff that won't be catalogued.
-retire your adventurer when you are finished.
-Do not kill retired adventurers on purpose. Sometimes accidents can't be avoided, but people may wish to use those adventurers if they play a second turn.
-artifacts are currently bugged and may teleport back to their site of origin after being stored in the museum.
-Use of advfort crafting using dFhack is allowed to spice things up a bit, and to allow more flexibility when building adventure mode sites. Do not use other Dfhack scripts that make stuff easier without asking. (using dfhack to cirumvent bugs/crashes is of course fine).
-The museum in Boltspumpkin is near the center of the map, the third post in this topic has maps and other information on locations.
-The save file size has gotten quite large, near the limit of what can be uploaded to DFFD. By setting uncompressed saves in the init files of DF, and using best compression in Winrar, you should still be able to stay below the 500mb limit of DFFD.

When building a fortress:
do not post a log of the construction for your fortress, this thread is about adventure mode, not fortress mode. I will try to add finished fortresses and adventure sites to the world map, so adventurers know where to go.

Good luck on your adventures!

The museum can be found in Boltspumpkin, a dwarven castle near the centre of the map. View the third post in this topic for maps.

(https://i.imgur.com/TWFz0hE.gif)

You can always request to take your turn later once you are on the list.

Turn list:

The Third Age of Myth:
1 : Bralbaard post 1,  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8103998#msg8103998)2,  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8105161#msg8105161)3,  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8106293#msg8106293)4,  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8106788#msg8106788)5,  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8107135#msg8107135)6  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8107535#msg8107535) 
2 : Imic post 1,  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8115194#msg8115194)2  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8115382#msg8115382)
3 : Emilovich post 1,  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8118208#msg8118208)2,  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8120227#msg8120227)3,  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8120894#msg8120894)4,  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8122138#msg8122138)5 (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8122876#msg8122876)
4 : Quantum Drop post 1,  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8123398#msg8123398)2,  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8123830#msg8123830)3  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8125194#msg8125194)
5 : Timeless Bob  post (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8130594#msg8130594)
6 : Dwarvenlord  post 1,  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8131389#msg8131389) 2 (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8131738#msg8131738)
7 : Eric Blank  post 1,  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8132633#msg8132633)  2  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8133927#msg8133927)

The Third Age of Legends:
8 : Th4dwArfY1  post 1,  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8138340#msg8138340) 2  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8138562#msg8138562)
9 : Superdorf  post 1,  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8138664#msg8138664)2, 3, 4,  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8139548#msg8139548)5,  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8140210#msg8140210)6. (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8142813#msg8142813)
10: TheFlame52 post 1,  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8143966#msg8143966)2.  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8145148#msg8145148)
11: Cathar post 1  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8146802#msg8146802) Analysis by Nogoodnames: post  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8194791#msg8194791)
12: Luckyowl post 1-4,  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8153132#msg8153132)5  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8162548#msg8162548)
13: Bralbaard post 1,  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8158934#msg8158934)2,  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8160485#msg8160485)3 (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8161771#msg8161771)
14: Yarlig post 1  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8161857#msg8161857) writing..
15: Imic post 1,  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8163706#msg8163706)2  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8163759#msg8163759)
16: Tonnot98 post 1,  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8169403#msg8169403)2,  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8169669#msg8169669)3  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8169961#msg8169961)
17: Quantum Drop post 1,  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8170528#msg8170528)2,  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8170811#msg8170811)3,  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8170872#msg8170872)4,  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8171207#msg8171207)5,  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8171476#msg8171476)6,  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8171970#msg8171970)7  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8174106#msg8174106)   

The Age of Heroes:
18: Timeless Bob post  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8174617#msg8174617)
19: Glloyd post 1,  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8178511#msg8178511)2,  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8179546#msg8179546)3,  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8180556#msg8180556)4  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8181021#msg8181021)
20: Eric Blank post 1  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8182100#msg8182100)
21: Th4dwArfY1 post 1  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8188088#msg8188088) writing...
22: Tasoth post 1,  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8188175#msg8188175)2  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8190423#msg8190423) 
23: TheFlame52 post 1,  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8192160#msg8192160)2,  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8192486#msg8192486)3,  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8194116#msg8194116)4  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8194373#msg8194373) 
24: Ionmatrix (written by Avolitionbrit: link (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8375952#msg8375952))
25: Travis Bickle (written by Avolitionbrit: link (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8404592#msg8404592))
26: Yarlig  post 1... (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8204381#msg8204381) (further summary by Avolitionbrit: link (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8404592#msg8404592))
27: Imic  post 1,  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8204474#msg8204474)2-3,  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8204499#msg8204499)4-6 (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8204701#msg8204701)
28: Bralbaard  post 1,  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8206859#msg8206859)2,  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8207755#msg8207755)3,  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8208774#msg8208774) 4,  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8209888#msg8209888)5-6.  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8210081#msg8210081)
29: Nogoodnames post 1,  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8210944#msg8210944)2-3,  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8211340#msg8211340)4  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8215434#msg8215434)
30: Glloyd post 1,  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8218581#msg8218581)2,  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8218926#msg8218926)3 (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8219107#msg8219107)
31: Eric Blank  post 1,  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8221976#msg8221976)2,  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8222593#msg8222593)3  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8223151#msg8223151)
32: Quantum Drop  post 1,  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8222209#msg8222209)2,  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8222498#msg8222498)3,  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8222820#msg8222820)4 (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8223923#msg8223923)
33: Luckyowl (writing)
34: TheFlame52 post 1,  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8233496#msg8233496)2,  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8235950#msg8235950)3  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8237055#msg8237055) 4 (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8240738#msg8240738)
35: Yarlig   post 1  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8251176#msg8251176)2,  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8253674#msg8253674) writing...
36: Imic  post 1  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8250704#msg8250704)
37:  Bralbaard post 1,  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8256049#msg8256049)2,  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8257060#msg8257060)3-4  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8257643#msg8257643) 
38:  Nogoodnames post 1,  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8258186#msg8258186) 2, (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8258484#msg8258484)3 (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8273445#msg8273445)
39: Tonnot98  post 1-2,  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8263500#msg8263500) 3  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8266920#msg8266920)
40: Quantum Drop post 1,  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8268959#msg8268959)2,  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8269885#msg8269885)3-4. (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8270913#msg8270913)
41: Erik Blank post 1-2  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8273806#msg8273806)
42: Lurker Z  post 1-4  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8276488#msg8276488)
43: Yarlig  post 1  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8279034#msg8279034)
44: Glloyd  post 1  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8280892#msg8280892)(writing...)
45:Nogoodnames post 1, (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8283398#msg8283398)2,  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8283689#msg8283689)3,  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8284131#msg8284131)4,  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8284656#msg8284656)
46:Imic post 1,  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8286875#msg8286875)2,  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8286954#msg8286954)3,  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8287292#msg8287292)4  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8288752#msg8288752)
47: BluarianKnight  post 1... (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8291378#msg8291378)(writing)
48: Quantum Drop  post 1... (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8293677#msg8293677)(writing) 
49: Eric Blank post 1 (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8294693#msg8294693)
50: Lurker Z post 1 (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8299052#msg8299052)
51: Yarlig post 1..(writing) (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8301498#msg8301498)
52: Quantum Drop post 1, (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8311337#msg8311337) 2  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8316981#msg8316981)
53: Lurker Z post 1,  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8311009#msg8311009)2  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8311728#msg8311728)
54: Bralbaard  post 1 (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8312722#msg8312722)
55: Unravellerpost 1,  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8315156#msg8315156)2,  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8315338#msg8315338)3.  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8315972#msg8315972)
56: Eric Blank post 1  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.1140)
57: Quantum Drop  post 1 (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8320977#msg8320977)(writing)
58: Kesperan post 1,  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8324984#msg8324984)2,  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8325184#msg8325184)3 (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8325271#msg8325271)
59: AvolitionBrit post 1 (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8325641#msg8325641)
60: Lurker Z post 1 (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8327497#msg8327497),  2 (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8327537#msg8327537)
61: Bralbaard  post 1,  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8329250#msg8329250)2,  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8330173#msg8330173)3,  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8330229#msg8330229)4. (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8330290#msg8330290)
62: Chaospotato  post 1, (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8329550#msg8329550) 2,  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8329724#msg8329724)3. (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8330091#msg8330091)
63: Kesperan  post 1, (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8335948#msg8335948) 2, (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8335985#msg8335985) 3-4, (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8336819#msg8336819) 5, (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8338298#msg8338298) 6 (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8338968#msg8338968)
64: Avolitionbrit  post 1, (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8336803#msg8336803) 2 (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8337035#msg8337035) and later notes 1  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8343719#msg8343719)
65: Tonnot98 post 1, (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8337033#msg8337033) 2 (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8338200#msg8338200)
66: Lurker Z  post 1 (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8341034#msg8341034), 2 (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8339415#msg8339415)
67:  Nogoodnames  post 1, (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8341331#msg8341331) 2 (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8341614#msg8341614)
68: Bralbaard post 1,  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8343843#msg8343843)2-3 (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8344898#msg8344898)
69: Unraveller  post 1  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8353443#msg8353443)
70: Quantum Drop  post 1 (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8352429#msg8352429)
71: Avolitionbrit  post 1 (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8351823#msg8351823)
72: Maloy  post 1,  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8353202#msg8353202)2, (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8353437#msg8353437)  3 (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8353677#msg8353677)

The Golden Age:
73: Kesperan  post 1,  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8357274#msg8357274)2,  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8357823#msg8357823)3-4  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8358644#msg8358644)
74: Bluarianknight (writing)
75: Lurker Z  post 1  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8360424#msg8360424)
76: Tonnot98 post 1,  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8361873#msg8361873)2,  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8362277#msg8362277)3,  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.1815)4,  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8363092#msg8363092)5 (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8363695#msg8363695)
77: Bralbaard post 1,  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8365616#msg8365616)2,  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8365963#msg8365963)3,  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8366292#msg8366292)4 (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8366468#msg8366468)
78: Wonderpsycho post 1, (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8367000#msg8367000) 2 (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8370470#msg8370470)
79: Eric Blank post 1,  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8369642#msg8369642) 2 (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8377113#msg8377113)
80: Avolitionbrit  post 1,  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8370903#msg8370903)2,  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8371299#msg8371299)3-4,  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8371387#msg8371387)5,  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8371507#msg8371507)6  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8371887#msg8371887)
81: Unraveller  post 1, (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8372092#msg8372092)2,  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8372346#msg8372346)3,  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8372836#msg8372836) 4 (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8373080#msg8373080)
82: Nogoodnames post 1  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8377123#msg8377123) 2, (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8380499#msg8380499)3,  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8384362#msg8384362) 4  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8431828#msg8431828)
83: Quantum drop post 1, (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8379611#msg8379611) 2,  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8389224#msg8389224) 3,  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.2145) 4,  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8396033#msg8396033) 5  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8396134#msg8396134)
84: Maloy post 1, (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8380812#msg8380812) 2,  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8381246#msg8381246)3 (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8383919#msg8383919)
85: Kesperan  post 1, (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8384632#msg8384632) 2,  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8390687#msg8390687)3,  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8398042#msg8398042)4 (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8398069#msg8398069)
86: Bluarianknight (writing...)

The First Twilight Age:
87: Avolitionbrit  post 1,  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8395050#msg8395050)2,  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8399152#msg8399152)
88: Unraveller  post 1,  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8397189#msg8397189)2,  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8397804#msg8397804)3,  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8398451#msg8398451)4,  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8399440#msg8399440) (writing)..

The Second Age of Heroes:
89: Bralbaard  post 1  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8400379#msg8400379) 2 (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8400615#msg8400615)
90: yarlig post 1 (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8403572#msg8403572) (writing..)
91: Kesperan post 1,  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8409207#msg8409207)2,  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8414439#msg8414439)3,  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8414452#msg8414452) 4 (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8421240#msg8421240)
92: Quantum Drop  post 1,  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8425735#msg8425735) 2  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8446376#msg8446376)3-5 (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8474260#msg8474260), 6-7 (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8478979#msg8478979), 8-9 (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8480277#msg8480277)

The Second Twilight Age:
93: Maloy  post 1,  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8412639#msg8412639) 2.  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8425277#msg8425277)
94: Eric Blank post 1 (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8413215#msg8413215)
95:Avolitionbrit post 1-2,  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8419703#msg8419703)3, (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8421861#msg8421861) 4, (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8424400#msg8424400) 5, (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.2415) 6, (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8424729#msg8424729)7 (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8425795#msg8425795)
96: Yarlig (writing...)
97: Unraveller post 1,  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8428876#msg8428876)2,  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8446034#msg8446034) 3 (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8447360#msg8447360)
98a: Cook100500 post 1, (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8430018#msg8430018) 2 (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8430063#msg8430063)(lost timeline)
98b: Lurker Z  post 1,  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8435061#msg8435061)2,  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8435122#msg8435122) 3, (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8435203#msg8435203) 4,  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8435203#msg8435203) 5, (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8435488#msg8435488) 6 (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8436016#msg8436016)
99: Kesperan post 1,  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8443262#msg8443262) 2,  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8444939#msg8444939)3,  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8447833#msg8447833)4  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8451008#msg8451008) 5 (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8452231#msg8452231)
100: Wonderpsycho post 1 (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8443531#msg8443531)
101: Maloy  post 1, (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.2715) 5,  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8445568#msg8445568)2,  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8446184#msg8446184)3,  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8446840#msg8446840)4 (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8449033#msg8449033)
102: Quantum drop post 1 (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8487716#msg8487716), 2 (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8489019#msg8489019), 3 (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8494015#msg8494015), 4 (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8504019#msg8504019), 5 (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8529468#msg8529468)
103: Avolitionbrit  post 1, (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8449098#msg8449098) 2 (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8451205#msg8451205), 3 (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8451838#msg8451838)
104: Bralbaard  post 1,  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8451982#msg8451982)2,  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8452030#msg8452030) 3-4 (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8452273#msg8452273)
105: Eric Blank  post 1 (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8452687#msg8452687)
106: Unraveller (writing..)
107: Lurker Z  post 1,  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8459947#msg8459947)2, (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8460012#msg8460012)3  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8460037#msg8460037)
108: TheFlame52 post 1, (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8466144#msg8466144) 2, (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8466428#msg8466428) 3 (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8466653#msg8466653)
109: Maloy  post 1,  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8464472#msg8464472)2,  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8465909#msg8465909) 3, (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8466497#msg8466497) 4,  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8467220#msg8467220)5 (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8468186#msg8468186)
110: Kesperan  post 1,  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8468210#msg8468210)2,  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8468491#msg8468491)3,  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8471996#msg8471996)4  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8472417#msg8472417)
111: Sockmit2007 (writing...)
112: Dikbutdagrate post 1-2  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8471047#msg8471047)
113: Avolitionbrit post 1,  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8471545#msg8471545)2,  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8477812#msg8477812) writing...
114: Bralbaard  post 1,  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8483329#msg8483329)2,  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8483740#msg8483740)3 (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8486022#msg8486022)
115: Broken post 1,  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8475302#msg8475302)2 (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8475714#msg8475714)
116: Quantum Drop (writing...)
117: Eric Blank post 1,  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8478329#msg8478329)2,  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8480079#msg8480079)3  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8482534#msg8482534)
118: Lurker Z post 1 (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8484127#msg8484127) (writing)
119: Maloy post 1, (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8482359#msg8482359) 2, (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8482534#msg8482534) 3 (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8484047#msg8484047)
120: TheFlame52 post 1 (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8483718#msg8483718)
121: Unraveller (writing..)
122: Avolitionbrit post 1,  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8489602#msg8489602)2,  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8491974#msg8491974)3,  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8492181#msg8492181) (writing)

The Third Age of Heroes:
123: Kesperan post 1, (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8489979#msg8489979) 2-3 (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8492608#msg8492608)

The Age of Dark Gnomes:
124: Lurker Z (writing)
125: Quantum Drop (writing)
126: Maloy  post 1,  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8493833#msg8493833) 2,  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8495440#msg8495440)3,  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8497807#msg8497807)
127: Dikbutdagrate  post 1,  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8493430#msg8493430)2,  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8493833#msg8493833)3,  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8494028#msg8494028)4,  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8494107#msg8494107) 5-6 (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8494266#msg8494266)
128: Bralbaard post 1,  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8499398#msg8499398)2 (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8509753#msg8509753)

The Third Twilight Age:
129: Eric Blank (writing..)
130: Yarlig post 1.. (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8498083#msg8498083)
131: Avolitionbrit (writing..)
132: Kesperan  post 1 (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8503809#msg8503809)
133: Quantum Drop (writing)
134: Maloy post 1 (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8527537#msg8527537)
135: Dikbutdagrate  post  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8512115#msg8512115)
136: Bralbaard(writing)
137: Wonderpsycho post 1 (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8513846#msg8513846)
138: Eric  Blank post 1 (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8514705#msg8514705), 2 (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8514851#msg8514851)
139: Kesperan  post 1, (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8521635#msg8521635) 2 (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.3780)(writing)
140: Avolitionbrit (writing)
141: Wonderpsycho post 1 (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.3780)
142: Kesperan post 1,  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8526318#msg8526318)2.  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8528086#msg8528086)
143: Eric Blank post 1,  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8526188#msg8526188)2  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8527705#msg8527705)3 (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8534096#msg8534096)
144: Maloy (writing)
145: Avolitionbrit

The Fourth Age of Heroes:
146: Quantum Drop
147: Kesperan(current turn)
Wonderpsycho
Bralbaard
Eric Blank

The sites of Gor and Duskhome have been erased from the world, yet myths about these sites are still told in the far reaches of the world. Part of these myths have been written down by  Paaaad (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8267924#msg8267924)

Quantum Drop has created an overview of the exploits of all adventurers:
 The chronicles of the adventures of the grand museum of boltspumpkin (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8243161#msg8243161)

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on March 10, 2020, 01:56:47 pm

Even before you enter the museum you see a masterfully decorated monument in the central courtyard of the castle:

Monument to NoGoodNames The monuments inscription reads: "All hail NoGoodNames. Using divine intervention, Nogoodnames single handedly defeated over 2.5 billion undead in the year 749, thereby saving our world from certain destruction"

The museum has been open for four centuries. The amount of treasures it has hoarded have to be seen to be believed. There is hardly a free space in the central building of the keep. Only a small part of the submissions have been officially catalogued.
Maybe just as interesting as the items in the museum are the visitors and curators.  Recently the museum's curator, a goblin bandit leader that was pretending to be a slave, has run off. If you are lucky however you may see one of the adventurers that submitted items to the museum. Many are still around.

The following items have been submitted to the museum:
1:A pig tail cap. This cap, the commoner’s crown, was worn by Etur Equallashed, king of the dwarven empire of the Walled Dye, before he came out of hiding to reclaim his empire. (submitted by Bralbaard)
2:The skull of Oddom Girdergrove This is the skull of the master necromancer that raised an undead army that completely razed the elven and dwarven lands and most of the civilized world several centuries ago. The world has still not recovered from this tragedy, but now that Oddom is gone, there is hope (Submitted by Emilovich)
3:A pile of skulls These are the trophies of the black mamba man hunter, Kom ‘QD’ Uzinithbi.(Submitted by Quantum Drop)
4:A bag of loot from Diptrampled The bag contains a large harlequin cut opal, a large rose cut resin opal and some weapons. Submitted by Dwarvenlord
5:"Heavenheathers the Fair Peace", a perfect wood opal A wood opal: The remains of a fossilized tree, turned into gemstone by the earth itself. An unknown artist changed this gem into a priceless artifact. It was brought here from the human town of Strifefularmor by the adventurer Abpa Glitterirons (TheFlame52)
6:A steel anvil Submitted by Bralbaard, this is a steel anvil from Healerlashes. Before Bralbaard visited Healerlashes and brought back this anvil, it was thought that the civilisation of the Staff of Kissing had gone extinct. This anvil is proof that this dwarven tribe is still alive.
7:Stargaze the Knowledge of Worlds Submitted by Tonnot98. This is a collection of star charts and astronomy books. Could it really be true that there are infinite numbers of randomly generated worlds out there?
8:The skull throne submitted by Quantum drop who collected the skulls of the mightiest creatures in the world and piled them up into this mighty throne. You could theoretically sit on it, but what curse would you call upon yourself by doing so? The following skulls are included:

Spoiler: contains spoilers (click to show/hide)

   
    Ten Night Troll skulls, of various species.
    Two Roc skulls.
    One Titan skull (and one corpse).
    Twenty-One Demon skulls (Nine Gila Monster Brute, nine Kinglet Monster, three One-Eyed Brute. The others didn't leave skulls, as they were either steam or ash-based.)
    Sixteen Chaotic Messenger Skulls (Angel, Warrior caste).
    One Doom of Midor Head Ash (Archangel head, counting it as a skull).

9:The Necromancer's Library This book collection was donated by the Necromancer Glloyd AncientBorn the Round. Despite it's origins, the museum can assure visitors that the books are safe to read. The best works in this collection were written by Glloyd himself.   
10:A chalk rock from the peak of the Intricate Horns of Vanishment Galka Fancyrocks (TheFlame52) brought back several priceless artifacts from The Iron Deep, but decided to make this rock from the mysterious island peak "The Intricate Horns of Vanishment" her official submission.
11:The Throne of Knowledge This throne, constructed from ancient tomes and books, with a fitting crone and spear, is known as the throne of knowledge. It draws an entirely different audience than the skull throne. Submitted by Erush Mörulvel (Tasoth)
12:A set of forty diviniation dice Roll these dice, if you dare, but remember what the stakes are. Collected by Onol Sashasistam (Imic)
13:A barrel with feathers from the elven mother tree The lion tamarin man Raki Umberclan (Bralbaard) sumbitted this just before he snapped and went stark raving mad.
14:Poisons might help Pik and Desli (Eric Blank) submitted a number of trophies from their adventures: a number of skulls and a book named "poisons might help".
15:The last vampires blood Quantum Drop slew the last vampire that inhabited this world, the museum now has this foul beasts blood on display: The proof that these hideous creatures are now finally gone, forever. Recently it was noted that the containers were not as full as before. The museum staff mantains that it must have evaporated.
16:A facak It's a violin like string instrument from Omon Obin(Realm of Silver), not much is known about who submitted this instrument and why. (submitted by LuckyOwl) 
17:Four of the seven parts of the soul of Dreamypuzzled the Eternal It is said that Dreamypuzzled donatated these blood-soaked parts of his soul to the museum, and that he still has the other three. Each part of his soul is stored in an artefact weapon, each responsible for at least a 100 murders. Rumours say that Dreamypuzzled is still out there, and that he will return if he has killed enough people with the remaining parts of his soul, and that he will then finish his dark ritual to unite his soul.
18: The hands of the Necromancer Hob Tileddoctrines It is said that the necromancer is still "alive" and that Yarlig left him crippled and defenseless in his tower
19: A dragon bone bracelet Doñas Silenttowers defeated the mighty dragon Faci Glowgilds the Bejeweled, and carved this bracelet from it's bones. Bralbaard Hammerfishes found the bracelet decades later and submitted it to the museum. (Submitted by Eric Blank/Bralbaard)
20: Better nature, a cat parchment scroll Fidale Umberrazors left this scroll in the museum to lecture visitors about the value of nature. Though Fidale was clearly elf-raised, he was also unmistakingly a goblin, which is clear from the fact that this scroll was written on the skin of a dead cat.
21: Heart of Egu Craftlenses the Key of Trading Some say that the heart still beats if you listen closely. It is stored within the masterwork adamantine sarcophagus ‘Heartstolen the Furious Doomed Demon’. Submitted by Quantum Drop
22: The ash and shell of Nithari Clashedseduce the Hideous. This forgotten beast that nearly wiped out the Staff of Kissing when it destroyed their original mountainhome, submitted by Nogoodnames.
23: The Sun Sets on Hug Pik and Desli (Eric Blank) submitted a number of stories from their latest adventure, this quaint story was apparently raided from a necromancer tower.
24: Ligircaspa Osmahegesh / Clearingheaven the Quiescent Heather  a legendary anhydrite amulet, an Omon Obin relic dating from 458. It was rescued from the heart of Omon Obin by Lurker "Lockkingdom" Onecbehal in fear it would be tainted by its fell rulers. As of 879 the artifact appears to be missing from the museum collection, and travellers have reported it has been returned to Entrancegrape.
25: A bar of steel Steel; the mytical dwarven metal. It was long thought amongst alchemist that the secret to production of this metal had been lost, but now the dwarven foundries are once again producing this elusive metal. (submitted by Imic)
26: The Horns of Ngaxa Slaughterssucked the Assaulted torn from the head of the last minotaur of Orid Xem by Nethrez Rampartspiral the Quick Tunnel of Mining with his bare hands. The minotaur himself is still alive, albeit missing his horns, his pride, and (possibly) his eyes.(submitted by Quantum Drop)
27: The carcass of Amazetones the Sunken Ways the undead sea serpent The museum has the remains of many land creatures among it's submissions, but little is known about what lives in the sea. This monstrosity was submitted by Yarlig, it shows that the world below the waves is as dangerous as the continent itself.
28: 660 Bone figurines of Bekdil Wavetwist There is a tale of deep sorrow and remorse behind this submission. Submitted by Galka Kinddrummed (Unraveller).
29: The one-tonne steel helmet (and steel breastplate) of Handbane the Legendary Slayer of Bugs If you are large enough to wear this armor, anything looks like a bug. Submitted by Quantum Drop.
30: A set of gold armor This set of gold armor once belonged to a decadent crime lord from Rackripe.(submitted by Erik Blank)
31: a pile of 78 demon corpses stacked on a birchen pedestal on the top floor of the museum; some dark magic must prevent the birchen pedestal from collapsing under the weight. (submitted by Quantum Drop)
32: The trophies of the ancient Calovi Morningwhisker the Windy Beans Rocs are considered an endangered species these days, it is only in the museum were you can come close to these mighty beasts. The mighty rock Calovi was slain by Moldath Mournsaints, he submitted Calovi's skull, blood and heart to the museum, as well as an unhatched egg. (submitted by Kesperan)
33: "The eyes of the white dragon" Nirmek (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Nirmek_Balusen) was a strange cave dragon that came to the surface and joined civilisation. He ruled from a bandit camp in the south, and met several of the museum's adventurers. In the end he was slain by the kobold Avo Abonea (Submitted by Avolitionbrit)
34: A figurine of A WORM Ezif Aroirum submitted this figurine of *redacted* after investigating the temporal anomaly that destroyed Gor and Duskhome. (submitted by Chaospotato)

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/Cpi5Lck.png)

35: In pursuit of goverment This manual concerns goverment, its forms and recommendations and was submitted by the King of the Walled Dye, Bralbaard Hammerfishes. For unclear reasons he was deposed several days later. 
36: "Putting Goblin Knowledge to good use - Ongoing Submission".  As you look to see this submission, all you see is a very bloody copy of the book Common Sense Goblins.
37: "A book named Mastering the Elf and the skull of the dark one elven queen Vafice Lutecover". submitted by Moldath Mournsaints the Ardent, blind sadist swordsmaster (Kesperan)
38:  "A book named The Dwarves for Everyone (copy)". submitted by Urdim Tatloshathel, 500th named Soldier of Night, prophetess of Dalzatèzum reborn.
39: Tineequal the gold of balance, wrapped in eventeal These two artifacts were submitted by Tosace Skunkbegun(Avolitionbrit) to honor the two plump helmet men Vutok and Oddom.
40: A masterfull alligator snapping turtle bone crown This crown was found near the site of Bralbaard's first death, together with his ear (Submitted by Maloy)
41: The Skull of the Giantess This enormous skull belonged to the Giantess Âtest Ustzatthud Akest, her head alone weighed 1640 urists. Submitted by Kesperan.
42: A bogeyman leather pouch Few, if any reliable sightings of bogeymen exist, and they and their corpses are said to dissapear in daylight. Somehow Yawo Rainstir managed to obtain this pouch made of bogeyman leather that is stable in the light. Submitted by Tonnot 98
43: Six gremlins Midas Squarewheel (Bralbaard) left behind six of his 381 gremlin followers at the museum, five of them remain.
44: Five trunks of weremammoths fell ones The Band of Wax, possibly the most famous adventure group in the history of Orid Xem, deposited these five weremammoth trunks in the museum after cleansing large parts of the world from ghouls and other foul creatures. (sumbitted by unraveller)
45: An artifact grate Submitted by Pik and Desli, the famous werejackal adventurers. (Eric Blank)
46: A Mörul Kan 769 blistered metal coin An impossible coin made of mythical metal. It is currency of the long-dead dwarven civilization, The Page of Tiredness, yet is dated centuries after their fall. Several years after the coin was submitted Mörul Kan dwarves resurrected their civilisation. What role did this coin play? An enduring historical enigma to ponder. (Submitted by Nogoodnames)
47: A stack of thirteen human leather-bound books penned by Aril Vesseleyes twelve detailing the necromantic rituals and practices of The Abyssal Cult, and one self-justifying his actions in service to The Abyssal Cult. (submitted by Quantum Drop)

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/Bvouci5.png)

48: Ruination Within Reason: This dark codex is crafted from blistered metal, the same unholy substance as the lost slab The Certain Urns. It contains a quire of flayed elf-leather detailing the secrets of life and death, passed to Genam Riddleddressed by Sut the Tomb of Quests. Submitted by the witch-hunter Kothvir Shadowstar the Black Raven (Kesperan).
49: Emal Mostod (Sense of Shame) A perfect lapis lazuli gem   - "Said to be one of the seven treasures this appears to be an acknowledgement of the donors shame and the first step towards enlightenment as the world sinks into twilight" (Submitted by AvolitionBrit)
49: A mangled murder monster feather The feather more or less submitted itself when it was raised from death in Bor Mazeconstruct (Bralbaard)'s backpack by Avolitionbrit, only to die on the museum floor and be left behind. The murder monster was once an Archangel, guarding one of the worlds vaults, and stolen by Bor from Moldath's hoard.
50: *green glass sas* A musical instrument which is a hand-held hourglass drum, its form symbolic of the world's recent age changes end the ever-shifting nature of Orid Xem; submitted by Yarlig.
51. The twin heads of the ettin Zoku Knightedsheen the Sensual Silk-Call: the last of the ettins, slain in 712 by Thon Scarone and raised as a putrid ghoul in 797, terror of many dwarven forts. Fell for the final time to the mighty Godenrigoth, by the hand of Moldath Mournsaints.
The Hateful Two-head of Menace, an iron breastplate: It is dented and caked in filth, but the blueberry bush symbol of the Walled Dye is still visible. This iron breastplate was torn from a valiant defender of the deepfolk, and used by the ettin Zoku Knightedsheen to slay five dwarves in his rampage on Falsetower.
52: Octagon cut black diamonds Submitted by avolitionbrit
53: Okirramtak, The Elder Execution This iron morningstar was wielded by at least three different adventurers. Submitted by Yarlig
54: 5 Rough moonstones from the fortress of Ironwards For some reason they are covered in demon parts. Submitted by Lurker Z
55: The Black Library - the collected ramblings of the Blind Sadist, in a casket of his favoured metal. Submitted by Kesperan.
56: The left hand of Bralbaards right hand How this is physically possible is a complicated story. Submitted by Maloy.
57: The destruction of rebirth exposed After discovering the secrets of life, and growing back any missing hands, Bralbaard submitted this figurine to the museum.  It suggests that the secret of life was known in the past, only to be lost early in the age of adventurers:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/Uhatb48.gif)

58: The brass slab "The Equal Lord Of Riddling" A slab with the power to bind demons, and carrying the true name of Dreamypuzzled the Eternal Soul (submitted by TheFlame52)
59: Tundraamazes the horse bone scepter  This artifact commemorates the original building of Razorbridge and was gifted to the museum by Arthur Mossdiamonds the Light eagle (Maloy)
60: Anilvir Adilatir, Glorystar the Walled Dye. The artifact nickel silver crown encrusted with fire opals used by Moldath Mournsaints for his coronation as King of the Walled Dye, salvaged from Balancehammer. Submitted by the elf Tirin Nightwhisper (Kesperan).
61: Ustosagêk, the angry bees One of the more disturbing submissions of the museum, by Weenié Le Puu (Dikbutdagrate), this is a beehive filled with millions of bees, which through some dark magic has been sewn into the gut of the museum curator,  Lady Glubbo Olngöurut.
62: A set of Blighted Thrall organs in preservative jars Do not eat. Submitted by Quantum Drop.
63: A cinnabar coffer with many goblin ☼items☼ Lurker Z collected these goblin-crafted by looting several goblin pits.
64: Silenttower the Shattered eviscerator of Dragons This sword was used by Donas Silenttowers to bring down the Dragon Fací Glowgilds the Bejeweled. submitted by Eric Blank.
65: Guki Pusap A macabre instrument made from the bones of a mythical dark gnome, its believed the ability to play this instrument is lost to time. submitted by AvolitionBrit.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

 (https://i.imgur.com/mTQLadL.jpg)

66. Mournsaints the Fire-Ruler of Rewards: a masterwork dragon bone figurine depicting the victory of Mournsaints over the Fire-Ruler of Rewards, a relic from another reality.
67 The Library of Parts.: A collection of medical manuals detailing the anatomy, physiology, and pathology of Blighted Thralls. They have been extensively annotated with handwritten notes on the subjects, ranging from their biology to methods of killing them more effectively. The identity of the authors are still a mystery to scholars. Overall, the prose is passable masterfull. (submitted by Quantum Drop) For a more detailed description, see the spoiler in this post. (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8492538#msg8492538)
68: Steve, the male dark gnome In the early 11th century dark gnomes were all the hype. Maloy was the first to find a live specimen for the museum. (Submitted by Maloy)
69: The corpse of Onul 'Duskboats' Tathkogan When you first spot the rabit corpse it's dead eyes are staring right at you. For some reason, despite being hundreds of years old, it looks remarkably fresh. (submitted by Yarlig)
70: A fluffy wambler leather pouch An adorable looking pouch, only one fluffy wambler was hurt to make this. (Submitted by Bralbaard)
71: The Corpse of Nguslu Thiefwarned The cowardly leader of The Most Sin was found hiding in the woods. His extremely mangled corpse now stands before you(Submitted by AvolitionBrit)

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/I4AHdhQ.png)

72: The skull of Mab Sensedsteed the Howling Freak Prophet Mab, and her nest of howling freaks brought the attempt of the dwarves to reclaim Swordgleamed to a bloody end. (submitted by Kesperan)
73: The Ilness-Jackal of Deciding, legendary fire snake earring Believe it or not, this artifact actually has magical abilities! Feel free to try at your own risk.
74: Rhythmshowers the Pure Crosses, Artifact adamantine longsword This sword was once wielded by Tirin Nightwhisper in defence of the Eternal Citadel. It was gifted to merchants of Dalzatèzum, allowing them to return from the mists of time and reclaim Kosothducim, Palacework. Submitted by Ineth Relicheart, King of The Matched Hame (Kesperan) - Turn 139.
75. Ransackcontrols, Artifact copper earring depicting adventurer of the Museum Stukos Mournsaints defeating a hollow hunter in the Tundra of Heroes with The Eagle-Crab of Contests. Submitted by Thikut Dyeblade, Queen Consort of The Matched Hame (Kesperan) - Turn 142.

Art and other works
The museum has recently opened a new wing where people can view and experience works of art from the world of Orid Xem; the following works can be admired:
Musical forms from Orid Xem by luckyowl:  1,  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8217551#msg8217551) 2  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8218066#msg8218066)

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on March 10, 2020, 01:57:06 pm

Sites and missions


Maps of Orid Xem, The Universes of Myth:

Player sites and fortresses:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/InraPMK.gif)

Worldgen sites and regions (By Lurker Z):

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/9y2oEqu.png)

1: Boltspumpkin, the museum (see the post above for a list of the treasures it holds)
2: The Iron Deep: Founded in 700 by Imic. Adventurers have reported that water is pouring into the ruins of this fallen fortress, making it very hard to access for most adventurers. The albatross woman Galka Fancyrocks (TheFlame52) was able to fly down between the cascading waterfalls and found many artefacts.  Explored by Tonnot98, TheFlame52, Bralbaard, Eric Blank, Kesperan
3: Stockadeoutrage: Founded in 703 by Timeless Bob. This fortress of fire and ice was ravaged by the undead muskox Crazedburial the reclusive who killed 73 dwarves. Only a few survivors remain Explored by Eric Blank, Bralbaard, Tonnot98, Kesperan, Avolitionbrit, Unraveller
4: Championvault: Founded in 706 by Eric Blank, construction resumed in 727. Before construction resumed, the site was visited by several adventurers, who remarked it was mostly inhabited by humans and goblins, after their visits the site grew to a major dwarven fortress and the new dwarven mountain home Explored by Th4dwArfY1, Glloyd, Eric Blank, Yarlig, Kesperan, TheFlame52
5: Lashedjade:Founded in 710 by Th4dwArfY1. The dwarves have cleared large parts of the forest here, and have produced many stone and wood crafts.  explored by Tonnot98, Nogoodnames, Kesperan
6: Healerlashes:Founded in 712 by LuckyOwl. An old site close to the museum that is currently overrun by hordes of gremlins.  explored by Bralbaard, Yarlig, Eric Blank, Kesperan
7: Razorbridge:Founded in 712 by Bralbaard, with later constructions added by Maloy. Dwarves have build a massive bridge at this location that connects the Jungle of Dents and the Tattooed forrest. For some hard to explain reason the bridge is now inhabited by an all female race of naked angel cyclopses.  Explored by Tonnot98, Bralbaard, Chaospotato, Kesperan, Maloy
8: Deepvaulted the Tower of Stars:Founded in 714 by Imic. The dwarves here dug deep, possibly to deep. Also, there is a cat corpse here that has been burning for a century.  Explored by Quantum Drop, Eric Blank, Kesperan, TheFlame52
9: Mosshill the Mines of Iron:Founded in 716 by Imic. Lonelythrall visited this site when he was on his first historic rampage. Somehow the dwarves in this iron mine escaped his wrath. Little is known from recent visitors  Explored by Quantum Drop, Erik Blank, Imic, Yarlig, Kesperan, Nogoodnames
10: Homesafe The Shrine of Guarding:Founded in 717 by Tonnot98. The dwarves that founded this site were turned into terrible monstrosities by an unnatural syndrome.  Partly explored by Eric blank, Kesperan
11: Shotgleeful: Reclaimed by Tonnot98 in 717. The site was founded long ago, early in the Third Age of Myth. The original inhabitants were driven out by a cyclops in the distant past. Recently, this cyclops was defeated by the goblin Fidale Umberrazors (Tonnot98). It is rumoured that shortly afterwards, the site was claimed by dwarves. explored by Kesperan
12: Shiptrails: Founded in 719  by Timeless Bob. A small compact fort that was only explored in the eightthirties. It is inhabited by elven merchants and silent fell ones.  explored by Quantum Drop, Kesperan
13: LanceSavage: Constructed by DF-AI starting in 721. This maze was designed by a mad machine, and is haunted by the ghosts of the dwarves that it enslaved. It was later occupied by goblins explored by Nogoodnames, Tonnot98, Kesperan, Avolitionbrit
14: The Shelter of Adventures: This (adventure mode) site was build by Glloyd Ancientborn the Round, and he has stated that he will welcome new adventurers to the shelter. They can even take equipment and supplies if they promise to support the shelter with donations once they return from their adventures. (visited by Glloyd, Bralbaard, Quantum Drop, Lurker Z, Tonnot 98, Unraveller, Maloy)
15: Archquakes: Constructed by Tasoth in 733. This site, originally known for its mugs was overrun by large numbers of trolls and beakdogs, it is unknown how many remain after Kesperan's rampage Explored by Quantum Drop, Kesperan
16: Duskhome :This site was rumoured to be a magnificent site, with a large library. The corruption however has taken it, and it has been completely erased from the world. (build by Imic) Explored by Eric blank, Yarlig, Paaad, Kesperan, Chaospotato
17: Gor (The Pit) :This place was known as "Gor" in the old language. Whatever was here has been completely erased by the corruption, now the land is soaked in the goblin blood that falls from the sky (constructed by Imic)  explored by Yarlig, Tonnot98, Quantum Drop, Paaad, Chaospotato
18: Monkeycurse : The mad monkey king Raki Umberclan was entombed here, before he was raised from death as a weremammoth fell one. His pyramid is still there reminding us of this terrible mistake. (constructed by Bralbaard)  Visited by Eric Blank, Quantum Drop, Chaospotato, Kesperan, Tonnot98
19: Emeraldcrown (constructed by Nogoodnames). "A towering structure of green glass dangling over a volcano, Emeraldcrown is certainly a sight to behold" (text attributed to Glloyd Ancientborn, 749)   Explored by Glloyd, Tonnot98, Eric Blank, Bralbaard, Kesperan
20: Healedwhips the Awe-Inspiring despair-: A small encampment constructed by an unknown adventurer.
21: Relicward: Demons were worshipped at this place, this practice apparently did not end terribly well.  explored by Kesperan, Tonnot 98, Dikbutdagrate  (constructed by Eric Blank)
22: Jackaldens the Distant Hearth: The adventurers Pik and Desli withdrew from society in this wooden house deep in the forrest. You may not want to visit under a full moon.(constructed by Eric Blank)  explored by Eric Blank, Bralbaard
23: The Abyssal sanctuary:To quote Lusko on the Abyssal Halls (Tonnot98): "Crafts made of brilliant blue metal are jealously guarded by many dangerous demons and devious weapon traps. Red statues of burning dwarves adorn the blackened halls of that forsaken place"  Explored by Tonnot98. Quantum Drop, Kesperan  
25: Herograves/Confinedsabres: (Founded by Bralbaard, some repairs by Maloy) Many adventurers have died while working for the museum. They can be laid to rest at this site. (Site has been visited by Bralbaard, Tonnot98, Quantum Drop, Eric Blank, Lurker Z, Yarlig, Avolitionbrit, Unraveller, Nogoodnames) Apparently grave robbers have been active here, several artifacts have gone missing, and there is evidence that graves have been disturbed. In 943 the site was briefly reclaimed under the name Confinedsabres to try and repair the damage. The following heroes were entombed here at some point:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Imic Heatherwind the moth man (Imic) b. 678 d. 700. Entombed by Bralbaard.
Doñas Silenttowers the Ominous Hoary Zenith (Eric Blank) b. 679 d. 705. Entombed by Bralbaard.
Thon Scarone, Ettin slayer (Luckyowl) b. 682 d. 712. Entombed by Bralbaard.
Vadane Ancienttress the elf (Nogoodnames)b. 525 d. 727. Entombed by Tonnot98
Th4dwarfy1 Shieldtempests the dwarven necromancer b. 625. d. 710 , retrieved from Palacework by Quantum Drop
Pictham Contestlabour the thrice cursed (Catham) b. 683 d. 712 Entombed by Quantum Drop
Solon Riftworks the dwarf (Imic) b. 680 d.755 Retrieved from Gor by Quantum Drop
Tipi Fatewalks (Eric blank) b. 455 d.727 Entombed by Yarlig
Lurker Lockkingdom (Lurker Z) b. 744 d. 794. Entombed by Yarlig
Arcturus Cinderfang the Hoary Merchant of Adventure (Nogoodnames) b. 743 d. 812 and 825. Entombed by Bralbaard
Avafi Specialmosses the Kobold, (Eric Blank) b. 828 d. 901 Entombed by Yarlig

26: Jackalhide: A campsite left behind by mysterious jackalmen  Explored by Kesperan, Lurker Z  
27: Crownhall the City of Stone: The rumours that the dwarves have founded a new capital city are everywhere. (Founded by Imic)   Explored by Kesperan, Unraveller  
28: Ironwards the Strifeful Hollows :The fortress was founded to the rough north-west of Boltspumpkin in 780 by The Walled Dye; the few rumours that the caravans have brought back indicate that it is heavily militarized, and has been conducting a number of highly aggressive campaigns against goblin presences in the Tundra of Heroes and around The Dark Fortress River. Dangers may hide in the deep here  Explored by Kesperan, Lurker Z  (Founded by Quantum Drop)
29: Dyezeal : A number of rooms have been dug out deep under the ice of the Tundra of Heroes. There is also strange underground river some distance away from the main entrance. The site has been abandoned and is filled with cobwebs and skeletons of wild animals. (Founded by BluarianKnight) Explored by Kesperan, Bralbaard  
30:Sealsabres:This fortress at the edge of the tundra of heroes has a very large temple complex, and treacherous drawbridges.  Explored by Bralbaard, Kesperan  (Founded by Eric Blank?)
31:Northcamp: This camp site was founded by Arcturus the black bear man ages ago. It is said that it is still being fiercely defended by his undead, corrupted form Explored by Bralbaard, Kesperan Avolitionbrit  (Founded by Nogoodnames)
32:Mountaincrest the Last Shelter: Who is hiding here, deep in the mountains?(Founded by Glloyd)  Explored by Kesperan  
33:Jackaldens the Secretive Home of Disappearing: A top secret hiding place (Founded by Erik Blank)  Explored by Eric Blank  
34:Clearmasters  If you ever encounter an immortal pet, chances are good that they originated here. Did this curse take hold when the artifact "the immortal cat" was constructed here? (Site build by Lurker Z) Explored by Kesperan, Unraveller  
34:The Tower of Silence  A fortress carved in the rock above a volcanic caldera. There is a large library here. Explored by Kesperan, TheFlame52  (constructed by Unraveller)
35:Ghoulcreek  The final resting place of Kosoth Salvesank, the ghoul that spread the Omon Blight in Treatyseed, the place is rumored to be guarded by a former adventurer of the museum and his undead minions  explored by Kesperan, Tonnot98, Maloy
36:Ashcinders the molten scar  A mighty fortress where divine metals and adamantine were hoarded. High quality statues are on display which depict the adventurers of the museum and their exploits. Many hillocks have been founded in the foothills surrounding the fortress.  (constructed by Kesperan ) Explored by Kesperan, Nogoodnames, Avolitionbrit, Quantum Drop, Erik Blank  
37:Ancientlibrary the library of secrets  Terrible experiments were conducted on Moldath in this fortress, in an attempt to cure him from a terrible rot. The place is apparently overgrown by a forest that is so dense that even elves have trouble to pass through(Constructed by Avolitionbrit) explored by Kesperan, Tonnot98, Avolitionbrit, Eric Blank
38:Newworld  |(This site has been reported to crash the game upon visiting) Questionable experiments on Moldath continued in this fortress.  (constructed by Lurker Z) Partly explored by Bralbaard, Kesperan  
39:Thiefguild  Rumor has it that the local criminals have a hideout beneath the tavern. (constructed by Bralbaard) explored by Kesperan, Bralbaard, Nogoodnames
40:Free the egg  The site was  explored by Lurker-Z, Kesperan but there are no detailed written records.
41: Waterdeeps  This is where the mightiest river on the continent, the Purged Loot, has it's source. (constructed by Bralbaard)  explored by Kesperan, Bralbaard, Bluarianknight, Avolitionbrit
42: Frostwall the last Bastion  Deep within the fated frost lies a mighty fortress carved from the purest ice(constructed by Quantum Drop) explored by Kesperan, TheFlame52
43: Falsetower the Citadel of worlds  According to Moldath's records on this site, extensive battles have been fought here. The surface is littered with corpses and bones. (constructed by Avolitionbrit) explored by Quantum Drop, Kesperan, Maloy, Broken
44: Stasismanors  This fortress lies in the treacherous sands of the harmonious dune, and is surrounded by statues of dwarves, elves, humans and other creatures being shot, tortured, and flayed. Moldath defeated an ash demon here on his journey. (constructed by Maloy in 858) explored by Kesperan, Bralbaard
45: Northmanor the Unholy Cathedral.  The site was visited by the elf Yawo Rainstir, who noted that there are many tamed grizzly bears here. Constructed by KesperanExplored by Tonnot 98, Kesperan
46: Agefall  Agefall was constructed right after the age of heroes ended, but quickly fell to some unknown calamity (constructed by Bluarianknight)Explored by Kesperan
47: Mischieflaws  A small fortress overrun by turkeys and gremlins, famous for it's massive egg hatcheries (constructed by Bralbaard)  Explored by Kesperan
48: Warshrieks  Warning, this place may currently crash your game (build by Erik Blank)
49: Silverthrone  The mighty city from which Jas Gloryage ruled over the kingdom of Omin Obin. He fought many battles against the blight, including some, right here, in Silverthrone. (constructed by Unraveller) Explored by Quantum Drop, Kesperan, Bralbaard
50: Secrethome  This once secret hideout has been deserted by the dwarves that founded it.
Constructed by Bluarianknight. explored by Kesperan
51: Crystalworship the Temple of Vultures Rumors have started spreading claiming that the long dead dwarven civilisation known as Mörul Kan has somehow survived on this distant island. Involvement of a certain scorpion man is suspected. (Constructed by AvolitionBrit) explored by Kesperan
52: Onionbunions A strangely named fortress, not much is known about it.(constructed by Yarlig)
53: Urnways Why has this place fallen to ruin? (constructed by Yarlig) explored by Kesperan
54: The Mountain of Hatred A camp site deep in the mountains (constructed by Yarlig)
55: Abyssdeeps A fortress founded in one of the most dangerous areas of the world, filled with traps of unknown purpose (constructed by Quantum Drop) (explored by Kesperan)
56: Balancehammer A fortress founded by the Pages of Tiredness. Once this place was guarded by grizzly bears, however due to the passage of time they may no longer be around. Constructed by Eric Blank. Explored by Kesperan.
57: Holykingdom Constructed by Avolitionbrit. The site is rumored to be the hiding place of Avolition Holyblood, but visitors have reported it is inaccessible and flooded.  Explored by Kesperan, Eric Blank
58: Realmspire This is where Irka Tinsabres of the Gloryage dynasty founded a mysterious fortress. Demons roam the surrounding country side. Is this place as evil as it seems, or is there more behind this story? (Constructed by Unraveller)  explored by Lurker Z, Kesperan, Bralbaard
59: Weatherponder the New A new expansion of the city of Weatherponder that now connects the old town to Silverthrone. (Constructed by Unraveller)  explored by Bralbaard, Kesperan
60: Blueoceans Visitors to the site have claimed there are voices coming from deep underground, unreachable from the surface (Constructed by Lurker Z) Partly explored by Kesperanm, Eric Blank
61: Deephalls What is this place, and how on earth was it constructed? (build by Lurker Z)
62: Ilrallenod Treatyseed, or Ilrallenod, the famous capital of the Walled Dye. Forever envelloped in chaos, a site where nobles, goblins and thralls have killed eachother in large numbers. (Recently unretired by Lurker Z). Since it was unretired it was  explored by Kesperan.
63: The Eternal Citadel From here rules Moldath Mournsaints, who has shaped much of the history of this world (Constructed by Kesperan) explored by Kesperan, Eric Blank
64: The Charcoal Pit This site is a place of worship for the Worm, build by the charcoal demon Handbane. (Constructed by Nogoodnames) explored by Bralbaard
65: Eldergraves A small wooden necromancer tower (Constructed by Bralbaard)  explored by Bralbaard
66: Scorpiontower the lost vault of books The scorpion king ordered construction of this massive site, that was build over an ancient necromancer's tower. (Constructed by Avolitionbrit) explored by Kesperan
67: Entrancegrape This site was once the capital-castle of Omin Obin, before Jas Gloryages rise to power. It is the 4th oldest castle in the world, but was recently renovated (Reclaimed by Lurker Z) explored by Bralbaard, Kesperan
68: The Hungry Aching Wood This site will crash your game if approached. Unspeakable things have happened here.  (constructed by Dikbutdagrate)
69: Honeyhammer the fortress of snacking For those who want honey, or a face transplant. (constructed by Dikbutdagrate)  explored by Quantum Drop, Bralbaard, Eric Blank
70: Futureseals A site build at the turning of the millenium. This is where Desli and Pik performed a dark ritual to cleanse Pik of his curses, be warned, the place is overrun by undead. (constructed by Eric Blank) explored by Eric Blank, theFlame52, Avolitonbrit, Kesperan
71: Drinkstasis Founded by the Band of Wines, a group of humans. The site is relatively close to the museum(constructed by Kesperan)  explored by Kesperan
72: Weatherponder the Lurking The latest addition to the metropolis of Weatherponder-Silverthrone. (constructed by Lurker Z in 1022) explored by Kesperan
73: Watchfulpalace Not much is known about this fortress (constructed by Sockmit2007)
74: Flightseas A myserious fortress at the northern coast
75: Swordgleamed the Ageless Tomb This town was once a famous hideout for bandits, untill the many thousands of them were slaughtered in a near forgotten battle. In the eleventh century the site was reclaimed by Bralbaard to deal with the many dead. Currently the site is overrun by undead howling freaks, raised by Maloy.(Constructed by Bralbaard) Visited by Kesperan; Maloy
76: Icefury The snow here is stained red by the blood of the vampires that were slain here. (Constructed by Eric Blank in 1031) Visited by Kesperan, Eric Blank
77: Fortressbranded The first part of Dikbutdagrate's massive wall (unexplored) constructed by Dikbutdagrate.   Eric Blank
78: Risewinds The second part of Dikbutdagrate's massive wall (unexplored) constructed by Dikbutdagrate.   Eric Blank
79: Speechlesshames The third section of Dikbutdagrate's massive wall (unexplored) constructed by Dikbutdagrate.  Eric Blank
80: Coverashes It is whispered that angels have retaken the ancient vault of coverashes, and that the site is now known as lightningrope. (reclaimed by Bralbaard)
81: Livingdeath the Depths of Despair This place has an ominous name. Probably for a good reason (constructed by Eric Blank)
82: Palacework The last of the dwarven houses, the Matched Hame, has been resurrected. They have reclaimed Palacework (reclaimed by Kesperan in 1063)
83: Cleanlands the Fortress of Destruction  It is said the end times are near.
84: The Traps of Dying These are apparently not the True traps of Dying but a... trap? (constructed by Quantum Drop)
85: The True traps of Dying The Traps of Dying, for real this time. (Constructed by Quantum Drop)

Missions:
Bring the bodies of fallen adventurers to Herograves so that they can get a proper burial.
Return the missing artifact native aluminum harp to Crownhall the City of Stone information  here  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8288854#msg8288854) and here  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8291120#msg8291120)
Return missing artifacts to Ironwards. The artefacts Ocig Dumat and Sat Vuknud have been taken from Ironwards by unknown hands. Any adventurer who returns them to the fortress’s museum (top floor, look for the room filled with wooden and stone pedestals) may take an artefact of their choosing from those on display, which include an artefact short sword, hammer, and dwarf-sized steel boot. Furthermore, they may take any masterwork item of arms or armour from the fortress (all dwarf-sized), which they may utilize or trade as they see fit.
Gain weird transplants Dikbutdagrate offers the following!: (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8471877#msg8471877)

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

My offer to act as a NPC vendor for item grafting still stands.
1 honey = 1 item + 1 body part.
You wanna have tree frogs for eyes? Sure! 2 Honeys plz, and done.
Become Tetsuo, the Iron Man today!

Play the Oxang Kol (Avolitionbrit) wishes to hear the Oxang (instrument from museum submission 65) played before them and in return they will assist them in anyway they can. (you can control them, add to your party and stuff like that).

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game
Post by: TheFlame52 on March 10, 2020, 02:22:12 pm

PTW, looking forward to the future!

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on March 10, 2020, 02:25:55 pm

I have started playing. Do you remember the cave-fish man vampire that was the local ruler and curator of our first museum?
It looks like we have a worthy successor in this game. I will try to post soon.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game
Post by: Quantum Drop on March 10, 2020, 02:31:43 pm

I can already tell this is going to be epic. Here's to a long game and many valuable exhibits!

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game
Post by: TheFlame52 on March 10, 2020, 03:01:48 pm

Place your bets now, folks! Who will be the successor to the Twice-Husked?

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game
Post by: Imic on March 10, 2020, 03:04:50 pm

I’m going to say Necromancer Experiment.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on March 10, 2020, 03:52:43 pm

So you are interested in the museum and the many curiosities it holds? You want to hear the stories behind the more bizarre submissions? You want to be entertained with tall tales about terrible monsters, foul creatures, and treasures of unimaginable value?
I’m afraid I can not help you, for I am not a true adventurer, nor a story teller.

The only thing I can tell you is how it all started, because I played a part in that. But I have to warn you that all things start out small. I never foresaw what others would do to this place when I created the museum by accident. It all started here in Boltspumpkin, a dwarven castle, many years ago.

(https://imgur.com/R8sihct.gif)

below you can find my story:

It is the 15th of granite of the year 700.
I've been here for some time now. While the fortress architecture and surroundings are mundane and boring (or at least they were when the museum was founded!), It's inhabitants are worthy of a more thorough description.

There are only three of us here, myself and two goblins.
First of all, there's the goblin monk Theb Hearthsnarl. He worships Uquud the Bones of Drool, and that is about as much as you want to know about him. The more interesting character is the other goblin, the "slave" that is living here with us, Ngokang Strangecurses. I’ve lived with these goblins long enough to know this whole slave thing is just a cover identity. In thruth, Ngokang is a bandit and ringleader, who is hiding out here in this castle to escape justice. I never learned much about his past, but he seems to have made a small fortune before settling here.

(https://imgur.com/4Spcql3.gif)

We also own a horse. How it gained it’s name is a story for another evening, you only need to know it goes by the name Mestthos Lovermachines.

Now, Ngokang is not the only one here with a cover identity. Ngokang and Theb both think I’m Bralbaard Hammerfishes, a fisherdwarf that catches and prepares their food and runs the occasional errand for their criminal syndicate. Bralbaard is my name, so much is true, but I am not a fisher, I’m a historian and archeologist.
So what am I doing in a place like this? Well I first need to tell you that Ngokang’s cover identity is only superficial. In truth he is an extravagant crime boss, with a need for obscene luxury, and a peculiar taste for outlandish and exotic works of art. He has gathered quite a few of those in this castle, including rare and forbidden books, and a small number of artifacts. Enough items in fact to attract an archeologist like me, for I think this collection will hold clues to something that is very important to me.

As you know, goblins make a terrible mess of things. I’ve taken up the job to gather all the books and artifacts that were strewn about, and I have created a small library and artifact room. Ngokang thinks I do this to please him while I'm not out fishing, but it is purely for my own goals. This allows me to study everything more closely, looking for the clues I need.

(https://imgur.com/7b0YVOs.gif)

So what did I discover so far? There are about a dozen written works, books and scrolls. The prose is amateurish at best. The real interesting finds are two artifacts: The first is a human skull totem known as “Mitephleghms the spurting hag” (Really, only goblins can appreciate something as gross as this). The second is an artifact instrument known as “Regalboars the wild fortune”. I have no musical skill whatsoever, and neither do these goblins, but I would love to hear what this instrument could do in the hands of a skilled artist.
I did not find what I was looking for yet, in fact, I found something far worse, but I can not talk of this until it will be safe to do so.

Meanwhile the goblins have no clue that I am even capable of reading.
What Ngokang did notice though, now that everything has been put out on display, is that his collection is too small for his liking. Me and Theb both had to endure a tirade in which he demanded more items for his “museum”.  Because this nicely alligns with my own goals, I intend to help him out, though I’m unwilling to spend to much of my own resources on this. I will post advertisements for adventurers in the surrounding towns. There’s plenty of  criminal money that needs white-washing I guess, so I’m sure Ngokang will be willing to pay the adventurers good money for their museum items. This will allow me to focus on my own goals, of which I will tell you at a later date.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game
Post by: IonMatrix on March 10, 2020, 08:00:31 pm

Great update!  :D I have some ideas already!

Also, I have a not-that-small favor to ask you. Can you reupload the pictures to some place like pic8.co? Some asshole in China banned imgur. It's kinda important because I'm already horrible at navigating in adv mode so I really need the map and location.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game
Post by: Travis Bickle on March 11, 2020, 12:48:38 am

I would like a turn.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game
Post by: Tasoth on March 11, 2020, 11:50:20 am

If there is an opening, I would love to be penciled in for a spot in this sure to be grand adventure!

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game
Post by: Imic on March 12, 2020, 03:17:22 pm

I’ve never used Adventurer mode much, much less mess around with its interactions with Fortress mode. Are there any methods to prevent item scatter permitted by the rules of the Museum?

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on March 12, 2020, 03:31:06 pm

Many site types prevent item scatter nowadays, however I think items still scatter if a fortress is abandoned instead of retired. This definitely was a bigger issue in the past and there was a dfhack command that prevented item scatter that we used to deal with it. I'll need to look it up, I'll try to write a section in the rules about dfhack use, and what is considered safe.

To Ionmatrix: I will try to upload the relevant images elsewhere before it is your turn, I also intend to eventually create a pdf file of the turns that have been played so that the original story with images will be preserved for future generations. The first two museum games are missing a lot of images right now because popular image sites put their images behind paywalls, or went bankrupt over the last few years. (Due to the amount of work involved I will likely only update the pdf infrequently)   

The turn list has been updated.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on March 12, 2020, 05:43:26 pm

The other day I told you a lot about Ngokang and Theb. But I did not tell you much about myself, or my goals. That I will do today, starting with a simple observation that tends to be disputed by many: I am a dwarf.
Yes, a dwarf.
One of the few.
Most people think we have gone extinct long ago together with the kobolds, the mythical creatures that are claimed to be responsible for stealing your socks, but that nobody has actually ever seen.
Humans no longer recognize any of the great deeds from our past, they even doubt our existence, likely because they have only short lifespans and terrible memory.
When I show up somewhere most people will simply assume I'm a short and deformed human, or even worse, a necromancer experiment gone wrong.

But our stories are still there if you look for them, and that is what I have done over the past few years.
The stories say that at the dawn of time, several dwarven tribes struck the earth. They mined for metals unheard of by men, and gathered untold riches. But one by one the dwarven kindoms of old were destroyed by unknown forces. One dwarven empire however thrived against all odds. The other kindoms had never expanded beyond their original mountain home, but the dwarves of the Walled Dye under the banner of Dumat Orangelabors did. They colonized every corner of the perfect horns, erecting great fortresses and dozens of mountain homes as they mined ever deeper. As a power, they were equal to the elves, the goblins, and yes, they rivalled even the humans. But then darkness fell over Orid Xem. 

A quick glance at a current map of the perfect horns will tell you the scale of the disaster:

(https://pic8.co/sh/4tjTUb.gif)

There is nothing but ruins now. Even the few sites that seem inhabited are in reality taken over by goblins or bandits.

The myths still tell about the fall of the last dwarven kingdom, and it is a dark and terrible tale. Whatever destroyed our empire, it happened very fast, and somewhere around the year 270. No reliable records about the nature of the disaster have survived. Some say the dwarves dug to deep. Others blame the goblins, or even necromancers. What is known is that it resulted in the largest genocide in the history of the Universes of Myth.  Thousands of dwarves fled from the burning mountainhalls, but they found no mercy. They ran straight into the goblin hordes that guard the exalted forests, or found no safety in the human kingdoms.  Whatever drove them from their mountainhomes came down after them, making sure that no survivors escaped. There was nobody to help them. The elves especially looked the other way. They thought they would be safe, high up in their tree houses where they composed songs about the foolishness of dwarves. Not even 20 years later their empire started to be torn apart by the same, or a similar force, they only lasted a few decades.

(https://pic8.co/sh/V5lLxN.gif)

It is said that the elves have somewhat recovered, and that a significant number still roam the woods, but they are mostly lone travellers, and they sing only songs of agony and grief.

But enough about history. A strange remark for a historian, but in fact that job title may not properly describe me as I am more interested in the future of our race than I am in the past. I fully believe that the dwarven race can recover. That the sound of pick axe and dwarven song is destined to echo once more through the halls of the perfect horn. That dwarves will again be gazed upon with respect, instead of contempt. But to acheive that we must learn of our past. I am determined to find out who or what was responsible for our demise. That is what brought me here to Boltspumpkin.
Why this Castle you ask?
Because it seems that the empire of the Walled Dye was never fully defeated. Through my research I have found that several sites still claim to have a bond to this old empire. These sites, only a handfull, lie scattered around the far reaches of the Universes of Myth. A small map will easily illustrate this.

(https://pic8.co/sh/g2PIq8.gif)

The red shape on the map indicates the size of our original empire. Most of the dwarves that survived are rumoured to have fled far to the south, to the caverns of Blowechoes the scars of coal, and Mischiefpit. But these caves house many refugees of other races as well. The same is likely true for the other dwarven sites. Boltspumpkin, the place where I am now, also came up in my search for dwarven sites, but was a bit of a dissapointment. It is quite obvious that no other dwarves have lived here for a long time. What I did find however is some clues about the dwarven royal lineage, and some hints that there may be an official heir to the dwarven throne after all this time. To find out more, I will need to travel to the perfect horn. Now what complicates things is that I need to drag something along. I told you earlier that I found something unexpected and bad when I was sorting through Ngokan's artifacts. At first I was exstatic when I found it. My dwarven senses immediately perceived that this object was made of a metal so exotic and rare, that I am sure it must have been forged by a supernatural power. But then I perceived the aura of pure evil that permeated its blistered surface.
(https://i.imgur.com/2d2mhwV.gif)
I have been able to resist reading beyond the title, and have wrapped it in a piece of cloth, but it still beckons me with visions of great power. I know it must be destroyed, for I somehow sense that the power that rests in this slab would destroy the remains of our dwarven empire instead of save it. Despite their cruelty and greed for power, I think the goblins that live here have never messed with this slab, I think they lack the skills to sense the exotic nature of this metal, and being immortal they may not be lured by its promises of an eternal life. I hope I can get away with stealing the item.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game
Post by: Imic on March 12, 2020, 06:37:51 pm

Ooh, I like this. On reflection, a Civilization long ruined and forgotten is a brilliant setup for a game like this. With Libraries and books, finding out what happened might be the subject of simply finding the right book, but at the same time, most books are badly written self indulgent guides to someone’s place of residence, so picking out History’ll be hard. I think a lot of fun will be had with this world.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game
Post by: TheFlame52 on March 12, 2020, 07:14:42 pm

Oh, I'm excited!

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game
Post by: Timeless Bob on March 13, 2020, 05:23:03 am

As eighth in line, I feel that there must be a Great Pilgrimage to each Player Fortress and remnant of the Walled Dye, that my Holy Journey may consecrate a figurine I'll buy in a town somewhere.  A holy figurine and at each site, a coin donated in charity to the temple or treasure room of these great sites.  Yes.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game
Post by: Imic on March 14, 2020, 09:51:54 am

Buümp

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on March 14, 2020, 03:37:48 pm

16th of granite, year 700
Before leaving, I told Ngokang that I was going to gather items for his museum. I need to remember to bring him a souvenir when I return, so he will not find out that I’m actually just sneeking out to destroy his most valuable museum piece.

When I wanted to saddle Mestthos Lovermachines, my horse,  there was a major setback. Lovermachines was gone. I searched everywhere around the keep but found no trace. I bet it has gone running after a herd of young mares again. I spent a lot of urists on this damned horse before I set out on my adventure and this greatly upsets me. I now have to carry this cursed necromancer slab myself, and it is heavy. With it I can only move at half speed, and I’m not even wearing armor.

After looking for Lovermachines once more, I left without him. I’ve actually never travelled north of Boltspumpkin before and was looking forward to seeing the human towns north of the castle. It was a major dissapointment however. The towns and villages are abandoned and in ruins:
 
(https://pic8.co/sh/1FvZRO.gif)

I did however find signs that there are others living in these ruins, when I passed by the keep of Diptramples I clearly heard some sounds from within the building.
When I tried to enter the keep however I was greeted by a rain of arrows.  At least two goblin bowmen were firing at me in the central hall. I managed to block two arrows with my shield and decided to run.

After catching my breath I continued my journey north. In the hamlet of Flagstray I walked straight into an ambush, again by a goblin bowman. Running was not an option here, so I decided to sprint towards the foul creature, once again blocking several arrows with my shield. Still running at full speed I manage to connect my war hammer with the goblin’s face in a perfectly timed strike. The effect impresses even myself, I did not know I was capable of that. It takes me a while to clean my warhammer.

(https://pic8.co/sh/kTZ5XU.gif)

I decide to take a better look at the village. It is ruined like the others, but there are some humans hiding in a house. It is clear they are bandits. I think they were close enough to see me take down that goblin, for they treat me with respect. One of them, Nebo Muleroses, is even interested in joining me on my journey. I can use someone who is more familiar with the surroundings here, so I agree, and we continue together. We pass a ruined monastery, and by nightfall, the ruined village of Rockpriced. We set up camp for the night. I have trouble sleeping. I expected that the mountain homes would be in ruins, but had never expected similar devastation in these human settlements.

17th of granite, year 700
The next morning we wake up to a marvelous sight. The mountains of the perfect horn rise from the plains just a few hours travel north of us. We break up camp, and climb the steep slopes not much later. And there it is: Pasttimegears. One of the mighty fortresses of a time long gone.
Inside though, all is as I feared. The fortress, complete with a tavern, temple and trade depot still stands, but only because it must have been build by legendary masons. The metal barrels in the tavern are empty and rusted and the depot is covered by thick layers of dust. Nebo has somehow gotten stuck on the roof of the fortress and won’t come down, but I do not mind having to descend the stairs on my own, as I am overcome by sorrow and grief that this human could never understand. The empty and abandoned hallways are proof of the destruction of the Walled Dye, I search the halls for hours finding not a single sign of life. The dwarves must have fled with great haste. Valuable gems, armor and weapons were simply left behind, no attempt was made to salvage anything. I find no hints at all about what could have caused this.  Finally I stumble across an ancient meeting hall or barracks.

(https://pic8.co/sh/W8TZVY.gif)

One wall is lined with pedestals, on each pedestal rests a mighty weapon, most of masterwork quality.
I take a *silver mace* for myself, and decide to also take a finely crafted short sword, that is made of the purest dwarven steel.  I also find a good set of iron armor. Now that I am properly dressed for adventure, I return to the surface.

I decide to bestow a great honor upon Nebo, the honor to carry a weapon made of steel, a metal that human weaponsmiths can not forge. A masterwork weapon that was crafted by my forefathers ages ago, but that is still as sharp as the day it was forged. But even before I can present him the weapon properly, and speak of this honor, Nebo bluntly blurts out “It’s not a gift if you expect something in return”

(https://pic8.co/sh/qmNCN2.gif)

Since I had already made my choice I still grant him the weapon, but when we gather our gear, Nebo just runs of with the sword, and no matter how I look for him, he is gone.
So much for trusting bandits.

18th of granite
The next day, after once more swearing to take revenge on Nebo, I continue my journey. I travel across a post-apocalyptic landscape. I visit many ruins, monasteries, castles and fortresses. I only find wild animals among the ruins. None of them have been reclaimed by civilized creatures. Whoever took  down and destroyed these mighty walls left after the task was finished. I find no clues.

I finally make it to Findersling, another abandoned dwarven fortress. Here however I find engravings in the local temple that were made after the great disaster. I find several clues that several dwarves have risen to the position of monarch of the Walled Dye, even after it’s mountain homes were destroyed.

Some of them however, are very worrying:

(https://pic8.co/sh/0o9KGB.gif)

19th of granite.

Humorsharks;
The next day starts at a more light note. I finally find a human village that is still inhabited. Many dozens of humans are working the fields, talking in the streets and in general, minding their own business.
The village belongs to the creamy confederacy. Their ruler is Ledir Ñoriddim Amil.
I don’t entirely understand the political situation, but it appears that the town is just being reclaimed from ruin:

(https://pic8.co/sh/MxMn92.gif)

I travel further. I have to fight off some wolves in the evening. I make sure I face them one by one, and manage to take them down. I find that the canines are no match for me, and this helps build my confidence.
Meeting the humans of Humorsharks has greatly improved my mood. I’m close to my goal now, the heart of the old dwarven empire. Tomorrow I might get some answers.

(https://pic8.co/sh/g9in4A.gif)

(OOC: still playing. Some really iteresting stuff happening now...)

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game
Post by: Imic on March 14, 2020, 04:15:27 pm

Human Civilization, at least up in the north, the complete lack of brown and therefore abandoned Hamlets amongst the southern Humans look lends credence to the possibility they’re doing just fine, but at the same time we can’t know until someone goes down there.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on March 15, 2020, 11:16:06 am

(This is the point where the game (like the real world, to be fair) started to spin down into insanity)

At the start of the evening I was in a good mood. The campsite was already very close to the old dwarven capital of Treatyseed, I estimated it would only be one or two hours tops to get there.

But then night fell… and my good mood was quickly replaced by unnatural fear.
The temperature dropped fast, and slowly the hills before me came alive. Strange sounds echoed against the mountains, and eerie wandering lights traveled over the landscape. There were dozens…. No hundreds of them.

(https://pic8.co/sh/g3AZQH.gif)

They swarmed over the hills in eratic movements, with new ones replacing the ones that left. I threw more and more wood on the fire hoping that it would keep them at bay, but it only appeared to draw more of them. It was a horrible night, I was certain they would attack me but they never did. It seemed that I had by some good fortune set up my camp just outside of their sphere of influence. The strange travellers never made it entirely to my camp and stayed just north of me. I got the strange impression they are somehow connected to Treatyseed, which lies just ahead.

After the sun rose in the morning I spotted more and more figures sneaking through the wilderness. They indeed seemed to all converge on Treatyseed. The figures were humanoid, but moved as if hypnotized with no real purpose or direction. I gathered all my courage and tried to get closer to Treatyseed, all the while still dragging that necromancer slab around.

(https://pic8.co/sh/R6rBpy.gif)

Now that I moved between them I could better observe them. The few that came close were human recruits, but they were poorly armed: they wore peasants clothing, and wielded knifes. But this did not ease my mind. They appeared to be possessed by some unknown force, and just walked around aimlessly. They did not respond when I tried to talk to them, they simply stared ahead with this feverish look on their faces.

I finally made it to the entrance of the ancient fortress, but just before the entrance I had to pass an elven recruit. Now elves, like dwarves, are a rare sight, and this elf, with bright green eyes and green hair, with that unresponsive grin on his face nearly freaked me out. He however turned out to be like the other mindless wanderers, and does not respond to my calls. Glad to leave the mindless recruits behind, I take the last steps towards the fortress. What will I find? According to all the information I have the place is a ruin, like all the other dwarven sites.
Then suddenly, the elf recruit jumped me from behind:

(https://pic8.co/sh/8IvsFJ.gif)

I manage to evade the elf and drop the necromancer slab, I fumble for my weapon, and finally manage to get a good hold. I swing it towards the elf and hit him straight in his chest, with full force. A cracking sound tells me I’ve smashed his ribs. I repeat the action and smash my mace twice more into his chest, the sound of snapping bones echoes against the entrance doors of the fortress. The elf gives up the battle and runs of with unnatural speed, despite his gruesome wounds. There is no way for me to keep up with him even without the weight of the slab.
I return to the fortress and enter. I had imagined the moment I would do this a thousand times. The ruins of the long forgotten capital Treatyseed, it’s secrets covered in layers of dust. But when I opened the doors and walked in I saw something that made me fall to my knees...

(https://pic8.co/sh/kL2KtG.gif)

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game
Post by: TheFlame52 on March 15, 2020, 11:59:50 am

the plot thickens

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on March 15, 2020, 05:26:12 pm

It will get thicker yet. I am having the most weird adventure.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on March 16, 2020, 02:12:52 am

I can not believe my eyes; he is unarmed and dressed in commoner’s clothing, but there is no doubt that this is Etur Equallashed, king of the Walled Dye! Yes, there had been rumours. Rumours that I have not dared to speak out aloud. They said that Etur, son of Lokum Postbows had taken up the crown, and that he was plotting in secret to reclaim the ruins of the Walled Dye. I had dismissed those rumours as wishful dreams.. This changes everything

The king is engaged in a serious conversation with a human abbot and a goblin beast hunter. He doesn’t even notice me. Whatever they are discussing must be very important, judging by their expressions and tone of voice. I decide not to interupt and start to descend into the fortress, curious as to what else I will find here.

I have descended approximately 15 levels down the stairs when I hear the screams from above:

(https://pic8.co/sh/gWTNM8.gif)

Someone is trying to assassinate the king!
I again drop the necromancer slab, as great haste is needed, and rush up the stairs.
Out of breath and with my weapon drawn I arrive on the top of the stairs. The trade depot is covered in blood, and the king is nowhere to be seen. From the corner of my vision I see the green-haired elf fleeing the scene of the battle. I curse myself for not killing him earlier, and run after the creature.

He runs out of the fortress and I follow as fast as I can. But the elf just laughs at me, makes a joke about my short legs, and outruns me without effort. This time though, I’m determined to not let him go. I start following his tracks, which even for me, are easily visible in the desert sand.

(https://i.imgur.com/BcOVc5w.gif)

I find him relatively quickly, and this time I aim for the head, not the chest.

(https://pic8.co/sh/ODyjaZ.gif)

I find he has money in his pouch from the Nations of honoring, a human civilisation. I hope they were not involved in this elven treachery, as I have always considered the humans to be my friends.

When I return to the depot there is still no sign of the king. The others at the depot are talking about the attack, and are talking about many casualties, but there are no bodies to be seen. Confused I once more descend into the fortress in search for the king. I am once again shocked to hear sounds of battle, but this time from below..

The stairs are coated in blood. The sounds of clashing weapons and battle cries echo from the depths. There is no doubt about it, this is not a minor brawl. The tunnels and hallways of Treatyseed are engulfed in a battle of epic proportions.

I know this fortress should be empty, it is marked as a ruin on the map, but it is not. When I take the last step of the stairs it is as if I have stepped through a crack in time. It is as if I am a spectator in a major battle that raged centuries ago when the Walled Dye fell.  Dozens of dwarves are engaged in battle against an enemy force consisting mostly of goblins. But this battle is not a battle of the past: it is happening now, and more importantly, the dwarves are not losing, we are winning.

(https://i.imgur.com/hpmzQXy.gif)

Dozens of goblin corpses are piled up in the hallways.
The only dead dwarf that I find was a necromancer that must have fought on the side of the enemy. I can identify him by the book that he has clutched in his dead hands:
(https://pic8.co/sh/kLmItf.gif)

(https://pic8.co/sh/UA2BdI.gif)

The dwarves have been very efficient in battle. all that despite the fact that they are only armed with simple tools and knifes. What is disturbing though is that these dwarves are all royalty. Barons, consorts and Religious leaders are yelling orders, and working as a well-oiled machine. Everywhere I go the goblins have already been taken down, the few that survive are on our side. The battle is already over.

(https://pic8.co/sh/K721rm.gif)

This is when I find the king again. Only now do I realize that I am the only dwarf in this fortress that is wearing full armor and a weapon, the king is still dressed in commoners clothing and unarmed. I fall to my knees and take of my armor and *silver mace* and present them to the king. I’m a simple historian and have no need of these tools of war, but Etur will have to lead us in battle.
For a moment the king is silent. Then he accepts my offer.

(https://pic8.co/sh/tbPrYU.gif)

Never have I felt more honored.

I have a thousand questions for the king. If our empire has all but fallen, how can there be so many nobles? Has the king appointed them in preparation for when he is ready to reclaim his empire? How long was he planning this? When will he come out of hiding?
As I could have expected, he is not willing to share his plans, but I am sure our future is in good hands.
 
I decide to return to Boltspumpkin. I have obligations there, and if this museum will be a success, then I may be able to recruit the help of adventurers from there. The Walled Dye will rise again!

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game
Post by: Eric Blank on March 16, 2020, 04:13:12 am

I am so happy you took the time to add me to the turn list even though I totally zoned out of this discussion for a couple weeks there.

And also enjoying the story so far. Did you make history start out hidden?

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on March 16, 2020, 04:19:35 am

Quote from: Eric Blank on March 16, 2020, 04:13:12 am

I am so happy you took the time to add me to the turn list even though I totally zoned out of this discussion for a couple weeks there.

And also enjoying the story so far. Did you make history start out hidden?

It is good to have some of the veterans from the first few games here. Glad you can join.

Yes, history started out hidden, but we are uncovering some interesting stuff already. I'm still completely at a loss as to what caused the collapse of the Walled Dye and other civilisations.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game
Post by: Timeless Bob on March 16, 2020, 01:44:40 pm

It just came to me: we can "name" things in-game, including immovable things.  The "names" could be Tinyurl links...

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on March 16, 2020, 04:35:15 pm

After a while I calmed down enough to sit down and drink some water (I had no other options. the barrels in the tavern are empty, despite the fact that this fortress is inhabited). Suddenly I realized something terrible.
I no longer had the necromancer slab! must have dropped it somewhere.. I spit out the water and searched the whole fortress and retraced my steps. But the slab was nowhere to be found. I can only hope it will not end up in the wrong hands.

Still, it was with overwhelmingly positive thoughts that I left Treatyseed behind, sadly these thoughts made my mind drift, while I should have been paying attention. Minutes after I have left Treatyseed I’m ambushed by one of the many recruits that are still roaming through the surrounding hills.. 

This is terrible. I have given my armor and weapon to the king, and had failed to search for new gear, I only picked up the boning knife from the dead necromancer I passed earlier. But the boning knife will be enough, right?

(https://i.imgur.com/NSMSAmG.gif)

The copper boning knife breaks on first use.
I run, but like the elf, this human recruit is faster than me. I manage to grab two ryolite rocks while fleeing and smash them together, one of the rocks breaks, creating a sharp edge. This will have to do.
But the rock has little effect and is useless as a weapon, and his carving knife turns out to be a lot more durable than my boning knife.
Just when things get dire I manage to punch him in the stomach, causing him to bend double and gasp for air. This gives me the time to flee from battle.

(https://i.imgur.com/FiHpUT1.gif)


I create an axe from the sharp ryolite stone and a pear wood branch and try to sneak out unseen by the recruits that are swarming the area. I am ambushed by several others, but manage to outrun each of them.

I finally make it to one of the dwarven fortresses where I gather some new armor and a weapon. I have to settle for copper instead of iron for some pieces, but it will have to do.
After another day of travelling I make it to Pasttimegears, and guess who I run into?  Nebo Muleroses! My old companion that abandoned me right after I gave him an expensive steel sword! I decide to confront the bandit right away:

(https://i.imgur.com/KIXXJOO.gif)

I was about to let him go and had not even mentioned the sword yet, when he had to make that last remark with that smug face he has.. This put me over the edge.

I demand him to drop the sword, but he refuses, so I decide to wrestle it from his hands assuming the battle will not escalate beyond a brawl.
I should have known that a bandit like Nebo would be unlikely to play it fair.  Nebo immediately drew his axe and shield  (he is not even using the sword he stole) and attacks me with letal force.

(https://i.imgur.com/L5MbbhJ.gif)

I fall to the ground bleeding and realize my fatal mistake.  I hold up my hands and surrender. He refuses to accept and raises his silver axe.. and I  realize it is all over.

But then Nebo walks away despite his threat, and leaves me confused and thoroughly humiliated. I crawl away and take care of my wounds when at a safe distance.

I make it back to Boltspumkin the next day.
I was already feeling horrible compared to how euphoric I felt when I left Treatyseed, but I was still not prepared for what I discovered when I walked into the keep of Boltspumpkin.

The goblins were  waiting for me, and they had dumped all the items I had categorized and labeled  into the reception hall. My first thought was that it would be a lot of work to sort out this mess when I realized that the mess was the least of my worries. There it was, right on top of the pedestal on which I had imagined I would store my own museum submission: “The certain urns” a blistered metal slab.

(https://i.imgur.com/dVKeUx6.gif)

Ngokang just smiled and said: lost something, Bralbaard?

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on March 16, 2020, 04:37:19 pm

So the game is apparently really trying to tell me that I should make the necromancer slab my official museum submission, but I won’t.
I submit the following:

A pig tail cap. This cap, the commoner’s crown, was worn by Etur Equallashed, king of the dwarven empire of the Walled Dye, before he came out of hiding to reclaim his empire.
(I traded this with Etur, when I gave him the armor and mace)

----------------------
So obviously we are having some issues with items scattering under some circumstances. I’m clueless as to why all items ended up on the ground floor while I stored them a few floors higher. It is at least not like the really bad scattering that leaves items randomly strewn over the whole site that occured in previous versions.
Also, apparently artifacts are still affected by some weird teleporting bugs.I definitely dropped that slab in Treatyseed, and here it is. I will try to investigate this and submit a bug report.

We can continue playing, while the next person plays I’ll run some tests. In a worst case situation we will have to move the items to another site, but maybe it can be fixed or is manageable.  (I swear I tested item scattering before starting the game, and it didn’t occur)

I’ll upload the save game and notify Ironmatrix that he can start. (No time left to build a fortress.)

edit: here is the save game: http://dffd.bay12games.com/file.php?id=14941 (http://dffd.bay12games.com/file.php?id=14941)

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game
Post by: TheFlame52 on March 16, 2020, 07:21:31 pm

oh boy oh boy time to dig around in the save

Bralbaard, your story writing is excellent! You had me waiting on the edge of my seat for every post!

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game
Post by: DwarvenLord on March 16, 2020, 07:36:23 pm

ptw

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game
Post by: IonMatrix on March 16, 2020, 09:26:05 pm

Oop, I'll get started...*sigh* tomorrow, or later today, if I'm lucky.

IDM is being a jerk. Might take some time...

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game
Post by: IonMatrix on March 17, 2020, 03:01:15 am

Wait, how do you load the save again? Apparently you DON'T just stick it in the "saves "folder inside the "data" folder.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game
Post by: IonMatrix on March 17, 2020, 03:48:48 am

Oh wait, theres a folder INSIDE the folder *mega-facepalm*

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game
Post by: Imic on March 17, 2020, 07:03:21 am

Taking a peek into Legends mode, The Walled Dye has 10 Deities:

Avuz Thukkan, “The Mine of Ambers”, depicted a a Female Dwarf and associated with balance, wealth, and jewels.

---

Uzol, depicted as a Male Dwarf and associated wih minerals.

---

Kezat, depicted as a Female Dwarf and associated with victory, war, and fortresses.

---

Tithleth, depicted as a Female Dwarf and associated with darkness and death.

---

Onget Berkilrud, “Onget Earthbronze, depicted as a Female Dwarf and associated with volcanoes, fire, and metals.

---

Erib Ugosh, “The Gorge of Hollows”, depicted as a male Dwarf and associated with caverns and mountains.

---

An Koshoch anban, “An the Library of Lathering”, depicted as a female Dwarf and associated with poetry.

---

Osod, depicted as a Male Dwarf and associated with murder.

---

Lenod, depicted as a Male Dwarf and associated with children.

---

Lumnum Kadän, “Lumnum the impervious”, depicted as a Female Mosquito and associated with the stars, the sky, and rainbows.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game
Post by: TheFlame52 on March 17, 2020, 02:16:59 pm

Those are some quality gods. Most of them, anyway. Lumnum is... something.

I also found something while diving in fort mode, but I'll save that little tidbit for my turn. Maybe.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on March 17, 2020, 02:24:50 pm

Quote from: TheFlame52 on March 17, 2020, 02:16:59 pm

Those are some quality gods. Most of them, anyway. Lumnum is... something.

I also found something while diving in fort mode, but I'll save that little tidbit for my turn. Maybe.

:-) yes, don't spoil anything. We'll find out when we do.

In other news, I'm having great difficulty to reproduce the item scattering, or the teleporting of the necromancer slab.
I'm at a loss as to how those things happened. I'll keep trying though.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game
Post by: Emilovich on March 17, 2020, 05:55:49 pm

Spent some time reading about Bralbaard's adventures and looking through the history of the world today. Very interesting stuff! And it seems that the dwarves may be entering a new great period, especially if they get some help from us...

One question from a succession game noob: Is it allowed changing to a modded tileset? I usually play with that and as far as I know, you can just change it back, but I may be wrong...

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game
Post by: Luckyowl on March 17, 2020, 10:56:24 pm

Oh.This is amazing! Is there a way you can squeeze me in?

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on March 18, 2020, 01:58:50 am

Quote from: Emilovich on March 17, 2020, 05:55:49 pm

One question from a succession game noob: Is it allowed changing to a modded tileset? I usually play with that and as far as I know, you can just change it back, but I may be wrong...

It is, just change it back before you upload the save.

I'll add Luckyowl to the list.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game
Post by: Emilovich on March 21, 2020, 06:53:20 am

How's your adventure coming along IonMatrix? :)

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game
Post by: Emilovich on March 23, 2020, 03:30:49 pm

It's been a week now, should we skip on to the next player?

Or should I be less impatient  :-X

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game
Post by: Imic on March 23, 2020, 03:34:40 pm

Well, if he started on the 17th it’s been 7 days, if he started the next day it’s been six, if he didn’t play at all, it’s been an elongated break for scheming.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game
Post by: Quantum Drop on March 23, 2020, 04:37:24 pm

Maybe give him one more day, just to be on the safe side. If he doesn't show after that, hand it to the next one?

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game
Post by: bloop_bleep on March 24, 2020, 01:03:47 am

PTW and sign me up!  :D

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on March 24, 2020, 06:39:08 am

Ionmatrix, can you upload the save in the next 24 hours? It's possible to finish writing the story later. You can also retire your character for later use if you sign up again

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game
Post by: Imic on March 25, 2020, 07:32:46 am

The seven day limit’s up, I don’t think he’s going to post.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on March 25, 2020, 07:34:37 am

Yes, I have already send 9Joseph9 a PM.

I've never been able to duplicate the strangeness with artifacts and item scattering that occured in my game by the way. We will continue as if nothing happened.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game
Post by: Imic on March 25, 2020, 08:07:11 am

Any progress on item spread in abandoned Forts?

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game
Post by: Emilovich on March 25, 2020, 02:16:35 pm

Seems that Joseph hasn't been online here for two weeks, but let's see if he replies

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on March 25, 2020, 02:22:04 pm

Let's wait three days from my previous post?

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game
Post by: Tasoth on March 25, 2020, 04:29:01 pm

Sorry I’ve not said much. Thing’s have gone a bit topsy-turvy where I live, went from being a store worker to “essential personnel” in the span of a day.  None of that matters though; I’ve just read through the thread and holy. SHIT.  This world has so much going on in it, I can hardly wait to take a crack at it myself.  I plan to download the save later today so I can peer through the history and get a bit more context for this world seemingly on the edge.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game
Post by: Yarlig on March 26, 2020, 04:13:57 pm

First time posting' hello there!
I've been waiting for this ever since I read all the previous chapters a few years after the story ended: we're gonna have a trilogy! Sign me up please' an epic is being made here.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game
Post by: Luckyowl on March 28, 2020, 12:55:25 am

I agree, There are a lot interesting artifacts with interesting backgrounds. Some humorous, some heroic, and others downhearted. I can't  wait to see what's in store for our treasure hunters. I

EDIT: kind of have an outline of my  character's  background and how  they got entangled with the  treasure hunting business, but it's  really vauge as of now, since I have to wait 15 weeks for it to be my turn.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on March 28, 2020, 05:39:01 am

Quote from: Yarlig on March 26, 2020, 04:13:57 pm

First time posting' hello there!
I've been waiting for this ever since I read all the previous chapters a few years after the story ended: we're gonna have a trilogy! Sign me up please' an epic is being made here.

Welcome to the forum, I' ve added you to the list!

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on March 28, 2020, 05:47:32 am

No response from 9joseph9. We'll skip him. Imic is up next.

Quote from: Imic on March 25, 2020, 08:07:11 am

Any progress on item spread in abandoned Forts?

There should be a dfhack command "Lair",  that fixes that, at least that worked in previous versions. I think you run the command before abandoning.

This might not even be needed if you retire instead of abandoning

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game
Post by: Imic on March 28, 2020, 06:18:50 am

Right. I’m eating breakfast right now but I have virtually nothing else on, so I’ll begin shortly.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game
Post by: Imic on March 28, 2020, 11:59:18 am

I apologise for it taking this long, but I have the save now. I'm going to play as a Moth man if they're available, for a laugh.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game
Post by: Imic on March 28, 2020, 06:36:05 pm

You're in the Keep of Boltspumpkin, clothes still dripping from the rain. It's well after nightfall, and outside, the hills and woods are dark. There's no-one else here besides an exhausted-looking Dwarf sweeping the floor angrily, if such a thing is possible. After you walk around for a few minutes, you come across a stack of codices and scrolls in a tucked-away corner; these aren't museum pieces, these are the journals of those brave souls who often went to hell and back to bring the museum pieces here or died trying. You pick one up at random. a thick, battered codex bound with leather and covered with cuts, scratches, and stains. On the cover, written in dark ink, is the name 'Imic Egeshalu'. You open it, and begin to read.

---

Music (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y_VfqK0t8YQ&list=PL06_SpHiXeUiLgdmPaAHpLKwULmC_mR4e&index=1)

---

9th of Slate, 700.
This is the journal of Imic Egeshalu, Heatherwind, a Moth Man from the east. I got this quire and pen from a passing trader, and I kept it for some time before I decided to start writing. I've lived my life in the Village of Dikebored in the Steppes of Urging, ever since I left the Invisible forest, years and years ago. Since then, I've worked as a hunter. I never managed to get the hang of bows or even crosssbows though, and in the end I found I was more comfortable throwing my blades. I've never been truly comfortable here, however. Every day, I've wanted to wander beyond the fields. The steppe disappears in every direction, until the hills rise up in the north and the east, and those hills have taunted me for years. I want to see mountains, I want to see the lost realm of the Dwarves, I want to walk in the forests again. The world is wide and open, and ever since I heard of Boltspumpkin and the Museum within, I've contemplated leaving. So that's what I'm going to do. I'm going to leave, I'm going to see what I can see, and I'm going to find something to give to the Museum. If you find this journal, wherever it may lie, I am likely dead, and if you can, I ask that you bring it to the museum. It's not fit to be a museum piece, but perhaps the story will be enough for them to keep it around somewhere anyway. I sit now in my home in Dikebored, my things gathered, and the closed door taunting me, hiding the wide world beyond it. If I'm still alive when I rest this evening, I will write again. I go now into the unknown. If this is to be my last entry, goodbye.

Imic closed the book and put it into his backpack, along with the pen and a bottle of ink. As he stood up, he used two of his four arms to stretch, and the other two to scratch his back. He picked up his cloak and stuck it on, followed by his hood.

(https://i.ibb.co/vvLn1qy/In-th-house.png) (https://imgbb.com/)

(https://i.ibb.co/44vFx2V/Goodbye-to-Okgush.png) (https://imgbb.com/)

He gave his last goodbyes to his roommates, before opening the door and stepping outside.

(https://i.ibb.co/xM6TT9L/Outside.png) (https://imgbb.com/)

Outside the door, the sky was clear above and the sun was low in the east. There was a cool breeze blowing in from the west, and the waning crescent moon could be seen directly above, outlined with blue in the daylight. The house was made with logs, and thatched with the long steppe grasses. a lettuce patch was planted around the front garden. The green steppe stretched in in every direction, broken only by those distant, taunting hills in the north and east. After he left, he wandered around the village aimlessly and in silence for some time, before he found himself turning right at the statue of Ngoso Thiefclasped at the crossroads, and heading down the road towards the other statue, of Ihhi Strayednest.

(https://i.ibb.co/wNvkVZ0/Ngoso-Thiefclasped.png)

(https://i.ibb.co/n7Nr6F0/Statue-of-Ihhi-Strayednest.png)

He walked up to it. There was a divination die here, that he and the other villagers used occasionally. He gave it a roll.

(https://i.ibb.co/JcbnbcX/Near-Ihhi-s-statue.png)

(https://i.ibb.co/1bGvgsr/Obsidian-four-sided-long-die.png)

(https://i.ibb.co/qRnkDMm/Ihhi-blessed-me-with-a-week-s-good-fortune.png)

He smiled, suddenly, and gave a small laugh. The naysayer's folly. He put the die back down, and adjusted the straps on his backpack. He thought for a while, as he began to eye up the cardinal directions. East was filled with old forests, the north was filled with Goblins and old Kingdoms. The south had little besides Goblins and eventually, the tundra of Heroes. The west held Boltspumpkin, it held the old realm of the Dwarves, it held Kingdoms old and new, it held the lands where Humans now sought to reclaim their old Hamlets, ans it held mountains. He put one foot in front of the other, and began on the road. A few people ran past chasing another group, one of them screaming his name. They disappeared behind him. It didn't matter to Imic. The problems of Dikebored wouldn't be his until some distant day when he might return, if he didn't die. It made him feel a little twinge of guilt for running off, but it wasn't enough to overpower his wanderlust. The road faded behind him, and soon the Village disappeared behind the horizon. He was free.

(https://i.ibb.co/2vxRt7D/Walking-down-the-road.png)

He walked for some time. He passed through a few villages through the midday, and each time he would find the occasional ruined or abandoned house standing out against the rest. There was a tension in the air. People looked at each other with wary eyes. As he passed through one such village, he came to a fork in the river. He stopped for a little bit, to take in the bubbling brook, when something stirred behind him. The sound of feet on grass turned into a Man introducing themselves, and then screaming in fury. Imic turned around, and a swordswoman stood there. Her voice was different from the one he had heard previously.

(https://i.ibb.co/hg0K2s2/Stosb-b-Hatedcreeds.png)

Imic stood dazed for a second, not processing this. A second too long.

(https://i.ibb.co/Y04VQGY/The-Human-swordsman-Stob-b-hated-creeds-straps-the-iron-long-sword-to-her-upper-body.png)

As he desperately dodged her constant blows, his cloak flew up to reveal two massive papery wings, which began to beat. He would not be able to run away from this.

(https://i.ibb.co/Dggt9D0/He-s-probably-not-making-it-out-of-this.png)

It was starting to look like he wouldn't be able to fly away from this either.

(https://i.ibb.co/7jgm8wJ/Oh-dear.png)

Each time he prepared for flight, she dragged him back to the earth. Soon, his legs couldn't hold him up. His hand was mangled. His wings were the only things keeping him going. He had thought that this would have hurt more.

He gave one last beat of his wings. His ichor coated her as she grabbed him again. With one last beat, he tried desperately to get away.

(https://i.ibb.co/Wzy3JKx/The-sky-is-clear-above-you.png)

He hung there, limp in the air, ichor trailing down to the grass beneath. His legs hung uselessly below him.

(https://i.ibb.co/tqhmnLP/Damage-control.png)

Hiding his overwhelming fear, with the hands that could still move, he took his copper arrows out of his backpack, and threw.

(https://i.ibb.co/26sfhjN/The-Human-Swordwoman-draws-her-longsword.png)

The first strike hit her. He threw another, but she jumped away. He threw another.

(https://i.ibb.co/qFt30Gz/The-copper-arrow-has-lodged-firmly-in-the-wound.png)

Yet another arrow flew, as she jumped away. He could see vomit on the ground around her. She hit the next arrow away with her sword.

(https://i.ibb.co/ysnv7Kp/Another-arrow-lodged-in-the-wound.png)

She did not do so again for the next one. As yet another arrow flew, she rolled away from it.

(https://i.ibb.co/gFpmJJp/She-bled-to-death.png)

She didn't make it much further.

(https://i.ibb.co/cygP2Jn/In-for-landing.png)

Imic landed, and hit the ground with a thud. His breath was laboured and slow. He closed his eyes, and gave a sigh of relief, as he finally allowed himself to relax. As he stared at the cold, unseeing eyes of the Human lying in a growing pool of her own blood, he felt sick, and scared, and horrified. Slowly, the pain came to him in full force, and he simply lay there for a long, long time, before he finally gained the strength to drag himself over to his abandoned trousers and his bloody arrows. Then he saw her. Another human. Eyes set to kill. He beat his wings faster than he ever had before, and watched as the other human ran away.

(https://i.ibb.co/MVpQHDg/I-must-withdraw.png)

He lowered himself to the ground and took a look at the Swordswoman's corpse. She had no belongings on her besides her sword. He left everything he hadn’t already picked up, and as quick as he could, he dragged himself away, away from the Village, away from the other Human, away from the corpse's dead, cold eyes.

---

9th of Slate, 700, late evening.

(https://i.ibb.co/GQfwRvd/By-the-campfire.png)

I got into a fight today with a Human. They started with punches, but they kept mangling me until I was forced to fly and use my arrows. I crawled away in the end. Part of me says that she didn't intent to kill me, but I have too many scars now for that to be true. By the end of it, I couldn't use my legs and I could barely use my wings. I still haven't gotten the ichor out of my clothing, it remains as a constant reminder of what happened.

(https://i.ibb.co/3yBQpvW/Scars.png)

After I made it out of the Village where I ran into her, I fiollowed the river north. I ran into a pack of boars, and I took one down for dinner. The river froze over even as I butchered it, and the snow came down soon after. I found a suitably shady tree, and here I am now. there isn't much more to say. I set off to the north-west in the morning. The hills grow ever taller in the distance.

He put the book, pen, and ink back in the backpack, and shut it, placing it beneath the tree and beyond the touch of the snow. Finally, he himself lay down in the embrace of the tree behind him, and he slowly drifted off to sleep, the crackling of the fire a gentle lullaby to his tired ears.

---

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

That took much longer than I expected it to. It ended up more grimdark than I had intended, too. Hopefully it's alright.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on March 29, 2020, 02:16:05 am

Great start to the story. I hope that week of good fortune holds up.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game
Post by: Imic on March 29, 2020, 03:52:35 am

10th of Slate, 700.

I found a river and followed it for most of the day, through the badlands and the wastelands, following it south of the Goblin pits. I passed through Castle Dawnedbeans as the day approached sunset, and I stopped in for a visit. I expected it to be empty, but there were three Humans there, alone in the dusty old place. They were very friendly, and though I decided against sleeping there, I enjoyed what little time I spent with them.
(https://i.ibb.co/7WLBy9q/Campfire.png)
The town of Paddleticks is to the north-west and the Tomb of Bornoats is to my north-east. I'm tempted to make for the tomb, but I also don't want to anger the dead, or their living relatives. Either way, I'm going to make for Paddleticks first thing in the morning. I don't have much money, but I'm not sure if I'll even find anyone there. At the very least, it'll be a place to take shelter for the night.

The sky was clear above him, the sun was in the eastern sky, and there was a cool breeze blowing in from the west. The path below his feet was well-trodden sandy loam, and around him the meadowgrass waved lazily in the wind beneath the few willow trees. There wasn't a soul in sight. After a little wandering, he came across a few houses, and peeked in. Each one was empty of life. He followed the road north into the town proper, checking every house he passed, only to find each one empty. As he came into the market, he was faced with only deafening silence, the wares lying scattered across the square.

(https://i.ibb.co/M6gXmmW/Empty-market.png)

Slowly, he made his way towards the castle. At first, he heard nothing, but as he made his way around the keep to the doors, he began to hear something stir inside. He slowly, cautiously, opened the door, and peeked inside.

(https://i.ibb.co/87NGBV5/Goblin-castle.png)

Standing inside were two frail, slim Goblins, speaking in hushed tones about revenge. He opened his mouth, and spoke.
'Ah... hello? My name is Imic Heatherwind.'
One of the Goblins, a Spearman, replied;
'Hello, Moth man. I'm Unlo Goredyell.
Suddenly, the Goblin, spear in hand, ran towards the door, a merciless look in his eyes. Imic panicked and jumped past him, into the Castle, as the goblin ignored him and ran past, into a tower outside the keep. He spread his wings and began to beat them frantically nonetheless, hearing the sounds of fighting from inside the tower and the Keep as he landed on the roof. As he made his way back down to the market, he watched as the other Goblin, a frail warlord, ran past the market into the town with fear and anger in her eyes.

(https://i.ibb.co/QMtggmY/Goblin-running-away.png)

As he made his own exit in the same direction, she ran past him, back towards the castle. He grabbed an iron spear from the market, and began to run. Any direction was good. The other Goblin was running towards him. Imic's wings began to beat, but it was too late.

(https://i.ibb.co/6X0LXdM/Oh-god.png)

The pain took hold, and he hit the ground.

(https://i.ibb.co/28JRsP2/The-end.png)

Darkness overtook him, and the world faded away.

---

The page of the journal is stained with ichor. You turn to the next, which is blank. You flick through the next few pages, but they're all blank too. You shut the book. The Dwarf has come over. You ask him how it ended up here. He says that a merchant caravan passed through with it, and that they dropped it off free of charge. You take the journal, and put it down with the rest. Another soul lost in this broken world.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

I'm going to start work in Fortress mode now. Hopefully whatever I build there will make someone else's adventure more interesting than mine.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game
Post by: Cathar on March 29, 2020, 07:06:32 am

Oh no, moth man :(
I'll avenge you when it's my turn. It's a bit sad, love the writing

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game
Post by: Quantum Drop on March 29, 2020, 07:08:41 am

Ach, damn Goblins. Guess I know my piece for the Museum in advance.

Writing was excellent; sometimes a short tragedy is greater than a long story.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game
Post by: Superdorf on March 29, 2020, 03:01:50 pm

Ahh Imic
you made me care for that papery little critter
and now it's dead
and I am sad

...

Happy fortressing, then. You did good.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on March 29, 2020, 04:57:24 pm

Our first tragedy  :(
Someone build a mausoleum in the first museum game, and people dragged other dead adventurers over there to lay them to rest. This poor moth-man would be worthy of such an honor.

Also: Run it's pac man!:

Quote from: Imic on March 28, 2020, 06:36:05 pm

9th of Slate, 700, late evening.
(https://i.ibb.co/GQfwRvd/By-the-campfire.png)

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game
Post by: Timeless Bob on March 30, 2020, 06:07:11 pm

Yes.  We need an "Adventurer's Guild" fortress complete with hospital and mausoleum.  Each turn it can be unretired and added to.  I'm just surprised that's not the Museum too.  Imagine building new wings of a museum with each admission, each table and chair placed just so, and a small staff of museum-keepers, each one being a possible companion for the Adventurers who have retired there alive...

If it hasn't been built by my turn, I shall dedicate my pilgrims to building just such a place of Sanctuary.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game
Post by: TheFlame52 on March 31, 2020, 02:57:47 pm

What about an Evil Adventurer's Guild for all the vampires, necromancers, revenants, and husks?

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on March 31, 2020, 04:06:53 pm

Yeah, just make sure to not mix the two up  :)

One of the reasons for not having the museum in a player build fortress is the high mortality rate of retired adventurers at such sites (at least in my experience).
Somehow there are always aggressive visitors, loyalty cascades, or unexplained deaths at those sites in my adventure mode games. A hospital in such conditions could be interesting.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game
Post by: Imic on April 02, 2020, 06:56:03 am

The Save game's here. (http://dffd.bay12games.com/file.php?id=14982)
I was going to build a second Fort after my first one came to an end, but I couldn't work up the motivation to start another project after how swimmingly the first one went.

Quote from: Cathar on March 29, 2020, 07:06:32 am

Oh no, moth man :(
I'll avenge you when it's my turn. It's a bit sad, love the writing

Quote from: Quantum Drop on March 29, 2020, 07:08:41 am

Ach, damn Goblins. Guess I know my piece for the Museum in advance.

Writing was excellent; sometimes a short tragedy is greater than a long story.

Quote from: Superdorf on March 29, 2020, 03:01:50 pm

Ahh Imic
you made me care for that papery little critter
and now it's dead
and I am sad

...

Happy fortressing, then. You did good.

thank you all for the kind words. I've never been very confident in the quality of my writing ability, but I could never have recieved a greater compliment than being told that I made someone sad when a character died. Hopefully some of the adventures to come will end happier than mine did.

Edit: forgot to request, stick me back on the turn list if it’s possible.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on April 02, 2020, 08:00:46 am

I've send Emilovich a message.

This is the map of the surroundings of the museum with the new fortress:

(https://pic8.co/sh/mqONQh.gif)

The first attempt by dwarves after centuries to revive their empire, but there have been no reports from the site for some time..

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game
Post by: Imic on April 02, 2020, 08:17:03 am

No spot on the turn list?

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on April 02, 2020, 08:32:19 am

Quote from: Imic on April 02, 2020, 08:17:03 am

No spot on the turn list?

Fixed. Thanks for reminding me, I was editing three posts at the same time. The turn list, and overall map have been updated.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game
Post by: Maloy on April 02, 2020, 08:49:11 am

ooooohh this is an amazing idea and I'm loving it!!
Can I get a spot??

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game
Post by: pikachu17 on April 02, 2020, 09:18:17 am

PTW

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on April 02, 2020, 12:59:47 pm

Quote from: Maloy on April 02, 2020, 08:49:11 am

ooooohh this is an amazing idea and I'm loving it!!
Can I get a spot??

Sure!

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game
Post by: Emilovich on April 03, 2020, 04:05:00 am

Classic Divedact

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/OomqX58.png)

By Bil Hammertome

Ah, Odiuse! Gem of the High Confederacies and the center of knowledge for all the known world! My home! How beautiful you look, perched there on the ridge above the rivers and waterfalls! The Citadel of Singing basks in the afternoon sun, its imposing towers and battlements witnessing of the struggles of the past! Oh Odiuse, to have seen you during your glory days before the scourge of the living dead brought ruin to your people! Those days are long gone, but with this book I hope to give your children just a small glimpse of the old you, the Classic Divedact!

 (https://i.imgur.com/AXdimLq.png)

Divedact was founded in the year 57 by the fair people of the High Confederacies. The first building here was the Citadel of Singing, which was to guard the entire southern half of the Confederacies, but this was a time of peace and prosperity for all the peoples of the Great Valley that mortals call home, and Divedact grew quickly. The main street south of the Citadel is the oldest, but new streets quickly started branching out from there. After justb a few decades, Divedact started looking like it does today:

(https://i.imgur.com/NBiaIwx.png)

The entire center would have looked more or less like today, with the busy main street sloping down towards the river, the bustling meat market west of the keep and of course the necropolis of Mazescar towering above the scenery, with a grand view across the valley. Though the floor and pillars were in a better state back then. The Tenebrous Abbey and its wonderful gardens were also erected during this time in honor of Tokda the Pristine Help, the Goddess of laws, oaths and marriages.

And, slightly hidden away from the busy town life, lies the Palace of Brains, a black obsidian gem carved into the hillside just above the meadows by the river. Originally constructed to store tax records, the reading halls of the Palace soon attracted the greatest minds from near and far. And, indeed, most of them were dwarves. Yes, dwarves, my dear Odiuse. For back in this age, the dwarves were much more numerous than they are now, and, in fact, your history and that of all the Confederacies is also very much a history of dwarves. The dwarf’s thirst for knowledge is almost as great as his thirst for beer, and the Palace became home to a society of academics such as Ushat Reveredshots, Zasit Inkgates, Risen Bronzeworth and many other great minds whose names are now lost to time. Its halls were filled with the voices of the Classics as they debated the workings of the earth, the wind, the clouds and everything in between. All the great Manuals were written during this period by the Dwarven Classics, as Divedact became the center of learning in the world.

However, all good things eventually come to an end. At the turn of the 1st century, the dwarves of Confusedship unleashed the Horrors from the depths of Hell – yes those very same Horrors that still ravage our lands from time to time – and this spelt the beginning of the end for the Dwarves. The Demons killed a great many dwarves and severely weakened their kingdom, rendering them vulnerable for the troubles to come.

The dwarven thirst for knowledge can lead to great things, but it can also lead to very dark things. And so it was that a lowly bookbinder from Stakelessons became obsessed with her own mortality and sought to extend her life by any means. This dwarf, my dear Odiuse, was Oddom Girdergrove – a name that strikes fear in the heart of all living souls. She had been chased out of her home in the Mountainhomes because of her vile experiments and had for some years unsuccessfully sought vengeance against her countrymen, but when the Horrors arrived, things suddenly changed. The records are unclear as to what exactly happened next, but less than a decade after the appearance of the Horrors, Mistress Oddom’s hordes were first seen in the land of the High Confederacies, and every time she won a battle, the ranks of her armies were bolstered even further. Thus began two centuries of terror where the dead would overrun the entire northern part of the world. By the turn of the second century, Oddom’s armies numbered in the tens of thousands and their onslaught was relentless. Divedact fell in 226. The Elves and Dwarves were brought to the brink of extinction. But then something happened. During the first half of the 4th century, the undead hordes started shrinking. Nobody knew why. The forces of the living rallied and launched an attack on the undead from all sides – the Goblins of the Most Sin and the warrior Nations of Honouring from the north, the High Confederacies from the west and the Creamy Confederacy from the south. And they won. The victory was widely attributed to the forces of the living uniting to fight the common enemy, but truth is no one knows what happened to the vile necromancers behind the catastrophe.

But Oddom seemed to be gone for good. Life slowly returned to normal in Divedact, but only slowly, for the town has been ravaged by necromancers no less than six times since the victory of the living over the dead. These necromancers were never as powerful as Oddom, but nevertheless posed a significant threat to the people of Divedact and the High Confederacy. While your children are fighting for their survival, the books in the Palace of Brains are left to gather dust. No new great Manuals have been written for five hundred years and the halls of the Palace lie dormant and quiet.

My dream, dear Odiuse, is that one day the land shall be rid of the scourge of Horrors and Death, and the halls of knowledge will once again be filled with wisdom. By Rogon the Umber, I pray I will live to see it happen!

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on April 04, 2020, 01:07:58 am

Wow, you have managed to reconstruct a lot of historic events. Great stuff, looking forward to the adventure.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game
Post by: Emilovich on April 06, 2020, 11:06:25 am

25th of Felsite, 703
I am Bil Hammertome and this is my story. I grew up in Divedact, in the High Confederacies, and like absolutely everyone else here (apart from all the goblins), I have long, goldenrod hair, dark peach skin and aqua eyes. As I grew up, I loved reading books and so I spent much of my time at the Palace of Brains. In the beginning people teased me about it, but then they found out that old silver and stone-bound codices really pack a punch when in the right hands and then they stopped. And that’s how I got my nickname.
Anyway, because of my love for books I decided to become a bookbinder. I spent many years in the profession, slowly mastering the art of binding books. However, business has been really bad lately. In fact, no new books have been written in Divedact for around 500 years, since the necromancers first appeared in the area. Five times they have burnt down the town, and five times we have rebuilt it. I wrote a book about this, you may have heard about it. But the necromancers were never truly defeated. The armies of the dead were beaten back, but in many cases the source of evil – the necromancers themselves – were never brought to justice. They have left our land in peace for over a hundred years now, but many are still alive, hiding in their dark towers or in plain sight, biding their time and plotting their next move. If Divedact and the High Confederacies are to ever regain their former glory, someone must make sure the dead do not return.

And that is why I decided it is time to change my line of work. Together with my friend Kem, I will embark on a quest to rid the land of the undead scourge.

26th of Felsite, 703
Spent most of the day trying to find somewhere to buy a backpack. No luck. Good thing my trusty steed Tor can act as a pack animal. I need to bring all my writing equipment.

I also went to the Palace of Brains to take with me some light reading for the journey. I picked a book called “More Moving World” by an unknown author. The writing is a bit sad, but I really like the silver cover.

We will set out to Mistirgospo – Momentcrowded - a known necromancer site, where the Horses of Perplexing reside. They are led by an ancient dwarf called Athel Ivoryknife who is responsible for having razed Divedact twice.

We set out in the early morning. There are villages along the entire route, so we didn’t worry about food or shelter.

The first village on the way was Brassconfused. It has been abandoned for a long time, but I had heard someone had settled there recently. However, walking down the main street, it seemed completely empty. Trying to find its inhabitants or perhaps something useful, Kem and I searched the houses. While inside the last house, I hear something outside. I come out and find myself surrounded by at least two dozen peasants:

(https://i.imgur.com/PIbcBwI.png)

They proceed to charge right at me, so I quickly mount my horse and charge right through their ranks. One of them tries to attack Tor, but Tor jumps away! We made it away, but I realize I can’t see Kem anywhere. I try to draw them away from the village while throwing mud and knives at them, and after a short while they seem to realize the futility of their endeavor and begin to run away.

My hands are itching for a good fight though, so I decide to dissuade them from ever trying to rob anyone again:

(https://i.imgur.com/KyC9TWN.png)

Having thrown away my knife, I charge right at one of my assailants and strike him in the ‘lower body’ with my silver-bound bedtime reading. Then she gets trampled by my horse.

I chase down and beat a few others, then ride back to the village to look for Kem. Sadly, he is nowhere to be found.

So I wait for a while and then he shows up, angry that I galloped away from him the moment we set out from Divedact. Perhaps we should get him a horse too.

Then we turn southwest away from the river valley and onto the great open plains. As we ride through several more ruined villages, we are reminded of the importance of our mission. All these places were full of life until the arrival of Mistress Oddom’s hordes. In an abandoned mead hall, I find some bronze plate armor and a Morningstar.

We continue on, and the landscape changes from open plains to forested, rolling hills. I stop by another village mead hall to see if there are more things I can use. I peek through the door and is greeted by a Goblin shouting “Identify yourself!”. The situation escalates quickly from there:

(https://i.imgur.com/XLE9rwW.png)

The goblin who spoke first, apparently the leader, tries to hold back his eager companion, who charges right at me. I quickly mount my horse and put some distance between me and the hall. The goblins emerge from the building, still arguing whether to fight or leave me be. As always when there is trouble, Kem is nowhere to be found. Eventually, they decide to attack, and both charge right at me. I only barely manage to escape.

I ride on to the village of Grayglory, recently reclaimed by my fellow countrymen. It is getting late, so I decide to stay here for the night. Hopefully Kem will catch up with me.


1st of Hematite, 703
Stayed in Grayglory for a few days waiting for Kem. He hasn’t showed up.

Talking to the villagers, I hear news of the ongoing war with the demons. The war is going well and the High Confederacies are on the offensive. Perhaps my dream of peace is not that far into the future!

I heard something even more interesting from baron Zar. Apparently, a necromancer called Iton has sent out word that she wishes to acquire some lost artefacts, and that these are to be returned to her in Tongstreat, a tomb in the northern part of the High Confederacies. When I have completed my mission to Mistirgospo, I will go there.

Since Kem has abandoned me, I will continue the adventure on my own.

Finally, I have arrived at my destination: Mistirgospo. Before me, the forests give way to a plain field littered with strange towers and pyramids. However, the place seems eerily empty…

(https://i.imgur.com/LXal45S.png)

Investigating some of the buildings, I found an amusing guide to my hometown. Overall, the prose is great and I feel somehow connected to the woman who wrote it some hundred years ago. Apparently, she was taken prisoner when the necromancers from this place ravaged Divedact. She was seduced by the promises of unlimited immortality and became a necromancer herself.

After wandering around the site for some time, I found a building that set itself apart from the others. A twisted spire. No grass or bushes grew around it, as if even the plants knew something was wrong here. As I approached, I was greeted by an old, white-haired dwarf, who introduced herself as Behal the bard. However, upon interrogation she openly admitted to being part of the Horses of Perplexing. She was a monster. But now was not the time for justice to be delivered. I needed to know more about the place first. I rode up to the twisted building and peeked inside. It was dark, and I could hear voices. Behal passed me and went inside. I took a few steps back and walked around the building, thinking that I wanted a proper view of it before entering. It was very tall.

(https://i.imgur.com/Zm0TMw2.png)

As I came back around to the entrance, I nearly stepped on a rotten hand. It was moving! I quickly smashed it with my Morningstar, then it became still.

I went inside, bringing Tor with me so I could quickly escape, turned left and peeked into a room. Empty, apart from some creepy statues. I closed the door, turned around and stared right into a rotten face. I was sure this was the end for me, and quickly took out my morningstar, but this however proved unnecessary:

(https://i.imgur.com/cEM5t5j.png)

I soon realized the dead weren’t hostile to me… Apart from the hands that are crawling around, trying to grab my feet. Although the walking dead cannot speak, they appear to have some amount of their humanity left. I explored the entire tower without getting molested by the poor souls condemned to forever serve the necromancers, but no-one other than Behal was there. I witnessed her raising a corpse when I was sneaking around, so she definitely isn’t a regular bard.

I decided to go back to the nearest village to spend the night and gather reinforcements.


2nd of Hematite, 703
I found a macewoman called Asi who agreed to join me on my quest to purge Mistirgospo. We set out towards Mistirgospo at first sunlight. But something had changed. The forest was now crowded with the walking dead, and they were very hostile. It seemed we had to fight our way to even get to the tower. We had no problem besting them, though I regret the choice of the Morningstar as my weapon. Zombies can take many hits to the head before going down.

The last zombie before we reached the tower managed to twist the head of my horse so badly the skin tore up. He was just lying on the ground, however not dead. We decided to continue on and then return to see if he had gotten any better when going home.

After having fought about half a dozen zombies we finally made it to the tower. I was hoping the zombies aimlessly walking about the fields meant that the necromancers had returned from wherever they had gone so I could punish them for their crimes. However, the tower was just as empty as the day before, apart from the friendly, rotting zombies stalking the corridors.

Behal – the so-called bard I met yesterday – was nowhere to be found, but we happened upon another lady presenting herself as a herbalist. I questioned her about her family and she came up with some nonsense story about an aunt who died in 5th century. Obviously, no ordinary human could have an aunt that old, so I accused her of being a night creature. Her response was to raise one of the corpses lying around the room to fight us. We quickly bested it and chased after the necromancer. When we found her she yielded and admitted that her real name was Tawki Groupappeared and that she was a necromancer. So she was not the leader, just some apprentice. Then I struck her down.

We decided to return to the village nearby for the night. However, my horse Tor had disappeared. This is a problem since he was carrying all my food, books and writing equipment. Dammit!

As we walk back to the village, I can’t help but feel that this had been a failure. I know Athel Ivoryknife is out there somewhere, but I have no idea where she is. Should have executed that bard when I had the chance!

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game
Post by: Luckyowl on April 06, 2020, 05:49:31 pm

Bil Helsing! Rid the world of necromancer, so the human race can prosper once more!  :D .

Was pretty fun to read. I  like the ambush scene. It really show how desperate the people of the High Confederacies are getting. The state has ignore the people as they are too focus fighting the war. Leaving the peasants victim of beast attacks and razed villages by the enemy to fend for themselves. Some left their homeland while others resort to banditry to keep them and their family alive.

I'm here hoping that Bil can bring his homeland out from the dark age and into the Renaissance.    :D

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game
Post by: Timeless Bob on April 06, 2020, 09:46:25 pm

I am wondering if the poor horse will be "found" by the necromancers and "given new life"... Having to best Tor to retake your writing equipment and food.. that would be quite a thing.  What happens if Tor is as docile and friendly as the Tower undead?

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game
Post by: Emilovich on April 07, 2020, 11:08:54 am

3rd of Hematite, 703
I spent the night at Embracedvises and got up to find the landscape covered in snow. What a beautiful morning! Today starts my trip back to Divedact, from where I will travel east to Tongstreat, where I am sure I will find the dwarf necromancer Iton Helmedglides. He was once the apprentice of Goden the Gates of Mightiness who was killed by the dwarves retaking Treatyseed three years ago.

(https://i.imgur.com/BE5hsl4.png)

5th of Hematite, 703
The journey to Tongstreat was uneventful, but now we stand before the tomb of Tongstreat. It is easily the biggest building I have ever seen. A giant square tower, easily as tall as the twisted spire of Mistirgospo and seemingly much more massive. On the door is a brass slab:

(https://i.imgur.com/nqMN0jA.png)

I am afraid Thomo’s rest has already been disturbed, but I hope not. Thomo was the first Law-Giver of the High Confederacies. If the filthy necromancer has desecrated her tomb, I will make her pay for it. The door is, however, locked. Perhaps the tomb is undisturbed after all? I pick the lock and enter anyway.

The treasures inside gives a glimpse of a more prosperous age: Tons of weapons and armor made by bronze and iron, gold figurines, and expensive bracelets. And even a tome! Let’s see what it says…

(https://i.imgur.com/SwYbfXl.png)

Farmpuzzled… The dark place where Athel Ivoryknife also mastered the dark arts. Someone has definitely been here...

(https://i.imgur.com/vuHrm9E.png)

I found Thomo’s tomb. It is undisturbed. Good. But, as I turn to walk out of the room, something stirs behind me.

(https://i.imgur.com/KQ3PNpO.png)

RUUUUUUN!!! Asi barely gets to draw her flail before the skeletons are all over her. I manage to jump past them and escape, however not the way I came from. I run up the stairs and find myself on a balcony looking down on the skeletons in the process of tearing poor Asi apart. Two skeletons approach from each side and I have no choice but to jump back down into the mayhem and run for the exit:

(https://i.imgur.com/rZPQfSf.png)

(https://i.imgur.com/kP1c35u.png)

I got to the stairs, and as I sprint down them Asi finally stops screaming. Poor Asi. I am not sure I like this Thomo all that much.
I run as fast as I can while still hearing the skeletons behind me, continue through a corridor where the skeletons are still not moving and make it to another chamber which I remember having been in before… But did I come from upstairs or downstairs?

(https://i.imgur.com/cwP5HY1.png)

Downstairs. I was right. As I retrace my path through the chambers, I take time to pick up an iron axe and iron shield to replace my bronze morningstar. And a gold figurine… Then I look up and notice that I’m in a room I don’t remember having been in before!

(https://i.imgur.com/hevW6qV.png)

It’s a dead end. I run back up the stairs and with some margin outmaneuver a skeleton. Then I make a run for it towards freedom. Thank Rogon, I made it out! No sight of the necromancer though. Now I need to rest. I will go north to Bindviper, apparently the nearest civilized place, and then search the area again tomorrow.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on April 07, 2020, 05:10:05 pm

Wow, that was close. Good thing you did not run into a mummy.

Quote from: Emilovich on April 07, 2020, 11:08:54 am

3rd of Hematite, 703
I spent the night at Embracedvises and got up to find the landscape covered in snow. What a beautiful morning! Today starts my trip back to Divedact, from where I will travel east to Tongstreat, where I am sure I will find the dwarf necromancer Iton Helmedglides. He was once the apprentice of Goden the Gates of Mightiness who was killed by the dwarves retaking Treatyseed three years ago.

Goden the Gates of Mightiness! I indeed found his corpse during my adventure:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Quote from: Bralbaard on March 16, 2020, 02:12:52 am

Dozens of goblin corpses are piled up in the hallways.
The only dead dwarf that I find was a necromancer that must have fought on the side of the enemy. I can identify him by the book that he has clutched in his dead hands:
(https://pic8.co/sh/kLmItf.gif)

(https://pic8.co/sh/UA2BdI.gif)

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game
Post by: Emilovich on April 09, 2020, 01:19:59 pm

6th of Hematite
I am now back in Divedact after my failed attempt at locating and bringing to justice the evil necromancer Iton Helmedglides. I have investigated other possible necromancer locations and have found out that the tower of Largetempest, where the necromancer group responsible for the latest sacking of Divedact, is located only half a day’s travel to the east. I have now recruited a squire to help me on this noble quest and we will set out tomorrow.


7th of Hematite
We set out towards Largetempest, crossing picturesque plains east of Divedact. Even saw a flock of unicorns close to the old monastery. As we approach the tower, however, vegetation becomes sparse. When we reach the first pyramid, which this tower too seems to be surrounded by, there is barely even any grass to see. But this place is different from Mistirgospo. Within the pyramid we hear noises. Peeking inside, we are greeted by a big fat monster:

(https://i.imgur.com/WYpi8cR.png)

Although born from evil, he was actually an alright fellow and as I have no proof he has committed any crimes, I let him live. My goal is to punish the necromancers, not their poor victims. Actually, all the pyramids were inhabited by some kind of monster. Either the above scaly ones or these three-eyed ones:

(https://i.imgur.com/liwDmES.png)

As we approach the twisted spires of Largetempest, we are greeted by a swarm of arms and heads crawling towards us and trying to bite and scratch. We make short work of these fearsome opponents.

(https://i.imgur.com/YEHfZ6x.png)

We charge in the doors and directly to my right I stand face to face with a necromancer! Eager to not waste a single moment, I proceed to slash him in the head. Bleeding and horrified he screams for help, and I just manage to think that this will be a victory, but then he gestures at me, and the world starts spinning. I fall over, while my goblin squire attempts to shield me from the sharp knives of the necromancer and his aides. As I stumble towards the exit, I feel blisters forming all over my body. The pain is unbearable and I can’t tell if I’ve been stabbed or it’s just the blisters puncturing and bleeding all over. The necromancer does not follow me outside though, and I manage to best another wave of severed arms and heads. Then, my brave squire appears in the doorway. I thought for sure he was dead! … Oh, he is. I quickly decide that this necromancer’s death can wait a little while and make a run for the hills.




Wow, that was a close one. Thought for sure it was the end of Bil’s adventure. Now I think I’m going to make my way towards Boltspumpkin and then possibly a heroic death. Then I'll submit the save tomorrow.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game
Post by: tonnot98 on April 10, 2020, 12:39:57 am

I've had much fun in the last two times this game was open, I'd like a turn!

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on April 10, 2020, 02:59:35 pm

Hey Tonnot,

good to see you are still active, I'll add you to the list.

Quote from: Emilovich on April 09, 2020, 01:19:59 pm

Wow, that was a close one. Thought for sure it was the end of Bil’s adventure. Now I think I’m going to make my way towards Boltspumpkin and then possibly a heroic death. Then I'll submit the save tomorrow.

Just wanted to let you know that you can also retire your adventure and play him again if you sign up for another turn. (Though obviously there is not guarantee he will be alive by then)

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game
Post by: Emilovich on April 10, 2020, 04:13:02 pm

8th of Hematite
Back in Divedact I found an old account from 443 of the razing of Passionspirals, a necromancer tower to the north of the High Confederacies. This account states that the slab containing the evil secrets of undeath was taken by an illiterate High Confederacy soldier, who later died in a battle at Boltspumpkin, a fort far to the south, across the barren hills that make up the southern border of the High Confederacies. I have decided to go there, seek out the slab and destroy it. Also, there is another razed necromancer tower on the way – Farmpuzzled – and I will investigate that on the way as well. With me I will bring Ero the Monstler Slayer and Snodub the Goblin Beast Hunter. Word around town in Divedact says Snodub is well-traveled, so I hope he will be of great use.

9th of Hematite
We’ve now reached the borders of the High Confederacies and are taking shelter in some old Dwarven hillocks. That is, I am. It appears Ero and Snodub ran off to fight a dingo and did not come back. Dammit.

10th of Hematite
I’ve arrived at Farmpuzzled. Once the centre of a mighty necromancer cult, it was conquered and razed several centuries ago and is now empty. However, there are a lot of forbidden scriptures here. I have dumped some of them in a lake to the west of the tower, hopefully nobody finds them.


11th of Hematite
Arrived at the first hamlet of the Creamy Confederacy. Desperately hungry I enter the first village on my way and am greeted by a rotting corpse lying the middle of the street. Not much food here. I continue on to the next village, Queenruled, which I am pleased to find is not abandoned. A sizeable community of 30 farmers live here, and they look so different from my countrymen. Black hair, never seen that before. However, they do not have any food either. Desperate, I trade my bronze gauntlets for a knife and go hunting in the woods. This doesn’t prove a huge success, as I find no animals before I reach Boltspumpkin:

(https://i.imgur.com/zLsi5I9.png)

A very peculiar longitudinal fortress inhabited by two goblins. They told me there used to be a dwarf, but apparently he went to Treatyseed to join the  In the corner of the main hall, I can’t help but notice a huge blistered slab. So it is here, not doing any harm at the moment however, since goblins never age anyway. I am mainly focused on not starving. The goblins have a horse which I could butcher, but that would be rude. I’ll ride back to the village to find food.

….

25th of Hematite
Dear diary. Two weeks ago I nearly died of starvation so I had to take a little break before continuing again. Fall has now properly begun and the leaves are turning beautiful red and yellow colors. I’m better and will continue my quest to obliterate all necromancers. First: Find my new horse. Apparenlty it doesn’t consider me its owner and has probably wandered back to Boltspumpkin. I suppose it’s fair, I don’t even know it’s name. This may prove problematic in the long run, but I really need a horse to act as a packhorse.

When I get back the Boltspumpkin I notice a blank surface to my right while walking towards the gate:

(https://i.imgur.com/8yAA2HW.png)

A shiver runs down my spine. There it is, the blistered necromancer’s slab. How did it get there? The goblins tell me that it's happened before. Sometimes it tries to escape from the museum. It is almost as if it is whispering to me, offering promises of greatness and power. That thing needs to be destroyed. NOW.

...

So, here I am, standing above the fires of Thakom Tadin:

(https://i.imgur.com/qholKbz.png)

For a moment I hesitate – after all, I could use the slab to do good – but no. I cast it into the fire. ((OOC: There's a volcano  (https://imgur.com/60Z1Thl)a few hours northwest of the museum. Handy for destroying unwanted things or building a cool fortress))

26th of Hematite
Difficult to find food in this area, but there is an abandoned town with a market full of meat and weapons nearby. This land is in a very bad state as compared to the High Confederacies. I have one last quest before I will lay off adventuring for a while. I’ve heard rumors that Oddom, the evilest of all necromancers and the one who is responsible for wiping out the races of dwarves and elves, can be found at Heroicgem further up in the same valley as Boltspumpkin. Should only be a few days' travel away. She is the leader of the Scholarly Mansions, the necromancer group who threatened to wipe out all life in the world a few centuries ago. The exact reason for why they failed and were defeated by a coalition of primarily men and goblins around the year 345 is unknown. Perhaps I will find out, now I know she has apparently settled down in this lawless area.

28th of Hematite
This valley is one huge maze of sparsely populated goblin pits.

1st of Malachite
I made it here! Before me is the tower of Heroicgem where the evil Lady Oddom resides.I suppose my odds aren’t the best, but we will all be better off if I can rid the world of this foul creature.

A first glance through to main entrance reveals a scaled, winged creature walking around the horribly foul-smelling interior:

(https://i.imgur.com/X7JoXd0.png)

My experience as a necromancer hunter tells me that politeness goes a long way with freakish monsters:

(https://i.imgur.com/Zuhk0DB.png)

He reveals to me that Oddom is indeed at home in the tower. Another scaly person joins us. They seem a bit nervous. I try to keep them calm by telling jokes as I inspect the great hall that seems to form the core of this tower. And then I saw her:

(https://i.imgur.com/onUUBig.png)

Oddom Girdergrove, the great enemy, the master necromancer. There is no doubt with that huge, crooked nose. And then she walks behind a stairway. Did she go up? Or through the door? Goddammit. The place is rather empty, it doesn’t seem like she is preparing a world conquest in the foreseeable future. I walk up some stairs, trying to find Oddom again. At the end of a stairway I come up behind a whitehaired woman:

(https://i.imgur.com/pjmjWIj.png)

She is unarmed and alone. Unless she has secret powers, she has absolutely no chance as their tower is nice and clean and completely devoid of rotting corpses she can raise. But I need to know who I will be punishing. She presents herself as Otir Worshippedferry, the Gem Cutter Necromancer. Never heard of her, but she has admitted to her crimes so I give her the death sentence:

(https://i.imgur.com/xGUB1KW.png)

(https://i.imgur.com/T1m4bjS.png)

For a moment I just stand there admiring my work. That was proper executioner precision right there! (The first messages are me trying to grab a hold of her to prevent her from running away)

I continue my search and finally, in another spire of this mazelike citadel, in her study and surrounded by tons of books and scrolls, I’ve found her. Oddom Girdergrove.

(https://i.imgur.com/RpqfS2x.png)

I take a step forward.

(https://i.imgur.com/F8JSNod.png)

As I make my accusations and start listing all the horrible atrocities committed by her, she bolts past and runs down the stairs! I jump after her:

(https://i.imgur.com/leyr2pf.png)

And I chase her left and right and up the stairs

(https://i.imgur.com/vak3U5d.png)

When it seems like I’ve got her cornered, she jumps past me, I try to grab her but she jumps away!

She then draws her artefact crossbow and runs away again. I lose track of her.

Some time later I find her trying to escape through a hatch. I grab her by the arm and she tries to hit me with her crossbow, which she has no arrows for. Clearly, she is no fighter.

(https://i.imgur.com/43NEEqL.png)

Then I strike out against her leg:

(https://i.imgur.com/t9g8KF0.png)

We struggle for a while until I manage to get a clear shot at her head, which sails off in an arch!

It’s done! I can’t believe it. I’ve rid the world of the worst monster of all time, and she could barely defend herself! I proceed to take a few of her valuables. She seems to have been an ardent collector of crossbows. There are also a lot of dark scriptures scattered about this tower, I won’t be able to get rid of them all.

On my way out I’m stopped by the mighty scaled guardian of the tower:

(https://i.imgur.com/c32n3k2.png)

Contrary to their wishes, I proceed to walk off as quickly as possible with as much as possible.

-----

Thus, my travels are over for now.
Behold my contribution to the museum!

(https://i.imgur.com/FWWXzDA.png)

Savegame (http://dffd.bay12games.com/file.php?id=15004)

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game
Post by: Quantum Drop on April 10, 2020, 04:22:46 pm

Quote from: Emilovich on April 10, 2020, 04:13:02 pm

EDIT: Snipped for length

Very nicely done, Emilovich. Bit surprised that she went down so easy after such buildup, but that skull makes a fine addition to the Museum's collection.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game
Post by: pikachu17 on April 10, 2020, 04:30:44 pm

Please don't ever quote a long post like that again. Just saying "Very nicely done, Emilovich. Bit surprised that she went down so easy after such buildup, but that skull makes a fine addition to the Museum's collection." without the quote would have been fine.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on April 10, 2020, 05:05:23 pm

The second submission has been added to the museum:

Quote from: Bralbaard on March 10, 2020, 01:56:47 pm

2:The skull of Oddom Girdergrove Oddom Girdergrove the master necromancer raised an undead army that completely razed the elven and dwarven lands and most of the civilized world several centuries ago. The world has still not recovered from this tragedy, but now that Oddom is gone, there is hope (Submitted by Emilovich)

Also does this mean you want another turn?  :D :

Quote from: Emilovich

Thus, my travels are over for now.

(confirm if true)

I'll update the other posts and let Dwarvenlord know he can start.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game
Post by: DwarvenLord on April 10, 2020, 06:27:14 pm

Could you drop me down a turn or two? I'm currently running two different succession forts at the same time and will go insane if I have to do anything else.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on April 11, 2020, 12:49:49 am

No problem!

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game
Post by: Quantum Drop on April 11, 2020, 03:36:22 am

I have the file. Will try and start playing later today.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game
Post by: Quantum Drop on April 11, 2020, 11:20:13 am

Journal of Kom ‘QD’ Uzinithbi, 18th Malachite, 703.

This is the journal of Kom ‘QD’ Uzinithbi, a Black Mamba Man of Sparkhides. I’ve called this place home ever since I crawled out of that stinking hole of a marsh; the humans here didn’t really like me, but if they wanted fresh meat on their tables, they had few other options. I can drop a deer with a copper bolt through the eye at a dozen paces while lying down, and all of these bastards knew it.

Today, though, I leave. I have no choice but to do so, for the place is completely deserted – everyone’s seemed to vanish overnight, leaving me to remain. Rumours reached this sleepy little hamlet of a Museum, just before all this – a massive fortress, where adventurers bring items to be enshrined within. I know my destination, then: I will find an item worthy of this place, and bring it to them.

Should you find my diary, I will have failed in my quest. I don’t care what you do with this, or with my corpse; I ask only that you bring something to the Museum, and submit it in my name.

Kom closed the book and slipped it into his one of two backpacks, along with the necessary quill and ink. His serpentine head twitched from side to side as he looked about, before raising himself upward and beginning to slither off. A copper crossbow and a quiver of arrows were strapped to his back, while a bronze breastplate, copper helm, and copper gauntlets protected the rest of him.

The air was cold, though not bitterly so, and the sky above was clear. The Sun was directly overhead – noon, it would seem – as a cool breeze began blowing in from the west; over in the east, a waxing crescent moon had begun to arise. For a moment, he hesitated, considering where to go. West held nothing but stony mountains and ruined fortresses; to the east, there was rumour of a powerful magicker, raising the dead to do their bidding. North was no better, the empty plains stinking of death and dark magic. South it is, then.

Journal of Kom ‘QD’ Uzinithbi, 18th Malachite, 703.

Scarcely a day’s travel, and I have found something. A tower of some kind, abandoned, yet filled with bags and chests. Searching them proved fruitful; among other things, I now have seventy five bolts (twenty-five silver, fifty copper), an equal number of arrows (plus bronze bow) a bronze shield and spear, and two statues.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/9pPQEDl.png?1)

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/qkZqhT8.png?1)

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/lD2QEpO.png?1)

The latter of the two is particularly curious: it is cast in silver, and depicts some strange beast, all tentacles and claws and eyes, yet it bears the marks of no craftsman I know of. I have managed to take it with me, if only due to its relatively small size, though it is a significant weight upon my shoulders. Perhaps I may sell it, or provide it to the Museum.

Either way, I grow drowsy; I must sleep, and soon. This meadow is dense, and the grass will be more than sufficient to light a campfire – I will write more tomorrow, when I have the time.

---

Kom awoke to the sound of a howl. Dingos, an entire pack of them - they were racing towards him, eyes ablaze with hunger and drool dripping from exposed teeth. Teeth fouled against his gauntlets and bronze breastplate as the pack began their assault.

He scrambled upright, lunching forward to meet the pack’s alpha – a brutish, muscular thing, charging towards him.

Teeth sank into the creature’s leg as it lunged, and he could feel his venom pump into its blood. The Dingo snarled and clawed at his armour; the two of them carried on like that for what felt like a small eternity, the Muscular Dingo snapping and snarling, Kom biting and injecting as much venom as he could.

Then, at last, something shifted.

Spoiler: Eye Scream, You Scream... (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/WXNo8rC.png)

The Dingo’s second-in-command – a chubby, fat thing – rushed in without warning, leaping into the fray on the ground. The creature’s teeth closed on his right eye, punching through with ease. Kom’s scream of rage and pain echoed across the meadow as blood flowed from the pierced eye, his violent shaking hurling the Dingo away. Half-blindly, he reached for his backpack, seized something. It felt heavy, reassuringly weighty, and he flung it at the charging Muscular Dingo without a second thought. The creature staggered as the wooden chest impacted its lower body, the rest of the pack pulling back for their next charge.


His hands found their way to the crossbow and buckler. In the time they took to charge, a single arrow went wide – after that, he was back in the thick of it, slamming the crossbow against one attacker’s chest, driving his fangs into the neck of another.

With a scream half-muffled by the Dingo’s fur, he pumped all the venom he could into the Muscular Dingo’s upper body, shaking him around like a rabid beast. It was still fighting, despite everything; most went wide, or were dodged as the beast began to sway drunkenly, his venom finally taking effect.

Spoiler: Fall, you vicious bastard, fall! (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/EfFbWGX.png)

Thing ran together for some time – everything was little more than a blur of strikes, punches, bites and dodges, frantic and disorganised. At last, there came a lull in the fighting. His bronze spear was drawn in place of the crossbow, his teeth bared in pain and rage as the pack charged forward to strike. The pack leader’s lunge was met with a strike to the chest and foreleg; the Dingo went down shrieking, before finally passing out from exhaustion.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/XNeGVyt.png)

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/BbdhJZA.png)

He wasted no time in stabbing the downed beast through the throat; another dingo suffered the same fate, choking on its blood as the spear punched through the neck. The pack fell back in disorder as Kom switched once more to his crossbow, reloading and firing towards the fleeing pack members. A few bolts hit home, mostly against the legs or the lower body, sending the Chubby Dingo staggering. The final member of the pack came charging in, another muscular brute. His teeth swiftly punctured its lung, and venom began to pump in as the spear was once again drawn. Awkward to wield as it was, he still managed to drive the tip into the Dingo’s head – it convulsed violently, before finally going still as he levered the head off of the beast’s neck.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/BbdhJZA.png)

Kom breathed, ragged and half-exhausted. He managed to slither back over to his campfire, pulling up close to the warmth; he was freezing, and he needed something to drink before he did anything further. Gingerly, he placed a finger against the bloodied wreck of his eye, then looked down at the spear and the fire beside him.

Barely half a minute later, a cry of pain rang loud through the meadow.

Full battle text: https://pastebin.com/FpBFcZQR

(OOC: Got ambushed by a Dingo pack while asleep. 'least I still have my left eye, and got more than enough food out of it.)

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game
Post by: Superdorf on April 11, 2020, 12:49:55 pm

Eeyouch... that's gonna leave a mark.  :-X

A well-written (if inauspicious) beginning! Here's hoping your snake-guy's fortunes improve somewhat.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game
Post by: Quantum Drop on April 12, 2020, 09:48:04 am

Quote from: Superdorf on April 11, 2020, 12:49:55 pm

Eeyouch... that's gonna leave a mark.  :-X

A well-written (if inauspicious) beginning! Here's hoping your snake-guy's fortunes improve somewhat.

I think they just did.

Journal of Kom ‘QD’ Uzinithbi, 19th Malachite 703 – 3rd Galena 703
My eye is lost. That damn Dingo’s teeth blinded me wholesale, and the heated spear-tip took care of what was left. Painful, but necessary: infection can kill as quickly and far more painfully than any blade. I don’t have bandages or dressings, or any of that medical crap on me – let’s hope that the cauterisation will work. In the meantime, I need to hunt: I'm starting to get sick of the taste of Dingo meat, and I need some variety.

Kom lay in the undergrowth, bow pulled taut and his breathing regulated. A bronze arrow had been nocked in his bow, ready to fire at its target: a heavyset boar, fat and stupid, standing about in the grasses outside the Human castle. He breathed in, letting his eye track directly to the wild boar’s heart and shifting his aim appropriately, then breathing out as the crossbow fired.

The boar had already dodged a couple of arrows, moving out of the way at the most inopportune of times. A third copper arrow had smacked into its lower body, taking out one of the kidneys, but the boar had just continued to stand there, too stupid to realise it was under attack. The fourth shot proved the finisher, striking it firmly in the chest – the beast finally staggered forwards, moving a few steps before collapsing in a pool of blood.

Kom shifted his copper bow and nocked an arrow; it felt far too flimsy for him, compared to the reassuring weight and recoil of his crossbow. He’d been running low on bolts, and had been forced to switch a while ago – though the four-odd boars lying dead on the ground were a testament to its lethality, without bolts it would be no more than an unwieldy mace.

A low wheezing noise caught his attention. Turning, he was faced with the form of another wild boar, this one a female, not-so-stealthily approaching from the side. An arrow was swiftly fired, catching the creature in the kidney; it staggered for an instant, before turning its head and beginning to seek his scent. It wouldn't find him. The grass was his territory, and he could hide well enough that he was practically a part of it.

Kom answered its search with a low hiss, sheathing his bow and beginning to slither forwards. This boar was weak, and he felt unusually bloodthirsty for this hunt; his teeth were soon bared as he slid forth, before lunging at the boar from behind. The boar was already weak, and he was soon driving fist and fang into it alike, letting the venom paralyse and shut down his prey while he battered and broke its bones. Another one suffered a similar fate, a mix of venom and several extra bolts finally putting the creature down.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/czOi5im.png)

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/LH5Q8tn.png)

Finally, the boar began to fall still – Kom let out a triumphant hiss, before seizing the creature’s head and driving one of his thumbs directly into the left eye. There was a moment of flailing, a final few convulsions, and then all was still. The broken bodies of the group lay around him, many with bolts or arrows sticking from their hides, or with limbs missing or broken.

With a sigh, he drew a silver short sword from his increasingly-stuffed pack, leaned down, and began his grisly work.

I set out once more today, heading deeper into the wilderness. Killed another Dingo pack when it crossed my path – speared them through the skulls. Almost all were dead before they noticed me. Further travel has led me to a fortress of some sort, apparently Human in construction. Completely abandoned, from what I can see – no bags, no beds, nothing.

Killed a few wild boars while moving away from it to sleep. Plenty of meat and bone, but it took most of my bolts to end them. Had to finish the last one off barehanded - that was messy, to state the least, but I feel it’s improved my wrestling and striking ability.

---

Spoiler: Our... Newest Locale (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/ercmkrM.png)

You are Suque Tunulfuri, former Human Administrator, and your grave has been disturbed. With a growl, you arise from death once more, already summoning your magic and reaching into the tomb’s skeletons. Loyal servants one and all, they had volunteered to guard your tomb until they themselves died, and were buried with you. Now they will see life once again, tearing apart this intrud—

…Where are they all?

You raise yourself up fully, eyes scanning the room-

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/AfCPVI0.png)

…Why are you outside your coffin?

You move through the tomb, checking every room with increasing speed and frenzy. Your statues are gone, your skeleton servants vanished – even the bags and chests of weapons and armour with which you were buried are gone, picked clean or simply taken from where they lie. Room after room after room yields the same scene: everything has been taken, even your favourite x silver carving knife x!

At last, you simply turn on your heel and begin marching back upstairs, muttering obscenities in a long-extinct language. You need a bloody long nap before you deal with this; maybe another century or two. You’re getting too old for this shit.

---

Found a tomb, apparently Human in construction. Slept outside for a few hours before sneaking in at night – if it was guarded, thought that would let me get the drop on them. Nothing was inside beyond Human skeletons and a lot of chests, bags, and oversized bits of armour. Oh, and a few traps.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/2BREnIj.png)

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/H6pIeAL.png)

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/rb3QxlA.png)

In hindsight, I was bloody lucky. One of them nearly got me – if I’d taken a single step further, I would’ve taken an oversized bronze arrow through the breastplate. Barely saw it in time. Took everything I could carry with me, statues, chests, books, skeletons – the works. Beyond a slab or two that I couldn’t read, the main coffin, and a few bags here and there, the Tomb has been stripped clean of its treasure. Tomorrow, I set out north-west; there's foul magic on the air, accompanied by the stench of Goblins in desperate need of skull-removal.

(OOC: Despite me looting everything, standing adjacent to the Coffin, and straight-up pulling the poor bastard’s (partial) remains out of the coffin and throwing them across the room, repeatedly, the Mummy didn’t wake up. They’re either one of the most hilariously heavy sleepers to exist, or I’m going to get horribly, horribly murdered in the next few posts. I checked with a backup save afterwards: there is a Mummy in there, or at least some kind of Undead, as Alt-Kom got carving-knifed to death by a ‘broad-nose human administrator mummy’. Was it due to me Solid Snaking (read: lying down, sneaking at minimal speed) my way through the Tomb?

As a side note, I have this mental image of Kom wearing a pack several times bigger than he is, due to just how much loot he has crammed in that rucksack of his so far. He's at something like 0.099 speed so far.)

EDIT: That may have been due to me only hitting one of the tombs. Looks like there're another 2-3 that I haven't raided yet. Maybe a bit later, when I've got decent close-combat weapon skills and armour.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game
Post by: TheFlame52 on April 12, 2020, 09:54:07 am

Well, on the bright side, it can't go any lower than that.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game
Post by: Quantum Drop on April 14, 2020, 02:34:55 pm

Journal of Kom ‘QD’ Uzinithbi, ??-???

(Several pages illegible or blank; signs of water damage are visible.)

…Ran like hell for a while after that. Got a fair few Goblin skulls in the bag now – coupled with the generous donations from that Dingo pack, I’d say I’ve got my entry finished. No way will it match the spectacle of the Second’s entries, but I ain’t out to change history or make myself notable. I’m a simple man, and at the moment, I’m just glad to be alive.

Was in the Goblins’ pit when I came to my senses. Whatever possessed me fled, and I saw just how foolhardy this was: a copper-and-bronze armed and armoured adventurer against those rabid bastards only ends one way, and that’s with them shitting out your bones while shagging your corpse. Good though their deaths would be, I refuse to risk biting it at their hands.

Ended up going flat and hiding as they came banging in for the night; a few swordsmen and some big-shot carrying the biggest fucking silver hammer I have ever seen. Looked like he could knock my head off and then some. From what I’d heard while lurking, he’d personally put down some of his subordinates for failing him – would explain why there’re so many corpses in these tunnels.

One of them damn near saw me on the way out. I could hear their screeching as I bolted – got the hell out of there, quickly, and had to cut through a river in the process, but I escaped with my tail intact. Few pages are utterly fucked, though; my combat logs are completely gone, along with pretty much everything on my training.

Either way, I’m done with this little misadventure. Maybe I’ll head back to one of the hamlets nearby, keep on selling my talents as a hunter.

Journal of Kom ‘QD’ Uzinithbi, ??-???
Finally reached the Museum today: place was deserted beyond some Gobbo and his slaves. Damn near offed him where he stood, before he managed to explain he was the Museum’s curator-slash-manager and pointed me in the direction of the pedestals.

Apparently, someone else got to this place before me: there’s a pig tail cap over on one of the pedestals, along with some poor bastard’s skull. Can’t read what the little signs around the bottom and middle of the pedestals read, though – probably just the name of the items in question.
 

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/qpyidju.png)

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/npiBYlc.png)

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/jXAMcOM.png)

Mine joined them, put up on the iron pedestal: a backpack, filled with thirteen skulls of various hostile creatures. Four Goblin (fifth was too badly mangled for inclusion) and nine Dingo. Not the most impressive addition to this, aye, but I have the feeling this is as good as I’m going to get.

As for me? I’m staying here. There’s plenty to hunt in the surroundings, and I can always try to provide advice on those bastard Gobbos to the new meat this place’ll draw.

To whoever finds this journal: good luck, and may your adventure end better than mine.

(OOC: Due to real life and a number of other issues getting in the way, I am ending my turn earlier than I would’ve. Hopefully, the next player can provide a better show than me, though I don't think it was too bad for a first adventure mode game.)

File: http://dffd.bay12games.com/file.php?id=15012

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on April 15, 2020, 01:49:08 am

First adventure mode game? Quite impressive.
The items have been added to the museum, and posts have been updated.

Timeless Bob is next!

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game
Post by: Timeless Bob on April 16, 2020, 03:33:56 pm

I'm not back to my computer until Sunday evening, but I'll take the turn.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on April 16, 2020, 04:27:02 pm

Thanks for the update!

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game
Post by: Timeless Bob on April 20, 2020, 02:27:13 pm

I will post the new turn save file by Wednesday the 22nd, just to keep things rolling along.  Crazy times, eh, people?

Still working on the turn.  I'll post the save file first, then add the entry in afterwards.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on April 23, 2020, 04:15:00 am

Hey Timeless Bob,

Could you upload the save game? It's fine if you post any updates and stories later, because as you mention, crazy times..

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game
Post by: Timeless Bob on April 23, 2020, 09:35:20 am

I'll have to ask for a one day extension. I'll get the link up today for sure.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on April 23, 2020, 10:39:49 am

no problem  :)

Title: Museum Turn 5
Post by: Timeless Bob on April 24, 2020, 07:47:47 am

Save file: http://dffd.bay12games.com/file.php?id=15029 (http://dffd.bay12games.com/file.php?id=15029)

Ending date:  Year 706, Mid-Autumn

My hero did not get to the Museum, so no-one would know his story, or the stories of his companions.  That is, unless they were able to tell thier tales post-mortem... For a new wing of the Museum, I propose:

The Library of Whispers

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/mrt63Bp.jpg)

(The reanimation of the skulls will be assumed for narrative purposes,
so we don't have undead heads flopping all over the place)
(https://i.imgur.com/u9WlE5u.gif)

The skull of Quenir Puzzelarm the Abyssal whispers its tale:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

I emerged from my slime cocoon as a Hand of Planegifts in the year 488 after enduring horrific experiments that resulted in the expiration of my former life almost one and a half centuries before. Was I a volunteer or hapless victim? I know neither even now in death. I prefer to think that I volunteered to become an unaging guardian for the Master, but the results are neither attractive nor compassionate, so I may have been just a villager in the wrong place  at the right time.  I was supposed to be a guardian of the Master's secret laboratory to the north of the hamlet of Planegifts.  Alas, when I explored into the Master's Quarters, I found that he and his students had all been slain then reanimated themselves by the necromancer Oddom.  I wandered down to the hamlet to find it all but deserted and instead became an advisor to one of their kind, needing to protect a wise and great man, even if they were wise and great only in relation to the turnips and berries they grew.  She thought me at first to be a demon from the Realms Below, and when I made my pact with her, she began calling me "her demon". Generation upon generation did I protect and advise the "wise" of  Planegifts until one day I followed one right out of the village and into the outer world.  We traveled for some time and I picked up no small skill in blade-craft with a pike.  Finally, we stopped for a time in another small village which my current charge claimed as his birthright and he it's Lord Administrator. 

I of course, became known as the "Puzzle-arm" for my skill with the pike-blade was more than stab stab chop chop, but flowed in intricate and deadly patterns that were described as both beautiful and terrible. The Lord Administrator challenged any who had the gift to match his ancestral demon guardian in blade-play.  Though a few tried, no-one could best me.  It was a bloodless way to show all who challenged him that they would have to get through me first. That Lord Administrator was both wise and crafty.

In time, my charge grew old and died as so many of his kind had and I began guarding his firstborn progeny and theirs' also as I had done for three hundred years already. However, a warrior named Ast came calling and at last I'd found a great man to protect and serve!  With the permission of my ancestral charge, I bound myself to this great Warrior, ready to find Fame and Death.  (Fame and Death - such is the life of heroes, though the death is often times visited on many others before it finds the hero.)  Eventually my death found me after so so long.  I welcomed her embrace and brought many others to her as well - battle companions all.

The skull of Ashro Scufflegrowls the Slick Bends of Ivy whispers its tale:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

5th of Timber, 706:

What did I look like before my death? Long Straight chestnut hair, an extremely long nose, Gold eyes with large irises, High eyebrows, Tall head, Slightly thick lips, Short eyelashes, somewhat short ears and pink skin.  I lived in the human fortress of StealMountain until one day I dreamt of a place where great treasures were kept.  Something called "The Museum".  I had only the image of a pumpkin split in half by a dwarven crossbowman to guide me, but since none in this fortress knew what that meant, I set out into the great wide world to ask the Gods for further inspiration.

Pets: Hunting dog "Cinnabar" and boar "Gagu"
I begin entreating the Gods for a sign at the Shrine of the Pulpy Creed - I cast the holy 12 sided dice and Ala gave me a week of bad luck. Not a good beginning.  I felt the correct way was North, so of course I headed South. Bad luck be damned.

Outside a shrine, a scaly humanoid with wings attacked my pig Gagu.  I shot several arrows into it until it finally died.  It's last breath was used to whisper, "Sucktunnel"
Perhaps that was its name.

Traveling through a small village, I came upon a human administrator and his three goblin "clerks".  They spoke to me of the Black Demon of The Most Sin's search for an artifact bismuth bronze crossbow named "The Contained Magician".  Last it had heard, it was held by a necromancer named Oddom.  Of course, the silly green clerk had no idea where Oddom might be. I pressed it further for other news, but it was useless for directions.

The administrator named Alu Strappant had her daughter playing in the basement.  Young Lucy matter of factually described how a goblin had devoured her aunt a little over ten years ago. The Most Sin has made the slaying and eating of one's enemies a daily part of these Human's lives.

I caught up with an army of mixed goblins and elves in the hamlet of Gladnesswisdom.  Hundreds of them were encamped here with weapons close at hand. My traveling companion, Quenir the Abyssal, a Hand (of Planesgifts) Pike-gaurd from the Administrator's place, charged full in, dodging arrows and laying waste to many of them, his dark wings buffeting the air fearsomely. It was a terrifying sight to behold! I did my best by firing my bronze arrows into their midst, but many were blocked or dodged, and when the whole group routed and fled, dropping their wooden weapons in fear, I'm unsure I had even one of their deaths upon my reputation.  We never had time to listen to their chatter and find out from whence they came and in what direction they traveled, but Gladnesswisdom was deserted and many of the huts had come to some mischief, so there were none to tell the tale of this army.

Town of Orbsnarled:
6th of Timber 706
The entire town has been abandoned except for some reptile-people living in the sewers. Where did everyone go? I go to The Bronze Castle to see if anyone is hiding there. Broken walls and empty door frames greet me from within the wall as well, which doesn't bode well. Two sets of bounding walls before I gain entrance to the central Keep, where I find a Human abbot named Donas and the Elven Sacred Itch who introduced themselves as "Mawada".  Domas directs me to contact a necromancer in the catacombs about the return of an Artifact figurine of some Power. The elf, however, has a direct request: That a family heirloom, a steel spear kept by an ettin in the Tenacity of Saffron, be returned to her.  That sounds like a much more interesting quest! It's lair "Growlspar, the Grasping Silt" is in The Perfect Horns.

We wander upstairs and locked behind a door is a child.  A goblin thrall child.  Wearing a big grin and chomping its teeth excitedly, it jumped for my throat.  I managed to get away in time, but it chased me around the room until trusty Quentir put it out of our misery with a well timed slash of his pike.  What were they doing with this... thing up here?

What followed was a mish-mash of traveling around looking for trouble until it found me.  I waded into a general brawl in the fortress of Elderssins and even as the other brawlers buried thier weapons into eachother, so did I into them.  It was going OK until an elven lasher with a silver whip outclassed me and removed both my shield then weapon.  I had a book and a mangled skull of a high priest of Ala to eventually donate to the Museum, plus a bunch of coins from various cultures.  They'll all be waiting here for another to fetch, I suppose.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game
Post by: Quantum Drop on April 24, 2020, 11:58:28 am

Forgot to ask after the end of my turn: can I be put back on the turn list?

Title: Re: Museum Turn 5
Post by: Bralbaard on April 24, 2020, 12:06:09 pm

Quote from: Timeless Bob on April 24, 2020, 07:47:47 am

Save file: http://dffd.bay12games.com/file.php?id=15029 (http://dffd.bay12games.com/file.php?id=15029)

Ending date:  Year 706, Mid-Autumn

Quote from: Timeless Bob on April 24, 2020, 07:47:47 am

I'll hold off on posting until one or all of these are placed in the Museum. (And it will be posted from their perspective)

Hmm interesting.. I'm looking forward to your stories. I'll try and drop you a PM when any of those skulls are brought to the museum.

The amount of time that has passed suggests a fortress was build. I'll update the maps, and will update the turn list and add Quantum Drop.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game
Post by: TheFlame52 on April 24, 2020, 02:19:54 pm

We sure are flying though the turn list. I didn't expect it to be this fast!

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game
Post by: Timeless Bob on April 24, 2020, 02:44:12 pm

As a standing order, please re-apply my name to the turn list each time.  Just like the first two incarnations, I'll keep going until we've broken the game (again)

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game
Post by: DwarvenLord on April 24, 2020, 03:52:25 pm

Okay, it's my turn and I can actually take it. I'll probably die within the first three seconds of starting, but I'll start tommorow.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game
Post by: NAV on April 25, 2020, 01:50:57 pm

Sign me up for a turn please.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game
Post by: DwarvenLord on April 25, 2020, 08:16:19 pm

22nd of Timber, 706
I've decided to start a journal of my travels- so far, there's only been one day of that and I'm not sure I want to continue at all.
I, Zasit Konosusen, heard of the new "Museum" down in the old ruins of Boltspumkin and was intrigued- the two goblin overseers creeped me out, so I got out of there quickly. I then went to the abandoned town next to boltspumkin with a castle- don't remember the name, but the only person there was a old goblin cook that wanted to kill me- looked like he would fall apart and anytime, poor bloke. He mostly just ran away when he saw me though.
There I found many old artefacts- not the masterpieces made by the dwarves, but normal dust-caked items. I put some in a bag- a rusty silver mace and a pair of gems. There were also some creepy statues and some old clothes, but I didn't take either of those. I then came here- a nice little village, newly reclaimed from what I can tell- I'm now staying in this nice old farmer's house. He doesn't know much, but the fact that this site is newly reclaimed intrigues me. I guess I'll go to sleep now.

(OOC: If I have multiple boring items, can I group them together as a single museum submission as like "Miscellaneous items from X" or something similar?)

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on April 26, 2020, 03:43:48 am

Quote from: DwarvenLord on April 25, 2020, 08:16:19 pm

(OOC: If I have multiple boring items, can I group them together as a single museum submission as like "Miscellaneous items from X" or something similar?)

Yes, that is possible, or preferably you could pick the most interesting of those items and submit that.

I have updated the turn list.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game
Post by: DwarvenLord on April 26, 2020, 02:48:39 pm

25th of Timber, 706
Well, I'm back at Boltspumkin- I slept the night and stayed a day at the farmer's house, then wandered some more- I found a monastery, rolled my fortune. It was a burning man, and I interpreted it as "Act quickly." Strange... I wonder what it means. Anyway, I went to multiple other towns around in the area- there a quite a few.
All were abandoned save the one with the farmer.
Who knew the outside world was so... empty. So many abandoned towns and villages and castles- I think civilization is in a decline. I wish I could go back home, forget all this, forget the endless emptiness and all that was...
I'll think I'll drop off this bag of items from Diptramples (the castle/town) and go back home. I don't wish for adventure anymore.

My submission is:

Dimptrample Artifacts
This is a bag of items discovered in Boltpumkins' sister location, Dimptramples. It contains:
A silver mace,
A copper bow,
A large point cut harlequin opal,
and a large rose cut resin opal.

(OOC: Sorry for the short adventure. I feel like if I went any further I would of surely died, and I wanted to submit at least something. I'll be more adventurous next turn.)
BTW, I really dig the feel of this world- it feels empty and in decline, almost post-apocalyptic.)

SAVE: http://dffd.bay12games.com/file.php?id=15033

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on April 26, 2020, 03:49:45 pm

Quote from: DwarvenLord on April 26, 2020, 02:48:39 pm

(OOC: Sorry for the short adventure. I feel like if I went any further I would of surely died, and I wanted to submit at least something. I'll be more adventurous next turn.)
BTW, I really dig the feel of this world- it feels empty and in decline, almost post-apocalyptic.)

No problem! for future reference: it is always possible to submit an easy to obtain treasure first, and replace it later during your turn if you manage to survive more dangerous adventures.
I've added you for another turn.


That makes it Th4dwArfY1's turn

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game
Post by: Imic on April 26, 2020, 03:53:32 pm

You weren’t kidding about burning through the turn list.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on April 26, 2020, 04:23:31 pm

I think it was theFlame who posted that, but yes we are going through turns fast.

Th4dwArfY1 is playing another succession and asked if he could be bumped a spot. That makes it Eric Blank's turn. 

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game
Post by: Eric Blank on April 26, 2020, 04:48:43 pm

I'll start as soon as I get off work tonight

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game
Post by: TD1 on April 26, 2020, 05:04:09 pm

Yea, not sure why I haven't PTWd this yet. :P

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game
Post by: Eric Blank on April 28, 2020, 12:56:04 am

Within a rather bedraggled quire, after many torn-out pages, a steady, practiced hand writes;

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

10th Moonstone, 706

I'm Doñas Silenttowers, I'm a bonecarver from the hamlet of Rushreleased. I've chosen to leave. My home is constantly plagued by bandits, they brazenly stroll the streets in broad daylight and do as they please with us. Our lords and their hearthpersons are too preoccupied with their wars to protect us. I don't really have a plan, as far as where to go. I wander off into the steppe, stroll around the monastery where the bandits have taken up residence, and do some fishing in the stream. It's not long before I'm accosted by a recruit, one of the brigands, who tries, with no grace whatsoever, to wade across the stream and demand my surrender. As he approaches the bank, I draw the bronze sword I stole from the keep when nobody was looking and slash at his hand, and while the wound seems quite serious, he doesn't drop the knife he was waving at me. I tried to ask who he was and who he worked for, but he wouldnt even give me that, so I left him struggling to climb the stream bank, shouting profanities at my back, and make my way to another nearby monastery.

This monastery is unfortunately also controlled by a bandit gang, though they seem quite nice. I roll the dice as I pray to Erim, and suddenly everything I own seems, how do I describe it? Better. Like it wasn't made by an old woman with arthritis. I move on, again following the river and catching another turtle. A third monastery again proves to be inhabited by a bandit gang, and I again roll the dice at one of the shrines. I'm not sure, but I feel as if I have been cursed... I eventually arrive in the city of Strifefularmor, an ancient, walled settlement. Night falls quickly, and instead of trodding through the darkness I choose to sleep in the alley between two rows of shops...

I awake to the sound of a cat being skinned, and am confronted by a hideous creature.

(https://i.imgur.com/hIMUiMt.png)

As soon as I can scramble to my feet, I start running, and thankfully, a guinneacock distracts it enough for me to duck inside one shop, cross through it to the other side of the street and hide in a different shop. By the grace of whatever god may watch over me, it doesn't follow. I will think twice before skimping on inn services, even if I am within the walls of a city. Then again, I could very well be cursed with bad luck. After a few minutes, once the animals' cries of pain fade into the distance and the clothier, terrified as I am, agrees that it's likely safe to go outside, I make a break in the direction of the inn, and on my way come upon an amphibian man swordsman, Simo, apparently having abandoned his bandit gang. He agrees to share a room with me for the night, as neither of us have enough money. Apparently its tradition among amphibian people to entirely forego the use of furniture?

The following morning I leave, and Simo agrees to come with me on my journey, to a more peaceful land. There's nothing to the south, really, so we go north. Maybe on the other side of the Tundra of Heroes, where the world is warm, maybe there are people with warm hearts, too.


13th Moonstone, 706

After travelling a full day northwards, we come upon a few hamlets completely encircled by monasteries. The monasteries I suspect are all inhabited by bandits, and one of the hamlets is completely abandoned. The people in the inhabited mead halls at least have some information about night creature lairs and I borrow a cloak to replace my rather poorly wool one. We slept their and today we continued further north. We encountered a valley with some boars and decided to do a little hunting. I clocked about five or so and then while chasing one up a hill, I was surprised to hear a monstrous screech and an explosion. Peaking over the hill I witness a terrible monster;

(https://i.imgur.com/G2FcrTS.png)

I have no idea what this is, but it is more than ten times my size and possesses powerful fire magic. I carefully creep back down the hill, put a tree between us, and sprint in the opposite direction. I meet up with Simo, and together we start running and dont look back for some minutes. I dont believe the beast is following us.


14th Moonstone, 706

We spent one more night in the woods before finally reaching the hamlet of Speechrags. Some monks here know the name of the beast; a "clear brute;" a demon, one of many apparently, from the underworld released upon the earth centuries ago by the greedy dwarves, a race that no longer exists. They are said to roam all the world now, but are concentrated around the mountains the dwarves inhabited. The demons are said to be undefeatable by mortal men. I worry now, whether peace can ever be found.

Just north of the hamlet is the first monastery I've found which isn't home to unsavory characters. Nothing but wild animals live in "Soldiercradled" as written on the walls. I find a shrine, and roll the dice, and have the same horrible feeling I had last time. I am now certain I'm cursed somehow. Another shrine, also abandoned, seems a fine place to hunt boars again, but in the midst of smacking around some keas, I accidentally swing in Simo's general direction, and suddenly he becomes inconsolibly irate, and takes his leave, threatening to kill me if I pursue. The thought of being cursed weighs heavily upon me, and I feel too uncomfortable to spend the night in the dormatories of the monastery, and instead sleep on the outskirts of Speechrags.

15th Moonstone, 706

I am awoken by a handful of monks walking the edge of the hamlet, and I ask them about my condition and the state of their monastery. They agree I am almost certainly cursed with misfortune, and usually the gods relax their judgement after a week. As regards their monasteries, the stories all vary, but many involve rampaging zombies. It seems the entire world is embroiled in constant war, and nowhere will find me safety or freedom.

I visit the mead hall, where I talk to another monk. turns out this town doesn't engage in trade anymore. They try to insulate themselves, hide from the world. Not a bad strategy, I guess?

17th Moonstone, 706

I chose to head out to the southwest of Speechrags, after lifting a fancy bronze long sword, at least as nice as my short sword, which I cleaned of blood and left in its place. Hopefully they suspect their sword is shorter than they remember, not that it has been stolen. The monks gave me directions to a ruined fortress of the dwarves, which they call Keyconjure. I was assaulted by some wolves, but luckily sustained no injuries and decapitated several of them. If I am cursed, at least it's not too strong a curse. I arrived early afternoon, today, and I sit writing this outside a strange square structure of rock blocks. The roof is coarse stone and dirt, even though the sides are immaculate and too well-fitted for me to climb, and there are no windows. I guess it's some sort of keep. Under the assumption that my curse is very much real and a danger to my life, I will wait outside and observe the place for a few more days...

23rd Moonstone, 706

I'm pretty sure the curse must have passed by now. It's been a boring week eating boar steaks while trudging circles around this monolith. Nothing and no-one has come in or out or anywhere near it excluding myself. The only entrance is at the back, where it's set into the hill. I sneak in, and am confronted with a large open interior, a huge pillar in the middle with doorways on each side. There's a strange building on the west side, with some goods lying around in it. To the east is a wooden and granite building extending to the ceiling with smaller doorways. Inside are some empty barrels stained on the inside. Maybe alcohol? There are also two chests, one full of mugs and the other what must be weird musical instruments. There are chairs and tables scattered around and in the back corner is a stairway leading up, where there are two rooms with a single bed in each of them. Obviously a tavern or inn.

The other strange building has some preserved foodstuffs in it. Weird mushroom-like things, a few meats. There's no way this stuff could still be edible after, what, centuries? I leave it untouched. But, I'm taking a couple fancy battle axes. I also nabbed a beautiful bracelet, which I decided to call The Hare of Beasts. It's mine. The clothes these people wore are quite small but would fit around the waist/shoulders. The monks must be right about the dwarves being a short, broad-bodied race.

(https://i.imgur.com/ZVwZqVz.png)

There's a ramp going down in the central column-area. Inside is a shrine with some dice. I feel compelled to roll them, but nothing happens. The statue distracts me for a while, not only because it depicts a dwarf, but because of her incredible beauty. Surely this is a deity of some sort. Two more such statues exist below, in two more shrines. The ramps spiral downward for a while before coming to another shrine

(https://i.imgur.com/QIkohTv.png)

Finally, further below, I came to a slightly larger room with a short passage extending out from it leading to a stairway. Below is a room full of junk of all sorts. I snatch a couple that have images on them and continue. There are some rooms full of what must be workstations further down the halls, some with interesting statues of unusual beasts. There are also small bedrooms down narrower hallways, with cabinets full of clothes that fit suspiciously well. I found some fancy pants!

(https://i.imgur.com/AVHD3yc.png)

Honestly, I don't see why this place is abando~

(https://i.imgur.com/qN2sq5B.png)

I was incredibly lucky here. The beast lay with her back to me, leaning against a cabinet. I feared if I tried to close the door and turn around it might alert the monster. But, her throat was exposed, and taking the initiative, I shoved my sword with all my strength directly into the throat where I figure its arteries must be, and I must have hit gold, because blood instantly began gushing from the wound like a great waterfall. The beast turned to look at me, and smoke and licks of flame began pouring from its mouth, so I ran, as a gout of searing flame bathed the stone behind me, instantly melting it. The beast came crashing out after me, swiping and snapping as I tried to run into the two other doors nearby, both dead ends, but luckily it slipped in its own blood, which allowed me a few seconds to careen down the hall, through one door and another, and quickly shut it behind me. I hear the beast thud against the wall in the hall.

(https://i.imgur.com/HpomYke.png)

The beast lay dead, and I am suddenly struck by inspiration. I've never work the bones of such a thing before, and once I butcher her, I have enough to make 76 items. I make a nice image of myself from the ball of one hip and an image of the beast slaughtering these people onto the other. and a cabochon from the end of a rib, a bracelet and a ring from the next two segments I cut. I also take three of her fangs.

(https://i.imgur.com/5z2ur3U.png)

I can't stay here forever, and the rest of the remains are too heavy to carry. I go back to the main ramps and continue deeper, and the next wide room I enter leads into another chamber with statues and displays. On the floor rests an earring.

(https://i.imgur.com/v0B1O59.png)

I cant leave that behind! It's beautiful! There's also a book regarding the fortress here, conveniently written in commoner script. There is plenty of treasure here, so this must have been an important place. I even find a stack of crossbow bolts, but the metal they're made from is odd. It sounds and looks kind of like iron, but when I grab one of the bolts and wrench it over my knee, it bends, not snaps! Not only that, but the edge can scratch my bronze helm without dulling! I have no idea what this could be, but I take one of them anyway. They are finely decorated. I find a pair of gauntlets of the same material but they're too small to wear, so I leave them in exchange for a very fine shield of this soft, sharp iron.

(https://i.imgur.com/zO9Ie67.png)

When I return to the surface, it is dark. Night fell while I explored the keep, but I travel to the stream nearby to rest. I took a slab of the beast's finely marbled flesh to cook for dinner, and honestly it's not that bad. Wish I could carry more.

Things are looking up for the moment!

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game
Post by: Emilovich on April 28, 2020, 09:49:15 am

Keyconjured! I thought about going there on my turn, it has the only other library in the world apart from the one in Divedact.

It belonged to one of the three original dwarven civilizations, but like the third one, it was stopped in its tracks early on. And seems like you found out why!

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game
Post by: Eric Blank on April 28, 2020, 11:19:41 am

Yeah, but there's no library as far as I saw. There was only the one book down in the nobles hall.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game
Post by: Emilovich on April 28, 2020, 01:29:44 pm

Oh, maybe I'm mixing it up with that third Dwarven civ then.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game
Post by: Imic on April 28, 2020, 03:32:18 pm

Steel as a rare and forgotten material only found amongst the former homes, now tombs, of the dwarves is an aspect of the world that I think would be interesting to expand on. I must think about that.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game
Post by: Glloyd on April 28, 2020, 03:52:36 pm

Nice to see people are still doing these. If it's possible, I'd like to be added to the list.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game
Post by: Eric Blank on April 28, 2020, 06:43:45 pm

Quote from: Imic on April 28, 2020, 03:32:18 pm

Steel as a rare and forgotten material only found amongst the former homes, now tombs, of the dwarves is an aspect of the world that I think would be interesting to expand on. I must think about that.

I chose to go with that bc this human civilization is in the far south, keyconjured is the only dwarven settlement they have access to. Donas is a peasant from a backwater farming town, essentially, and his only skill is in bonecarving, barely able to read, so I figure he wouldn't know much about metallurgy or history until this point, and dwarves amount to a fairy tale for most of these people. I stopped to do a double take when I started to write "and I found steel bolts!" Because i realized, would I have a clue what steel was?

In the north around boltspumpkin and the mountain range there I imagine people think more about the dwarves and their legacy of unleashing demons upon the world, and so maybe their crafts and steel, as well. But yeah, even there it would be extremely rare and valuable.

More coming tonight or tomorrow probably. I already butchered a night creature and dozens of wild animals on the way back to civilization.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game
Post by: Timeless Bob on April 30, 2020, 02:58:48 pm

Since dwarves are the known culprits of unleashing the demons on the world plus they aren't around any more to offer a dissenting view (they're turtling in their secret keeps, away from the surface world), then would dwarven metallurgy suffer a kind of stigma by association too?  Steel and candy might become this fairy tale metal that "everybody knows" also attracts evil.  Adventurers are considered either brave or foolhardy to wear or own stuff made from these materials, and if they or their companions come to sticky ends, it's obvious they brought it on themselves wearing or owning "Dwarfbane".  Incidentally, bringing Dwarfbane (I'm suggesting this as the new name for steel and candy items), into a castle or someone's home is considered rude, as if you are bringing a plague in to their homes.  Evil is contagious.  Perhaps the only way to cure Dwarfbane is to wash it in the blood of the very demons that it summoned (which handily gives anyone with steel or candy items a ready made quest to "uncurse" thier Dwarfbane items.) Of course, bringing back the skull of a demon as proof that the Dwarfbane has been uncursed would be important.  Otherwise, how would anyone know?

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game
Post by: Glloyd on April 30, 2020, 03:45:28 pm

Maybe for the northern civilizations, but all those humans in the south don't have access to any other races, and seem to be flourishing (5 cities of # size that I can see vs. 0 in the north). So as Eric pointed out, its more likely that they just wouldn't even know what those materials are.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game
Post by: Eric Blank on April 30, 2020, 07:58:20 pm

You finish reading the journal;

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

25th Moonstone, 706

After travelling for more than a day north, I take a break to swim in the estuaries where a great river meets the Sea of Blades. After some relaxation, I have come to a new conclusion; I am capable of ridding the world of great evils. The gods will not, the lords and kings will not, but I can, so I will. The traveled monks claim bandits and monsters roam all the world, so I clearly cannot run and hide. I will fight. But I must become stronger. I will hunt, I will fight toe-to-toe with the beasts of the wood, and then I will kill.

26th Moonstone, 706

I spent the entire day wandering the woods, killing every animal I came across. Eventually, I noticed shapes in a valley before me; a standoff between a hammerman and a night creature, eyes locked, both apparently unwilling to make the first move. Instead, I do. The battle is fierce, I grow tired from parrying blows, but eventually I shatter its ankle and slash its arm assunder, causing it to drop its knife and fall over. From there it is only a few dodged swipes and unsuccessful strikes at its torso before I manage to decapitate it.

(https://i.imgur.com/Wp3ilj7.png)

The hammerman has fled by this point.

26th Moonstone, 706

After returning to Speechrags, I explain the situation to the lady Iddim Kupekwur. She advises me that there is also a giant in the cave of Mouthscar the Strangled Riddle. On my way I encounter two men in the woods. They attack me, and after some dirty fighting, I manage impale one through the heart and decapitate the other despite lying beneath him. I encounter, am attacked by, and kill a third and fourth traveling south from the monastery of Showgrand. Obviously this is a major bandit hideout, so they must be killed.

After storming the dormatories and dismembering the crossbowman and pikeman on guard, and three more wrestlers, I finally chase down the last bandit in the woods not far outside. The master which one of them claimed to serve, Belza Ritespoons, doesn't seem to be present. Perhaps he's out on an erand.

Continuing eastward I again encounter another bandit wandering the woods, and slay him after learning he serves a different leader; the commander Ori Facewill. Some dingoes also harass me, but at this point I just don't care enough to chase them all down.

28th Moonstone, 706

Early in the morning, I manage to stumble into the camp of Ori Facewill, called veilthimble, and his band of brigands, The Dimpled Heavens. There are two guards, only one of whom puts up a fight, while Ori and a lasher sleep. The gang is dead. Nearby is the castle of Sensedstopped, home of the Captain Borik Greenveiled, who seems a nice enough fellow, if a bit hairy.

(https://i.imgur.com/3SkABck.png)

The place is littered with books. I feel compelled to read them all, but I dare not steal from the greatest collection of knowledge I've ever imagined. However, Borik tells me there may be an even greater hoard far to the north: Boltspumpkin, where a "museum" is organized. Something that stores historical knowledge, I guess. I told the story of my slaying of Faci, and explaining my intent to slay the giant in the nearby cave, he graciously loans me two of his best men; Slenshi the swordswoman, and Amsir the spearman.

As I leave I notice a dead man lying by a tower; Senshi informs me this was Gast. She doesn't know how he died, but this puts into persepective why there was some tension among a couple soldiers in the keep. The cave entrance is literally around the back of the keep, and after a short trip into the depths, chopping up some large rats, and admiring the junk lying around, we encounter the giant.

(https://i.imgur.com/N50iGYK.png)

Senshi got the last blow, so takes the title of giant slayer, but I once again got a lucky strike on the giants' throat. Even if the fight had gone badly for us, the world would have been a little bit safer. The giant carries three important relics:

(https://i.imgur.com/W4YZcRr.png)

Below this chamber is a network of bizarre caverns. What may have once been a gentle slope descending into them has become unnavigable thanks to a tree of unnatural wood with yellow bark. It has no leaves, but pustules in the bark release little puffs of brown dust when the branches are disturbed. I must climb to reach the floor of the tunnels, which is covered in strange moss and tiny mushrooms. There is even a giant mushroom, pure white, pressing up against the walls of the surrounding rock pillars. I become trapped in an enormous spider web, and suddenly remember, I have no idea what this place is, it must be inhabited by enormous spiders, probably other horrible things. Ignoring a faint glow from some of the fungi on the walls it's pitch black and even with a torch I can see almost nothing. I return to the tree, climb back up, and together with the others return to the surface.

Back in the castle, I report the events to Borik, and leave him some trinkets I recovered, inlcuding the shoe. The soldiers agree to continue travelling with me, and we head north to a road connecting the towns of Scarletbronze and Streammartyred, and head west towards Scarletbronze.

1st Opal, 706

Scarletbronze is enormous. There are no taverns, though, and almost every shop is a general goods or clothing imports store. I instead head to the keep, where I stumble upon a great party of royalty and religious figures. I tell them the story of my slaying of the dragon, and after a brief discussion, they award me the title Doñas Silenttowers the Ominous Hoary Zenith. I am honored, officially a Knight of the lands of The Realm of Silver, and my tale transcribed into legend. I could ask for little else besides title to land, but I do not know where I want to live. And I still want to visit this Boltspumpkin.

We wander the town a bit, and I stop by a shrine to seek the gods' wisdom once more. They bless me with a week's good fortune. But in one of the adjacent shops I hear fighting, and inside I witness two merchants apparently having a domestic dispute? There's nothing I can do about that short of murder, so we leave for a nearby Monastery, where a Captain Mim Couragestoke tells me about some manner of evil going on in the fort of Tressedgarnish a day's travel east. As we're about to leave, one of the soldiers says some inappropriate things to Slenshi, which prompts her and Amsir to murder the man in a short fight. I of course take the initiative to leave.

We stumble into a lair a short walk north, and inside we encounter another shadow creature, like the one I slew last week. Slenshi whispers its name to me; a great title

(https://i.imgur.com/XpWSWU9.png)

Nula (Bury) Umbragrave the Night of Tunnels, a known killer of many men. The beast hears this, or perhaps senses its name being intoned. It turns and rushes down the narrow corridor in which we stand towards us and immediately assaults Senshi's face, tearing a nasty gash in her lips and left cheek, and knocking out many of her upper teeth before I can slash its ankle and finally decapitate it. Slenshi is in terrible pain. I helped stitch up her cheek and lip, hopefully it won't become infected.

2nd Opal, 706

Spent the night outside the lair, rather uneventfully. We set out east again towards the suspect fort, but before we arrive we encounter a bandit camp. We slaughter them all without mercy, and besides Amsir taking a nasty wack to the ankle and a bad bruise on my shoulder, we are unharmed. At the fort, though, we find nothing particularly interesting. The "Overlord" as he calls himself hosts a large cadre of soldiers as well as some service staff such as butlers and chefs, but there's nothing unusual about this lot that can't be said of any other. What they could possibly be doing that is so abhorrent.

We travelled south into the city of Streammartyred, another bustling center of trade. There are local goods shops here and even a tavern. I also saw a goblin. There unfortunately was little reason to remain there aside from having a drink. We kept moving until we arrived at the hamlet of Rushpelts around dusk, and encountered a group of brigands surrounding the town well. I chose to kill them all. We spoke to the lord of the town, Thur Gorgedroplet, and after telling the host of our collective exploits, I asked if we would be candidates for hearthperson-hood, purely out of curiosity. Thur immediately declared me his hearthperson. Not what I meant, so after spending the night we walk out before anyone else awakes.

3rd Opal, 706

We visited the town of swordgleams. We immediately approached a small group of people. Suddenly one transformed into a hideous beast! And then well over a hundred warriors emerged from the snow surrounding us! And they started killing each other!

(https://i.imgur.com/szTyaix.png)

I used the confusion to flee from the ring of warriors, and ran towards a building, only for the door to swing open revealing it to be chock full of warriors as well!

(https://i.imgur.com/lQZ3wv4.png)

Every building was full of bandits!

(https://i.imgur.com/O318e18.png)

The men that ambushed us chased us through the streets. We escaped, and I've decided we're never going to Swordgleamed ever again.



From sites and pops;

69: Thillecit, "Swordgleamed", town
   Owner: The Feed of Style, humans
   3062 humans - all bandits!?
   2 goblins - bandits
   2 human visitors - BANDIT SPIES
   73 human outcasts - bandits
   75 goblin outcasts - bandits

5th Opal, 706

We encountered some bandit gangs in various hamlets and killed them all. Not everyone appreciated this, but nonetheless the world is a safer place. We also visited a fort, Martyrmurdered, where we arrived just in time to stop the rampage of a weremoose that found its way into the keep.

(https://i.imgur.com/r02bvit.png)

This was the last we'd see of the civilized world before we crossed the Tundra of Heroes, necessary to reach Boltspumpkin. The tundra is incredibly flat, one can see for many, many of miles whilst it is clear. The only thing which can be seen is a strange structure to our north-west

(https://i.imgur.com/9dd3sBC.png)

Slenshi tells me this must be the fabled Combinedsight, a place rumored to be home to a great evil. If that is true, it is our duty to remove it from this plane. As we approach, we see there are many disconnected towers of various builds, but one stands out. We approach from the east, nearest this greater structure. Kobolds come pouring out of neighboring towers. They are in various states of decay, clearly undead. This is the lair of the dreaded necromancer! Inside the greater tower are other hideous monsters.

I decided it may be smart to talk to them first, and indeed this creature, however monstrous, is intelligent, and informs me it is in fact a soldier of the captain Aba Fondledred. His name is Olongö Vileravens. I speak to several of the other necromancers, and discuss our journeys and exploits thus far. I read several of the books here, most are about the tower or the necromancers, but one of them, Mysteries of Bereavement, stands out. It reveals to me the greatest secrets of our time; how to attain immortality! I am both shocked and amazed. But I know, in the back of my mind, the stories of rampaging zombie hordes must be true, if the necromacers, too, exist. I suppose I must admit, now I understand how life and death really work, I am truly, I'm not sure how to put it, more contented with my place in the world? Alas, I don't know if I would be capable of slaughtering these people either.

We decide to leave, Slenshi's shield hand had been badly cut by one of the undead kobolds, but I take the book with me. Slenshi and Amsir cannot read, and I cannot put into spoken words, somehow, what the book contains, so they will have to suffer their mortality for now. We will continue the journey northward, perhaps the museum has use of this. We camp in the tundra again and although I take first watch, I forget entirely about sleeping. I also realize I did not eat supper, nor am I particularly thirsty, although I indulge in some of the wine I brought regardless. One of the necromancers mentioned the nearby fort of Stockadeoutrage, built recently by surviving dwarves!? I cannot pass up the opportunity to meet the fabled, supposedly extinct race? What wonders could they teach us?

7th Opal, 706

I admit we spent another day in the tundra hunting polar bears for sport, but when we arrived at Stockadeoutrage we find it destroyed! Several dead Soldiers of Aba lie on the ground, we encounter an undead muskox, and finally, a necromancer. They attacked and destroyed the settlement and slaughtered its people. This cannot be forgiven, and although the necromancer attempts to flee, I strike him down. Near the nearby peak we spot a walled structure, this must be where the dwarves lived. I am amazed to find one of the dwarves alive! Her name is Beri Alron Moss pickvessels, and she is captain of the guard of this fortress. I explain to her our accomplishments, and express my desire to become one of the guardians of this place. She accepts! I am overjoyed, now, to be among such venerable people. The dwarf is indeed very short, wide, more muscular and fatter than a human would normally be. She has a deep voice, long pale taupe hair in a braid, raw umber eyes, and pale chestnut skin.

The fort appears surrounded by a moat of lava from the nearby volcano! It would be impenetrable, if only the walls on the hillside had been completed. Inside, I find the ruins littered with corpses. There are various goods lying around, what seem to be farm plots just inside the mountain, where a large room is carved out. It leads through a series of bizare passages to workshops, storage rooms, some sort of dining area? Most every surface is smoothed out, not rough stone. Then in one room I find what may have been a mural of some sort, but the subject matter seems to have been erased. A very well-designed inscription of the piece's title and author's name survives, but little else.

(https://i.imgur.com/rduGNWp.png)

Below is what must be some sort of metal smithy, fueled by lava? The downward passage nearby is a dead end, not even fully smoothed. Here must be where work stopped. Back in the dining hall, I enter a brewery, but am confronted here by a strange creature:

(https://i.imgur.com/cuwXaDU.png)

It's easy enough to dispatch, but spits molten lava! I show it to Beri, and she gives it a name; ònuldesgir, which means Mirrorgoad, responsible for one Imishi Kudust Paddleticks' death. Alas, Beri is alone here, but takes her duty seriously. She implores me to go north, find someone, and inform them of the dwarven races' desperate need for aide. I must continue onward. Sadly, while I believed I had the power, it appears I cannot resurrect these fallen. And so this place will remain their tomb. I record some of this place's history in the only way I have any real skill in; bone figurines, which I'll deliver to the museum in time.

A cougar attacked us in the night while the others slept, so it only felt appropriate that I use her bones, and cook her flesh for breakfast.

9th Opal

Today We encountered a goblin pikeman, a bandit, in the woods. Since he attacked us first, we slew him. We also encountered a sasquatch, one of those freakish beasts that resembles a giant human covered in dense fur, and slew it as well.

11th Opal

As we camped in the woods last night, we were attacked by dingoes. I awoke the others just in time to join battle, and thankfully none of us were hurt. There's a shrine nearby I'd like to investigate.

(https://i.imgur.com/tA759Ae.png)

This journal was delivered to the museum by one Slenshi Saviormutes, giant slayer. With it she delivers the news that Doñas Silenttowers the Ominous Hoary Zenith is dead, burnt alive after slaying the deadly taiga titan Ozob Noxron Umstosslexsmul. Although he threw his backpack and other goods across the shrine, she did not think to recover them, and took only the journal as he ordered her to proceed to the museum.

So yeah, probably going to spend my last three days making a fort somewhere. Will probably post a save sunday night

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game
Post by: Luckyowl on April 30, 2020, 08:22:01 pm

Actually a bit of dwarven culture is still alive. The Walled Dyed goddess of war and victory, Kezat. Has composers of all races composing to her likeness. So most definitely they know  what steel is. Of course maybe  centuries of not being in contact with real dwarves and the possible chance for storytellers  to dramatized steel mightve distorted  the facts about steel. But that aside. Seriously, Kezat is really popular in this world. It honestly remind me how western  society is still fascinated by greek and norse gods.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game
Post by: pikachu17 on April 30, 2020, 08:41:20 pm

Quote from: Luckyowl on April 30, 2020, 08:22:01 pm

Actually a bit of dwarven culture is still alive. The Walled Dyed goddess of war and victory, Kezat. Has composers of all races composing to her likeness. So most definitely they know  what steel is. Of course maybe  centuries of not being in contact with real dwarves and the possible chance for storytellers  to dramatized steel mightve distorted  the facts about steel. But that aside. Seriously, Kezat is really popular in this world. It honestly remind me how western  society is still fascinated by greek and norse gods.

I don't see why Kezat being still talked about would automatically mean steel is still known.
I suppose steel might have be talked about like it's tough as adamantine. Gods know what they think of adamantine.

Actually, no one has gone to a bandit camp, have they? It's not uncommon for bandit camps to have steel equipment even if they aren't dwarves. Might change if they're isn't a dwarven civ around though.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game
Post by: Luckyowl on May 01, 2020, 12:23:33 am

Really it's just speculation. To me, I just assume an early composer describe Kezat to be wielding a steel spear. Causing future composer to include steel spear in their songs. In consequence, since human's knowledge of steel mostly relied on these musical form. All it takes is for legendary storytellers over the years to weave a dramatic tale of what steel is and a myth is born. I wouldn't be surprise if they think Kazat created steel.


Funny fact: The realm of Sliver was ruled by a reanimated kobold in 50-53. It was ultimately killed by a Roc. XD. Honestly how did the little thing was able to gain power? I swear dwarf leaves so much to be desire.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game
Post by: Eric Blank on May 01, 2020, 02:06:05 am

Quote from: pikachu17 on April 30, 2020, 08:41:20 pm

Actually, no one has gone to a bandit camp, have they? It's not uncommon for bandit camps to have steel equipment even if they aren't dwarves. Might change if they're isn't a dwarven civ around though.

I did slaughter a couple camps but i didnt pay any attention to the loot...

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game
Post by: Emilovich on May 02, 2020, 03:26:12 am

I'm not so sure steel has become a forgotten material. I met several adventurers hanging around at bars in Divedact sporting steel armour. Perhaps no-one knows how to make it, but it seemed to me it couldn't be an unknown at least. Perhaps in the southern Realm of Silver they haven't heard about it, seems to me it has remained quite isolated throughout history.

And regarding the demons, I don't think they got much further than the old dwarven kingdom and to the borders of the High Confederacies. The great evil in this world is the necromancers who almost wiped out everything. Most of them were dwarves, so it would make sense if dwarves were associated with hidden, evil knowledge in general. So would make sense with the dwarfbane concept!

By the way, Eric's adventurer is probably the most successful one so far! A shame he joined the dark side

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on May 03, 2020, 01:25:04 am

The world has passed into the third age of legends!

that makes it Th4dwArfY1's turn.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game
Post by: TD1 on May 03, 2020, 05:16:16 am

Will start today after work (unlikely) or tomorrow (almost certainly.) Looking forward to it!

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game
Post by: Glloyd on May 03, 2020, 11:32:52 am

Bralbaard, I mentioned it before, but when you get a chance, can you add me to the list?

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on May 03, 2020, 12:42:09 pm

Sure, thanks for reminding me!

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game
Post by: Glloyd on May 03, 2020, 03:44:03 pm

Thanks! I've gotten back into DF lately, so I'm looking forward to it. I love the world in this one, with the dead civilizations in the north and the flourishing human civs in the south

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game
Post by: Eric Blank on May 03, 2020, 05:56:06 pm

I would also like another turn and a chance to continue my fort!

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on May 04, 2020, 05:34:04 am

It appears that the passing of the world into the new age was not uneventful.
Somehow, during Eric Blank's turn 25758 humans died, approximately 40% of the human population.

Here the disaster is visible, in a rather crude graph.

(https://pic8.co/sh/sfANkb.gif)

You can see that while the humans are being slaughtered by something, the kobolds, dwarves and elves are fighting extinction near the bottom of the graph.
Below you can find the current list of populations. Please note the number of dwarves.

Civilized World Population

   666 Dwarves
   39674 Humans
   2015 Elves
   78090 Goblins
   52 Kobolds

   Total: 120497

Edit: there are sizable populations of civilized undead as well, but they are not as easy to track.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game
Post by: Imic on May 04, 2020, 06:29:47 am

Quote from: Bralbaard on May 04, 2020, 05:34:04 am

Somehow, during Eric Blanks turn 25758 humans died, approximately 40% of the human population.

(https://i.redd.it/fayrwev2q7231.jpg)

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game
Post by: Quantum Drop on May 04, 2020, 09:21:22 am

Holy shit. Did Gedor Puzzlesneaks have a kid or something?

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game
Post by: Glloyd on May 04, 2020, 03:27:02 pm

I wonder why, I've never seen such a huge drop in such a short time.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on May 04, 2020, 03:49:59 pm

Some work to do for our adventurers, it seems.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game
Post by: bloop_bleep on May 04, 2020, 07:49:13 pm

Quote from: Bralbaard on May 04, 2020, 03:49:59 pm

Some work to do for our adventurers, it seems.

To fix it or to finish the job?

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game
Post by: Glloyd on May 04, 2020, 07:56:58 pm

To find out why I assume, although I wonder if it's something we can even find through play.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game
Post by: Superdorf on May 04, 2020, 09:57:18 pm

Whaaa--

Necromantic rampage? Maybe? I'm so very confused.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game
Post by: Eric Blank on May 05, 2020, 12:49:55 am

I just wanted to let you know I am completely innocent of genocide. I only killed like 50 people tops.

Only idea I have is possibly goblins rampaging around while in fort mode. I know during my adventure there were armies on the march rumors in almost every place I stopped

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on May 05, 2020, 02:28:56 am

Quote from: Eric Blank on May 05, 2020, 12:49:55 am

I just wanted to let you know I am completely innocent of genocide. I only killed like 50 people tops.

No need to explain Eric, I was already convinced of your innocence because I read the flavour text under your avatar. 🙂

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game
Post by: Timeless Bob on May 05, 2020, 03:28:44 am

Human civs can be experiencing a loyalty cascade due to adventurers passing through. Many of the civs seemed to goblins mixed into their populations.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on May 05, 2020, 03:44:35 am

Maybe waking up that massive bandit town triggered something?

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game
Post by: pikachu17 on May 05, 2020, 11:12:23 am

Quote from: Timeless Bob on May 05, 2020, 03:28:44 am

Human civs can be experiencing a loyalty cascade due to adventurers passing through. Many of the civs seemed to goblins mixed into their populations.

Wouldn't have goblins had a noticable fatality rate in that scenario as well?
Would such a loyalty cascade last after the adventurer leaves and spread, because that seems to be too many humans dead just to be places the adventurers were at for a decent amount of time.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game
Post by: Emilovich on May 05, 2020, 05:24:18 pm

So, I decided to do a little research on this mysterious genocide, so I got LegendsViewer to produce one map showing human populations from my turn and one from the end of Eric's:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/6SOHAXu.png)

It appears that huge numbers of human outcasts have suddenly disappeared from settlements in the Realm of Silver. One settlements was attacked by Goblins, but in the other cases, I can't find any clues as to what may have happened.

It seems that the Realm of Silver has had a rather sharp drop in crime rates - the number of outcasts in their lands have dropped from 30 000 to 5 000. They had 30 000 outcasts and only 13 000 law-abiding citizens!

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game
Post by: pikachu17 on May 05, 2020, 05:29:20 pm

If I remember correctly, refugees are also outcasts.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game
Post by: Eric Blank on May 05, 2020, 06:45:08 pm

Well shit, I really did kill them all, indirectly? I did explicitly kill most people I encountered who were obviously a bandit, but like I said, 50 or so in total. and the areas that show a marked decrease also happen to be the areas I travelled through, although one city seems unaffected. Could it be there is a bug where outcasts get wiped from settlements when an adventurer passes through?

We seem to be encountering a lot of weird bugs running this game, we should archive our saves and track changes so we can formulate experiments to pin down bugs

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game
Post by: Glloyd on May 05, 2020, 06:52:23 pm

@Emil were none of them historical figures? You might be able to track down the cause in legends viewer if so. I'm inclined to believe this is a bug. An interesting one though, and I'm sure it's something we can weave into the history of the world. Is handwaving it as a plague too topical? Hahaha.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game
Post by: Imic on May 05, 2020, 06:52:41 pm

I still have the save game from my turn, I think, if it helps.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game
Post by: Eric Blank on May 05, 2020, 07:10:18 pm

A plague, or a wave of righteous patriotism caused by Donas' efforts to purify the land of ne'er-do-wells? :P

I think in terms of bug tracking, if it's repeatable, toady should be able to generate any world for this outcasts bug and adventure through a few sites, watch the population go down after retiring, maybe.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game
Post by: Glloyd on May 05, 2020, 07:52:26 pm

True, if we can establish that it is a bug, we should make a big report for it. I wonder if Th4dwArfY1 will come across any results of the mass die-off in their turn. I was already thinking of starting in the south, but now I definitely want to check it out.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game
Post by: Timeless Bob on May 05, 2020, 11:45:17 pm

It's not a bug, it's a feature... Although I suspect its not the case, weaving the Silver Plague into the story makes for some interesting role playing opportunities.  What are the effects of this plague?  Is it like an Evil Mist, or is this something else?  (Oh yes.)

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on May 06, 2020, 02:25:46 am

Quote from: Imic on May 05, 2020, 06:52:41 pm

I still have the save game from my turn, I think, if it helps.

I have the save games for all turns, if needed.

Could it be that the outlaw populations are not properly saved when the site is unloaded after an adventurer visit?

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game
Post by: Glloyd on May 06, 2020, 12:17:49 pm

That's why I wanted to see if any of the outlaws who died in that time were historical figures, because then it would at least tell us the cause of death so we could extrapolate. Or maybe it only affects outlaws who aren't historical figs.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game
Post by: pikachu17 on May 06, 2020, 01:17:19 pm

We wanted a story about archeologists, and instead got one about archeologists spreading plague wherever they go. Seems legit.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game
Post by: Superdorf on May 06, 2020, 02:04:24 pm

Nasty stuff you pick up in those cursed ruins.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode game(we just accidentally killed 25758 humans)
Post by: Glloyd on May 06, 2020, 08:12:15 pm

On an unrelated note, how are things going Th4dwArfY1? It's been a few days, I'm eager to hear any stories from the post plague world.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode game(we just accidentally killed 25758 humans)
Post by: TD1 on May 07, 2020, 04:19:14 am

I'll post soon, hah. Time flies.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode game(we just accidentally killed 25758 humans)
Post by: Bralbaard on May 07, 2020, 02:00:45 pm

It seems someone else already submitted this bug, but I've added a note:
https://www.bay12games.com/dwarves/mantisbt/view.php?id=11536 (https://www.bay12games.com/dwarves/mantisbt/view.php?id=11536)

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode game(we just accidentally killed 25758 humans)
Post by: TD1 on May 07, 2020, 04:00:17 pm

The Dwarves are a dying ember in this world. Once, our flame burned bright. We scoured our enemies, built great monuments. Now we are scattered and broken, laughed at, confused for short men and freaks.
I am a Shieldtempest. My parents gave me the unique name of Th4DwArfY1, for I was to embody my people. It was a lot to rest on my shoulders. But I tended the family forge and beat glowing hot metal into blades. And I dreamt of glory and the revitalisation of my people.
And now I hear whispers. We are dying in great numbers. There is no future for us. And so I think of my own mortality and determine one thing. I will become a necromancer. My culture will live.
I will live.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/C3sG5l4.png)

I set out without companions. The world is large and terrifying, and I grasp my bronze battle axe frequently. I have some practice in its use. Hopefully it will be enough.
A pack of wolves attacks me in the wild.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/7j35ruy.png)

I use skills I didn’t know I had. I lunge, parry, dodge. I fight a pack of wolves and destroy them utterly. My hands tremble as I cut off their heads and harvest their meat. I pack a head. The first kill of Th4DwArfY1, soon-to-be-necromancer and saviour of his people.
I travel until I reach my target. Even in my cave home, we’d heard the rumours. A dark tower. The dead walking. A place to learn unfathomable secrets.
It is surrounded by pyramids, but seems eerily silent. I enter from the front. I gasp, seeing a fellow dwarf. He is bright blue. I blink, realising what it is.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/fdU8dHU.png)

The tower is full of such statues. It unnerves me. I find a book on the Mountain Homes and pick it up. The writing is beautiful, and in a Dwarven script. The author is Cog. A fellow dwarf? A precursor to myself? Certainly this tower seems a tribute to my species.
I climb many twisting stair cases, searching maze-like rooms. There are some dead, but they are altogether friendly. And then I find it. In the highest room of the tallest turret, sitting on a plain table. Shoselostar. A silver slab. Beautiful. I pick it up and read it, and it is like my eyes are opened for the first time.
I move down the stairs again. The slab is heavy, but I drag it behind me, my smithing muscles bulging.
Then I see her. A beautiful Dwarf dressed in faded clothes. “Cog?” I say, and she inclines her head. She is my height.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/AaBmowH.png)

“You have read the secrets?” the Necromancer asks, nodding to the fallen slab. I incline my head. “Let me show you their power, friend.”
She gestures, and I feel a movement in my bag. Despite myself I yelp and drop it. A wolf’s head rolls out, snarling and rocking side to side. I step back, then lean forward. True power. A way to shape the world.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/d2JYWSZ.png)

I grin, but as her hand falls to her side I see something. I frown, focusing on it. I blink. “What is that?” I say.
“Nothing,” she replies. She is smiling at me. I nod but step forward.
“I’ve never seen nothing before. I’d like to see it now.” She frowns, but I do not move. She sighs and lifts her arm.
“I was just putting it into storage,” she says, glancing away.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/UT6Kmgi.png)

I step back. “Is that… is –”
“Yes,” she says. “It is. So what? You are a necromancer, now. You will learn the way.”
“Never,” I snarl. She frowns and shrugs, pouting.
“Well, there’s nothing to be done now, is there?” she says. I shake my head.
“I can think of one thing,” I say.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/7SY2LGx.png)

She fought well, but not well enough. I pick up her fallen sword, admiring its craft. I am an axe dwarf, but when one of the heirlooms of my people comes into my possession…

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/ria3K5u.png)

I strap it to my back and leave the tower, new sword a comfortable weight on my back. I wish to see my people once more. I will find one of the new fortresses. Maybe I will dwell there, immortal, eternal. Sharing the culture of the dwarves.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode game(we just accidentally killed 25758 humans)
Post by: TheFlame52 on May 07, 2020, 04:59:10 pm

I can see it now. A place for the peaceful undead to reside, away from the world, to rest until they are needed...

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode game(we just accidentally killed 25758 humans)
Post by: Quantum Drop on May 10, 2020, 10:54:06 am

How's your turn doing, Th4dwArfY1? Would be excellent to hear how the world's newest Necromancer is getting on.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode game(we just accidentally killed 25758 humans)
Post by: Glloyd on May 10, 2020, 12:53:32 pm

Yeah, it's been a week by this point, so hopefully he can wrap it up soon.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode game(we just accidentally killed 25758 humans)
Post by: TD1 on May 10, 2020, 04:10:03 pm

Apologies for the delay. I'd aimed for wrapping it up days ago, but something - work, often - got in my way.


I travel North, through the Kindled Jungles. Nestled against white-tipped mountains is one of the forts of my people. I gasp. I had lived in a cave all my life. We had been like the kobolds of old, scratching in the dark. This structure rose from the earth in two columns, one seemingly unfinished.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

 (https://i.imgur.com/ZpTHzGh.png)

I enter at the trade depot, stepping over fallen wares. Directly through the gate was a refuse stockpile.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/xFdjQxE.png)

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/Gr0hHa1.png)
 

Finding my fingers twitching, I remember Cog's words. I would get used to it, she’d said. My new power built in me, built until I could feel it like a second skin. But it found nothing to latch onto. The minotaur did not rise. Its skeletal form mocked me.

I make new allies in the dark halls beneath. Those who yearn, as I do, to spread and preserve our culture.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/T1YP1eE.png)

The place is full of magnetite, and farms flourish beneath the surface. I am restless. It’s perfect to settle in, to harbour the flame of Dwarven civilization. But I remember how my fingers itched to raise the dead.

Could it be that I’ve gone too far?

Days pass. I pick up two other companions, faithful adherents to my cultural mission. We leave, heading south again. Returning to the Tower. I have picked up a horse, and I wish to collect the slab. By examining it, perhaps I can learn control.

But it is gone. I search the tower, top to bottom, but can not find it. We leave, my confusion mounting.

We travel for days in the wastes, looking for word of necromancers or undead. Other towers exist, apparently, but I want my own slab back. I feel attached to it.

We arrive at a fortress, possibly human. I do not get to see. Outside its walls, feet from safety, a blade strikes my horse. I leap off, spinning, Ikal Obok drawn. But there is no enemy. Blows land among my companions. I charge with my horse, feel contact and hear a gust of exhaled air.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/vxDdBxT.png)

But I see nothing. A new magic? Invisibility?

I hear my allies screaming. Blood wells from sudden blows. They seem to see the threat, and parry phantom attacks. But I can only watch as they are struck down.
Even my horse, useful in charging the enemy, is killed.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/5lbRYcP.png)

I try raising the corpses, but they only attack my last surviving ally. I shout for help, but the fortress remains silent. It is untenable. I am a necromancer. I have conquered death. I… I decide to run. But I can hear… SOMETHING behind me, gaining on me.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/tcfpyAw.png)

There is a searing pain. Then… then the blade is sticking through my chest. I see it, for a second. Bronze and sharp as steel. It’s in my heart for a second, then pulled out. I stumble some steps, then collapse. I crawl, hand outstretched to the fortress. Something begins severing my limbs. For an instant, I am oblivious to the pain. And then it crashes down at once, like a wave on the beach.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/tcfpyAw.png)

I see, as in a vision, a gleaming fortress. Dwarves walk in its halls. Mead flows from flagons. I feel I am surrounded by friends and kinsmen. My mother, no longer lying on a pallet in a cave, sits on an oaken bench. There is singing.

I do not see the bronze blade rise over my neck. I do not see it fall. I die with a smile on my lips.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/ZJqCe0b.png)

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode game(we just accidentally killed 25758 humans)
Post by: Glloyd on May 10, 2020, 04:32:27 pm

Nice write-up! I have yet to encounter any of those ghouls since they were added, outside of dark stalkers that visited my fortress. Shame you didn't make it to the museum. How many adventurers have actually made it thus far?

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode game(we just accidentally killed 25758 humans)
Post by: TheFlame52 on May 10, 2020, 05:06:11 pm

Your second-to-last image is a duplicate. Nice write-up! Shame about your death, though...

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode game(we just accidentally killed 25758 humans)
Post by: Bralbaard on May 11, 2020, 01:46:42 am

Quote from: Th4DwArfY1 on May 10, 2020, 04:10:03 pm

I do not see the bronze blade rise over my neck. I do not see it fall. I die with a smile on my lips.

Ouch! that is harsh. So this was effectively the bug where sneaking opponents can not be detected?
Still, great adventure. It will be remembered even without a museum submission.

Could you upload the save game so that the next person can get started?

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode game(we just accidentally killed 25758 humans)
Post by: TD1 on May 11, 2020, 06:31:53 am

It was. I did discover that charging horses will collide with sneaking enemies, so that's perhaps a method to employ.

Also, yes. The save game. That strikes me as important. I'm uploading it atm. Will edit it in when done.

http://dffd.bay12games.com/file.php?id=15068

Also, add me to the list, if you would!

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode game(we just accidentally killed 25758 humans)
Post by: Superdorf on May 11, 2020, 09:17:07 am

Playing!

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode game(we just accidentally killed 25758 humans)
Post by: Superdorf on May 11, 2020, 10:52:56 am

The Quick Steppes is a busy land.

(https://imgur.com/zMqpBXd.png)

Hamlets and castles, forts and ruins: humanity has made its presence felt on these plains. By every hamlet a monastery may be found, dedicated to one of the many gods humans call their own. Some of these monasteries hum with activity yet-- some do not.

We turn now to a monastery long abandoned by its original owners.

(https://imgur.com/ayPyL9l.png)

By a legal technicality, it so happens that this particular monastery now stands under the control of that ancient and mysterious people, The Walled Dye! Three living souls call it home at this time: a man (the self-designated "chieftain"), a dwarf, and a donkey.

(https://imgur.com/NchmVCO.png)

To the human, Voiceorgan is a rather uninteresting fiefdom. The donkey (it may be assumed) is of a similar mind.
To the dwarf, Voiceorgan has been a sacred training ground towards the ancient martial practices of his forefathers.

(https://imgur.com/nQOU5pm.png)

Let us see now what unfolds when a beggarly digbeard elects to pursue the ways of Kisat Dur.

(https://imgur.com/96Mkux0.png)

(https://imgur.com/BhezPAx.png)

((And we're off!))

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode game(we just accidentally killed 25758 humans)
Post by: Bralbaard on May 11, 2020, 02:21:45 pm

Quote from: Th4DwArfY1 on May 11, 2020, 06:31:53 am

It was. I did discover that charging horses will collide with sneaking enemies, so that's perhaps a method to employ.

According to legends mode you managed to kill one of them, so yes it works. If however, I find myself on a horse in a similar situation, I'll make sure to flee as fast as the horse can carry me.

I have added you for another turn. 

Quote from: Superdorf on May 11, 2020, 10:52:56 am

By a legal technicality, it so happens that this particular monastery now stands under the control of that ancient and mysterious people, The Walled Dye!

 :) awesome, looking forward to more.
Also, in other news: 10.000 goblins died.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: TD1 on May 11, 2020, 03:30:42 pm

*Looks at hands*

I do not remember doing this.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Eric Blank on May 11, 2020, 04:00:40 pm

I thought world-ending scenarios were supposed to come in a later update :P

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: TheFlame52 on May 11, 2020, 04:22:56 pm

This game is a fascinating experiment in what happens when you save and reload the game hundreds of times.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Timeless Bob on May 13, 2020, 03:37:00 am

Quote from: TheFlame52 on May 11, 2020, 04:22:56 pm

This game is a fascinating experiment in what happens when you save and reload the game hundreds of times.

Agreed.  I wonder if using error trapping methodologies while programming the new Steam DF will help to prevent the entropy creep in save game files?  In the old play by email ganes like Space Empires, turns would be sent out from a host game as save files and reuploaded each "turn" to play simultaneously on the host computer. Back then, there were no differences in the program. Any one of them could be used to set up the turns.  What was often hilarious was the emulation of "simultaneous movement": each one of the save files returned to the "host" would have a calendar of moves: 1 2 3 4 5...ect, and each move would be done in a quick round robin on the Host computer before advancing to the next "tick".  Sometimes getting results could take days of the computer just sitting there crunching turns.  Sometimes there were options for "reflex" actions: A given entity in the game would "do nothing" for a series of steps, "reserving" them for a specific action to be accomplished "reflexively" if the conditions were met.  It gave each game turn a deep branching set of possible end states each turn,  which was marvelous to discover waiting for you in the e-mail when the next turn was sent out. Obviously, there were "play by mail" games where each turn was tabulated by human referees instead of a computer.  It was the same process, but mind dullingly dull for the referee unless they were a grognard and that keen about the inner workings of the game.  Similar to forum games like "The Museum", games often lasted years.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Bralbaard on May 13, 2020, 04:39:22 am

Space empires IV! that brings back memories, even though I never got into multiplayer games.

In the original museum game we had 75 player turns, and 37 (!!) fortresses were created in the world. That probably was one of the most extensive stress tests of a DF world that was ever performed.

I do wonder if future versions of the game will be save game compatible. I'm afraid not, as toady is rewriting significant parts of the game engine to incorporate graphics, but we will see.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Glloyd on May 13, 2020, 12:23:37 pm

We really lucked out with the compatibility of DF 2014/0.4x, that's for sure. I still have hope that the graphical version will be compatible, but it does seem a little unlikely.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Superdorf on May 13, 2020, 12:40:24 pm

Before embarking on his journey, the practitioner first seeks to obtain information of potential scholarly targets from his human compatriot.

Spoiler: So as to appear suitably personable, the practitioner opens this exchange with the traditional barrage of comedy. (click to show/hide)

(https://imgur.com/3vcB00I.png)

Spoiler: The comedic ritual complete, a questionnaire may commence. (click to show/hide)

(https://imgur.com/ujK02XW.png)

The practitioner deems the beasts described... rather ill suited to his current skillset.

(https://imgur.com/lAnjRt6.png)

The practitioner breaks conversation

(https://imgur.com/qM9xbon.png)

and sets off for the open plains, beloved beast of burden bundled behind.

(https://imgur.com/HV1BYIH.png)

(https://imgur.com/Rv2Pqrz.png)

Perhaps the local villagefolk will have words more fruitful.

(https://imgur.com/3vvz00r.png)

((Alliteration!))

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Superdorf on May 13, 2020, 01:02:31 pm

Not one to waste time with peasantly folk, the practitioner makes his way directly to the seat of the village.

(https://imgur.com/DV8pj9Y.png)

(https://imgur.com/pDJMVi5.png)

Spoiler: Sand and cinnabar rise to greet him. (click to show/hide)

(https://imgur.com/U3ekMw6.png)

The practitioner makes his way within, and soon discovers the place to be occupied not by men--

Spoiler: --but by goblins! (click to show/hide)

(https://imgur.com/8tr2dl4.png)

A goblin is quick to challenge him. A squat sort of creature, with indigo hair and a curious knife at her belt.
(https://imgur.com/sIv5sl8.png)

Honesty is valued among the mountain's children. The practitioner speaks with truth.
(https://imgur.com/RKIMHMl.png)

Spoiler: The swamp-daughter... is not impressed. (click to show/hide)

(https://imgur.com/TGbpUVJ.png)

(https://imgur.com/jcpOaVM.png)

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Superdorf on May 13, 2020, 01:49:29 pm

The goblin opens with a diagonal southwest charge

(https://imgur.com/jcpOaVM.png)

drawing within striking distance of the practitioner.

(https://imgur.com/lUzIkj8.png)

Expecting a knife blow, the practitioner employs a preemptive variant of Sodel Ar

(https://imgur.com/0Ns2X5V.png)

thus attaining control of the offending weapon.

(https://imgur.com/3UvuT73.png)

The goblin's blind charge becomes a panicked run. The practitioner crouches for a jump.

(https://imgur.com/ttcE3mH.png)

Thus, a Korumid Abod form is attained--

Spoiler: --with dramatic results. (click to show/hide)

(https://imgur.com/VTowaMA.png)

(https://imgur.com/7o2rJUN.png)

(https://imgur.com/P0wMTEU.png)

(https://imgur.com/gpSgb40.png)

The goblin is stunned. The practitioner is not.

Spoiler: A chokehold soon follows. (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/1yWpAkW.jpg)

(https://imgur.com/9PQPbVg.png)

(https://imgur.com/FSDMOjJ.png)

---

The goblin is unconscious.

(https://imgur.com/Z0TyxvS.png)

The practitioner briefly considers leaving his fallen foe in peace.

(https://imgur.com/3QwQNMX.png)

...

(https://imgur.com/BxrNFeQ.png)

...briefly.

(https://imgur.com/Dsn9YS4.png)

---

((no lie, I was gonna let the thing live until I remembered I'd taken "merciless" as a personality trait.  :-X ))

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Bralbaard on May 14, 2020, 01:19:05 am

Quote from: Superdorf on May 13, 2020, 01:49:29 pm

((no lie, I was gonna let the thing live until I remembered I'd taken "merciless" as a personality trait.  :-X ))

Too bad for the goblin that you did not pick poor memory as a trait.

I have also uploaded a new version of the map. I had failed to notice earlier that Th4dwArfY1 had build a fortress.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Superdorf on May 14, 2020, 08:15:27 pm

The practitioner sights and approaches a wandering speargoblin.

(https://imgur.com/BZMGFda.png) (https://imgur.com/lLznDQe.png)

Unless there is no doubt of hostility, it is improper to engage an opponent unwares. The practitioner calls a greeting.

Spoiler: The speargoblin replies in predictable fashion. (click to show/hide)

(https://imgur.com/fm7QvA2.png)

The practitioner readies himself for combat-- when suddenly, the donkey Ilral makes a charge.

(https://imgur.com/G3k46g1.png)

...

(https://imgur.com/DW5hJsW.png)

...

(https://imgur.com/Eb57MiP.png)

At a loss, the practitioner gives chase...

Spoiler: ...but dwarves are not swift creatures. (click to show/hide)

(https://imgur.com/ENtWdjz.png)

By the time the practitioner is within range, there's little fight left to be fought.

(https://imgur.com/BeIdTcI.png)

No fight at all, in fact.

(https://imgur.com/Kg9MZUc.png)

Spoiler: The donkey Ilral stands in gruesome triumph. (click to show/hide)

(https://imgur.com/zItcN76.png)

A fearsome creature.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: TheFlame52 on May 15, 2020, 02:38:49 pm

hooves are no joke

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Glloyd on May 19, 2020, 03:19:42 am

How are things going Superdorf?

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Bralbaard on May 19, 2020, 08:31:36 am

Good question.
Superdorf, it has been a week since you picked up the save game. Could you try to finish and upload the save game? It is fine if you post updates later because those take time to write.
It is also possible to retire your adventurer somewhere and continue from there if you subscribe for a second turn.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Superdorf on May 19, 2020, 11:40:05 pm

(https://imgur.com/qDokgL3.png)

*sigh*
Here's the save. (http://dffd.bay12games.com/file.php?id=15084) I'll try and describe the proceedings soonish.

I got a bit of goblin-slaughter in at least!

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Quantum Drop on May 20, 2020, 03:08:04 am

Quote from: Superdorf on May 19, 2020, 11:40:05 pm

(https://imgur.com/qDokgL3.png)

*sigh*
Here's the save. (http://dffd.bay12games.com/file.php?id=15084) I'll try and describe the proceedings soonish.

I got a bit of goblin-slaughter in at least!

Water way to go. Did well while you were alive, though.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: TD1 on May 20, 2020, 05:03:59 am

I'm trying to work out whether "well" is part of an extended pun.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: TheFlame52 on May 20, 2020, 03:42:12 pm

time for adventure

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: TheFlame52 on May 22, 2020, 05:21:35 pm

My name is Abpa Glitterirons. I was an orphan, raised by the Kind Creed in Strifefularmor. Now I'm a minor priest. Life is always interesting in Strifefularmor, with all kinds of monsters in the wilderness, politics between the nearby hamlets, rumors from afar, conflict between the all the religions here, and the kind of day-to-day gossip that happens everywhere.

(https://i.imgur.com/MlgIVR3.png)

I like to talk to people! I think I know almost everyone in the city. I like to keep up with all the gossip and rumors. I wish everyone would get along. Even the sewer werebeasts aren't too bad if you catch them on a good day.

(https://i.imgur.com/4Uj27ci.png)

Recently a rumor came from the north that there is a place called The Museum where people bring artifacts for display. We have two in our temple. The church elders think we should send someone to take one of our treasures to the Museum, so that people will come here to see where it came from. That someone is me! I've always wanted to see more of the world and meet new people. I don't have any family, either. I'll miss all my friends here, but I can make new ones along the way!

Right now, the church elders are discussing which of the two artifacts to send...

(https://i.imgur.com/36wApnk.png)

(https://i.imgur.com/Vyxr4cX.png)

((I can't choose, you guys make the decision, you have until tomorrow))

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Quantum Drop on May 22, 2020, 05:28:36 pm

I'd go with the perfect wood opal. If all else fails, it'll make a better throwing weapon than those trousers.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Superdorf on May 22, 2020, 05:33:04 pm

Hey now, don't underestimate the stopping power of a pair of trousers to the face.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Imic on May 22, 2020, 05:35:05 pm

I’ll say... the wood opal.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: TD1 on May 22, 2020, 06:43:23 pm

Quote from: Imic on May 22, 2020, 05:35:05 pm

I’ll say... the wood opal.

ditto

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Bralbaard on May 23, 2020, 05:35:55 am

I had to look up on Wikipedia what wood opal is, and was not dissapointed. Wood opal please.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Glloyd on May 23, 2020, 06:46:19 pm

Yeah, go for the wood opal. Although, someone should grab those pants. Not for the museum, just for wearin'

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: TheFlame52 on May 25, 2020, 06:17:42 pm

First I travel to the Chapel of Clearings, the temple of Loli.

(https://i.imgur.com/OJQVLRY.png)

It's a pretty nice place. The whole thing is built out of hornblende. Also you can see my dog! Her name is Simo and she is very sweet. She started following me around last month and I feed her scraps.

There are a lot of statues in the temple. Most are variations on these two:

(https://i.imgur.com/Z2Akoil.png)

(https://i.imgur.com/baHmV2w.png)

Loli isn't always a nice god.

The view from the roof isn't bad. There are 6 floors, but only 3 are above ground.

(https://i.imgur.com/NOHsQOx.png)

This is the shrine, where we keep the artifacts. Also, the sacred pool.

(https://i.imgur.com/f9cDXhp.png)

I take the wood opal like XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX said.

(https://i.imgur.com/He1fRim.png)

Loli, what do you think?

(https://i.imgur.com/UGSNNSh.png)

Oh. Um.

I'm not sure this journey will end well.

Simo whines and bumps my hand.

(https://i.imgur.com/gZes27e.png)

Good girl.

Before I embark on my journey, I'm going to need some food. I'll go to the market and say goodbye to my friends while I'm at it. Luckily, the market is a short walk to the west. I give a few friendly waves to the merchants, who all know me.

(https://i.imgur.com/fwyyIMg.png)

I walk up to my friend Domi, who sells the best spleen in town.

(https://i.imgur.com/tPFzn3z.png)

"Domi, I'm going on a trip and I need to buy all the spleen I can!"
"Wow, really? How far are you going?"
"I'm going all the way to the Museum?"
"The Museum!? Do you know how far that is!?"
"It's pretty far, but not that far, right?"
"Let me put it this way. If you travel north across the Steppe of Ticks, wade though the Swamp of Guilds, crossing the great river there, and then walk through the Natural Fields, you'll come to the Tundra of Heroes. Put on your warmest clothes, then keep walking north, though the snow, goblins, and necromantic abominations, until you reach the Adventurous Steppe. Then, THEN, you might be able to find someone to guide you the rest of the way! So what I'm saying is, you should stay here."
"But I have to. I want to see the world!"
"See this part of the world! You'll die in the frozen tundra!"
"Aaah! Here's a gold and three silver! Just sell me my spleens!"
"Fine! Here's 20 snapping turtle spleens! Don't fucking die! Goodbye!"

And then I left, to start my trip north. Behind me I heard Domi call out, "And take care of the dog!"

(https://i.imgur.com/ZTfWRmI.png)

Word traveled though the city as I made my way north. Nearly a hundred people waved goodbye as I left. Goodbye, Strifefularmor.

As I entered into the wilderness, I marveled at all the green. And some white. The cherries were in bloom, and some of them were ripe. I climbed up into a tree and ate some. Then I gave Simo one of the spleens that I was going to eat.

(https://i.imgur.com/DkbJh6Z.png)

Then I just decided to fill my backpack with ripe cherries.

(https://i.imgur.com/K6SmOL8.png)

Spitting cherry pits, I kept walking north. I walked, and walked. All day. It wasn't too bad, because I usually walk around the city all day, but the terrain was worse. I spent the night with Simo under my coat, giving me warmth. I couldn't feel my fingers and toes in the morning, but they warmed up once I got walking. It snowed on the second day, and I packed snow into my waterskin and kept it under my coat. I drank the meltwater and added more snow as I went. The spleens ended up being mostly for Simo, because there were fruit trees and other edible plants everywhere. Then I made it to the great river.

(https://i.imgur.com/JTzq0Jk.png)

There was some kind of giant turtle lurking in the dark water, which scared Simo away, and frankly, I'm not THAT confident in my swimming. But I had to cross sometime, and I went looking for a bridge, following the river. The hamlets I visited had no bridges.

(https://i.imgur.com/9zYFlaC.png)

Folks say that the river turns to the south a bit west of here, so that's no good. I'll go east instead.

And I traveled east, following the great cataract, until I came upon the town of Streammartyred. ((It was at this point that I realized I could cross the river at night while it was frozen, but bear with me here.))

(https://i.imgur.com/eXdnddX.png)

As I entered the town, night began to fall, and with it, snow.

(https://i.imgur.com/mUQMjbC.png)

I came upon a cluster of buildings. Each one was silent and empty. The snow was pristine, and the world was silent.

(https://i.imgur.com/E7y14OL.png)

Where are all the people?

Wait... Is that...

(https://i.imgur.com/DJnNEFe.png)

A bridge!

I cross, and continue on the other side. Simo is getting tired and cold. I open another door to peek inside, and she squirms though the open door, curling up on a pile of clothes.

I guess we're staying here for the night.

(https://i.imgur.com/fOqs9Nr.png)

Nothing bad happens overnight, and as we walk out of the door, we're surrounded by... cats?

(https://i.imgur.com/8x3jPoh.png)

Hey, these barrels still have alcohol in them!

(https://i.imgur.com/lGO11LM.png)

(https://i.imgur.com/tfEXNrQ.png)

And with that, we're out of the dead city, traveling north. We're almost to the Tundra of Heroes. It... hasn't been as hard as I expected.

(https://i.imgur.com/JWCT6iW.png)

Blue circle is me, red circle is where I came from.

The tundra is so... empty.

(https://i.imgur.com/xxvQXYT.png)

After a couple of days, here's how close I am:

(https://i.imgur.com/VEAh74f.png)

A couple of days later:

(https://i.imgur.com/lxmwi5t.png)

(https://i.imgur.com/nd1lMrO.png)

That wasn't hard. I'll walk back after I buy some more food in the town to the north.

(https://i.imgur.com/GHtFzA8.png)

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: TheFlame52 on May 25, 2020, 06:30:03 pm

I don't feel like making a fort, so here's your save, Cathar.

http://dffd.bay12games.com/file.php?id=15090

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Glloyd on May 25, 2020, 09:26:54 pm

Quick little turn! But it's nice to have another artifact at the museum, it's been a while since someone made it.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Cathar on May 25, 2020, 09:36:05 pm

Wow ! Nice ! I'll grab the save and start tomorrow ! It'll feel nice to have a break from my current activities

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Quantum Drop on May 26, 2020, 02:22:39 am

Well done! Good to see you got there without much hassle.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Cathar on May 27, 2020, 07:19:34 am

So I played 11-12 days so far, and the universe is amazing. Medieval mad max it is.

I havent found a worthy artefact so far but I'm still looking. Just a question, do we have an "adventurer guild" so far ? Where do you guys retire your adventurers ?

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Imic on May 27, 2020, 08:30:14 am

As of yet we don’t rrally have one, I’m hoping to make one on my next turn after my last attempt went so arglebarglemerg.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Bralbaard on May 27, 2020, 08:52:20 am

Nice artwork!

We do not have one, but it looks like most surviving characters have moved away from where they were retired during other peoples turns. Most are in Treatyseed now.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Cathar on May 27, 2020, 03:50:48 pm

Well, I had the most frustrating death. And because I don't want to savescum neither I want to redact that, I'll just pass for my turn... sorry guys. Next up can take the save

I'll upload the save soon. I'm angry at myself but I'll breath deeply and post the thing.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Bralbaard on May 27, 2020, 04:05:42 pm

Sorry to hear that :-/.
When the anger has subsided, do not forget to write a story of your adventures. Tragedies sometimes make for the best stories.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Cathar on May 27, 2020, 04:10:39 pm

Ah, it's not really a tragedy, it's more like a "woops, an enemy rolled a critical hit". I don't promise I'll write anything, this may just be very boring to both write and read. But maybe I don't know. Here is the save (http://dffd.bay12games.com/file.php?id=15097)

If I decide to write something, I'll update this message

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: TheFlame52 on May 27, 2020, 04:32:53 pm

Quote from: Bralbaard on May 27, 2020, 04:05:42 pm

Tragedies sometimes make for the best stories.

I was trying to write a tragedy with my no-combat-skills peasant venturing though the most hostile terrain in the world, but... uh... nothing bad happened. I was a little disappointed.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Tasoth on May 27, 2020, 05:34:33 pm

Dang, sorry to hear about the bad luck Cathar. Work has slowed down for me these past few days so I should have plenty of time to explore and hopefully find some good stuff, but before I get started I’m going to read through the thread to catch up on some posts I missed. Retail work has been an absolute nightmare.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Bralbaard on May 28, 2020, 08:44:09 am

Quote from: Tasoth on May 27, 2020, 05:34:33 pm

but before I get started I’m going to read through the thread to catch up on some posts I missed.

Good. That gives us some time to reflect on how the world has been doing since we took control.
It turns out that the plague has not stopped. Humans are dying at alarming rates.

(https://i.imgur.com/rSB1PRa.png)

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Cathar on May 28, 2020, 09:32:34 am

I think I understand why, I'm currently writing my report (this will take some time) I'll make some suggestions why, and tl;dr humans will go extinct soon unless they manage to relocate. They are basically living in a place that is below 0°C in summer and are probably just freezing to death in winter.

I also advise to legend dive to see if maybe there were battles or the like that could explain these drops. I'll do a bit of it myself but I'm currently absolutely overloaded with stuff to do. Maybe we can make it a running quest to find the reason why people keep disapearing and put an end to that.

Regardless, if you can give me another turn, I'd really appreciate it.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Bralbaard on May 28, 2020, 09:48:33 am

I've added you for another turn.

We found out earlier that a large part of the deaths appear to be caused because there are large numbers of outcasts in this world that dissapear from the game as soon as an adventurer visits their site. But that may not be the complete picture. I know from another world that I'm playing that large numbers of people dying can also happen without adventurer interaction.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Imic on May 28, 2020, 09:56:59 am

So, basically, the foundation of the museum may or may not have more or less heralded the coming of an ice age?

That’s pretty cool.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Glloyd on May 28, 2020, 12:53:33 pm

What does that population graph look like without humans and goblins on it? I'm wondering how the elvish and dwarfish populations are doing

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: TheFlame52 on May 28, 2020, 03:35:58 pm

The "empty city" I visited was surrounded by refugees, but not nearly as many as you might expect from such a large city. They said they were fleeing an invading army. Maybe that's part of it too?

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Bralbaard on May 28, 2020, 05:23:05 pm

Quote from: Glloyd on May 28, 2020, 12:53:33 pm

What does that population graph look like without humans and goblins on it? I'm wondering how the elvish and dwarfish populations are doing

Here you go:
(https://i.imgur.com/DUDAmVj.png)

Something terrible happened to the elves during my turn, but they have been recovering since. At the time I thought it was war with the goblins because they had a similar drop in population. The dwarves are doing fine! This is because people have been building fortresses and many dwarves have been generated out of thin air to fill those. Kobolds are just barely surviving. There are about 50 of them, slowly declining.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Glloyd on May 28, 2020, 05:32:02 pm

Thanks! Nice to see that the goal of the earlier adventurers to resurrect the dwarven civilization is actually being successful.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Tasoth on May 28, 2020, 07:38:01 pm

Guess we know now to go searching for some...more recent forts.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Glloyd on May 28, 2020, 10:51:26 pm

Out of interest, I downloaded the save, and exported the detailed map because I find it more interesting to look at than the basic ASCII map. Of note is the fact that the giant river in the south actually cuts through the tundra well into to the north (or would if the tundra was there. You'd have to check it ingame, but from the elevation it looks like the river valley carves through there, although the river itself might just vanish when it meets the tundra). It's a /huge/ river. I've included it below for all who are interested. It may be worth adding to the OP as well.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/VKx703Y.png)

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: TheFlame52 on May 29, 2020, 02:23:59 pm

It might actually be a different river, flowing south into that rather large lake. I should check.

EDIT: Do you see that long river north of the tundra, which weaves back and forth though the goblin and human nations? The one that becomes a major river before entering the tundra? That river is called The Purged Loot, and it's the same river that comes out of the southern side of the tundra. The Purged Loot drains nearly half the world! No wonder it's an entire map tile wide!

Spoiler: The Headwaters (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/VJ3ZI1H.png)

EDIT2: I think if this world was a real one, the Purged Loot would actually be feeding a massive lake, dammed off by the ice of the Heroic Tundra. Most of the northern bowl area would be forced to flow east and north into the northern ocean.

The Purged Loot is probably a name that everyone knows, given how incredibly long it is.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Cathar on May 29, 2020, 04:35:13 pm

(sorry it takes time, some days were busier than others)

The story of Pictham, woodcutter of the Kingdom of Silver

Prologue

(https://i.imgur.com/NDamreo.png)
   Sunflower

In the southern village of Uddainan, fire is pretty much everything. As snow covers the landscape in all seasons, the farmers would freeze to death if it wasn't for the sweet comfort of a nightly chimney fire. Here, the sun hardly pierces the cloud – and if the cultures and the vegetation had adapted to the extreme climate, the villagers had to grew ever so reliant on their wood consumption. Venturing outside is prohibitively dangerous – and frostbites are not the only danger looming.

It was a morning of summer – if summer means anything here. Pictham was looking around the forest, alone, to find some dead tree to fall. Surely she wasn't the only lumberjack in the village, but today, she surely was the earliest. Time and experience taught her to work alone – and although she would often appear quite gregarious, she enjoyed those calm, lonesome mornings.

This morning, had she waited for the other lumbermen to start off her day, things likely would have been different – she wouldn't have travelled half the world and probably wouldn't have died before the end of the month.

She was daydreaming in the white forest when she heard screams – at first she thought people were fighting, but as she lend an ear, she heard bone chilling shrieks.  It wasn't human – it probably wasn't even natural – but it was near.

She thought about fleeing, but soon, human screams joined the terrible howlings, and Pictham realized someone else was in danger. She had her axe in hand and against her better judgement, she ran in direction of the screams.

An aging woman, maybe a poacher, was attacked by a strange creature – a scaly, winged humanoid with knife like fangs was pinning her down.

(https://i.imgur.com/AHjDdkS.png)
  ¥ita Gujegesmin   
A large scaly humanoid.  It has thin wings of stretched skin  and it howls into high winds.  Its slate gray scales are large and  close-set.  Now you will know why you fear the night.

The poacher was holding her crossbow between her and the monster, but her seconds were numered.

« Hold on ! » Pictham shouted, as she ran toward them holding her bronze axe. « I'll help you ! »

The creature was fast and scary – but she wasn't much bigger than a man. Pictham didn't hesitated a second – the head of her axe bursted the monster's scales apart a couple times and soon, the creature fell like a tree. Pictham lifted her axe again and gave the monster a couple more hits for good measure – it was a good axe and the monster surely stopped moving.

(https://i.imgur.com/Eu59Zyv.png)

The woodcutter then turned to the other woman. Her blood was melting the snow in which she laid. She was severely wounded and needed urgent medical attention...but as Pictham came closer to try to lift her, she shriek and jumped at her savior.

Pictham didn't understand at all – at least, not immediately. She disarmed her, told her to yield and tried to calm her – in vain. The woman kept trying to hit her like a fury, with everythging she could get her hand on.

Desperate to calm the wounded woman, Pictham placed her in a chokehold and the poacher fell unconscious. She would never wake up. It turned up that the woman was a bandit – and being bring back to the village would have been the death of her.

Pictham stood above the two corpses, afraid, shaken and full of guilt, unsure of what to do.

She would then go to the meadhall, ask for the judgement and the guidance of the local ruler, Lady Onaf.

She found the lady taking to a priest – the village of Uddainan was deeply religious. When Pictham entered the meadhall, all bruised and bloody, all eyes turned to her.

What she had met earlier was a « Howling Freak », a creature of the night. As for the murder – it was decided that because she acted in self defense, it was not necessary to atone.

Pictham however, was still shaken by the confrontation. Those last decades, she thoughts, the villages were emptying and growing abandonned. Survivors were forced into banditism under the extreme cold of the region. Soon, that would be the turn of the Uddainan village.

« It's the will of the gods that we live in a perpetual winter » a priest said.

But – maybe if that is the case, the will of gods can be changed ? The people of Uddainan were a faithful lot – surely the gods would not let them freeze into extinction.

« Who knows ? » answers the priest. « It's likely they will – as for why, your guess is as good as ours »

Maybe the best way would be to ask the gods herself. Their nearest temples were in the town of Licstalcon, and praying there was said to have given many answers in the past.

Resolute to bring back the sun to the village of Uddainan, Pictham went to her home a last time, bid farewell to her friends, took a bit of cooked game and before noon, she had left Uddainan.

   The curse

Against curses and adversity, Pictham was blessed with a beaming smile and an ironclad optimism. If the gods wanted her to do some peregrinations, of course she would do so. She travelled the countryside, and the sun was setting in the west when she arrived at Lictsalcon.

She entered the first tavern she saw. A man was sitting at a table drinking. As it was the first time she visited the city, she decided to sit in front of him and to start a conversation.

Pictham, if anything, was extremely sociable and made friends easily – the man was most eager to help. However, he knew very little. He told her about the ills of the town – bandits, beasts and monsters roaming the countryside. Pictham was but too aware of those.

She thanked the man anyway and was about to leave, when she was approached by a creature she had never see before. It was a small creature, a bit smaller than her, looking like a green lizard, with a tail and clothes.

« What are you looking for, girl ? » it asked in a whistling voice. Pictham explained the situation once again.

The lizardman shrugged.

« Oh, well, good luck wiz zat. Your bessst bet isss the sssshrine down ze sssstreet »

And there she was again, roaming the streets of Licstalcon, visiting shrines and praying at them to no avail.  The evening was starting to coloring the snow orange and the light was starting to dim. It was at this moment that, may be luck or fate, she found an open shrine with a twenty sided dice on it.

She prayed to Piram god of the sun, asking him to bring an end to the winter – and rolled the dice. When it eventually stopped, « You're absolutely screwed » was readable on its upright face.
(https://i.imgur.com/IRGpFjo.png)

   A night in the sewer

Now the moon was clearly visible in the night sky and Pictham was back to the tavern.

« No luck ? » the reptile asked her.

« I think I'm the butt of some divine joke » answered Pictham. « And I don't understand why we have to live in that unforgiving cold – if I could have an answer, I'd probably go to my village in peace. »

She had done nothing wrong, and as far as she knew the people of Uddainan were good people – why would the god punish them with an eternal winter ?

« Look human, I don't know anything on your weather-related concerns, but...maybe I know someone who does »

In the sewers of the city, there was a goblin sage by the name of Melbe. Whatever you wanted to know, she would know it. She was like – the living library of Licstalcon.
Despite the sky now being deep purple and tiredness creeping in, Pictham decided to go and look for that goblin sage. It was the only thread she could follow to bring summer back to Uddainan, and she was decided to follow it.

The sewers were a labyrinth. Completely dry due to the river being fronzen, they were but a depository for old corpses, which were but bones after having been catfood.
Cats.

They were everywhere. Running, jumping around. Their meowing reverberating on the tunnel edge. Meow, meow, meow. Everything was but meow, to the point Pictham lost the sense of time.

She stopped for a moment when she heard human voices above her head. By lending an ear, she could listen to full conversations between the people of the city.

« Of course » she thought. « I'm right under their feet »

How many hours did she spent in those abandonned tunnels ? Going up, down, avoiding cats. Still no goblin sage...Until eventually, she found a closed door in front of her.

She opened it and found a serie of chests, containing valuables : two decorated iron gloves, and two long bronze boots, and a big bronze halberd. Maybe her luck had turned ? It was a thing of a high value – especially in those dangerous cursed times. The whole thing looked abandonned ; Pictham borrowed them.

If their owner ends up showing itself, it would be still time to explain the misunderstanding.

Smiling to her renewed luck, she kept exploring.

Maybe an half hour later, she stumbled upon a silhouette cut in the distance. A bit worried, she approached with caution. It was a chubby woman wearing a leather armor and sporting a mace.

Pictham greeted her from a distance with a beaming smile. The two women discussed, but soon realized neither of them was a threat for one another. A second later, they were joking together, relieved that they wouldn't have to fight each other.

« I'm on a quest to bring the sun back to the plains » explained Pictham. « I've been told that a goblin sage going by the name of Melbe could tell me where to look »

The chubby macewoman laught – but didn't know any goblin, let alone wise goblin named Melbe.

« But hold on ! » she exclaimed. « I'll introduce you to the others ! »

That macewoman happened to be the member of a – litteral – underground organization. Probably thieves, altho Pictham didn't bother to inquire. Soon, she was in speaking terms with every one of them.

This was all in good fun. The thieves were happy to see a friendly face. They had stood with their head down for a time, it seems, and didn't appeared worried or aggressive. Their captain, a very corpulent man, laught at Pictham idiotic jokes about fluffy wamblers and all were very impressed by the description of the fight against the howling freak.

When it was time to leave, Pictham had totally forgot the path to the surface and appeared embarassed. One of the thieves, a man with a square chin sporting a copper warhammer, soon came to her rescue and shown her a shortcut to the surface.

« You said you wanted to bring the sun back to the region ? » he asked.

« Yes – or at least, understand why we're cursed with eternal winter. »

They spoke together some more – and the more they talked, the more it actually made sense. One after another, the villages were disappearing from the region. The snow was covering more and more of the ruins of old hamlets as stores of wood started to run down and people would freeze to their death or turn to banditry, unable to sustain themselves otherwise. The thieves were no stranger to the misery. The man, turning out to be a warrior going by « Ases », accepted to come with on her desperate quest.

They slept a short night in the inn. Pictham was no closer to her goal, but she made a friend. That was good enough.

   Rainy day

The next morning, the sky was obscured by black clouds and torrents of water were pouring to the land. It was a cold rain, with sharp, half frozen, needle-like raindrops.

Pictham and Ases woke up slightly before dawn and tried to assess their options. Asking the gods at the shrines just angered them. The wise people in-the-know where nowhere to be found. But so earlier in her journey, Pictham didn't wanted to give up just now. She still felt she would have to make it up – somehow – for having murdered the poacher. If at the end of July, she would still be empty ended, she would then decide she had tried everything she could and just go home, but until then, she wouldn't slack up.

With her new friend, she went to walk a bit outisde of the city. It was a quite disagreable experience – it was cold, it was wet, and the wanabe adventurers were soon made grouchy by the experience.

They were considering going back when, next to the river, they saw a strange, naked cave-man. Many questions plucked into Pictham's head. She approached with caution and tried to talk to the ...creature that looked like a man.

(https://i.imgur.com/0YlnLwE.png)

It would not answer. Tho thankfully, it would not attack either. It was just standing there, oblivious, under the rain, watching the furious ripples at the surface of the river, under the storm.

« Pictham ! Watch out ! » screamed Ases, jamming its copper hammer into the creatures ribs. The caveman screamed back and ran. Ases gave chase, hurling swears and insults.

« Ases, what the hell ? » asked Pictham, trying to calm him down.

« I don't know – he looked dangerous. »

How so, the girl could not tell, but she was done adventuring for the day. They soon came back to the city and took shelter in a guardhouse, carved into the outer walls.

When the weather would subside, they would try to find answers elsewhere, but for now, they would better rest. Tomorrow would start a journey that would lead the couple to the end of the known world.

(https://i.imgur.com/vPQAGzF.png)

   The plan
   
After one more day in town visiting various religious places and praying to multiple shrines, Ases and Pictham were no closer to their goal. Maybe the town of Licstalcon ; though a local hub, was not big enough to warrant the attention of the gods.
« Or maybe » suggested Ases, « this is because we're just nobodies »

Think about it ; why would the allmighty gods pay any heed to the plights of a lumberjane and a common bandit in a small city hidden in the snow ? They wouldn't. Clearly they had to attract their attention, maybe become heroes or accomplish great deeds.

« It is said there is a dwarven museum, open far in the north » Ases remarked. « People who submit an artifact to them are said to be written down in history »

And so it was decided ; the couple would travel north, find an artefact, attract the attention of the gods and ask them to bring the sun back to Uddainan.

A perfect plan.

The following morning, they left the city. The wilderness, especially at dawn, was incredibly calm. Not a bird song, not a critter – just pure white snow smothering all noise and drowning all landscape features.

Not to get lost, the diminutive group follows the main road eastward toward the hamlets of the Kingdom of Silver.

Even in that cold with that snow, foraging was not difficult. The flora had adapted seemingly easier than people to the harsh climate, and sweeping the morning snow would often reveal berrybushes, full in this season. For two more months, they would not starve in the wilderness.
(https://i.imgur.com/ejb1J4v.jpg)
Their path lead them to the village of Ithbidusem or at least, what was left of it. Flowery bushes were growing out of the snow and hugging the abandonned building – most of them were in disrepeair, some of them missing a roof.

Surely, if there was anything here before, it's now gone. The travellers resumed their travels.

   The kingdom in ruins

For a couple more days, Pictham and Ases travelled from town to town in an increasingly familiar desertic white landscape. They would go to a town, find it in ruins, then move to the next to find it abandonned also.
A goblin armed with a sledgehammer, who was standing guard alone in a meadhall, confirms the fears they had – nothing was happening around these part of the world. Everything has fallen into disrepeair, and people simply disappeared as the snow covered the region.

Though, the travel was agreable. It was cold – it always is – but the days of July maintained the temperature somewhat around freezing water. To Pictham and Ases, used to harsher climates and wearing thick fur clothes, it was easily bearable.
(https://i.imgur.com/K9jodSw.jpg)

During their travels, they were attacked by a pack of starving wolves – if some plant life had adapted to the cold climate, most preys did not and the wolves of the region were notable for being aggressive and always lurking for meat. Luckily, both Pictham and Ases were seasonned fighters, and the beasts were driven off before they could do any serious damage.

(https://i.imgur.com/i7SvPWq.jpg)
Wolves of the region are well known to attack travellers

Another notable find they made was in the village of Unironu. Altho completely abandonned, including its meadhall, the village of Unironu had still some valuables in the form of artistic works, scultpures big and small and works of fine metallurgy.

« If we do not find anything better, we should bring some of those to the museum » suggested Pictham. « These are probably not artefacts...but surely they are valuable »

Ases acquiesced.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Glloyd on May 29, 2020, 07:32:36 pm

Quote from: TheFlame52 on May 29, 2020, 02:23:59 pm

It might actually be a different river, flowing south into that rather large lake. I should check.

EDIT: Do you see that long river north of the tundra, which weaves back and forth though the goblin and human nations? The one that becomes a major river before entering the tundra? That river is called The Purged Loot, and it's the same river that comes out of the southern side of the tundra. The Purged Loot drains nearly half the world! No wonder it's an entire map tile wide!

Spoiler: The Headwaters (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/VJ3ZI1H.png)

EDIT2: I think if this world was a real one, the Purged Loot would actually be feeding a massive lake, dammed off by the ice of the Heroic Tundra. Most of the northern bowl area would be forced to flow east and north into the northern ocean.

The Purged Loot is probably a name that everyone knows, given how incredibly long it is.

That's the one I was talking about! That's a great name for it. The map overall is very cool (props to Bralbaard for that), but that's genuinely the largest river I've ever seen in DF. I do want to see what happens to it where it meets the tundra though. Either way, it looks like you can follow the river valley all the way to the north, even if the water isn't flowing there.

Also awesome first entry Cathar!

EDIT: According to Legends Viewer, here is the full path of The Purged Loot, the river the feeds the world (not including its many tributaries):

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/VAh5DKI.png)

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: TheFlame52 on May 30, 2020, 10:08:55 am

Quote from: Cathar on May 29, 2020, 04:35:13 pm

I love your story so far! Your adventurer looks so cute! I've been looking forward to your turn ever since you signed up. I knew it was going to be good.

Quote from: Glloyd on May 29, 2020, 07:32:36 pm

That's the one I was talking about! That's a great name for it. The map overall is very cool (props to Bralbaard for that), but that's genuinely the largest river I've ever seen in DF. I do want to see what happens to it where it meets the tundra though. Either way, it looks like you can follow the river valley all the way to the north, even if the water isn't flowing there.

Also awesome first entry Cathar!

EDIT: According to Legends Viewer, here is the full path of The Purged Loot, the river the feeds the world (not including its many tributaries):

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/VAh5DKI.png)

I didn't know you could view rivers in Legends Viewer. It's cool to see the whole path in one screenshot. I checked out the path of the river using Fort Mode, and I noticed something. The river doesn't have any waterfalls or height changes at all. Its valley cuts through everything, and there are often huge cliffs on each side. That means it's probably a huge barrier to trade, and the bridges that cross it very important.

I exported the world's hydration map. You can follow the paths of all the rivers that feed the Purged Loot. There are a lot of them!

Spoiler: Hydration (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/ToJEXHQ.png)

I also exported the trade map. Seems like there isn't much trade going on.

Spoiler: Trade (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/cSxxi6D.png)

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Glloyd on May 30, 2020, 11:46:19 am

Yeah, between the trade map and the diplo map, it looks like the human cities in the south are very isolated (almost no diplomatic relations with anyone from the north). Their relative peacefulness could explain all the refugees and etc, and all the outcasts who've been dying off.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: TD1 on May 30, 2020, 01:26:11 pm

Nice turn, Cathar.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Cathar on May 30, 2020, 05:34:00 pm

I still have some...18 days to write up, but I'm writing right now. Most of the story is filler, but I met some interesting creatures I want to draw too

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Glloyd on May 31, 2020, 05:11:37 pm

How's it going so far Tasoth? It's been a few days.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Tasoth on June 01, 2020, 06:55:21 pm

Quote from: Glloyd on May 31, 2020, 05:11:37 pm

How's it going so far Tasoth? It's been a few days.

Apologies, I just finished reading through all the relevant history yesterday (By the Beard, there’s a lot). I’ve set out on my adventure as of a few hours ago, and I will post again when I find some goodies or die trying!

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Tasoth on June 04, 2020, 09:02:43 am

I’m afraid I won’t be able to finish my turn. The network in my home has gone down and we’ve had to call the ISP out to come check it out, which won’t be for several more days. I have the save on a thumb drive, so I’m heading down to the local library to put it up on DFFD so Travis Bickle can download it for their turn. I’d also like to ask to be put down at the bottom of the turn list to try again sometime in the future, if that’s okay.

Edit for clarity: The save is as Cathar left it, since it's a backup of the save I made when I first downloaded it; here's the save (http://dffd.bay12games.com/file.php?id=15101)

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Glloyd on June 05, 2020, 02:42:53 am

That's too bad Tasoth. Someone will have to get in touch with Travis Bickle, although they were last active two months ago, so I'm not sure how much luck you'll have

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Bralbaard on June 05, 2020, 03:07:28 pm

I'll add you to the list again Tasoth, hope you will have better luck next time.

I'll send Travis Bickle a PM.

Edit: at the time of posting this the DFFD server was down. Let's hope it recovers soon.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Glloyd on June 10, 2020, 03:04:18 am

No response from Travis I'm guessing?

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Bralbaard on June 10, 2020, 10:02:32 am

I have indeed not had a response from Travis Bickle.

I do not have time to play right now, so I moved myself down the list a number of places. That means it would be Luckyowls turn.
Before I notify him, I was wondering if DFFD is down for other people as well, or is it just me?

I can probably get the save game to Luckyowl by other means, but that will have to wait till tomorrow (I still have cathar's save on my drive and if I understand correctly that should be identical to the last save game)

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Quantum Drop on June 10, 2020, 10:08:31 am

Quote from: Bralbaard on June 10, 2020, 10:02:32 am

I have indeed not had a response from Travis Bickle.

I do not have time to play right now, so I moved myself down the list a number of places. That means it would be Luckyowls turn.
Before I notify him, I was wondering if DFFD is down for other people as well, or is it just me?

I can probably get the save game to Luckyowl by other means, but that will have to wait till tomorrow (I still have cathar's save on my drive and if I understand correctly that should be identical to the last save game)

Seems to be up on my end.

EDIT 11/06/20: Yep, gone down on my end.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Bralbaard on June 10, 2020, 10:24:06 am

That's odd. It's consistently down for me, over three different browsers, while trying to approach it using different links and searches.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Tasoth on June 10, 2020, 10:25:26 am

Quote from: Quantum Drop on June 10, 2020, 10:08:31 am

Seems to be up on my end.

Up on my end as well right now, although it has gone down before, sometimes for a few hours, but the longest time was a full day. I wonder if the site’s having issues as of late.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Bralbaard on June 10, 2020, 10:30:10 am

Toady made a remark several days ago that they were moving to another server and that there might be issues.
I'll just send  Luckyowl a PM and ask him to let us know if he has trouble downloading the save game.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Luckyowl on June 10, 2020, 11:12:20 am

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/5472hRL.png)

Yeah, the link is not working for me either.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: TheFlame52 on June 10, 2020, 05:03:50 pm

I would like another turn.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Timeless Bob on June 11, 2020, 01:47:21 am

Perhaps there's another file hosting site that we can use as backup?  I used OneDrive for the longest time during the Museum and Museum II games. https://wetransfer.com/ (https://wetransfer.com/) comes to mind.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Bralbaard on June 11, 2020, 06:50:33 am

DFFD now works for me. Toady also has a new post up saying that there were continuing issues, but it looks like they might have figured it out now.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Luckyowl on June 11, 2020, 07:38:01 pm

(https://i.imgur.com/TYFapXf.png)




My name is Thon Scarone. I am currently on my way to Dieportal for a  job. I am not really sure what it is since I was told from a goblin back at Diveact that there is work for me there. He claimed to be a representative for some museum called Boltpumpkin down south and that they are in need of a treasure hunter. The goblin whistled with a smile saying that the job pays well.
 I am not a treasure hunter, but money is tight in High confederacies. So I took it.

(https://i.imgur.com/Dhg9ABm.png)



It's not far from where I am at. I pray the gods that my trip is a smooth one.


(https://i.imgur.com/lOADkDZ.png)

"WOLVES!"-  It's always the wolves… naturally I tried to run away from them. But that wasn’t working so I had no choice but to fight.

(https://i.imgur.com/acvAOyL.png)



In a single swoop I slew a wolf. After that the fight was mostly me just rolling and slashing.


(https://i.imgur.com/PpduPmf.png)


I was able to slew most of them without injury. Covered in blood my predatory eyes was set on a scared wolf trying to escape…

(https://i.imgur.com/dMcUbae.png)


  I don't let my prey escape…

(https://i.imgur.com/sESarY1.png)

I continued through the dune of song. Where I came across a group of bandits scouting the area. So I moved through the dune carefully. Always watching who was behind me and what was in front of me. My ears were keen for any footstep that might be near. Although I am  a hunter, there is time where I must play prey and realize that I am outnumbered. My only wish is to reach the ruin fortress. I can not afford to fight at this state.

(https://i.imgur.com/cxtREls.png)

This high state of mind bled into the night although their footstep and small chatter rarer where I am at. I still get a few footsteps here and there. I must stay low until I know I made it.


(https://i.imgur.com/uqEYNtq.png)


I finally arrived  at the fortress I pray 'the' for her guidance.

(https://i.imgur.com/63lF2Dy.png)


I enter the fort and a group of robed figures stood atop a bunch of items. The fortress seemed empty  with only a temple at my far right corner and tavern adjacent to the temple. A small robed goblin trot her way towards me "greetings, I assume one of our recruiters sent you here?" a female goblin in robe uttered as I enter in.
"yeah, heard yer in need of a treasure hunter."

(https://i.imgur.com/dQt3nle.png)

"right, are you experience in Treasure hunting? For the task we have for you is not an easy one."



"yeah, yeah, I can handle it, I was a hunter for years. Treasure hunting is just the same as hunting animals. No problem!"

The small goblin shrugged her shoulder" very well, we required for the pearl of aquamarines the star sapphire bracelet to be  given to Boltpumpkin, we have intel of it's location. It is in a cave called the shadow of finching… you stated that you were a hunter?"
I nodded.
"well, this job requires you to go into a cave that is home to two ettin, we advice if you can, to just sneak in and get  the bracelet without any confrontation. Since our only interest is the bracelet and nothing more. However if you are force to fight it. Then we wish you luck. There is nothing we can do then hope that you are able to return with the bracelet from the cave and bring it it to Boltpumpkin."

I nodded,"I understand.

The goblin gesture her hand to a  ramp leading down stairs ," your payment is whatever   you can find  down stairs hopefully there is something down there that can aid you in your adventure."  she then guide her hand to  a small tavern to her left, "you may rest here for the night and next morning sort out your equipment and head to the cave of finching. May  the gods guide you in your journey. Treasure Hunter. "




After chatting with them a bit about the state of world, learning a bit about their mission, I took a rest at a small tavern. Next morning, will check below and see what kind of loot I can bring with me then I set course to the cave of finching in search of the Bracelet.

(https://i.imgur.com/G4f7cvn.png)

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Luckyowl on June 13, 2020, 03:20:33 pm

Once the morning had arrived.  I travel deep further into the fortress. Made my way into the treasure room and meet more of those  Holy treasure folks.  I Chatted with them a bit about random stuff.

(https://i.imgur.com/G82KD0S.png)

After looking around I notice, that all the armor were pretty small for me. But a glimmering shield  caught my attention. I pulled the shield from the pile and closely examined it. Looks pretty sturdy, hopefully it will help me. Along with the shield I got myself some bolts and crossbow. Just in case.

(https://i.imgur.com/Y5cR3Fg.png)

I am off to the cave of shadow of flinching I said my goodbyes  to the Holy Treasures. And they all wished me luck.


(https://i.imgur.com/rYuUPUs.png)

out in the forest I have my body against the tree with a map in my  hands. Planning my next move. My hope Is that I can make it to this small village called Singedtown.Chat with the locals to see what's up  and  then rest there. After that  I  will make one last pits top to a monastery and pray to the gods for my trip to be a good one and once that is done the rest is left to fate. 


(https://i.imgur.com/cvD2Jtl.png)

I made it to Singedtown a pretty lovely hamlet that has an interesting hillside that runs across the vertical village. I talk with the folks about any trouble.

(https://i.imgur.com/hxjd2Rw.png)

I learned from one of the folks that the High Confederacies army are on the march  to a fortress called Confusedship, held by  the Curious Horror. It seems like the army of the High confederacies are on the offensive and are trying to reclaim the fort.  Weirdly enough the march is being led by a Goblin named Gorpu Birthshack who is an overlord for one of High confederacies' military fort.


(https://i.imgur.com/Nz4eaeL.png)

(https://i.imgur.com/MKIQb3r.png)

After talking with the locals . I head to the mead hall and met two other adventurers who were just passing by like me. I learned that they were on their way to Treatyseed to hunt down a dwarven vampire named,  Asmel Minepass.


(https://i.imgur.com/XXRalyR.png)





I told them that I too was heading around there. So I ask them if they want to join with me and they did.



(https://i.imgur.com/XMzKHdB.png)








I decided to rest here. The scenery is amazing! A valley with a small bridge across. We unwind and went to get some sticks and rock to make our self a small campsite.

(https://i.imgur.com/U3f5Rgu.png)

Later that night

(https://i.imgur.com/JWpNAK9.png)




Sekur the swordswoman(blue) and Tohwot the Bowman(green) are pretty cool. We agree on most of the things. Other than law. The whole conversation waves with laughter and smiles if only we had some beer to pass the time.  Within our conversation I asked Them about their mission Sekur told me that they were task to visit Some fortress called Treatyseed and She  leaned towards me and whispered in my ears

(https://i.imgur.com/VEm1HTz.png)

I was a bit of freaked out and ask further, but she then chuckles and act as if she never said anything about perfect horns…I am contemplating if it was the right choice to have bring them along.

I do wonder of this "evil" in Perfect Horns. I am very aware of the fallen civilization called The wall dyed. Since our emblem a square brilliant cut gem was a gift from them  back when Diveact was a small tribe.That's why The High confederacies and The wall dyed have always been close for so many years, we aided them during the great necro war. But one day they just disappear from the world for centauries and no one knows why. However I been hearing rumors about their resurgence back at Diveact. Not sure if it's true, but would be nice If it is.

I yawned and told the others that I am gonna hit the hay. They told me goodnight but both of them continued the conversation on unrelated topic. Eventually they fell asleep and our light was consumed by the night.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Luckyowl on June 14, 2020, 01:26:45 pm

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/0ivzzqZ.png)

welp, I am not surprise, but I  was disappointed...I mean the fight looked like it was going our way until it

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

grabbed me and ripped me from limb to limb.

I am gonna switch to fortress mode a bit and will write the events that led to my death tomorrow.
 

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Luckyowl on June 15, 2020, 07:36:16 am

My internet is pretty slow atm. So moving photos to Imgur is a complete drag. So I'm just go going to summerize the fight. The ettin had two artifact in it's hand, a cage and a slab. It ambushed me. I was able to dodge his initial attack. I focus most of my attacks to it's leg. The other two adventurers to my surprise  actually aided me instead of  running away like all my other adventure runs. We were able to disable one of it's arm dropping the cage from it's hand. The fight was seems to be going on our favor. I thought we would win. Then it grabbed me yanked me into the air.  and bit my head off clean... 

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Quantum Drop on June 15, 2020, 07:47:33 am

Quote from: Luckyowl on June 15, 2020, 07:36:16 am

My internet is pretty slow atm. So moving photos to Imgur is a complete drag. So I'm just go going to summerize the fight. The ettin had two artifact in it's hand, a cage and a slab. It ambushed me. I was able to dodge his initial attack. I focus most of my attacks to it's leg. The other two adventurers to my surprise  actually aided me instead of  running away like all my other adventure runs. We were able to disable one of it's arm dropping the cage from it's hand. The fight was seems to be going on our favor. I thought we would win. Then it grabbed me yanked me into the air.  and bit my head off clean...

Ouch. A pity it ended due to a stroke of bad luck (going by the fight description) - I imagine that artefact cage and/or slab would've been brilliant entries in the Museum. Maybe another adventurer'll hunt it down and get them at some point. Either way, good try!

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: bloop_bleep on June 15, 2020, 01:47:38 pm

Welp, that progressed quickly. I can start pretty soon, once I get the save.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Bralbaard on June 15, 2020, 03:23:53 pm

I've updated the world map and other posts. There is a new site, close to the museum:

(https://i.imgur.com/RkgtAaz.gif)

Also, for those that have not noticed, Cathar has been updating his story by editing the original post, the story now progresses further and there is a lot of new art:
http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8146802#msg8146802 (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8146802#msg8146802)

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Glloyd on June 15, 2020, 06:37:44 pm

Thanks for pointing that out! I didn't notice the additions, will have to check that out

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Cathar on June 16, 2020, 03:49:52 pm

Yeah, I haven't mentionned it because it's not finished yet, but I'll get to it and hopefully finish this week. Sorry for the time it takes

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: TheFlame52 on June 16, 2020, 03:55:31 pm

Cathar, everything you make is gold. Take your time.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Superdorf on June 16, 2020, 03:59:03 pm

Quote from: TheFlame52 on June 16, 2020, 03:55:31 pm

Cathar, everything you make is gold.

Seconding this!

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: IonMatrix on June 17, 2020, 07:13:58 am

Hi, uh, I was just wondering if I can get another turn because I kind of baled from the first one after my internet went down. I should have much more free time by the time it is my turn. Thanks!

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Bralbaard on June 17, 2020, 04:18:28 pm

I've added you to the list.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Unraveller on June 19, 2020, 03:26:31 pm

Oh wow! Out of exploring memories of the past, I came upon the Museum again, I can't begin to explain how much joy it brings me to see it around again.

I may have only participated in the second era with Thomod the manly circus performer. Did I bring back a pair of mintaur horns? And wrestled a dragon? It was great fun.

I'd love another play for old times sake.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Bralbaard on June 19, 2020, 05:03:31 pm

Thomod, the manliest man !
I remember that. You've been added to the list.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Glloyd on June 19, 2020, 08:24:57 pm

It's been a few days, have you been able to start yet bloop_bleep?

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Unraveller on June 20, 2020, 03:26:06 pm

Just finished reading through our stories up to this point, excellent work as always everyone. Really! I have always enjoyed the vibe of these worlds as they pass into legends and their history is muddled between the passage of time amd truth.

There is nothing I enjoy more than seeing the little mysteries unwoven through multiple generations of adventurers.

With that said, I'm excited as heck to play again. Too bad I got myself in so late! Haha.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: DwarvenLord on June 21, 2020, 02:57:09 pm

Take me off the list please. Just have a lot of things to do and I don't want this to spring up at me suddenly.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Unraveller on June 22, 2020, 01:53:56 pm

Almost been a week right? Got anything going on ol' Bloopity Bleep? Sorry if I sound a little impatient, the anticipation just kills me!

I'd genuinely love to run this as long as the legendary first Museum, and tear the game apart in doing so. Haha.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Bralbaard on June 22, 2020, 02:24:13 pm

I checked with bloop_bleep through pm two days ago because there were problems with dffd. He said he had the save, and I assume he is playing.
I will update the turn list

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Yarlig on June 22, 2020, 06:03:57 pm

Well' I see my turn is approaching fast and I'm afraid I won't be able to play it this week due to real life getting in the way; if you could move me down a spot' I'd be very grateful' I should have mostly everything sorted out by then.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Timeless Bob on June 22, 2020, 10:36:51 pm

I swear to do my part to see this game run until the nemesis unit load error shuts it down completely.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Bralbaard on June 23, 2020, 10:32:30 am

bloob_bleep, could you upload the save game? It has been a week. You can post the story later, like others have done.

Edit: I've moved Yarlig one spot down.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Bralbaard on June 25, 2020, 04:43:00 am

OK, we'll move on.

That means it's my second turn! Booting up the game now to see how my old character is doing.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Unraveller on June 25, 2020, 05:34:03 am

Ooh! How much time has passed? I'm sure they're alive and well! Maybe. . .

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Bralbaard on June 25, 2020, 09:30:10 am

It has been over a dozen years since the museum was founded. You might be wondering what I have been up to since then. Well, a lot has changed and I’ll try to give a short summary. After the founding of the museum it only took a few weeks before I was recalled to the capital, by order of king Etur himself.
It turns out the king is greatly interested in our little endeavor. When I arrived in Treatyseed, he immediately elevated me into nobility and made me a baron! Since then he has done the same for all the other adventurers from The Walled Dye that submitted items to the museum:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://pic8.co/sh/0EYDjf.gif)

I do not know how citizens of other civilizations were treated when they arrived back home, but I have lived a life in luxury ever since. Of course the title is mostly ceremonial. There are far more barons than actual baronies, as our civilization only occupies a handful of sites. I may not have an actual barony to rule over, but at least they got an artist to paint my picture for the gallery:

(https://pic8.co/sh/AXnuia.png)

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://pic8.co/sh/WqSk0K.gif)

So what else happened?  There’s talk in the corridors that our civilisation is in open war with a lot of our neighbors, but besides the perpetual goblin fights in the deeper levels of the fortress, I’ve never noticed much of it. Whenever I visit those levels, there are always fresh goblin corpses piled up in the hallways. There’s positive news as well: King Etur got married to Domas Kilrudetur. She’s known to be drunk a lot, but she’s a good woman, and there’s a good chance we’ll have an heir soon.

So that means you are up to date. You might wonder why I have started writing in my journal again. Well, over the last few weeks I’ve come to realize that I haven’t been outside the fortress for far too long. In fact I have been far too distracted by all this nobility nonsense, and have been paying far too little attention to my job as a historian. It would be good to pay the museum a visit, to see if there are any interesting recent additions.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Unraveller on June 25, 2020, 10:22:11 am

That's interesting, coincidental even? That they all became barons no less! As a side note the portrait is top notch!

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Bralbaard on June 28, 2020, 05:19:36 pm

The journey was a trip down memory lane. I spend the first night in Humorsharks. This village had just been resettled when I last visited, a dozen years ago. I was happy to see the village was still doing well.
On the second day of my journey I made it all the way to Rockpriced. This village was still in ruins, but  some humans managed to survive between the half collapsed houses.  They offered me to stay for lunch, (we arrived around noon), and in return I told them some stories about the museum. One of them, a woman named Tishak Sprayglistened was so impressed that she offered to join me on my journey, which I gladly accepted. 

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/HHXRBes.gif)

Before nightfall we made it to the Mountain of Enchantment, the volcano that overlooks the whole valley floor. I was determined to show Tishak some of the great sites during our journey, but before we reached the lava lake we were attacked by wolves. It turns out Tishak is able to handle herself well with a crossbow. We easily defeated the wolves. We set up camp and roasted some wolf meat above the magma lake.

On the 27th of Timber, 712, made it to Diptramples. This brought back more memories: when I had just set out on my first adventure I was attacked and nearly killed by two goblins at the keep in this town. Now, prepared and with over a decade more experience, I decided to revisit the keep. There was a single goblin there who identified himself as Snodub Gloomjackal, the local bandit leader,  before he attacked us. He was clumsy and charged right for Tishab, which meant that I could attack him from behind. The battle was short and one-sided.

I did not want to travel straigth to the museum, because I had heard rumours about a new dwarven settlement not far from Boltspumpkin andI wanted to visit this place first. This mysterious settlement is known as Healerlashes, and apparently, was founded only months ago by a group of dwarves. The strange thing is that I never heard anything about an embark team leaving for this location from Treatyseed.
The Settlement was still small as the dwarves had only just arrived. It had been constructed over the road to Diptramples, and was surrounded by a crude wooden wall, that had not been completely finished. We could easily enter:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/UkRRE7i.gif)

Below ground the first halls at been dug out, and several exploratory mining shafts had been dug in different directions. At first the place looked abandoned, but when I entered the main hall I saw the first of the inhabitants. Glad to see another dwarf, I raised my voice and greeted him, he turned around and…

I was shocked.

This was no ordinary dwarf. He looked completely different from all dwarves I had ever known. His skin was a strange pinkish color, and his hair was pale taupe, possibly adaptations from living deep underground. Within seconds other, similar looking dwarves sped towards us from the side tunnels. They spoke with a strange accent, but we could understand each other.

Yes, dear reader of this journal. It seems like history needs to be rewritten for what these dwarves told me, was that they were from the dwarven civilisation of Nomal Alis, the Staff of Kissing. The rest of the world had thought they went extinct shortly after the dawn of time in the year 38, but here they were seven survivors, there was no doubt about it.

As you can note in this drawing, the differences between our races are clear. I was always a bit of an odd one out for our race because I’m not from Treatyseed itself, but all of the dwarves in the capital have burnt sienna hair, and like me, copper skin. Also, 99% are nobles which do nothing but drink all day. The dwarves of Nomal Alis could not look more different:

(https://i.imgur.com/AYc5hRH.png)

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Superdorf on June 28, 2020, 07:53:07 pm

Have to say, I'm loving the character you put into your illustrations. There's such life about them! :)

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Unraveller on June 29, 2020, 06:29:00 am

Makes me want to accompany mine with awful MS Paint depictions. Hehehe.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Timeless Bob on June 29, 2020, 12:45:23 pm

Upping the ante I see.  Derp.  I'll really have to do better than my last foray.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Imic on June 29, 2020, 08:18:28 pm

Loving the updates, loving the art! Haven’t been keeping up with this as closely recently, but with my turn coming up, I hope to keep a closer eye on this until then.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Bralbaard on July 01, 2020, 02:05:05 pm

I was still shocked by the events of the last day, the fact that there was a second dwarven civilisation that had survived the horrors of the past centuries would change everything. When talking to the dwarves, I found out that Healerlashes was not their only recent settlement. They told me another dwarven group had embarked further south in the Tundra of Heroes in a place named Stockadeoutrage.
In my head I was already plotting the route I should take to Stockadeoutrage, but first I decided to take some time to properly explore Healerlashes.
Honestly I was not expecting to run into more surprises, but when I came back to the surface, I saw a familiar face:

(https://i.imgur.com/Wldkfri.gif)

It was Mestthos Lovermachines! The horse I bought over a decade ago, when I was preparing for my first adventure! The damned beast had ran of before I could properly embark on my quest and I had never seen it again, and here it was, living with these strange dwarves. It had apparently already become friends with my travelling companion Tishak, who was petting it gently.

For the first time in my life I wished I was a pointy eared elf! For if I was I would be able to speak the language of animals. Oh I would have loved to hear Lovermachines tell about its exploits and adventures! We saddled the horse, and I figured that because these dwarves had apparently borrowed Lovermachines for possibly a decade or more, I could borrow some of their equipment for a limited time. I took the steel anvil the dwarves had brought. I want to know more about their metalcrafting skills and I will run some tests after I finish my current quests. I swear I will return it afterwards.

Tishak and me continued our journey and deposited the anvil at the museum, it will be the safest place to keep it.
The damned goblins did not allow us to sleep in the museum so we set up camp right in front of the doors to the castle instead, and of course we were attacked by dingoes. Lovermachines may be an old horse, but she definitely knew how to deal with dingo’s, trampling several of them. It was a rather gruesome massacre, and I had trouble sleeping after this. 

The journey to Stockadeoutrage.
It took us from the 28th of Timber to the 3th of Moonstone to reach Stockadeoutrage. We travelled to Inchedtwists, a village surrounded by goblin towers, but also through Growlsuppers where we spend the  night in a ruined tavern. We learned that the goblin Lawgiver Kedir Judgebuckle the Whirling rules from this town, but we did not investigate this further.

(https://i.imgur.com/A4v3KHY.gif)

The nights grew colder and finally we entered the Tundra of Heroes. The dwarves from Healerlashes had told us what to look for and on the sixth day we saw a collumn of yellow smoke rise from the Tundra, this was smoke from the volcano, we had made it to Stockadeoutrage!

3th of moonstone:
We ended up arriving from the wrong side of the fortress, and first ran into a number of other visitors and adventurers that told us they had also heard rumors about this place. While walking around the mountain we came across the remains of several undead.

(https://i.imgur.com/T01FQg3.gif)

The other adventurers here told us these were soldiers of Aba, scaly humanoids with black skin and thin wings of stretched skin. Not much later We ran into several dead dwarves. The Aba soldier corpses outnumber the dwarves but this did not ease my mind, and  I exchanged a glance with Tishak: it was deeply concerning that nobody had come to give these dwarves a decent burial.

We finally had come to the other side of the mountain and there it was; the entrance to the fortress:

(https://i.imgur.com/mW61vgb.gif)

The mighty entrance road was covered in knee-deep snow, but it was still clearly marked  by deep pits. The road ended at a large drawbridge over a deep magma moat, that must be fed by the volcano that towers over the site. Smoke and steam billowed from the pits and moat. The entrance hall was however unguarded and the door was open. I entered and wished I had not, it was a terrible scene.
The central hall was filled with the frozen corpses of dozens, maybe hundreds of dwarves. Their bodies had been preserved and frozen solid by the terrible cold that plagues these lands. There were no bitemarks, no wounds that pointed at the use of axes or swords. I could only conclude they were killed by blunt force, by some terrible unseen foe. That was when we saw the first living dwarves. Their looks betrayed that they indeed belonged to the same tribe as the dwarves from Healerlashes, but their eyes were full of fear and sorrow.

What.. What happened here? Was all I could say.

The survivors spoke, clearly still traumatized. They told us none of them knew how it started, or where it came from. There were so few survivors. But they knew what it was and had a name for it: Crazedburial the reclusive, a massive undead muskox. The beast had charged into the fortress and had trampled all those that had not fled. 73 dwarves were killed that day, and several pets. The fortress had been a disorganised mess ever since.

(https://i.imgur.com/Ir4eZaw.gif)

The general Stukos Flaxentorches was still among the survivors, but after his utter failure to defend the fortress (or die a glorious death) the man can now only be described as a wreck. There are several others, but most are heavily traumatized. One dwarf, Beri Alron Moss Pickvessels, is a bit more talkative and tells me that their monarch, señam diamondtangles had moved in just before the disaster, and had gone missing. She was sure the monarch was not among the dead.

The journey north.
We decide to leave this fallen fortress as soon as possible. The fact that these dwarves can live here without even properly burying all these dead sends shivers down my spine. I decide that we should travel to the ancient capital of the Staff of kissing, hoping that we can at least find their runaway monarch.
The journey was long and dangerous and I’ve only kept short notes as the events were numerous but of little historical relevance. Our travels took us through lands held by priests of the God of Blight, Ura, and we were even attacked by a crazy lone goblin. There were several attacks by wolves on other occasions. We all came out unharmed. 
At some point we spend the night in the tower of Farmpuzzling, an ancient necromancer site that was described in some of the journals that can be found in the museum. When we wake up in the morning my horse Lovermachines, was gone again, it must have run of towards another adventure. 
We spend about ten days travelling like this, with our goal drawing closer and closer.

11th of moonstone.
Today we  had another remarkable encounter. In a fortress that was held by the local warlord Ecen Cherishcradles we ran into a legendary swordsman known as Kem Skinnydeaths. When he hears we come from the museum he tells us to our great surprise that he used to be a travelling companion of Bill Hammertome the Fierce Spots of Crystal (Emilovich).

The Bill Hammertome, who killed Oddom Girdergrove! Girdergrove was  the necromancer that plunged the world into darkness, and with her gone the world can start rebuilding. I’ve met Hammertome a couple of times in treatyseed, and I tell Kem that his former companion is still alive and that he is now a Baron of the Walled Dye. Kem Skinnydeaths tells us many great tales about his former master, and tells us he would be happy to join us on a new adventure, as he longs for those old days. We happily agree, we can certainly use a legendary swordmaster in our party.

12th of moonstone.
We have arrived to the town of Icenseorder, and are in good spirits even though the city, which is surrounded by goblin towers is somewhat sinister looking. Kem knows many interesting facts about Oddom Girdergrove and the other necromancers that Bill has defeated, which is of great interest for my historical studies, and Kem seems genuinely interested in our stories about the museum, and its more recent additions. I want to visit the keep of this city to see if we can get some further information on the surroundings before we continue, and will make sure to write down any interesting notes.

------------

Here the handwriting in the journal suddenly changes:
 

I am sorry to have to tell you that Bralbaard did not make it. He wanted to go chat with the nobles, which has never been my strong point, so Tishak and I were going to wait outside the keep. He also left his bagage with us, which is why I am able to write this.

Just moments after Bralbaard entered the keep it happened. A truly massive demon broke out of the castle, shattering the doors and walls. It must have been hiding in the keep by some dark magic. The thing was enormous, with a neck and tail both the length of a guard tower, and legs the size of highwood trunks. It opened its mouth and liquid fire poored out, engulfing the entire entrance in a deadly blaze.

(https://i.imgur.com/zxkelSQ.gif)

(https://i.imgur.com/BOrlyxc.gif)

Bralbaard was still inside, and the monster charged back in through the destroyed entrance. I swear I tried to go after him, but the fire at the entrance was too intense, there was just no way to enter. Inside the battle raged for minutes, but Bralbaard never made it out.

I am deeply sorry we could not prevent this, all I could do was to bring his journal here, to the museum, so that others can read his stories.

Kem Skinnydeaths


Bralbaard trying to flee from the monster through the central staircase:
(https://i.imgur.com/FWAPYXw.jpg)

So I did not make it, but at least I dropped that anvil in the museum somewhere half way my adventure, so there is a submission.

Here is the save game for the end of my turn:
https://dffd.bay12games.com/file.php?id=15131

The map has been updated with a new fortress, Razorbridge.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://pic8.co/sh/695SRU.gif)

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Yarlig on July 01, 2020, 06:50:44 pm

Sigh...

https://dffd.bay12games.com/file.php?id=15132

So' there was quite an unfortunate incident involving a cave dragon' two copper carving knives and remarkably ill-advised bravery. I can't into fortress mode' so let's press on. I need some time to do a proper writeup' but it's gonna be here soon.

Also' good luck!
Also also' put me on the list again please' maybe next time I'll have a more storied adventure.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Bralbaard on July 02, 2020, 01:25:11 am

Quote from: Yarlig on July 01, 2020, 06:50:44 pm

Sigh...

https://dffd.bay12games.com/file.php?id=15132

So' there was quite an unfortunate incident involving a cave dragon' two copper carving knives and remarkably ill-advised bravery. I can't into fortress mode' so let's press on. I need some time to do a proper writeup' but it's gonna be here soon.

Also' good luck!
Also also' put me on the list again please' maybe next time I'll have a more storied adventure.

Love the little poem at the DFFD site. I'm looking forward to the rest of the story!

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Imic on July 02, 2020, 02:49:33 am

I won’t be able to start my turn for a few days unfortunately, I didn’t expect to get the save game this early and I have stuff on tomorrow and two days after it.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Bralbaard on July 02, 2020, 03:16:31 am

Quote from: Imic on July 02, 2020, 02:49:33 am

I won’t be able to start my turn for a few days unfortunately, I didn’t expect to get the save game this early and I have stuff on tomorrow and two days after it.

It's fine with me to wait a few days before you pick it up.
If anybodies hands are itching: I guess someone else could pick it up and build a fortress in the meantime? (no adventuring!) Save game with the fort should be uploaded by sunday if I understand correctly.
Please post if you've picked it up, so that we have only one person working on this.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Luckyowl on July 03, 2020, 03:19:15 pm

Quote from: Bralbaard on July 02, 2020, 03:16:31 am

Quote from: Imic on July 02, 2020, 02:49:33 am

I won’t be able to start my turn for a few days unfortunately, I didn’t expect to get the save game this early and I have stuff on tomorrow and two days after it.

It's fine with me to wait a few days before you pick it up.
If anybodies hands are itching: I guess someone else could pick it up and build a fortress in the meantime? (no adventuring!) Save game with the fort should be uploaded by sunday if I understand correctly.
Please post if you've picked it up, so that we have only one person working on this.

Well,with time on my hands, I might as well finish up my fortress. 

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Luckyowl on July 03, 2020, 03:38:09 pm

created a pixel art depicting Thon, and his two fellow adventurers, Sekur, and Tohwot fighting the Ettin in the shadow of Flinching.


(https://i.imgur.com/rfT3235.png)

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Bralbaard on July 04, 2020, 02:58:58 am

Awesome! I can tell you are the bottom left one, with the morion crown.

so you have resumed work on Healerlashes?
 I..may have a confession to make..
How do I say this..
I was going to post about it, but my adventurer might have stolen your only anvil from the embark wagon, and might have helped himself to some of your booze supply. :P

It has all been put to good use, I swear.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Luckyowl on July 04, 2020, 10:19:39 pm

Quote from: Bralbaard on July 04, 2020, 02:58:58 am

Awesome! I can tell you are the bottom left one, with the morion crown.

so you have resumed work on Healerlashes?
 I..may have a confession to make..
How do I say this..
I was going to post about it, but my adventurer might have stolen your only anvil from the embark wagon, and might have helped himself to some of your booze supply. :P

It has all been put to good use, I swear.

It's fine, I am trying to build a tavern fort. Anyway here's the file https://dffd.bay12games.com/file.php?id=15136

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Imic on July 05, 2020, 07:49:26 am

My business went on a bit longer than I expected it to, but I’ll be claiming the save first thing tomorrow morning if all goes well.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Imic on July 06, 2020, 04:37:14 am

I have the save, will post updoots soon.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Imic on July 06, 2020, 02:58:43 pm

---

It is generally agreed that the world is round. If you stand in the right place, the curvature of the horizon is impossible to ignore. What is not generally agreed upon is what covers the world beyond The Valley. In the south, where the inland Sea of Blades is the largest body of water, it is said that The World Beyond is covered in mountains. In the north, where The Fingers of Affliction are to many little more than a gap between bodies of water, it is said that the Ocean covers The World Beyond.
(https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Ffree4kwallpapers.com%2Fuploads%2Foriginals%2F2016%2F12%2F24%2Fa-himalayan-valley-wallpaper.jpg&f=1&nofb=1)
(https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Fupload.wikimedia.org%2Fwikipedia%2Fcommons%2F5%2F51%2FRain_forest_along_Olympic_Coast.jpg&f=1&nofb=1)
The people of the north do not know the unspeakably vast majesty of the greatest peaks of The Perfect Horns, and the people of the south do not know the unspeakably vast majesty of the endless horizon of The Peaceful Waters. Neither throughout the centuries have proven conductive to travel, and few ever go to the opposite ends of The Valley to see the respective barriers of the north and south. Only to those few who do, and grasp the sheer size of each respective barrier free from the distortions of merchants and travellers and adventurers and dry, dusty tomes ever come to the conclusion that the answer may be both, or neither.

This story starts in the south, surrounded on all sides by the titanic mountains of The Perfect Horns, in a cave called Blowechoes the Scars of Coal, where a lone Dwarf with greying hair and wrinkled skin sits in a corner, putting pen to paper.

---

The Journal of Logen Berelas, Greyseer

24th of Galena, 714

---

(https://i.ibb.co/FHFYhR1/Logen-in-the-corner.png)

(https://i.ibb.co/GVXRDTC/Logen-Berelas.png)
I have lived my life in and around this cave. When I was young, I played with friends in the little nooks and crannies of this place. I have hunted beasts in the caverns below, and climbed the mountains above. I have plied my trade as a bonecarver here. I have grown old here. One month ago, I looked up from my work, and I realised that I was going to die here, and be forgotten like my ancestors were forgotten. I have become a very different dwarf to the one I once was. It's been a long time since I feared change like I used to. So I'm leaving. I've gathered my things, I've said my goodbyes, and I don't expect I shall return. I want to see what the world has to offer, the places there are to see, the secrets there are to find, I want to see The Peaceful Waters of the north, where the sea goes on in every direction as far as boats can sail, or I will die trying.
(https://i.ibb.co/hsFcXDT/He-dreams-of-making-a-great-discovery.png)
Whatever I find, whatever mementos and things I gather, I intend to bring them to the Museum of Boltspumpkin, and present them for whatever it is they may be worth. I see no use in dawdling further, so I'm going now. And if I do die, then at least it won't have been in this cave.

---

In a valley winding its way from its base to the south to some unseen ending far to the north through the titanic mountains stands a rocky little hill, just east of the thin river at the valley's centre. All through this valley, as far as the eye can see there is only rocky wasteland. From a hole in the hill's side, a figure emerges, clad in cloak and hood to shield from the sun, high in the cloudless sky above. A gentle breeze blows in from the west, and the cloak rises a little.
(https://i.ibb.co/p3cMLKZ/The-exit-from-the-cave.png)
Far below, the river winds its way through the rocks and sand. A little way ahead, He can see the Monastery. The last bit of home he intends to visit before he goes.
(https://i.ibb.co/QpFbJbJ/Out-in-the-wastelands.png)
Soon, he reaches the river, and begins following it north, to the Monastery.
(https://i.ibb.co/R7SHy6H/The-river.png)
He had gone up and down this path a lot when he was younger to pray, back when Gods had played a large part in his life.
(https://i.ibb.co/vPQp5jm/The-Valley.png)
even back then, no-one remembered a time when any actual monks lived here, but it was still a place of worship regardless.
(https://i.ibb.co/jZK3kkq/The-Monastery.png)
(https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Fi1.wp.com%2Fwww.zmescience.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2016%2F02%2F084Skellig_Michael.jpg&f=1&nofb=1)
People have come to these rough, but expertly made stone buildings and scattered shrines poking out of The Desert of Eviscerators to honour the gods for centuries. The Dwarf doesn't take long to find what he's looking for, he knows where it is.
(https://i.ibb.co/vkVZZg2/The-Shrine.png)
(https://i.ibb.co/yPDpXGv/Dice-3.png)
(https://i.ibb.co/gmbYnbd/Do-not-hold-on-for-too-long-2.png)
He looks up.
'Thanks for the sterling advice, My Lord Obvious, right on fuckin' time.'
He takes the die, and places it in his bag. In the past dice had been lost during visits, but there was always a replacement to be found when they next came to the shrine, so he didn't feel particularly bad about it.
'Whole lotta fuckin' use it'll be if Great And Mighty An's gonna be like that all the time.'
He puts the Rucksack on his back, and after a long sigh, he begins the long trek north, into the great unknown.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

I'm trying out one or two new ideas in terms of storytelling here, I'm still torn on some of it, but here it is regardless. I'm not sure I'm as fond of this story as I came to be of the Mothman's tale yet.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: TheFlame52 on July 06, 2020, 03:05:55 pm

I'm liking it

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Imic on July 06, 2020, 05:39:13 pm

Soon, the dacite and sand becomes basalt and clay, then red sand and obsidian, as the Dwarf passes by the Volcanoes in the north of the valley. Finally, as night begins to fall on the barren landscape, the Dwarf settles down by a boulder and lights a fire beside the now-frozen river.
(https://i.ibb.co/YBhdFnS/The-river-2.png)
He soon drifts off to sleep.

---

25th of Galena, 714

---

I spent most of yesterday heading north to the end of the valley. I picked up a Divination Die from the Monastery, and I can only assume that the Gods consider themselves to be spectacularly witty in the timing and wording of their divine words, because the die basically told me not to stick around. Thanks, I could have used that revelation a few decades ago when my legs didn't get stiff in the morning and I might have had a chance of coming back alive from this.

Anyways, I had some breakfast, and I headed out north again at dawn. My aim is to reach the old Fortress of keyconjure in the North-west. No-one's lived there in any of recorded history, but Dwarven metal endures long ages, and there's got to be at least one or two good finds left for the picking. I can only hope I don't run into too much trouble on the way. I can only hope.

---

The Dwarf bundles his things together again, and sets them into his rucksack, leaving the little fire he had re-kindled for cooking his breakfast to burn out in the red sands. The mountains loom over him on both sides, and the valley is deathly cold despite the clear sky and the sun rising from behind the peaks. He shivered, rubbed his hands together, and began to walk. There are thick clouds in the distance.

---

Following the river down its course, he after a while becomes hungry and thirsty. He stops by at the riverbank to fill his waterskins and eat his fill, but as he left, he stopped. His gut is screaming to him that something isn't right. That he isn't safe. Then, he sees the alligator.
(https://i.ibb.co/Q9HNNm1/Fighting-the-alligator.png)

(https://i.ibb.co/8D980mG/Oh-deary-me.png)

(https://i.ibb.co/VjSdNrF/The-end-for-poor-Logen.png)
He drops his shield, and grabs his sword from his former right arm.
(https://i.ibb.co/0Vh9f2H/I-might-have-come-to-a-revalation.png)
It doesn't help him.
(https://i.ibb.co/4RQtrt3/I-might-just-be-bad-at-adventurer-mode.png)
Soon, he has no arms.
(https://i.ibb.co/YQ1xqW2/Yeah.png)
Soon, he has nothing.
(https://i.ibb.co/XC5MRKD/Ded.png)

---

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

I might not be very good at adventurer mode.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: TheFlame52 on July 06, 2020, 05:44:23 pm

Well shit.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Quantum Drop on July 07, 2020, 03:50:48 am

...Well, that was fast enough to cause whiplash.

Good try, at any rate.

(Also, this seems appropriate as music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R1EMEzjtsCk)

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Eric Blank on July 09, 2020, 06:00:38 pm

The gods once again remind us not to dilly dally the hard way

I enjoyed your story at least, nice use of stock images

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Unraveller on July 10, 2020, 05:30:49 pm

So many lives of intrepid folks, snuffed out in a flash on their assumed glorious quests. The Museum is always humbling.

Are we on to the next turn as of yet?

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Imic on July 10, 2020, 07:57:33 pm

I apologise for the big names of Forts, I tend to get carried away with names.
The save is here. (https://dffd.bay12games.com/file.php?id=15143)

And if anyone starts thinking to themselves 'Hmm, I might try visit deepvaulted on my turn' then I have the following advice for you:

Don't. Mistakes were made.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Quantum Drop on July 11, 2020, 03:43:31 am

That's all the more incentive to go there, if only to see how badly it went wrong and satisfy morbid curiosity.

EDIT: Had a look in the Legends Mode for that save. Almost all the player-adventurers I've seen have the line 'It is universally agreed that [PC Name] was chosen by fate as the vanguard of destiny.' Never seen that before - anyone know what's up with that?

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Unraveller on July 11, 2020, 07:08:10 am

I believe that means they were created as 'Heroes'. Though I could be wrong or misremembering. Isn't there a different message there when made as peasants or demigods?

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Imic on July 11, 2020, 07:32:38 am

Before I forget, stick me on the end of the turn list if possible. I’ve never seen that happen in legends mode before though.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Quantum Drop on July 11, 2020, 07:54:38 am

Looked slightly further, and there's a couple with similar messages: a human Necromancer, a Dwarf (both NPC, by the look of it), and Imic's first character (the moth man). They're all listed as being 'guided by forces unknown', and are all highlighted in the way the player characters were.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Bralbaard on July 11, 2020, 01:17:00 pm

The map has been updated with the two new fortresses. I'll send Maloy a PM.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Superdorf on July 11, 2020, 01:40:35 pm

Quote from: Quantum Drop on July 11, 2020, 03:43:31 am

Almost all the player-adventurers I've seen have the line 'It is universally agreed that [PC Name] was chosen by fate as the vanguard of destiny.' Never seen that before - anyone know what's up with that?

Quote from: Quantum Drop on July 11, 2020, 07:54:38 am

Looked slightly further, and there's a couple with similar messages: a human Necromancer, a Dwarf (both NPC, by the look of it), and Imic's first character (the moth man). They're all listed as being 'guided by forces unknown', and are all highlighted in the way the player characters were.

Yeah, those are just flavor-sentences indicating the character's status as a player adventurer-- for heroes and peasants, respectively.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Quantum Drop on July 17, 2020, 05:06:59 am

Okay, it's coming up to a week, and Maloy hasn't been active since June. Do we skip to Tonnot98's turn, or wait another day or two?

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Imic on July 17, 2020, 05:32:45 am

Perhaps a rule could be put in place that if a player does not respond and confirm that they can play the game within a time limit, then they are skipped.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Unraveller on July 17, 2020, 06:40:53 am

Perhaps with a caveat that maybe could recieve deference for coming back into a close slot. Just in case. But I agree, that's what kills this.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Quantum Drop on July 17, 2020, 08:01:10 am

Okay, a few ideas, may or may not be good:

• Pickup time for the save could be 3 days from when Bralbaard sends the user a PM, with the week-long playthrough timer starting when they make a confirmation post in the thread. If they don't post confirmation within 3 days, skip to the next turn.
• If there's an issue with picking up the file, slot them in 1 or 2 places down from the current player, perhaps?
• Could check a player's 'Last Active' date; if they've been inactive for a month or longer, perhaps consider skipping their turn? Disregard this.

Last one may be a bit harsh, but I'd say that if the user in question hasn't been on for a month or more, they probably aren't going to show up in time to grab the save.

Thoughts?

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Imic on July 17, 2020, 04:37:37 pm

I’d wait for Bralbaard’s judgement, and I’m mixed on number 3, but overall I support this.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Glloyd on July 17, 2020, 09:44:56 pm

I don't know about skipping people out of hand for not being active on the forums, but at the very least we shouldn't be waiting a week for people who aren't active.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Quantum Drop on July 18, 2020, 02:34:47 am

Yeah, in hindsight, disregard that last one. Had some further thought on it and remembered that you can get reminded via email when you get a PM.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Timeless Bob on July 18, 2020, 07:57:41 am

Just add the end date a Player can pick up their save and not be skipped into the list of people waiting to play the game, Player - date (I'd also add the GMT derivative, so time zones can be figured into it.) 

Example:

Timeless Bob - April 11th (-8:00 GMT)

If I haven't picked it up by then and posted in the forum that I have the save, then I'm immediately skipped over to the next person in line, who has 24 hours to pick it up before skipping down again to the next and so on. If the Player after me couldn't pick up my save, that Player (and any others that are skipped in the process) don't lose their place in the date/time rankings, the Player who picked up the save just replaces me in Turn 16, and I take thier slot instead. Because I missed my time slot, my turn is decreased by however many days I didn't pick it up.  That way, all the dates are still exactly the same after me, and the only ones that are changed are for the Players between me and whomever was switched into my original place.

Example:

Timeless Bob - August 8th (-8:00 GMT)
NAV - August 15th (-8:00 GMT)
Glloyd - August 22nd (-8:00 GMT)
Eric Blank - August 29th (-8:00 GMT)
Th4dwArfY1 - September 5th (-8:00 GMT)
Cathar - September 12th (-8:00 GMT)
Tasoth - September 19th (-8:00 GMT)

If I haven't picked it up by August 8th at -8:00GMT and posted that I've done so in the forum, my turn is forfeit
NAV has until August 9th at -8:00GMT to pick up the save and post that they have it (assume they don't)
Glloyd has until August 10th at -8:00GMT to pick up the save and post they have it (assume they don't either)
Eric Blank has until August 11th at -8:00GMT to pick up the save and post they have it (we'll assume Eric does so)

New list:
Eric Blank - August 11th (-8:00 GMT) 8th +3 days
NAV - August 18th (-8:00 GMT) 15th +3 days
Glloyd - August 25nd (-8:00 GMT) 22nd +3 days
Timeless Bob - September 1st (-8:00 GMT) 29th +3 days (notice how my turn is shortened by 3 days because I missed it.)
Th4dwArfY1 - September 5th (-8:00 GMT) (these dates are right back on schedule, no editing needed)
Cathar - September 12th (-8:00 GMT)
Tasoth - September 19th (-8:00 GMT)

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Bralbaard on July 18, 2020, 03:21:32 pm

I've send Tonnot98 a PM.

I generally try to avoid waiting the full week when someone does not respond, and have skipped people earlier than that, but sometimes I get distracted with real life  :)
Good to know everyone is eager to play.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: tonnot98 on July 18, 2020, 07:23:27 pm

Oh my word, I would've forgotten entirely about this if messages weren't forwarded to my Email. I'll be gladly taking my turn and exploring this new world almost completely blind. I hope I won't have to reset my save five times again because of some cockroach swarms, just to get melted by a dragon when the site finally loaded.

Any suggestions on which civ I should align myself with?

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Bralbaard on July 19, 2020, 02:14:52 am

A lot of the story has focused on the walled dye, a dwarven civ that was nearly destroyed by necromancers centuries ago.

But there are many other stories to tell in other parts of the world. The third post in this topic has a map under the spoiler that may be usefull

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Bralbaard on July 20, 2020, 05:13:20 pm

Ok, so still had to write the end of my last adventure.

This is starting from where I stopped, in Healerlashes.  (after having just discovered that it was inhabited by dwarves from the Staff of Kissing, a civilisation that was thought to have gone extinct):

http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8161771#msg8161771 (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8161771#msg8161771)

With that out of the way, I've signed up for a new turn.
Looking forward to Tonnot98's adventures.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: tonnot98 on July 21, 2020, 12:43:07 am

The leather bound journal has no title, but it appears to be the travel diary of an elf-raised goblin named "Fidale Umberrazors"

Spoiler: 15th of Opal (click to show/hide)

15th of Opal

Ahh, it's about time I get a break from my boss. Making bows all day, every day. These elves sure know how to work a girl. I'm getting tired of seeing the same old trees every day. So I told my boss that I'm gonna go explore and try to meet more people like me. She looked a bit worried for some reason. I've been raised in this stone fortress by tree-hugging elves, and it's always been the chieftan that made the least amount of sense to me. I've seen her eat something she called "dwarf meat" but then she scolds me for stepping on ants! Oh well, she told me if I help out a nearby forest retreat with some criminal problems, she'd give me her blessing.

(https://i.imgur.com/Jus8GKK.png)

Goodbye Splashbeige, I'm headed for Glacialtempests!

(https://imgur.com/uLiMD5Q.png)

There's a few great authors that visited the fort, writing for a great deal of time. Afe Sparkledfill, the chieftain sending me to deal with those criminals is an excellent fiction author. Salore Valleygrizzle is a wonderfully generous old man, and a hopelessly romantic scientist to boot! Estrur Fooldemon is another goblin like me. He's been raised to a position of religious authority, but he still writes, and is ever so self-critical, even writing a critical essay about another of his self-critical essays about a book he wrote.

(https://imgur.com/S1FJ1PV.png)
(https://imgur.com/xxtkhTE.png)
(https://imgur.com/i7ogHTi.png)

I guess I should understand her worry. Not all the goblins were born here, and some have even written books about their homelands. Supposedly they're dark, terrible places where goblins and slaves are both put to grueling work for their overlords, which are often huge monsters that come from the depths! I don't know much about these mysterious beasts, but I sure do want to find one! I just hope they don't swallow me whole like the elves here say they'll do.

(https://imgur.com/A7c4tYB.png)
(https://imgur.com/jVxOwmS.png)


Maybe I should be more mindful of life here. I was the only other person officially living in that fortress with Afe. The rest of the elves there are just homeless outcasts after a giant goblin army took over Glacialtempests. With all those books I read, it sounds like goblins are exactly the type of people that would be committing crimes. I hope sending me to try and resolve their problems doesn't bring any retribution on the chieftain. That'd be terrible. Anyway, on the way toward Glacialtempests, I found a wandering group of goblins. Apparently they're some bards headed back home towards Poisonuttered, a dark fortress to the south. They warned me about some "bone-chilling horrors" going on in a fortress far to the south. It has the ominous name of "Echonightmare" as well. Maybe there are things in this world that I should avoid...

Strangely enough, when I made it to Glacialtempests, I couldn't find anyone. Treehouses were empty, the tavern trees were dry, and the shaping trees had no products. Even the home tree was unoccupied, save for a few manuals on various subjects, including a strange star chart. If I still can't find anyone from the thousands I was told would be here, I fear I'll have some grave news to tell the chieftain...

(https://imgur.com/OmoyuXT.png)
(https://imgur.com/lQnFl4c.png)

Then I tripped.

(https://imgur.com/JVOuG2U.png)

WHOSE IDEA WAS IT TO LIVE IN TREES? As much as I enjoy the look and feel of nature, I despise living on branches! I miss the beds in the fort already. At least I found some siltstone towers surrounding the town. It's the same stuff the fortress is made from. I wonder who built these? Could the goblins have erected these towers to assert their control? I also see campfires in the distance, perhaps I'll pay them a visit in the morning. I've been looking around this place all day, I need some sleep. I also just noticed that all of my feathertree eggs were smashed in the fall. If that home tree wasn't important, I'd have half a mind to chop it down!

Spoiler: 16th of Opal (click to show/hide)

16th of Opal

I visited the camp. It's populated by a bunch of goblins and some night-creature experiments claiming to be "refugees escaping the threats befalling their home." It seems strange. A portion of the occupying army was left behind, and then they abandon their claims? What could possibly be coming? It's mostly unskilled goblins and a few laborers. While investigating the place as they slept, I only counted two goblins that looked like soldiers, and one of the winged-men told me of another that was supposedly their "overlord" though he doesn't much look like it. Well, he had some books that I nabbed for myself, and one soldier had a shiny silver mace that I also silently lifted off of him as he slept. I don't suspect they'll need it. Apparently this overlord had penned both books about a monastery. Maybe I should find out what was worth writing about?

(https://imgur.com/UQdNzLO.png)

Well, I got back to the fort and told Afe of the situation. She seems just as puzzled as I am, and said that she's worried about another attempted conquest by the goblins of The Most Sin. I left her to pet our pet bear and think about things while I went and deposited the books I stole in my room. I learned how to swing this wooden sword around fairly adequately, but this silver mace calls to me... It's so heavy, but imagine how much more satisfying it'd be to hit things with it! I'll put it to the test soon. Afe just instructed me to go and hunt down some night creature instead, and to bring back its bones for what she calls "champion soup."

Spoiler: 17th of Opal (click to show/hide)

17th of Opal

I'm finally here after a day's travel... What manner of beast lie beyond this door?

(https://imgur.com/CcOrMf5.png)

I had clashed with the beast for only a moment before quickly realizing I was outmatched. Rather than suicidally stick it out, I decided it cut and run. It felt as though my mace blows were merely glancing off of it! Well... Now what? Even though I think she'd understand, I don't want to bear the shame of not being able to complete my first actual quest! I guess I'll wander around, see if there's any nearby townships that I could hang around until I'm confident that I could handle that thing in a fight.

I've been wandering around and there's nobody around. These are recognizable forest retreats, and the animals still linger. Some even have collars or other tags, but the elves are all gone. Just how bad is the situation for them? Are they beyond help? Perhaps I could find some way to stop the goblins from attacking. But the first-hand accounts of their culture that I've read makes it seem impossible. Well, I sure as hell won't let this go unchallenged! I'll take a few days to myself to train harder so that the horrors of this world cannot lay claim to my corpse. It is slowly becoming clearer as to what I must do...

The adventure continues...

Also wow, night trolls are a lot harder to kill than I thought. I almost exhausted myself trading blows with that thing. Anyway, here we have a goblin that's part of an elf civ. The Squeezing Fords were looking pretty neglected in their corner of the world way up north.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Quantum Drop on July 21, 2020, 02:52:09 am

Quote from: tonnot98 on July 21, 2020, 12:43:07 am

The leather bound journal has no title, but it appears to be the travel diary of an elf-raised goblin named "Fidale Umberrazors"

Spoiler: 15th of Opal (click to show/hide)

15th of Opal

Ahh, it's about time I get a break from my boss. Making bows all day, every day. These elves sure know how to work a girl. I'm getting tired of seeing the same old trees every day. So I told my boss that I'm gonna go explore and try to meet more people like me. She looked a bit worried for some reason. I've been raised in this stone fortress by tree-hugging elves, and it's always been the chieftan that made the least amount of sense to me. I've seen her eat something she called "dwarf meat" but then she scolds me for stepping on ants! Oh well, she told me if I help out a nearby forest retreat with some criminal problems, she'd give me her blessing.

(https://i.imgur.com/Jus8GKK.png)

Goodbye Splashbeige, I'm headed for Glacialtempests!

(https://imgur.com/uLiMD5Q.png)

There's a few great authors that visited the fort, writing for a great deal of time. Afe Sparkledfill, the chieftain sending me to deal with those criminals is an excellent fiction author. Salore Valleygrizzle is a wonderfully generous old man, and a hopelessly romantic scientist to boot! Estrur Fooldemon is another goblin like me. He's been raised to a position of religious authority, but he still rights, and is ever so self-critical, even writing a critical essay about another of his self-critical essays about a book he wrote.

(https://imgur.com/S1FJ1PV.png)
(https://imgur.com/xxtkhTE.png)
(https://imgur.com/i7ogHTi.png)

I guess I should understand her worry. Not all the goblins were born here, and some have even written books about their homelands. Supposedly they're dark, terrible places where goblins and slaves are both put to grueling work for their overlords, which are often huge monsters that come from the depths! I don't know much about these mysterious beasts, but I sure do want to find one! I just hope they don't swallow me whole like the elves here say they'll do.

(https://imgur.com/A7c4tYB.png)
(https://imgur.com/jVxOwmS.png)


Maybe I should be more mindful of life here. I was the only other person officially living in that fortress with Afe. The rest of the elves there are just homeless outcasts after a giant goblin army took over Glacialtempests. With all those books I read, it sounds like goblins are exactly the type of people that would be committing crimes. I hope sending me to try and resolve their problems doesn't bring any retribution on the chieftain. That'd be terrible. Anyway, on the way toward Glacialtempests, I found a wandering group of goblins. Apparently they're some bards headed back home towards Poisonuttered, a dark fortress to the south. They warned me about some "bone-chilling horrors" going on in a fortress far to the south. It has the ominous name of "Echonightmare" as well. Maybe there are things in this world that I should avoid...

Strangely enough, when I made it to Glacialtempests, I couldn't find anyone. Treehouses were empty, the tavern trees were dry, and the shaping trees had no products. Even the home tree was unoccupied, save for a few manuals on various subjects, including a strange star chart. If I still can't find anyone from the thousands I was told would be here, I fear I'll have some grave news to tell the chieftain...

(https://imgur.com/OmoyuXT.png)
(https://imgur.com/lQnFl4c.png)

Then I tripped.

(https://imgur.com/JVOuG2U.png)

WHOSE IDEA WAS IT TO LIVE IN TREES? As much as I enjoy the look and feel of nature, I despise living on branches! I miss the beds in the fort already. At least I found some siltstone towers surrounding the town. It's the same stuff the fortress is made from. I wonder who built these? Could the goblins have erected these towers to assert their control? I also see campfires in the distance, perhaps I'll pay them a visit in the morning. I've been looking around this place all day, I need some sleep. I also just noticed that all of my feathertree eggs were smashed in the fall. If that home tree wasn't important, I'd have half a mind to chop it down!

Spoiler: 16th of Opal (click to show/hide)

16th of Opal

I visited the camp. It's populated by a bunch of goblins and some night-creature experiments claiming to be "refugees escaping the threats befalling their home." It seems strange. A portion of the occupying army was left behind, and then they abandon their claims? What could possibly be coming? It's mostly unskilled goblins and a few laborers. While investigating the place as they slept, I only counted two goblins that looked like soldiers, and one of the winged-men told me of another that was supposedly their "overlord" though he doesn't much look like it. Well, he had some books that I nabbed for myself, and one soldier had a shiny silver mace that I also silently lifted off of him as he slept. I don't suspect they'll need it. Apparently this overlord had penned both books about a monastery. Maybe I should find out what was worth writing about?

(https://imgur.com/UQdNzLO.png)

Well, I got back to the fort and told Afe of the situation. She seems just as puzzled as I am, and said that she's worried about another attempted conquest by the goblins of The Most Sin. I left her to pet our pet bear and think about things while I went and deposited the books I stole in my room. I learned how to swing this wooden sword around fairly adequately, but this silver mace calls to me... It's so heavy, but imagine how much more satisfying it'd be to hit things with it! I'll put it to the test soon. Afe just instructed me to go and hunt down some night creature instead, and to bring back its bones for what she calls "champion soup."

Spoiler: 17th of Opal (click to show/hide)

17th of Opal

I'm finally here after a day's travel... What manner of beast lie beyond this door?

(https://imgur.com/CcOrMf5.png)

I had clashed with the beast for only a moment before quickly realizing I was outmatched. Rather than suicidally stick it out, I decided it cut and run. It felt as though my mace blows were merely glancing off of it! Well... Now what? Even though I think she'd understand, I don't want to bear the shame of not being able to complete my first actual quest! I guess I'll wander around, see if there's any nearby townships that I could hang around until I'm confident that I could handle that thing in a fight.

I've been wandering around and there's nobody around. These are recognizable forest retreats, and the animals still linger. Some even have collars or other tags, but the elves are all gone. Just how bad is the situation for them? Are they beyond help? Perhaps I could find some way to stop the goblins from attacking. But the first-hand accounts of their culture that I've read makes it seem impossible. Well, I sure as hell won't let this go unchallenged! I'll take a few days to myself to train harder so that the horrors of this world cannot lay claim to my corpse. It is slowly becoming clearer as to what I must do...

The adventure continues...

Also wow, night trolls are a lot harder to kill than I thought. I almost exhausted myself trading blows with that thing. Anyway, here we have a goblin that's part of an elf civ. The Squeezing Fords were looking pretty neglected in their corner of the world way up north.

Yeah, Night Trolls are absolute bastards at lower levels, but they tend to be more manageable once you've levelled up by beating on wildlife.

Good to see you didn't die via prat-falling in the first couple minutes of your adventure  :P. Here's hoping you do well!

Looking forward to more.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: nogoodnames on July 21, 2020, 09:32:24 pm

I'd like to request a turn.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: tonnot98 on July 21, 2020, 10:51:12 pm

(https://imgur.com/EAKx2Fh.png)

Spoiler: 18th of Opal through 23rd of Opal (click to show/hide)

18th of Opal

Swimming Training

19th of Opal

Aimless wandering

20th of Opal

Ambushed by another Howling Freak in the morning. I threw rocks at it then ran away.

21st of Opal

I found another fort. No one's home, save for six statues of the same guy screaming because he got turned into a were-pangolin.

(https://imgur.com/gve2qV6.png)

Shortly after I found a monastery. Still no one anywhere. I found plenty of statues of previous priests and abbots during their ascension, and a bunch of books about the monastary itself, all written by one of the former abbots. I also found some strange dice next to a statue of a supposed god of blight and death. Seems like a morbid thing to worship, why can't they just worship the nature spirits like normal people? After wandering around a bit more, I found a couple of empty human villages and picked up a proper, metal sword from one of the empty castles. Then I got into an argument with the abbots of another nearby monastery about the value of nature. I decided against knocking their teeth out and went to one of the empty castles to sleep.

22nd of Opal

As I'm traveling through more abandoned forest retreats and villages, I'm attacked by some strange human with a large hammer. I used this moment to test out a dual-wielding technique and dispatched him handily. I wish he hadn't made me do that, I was just interested in where he was traveling. He said he was on an important mission, could it be related to why all of these places are abandoned?

(https://imgur.com/RqUrthh.png)

In the same forest retreat of Packwinters, I met a human war band about 5 strong. According to them, they've settled the place for several hundred years after it was abandoned by the dwarves that had conquered it. How their numbers are so low is beyond me, but I managed to recruit two of them to go adventuring with me. Obtux Jawflight, a hammerman and Nina Healerblind, swordsman. Hopefully with a little extra muscle, I can handle night creatures easier.

23rd of Opal

I've been attacked on the road by some cretinous humans with knives made of strange materials. Together, the three of us killed the four of them, but my companions suffered some wounds in the fighting. I've picked up some of the stranger weapons and put them away. Obtux got in a pretty nasty hit with a crunch that echoed through the forest. I hope he can keep that up.

(https://imgur.com/xGKx47v.png)
(https://imgur.com/9cMoUrX.png)

Update: He couldn't. We were ambushed by some more competent soldiers, and one wielding an iron maul broke his lower spine, crippling him. Both of my companions looted their helmets and then rested after the battle. But it seems like the day is not meant for us, as we've been ambushed a third time. This time, it was a night creature! Rather than run, I charged it alongside my companions and felled the creature, but not before it dealt some grievous wounds to my companions. Obtux's arm is crippled now, and he can no longer wield weapons and Nina's ear was collapsed by a hefty punch. It took many hammer and mace blows, but finally the beast's head was fractured enough that I could plunge my blade into its head without resistance.

(https://imgur.com/Jl2G1hb.png)

I decided to leave Obtux to his fate within an empty castle. In his place, I recruited Akul Rewardspin, a bowman and a swordsman named Rurast Leapeerie. Perhaps some ranged fighting is a better alternative to closing in with monsters?

Spoiler: 24th of Opal through 4th of Obsidian (click to show/hide)

The next few pages are stained by drops of blood, and the writing is messy.

24th of Opal

I see a strange tower in the distance...

The undead! Two goblin corpses shambled out of the tower, flailing wildly with their rotten bodies and carving knives. Rurast's hand was injured and he fled. Mina and I killed the zombies that we saw. Could there be more in the tower? Thankfully not. Inside were some poorly made statues and some clothes. Not much of note, but Rurast is a quivering wreck. There's more structures to investigate, so I fear I'll have to leave him here.

(https://imgur.com/aJmb2X9.png)

The rest of these strangely shaped towers had little of interest. We found and killed three more undead, and searched the insides of the towers. There was a few pieces of human-sized armor, and a single book about some hamlet that's nearby, it's named "Drillshrine". I guess I should pay it a visit.

Damnable things! I had entered the hamlet in the middle of a rampage. Three, maybe more of those things were in the village tearing people to shreds! I barely escaped with my life, but they took the lives of both of my companions. One of those howling freaks managed to cripple my right leg despite having its neck broken. I managed to scramble away and hide within the brush, nearly bleeding out. I crawled my way over to the nearby castle, and am I given a warm welcome? Am I offered any hospitality? No! The goblin inside called me an intruder and attacked me, I had to choke him out!

25th of Opal

I painstakingly dragged myself to the nearby city of Atticmuffins, ignoring the refugee camps outside. The majority of the city is wholly abandoned save for a bunch of religious officials tending to their shrines and discussing the matter within the keep. Apparently an army of goblins is on the way to sack the city, and rather than fight, everyone fled. The priests seem to think they'll be safe based off of some religious immunity. I convinced their wiser bodyguards to protect me instead, as I go and return to Afe. I hope I can find a crutch somewhere...

I crawled to a nearby keep, and the goblin inside attacked me. Again. My companions killed him, and I took his interesting "fire opal slicing knife." I wonder who keeps making these strange blades? Anyway, I got sick of looking for a crutch, so I made a camp and created my own. It'll take some getting used to.

As I passed through another town, I was inspecting the shops that claimed to be open. Though they did have products, I didn't find any shopkeepers. We were poking our heads into the various buildings of this apparent ghost town until I opened a door and was greeted by more of that terrible howling. A howling freak was in a building, just munching on someone! We decided against staying the night here, and opted for the wilderness. Before we left, I decided to fill a bag with gems from these empty shops. It'd be a shame to let such wealth go to waste.

(https://imgur.com/BdR0WjZ.png)
(https://imgur.com/DNuq6wn.png)

26th of Opal

We have not even found a place to stay yet, and my companions are at each other's throats. Quite literally. After one annoyed another, he drew his weapons, but the annoying one was the ultimate victor in the battle.

(https://imgur.com/rn9Zxkt.png)
(https://imgur.com/UCG9jhN.png)
(https://imgur.com/XRIrHPm.png)
(https://imgur.com/LzBGCXR.png)

27th of Opal

We were ambushed on the road to a monastery owned by The Squeezing Fords, my home civilization. It was a bunch of elves and goblins with wooden equipment. The humans at my employ fought valiantly, but ultimately all four of them died. One was knocked out at the start with an arrow, and the others fell because they were unable to keep up with the amount of enemies. The goblin I hired, Sothbod, slayed nine of them before being knocked into water and drowning. I fished his body out of the water, before killing the rest of our assailants. The ones that didn't run away, anyway. I was expecting to have to fight more of my kin when I left. They're warmongers after all. But to fight against elves? There's not a lot of them left, and I always saw them as peaceful caretakers, not murderous bandits. Maybe they got the wrong idea after watching some armed humans and goblins strolling through the forest. I only wish I could've talked things over with them. I found one of the goblins to be wearing some strangely durable chain mail, it was resisting every blow that landed against it. It's of dubious use if the wearer didn't also have a helmet, but it's mine now. I'll put it to much better use than he will.

4th of Obsidian

I've finally made it to Splashbeige, my home.

Afe looked worried after I returned home, limping on a crutch and covered in scars. I told her of my adventures, how I fought bandits, fled from night creatures, and watched over and over as my companions died protecting me from forces too powerful to challenge. While I don't have the bones of the howling freak she wanted me to kill, because of its proximity to elven lands, I brought the bones and skulls of two others. I also had plenty of books from the various places I visited. The tower, the keeps, abandoned forest retreats, and even books in the hands of my assailants. From those elves that attacked me, I took from them a beautiful poem called "Stigmata." I left out the part where I cut down a tree to fashion my crutch. I also gave her all of the gems that I "recovered" from the abandoned city, after killing Quithe Sensualmartyred. They were getting heavy. She also told me about the armor I was wearing. Apparently it's made of a metal called "steel." Supposedly the dwarves kept the nature of its production secret from the world to their graves. She warned me about openly wearing things made by such an accursed and unenlightened people, but I think I'll ignore that for now.

I shall spend some time resting here at home. Afe was hoping that some of my friends in the nearby forests would be able to dissuade me from continuing my foolish adventures, but really I just need time to practice my crutch walking in a much safer place. I've lived here for so many years and besides the goblin army, I've witnessed no murders or night creatures, though I only heard of them in passing. Afe suggested to me that if I should wish to adventure again, I should pay a visit to a grand museum that had opened and leave some trinkets representative of myself within. That's a nice idea, but what would I leave in there?

Possible entries:
1. A bunch of knives made from non-standard materials.
2. A load of astronomy manuals and star charts
3. Night troll skulls, which I'm likely to get more of on the way there.

(https://imgur.com/wVUkk4r.png)
(https://imgur.com/Lkoiwor.png)
(https://imgur.com/1cKgT2H.png)

Also, looking back on it, I have changed plenty. Mentally, I'm still me. But physically, I've improved. If it weren't for this clumsy crutch, I'd be able to dance in and out of battle. Maybe if I hadn't lost the function of my leg to that howling freak, I'd have been able to save my companions from the elves...

(https://imgur.com/kHblTwr.png)
(https://imgur.com/75hoob6.png)

The adventure continues...

Also holy cow there are so many goddamn night trolls wandering around everywhere. If anyone ends up with a lame leg, there's a camp called "Angercrux" up north, in between a bunch of hamlets. It's got a carpenter's workshop next to a bunch of logs.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Bralbaard on July 22, 2020, 01:38:15 am

I vote for the star charts!

Also, what a ridiculous amount of ambushes, the game must really hate elf-raised characters.
I'll try and add Angercrux to the map once the save game is released.

I've added Nogoodnames to the list.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Quantum Drop on July 22, 2020, 03:07:27 am

I vote for the charts. NT skulls are a dime-a-dozen in larger worlds, though the knives may be pretty nice.

Looks like you knocked over Mysterydressed. Take it you looted the armour there?

Surprised to see your companions going at each other's throats, though - didn't know that could happen in adventurer mode.

Looking forward to more, as ever.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: tonnot98 on July 22, 2020, 09:57:21 am

Quote from: Quantum Drop on July 22, 2020, 03:07:27 am

Looks like you knocked over Mysterydressed. Take it you looted the armour there?

I looted some large armor to give to my human companions, but I got the steel from a goblin bandit that ambushed me alongside elves. For some reason the goblins had metal armor but wooden weapons.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: tonnot98 on July 22, 2020, 10:31:14 pm

(https://imgur.com/ZSTK81e.png)

Spoiler: 5th of Obsidian through 15th of Obsidian (click to show/hide)

5th of Obsidian

I made a friend at the forest retreat of Raceberries. Like me, Imere wishes to explore the world and protect nature.

(https://imgur.com/X15dZq6.png)

7th of Obsidian

I found a cave on the north-east face of The Perfect Horns. It seems to be populated by a strange group of goblins. They all said I'm an intruder and either tried attacking or fleeing from me. Do I look that scary? Perhaps they thought I was someone sent by their overlord to return them. Maybe this steel I'm wearing is threatening on its own? It eventually opened up to a cavern deep underground. I could hardly see my hand in front of my face, it was so dark! Curious as I was, I elected against staying down there to explore. It certainly wouldn't do me any good to get lost.

8th of Obsidian

I've returned to the fortress after some training to get more used to my body as it is. I come through the door and see Afe talking with our pet bear. I always wonder, are they joking when they say they can communicate with the plants and animals? It feels like I've been missing out, I've always wanted to know what Thalu would sound like and if he would be grateful our expecting of the dinners we give him?

(https://imgur.com/BG0SHNx.png)

I pressed Afe for more information about the world that I've been sheltered from for so long. She mentioned an island to the west, corrupted by evil since time immemorial. There resides the lair of a particularly nasty creature known as a Foul Blendec. Perhaps this is the same sort of evil that has plagued the northern lands for so long? Or is this some other sort of primitive power that permeates the land? I won't know until I swim across and find out.

(https://imgur.com/gYYILFR.png)
(https://imgur.com/nNYlFF8.png)
(Pictured: The red circle is where I am, the big red and white island to the west is where I'm headed.)

She also told me the story of a necromancer that ravaged the lands and almost drove the elves to extinction, as well as forcing the dwarves into hiding. No books I found covered this, but I heard the stories time and time again from the humans on my travels. I can hardly count the amount of times that I heard a place was conquered by "The Scholarly Manors" during the third century.

(https://imgur.com/G7FgSP3.png)

There's so much evil in this world. Demons from the depths ruling the blood-crazy goblins to the east, a primitive force of evil soaked into an island to the west, and an army of the dead far to the south. What could one girl do against such reckless hate? Welp, I handed off the black-bronze knife I found to Imere and told him we're going to an island that's nearby.

(OOC Note: If anyone wants books to read, Splashbeige in the northeast corner, Fidale's homeland, is littered with books. They're everywhere. In every building, and on every tower is a collection of books to be read. There's so many, even the outside has books on the ground, beyond the walls. It's literally overflowing with books.)

9th of Obsidian

Imere and I swam across to The Island of Animals. Despite being named "The Ugly Forest," I don't see anything wrong here. The grass and leaves are green, the trees are healthy, and the birds still sing. I see some strange animal that looks like a beaver with a dick's face, but everything seems normal so far.

As we searched this perfectly normal forest for evidence of the Foul Blendec's lair, we found something else. There was a large, eroded shrine in the middle of the forest. Within the shrine was a beast of titanic proportions! An enourmous skinless skunk with a pair of long antennae and glowing chartreuse eyes. It undulates rhythmically, and a flame escapes its mouth when it breathes. Could this be the perpetrator of the evil said to permeate the island?

I told Imere to stay back while I get a better look at the creature, but it detected my approach.

(https://imgur.com/knhSTwz.png)
(Pictured: Fidale jumping behind a wall to avoid a curtain of fire, with Imere watching from the northeast corner.)

(https://imgur.com/ZSTK81e.png)
(https://imgur.com/VfLzRCi.png)
(https://imgur.com/htwlNYn.png)
(Pictured: Fidale blocking fireballs, and becoming engulfed in a cloud of scalding-hot steam, and then running into a nearby pool to cool off.)

(https://imgur.com/CS0ny06.png)

Finally, after a grueling battle the beast was felled. Either it couldn't breathe after I smashed its spine, or it was too caught up in the cloud of steam that its magical flame created, but it suffocated as I ran to a pool of water to quench the flames that had momentarily engulfed me. I had dubbed the beast, "Sindaya Blossomdrivers the Secretive" and left its body where it fell. A testament to my mastery over nature. Thankfully I had fought the thing in a rainstorm, or else it would have lit the entire forest ablaze. I fill a water skin with the titan's blood, and continue my search for the Foul Blendec.

There was also some human's charred skeleton in the shrine.
(https://imgur.com/eKPbduB.png)

It was late in the night when I picked up the creature's trail. Two legs, and walking on cloven hooves just as Afe described it. Though it gored Imere in the leg, I was able to kill it with a few good smacks across the head with my mace.

(https://imgur.com/jtY9HXx.png)

11th of Obsidian

I returned to the fort briefly to tell Afe of my exploits, and bring her the Foul Blendec's skull as proof of my deeds. When asked why I didn't bring the titan's corpse, I simply told her that it was too heavy, and that she can go verify it herself. She denied the offer. But it is today that I shall head south toward Boltspumpkin, and brave the ruins of The Nations of Honoring to deposit the accumulated elven knowledge of the stars above. Those brilliant lights in the night sky are by far the greatest testament to the beauty of nature.

13th of Obsidian

I found a volcano and climbed a mountain. I still won't get used to how eerily quiet these hamlets are. There's not even singing birds or chirping bugs. It's all quiet.
(https://imgur.com/z36RoeV.png)

14th of Obsidian

I was granted access to the castle Wheatbrands. To my surprise, it isn't held by some goblin pretender, but by actual human nobility! I tell the tales of my adventures to the baroness and ask to borrow some soldiers, which she gives readily. I don't think she's expecting them to return, considering her religion...

(https://imgur.com/WfBpmZn.png)
(https://imgur.com/CFNV1U1.png)

15th of Obsidian

I was allowed to rest the night within a keep managed by a Hand of Planegift, one of those necromantic experiments. Apparently he's the religious leader of the hamlet, which isn't surprising when they worship a god of blight and death. He mentioned a dwarven fortress popping up recently. I thought they had gone into hiding after being accused of releasing terrors upon the world? Well if they're back, I should go pay them a visit. Maybe destroy them if they're up to no good.

Spoiler: 16th of Obsidian through 18th of Obsidian - I find Player fortresses! (click to show/hide)

16th of Obsidian

I finally reach the fortress at the end of this peninsula. Before approaching beyond the forest, I decide it's wise to take off my steel armor and stash it away. According to my map, the peninsula should end soon with land on the other side. Considering the name of the fortress, is this no longer true? (OOC: I got a bunch of animal starving messages from DFhack. Bralbaard, did you pasture them correctly?  )

The first dwarf I met was a miner by the name of Goldenswallows. She was sitting outside, grumbling about getting rained on. It's really true that dwarves look like squat, stocky humans. This particular dwarf had skin as copper as that sword I stole, and some dark red hair. A far cry from the charcoal-haired, pink-skinned Honorables. (Possible name for the race of humans hailing from the Nations of Honoring??)

(https://imgur.com/i6Hq855.png)

As I was conversing with her, another dwarf wearing a leather outfit and with graying hair approached, introducing herself as the mayor, and sharing her compatriot's remark about the weather. She wasn't able to tell me much about the surrounding area, but she did mention that there's ill will between the fortress dwellers and the elves. Something about their treatment of plants.

As I approach the fortress, I see loggers hard at work murdering trees. Go figure about that ill will. Beyond them is a short wooden palisade with an open stone drawbridge. Inside of the walls are a couple of workshops, a few hungry-looking work animals, and a long bridge that extends across the water to the beach on the other side. It has no rails, and an odd carving of two straight lines all the way across, but otherwise this looks like a much better bridge than all of the human and goblin bridges I've crossed before. But I can't help but feel a little nervous about the waves that might reach the bridge.

(https://imgur.com/RzSYaV6.png)

On the bridge, I met a mason. Refreshingly, she worships a god of caverns rather than blight. She seemed rather proud when I complimented the bridge design.

(https://imgur.com/ZFcKXoM.png)

Across the bridge is a wooden building hanging precariously off the ledge. It's full of different, occupied rooms housing even more dwarves. Behind it is a short, suspended walkway with a pedestal holding by far the best axe I've ever seen. Despite being made of copper, its edge looks viciously sharp.

(https://imgur.com/wqVS3PB.png)
(https://imgur.com/cHEc32w.png)

There's also a walkway with a memorial to a few dwarves that went missing. If they were taken by the waves, or taken by the night is beyond the description on the plaques. After that is a tavern. The first functioning tavern I've seen in years, actually! I offer the tavernkeeper a milk opal that I found in my journeys in return for a drink, and she gladly obliged. I think I might get along with these dwarves just fine. Underneath the tavern is a shrine to the goddess of stars. Regardless of what Afe says, while they may be cruel to nature, the dwarves do have some refined taste.

(https://imgur.com/KIqiYDe.png)
(https://imgur.com/k5bdfIZ.png)

As I was drinking, I mentioned to the tavernkeep that I'd be going to The Museum. He asked if I had anything to put on display, and I showed him the star charts. He said no one wants to see any lousy pieces of paper that they can't read, so he suggested I go to the nearby fortress of Lashedjade to buy something properly glorious. Last he heard, they were doing just fine despite sharing borders with The Most Sin's territory. He also asked if me and my men would eliminate the goblins occupying a nearby Hillock known as Brushsack. He seemed completely unashamed asking a goblin that, but then I was completely unashamed to agree. If violence is the only language my savage kin will understand, then I will speak it to them fluently.

Next to the fortress was a large collection of towers that looked very similar to the necromancer's tower I raided a few weeks ago. I decided to pay it a visit, approaching warily. Fortunately there was no one here, and the few traps they left behind were of a very poor quality. I poked around the towers for loot and found a new crutch to replace my charred one, a single large gem, and a fancy silver scimitar. There wasn't much left after whatever happened to force these people to leave.

17th of Obsidian

I visited the hillocks and slayed all that could not run fast enough. My companions helped run down those few that were faster than me. A group of travelling dwarven monks met me just before I begun the slaughter, and one of them just put his hand on my shoulder and left without a word. During the massacre, I noticed a peregrine falcon man join the fray, using his superior speed and sharpened talons to rip those that fled to shreds. We exchanged a greeting and carried on with our work. I found the overlord Luru Spiralsevers within the mead hall and pushed my blade through his head, levering it off from the rest of his body.

(https://imgur.com/naXx8De.png)
(https://imgur.com/kkiFbmh.png)

I took some excellently made dwarven clothes as my payment. After so much fighting, my old outfit was running ragged. I didn't even have pants for at least a week, so I was using the chainmail leggings to remain decent!

18th of Obsidian

I lost my companions while sneaking through some dark pits yesterday. They couldn't swim, and Imere refused to cross without them. So I left them behind. I'm near Lashedjade anyway, so I might be able to recruit some new followers. I do sort of regret giving Imere my black bronze knife if he's just going to lose it, I was starting a collection!

As I approach the drawbridge entrance to the fortress, I see a pair of cats playing with some vermin in a refuse pile. It seems that the fort is mostly underground. There's a large structure atop a hill with farms and people murdering trees, as well as plenty of dwarves mucking about in the sunlight. Out front is a miner expressing his satisfaction of finishing some work in harvesting an ore vein.

(https://imgur.com/Xdz5xd7.png)

These dwarf bastards have a lot to learn about the sanctity of nature

(https://imgur.com/OqsDBMa.png)
(https://imgur.com/FgBha9H.png)

I'm gonna steal some of their food as just the smallest start of the reparations they owe.

(https://imgur.com/9Pc8wyA.png)

As I move deeper into the hill past the stills and kitchens, I'm greeted by hundreds of wood and stone crafts made for trading. I take the crutches there and move on. Strangely, the wooden crafts are of better make than their stone crafts yet are ultimately worthless. It's not like I can show off such crude baubles back home. Hmm... I found some occupied coffins. Well, if they won't respect our beliefs, then I shall mock theirs!

(https://imgur.com/a/OgSCNXT.png)
(https://imgur.com/fJ07fj6.png)
(https://imgur.com/PVs6Z6o.png)
(Pictured is the skeleton thrown back into its coffin like a basketball)

As I delve deeper within, I find the expedition leader. I decide to tell him the tales of my exploits up north.

(https://imgur.com/qicXPkv.png)

I go as far down as I am able through the central staircase. But it seems like they end rather abruptly. I don't think there was anything worth finding or trading for in the whole place! Not that I would've paid precious gems to these savages anyway. For now, I should continue my journey towards The Museum. If the dwarves I met are correct, it's going to be much colder over there. I'm glad I got a much warmer change of clothing.

Spoiler: 20th of Obsidian through 24th of Obsidian (click to show/hide)

20th of Obsidian

I have discovered another dwarven fortress named "Shotgleeful." This one must be older, as it is on my map. It's labeled a ruin like just about everything else in this mountain range, so I guess I should take the time to explore it.

Just by sneaking to the entrance, I see what likely heralded this fortress' doom. Or maybe he's just wandering about, like me? Either way, I've heard of the damage a cyclops can do. I've taken down a fire breathing titan, how hard could a big, dumb, one-eyed beast be?

(https://imgur.com/gkFn6s3.png)
(https://imgur.com/27pT7ZB.png)

Turns out, not too difficult. Once I disabled his arms and legs, it was all just a matter of breaking more bones and slashing open more arteries until the thing went unconscious. Now, what remains of the fortress for me to claim as my own?

(https://imgur.com/gWYzfOd.png)

A sack full of gems ought to be worth the labor! There wasn't much in the fortress as the stairs led towards a massive pool of magma. Surely the result of some poorly planned engineering. There seems to also be a massive underground highway that connects this fortress to the others. I'm not so comfortable with navigating underground, so I'll elect to ignore it for now. There's also a delightfully cute creature warming itself by the steps. I pat it on the head and continue on my way.

(https://imgur.com/p7wvuSp.png)

21st of Obsidian

I've come across another abandoned fortress, Kindlingrings. I looked around, but there's nothing of note. I took a few pieces of armor, noted the distinct lack of any steel anywhere, and went on my way. The bottom of the stairway led to a magma pool much like the other fortress, but this one started to overflow onto the highway by the time I arrived. Where are these underground wonders of engineering I've heard so much about? The best I've seen so far was an above-ground bridge!

(https://imgur.com/fhN3eM1.png)

I've found another human-owned castle, "Wispygroups." Inside are humans claiming to be affiliated with The Nation of Peeks. Their sepia hair and darker skin is a nice contrast to the sicklier blight worshippers up north. There were no soldiers to speak of, and the baron is rather cowardly. He refused to speak further of the horrors that lurk within the mountains when I pressed him about it.

(https://imgur.com/J8pwbaz.png)

Nearby was another dwarven hillock, "Climatecoal." It was abandoned, save for some goblin bandits looking for booze in the drinking hall.

(https://imgur.com/5NHmz7Y.png)
(This is why I kept mentioning crutches and was hoping to find one made of metal. Good thing I had two in reserve!)
(https://imgur.com/DKmECgs.png)

23rd of Obsidian

I saw some more strange humans, the same ones that had the wierd knives from last time. They didn't respond to me trying to talk to them at all, and instead just came at me with their tiny blades. They didn't even come close to harming me.

I'm on my way now to a fortress called "The Iron Deep." On my way there, I passed a hillock that's slowly being resettled by dwarves, and that's nice to see. After travelling through, I was ambushed by a yeti who was very unprepared to deal with one such as me and I killed it with one thrust of my blade.

(https://imgur.com/ZMOUKq7.png)

Finally, I approach the fortress from its north side and see the tell-tale sign of recent dwarfwork. More felled trees. Unlike the other fortresses that only cut down trees as they needed to, there are piles of logs everywhere! The only trees around are very young, so it appears as if they clear-cut the entire surrounding area. They seem to have fortified themselves with a moat surrounding their walls, but I'm doubtful as to its usefulness. It looks like many dwarves and goblins had either perished in the water, or died and then were tossed in. It smells like old death. I wonder what I'll find inside?

(https://imgur.com/KpE014V.png)

Considering the whirlpool I just found, I'm doubtful that I'll ever make it make up if I decide to dive into the sunken fortress. Since I recognize plenty of goblin skeletons and blades stuck in ribcages, I figure the dwarves must've purposely flooded the fortress to drown their attackers. Or perhaps they were just hoping that whatever they awoke from beneath the earth couldn't swim? Well, whatever's down there can wait for someone with gills to fish it up, I'll pass.

(https://imgur.com/uZ5upgS.png)

As I walk away from the fortress, I found an interesting thing on the ground.

(https://imgur.com/696cS31.png)

Could this be what that tavernkeep was talking about? An amulet so masterfully worked... It'd be rude to call it anything but perfect! Well, it's no use to anyone on the ground here. I'll wear it myself and hurt anyone that even thinks of taking this from me.

24th of Obsidian

I was awoken by a pack of dingos. Such majestic creatures. I pet them a bit and then went on my merry way. I wonder why the humans fear these adorable critters?

(https://imgur.com/9FzCyMu.png)

I finally made it to The Museum! Inside is a goblin and his slave. They both eyed me down, no doubt jealous of my amulet and armor. I ignored them and bestowed upon them a bag of astronomy manuals and star charts that I dubbed, "Stargaze the Knowledge of Worlds." For some reason the slave seemed rather disappointed in my submission. I thought this was a museum, not some fool's treasure horde! Oh well. My finger got infected in a battle a while ago, so I think I'll seek out the nearby dwarf fortress of Healerlashes and entrust myself to their care. I heard they've got some magical substance that cures infections called "soap."

(https://imgur.com/JHEV3Qc.png)

A little break is all I need, soon I can continue my adventures and slay the evils that have befallen this world.

When you finally close the travel diary, your heart jumps. A face stares at you from the back cover. Only then did you realize that it was bound in goblin leather.

Besides the goblins patrolling the territory of The Most Sins, it feels like the center regions are a lot less awful than the northern regions. But then maybe I haven't explored enough down here. Oh well, time to make a fortress!  :D

Also, I noticed a problem: The legendary wood opal teleported back to its home.
(https://imgur.com/eW6AhWa.png)

I would also like to mention that elf and dwarf populations dropped sharply, but goblin and human populations grew. I wonder how much more this will change during fortress mode?

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Bralbaard on July 23, 2020, 01:59:37 am

Quote from: tonnot98 on July 22, 2020, 10:31:14 pm

(OOC: I got a bunch of animal starving messages from DFhack. Bralbaard, did you pasture them correctly?  :P)

What kind of treehugger would ask such a question? These animals should take care of themselves. Now excuse me while I go cut down some trees!

Anyhow, that was quite easily the most successful adventure so far. Great reading. I'll update the posts with museum submissions and other information later today. I'm still working from home and trying to fight getting distracted.

Quote from: tonnot98 on July 22, 2020, 10:31:14 pm

Also, I noticed a problem: The legendary wood opal teleported back to its home.
(https://imgur.com/eW6AhWa.png)

Hmm. I was afraid that would happen after the issues we had with  the necromancer slab before someone tossed it in the volcano. I'll put a warning in the rules section that artifacts are bugged. (we had the same problem during the first museum game, I think one of the artifacts in the first game had to be retrieved several times from the other end of the world. I seem to remember that items stored in containers were immune to the bug under certain conditions )

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Timeless Bob on July 23, 2020, 10:37:33 am

In the first game, artifacts had to be put in containers BEFORE they were transported off-site, and had to remain in those containers the entire time or transport back to their places of origin. So artifact doors and other large goods were more likely than not to teleport back.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Quantum Drop on July 23, 2020, 10:54:45 am

In case someone goes artefact hunting, what would qualify as a container for the game? Are we talking a chest or a backpack?

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Bralbaard on July 23, 2020, 12:09:27 pm

Quote from: Quantum Drop on July 23, 2020, 10:54:45 am

In case someone goes artefact hunting, what would qualify as a container for the game? Are we talking a chest or a backpack?

Quote from: Timeless Bob on July 23, 2020, 10:37:33 am

In the first game, artifacts had to be put in containers BEFORE they were transported off-site, and had to remain in those containers the entire time or transport back to their places of origin. So artifact doors and other large goods were more likely than not to teleport back.

I think it might even have been the case that artifacts had to be put into containers in fortress mode before offloading the site (so that would be in a chest or bin) for it to work correctly. That would need to be tested, because a lot has changed and if I recall correctly Toady has been fiddling with artifact storage and site retirement since then.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: tonnot98 on July 23, 2020, 01:15:23 pm

I like that this stress-test of world generation during play could bring up so many interesting bugs and features. I remember in the first game we've been playing so long that any human or dwarf we talked to in adventure mode (thereby making them a historical figure) would immediately die the next minute because they're a good 100 years over their life-span.

Edit: Just realized elf populations probably dropped because of all the forest retreats I visited with outcasts. The castle I started at had 80 of them.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: tonnot98 on July 24, 2020, 12:17:40 am

Okay I'm done early. Two fortress failures later, and I'd rather not throw more dwarven lives away. The new fortress is "Homesafe The Shrine of Guarding" and the other is a reclamation attempt of Shotgleeful, after the Cyclops was driven out by Fidale.

https://dffd.bay12games.com/file.php?id=15156

Slap me on that turn list again, I'm raring for another go. I'm sensing that soon, after a bunch of heroes manage to do some great deeds and successfully retire, there will be a great culling of evil.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Quantum Drop on July 24, 2020, 05:22:28 am

I have the file. Will post something more when the interesting stuff starts happening.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Bralbaard on July 24, 2020, 08:20:20 am

Quote from: tonnot98 on July 24, 2020, 12:17:40 am

The new fortress is "Homesafe The Shrine of Guarding"

That is the site where you defeated the Titan, right? Interesting.
I've updated the turn list, maps and other relevant posts.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Quantum Drop on July 24, 2020, 11:54:33 am

Unknown Date, Granite 718.

The Monastery of Wanecloister was a silent place, located high in the hills and unwelcoming at best to many. It was barely inhabited, now, after the elderly Mother had died of old age – now, it was all but abandoned beyond himself and a Human.

Perfect for one such as him.

Long before dawn, Lonelythrall the Hideous arose from a straw bed in an unlit cell. He crossed the room to the basin of ice-cold water in the corner, plunging his face into the freezing water without hesitation.

He felt nothing, of course. The infernal curse that creature had placed upon him had long robbed him of such feelings.

The water was still dripping from his scaled face as he moved to the small shrine beside his straw bed. Every morning he knelt before it in prayer, speaking the prayers to the God of Gods and His fellow deities that the Abbot had taught him. Every morning there was no answer, the Gods rightfully refusing to answer a sinner such as he.

“My flesh is corrupted. My mind, tainted. I am unworthy to stand in His light, or to receive His mercy.”

Taking a firm birch in hand, Lonelythrall drew in a breath.

“For my sins, I beg Your forgiveness.”

The gnarled wood cracked sharply against the useless wings on his back. He ignored the slick, dulled feeling of blood running down between his shoulderblades, drawing back for another blow.

“For my sins, I beg Your forgiveness!”

The birch struck home, adding one more gash to the many half-clotted ones already there.

“For my sins-!”

The birch stopped mid-descent.

There was something in the cell with him. Something behind him.

And to his front, and his sides. Within him, and without.

There were no words or sound; He did not speak in such a crude, vulgar manner. Yet He spoke nonetheless, comforting and commanding at once, and Lonelythrall knew what He commanded him to do.

Lonelythrall bowed his head in reverence, trembling in rapturous delight as he felt His blessings saturate his unworthy flesh. He was barely able to make his jaw work in the face of His magnificence, and the purity of His immaterial presence.

“As you will it, Mighty One, it shall be done.”

The presence withdrew.

Lonelythrall arose from his kneeling position with the air of a man possessed, shaking hands reaching to a tiny dent in the floor.
 
Beneath it lay the bronze relics of a life long gone by. Reminders of the impurity that tainted his flesh and bone; that which made him a monster in the eyes of God and Man alike. Now, they would be His instruments in the mortal lands.

 A war hammer. A tarnished mail shirt. A helmet still stained with dried blood. Two dulled gauntlets.

Lonelythrall donned them each without hesitation. His commands burnt within his mind, willing him to ignore the memories they spurred within him, and he obeyed.

He knew exactly where the God of Gods demanded him to go, and he set off into the wilderness without a backwards glance.

Unknown Date, Slate 718.

He has called me, and I must answer.

My first travel was westward, to a tower the rare visitors to our Monastery called ‘Mysterydressed’. Someone had evidently been there before me; several Goblin corpses lay upon the ground, bearing wounds that would kill a man thrice over. They were rotted and decayed, bone and sinews alike exposed – perhaps the result of unclean sorcery.

Other than a few wandering ravens and carrion-eaters, there was almost nothing to aid me in fulfilling His command. Much of the main tower was empty or ransacked, with books lying upon the floor and indents of footprints in the dust. Yet He smiled upon my unworthy form, and guided me to a small building upon the outside of the pit.

Within lay His gift to me: two bronze high boots and a well-crafted shield, burnished and unmarked by battle. I thanked His generosity as I put them on, setting off into the wilds once more in the moments after.

I will write more when I have the time. As of now, I hear something in the dis-

A mad howl echoed from the treeline, and Lonelythrall had barely a second to drop his quill and draw his weapons before the beast was upon him.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/rbADmOt.png)

A great weight slammed into his chest, hurling him backwards from the force and weight, before a carving knife raked across the bronze mail of his chest. Though the darkness of the night prevented him from getting a close look, he could smell its breath – hot and stinking, reeking of death and bug innards as it drew back for another blow.

He shook his head, trying to clear the cobwebs from his skull; a clumsy swing of his hammer missed, the creature taking full advantage of his distraction. A second blow hammered into his foot, while a fist rammed hard against his helmet.

Blood flooded his mouth, sudden and coppery, as the creature’s blow drove teeth into his tongue. There was no pain, but the strike left him staggering, almost choking on blood as it slid down his throat. He was being tossed about like a rag doll, beaten by some accursed abomination despite all that He had given him.

He was failing Him, and at that, Lonelythrall felt something give way.

“Perdition!” He thundered, letting His holy rage flood through him. “Blasphemy!”

His swings were growing wilder, more erratic; they missed by feet now, rather than the previous inches. The heart in his chest was pounding hard enough that it felt ready to tear loose as he fought for his life, dodging out the way of one blow only to take another to the chest.

He could dully feel bone chip as the blow reverberated through the box of his ribcage; it didn’t seem serious, but the sensation was enough to drive him to strike at the beast with his shield. It missed as the creature leapt away, snarling, and charged in again with its fists cocked back to strike. He shifted himself to take it, shield down and his teeth bared.

The knife was the first to hit, snapping apart halfway along its length as the copper broke upon the bronze. The creature’s fist, on the other hand, was still very much intact; its fingers scraped across the mail of his shoulder before sliding free.

More blows landed. A pair of punches, a kick, yet he felt nothing. Otherworldly clarity had suddenly come to him as the creature drew close – he could see every inch of its twisted, unholy form in detail, from the saliva drooling from its lips to the pulsing vein in its neck.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/wtWiJAx.png)

That feeling from the cell was back. It was within him and without him, behind him and in front of him, taking control of his frail limbs and filling him with His strength and prowess for a moment.
The world seemed to slow as he span upon his heel, letting the hammer slip through his grasp until it was as far from his hand as possible. The heavy, killing face of the bronze war hammer smashed hard into the beast’s face, driving the solid metal through solid bone and into the soft, vulnerable brain behind.

The monster collapsed, blood and bone shards fanning out from the shattered skull; Lonelythrall rolled out of the way as its carcass hit the floor. Despite his wounds, he was exultant – he had never felt so alive, so furious and energetic, and he was proving that he was worth something to Him.

Lonelythrall went on bent knee, placing his hammer upon the grass, and began to pray once again.

“In your name, God of Blood, I offer this unworthy creature’s skull to you, that its soul may serve you better than it did in life…”

Circa 6th Felsite 718.

Many Humans may not worship Him as their creator and master, but their craftsmanship makes them useful. The iron helmet and high boots Embracebelt was so generous to ‘loan’ me certainly prove that. While it in no way matches that forbidden legend of Steel, the lost material the Dwarves were said to wield, it will be more than useful in my hunt.

He has led me to the lair of a Roc, one of those great sky-dwelling monsters that ravaged the world in Ages past. I see many loose copper arrows scattered about this place – He intends me to slay this Beast, and He has given me the tools to do so. I know not if this shall be my end, but if it is, I die with the knowledge that my death shall earn a scrap of His forgiveness.

Lonelythrall crawled through the dirt surrounding the Roc’s lair like a worm. A single wrong move would be the death of him: the Roc would see him and seize him in its talons, hurling him to his death upon the ground or tearing him apart with its great, hooked beak. In his hands, he clutched ten copper arrows between thin fingers, his eyes fixed firmly upon the Roc’s every movements.

Once he was in range, he carefully placed all but one upon the ground. With this single arrow, he drew back an arm, and hurled it as hard as he could towards the Roc’s mighty form.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/S8gLnp0.png)

The first one struck; the beast screeched aloud in shock as the arrow tore though the muscle and bone of its leg. Its own weight did the rest, sending the overgrown turkey smashing face first into the dirt. His other arrows followed suit – each one struck the vast breast of the bird, each one resulting in a spray of blood and a sharp wheeze from the creature.

As the Roc staggered drunkenly, trying to regain its feet with one leg damaged beyond use, Lonelythrall leapt from concealment to strike.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/R3iCT3B.png)

His hammer smashed home against the beast’s neck and head before it could react, leaving the beast reeling, before another strike impacted its guts.

The creature vomited copiously, snarling in rage as the trauma forced its meal back up through its throat. He kept up the attack, dancing around its butcher-hook talons as they slashed down at him, occasionally raising the scratched metal of his shield to block a particularly violent or swift blow.

A lucky blow to the skull left it staggering drunkenly, stunned for a moment by the bronze hammer’s blow. Without hesitation, he began striking the skull repeatedly and as hard as he could – it felt like trying to dig through accursed Slade barehanded, each blow seeming to do nothing beyond bruising or twisting the neck.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/hd4XpMU.png)

It recovered for a moment, forcing him to dodge out the way of its flailing claws as it took to the sky; a downwards lunge toward his form was countered by him spinning out of the way, lashing out to strike at its frustratingly-thick skull with the hammer once again. It had been stunned once more, eyes unfocused, and he had felt the satisfying sensation of bone shifting under his blow. It was dying, inch by inch.

Lonelythrall leapt upon its blood-slicked form, exulting in the bloodthirst that now flowed through him.

“Blood for the God of Blood!” He howled like a rabid animal, letting the savagery instilled into him at the moment of his creation flow freely. “Skulls for His Throne!”

Spoiler: What the balls is this guy's skull made of? (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/mWVeF82.png)

Before long, the Roc lay sprawled out in the open plain of its lair, twitching in pain on the ground as he straddled its massive neck and struck again and again, striking the beast’s stone-hard skull until it was nothing but a mass of splintered bone and shredded flesh, its brains spread across the dirt of the place it had once ruled. Even then he didn't stop, driving the hammer into its chest until it felt not unlike a bag of jelly, organs pulped or laid bare and its shattered ribs sprung open.

The red haze cleared.
 
Lonelythrall slid off the monster and sank to his knees. His hands were shaking, disgust and shame burning hot in his gut. He had given in to his bestial nature, embraced the curse that tainted him in all things’ eyes. Had he spent so long flagellating and meditating to try and control the monster in him, only to fail Him and give in to it?

His stomach heaved and he tore off his helm, emptying his stomach onto the stained grass. The beast was caged once again, locked behind iron-forged walls of discipline and faith, yet he had failed the monks that gave him everything and failed Him-

Cold wind blew across his scaled flesh. There was something in the Lair with him.

Lonelythrall’s body shook as His presence returned. He had not failed Him; it was His will that Lonelythrall should give in to his nature when facing a monster such as the Roc, for some beasts could only be slain by an even greater beast.

Sometimes, savagery was warranted, and he felt his doubts and horror fall away in accordance with His divine proclamation. The presence vanished as suddenly as it had come, leaving no trace but His decree to be honoured.

Lonelythrall rose from the ground, already scanning the Lair for a branch. The Mighty One may have shown approval of his actions, but his penance to the Order was yet to be paid.

OOC: I cut out all the bits where he was training for purposes of length. That Night Troll in the beginning almost got me; if it weren’t for that lucky wild bash, I would’ve been done there and then.
Also, I found something really spoilery right near Boltspumpkin’s doorstep. Do you want to know about it now, or at the end of next post?

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Unraveller on July 24, 2020, 12:11:56 pm

(( Keep us waiting! Put us on the edge of our seats! ))

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: tonnot98 on July 24, 2020, 12:50:03 pm

Quote from: Bralbaard on July 24, 2020, 08:20:20 am

Quote from: tonnot98 on July 24, 2020, 12:17:40 am

The new fortress is "Homesafe The Shrine of Guarding"

That is the site where you defeated the Titan, right? Interesting.
I've updated the turn list, maps and other relevant posts.

Not on it, but near it. Turns out that forest only had the initial illusion of being normal...

Quote from: Quantum Drop on July 24, 2020, 11:54:33 am

That Night Troll in the beginning almost got me; if it weren’t for that lucky wild bash, I would’ve been done there and then.

I swear, those things feel much harder to fight than most megabeasts!

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: TheFlame52 on July 24, 2020, 05:28:13 pm

Quote from: tonnot98 on July 24, 2020, 12:50:03 pm

Not on it, but near it. Turns out that forest only had the initial illusion of being normal...

Oh yeah, I discovered that myself, when I looked through Bralbaard's initial save.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Superdorf on July 24, 2020, 10:14:32 pm

...holy cow.

That was spectacular.  :o

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Quantum Drop on July 25, 2020, 02:28:28 am

Quote from: Superdorf on July 24, 2020, 10:14:32 pm

...holy cow.

That was spectacular.  :o

I aim to please. And to break upper spines, of course.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Quantum Drop on July 25, 2020, 03:00:53 am

Shorter post this time; hopefully the end'll make up for it.

Circa Hematite, 718

Though the journey through the mountaintops has been long, His guidance has led me to fortune once more. Within these high peaks, a Dwarven Fortress dwells – while I cannot claim to know their half-lost language well, I can make out the word ‘throat’ upon the tattered flags that hang above the entrance.

The initial entrance hall was deserted – not one of those walking beards was about, yet there were still beautifully crafted goods laid out as if for trade. Some were iron weapons that menaced with spikes of stiffened fabric, others were wrought from fine silver and painstakingly engraved with odd patterns. Most of it seemed to be meat and thread, mixed with a few roughly-cut gems here and there.

Entering the deeper reaches of the fortress was easy enough. No guards, no Dwarves, just one long spiral of downwards-slanted ramps. Most of them were slippery with moss and water, dripping down through the rock after rainfall; more than once I almost lost my footing, forcing me to crush myself against the wall and pray to the Mighty One that I would not plunge wholesale into that abyssal shaft.

I was on guard as I reached the bottom of the makeshift stairs; I still remember the horrible tales of Fortresses fallen to fell beasts, which would take over the ruin and slay any who dared to enter.

There was nothing, of course. The halls were covered in a thick layer of dust, broken only by the occasional track of footprints upon the smoothed stone that form the walls and floors of this Fortress. A few far-off sounds, echoing through the abandoned corridors, were the only sign that living things still walked in this place – more than likely rats or other vermin. The fort seemed as dead and empty as Mysterydressed, its citizens long fled or otherwise vanished into the mountainsides.

It didn’t take long for Him to guide me to the armoury – a massive room, the entire floor covered in weapons and gems. Most of the haul was either foreign or useless to me: iron maces and silver blades, mixed in with cut gems and carved bone goods. I could feel His displeasure at the sight of the silver blades, useless for anything beyond chopping vegetables or as a vanity project. Only three pieces were of any use: an iron war-hammer, heavy and brutal. A spear and axe of the same, both decorated down the haft.

I had just stowed them in my pack when one of the doors creaked open.

It seems that this place is not so abandoned after all. A few still walk these halls – a Goblin and at least two Humans.

I did not bother speaking to them. Considering their apparent residence here, I sorely doubted they would take well to me taking weapons from their stockpile. Instead, I crouched within the shadows of the darkened room, barely breathing until the patrolling Goblin Swordsman vanished once again into that stygian maze of tunnels.

The moment they were gone, I slipped through the shadows and back to the main stairwell. I was gone into the night before they had any chance to see me or register my actions, letting Him guide me through the blackness toward His goal for me.

13th Felsite, 718.

The end of His task is in sight.

A mighty structure carved from blackest stone, dark as the Underworld from which it was spawned. Even as I write this before the entrance of this strange place, I can see the monsters dwelling within: lizards twisted into humanoid form, clad in bizarrely-frilled fabrics and carrying weapons covered in horrid blisters and markings.

Whatever creatures these beasts are, they reek of unclean sorcery and Demonic power. No thing of His creation could be so unholy.

I can feel Him within my mind, urging me forwards and calling me to the depths of this infernal place. They are His final test of my faith – the final threat I must face and best before I may stand pure before Him.

Yet for now, I resist His call – when night falls, I will enter this place and face whatever Devils lurk in its depths. It shall be my crucible, and I will either scour my flesh clear of my sins, or die penitent before His eyes!

Spoiler: BIG Adventure Mode Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/uwGH7bV.png)

Spoiler: BIG spoilers, may contain no Fun (click to show/hide)

OOC: Yep, there’s a Vault practically on the Museum’s doorstep. It’s only a couple tiles away, near the stream/river, and it looks nasty – checked the Warrior lurking in the entrance, and it looks to have War as a sphere, so I’ll be in for a fun time dealing with them.

They seem to rely mainly on blistered metal pikes, with the occasional lasher and hammerman. No armour on the chest or head, but gauntlets and high boots galore. Already taken a pikeman out, and I'm about to head deeper into the Vault. Here's hoping things get Fun!

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Quantum Drop on July 25, 2020, 08:07:43 am

WARNING: This chapter contains major and very much unavoidable spoilers for what is arguably the endgame of Adventurer Mode. Read this at risk of spoiling your Fun, but know that it is important to understanding certain parts of later chapters.

Night of 13th Felsite, 718.

Lonelythrall crawled into the structure like a worm, keeping his form pressed tight against the stone. There wasn’t so much a floor as much a pit in the centre of the entrance, bordered by jutting slabs of black stone that acted like walkways, all connecting to a single downward stairway. He pushed himself closer to the ground, inching forward, ignoring the cold, slick sensation of the stone against the few exposed portions of his flesh.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/sEOhDE2.png)

The creature had not noticed him. It looked like a lizard, twisted into a mockery of His sacred form – the beast stood on its hind legs and clutched a weapon in its hands, legs and arms sheathed in that strange blistered metal. Frilly fabrics covered whatever the armour did not, some parts billowing loosely from its frame, others clinging tightly to the creature’s scales. It seemed like a guard of some sort, standing still as a statue with its wicked pike ready to strike anything before it.

A pity, then, that he was coming from behind.

Lonelythrall reared up behind it like a snake readying to strike. His iron warhammer raised high, before coming down hard on the creature’s neck, right at the juncture between the creature’s robes and its cap.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/7ww3a1K.png)

The creature’s entire body jerked in shock as the blow landed. He had not heard bone crack, but the way that its pike clattered to the ground made it clear – its spine was broken, or at least damaged. The lizard’s flailing arm missed him by a good foot as it crashed to the floor, the abomination finding its limbs would no longer obey it.

His next blow almost missed – the creature was downed, but it was still dangerous, twisting its head out of the way so that the hammer head would impact its lower body.

“Viqo! Eoci Bideob Idohceixed!” The creature wheezed its hate for him through a fang-toothed mouth, bright eyes ablaze. He retorted with another strike of the hammer, this time to the head.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/xj2ZSdO.png)

Bone splintered and gave way as the hammer punched through meat and bone alike, driving sharp splinters of bone into the brain of the beast. He guided the twitching body to the ground, careful to limit the noise it made – this one had been weak, but whatever monsters lurked within the depths could easily prove much more dangerous.

Lonelythrall made to move away, only to find himself forced to turn back to the body. Another motion to leave drew similar results, this time accompanied by an unnatural pulse of irritation. He did not desire him to continue, not yet; only when he turned back toward the corpse did Lonelythrall feel His approval pulse in the back of his mind once again.

He crouched over the corpse, digging his fingers into the gap between the blistered metal and the flesh of the corpse. Then, grimacing beneath his helmet, he began to strip the corpse of its equipment – his tattered robes were quickly replaced by the creature’s, his iron gauntlets and boots cast aside and replaced with those forged from the blistered metal. It felt faintly warm to the touch, as though some of the forge-fire remained within the metal.

Newly armoured, he set off deeper into the Stygian maze.

---

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/WOAt9zn.png)

He wasn’t sure how long he wandered those twisting pathways, fighting the murderous denizens of the structure; those lizard-like creatures made entirely out of fire had proven particularly aggravating, requiring him to strike and then dodge away with tremendous speed, lest the resultant blast of flames catch him and cook him in his armour.

Others required finesse. They were the guards and warriors of this antediluvian place, armed with those strange metals and fabrics that he had seen earlier. They would come for him in one and twos, and every time he would fight back, spinning away from their attacks or blocking their blows before retaliating with a strike to the neck or chest. Once the spine was damaged and its weapons dropped, he would close in and finish them with repeated blows to the skull – something he was beginning to get down to a fine art.

Two of the creatures barred his path in short order – one was an almost exact duplicate of the pike-wielder from earlier, with only the jagged-edged hammer to set it apart, while the other bore no weapons at all. Both carried heavy, bulky shields of blistered metal, dulled eyes flaring to sudden, murderous light as they laid eyes on him.

His new hammer, freshly pried from the grasp of one of the dead creatures, hit home against the lower body of the first Hammerman. There was no satisfying snap of bone, not this time, but the creature reeled from his blow as its comrade charged in to attack, snarling like a beast and skittering forwards on all fours.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/BxpyUZb.png)

He was just a second too slow with the block. A claw skimmed the edge of his shield, slipping between the rings of his mail shirt and punching into his spine.

His legs gave out with barely a warning, sending him sprawling to the floor. For an instant, terror thrilled through his heart, as he was robbed of the mobility he had known all his life – no amount of effort would force his newly-useless legs to move, not in the face of the damage to its nerves. The Hammerman moved in, weapon lifted high to deliver the finishing blow.

It was the single worst thing it could have done.

Lonelythrall had been born in the mud, after all, and learned to fight while sneaking about like a gutter rat. His legs were taken from him, but that had only made him more dangerous.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/QPvCNOH.png)

His hammer leapt up to brush past the guard of the hammer-wielding lizard; it smashed into his exposed throat with a sickly thud. The creature staged back, choking on its own blood, as he lashed out at its fellow, driving the hammer head into the beast that had wounded him. It collapsed as he had done, its upper spine shattered by the blow of his war hammer, screaming like the animal it was.

The fight continued on the floor: their strikes blocked by his shield, his hammer flashing to deliver revenge. Bone cracked and muscle tore as he beat them into submission, aiming for the poorly-armoured heads and chests of the beasts, blocking and parrying whenever they tried to fight back.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/8QzTuNF.png)

The Hammerman was soon gone, twitching on the ground as it bled whitish ichor onto the black stone of the Vault floor, but its fellow continued to fight until he drove the hammer directly into its ribs, leaving it wheezing through broken lungs before the hammer fell once more – this time, he aimed for the head, and there was no denying the visceral thrill of satisfaction than ran through him as its skull broke apart under the force.

He didn’t bother trying to rise or even loot the bodies – His call was growling stronger the further he went, a deep, gnawing need in the back of his skull. Instead, Lonelythrall slithered onwards, crawling ahead at speed.

---

After what felt like hours of travel, dragging himself along inch by inch by his hands alone, he pulled himself through into a side passage. What waited there almost froze him in its tracks.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/MtDKhXC.png)

The abominable creature stared down at him with murder in its great eyes, the ashen tick’s furious hissing overtaking the bellows of the two Warriors that stood by it. Within the back of his mind, Lonelythrall left a new pressure – a sharp, furious hiss of a voice, cold as the grave and furious as battle.

“You seek something not meant for your kind, beast. You are a mistake in His design, and I will not allow you to claim the slab. Be crushed under the weight of your sins, and perish as the worm you are!”

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/bAlPtm5.png)

Lonelythrall’s jaw struggled to work once more as his limbs seemed to lock up. It was the same feeling as that sensation in the cell, months ago – the presence of a power far beyond him. A dark, Dwarven goddess, speaking through her favoured monstrosity to the one who defied her. The mighty beast began to close with him, its guards rushing forth, only for all three to freeze in their tracks as something mighty crashed down upon all of their shoulders.

The air was alive with divine power as He intervened in the battle, His divine voice thundering through the fabric of reality as He spoke. Though Lonelythrall only caught the briefest glimpses of His will, he could feel the intent and emotions behind it: steel-hard determination accompanied by the hot white fire of rage at the other voice’s interference, the Mighty One angered by His creation’s defiance of His perfect design. It lasted only for a few seconds, fast as the blink of an eye, yet it felt like an eternity to him, locked beneath the gaze of two Gods.

“…Very well. The Bloody-Handed One has decreed that your fate lies elsewhere. Defeat my Archangel, and by right of Battle, ye shall claim the slab.”

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/cpVmQaA.png)

Without a word, the Archangel charged. Its ashy legs bounded across the Slade floor at speed, long trunk swinging and bellowing in blind rage as its creator’s emotions spilled over to Her creation.
A massive leg smashed into the ground beside him as he rolled away from the kick; his answering blow missed as the tick leapt away, trunk flailing towards him like a mace. His shield blocked the blow, sending tiny flakes of ash scattering in all directions as the tick retreated to prepare its next blow.

This time, the Archangel leapt forth, feinting to the side with a kick. As Lonelythrall went to block it, its fourth foot came up into a kick, driving into the blistered metal gauntlet that covered his arm. The force twisted it sharply, bruising the muscle as he raised his shield to block a second kick from the creature.

Yet in its recklessness and its creator’s haste to slay him, it had been left exposed.

Once more, he let loose his bestial nature for a moment. He would pay his penance later - right now, He had commanded him to slay one beast with another. An inhuman roar tore free of his throat as he lashed out with all he had.

His divine metal hammer, blistered and bloodied, slammed against the hard-packed ash of the Archangel’s head.

His blow tore the head from the beast wholesale, the ash no match for divinely-wrought metal. The Archangel’s body stumbled, as though surprised at the sudden lack of its head, before collapsing over completely; drifts of ash poured from the body of the beast as it began to collapse, the fatal damage beginning a complete breakdown of its form.

In moments, the Archangel was no more than a pile of cold ash upon the floor.

“No... NO!”

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/BB2Ktqg.png)

The Dwarven goddess’ howl of rage echoed within his skull for a moment before being silenced, accompanied by the pulse of His savage delight. The two Angels, formerly standing as still as statues, suddenly leapt for him, weapons drawn and infernal hatred flaring in their eyes; they found only the brutal swings of his hammer, and then oblivion as he shattered their skulls. Their bodies hit the floor in sprays of whitish ichor, accompanied by fragments of bone and pulverised meat. 

Lonelythrall didn't waste time, crawling into the final chamber as He commanded him to – there, atop a pyramid, lay the item He had chosen him to retrieve. A slab forged of heavy brass, intricately engraved with a message.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/FT2GmZG.png)

He raised his trembling hands to the slab, and gripped it at the edges. A mighty heave raised it onto his shoulders; another sent it into the pack upon his back. It was incredibly weighty, slowing him to a crawl, slower than he had ever been before, but Lonelythrall felt no discomfort or pain – he felt only His command, to bring it to a Castle of relics and history.

And, of course, there was the matter of his offering.

Without a moment’s hesitation, he moved to the nearest of the Angel corpses. Drawing an iron axe from the depths of his pack, he raised it above the lizard’s head and began to pray.

“In your name, God of Blood, I offer this unworthy creature’s skull to you, that it may serve you better in death than it did in life…”

OOC: The ‘axeman’ right near the start damaged my nervous tissue (I think - my lower spine shows function loss, and hasn't healed after fast travel), which meant I was quite literally crawling through the rest of the Vault. The Archangel, wierdly, wasn’t in the slab chamber at the time I fought it: it was in a side passage, with a pair of Warriors. Still, it was kind of anti-climactic – I’d hoped for more of a fight.

My official submission to the Museum is the Slab of Ur Urkul Tihsa, though the dozen-ish Angel Warrior skulls are a bit of an add-on that I couldn’t resist. Would've taken the Assistant skulls too, if they left any behind.

So... what now?

Do I carry on with this guy and try to go Werebeast in order to heal his spine? Retire him and build a fortress with divine metal ready to be claimed? Go to Deepvaulted and figure out what the heck went wrong? Hunt Megabeasts until one gets a lucky blow in? Any ideas?

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Superdorf on July 25, 2020, 09:29:42 am

Go dice-hunting! Any die with twelve sides or more has a decent chance of transforming you temporarily into a beast when rolled, healing injuries in a similar manner to the were-curse. Fitting, no, for your dwarfish penitent to seek a miracle from the powers-that-be?

Quote from: Quantum Drop on July 25, 2020, 02:28:28 am

I aim to please. And to break upper spines, of course.

Sigged :))

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: TheFlame52 on July 25, 2020, 09:32:55 am

That actually wasn't the secret that I thought you knew. I guess that means my secret stays with me.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Quantum Drop on July 25, 2020, 09:59:20 am

Quote from: Superdorf on July 25, 2020, 09:29:42 am

Go dice-hunting! Any die with twelve sides or more has a decent chance of transforming you temporarily into a beast when rolled, healing injuries in a similar manner to the were-curse. Fitting, no, for your dwarfish penitent to seek a miracle from the powers-that-be?

Quote from: Quantum Drop on July 25, 2020, 02:28:28 am

I aim to please. And to break upper spines, of course.

Sigged :))

He's actually a Hand of Planegifts (Human turned Necromancer Experiment). Still, I quite like that idea - think most fortresses have a shrine or three with dice, near the main ramp-stairwell-thing. Get them, get out the fort to wherever, then roll till transformation occurs. (Also, since I've not really done dice-rolling before: how/when do you know you've been werecursed/whatever?)

My thanks for the sig.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: tonnot98 on July 25, 2020, 05:13:13 pm

If you roll too many times in a week, you'll be cursed with something, not necessarily lycanthropy. Anyway, there's always necromancers to hunt! Though the biggest army abandoned most of its holdings a few years ago, plenty of others hide in camps and towers plotting their own schemes.

You could also spend some time in the Ugly Forests of the northernmost island...

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Yarlig on July 25, 2020, 05:16:13 pm

If Ur Urkul Tihsa is still around' you could always try to recruit him and bring him to the museum; he'd make one HFS of a submission.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: tonnot98 on July 25, 2020, 05:35:29 pm

Actually, has anyone seen any children on their adventures? I've seen absolutely none, but I still noticed goblin and human pops rise after my playtime.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Quantum Drop on July 26, 2020, 11:44:43 am

14th Felsite, 718.

Though my lower spine is damaged, the journey took nowhere near as long as it should have. The Mighty One, in His infinite benevolence, lent me His speed that I may travel to the Castle of Relics – or, as the inhabitants of this place call it, ‘Boltspumpkin’.

The inhabitants appear to consist mostly of Goblins, with at least one of them a Monk. He was the one to greet me; the man seemed polite enough, if a little reclusive, and was the one to explain the purpose of this place: to gather relics and artefacts from across the world.

It seems many have come here before me, bringing their own treasures as they go: I see, among other things, a bag of books and star charts, a common pig tail cap, and a simple anvil.

Much of it seems valueless at a glance, but the placards beneath each pedestal explain their names and stories: the pig tail cap was a commoner’s crown worn by a monarch who knew to remain humble, for mortal glory pales before Him; the star charts and books, the result of a long journey in the name of knowledge and exploration; the anvil, the final legacy of this place’s founder and a symbol of a dying people's resilience.

Yet one among them stands out – the skull of the slain Necromancer.

For a moment, I feared it was that of my… creator. I feared I would be denied the pleasure of tearing his black heart out with my own two hands, yet that fear alleviated as I read the placard: the skull belonged not to Ad Beltbutters, but to a creature whose horrible deeds eclipsed his a thousand times over. Privately, I thanked whoever had struck down this butcher – every dead Necromancer in the world takes the Dwarven race one step closer to expunging their shame, and ensures no others shall suffer their depredations.

With His approval, I added my own Relics to the collection, choosing a Cryolite pedestal, third to the right of the entrance. Upon it is the slab from the Slade structure, the artefact that binds Ur Urkul Tihsa to this world, atop a bed of the skulls claimed from around sixteen Warrior-Angels. The Curator stated they will take care of the labelling and cataloguing of the items.

For now, I shall travel further afield, perhaps to the shrines or monasteries where His power is at its greatest. With luck, He or one of His creations shall answer my prayers and gift me with a mended spine, that I may further serve the Mighty One and His pantheon. If not, then I shall not question them – for if they do not answer me, perhaps this wounding is part of their divine plan.

Circa 25th Felsite - 1st Hematite, 718

I found multiple shrines to the gods in a fortress, Bodiceblunted, and performed the necessary prayers and offerings at each one in turn. The first drew no response; the second, one of anger – by the third, I expected either of the two to repeat themselves. Yet He showed fortune to my unworthy form once again: all went black as I felt His power seep into my unworthy form, and by the time I awoke, sensation (however dulled) had returned to my legs.
 
His will continued to guide me: first to the south of this abandoned fortress, to the perch of a Roc. It  offended Him in some way, and for that, He had commanded its death – the first of my thankful offerings for His most recent act of aid.

It never stood a chance against me.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/eHC45dD.png)

It was the work of moments to crawl through the brush and slam my hammer against its lower leg. The creature staggered for the barest of moments before lunging for me with its beak, only for it to foul against the bulk of the shield He saw fit to grant me.

The battle continued for some time after that – I kept my strikes measured, refusing to let the beast loose as I struck again and again at its leg, and then at its chest, blocking and dodging whenever hooked beak or curving talon came too close.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/JrFRIPn.png)

(https://i.imgur.com/QAfVxSA.png)

As with the one I slew weeks ago, its end came with a blow to the head: a strike from the hammer knocked it deep into unconsciousness, and I ensured it would never wake again.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/Xkg9Egx.png)

Nonetheless, Rocs are a resilient breed. It took several continuous minutes of slashing and hacking away at its thick neck, chopping away with that crude iron axe until His hand guided the blade to its throat. The beast died by inches, bleeding to death over the course of nearly ten minutes and staining the grey soil red with the blood from its severed arteries.

No sooner had I finished this butchery, however, did I feel Him command me once more – to go south, into the Tundra of Heroes, and strike down a coven of Necromancers dwelling within those bleak wastes. They had defied His divine edicts, mocked His will, and for that, they had been marked for death.

My blood boils at the mere knowledge that such vile creatures live. They may not count among their number my creator, but no doubt that they have inflicted the same degradation and horrors on many innocent lives. Even if they have not, their defiance of Him is reason enough to kill every member of this abhorrent coven.

I can see their tower from here, a black blight upon the lands around. The broken corpses of numerous Kobolds lie about the grounds of this pit, no doubt to act as emergency guards and sword-fodder for their masters; a few already walk the entrance to the main building, with the shuddering, stiff-limbed gait of the walking dead.

But there remains one final question: what to do with the slab, from which their dark knowledge springs?

My instincts tell me to destroy it, and rid the world of its blight: letting it survive will spawn more of these twisted madmen, and both His proclamations and my nature prevent me from using their secrets against my foes. They slip out of my mind as soon as I read them, gone as swiftly as water before a Dragon’s fire. Yet part of me thinks that if I could find it, give it to one of the truly righteous or to a true believer in Him, it could be put to good use. That it could be used to guard against the threat of others who would defy Him, and to fulfil His commands even more efficiently.

I must meditate upon this further.

1st Hematite, 718.

The Tower of Combined Insight was a solitary place. Few visited there without invitation – the harsh cold of the tundra and lack of edible plants was enough to drive many away, with the fell reputation of the region doing the rest. Few, after all, wanted to provoke the ire of the murderous spirits said to haunt the barren tundra.

“So why,” Upu Coñelaslem growled, “Am I freezing my arse off out in the cold as a lookout?”

The Kobold Corpse beside him, unsurprisingly, did not reply. It lacked a head or neck, after all, kept animated only by his magics. The pitiful creature had attempted to steal from their tower, sneaking in through the tundra and using the outer buildings as cover. It was half-dead by the time it got there, frost-bitten to the bone and easy prey for their main guards.

A pity they’d taken the head off directly. He’d hoped it would be suitable for his experiments, but, well, he couldn’t have everything.

Grumbling, he shook his head and returned his gaze to the tundra. 

There was a tiny rustle in the snow behind him. Most normal people wouldn’t have reacted to such a small thing, he knew better. If it was capable of evading their Undead guards, intelligent or otherwise…
Upu began to turn around, raising his hand as he went, already calling upon the power of his deathly god.

He wasn’t nearly fast enough.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/g5DeuuX.png)

A black-scaled demon leapt from concealment beneath the snow, vestigial wings of stretched skin flaring wide and a furious hiss issuing from beneath its scarred throat. In one hand it carried a thin pike of blistered metal, a bulky slab of the same in the other; a massive, jagged hammer upon its bronze-mailed back completed the ensemble.

Upu didn’t have time to scream before the pike tore through the back of his skull, driving deep into the brain within. His body hit the ground with a muffled thump, life rapidly fleeing his body. The Necromancer had just enough life left in him to see the monster draw a crude battle axe, advancing towards his broken body with murder in its eyes.

Evening, 1st Hematite 718

He willed the death of this blasphemous Necromancer coven, and His will has been carried out. Their crude knives and cloth robes were no match for the strength of the righteous, nor the weapons He gave me – though their resilience proved a great frustration. Even so, He does not make us strong by giving us easy tasks.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/HoRvbky.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/cWcukVb.png)

A frontal assault would have been suicide: with the many Kobold corpses laying around, the Necromancers could simply overrun me with a tide of rotting flesh until one got a lucky blow in. Taking them down one by one was the only option, bloody as it was. Though they fell as mortal men do, their unholy pacts allowed them to revive each other’s broken bodies from even the most grievous wounds.

Cutting off the hands of each Necromancer while they still lived was no solution – their infernal powers allowed them to animate even their severed hands, though they thankfully lacked their progenitor’s resilience. After killing several and mutilating others, I began to grow frustrated. He would not have sent me on an impossible task, that much I was and remain certain of. In my rage, the beast came forth once again; in madness, I drew a battle axe and hacked at one of the corpses of the fallen Necromancers.

By the time I had regained control, the corpse was in pieces no larger than a man’s thumb. Despite my horror at such a loss of control, my revulsion at the control the monster still had over me, I had found my solution. From that moment on, I ensured every Necromancer I fought was either hacked into a dozen pieces, or otherwise mangled and pulped so badly that nothing short of their vile deity itself could raise them again.

It was dark outside by the time I had finished my bloody work, but the main Tower was cleansed at last. Every Kobold corpse, every Necromancer’s stilled body, every one of the body parts severed during the fighting had been hacked apart or pulped into uselessness. The slab itself is within my backpack, and yet I find I have come no further on resolving my dilemma from earlier.

I can feel the temptation of the accursed slab even now, the aching desire to read it and learn the secrets of life and death. The desire to discover more about the means of my creation, perhaps even to find some way of reversing it or preventing more of my kind coming into being. And while my faith in Him protects me from its temptations, I must ask myself: should I choose to place it in the Castle of Relics?  Can I trust it to be safe there?

As before, I will meditate on this. Maybe the sting of branch or blade shall focus my mind, or perhaps He shall guide me once more.

Mountains, 10th Hematite 718.

His call draws me to the very edge of the world, where mountains jut into the sky and form a nigh-impenetrable wall. The going has been slow, so far; I could not swim, forcing me to cross first to the far west of the world, and then through rugged mountain after rugged mountain.

Though the journey has been long, the end seems to comes close – His whispers grow louder as I approach a particularly foreboding peak, upon which my map informs me a Dwarven Fortress was founded.

I have heard rumours of this place: Deepvaulted the Tower of Stars, a pretentiously-named, isolated Dwarven colony. Rumours abound as to why they remain so isolationist: some claim them to be an enclave of loyalists to the bloody-handed Necromancer that almost butchered the world, others claim some terrible disaster – perhaps the result of their overt arrogance – befell the colony, such that they can spare no citizen to act as liaison to the outside world.

Whatever the cause, it does not matter. He calls me here, and I must answer – whatever His purpose for me here is, I must fulfil it.

Spoiler: This entry is near-illegible. (click to show/hide)

Deepvaulted, 20th Hematite 718.
I had heard rumours of the horrors that took place here, when the visitors come to our monastery, but nothing could have prepared me for the reality.

There were few bodies – many of them horribly damaged. Perhaps I should have taken that as a sign of what was to come. Much of the fortress was undamaged or deserted, beyond the occasional body or stray animal. Almost all the buildings and bedrooms looked to have been made in haste, with oft-rushed construction and none of the usual craftsmanship that one could expect.

The only feature that looked not to have been rushed was an immense staircase, wide enough for a dozen beasts of burden abreast, delving deep into the bowels of the earth. It seemed much of the fortress was built around this single staircase and its companions, all of them leading to some unknown destination deep within.

I should have turned back then.

Going down the stairs simply lead to another area – with another set of stairs at the very edge. This one, though was different: it looked to have been poorly covered by whatever its maker could get their hands on, forming a crude floor over the staircase. It was the work of moments to clear it, and carry on even further.

What lay down there was enough to compel me to flee in terror.

Adamantine. The mythical metal said to have been created in a time before time. A metal light enough to be nigh-weightless, sharp enough to cut through even the metal of the gods, near-invulnerable to even the most grievous of damage.

The metal accursed. A metal that had been the doom of all who would dare wield it, for the will of the gods is a dangerous thing to challenge. A metal that was said to contain the most monstrous evils the world had ever seen, locking them away from the mortal world that they may never threaten us.

A metal that, by its mining, has brought doom down upon Deepvaulted the Tower of Stars.

As I fled, I could see something at the bottom of the shaft – an infernal crimson glow, arising from some unknown hell deep in the world’s heart. It spoke of a powerful evil, one that I cannot yet face; my soul itself sickened to behold it, and my hand shakes so violently at the mere memory that I can barely write, much less hold my weapon steady. Even the sting of the rod fails to calm my mind, for it all too often drifts back to the memory of that crimson light, and the sensation of antediluvian evil that came with it.

No, this is an evil that shall require His blessings upon a group, and far greater power than I may wield.

Perhaps I will face this, one day. Perhaps He has another champion in mind for this dark duty. Perhaps I should content myself with hunting the beasts and creatures He has marked for death.

Perhaps Deepvaulted should simply be forgotten, wiped from the maps and left to rot in penance for its citizens’ sins.

For now, I shall retreat down to the mountain’s base and set up camp there. I can only hope He shall guide me, and that whatever monsters lurk in that dark hell-pit do not follow me.

The Mighty One protects.

OOC: Yeah, I didn't expect Imic to have breached the HFS. And let's be frank, one adventurer without Adamantine, Necromancer tricks, or the like against demons is going to end only one way. So, a question to the more experienced members of the thread: is it possible to have a companion read a slab/book/etc. with Necromancer secrets on it? Or should I go northwards and try to find a way to cross the sea to that one island?

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Superdorf on July 26, 2020, 12:41:40 pm

Butchery to prevent reanimation-- delightful! I'll remember that trick.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Quantum Drop on July 26, 2020, 01:10:56 pm

Quote from: Superdorf on July 26, 2020, 12:41:40 pm

Butchery to prevent reanimation-- delightful! I'll remember that trick.

Can't reanimate a corpse if they're in more pieces than that Roc's head, after all. :P

TBH, the only real danger there was one of the Necromancers: he had some really nasty interaction that caused his target's entire spine to rot to (at minimum) yellow damage, which he thankfully demonstrated on some poor animal. None of the others showed that trick, and the dozen-odd heads, necks, and other assorted body bits were more annoyance than anything else.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: tonnot98 on July 26, 2020, 05:11:53 pm

I don't think you could force companions to read anything, especially if they can't read. But you can train yourself to swim if you can't in the first place by jumping in and out of a river constantly, which is what I did until I was novice. Just make sure you're not cursed with bad luck when you try...

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Bralbaard on July 27, 2020, 07:08:09 am

Quote from: Superdorf on July 26, 2020, 12:41:40 pm

Butchery to prevent reanimation-- delightful! I'll remember that trick.

Be careful. Butchering can be a good way to multiply your problems. 
I think skin, hair and skulls still reanimate after butchering, or at least I remember having issues with those in fortress mode. It can go very quickly from "delightful!" to "why are my cats being murdered by undead yak hair? "

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Quantum Drop on July 27, 2020, 07:27:04 am

Quote from: Bralbaard on July 27, 2020, 07:08:09 am

Be careful. Butchering can be a good way to multiply your problems. 
I think skin, hair and skulls still reanimate after butchering, or at least I remember having issues with those in fortress mode. It can go very quickly from "delightful!" to "why are my cats being murdered by undead yak hair? "

IIRC, skin and hair can reanimate in fortress mode - not sure about skulls, though. I've only seen skin reanimate in adventurer mode.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Quantum Drop on July 27, 2020, 09:52:34 am

Circa 26th Hematite

In an effort of preparation to face that pit of evil that lies in Deepvaulted, I communed with the Mighty One again several days ago. Perhaps it was due to the blood I shed, perhaps a result of my most recent penance before Him, but He showed no disappointment in me for fleeing, but rather gave me purpose anew – a list of names and locations, of beasts born before the world itself was forged upon His anvil. He commanded me to go forth to these benighted places, and to strike down the beasts that dwell there that I may hone my skills further.

Their images flare in my mind even now, as I cross the plains and grassy hills: a vast vulture carved from precious gem; a massive humanoid forged of burnished bronze, its fists dripping with fresh, crimson blood; a pair of bestial creatures, dwelling deep within burrows. Others, too – their forms are ever-shifting and impossible to pin down, changing in my mind’s eye from one second to the next. He shall lead me to hunt them in time.

That, I must trust in, for I see the form of that first great beast upon the horizon.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/S7cnLGo.png?1)

---

Titans, it is said, were among the very first creatures to be forged upon His anvil of creation. Mighty and of countless different forms, from warped mockeries of His form to birds and even shapeless blobs, they are known for their power, their resilience, and their bloodthirsty rampages across the course of history. Many lived in fear of their lust for murder, paying tribute to the great beasts in hope that their settlements would be spared their depredations.

Before him was the form of one such Titan – an enormous vulture formed entirely from roughly-textured rose quartz, a long, scorpion-like stinger tail arising from its rear. Its great beak was open in a defiant caw of anger, its great, smooth wings spread wide as though about to dive. Countless little coins and scraps of metal from previous adventurers lay about on the floor, the trophies of the monster’s past triumphs.

It would have been a fierce sight, were it not quite unmistakably dead.

This, Lonelythrall silently remarked to himself, was just embarrassing.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/J4tlsCf.png)

(https://i.imgur.com/ayK3yn4.png)

The Titan had barely put up a fight against him, even with his normal hammer sheathed. Its knee had buckled at a single stab from his pike, a strike which barely chipped the gemstone of the leg. Its wings of smoothed gems were as paper against his second strike – a single chip in the right wing mid-flight had sent it spiralling out of control, to crash in an undignified heap upon the sandy ground.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/Z2wyNKd.png)

With its mobility lost, it had tried to sting him, push him, grab him with its remaining foot – every blow was telegraphed, every one avoided or blocked with contemptuous ease. He had almost been bored by the time he struck the beast down, driving his pike into its chest and letting its massive frame collapse in a cloud of dust and shattered quartz. The last pack of half-starved Giant Dingoes had put up more of a fight than this!

Shaking his head, Lonelythrall turned away from the Titan’s fallen form and began to trek into the plains once again.

Privately, he hoped whatever beast He directed him to next would be a greater challenge – a thought He seemed to share, going by the faint pulse of disappointment at the back of his mind.

(Illegible date), Hematite 718

Killed two more Night Trolls that made the mistake of ambushing His champion. One was missing its right arm from the elbow down. Easy prey, even with its resilience.

The other was more dangerous. It forced me into a corner – kept me incapable of wielding such a large weapon properly. Managed to punch me in the stomach, knocking the wind right out of my lungs.
That was enough for me. I forced it back with a swipe from the pike, then drew Angelbane; damned thing didn’t last long after that, not with its upper spine in several pieces. For all that it raged and roared as I broke its arm and skull apart with my hammer, the damage has not lasted.

But that it was able to land a strike on me at all is… troubling.

Perhaps it was merely chance. More likely was my own foolishness, fighting like a pleasure-hunter rather than as a man dedicated to His edicts.

Penance for that must wait, however. I draw closer to the lair of another beast He has commanded me to hunt – a Bronze Colossus, killer of several dozen adventurers, and a weapon of war crafted by some deranged sorcerer in ages past.

I will write more should I survive this battle. My hammer will be all but useless against it, and thus I must rely on the unfamiliar blade of my pike.

The Mighty One protects.

---

Lonelythrall crawled through the mud and sand around the Colossus’ shrine, shield in one hand and pike in the other. Unlike the Roc, though, he had no fear of this beast.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/Omtzgj9.png)

The massive brute waited near the centre, still as the stone of a mountain and completely unaware of his presence. It was all muscle and no intellect – even with his scales blending into the night, the Colossus should have been able to see him coming from a mile off.

As he drew back to land the first blow, however, he stopped. There was something coming down from above, something massive –

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/0KaxiwW.png)

Lonelythrall leapt out of the way of an immense, descending fist of bronze, letting it speed past him to slam hard into the ground. He charged forwards as soon as it hit the ground, driving his pike deep into the bronze tower of its leg – the divine metal cut through the bronze like it was made of paper, penetrating deep into the metal of the leg. The Colossus gave a great groaning sound, the damaged leg beginning to buckle as its weight was placed upon it.

Once more he ran, skidding out of the way as the statue collapsed to the floor. It was still fighting, though, a massive fist speeding past him as the Colossus attempted to squash the bug biting its ankle. Though its face was no more than an expressionless mask, Lonelythrall was certain he could see it frown as its blow reduced the tree behind him to splinters.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/L5o9AKK.png)

The massive statue, for all its size and durability, was clumsy; its flailing blows were painfully telegraphed and easily avoided, Lonelythrall weaving in between its punches and sweeping legs to strike at its head or its massive lower body. Small chips of bronze broke away with every strike, the pike’s blade not designed to cut through such thick limbs.

A massive fist hammered into the ground a good foot away from him, the fallen statue once more failing to swat the irritating bug that kept striking it. This time, however, Lonelythrall didn’t dart in towards its head. He could see its other fist waiting in reserve, cocked back and ready to strike the moment he moved in.

Instead, he leapt onto the statue’s broad hand itself, running with all his might up the Colossus’ arm. It slapped at itself with its remaining hand, but its blows met only its own bronze, or thin air. Lonelythrall heaved himself up onto the giant’s massive back, cursing under his breath as the bronze beast began to buck and shudder violently, trying to hurl the ant off of its form. Tiny pits provided handholds when he fell, crawling his way up the Colossus’ spine to the massive dome of its head.

Atop the Colossus’ head, he raised his pike high, snarling beneath his helmet as the beast made another spirited attempt to dislodge him.

“For Armok!” He spat, hefting the pike and driving it deep into the metal. The Colossus’ entire form shuddered violently at the blow, so violently that he was forced to cling to the embedded pike to prevent himself being thrown off. His weight only drove it deeper into the head, drawing fresh tremors from the vast golem as its animating magic began to leave it.

Lonelythrall retrieved his pike, sliding down the doomed Colossus’ smooth back as its form began to glow. The metal seemed to be heating up, glowing a dulled red and shifting, collapsing in on itself and slowly reforming into something else entirely. By the time he stood again, leaning slightly on his pike for support, there was nothing left of the Colossus beyond a statue, still glowing a dull orange-red with the heat of its supernatural forging.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/1A2JazD.png)

He didn’t bother trying to pick it up. Instead, he turned from the purified shrine towards the mountains in the east, eyes narrowing to slits as dawn began to break. The gnawing desire he had come to recognise as His will was returning, and it came from within those mountains.

Without a backwards glance or a moment of rest, he set off once again.

OOC: Yeah, divine metal plus legendary ambusher tends to make fights a bit of a cakewalk, even with a comparatively low pike skill. Embellishing the fights was the only way to make it interesting, as the combat logs were pretty short and consisted mostly of the two Megabeasts missing my adventurer, then dying to a few hits to the head or chest.

Since I seem to be having trouble getting swimmer skill (doesn't show up, even as dabbling, after several attempts to swim in the river) and narrowly escaped getting encased in ice, I'll be taking a peek at Mossdeep. I wonder what we’ll find?

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: TheFlame52 on July 27, 2020, 03:31:58 pm

Jeez man, leave some megabeasts for the rest of us!

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Unraveller on July 27, 2020, 04:57:12 pm

Are we in the Age of Legends? If not, we might be soon. Haha.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: tonnot98 on July 27, 2020, 05:06:26 pm

Quote from: Unraveller on July 27, 2020, 04:57:12 pm

Are we in the Age of Legends? If not, we might be soon. Haha.

3rd age of legends actually. Probably switched back and forth a lot because of all the night trolls running around.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Quantum Drop on July 27, 2020, 05:18:01 pm

Quote from: TheFlame52 on July 27, 2020, 03:31:58 pm

Jeez man, leave some megabeasts for the rest of us!

This is mostly just to have something to write about (side note: I took out another Titan, this time in one hit. That's going to be fun to make interesting.).

Once I've got my combat skills high enough (and maybe gotten around that axe glitch with DFHack, if that's not too cheat-y for the thread's liking), the Clowns will likely be getting a fruit pie to the face from a particularly homicidal peanut gallery heckler.

That said: any more experienced Clown-hunters know if it's possible to climb down a Candy Cane, or am I going to have to DFHack Teleport it to prevent me breaking my legs and getting pied by the Clowns and their Ringmasters?

Quote from: Unraveller on July 27, 2020, 04:57:12 pm

Are we in the Age of Legends? If not, we might be soon. Haha.

Haven't seen any announcement of an Age change yet, but I still have 4-ish days to go :P.

Quote from: tonnot98 on July 27, 2020, 05:06:26 pm

3rd age of legends actually. Probably switched back and forth a lot because of all the night trolls running around.

I've been asking multiple sites about 'beasts', and ~1 in 5-6 replies were Titans or Colossi. Rest were either those creepy Necrophiliacs, or Night Trolls. Damn things must breed like rats.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Unraveller on July 27, 2020, 05:27:37 pm

I have faith in His Plan. But can darkness ever truly be expunged. . ?

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Imic on July 27, 2020, 05:49:53 pm

Perhaps some, deep in the shadows, work against Him even as we speak. Perhaps some dark plan is being put forth, worked on in secret. Perhaps someone, or something, has come to corrupt this World that has attracted His gaze amongst the many untold thousands spoken of in Stargaze the Knowledge of Worlds. Perhaps, in some hidden cave, somewhere in the world, the blueprints for a great work of evil are being crafted.

Or perhaps this is all just bollocks.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: tonnot98 on July 27, 2020, 09:12:28 pm

Quote from: Quantum Drop on July 27, 2020, 05:18:01 pm

That said: any more experienced Clown-hunters know if it's possible to climb down a Candy Cane, or am I going to have to DFHack Teleport it to prevent me breaking my legs and getting pied by the Clowns and their Ringmasters?

Don't know, I've managed to get down there exactly once by jumping down a hole. I landed on the Slade and broke my legs, but the clowns were patient enough to let me rest a bit and stand back up before they ripped my head off.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Quantum Drop on July 28, 2020, 04:41:24 am

Okay, had a look in the Museum, dropped off a couple Titan and Roc skulls (as an aside, Roc skulls are way heaver than Titan skulls). The Clown slab seems to be missing, though - at any rate, I can't find it on the pedestal that I put it on.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Bralbaard on July 28, 2020, 05:50:58 am

Spoiler, because of actual spoilers:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

It's probably back at the vault then.  It's the artifact bug we discussed earlier. You could submit the angel skulls or a blistered metal weapon instead?

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Quantum Drop on July 28, 2020, 07:10:35 am

Quote from: Bralbaard on July 28, 2020, 05:50:58 am

Spoiler, because of actual spoilers:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

It's probably back at the vault then.  It's the artifact bug we discussed earlier. You could submit the angel skulls or a blistered metal weapon instead?

Spoiler: Hide and seek with the spoiler (click to show/hide)

I'll have a look there, once I'm done killing my way through a dark fortress. The Angels probably won't have respawned, so it should be easy enough to get to search the place and see if it's there. Failing that, I'll post a summary of the various skulls on the pedestal at the end of my turn.

EDIT: Had a look over there, searched the place a couple times and killed a few remaining creatures. I don't see the slab anywhere in there, even after using DFHack's reveal to check the whole site. Will see where it's gone with LegendsViewer at some point.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Imic on July 28, 2020, 10:04:43 am

Quote from: Quantum Drop on July 28, 2020, 07:10:35 am

Quote from: Bralbaard on July 28, 2020, 05:50:58 am

Spoiler, because of actual spoilers:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

It's probably back at the vault then.  It's the artifact bug we discussed earlier. You could submit the angel skulls or a blistered metal weapon instead?

Spoiler: Hide and seek with the spoiler (click to show/hide)

I'll have a look there, once I'm done killing my way through a dark fortress. The Angels probably won't have respawned, so it should be easy enough to get to search the place and see if it's there. Failing that, I'll post a summary of the various skulls on the pedestal at the end of my turn.

EDIT: Had a look over there, searched the place a couple times and killed a few remaining creatures. I don't see the slab anywhere in there, even after using DFHack's reveal to check the whole site. Will see where it's gone with LegendsViewer at some point.

Spoiler: Potential RP Cover (click to show/hide)

Perhaps He, now satisfied, has claimed the prize His loyal Warrior acquired.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Quantum Drop on July 28, 2020, 04:33:30 pm

Unknown Date, Malachite 718, Mosshill The Mines of Iron.

Reached the destination He has set for me today. Another Fortress of the Dwarven Kingdoms, by the name of Mosshill the Mines of Iron.

Getting past their defences was almost pathetically easy. No walls, no moat, not even a single guard in sight  – just a long line of stone-fall traps down the length of the entrance tunnel, painfully obvious even at a glance. Once past these defences, I was able to assess the fortress proper.

Spoiler: There is a crude sketch in charcoal upon the page... (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/r7b8Fus.png)

It seems to have been quite recently founded – the layout of their workshops is haphazard in the extreme, with almost all their industrial buildings crammed into one side of the entrance hall and numerous bins and barrels strewn across the floor. Across from the forges and various workshops lie a hall of various statues, and a stockpile of weapons and armour – appropriately enough, almost all are forged from iron, and all display the craftsmanship for which the Dwarves are so renowned.

The bedrooms – or rather, the sole dormitory – were similarly cramped, with several beds shoved up against one another in a small room off the main hall. The farms, however, were far more generous with their space, as my roughly scrawled designs may indicate. The poultry was allowed to roam freely, despite a nesting room of some sort being constructed; I was repeatedly forced to step around the feathered vermin, and all too often had to resist the urge to put the next one to nearly trip me up on a pike.

Spoiler: Conversations (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/oLRhLTS.png)

(https://i.imgur.com/2OnTgBZ.png)

(https://i.imgur.com/5ucxnva.png)

A Manager seemed to be the sole occupant of the fortress proper, sitting in an office and reading over the books of this place. We spoke, albeit briefly, of the surroundings and any troubles this burgeoning fortress was experiencing; he could offer little of help, knowing the names of various creatures of the night and several criminal groups, but being unable to direct me in direction of their strongholds. About the most useful thing he could tell me was the fortress government’s name – The God-Forsaken Fellowship.

Surprised as I was at the implication of Him abandoning them, they seemed woefully disconnected from the outside world – the Manager spoke of an army marching on another fortress as though it happened now, yet I know for a fact that that assault happened nearly three years ago. Accompanied by the uneasy stares towards my… abnormalities, and the still-bloodied weapons that I carried, it soon became clear that I would get no useful information out of him.

The rest of the fortress’ inhabitants were singularly unhelpful: they stood out in the rain, eyeing me uneasily and whispering to one another as I attempted to speak to them. Most of them simply repeated what I already knew, though I am quite certain I saw one of them speaking to a sheep about some matter as I made my way back into the fortress. Considering that they wore the clothes of a Gelder, I am… uncertain as to what exactly that may say about the mind of the Dwarf in question.

Even so, they have informed me of some beasts I may now hunt: The Ettin Epeve Pagesmiles the Awe-Inspiring, lurking in the cheerily-named ‘Desert of Mortality’. A bestial Minotaur in the Pale Deserts, whose name I find insignificant. They also claim there to be ‘foul goings-on’ at a fortress by the name of Faintscuffled; the Dwarf would not go into any further details than that, but he looked rather disturbed as he spoke of that place. Perhaps another coven of those accursed Necromancers, begging for His judgement? Or something more sinister?

Before I conclude this entry and begin my prayers to Him for whatever assistance He may provide, there is one final thing I must remark upon. While the upper levels of their mines seemed relatively standard for Dwarven Fortresses, there was a single staircase that easily outstripped the depth of the mine's works.

While I felt none of the evil that had lurked in the black heart of Deepvaulted, nor was the shaft as deep, I remain troubled. If these Dwarves do not know of the danger that the accursed metal brings, and continue their digging, it is possible that they may unleash calamity upon the world in time. Again.

Let us hope they will know sense.

The Mighty One protects.

Addendum: Killed a Sand Titan before He led me to Mossdeep. I feel uncertain whether to laugh or weep at the fact that it fell to a single pike-blow.

---

Lonelythrall stared into the campfire intently, his mouth moving in a silent litany to His glory. On the rare occasions he could not honour the Mighty One through battle or bloodshed (be it his or others), he would opt for this means of worship instead, hunching before the fire and speaking the prayers he had learned off by heart.

His presence answered his prayers. In the back of his mind, the Mighty One’s presence suddenly grew strong, almost suffocating in its mental intensity. It was like the first time in the cell; His eyes were upon him, scrutinising him down to the very bone and weighing the sincerity and devotion of his prayers. Long moment after long moment passed, the pressure growing more intense until Lonelythrall almost buckled under the force of His divine presence.

Then, without warning, it abated. There was a soft pulse of His will, an order to look closer into the fire. Loneythrall obeyed without question.

Within the flames, he could see something shifting, taking form. White-hot metal, twisting and shifting within the dancing fire as His will shaped it. Blisters arose upon its glass-smooth surface as He called upon the power He had lent another of the gods, empowering the metal with the divine energy that gave it such magnificent power. The air was thick with the scent of molten metal and the pressure of divine power, His voice whispering once more in the back of Lonelythrall’s mind.

He knew what to do. Without an instant’s hesitation, Lonelythrall plunged his hand into the fire. He had removed his gauntlets before he began his prayer, and now, he trusted only in Him to keep his hand from being burned. His fingers closed around the hot metal, and while he knew it should have been agonising even to one as dulled in the senses as him, Lonelythrall felt only mild heat. The axe still glowed a dulled red as he drew it from the fire, silently thanking Him for His latest gift.

His power pulsed in a wordless reply, mixed with a warning: while He was mighty indeed, there was only so much He could do. When Lonelythrall went to confront that antediluvian pit of evil in Deepvaulted, He could offer little to no help – whatever monsters waited in that infernal realm, His devotee would have to face their evil alone, with only the strength of his arm and his faith in Him to guard against death.

Even the slab he had retrieved would be no help, for some accursed wretch among the Divines had spirited it away from the Castle of Relics, using their godly magics to shroud it from His sight - the only way to retrieve it while maintaining the world would be to withdraw His blessings and power from Lonelythrall, leaving him exposed to the wrath of His more petty or vengeful creations among the Divines.
It was regrettable, but inevitable - both God and man alike knew that, and as He departed once again, Lonelythrall returned to his prayers, even more fervently than before.

He would not be found wanting when the time for His final judgement came, be it in the depths of Hel or the Halls of Valour.

Spoiler: OOC, some spoilers (click to show/hide)

Used DFHack to bring a blistered metal battle axe into the game, so that I could get around the glitch with Vault HFS where no Axeman-type Angels have, well, axes. I debated this decision for quite some time before choosing to do it on the grounds of 'I would have gotten it anyway if it wasn't bugged, this kinda-sorta-not really fixes it'. Nonetheless, I apologise if this comes off as cheating to you.

Also, my thanks to Imic for providing the RP explanation for the Slab's absence. Sorry about not going into much detail about Mosshill, but there wasn't really that much to write home about - at least, not much that came up in conversation or when looking around the fort. I did try, but most of the stuff they knew was either outdated or not related to the fort.

---

Snodub Ruthlessputrid was, quite frankly, happy that the day was over.

Labour in a Dark Fortress was, after all, back-breaking: the Master in the central tower never seemed satisfied no matter how hard they worked, forever raising their work quotas and demanding more of them. The whips of the overseers saw that the Master’s will was enforced until late at night, when they were finally allowed to scurry back to their burrows until the next morning.

It didn’t help that his Pit’s overseer was a petty tyrant, revelling in what little power he had – more than one worker, Snodub included, had felt his lash scorching across their backs whenever he deemed them to be working too slow. He was quite certain at least half the work crew were plotting to murder him. Quite frankly, if he felt that lash one more time, he’d join them.

“Bastard tells us to work harder, then beats us bloody,” He muttered under his breath, stalking towards the stone building that served as an unofficial tavern for the workers. “Going to-”

He stopped dead. There was a smell coming from the tavern, one he was intimately familiar with. It was the coppery scent of blood.

Snodub approached the stairs leading into the building with a much greater level of caution than before. Each step sounded far too loud to him as he reached the bottom of the stairs, edging around the corner. The ground felt wet under his boots as he began to move in, and a foul smell hung in the air.

Wait a moment, Snodub thought, eyes narrowing in confusion. There hasn’t been rainfall here in days. So why…?

The answer became clear as soon as he rounded the corner, but he immediately wished it hadn’t.

The building had become an abattoir. Corpses lay on the floor, easily stacked seven deep – most were Goblin, a few of them Human. Many were in pieces, bones and organs spread out in neat little piles of offal here and there, some lacking entire limbs or bearing repeated strikes from a blade to the chest or back. Blood flowed in streams from each body, deep enough that he could feel it soaking through his shoes and painting his feet red.

The Goblin scrambled back in terror, chest heaving as he began to hyperventilate. His foot tripped on something, sending himself sprawling face-first into the blood; it tasted coppery as it slipped through his lips. Then he saw what he’d tripped over, his already terrified breaths quickening even further as he laid eyes upon his work-partner’s freshly-severed head. Her eyes were still open in terror, though glazing over with death, and the ragged cut directly across her neck was still weeping fresh blood.

Snodub scrambled to his feet, almost falling again in his desperation to get up. He could see other familiar faces, now, as his eyes adapted to the darkness -  Stozub, hacked to pieces in the corner; Dostngop, face-down in a slick of drying gore; Azstrog-

Something pressed against his back. It was cold and slick, wet with fresh blood.

Snodub was vaguely aware of a warm trickling down his leg as a monster arose from the pools of red fluid: black-scaled and winged, armoured in blistered, night-dark metal and carrying a pair of heavy axes in its hands. The beast’s axes dripped, wet with fresh blood, as it arose from within the piles of corpses, a pair of malevolent eyes glaring from beneath a snarling iron helm. The thin wings of painfully-stretched skin at its back twitched at the sight of him, and the long slit of its mouth opened to reveal far too many fangs, fixed in a malevolent grin.

Strodno had just enough time to scream before the beast lunged forwards. There was the sound of iron cutting through meat, a wet thunk, and then silence.

The commands of the Mighty One burning fresh in his mind, Lonelythrall the Hideous laid down among the corpses once more, waiting for the next Goblin to enter.

OOC: Let’s be frank, a high-tier adventurer that’s out to train their axe skills on any Gobbo they come across in a Dark Fortress is a complete Mook Horror Show. Something like three-quarters of my kill list is now nothing but Goblins (I wasn't exaggerating the seven bodies deep thing), and they didn’t even have the decency to die slowly.

...Then again, maybe that was due to the fort having a metric tonne of civilians and little to no soldiers.

Also, add another four five dead night trolls to my tally overall. They breed like rats, and now they die like them too.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: tonnot98 on July 28, 2020, 09:01:10 pm

It might be worth tackling the hamlets, hillocks, and fortresses claimed by the goblins if you want to shift the balance of powers a bit more than normal slaughter.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Cathar on July 29, 2020, 05:08:15 pm

Guys, I'm super sorry but I'll have to drop out, I have no time, energy nor really want to get back into this thread, so feel free to remove my name from the list. Sorry about that and good game

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Quantum Drop on July 30, 2020, 05:36:44 pm

In the interests of keeping this game active and moving, the file is here: https://dffd.bay12games.com/file.php?id=15161. I'll have the final chapter of this turn posted in a day or two (depending on how fast I can write it), and there should be no new fortress to add to the map.

Spoiler:  Final Notes, contains major spoilers (click to show/hide)

• Rete Wile was found and resubmitted, only to vanish again while I went Clown-hunting. Seems the attached Clown is dead, though: I read the slab two or three times after I retrieved it, and nothing happened. Legends Viewer claims it’s stored in Boltspumpkin as of 1st Limestone 718, but I can’t find it there after temporary un-retirement and a quick look around. Does that still count as part of my submission, or do we quietly leave it out?
• There’s another Vault, north-west of the Sea of Blades. It’s located over in the Jungles of Merging, and the Slab should still be there, along with a load of death-aligned Angels. There may be a couple dead assistants and a warrior (got spotted, had to kill them to make my escape) but that’s the only thing I did there beyond discovering it. Would want to take away all the fun, after all.
• Going to Deepvaulted in the first place will murder your FPS. Hell only makes it worse. Be prepared for a slideshow, especially if using sneak mode at any point.
• EDIT: IIRC, I may or may not have left a couple booky surprises in Boltspumpkin, assuming they don't teleport away.

Spoiler: A list of the skulls submitted - spoilers present (click to show/hide)

• Ten Night Troll skulls, of various species.
• Two Roc skulls.
• One Titan skull (and one corpse).
• Twenty-One Demon skulls (Nine Gila Monster Brute, nine Kinglet Monster, three One-Eyed Brute. The others didn't leave skulls, as they were either steam or ash-based.)
• Sixteen Chaotic Messenger Skulls (Angel, Warrior caste).
• One Doom of Midor Head Ash (Archangel head, counting it as a skull).

Final skull count: Fifty-one skulls for His skull throne, fifty-two if you count the Titan corpse (listed as 'Mangled Salt', or something to that effect). 

Apologies for taking so long with this turn. If possible, please stick me back on the turn list.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Timeless Bob on July 31, 2020, 06:05:01 am

OK, I'll start tonight.

@Quantum Drop: Great turn!  Love all the new entries to the story!

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Imic on July 31, 2020, 06:20:32 am

I’ve loved your turn, and I spent the week looking forward to your next entries. Take all the time you need.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Glloyd on July 31, 2020, 02:15:12 pm

Great turn Quantum! It's nice to have a (very) successful adventurer for a change! Also, incase you haven't seen it, Bralbaard finished writing their turn, and I feel like this last drawing deserves some love. Very very cool.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Quote from: Bralbaard on July 01, 2020, 02:05:05 pm

Bralbaard trying to flee from the monster through the central staircase:
(https://i.imgur.com/FWAPYXw.jpg)

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Quantum Drop on August 03, 2020, 02:06:59 pm

WARNING: By its very nature, this chapter contains massive and unavoidable spoilers for the endgame of Dwarf Fortress. If you do not wish for your Fun to be spoiled, turn back now.
 
Unknown Date, Sandstone(?), 718.

Everything over the past months, everything He has willed me to do, has led to this.

I stand before that black pit of evil in Deepvaulted, His axe in my hand and my arms laden with shields and armour, and I know what He demands of me – to descend into that infernal realm, and strike against the monsters that dwell there.

Their numbers are infinite, ever-replenishing so long as evil burns in the hearts of mortal beings, but every one of those abominations that falls is one less to stand against Him when the Final Judgement befalls this world.

I feel the antediluvian evil lurking in that pit beneath, yet I feel none of the fear that struck me the first time; my soul does not quake at the knowledge of what lurks there, but burns with righteous fury. My faith in Him will shield me from their blasphemous power, and my contempt for the Demonic shall be His blade.

To ensure this record survives the coming ordeal, I am placing it within the former Trade Depot of Deepvaulted. Hopefully, whomever may find this record shall ensure the knowledge of His actions spreads, even should I fall in this final endeavour.

If you find this journal without me or without further entries, then my faith was too weak, and the beasts of Hell have claimed me.

Run from this place, and do not return – spread word of the evil that lurks here, that He may find other, more worthy champions to fight against these black-hearted fiends, but never return.

The Mighty One Protects.

---

Lonelythrall dug his fingers into the Adamantine spire, finding the tiny imperfections in the smooth metal and using them to gradually lower himself down. The air pulsed with the corrupt power of the monsters that awaited below, accompanied by the increasingly bright glow of infernal light. He cursed under his breath as his fingers almost slipped, forcing him to dig his other digits in deeper than ever.
 
Even one as resilient as he would not survive several storeys of falling onto cold Slade.

It was a long, painful journey, and he nearly fell once or twice, but his armoured boots finally struck the cold stone of the ground. A few painful shocks vibrated up his legs, but the metal of the high boots had taken the bulk of the impact, allowing him to rise up full and gain his first look of the infernal realm he now walked in.

His first impression was one of faint surprise, or even disappointment – there was none of the fire and brimstone lakes, or the miserable howls of condemned sinners that His traditional gospel preached of; none of the unending torture or ironic punishments that even the looser interpretations featured. Beyond the massive pits and plateaus, it reminded him more of some great underground cavern than the image of Hell that he had expected.

The second was of evil. Every stone, every spiderweb, even the very air itself seemed to radiate malice as though it were a physical force, the hatred of the Demons’ primogenitor infusing every inch of its realm. The realm was alive, though in no conventional manner, and it hated him as much as those who dwelled within it.

He refused to let it faze him, focusing on putting one foot in front of the other, beginning to walk forth into the hell before him. Time seemed to drag on, the realm itself conspiring to slow his intrusion, until even His constant presence seemed to fade to a whisper. He could feel his thoughts slowing against his will, his movements becoming sluggish and his legs dragging whenever he tried to move.

The sight of an enemy was what finally broke him from his stupor.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/F2QnVzn.png)

His blood immediately ran hot, his combat instincts kicking in once more to flood his body with furious power. The great brute did not notice him, the twisted abomination too busy snarling and slavering at one of its fellows. The spittle that ran from its razor teeth left tiny, steaming puddles on the stone whenever it dripped free. Its massive outline swelled and fell as he crept forwards, keeping his footsteps as light as possible and his weapons warily raised, ready for the moment that it would sense him and lash out.

Just as he stepped forwards to strike, the brute’s pack-mate let out a sudden hiss of rage, raising one massive claw – a claw that was pointing directly at him.

With subtlety no longer an option, Lonelythrall chose to hold his ground, digging in his heels and watching the two brutes as they began to rush towards him. He eyed up the lead of the two, carefully gauging the distance between the rushing beast and himself, before tensing to move as it drew into striking range. A single mistake would mean death, either under its immense bulk, or between its twitching jaws.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/xTFANLX.png)

The brute’s massive fist lashed downwards towards him, a rabid howl of triumph bursting from the creature’s lips. The howl quickly turned to anger as Lonelythrall calmly stepped out of the way, letting the fist hammer into the Slade. The Demon made to turn, eyes ablaze with inhuman hatred, but it was far too late to save itself – his axe was already in motion, and the divinely-wrought metal cleaved through its throat with ease.

The beast’s colossal body crashed to the ground as its head went spinning away, but he paid it no mind. He kept his eyes fixed on the other Demon – far more cautious than its unfortunate brother, it was circling at a distance, beady little eyes fixed upon him. Every now and then it would give a sharp snap or swipe towards him, not fully daring to close lest it fall as its brother had done, but he could see the look in its eyes. Bloodlust and Demonic savagery warred with caution, and the latter was rapidly losing ground against its nature.

Lonelythrall breathed out, lowering his shields and axe for a moment. It was an temptation that the Demon could not resist.

Roaring in hatred and bloodlust, the monster closed with him; its sweeping kick was blocked, the shield absorbing the massive force with ease, and his axe bit into its neck. The beast shrieked like a wounded animal, leaping away before the blade could bite any deeper. A thin arc of whitish ichor sprayed from the wound as it went. More blows swiftly began to rain down, and were just as swiftly blocked: kicks, punches, and the occasional bite, the monster trying to devour His champion whole.

Steeping aside to evade the beast’s latest charge, Lonelythrall let his axe fly once again. The demon’s leg gave out as the blade tore through muscle and nerve alike, leaving the axe-head coated in a thin film of ichor. With his foe brought down to its knees, he rushed in to deliver the killing blow, ignoring the efforts of the realm to bog down his movements and slow his strike.

The wounded monster’s jaws swung wide as it made a final, desperate lunge towards the bug attacking it, venom already dribbling from the teeth in anticipation of its bite meeting flesh.

He saw it coming a mile away. The beast moved so slowly it was almost painful, and he span aside to let its snout smash hard into the ground. A quick pivot and another strike of his axe, and the Demon’s head fell free from its twitching corpse. Another roar rang out, and his head whipped up to face it.

Spoiler: The Circus Arrives (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/VOFafZr.png)

(https://i.imgur.com/c7NALyX.png)

(https://i.imgur.com/F2QnVzn.png)

Atop a nearby plateau, more Demons were gathering. Some were massive, hairy, humanoid lizards like the two he had just slain, while others were quadrupedal and cyclopean, two scorpion-like stinger tails rising above their frilled backs in a display of aggression. Above them soared warped harrier-birds, their beaks replaced by mandibles and their forms composed of super-heated steam; others stalked forth across the ground, their warped forms forged from tightly-packed ash. A few lumbered and flew as they pleased, rising plumes of poisonous gas wreathing their forms.

All of them were looking directly at him with murder in their many eyes.

The massive dinosaur-like creature that led one of the packs flung back its head and roared again, tails twitching in fury. Its pack joined in kind, filling the air with a harrowing chorus of chaos. Their hatred and evil was almost a physical force; a wave of pure, murderous emotion, rushing at the intruder to drown it and weaken the prey for their attack.

Lonelythrall answered with a roar of his own, letting His holy rage flow through him as the Demonic horde came screaming forwards to attack.

---

Spoiler:  Die, Flying Rats, Die! (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/kutwcgA.png)

(https://i.imgur.com/Q0X6go7.png)

The great, steamy birds were easy prey – their insubstantial forms fell apart at the slightest touch from his axe or his shields, drenching their comrades in boiling water or superheated steam. The few ashen fiends that fought beside them were similarly weak, limbs tearing apart and bodies disintegrating at the lightest blow of his weapons.

The kinglet-like abominations, however, were another story entirely. Whatever the foul miasma that hung around their form was, he didn’t know, nor did he desire to experience whatever vile illnesses it carried. Whenever one came close, belching pale smoke from its open beak, he was forced to leap away from the expanding cloud before he could be caught in it, before lunging forwards to hack at wherever the monster was most exposed. Two lay dead already, one decapitated by a lucky blow, the other having bled to death from a dozen wounds.

The remaining three were attacking him as a pack, using their flight and their gas to control the direction of the battle. His axe and shield rose and fell, rose and fell, blocking kicks and snatches before returning slashes and hacks to any exposed limbs. The creatures were battered and bleeding, but they showed no sign of discomfort – they just kept attacking him, with the same mindless hatred in their eyes.

A moment’s distraction almost cost him dearly as one of the remaining Demons charged him outright; he barely had time to plant his feet and drive his shield into the ground before its bulk slammed into him, sending him to the ground. The foul, stinking miasma of one of the kinglet-like Demons flooded his nostrils as a retaliatory slash from his axe forced the attacker away, but its fellows were already closing in to take advantage of their comrade’s actions.

In the moment before they were upon him, he managed to stagger back to his feet; a lucky strike to the leg sent one beast to the ground, before he was forced to block the kick of the second. Its chest heaved as it drew upon the reserves of gas within its bloated frame, preparing to flood its surroundings with gaseous poison once again.

His axe tore through its neck before it had a chance. Two remained, the third’s headless body joining the others on the Slade. A few pathetic bursts of gas blew from the neck-stump, ignored by the combatants as they closed in against one another once more. Blood flew, his axe flashed, and two more corpses joined those upon the ground in short order.

Ignoring the weight of exhaustion starting to settle upon his shoulders, Lonelythrall gripped his axe tight and prepared for the next wave. A group of Gila Monsters, rushing towards him at full tilt. They looked at him with pure hatred in their eyes, mixed with a lethal spark of intelligence that set them above the more bestial creatures to have attacked him. Even so, their natural bloodlust looked to be superseding some of their reason.

In its haste to reach the intruder, one of the lizard-like fiends had managed to become tangled in webbing; the monster was thrashing furiously as it tried to break its bonds, but the Fiend that had spun it knew its craft well. Its packmates charged ahead without looking back, teeth snapping at sulphurous air as they closed in on him.

His axe flashed forwards for a moment, only for him to be forced to jump away almost instantly as the Demons swarmed him. They moved as a pack, attempting to surround him and cut him off from escape before attacking. Up close, the evil pouring off them was an almost crushing presence, something not helped in the slightest by their twisted, unnatural shapes.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/cogpPKW.png)

(https://i.imgur.com/mjO23zB.png)

One of the brutes, young and impetuous, rushed forwards with slavering jaws and eyes ablaze with hunger. It collided with one of its elders, sending the two of them sprawling to the ground in a heap and earning the younger Demon a sharp bite to the back. It would have been almost comical, were those involved not so deadly.

Lonelythrall wasted no time in going on the attack, aiming for the legs and arms – with this many attacking, crippling them to slow them down would be vital. His weapon tore through muscle and sent blood or ichor arcing through the air with each strike, but the beasts showed no signs of pain. If anything, each blow seemed to only enrage them further, their strikes growing increasingly wild as they attempted to squash the irritating bug beneath their feet.

Leaping away from another punch, Lonelythrall hit the ground hard, rolling towards one of the pits that dotted the landscape. For an instant, terror flashed through his heart as he almost fell into the crimson abyss, before he managed to scrabble back upright and half-stumble, half-sprint away from the edge of the drop. The pack had stopped their assault, suddenly wary as they recognised the danger they were in – a single misstep, and the unfortunate Demon would plunge into the void below.

All of them knew that. Well, all but one.

The impetuous Demon, freshly untangled from its elder, rushed him again, barbaric fury blazing in its eyes and its massive jaws yawning wide. Its bloodlust and desire for revenge had stifled its intelligence once again – though this time, the consequences would be far greater than a painful bite.

Lonelythrall stepped aside, with an almost casual ease.

The Demon’s eyes bulged in shock, suddenly realising the danger it was in. Its massive claws frantically scraped against the Slade, throwing up streams of sparks as it tried to slow its forward momentum.
 
Its efforts were futile.

The massive weight and bulk of the Demon, a lethal weapon against most creatures, worked against it, preventing it from slowing quickly enough. The crimson abyss before it yawned wide as Lonelythrall rushed past the Demon; with a final, discordant shriek of terror and hatred, the massive bulk of the Gila tumbled fully over the lip of the chasm. Its howl soon cut off as it plummeted out of earshot and into whatever waited below, but he barely registered it, too busy gauging the distance between the onrushing pack and his weapon.

Many of them were looking weaker than before, slowed by the gashes across their legs and arms, but he could hear the cawing in the distance, coming closer all the time. More of their kin were closing in to attack, and he had no time to bleed them out. This time, he was aiming for the necks from the start.

One of the elders of the pack lunged in for a strike; its massive foot whipped past his head, close enough that he could feel the rush of shifting air. Lonelythrall twisted himself into a slash to the throat, letting the axe bite deep into the flesh once again. Blood flew as the Demon roared in shock and rage, staggering as its damaged spine sent conflicting signals to its bleeding limbs. A second blow finally took off its head, the massive carcass crashing to the blood-slick stone to join those already there.

He risked a quick look off to the side: the flock of ash-forged fiends and steamy birds was almost upon him,  and a few of the cyclopean, dinosaur-like brutes were closing in fast, tails coiling overhead in preparation to sting. The Gila Monster pack was weakening rapidly, though – only one was still standing, swaying drunkenly on its feet, head lolling on a boneless neck.

In spite of all that, the accursed thing was still fighting, lurching forwards on failing legs to try and bite him. The last, spiteful actions of a doomed beast.

Gritting his teeth, Lonelythrall sidestepped the latest attack and hammered Angelbane into the last Gila’s head, hearing the satisfying crack of bone shifting. He would need to finish this quickly if he was going to survive against this new horde of threats. Another punch missed him by centimetres, his counter-stroke barely dodged as the Demon lurched away on a previously-damaged leg.
 
He dug in his heels, raised his weapons, and let the beast come to him. To charge it would be the height of folly, even with the Monster dead on its feet and a horde of Demons closing in. It obliged, rushing forwards with a gargantuan claw raised high to strike.

The claw raked across the metal of a secondary shield – strapped to his arm for extra protection, it sharply jarred his arm for a second before he swung with his other hand. The Monster collapsed, its neck cleaved almost entirely in two.

Just in time, too, as the next wave of Demons had reached him.

The opening steps of the battle repeated themselves once again – the Fiends fell apart at the slightest touch, showering the combatants with ash and boiling water alike. It formed a filthy grey layer over combatant and environment alike. Superior numbers swiftly fell, becoming far more evenly matched until he faced only three of the dinosaur-like Demons.

As with their predecessors, they fought as a pack. The biggest of the group – the one that had roared at him, right at the start – hung back as its subordinates attacked, one attempting to sting him while the other lunged into a kick.

The sting missed as he dodged out of the way, the stinger hammering into the ground beside him. A retaliatory slash from his axe bit deep, sending blood and venom alike spraying in an arc. It bit firmly, lodging in the wound before being pulled free amidst a further spray of both as he was forced to dodge away from the second’s sweeping kick.

Exhaustion was finally catching up to him – his breath was starting to come in sharp, hiking gasps, and sweat ran in runnels down his scales. Despite their supernatural lightness, his weapons and armour felt like weights, tied tight around his limbs and slowing his movements. The Demons could sense his exhaustion, too: their eyes lit up with malevolence, and the sense of bloodlust about them intensified even further.

Lonelythrall could feel his swings getting clumsier and weaker with every passing moment. Blows that would have torn through muscle and into the bone now merely skimmed the muscle, sliding free almost as soon as the blade bit. The shields covering his arms rocked with every blow, weighing his attacks down even further as the trio of One-Eyed Brutes renewed their assault on him. Weighed down by exhaustion, trapped by the Demon pack with his back against a wall, he knew it was all too likely he would meet his end.

A single memory ran through his head, overwhelming every sense and every other thought: the memory of a long-slain Roc, and the barbaric rage that had overcome him then. The rage of the Beast, his greatest sin - and now, the only thing that could save him from death.

With that, he let the chains he had so meticulously crafted through prayer and flagellation slip.

Fury flooded his veins, hot as magma – he had not come this far to fail, to die like an animal in the bowels of Hell! New strength suffused his flagging body, heart beginning to thunder in his chest until it felt ready to tear loose. A bestial howl of rage tore halfway free of his throat as he reared up, lashing out at the Demons with axe and shield alike while simultaneously doing all he could to wrestle the worst excesses of the Beast back into its mental cage.

One of the fiends went down almost immediately, the axe shearing through its neck and throat in a spray of ichor. The remaining two stopped their attack, newly wary at their supposedly-weakened prey’s sudden burst of savage power. The three of them circled one another, bloodlust wrestling with logic in each combatant’s mind. The Beast was screaming for blood within his mind, barely kept in check by the fear of the predators it saw before it, while the Demons wrestled with the animalistic fury and bloodlust integral to their souls.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/So3mqfJ.png)

It was a question of whose discipline would give out first – his, or that of the monsters before him. And from the way his heartbeat was rising higher than ever, the Beast trying to force him to charge them and indulge its maddening bloodthirst, it was going to be the answer fatal to him.

The beasts’ discipline broke at the exact moment as his. He was already in motion as the first of the two lunged for him, slashing for its thick neck as its claws descended towards his head. Blood flew as the blade bit through muscle and bone, taking the Demon’s head clear from its shoulders; its claws barely missed his head as the body crashed to the ground. The other’s bite fouled against one of his shields, falling a few moments later as a square blow to the head sent it flying off in an arc.

Breath hissing in his throat, Lonelythrall slumped to the ground. His chest still hiked with exertion and he was drenched in sweat, ichor, and Demonic ash, but he was exultant – His presence, faint as it was, pulsed with greater approval than ever, driving back the sense of malevolence that saturated the air. His task was fulfilled, the Demons delayed in their plans; all that remained was for him to return to the world of the sane and faithful, with a final tribute to Him in hand.

He wasn’t sure how long it took him to gather all the skulls. The Demons’ massive size made them painfully slow to butcher, even with his experience so far, and their skulls were so massive that merely moving became as intensive a task as fighting them in the first place. The way the hatred saturating the very stones seemed to drag at his limbs, bogging him down and slowing his movements didn’t help, but after what felt like a small eternity, he stood beneath the Adamantine spire once again, staring up into the tomb of Deepvaulted.

His presence intensified once again, the familiar comfort of the God of Gods’ presence returning. It was a relief, after His presence had been reduced to little more than a whisper for so long; even as he exulted in His touch, there was a sharp jerk directly behind his spine, and –

---

Boltspumpkin, Unknown Date, 718.

My journey is at an end.

I have become something no longer accursed and tainted in the eyes of God and Mortal alike, but rather something that He may look upon with pride.

The shame I have fought and flagellated against all my life is not erased – that will never happen so long as I live. But for the first time since my ‘birth’, the Beast seems quiescent. Silent, even.

I have fought against the Demons of Hell, wielded arms and armour forged by the Heavens, and slain some of the greatest Beasts that wander the world, all in the name of His glory and will.

And yet…

For the first time since my adventure began, I am without His guidance. He is silent for now, attending to other Champions in this world, or matters beyond mortal ken.

Though I have faith that He shall call upon me in time, I find myself wondering what I must do now. I never put any thought as to what I should do after fulfilling His command, focused as I was upon my duty.

I cannot return to the Monastery – though I did not go out of my way to seek fame, tales of my prowess have begun to spread in some regions. I fear what would happen should I lead any ambitious glory-seekers or greed-driven mercenaries back to Wanecloistered. They wouldn’t hesitate to slaughter my fellows and burn it to the ground, if only in the name of petty glory – a fate unacceptable on every level, spiritual and mortal alike.

Similarly, the life of a wanderer holds no appeal. I must be ready to answer His call again, should He find a task that requires my skills, and the ravages that such constant travels would inflict on body and blade alike would weaken me unto uselessness. To say nothing of what might threaten this place in the absence of a defender…

…That’s it!

I shall stay here, in or near the Castle of Relics, for it must be defended against those who would seek to pillage it. Until He calls upon me for a task, I will remain here and ensure that no artefact gathered in His name is defiled.

The Mighty One protects.

---

You look up from the pages of the codex before you, over to the displays in the south-west of the Castle’s hall.

The tale seems unbelievable, a fantasy spun from whole cloth by some fanatical or desperate preacher to promote faith in the God of Blood, but the evidence before you is undeniable: built around a cryolite pedestal for structure, a throne of skulls stands.

The base of the throne consists of a once-great Titan’s corpse, crushed and compacted to provide a foundation for the massive skulls that rest atop it. The bestial, distended skulls of lizard-like beasts and a few avian ones – some small enough to be held in your hand, many so large that they are more akin to boulders – form the main shape of the throne, crudely piled together to provide the construction its seat and back; the skulls of a pair of Rocs fuse with others to create the arms of the chair, curving beaks sloping forward and downwards to act as armrests.

More skulls, those of twisted Night Trolls, have been smoothed and piled together to provide a foot-rest for any who would sit upon it. Capping the construction is a final skull – kept aloft by the upturned beaks of three of its avian kin, the elongated skull of a dinosaur-like fiend hangs directly over the place where an average man's head would be, jaws still gaping wide in apparent warning to anyone who would dare to sit upon the crude throne.

Turning yourself back to the table, there remains a final page of the codex bound in rotted fabric and decorated with blistered metal. A single sentence adorns the page:

“Let this be my epitaph, in the name of His glory: I was born a nameless, mindless beast in a heretical madman’s tower, forsaken by the Divines and the mortal races alike, yet His grace has allowed me to conquer the Angels of Heaven and slay the Demons of Hell itself.” – Lonelythrall the Penitent, Hand of Planegifts.

Spoiler: Author’s Notes (click to show/hide)

 
Taking on the HFS was more of a one-by-one basis – get one Clown's (maybe two, if careless; the entire pack, if unlucky) attention, kill them by aiming at the neck, then take on the next (with the exception of the steam/ash ones, who joined in as they pleased and died from a mean look). I apologise for the relative lack of screenshots, and any clashes that may occur between the writing and the logs - in my haste to finish the turn and survive the Circus, I forgot to take certain shots from the log and have improvised as a result.

Unfortunately, I had no choice but to DFHack-Teleport my way back out in the end. The Candy Cane had enough z-levels between it and the ground for me to be unable to climb without a set of upwards stairs – which, of course, Deepvaulted didn’t have – and carrying the skulls was sending my FPS deep into the region of 'borderline unplayable'.

Everything else, including a couple Gila Clowns getting stuck in webs and one falling down that bottomless chasm (that was good for a laugh, though it was it dodging from my attack rather than a charge attack against me that sent it down) was left as unchanged as circumstances permit.

My thanks to everyone who read these entries. Good luck with your adventures!

(And, if I may ask: how was this for a final chapter?)

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: TheFlame52 on August 03, 2020, 03:38:01 pm

A good end to a good story.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Eric Blank on August 03, 2020, 05:02:40 pm

I enjoyed it, well written, much piety. Wow.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Imic on August 03, 2020, 06:21:38 pm

(https://media.tenor.com/images/75b11d0294b0cd8c5f82ebd01f3ec64b/tenor.gif)
I thoroughly enjoyed your story from beginning to end, and I think it’s a wonderful addition to the Mythos of the world and The Museum as a whole.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Timeless Bob on August 04, 2020, 11:41:07 pm

Here's the save file: https://dffd.bay12games.com/file.php?id=15166 (https://dffd.bay12games.com/file.php?id=15166)
A short, tragic tale.

Scene 1
End of dock, waving goodbye to ship

Scene 2
A chat with the Mayor in Two Moons Tavern

   Two-Flower: Hello! This is a beautiful tavern you've got here!
   Mayor: Thank you.  It's smallish now, but I'm sure it'll grow with trade from the Misty Isle! Be sure to pick up something from our gift shop! We of the Quiet Plank are here to serve travelers such as yourself.  Here, take a mug and go next door into the common room to try some of our finest brews.
   Two-Flower: Oh! Thank you very much!
 
   The upper floor of the Tavern is still under construction...

Scene 3
Admiring the Tavern's statue "The Glorious Roads", of two full moons traveling, before entering the room next door

Scene 4
"Old Nan" is tending bar, while a gem studded stone cup holds pride of place on a peg by the bar. 
  Two-Flower: "Oh! What a beautiful cup!"
  Old Nan: "You like it?  Make me an offer, traveler."
  Two-Flower: "I have some moonstones here, will these be enough?"
  Old Nan: "Ah yes. Seven of those will be about right."
  Two-Flower: "Deal!"

  Two-Flower gains Wem Oku "The Cup of Moons"
  Gabbro mug encircled with bands of rose cut chalcedonies and an image of briolette gems in rose quartz

  Two-Flower: "How much are those blueberries?"
  Old Nan: "I'll give em to you for another of those gems"
  Two-Flower: "Deal!"

Scene 5
Leaving the walls of Shiptrails behind, bound for adventure!

  Two-Flower: Hello! What's the best thing to see around here?
  Lolor the Stoneworker (hammer and chisel in her belt sash): "Nothing too much.  I suppose you could try asking in the human hamlet to the east.  Just follow the beach, you can't miss it. The locals call it Urnpoker"
  Two-Flower: Ah!  Thank you!

Scene 6
Tracks meandering into the distance along beach, low scrubby hills to east, calm sea to west.

Scene 7
Looking at a weathered mudstone statue of a Pangolin standing on hind feet.
plaque reads: "Behold the power of Flowermeadows! Kar Flunggates defied her and was cursed to roam as a monstrous beast every full moon in Stasisworks!"

  Two-Flower: "Wow!"

Scene 8
The Green Tower in UrnPoker
Commander Atu of "The Splattered Flies", (3 goblins + 1 human commander all wearing turbans)
   Atu: "Greetings, Traveler. Are you lost?"
   Two-Flower: "No, I just arrived and have been sightseeing.  My name is Two-Flower."
   Atu: "Ah.  That is good.  Welcome to "The Gifts of Robustness" (gestures around to the tower) the headquarters of The Splattered Flies.
   Two-Flower: "Anything around here of note to visit?
   Atu: "In the year 43, Lord Ared ruled from this very tower.
   Two-Flower: "Oh! Wow.  This place has a long history. What else?
   Atu: "It is said that Cryptabyss the Ghost of Tombs is somewhere out in the Steppes. It is said to be the lair of a howling freak. (Nelara Dietombs the Tenebrous)
   Two-Flower: "Gosh!"  Anything else?
   Atu: "Dustcypt the Tunnel of Bones is also rumored to be out in the Steppes, the lair of a howling freak. (Boneumbras the Burial of Night)
   Two-Flower: "Wow!"
   Atu: (continuing...) Let's see, the legends speak of The Umbral Tombs, The Ashen Grave, Ah, and of course there is The Stable Church over in Healerlathers.  They pray by spitting on each-other.  Very nasty. The Ashen Temple over in Passedjewel: They use their nose pickings to write holy scripture,
   Atu: "You know what isn't nasty? Princesscharms.  In 238, Princesscharms was founded by the Meditation-Faith of Kindnesses.
   Two-Flower: Oh! Yes, that sounds lovely!
   Atu: It's nearly a day's travel to the east.  Sleep here tonight and begin your journey there in the morning.

Passing through "Gleefuldesks" (abandoned)

  A Large, humanoid with thin wings of stretched skin and closely set, slate grey scales jumps from the branches of a nearby tree, and stabs TwoFlower in the abdomen with a copper knife, before beginning to howl in apparent bloodlust.  Two-Flower, horrified, takes off running!
  However, Two-Flower soon tires and the howling freak catches up and hacks him repeatedly from behind.  The tourist should have listened to Commander Atu.  Howling freaks are very real.

Somewhere to the east of a monastery to Flowergates, lies the body of Two-Flower the Tourist.  In his pack are several moonstones and a cup named Wem Oku.

Two-Flower wakes up suddenly next to steampunk-like machine with white coated attendants in goggles tending it and takes wired cap off his his head.
"Gosh! That wasn't a very long vacation at all"

So Ends the 3rd Age of Legends.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

I was illustrating each scene before my computer crashed, and was going to have a running version of Twoflower's journeys as a series of "risk free travel clones" created by the travel agency in another World entirely dropping them off at Shiptrails via ships that travel the "Glorious Roads" of moonlight across the waves, (Silver vessels that sail from one DF World to the next, sailing the moon-paths between them.)
(https://cdn2.vectorstock.com/i/1000x1000/61/71/night-moonlight-sailboat-on-blue-sea-ocean-horizon-vector-21416171.jpg)

Until my computer died, I was planning on leaving nautical clues here and there with silver coins imprinted with waves and moons, as well as cut moonstones - the currency used to travel the secret moon-paths from one world to the others in those silver ships.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Bralbaard on August 08, 2020, 02:03:41 pm

Hey Timeless Bob, could you try and upload the save game? You can finish writing it after uploading the save game, as you suggested.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Bralbaard on August 08, 2020, 04:01:17 pm

Aack, I swear Timeless post wasn't there when I replied, but it obviously was. Anyhow, I'm looking forward to the story. Sorry to hear that the turn did not last long. There have been some developments though:


*The world has passed into the Age of Heroes*

This development allows us to put Quantum Drop's killing spree in a proper historical perspective  :o :)

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Quantum Drop on August 08, 2020, 05:38:03 pm

...I didn't expect that to happen.

More seriously, I'm looking forward to your tale, Timeless! Will be interesting to see what cut your adventurer's thread short, even if it is regrettable that it ended so quick.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Bralbaard on August 12, 2020, 01:37:51 pm

No response from NAV. That makes it Glloyd's turn.

While we were waiting, I had DF run in the background, and let it create a fortress using DF-AI.  (https://benlubar.github.io/df-ai/)   
The map has been updated.

The save game can be found here:
save game  (https://dffd.bay12games.com/file.php?id=15171)   

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: NAV on August 12, 2020, 03:20:09 pm

Sorry, I have been busy and didnt notice the PM. Have fun Glloyd!

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Bralbaard on August 12, 2020, 03:33:03 pm

Quote from: NAV on August 12, 2020, 03:20:09 pm

Sorry, I have been busy and didnt notice the PM. Have fun Glloyd!

should I put you back on the list behind Glloyd? you only barely missed your turn.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Glloyd on August 12, 2020, 06:35:21 pm

I have the save, I'll start on it tomorrow, didn't realize NAV had been skipped! Looking forward to taking a stab at it.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Glloyd on August 14, 2020, 08:53:08 pm

(OOC: Sorry for the delay, DF crashed and I lost a couple hours of progress, which killed a lot of my enthusiasm for this playthrough. Fingers crossed for no more setbacks)

Early Obsidian, 726

This is the journal of Glloyd Wogemusda, human citizen of the Realm of Silver. I have lived most my life as a doctor in the great city of Strifefularmor, one of the five great cities of the southern realms. Recently, I have grown tired of treating the bumps and bruises of peasants, and I have decided to leave this profession behind, and focus on my scholarly endeavours. You see, I fancy myself a great scholar, and as one of the few learned men in this area of the world, it is my duty to put my knowledge into writing, in order to uplift the common man from ignorance into the world of science and reason. Beyond that, I dream of making a great discovery, one that future scholars will write about, and learned men will discuss in the libraries of the world. To that end, I have decided to traverse our known world. From the southern mountains, across the tundra, to the far north, I shall make a journey like no other, in the name of scholarly endeavours. I will visit uncharted areas of the world, and document them for future generations, I will uncover secrets lost to time, and I will do it not for glory, but for the benefit of humanity.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/LqFG08e.png) (OOC: I forgot to take a picture before setting out, oops. This is from a little later, once I pick up Iral)

With the last bit of my savings, I purchase a horse and some basic weaponry for self defence. Like others in my culture, I hold respect for those learned in martial arts, however I am no great warrior myself. As I step out the door of my house, a cold breeze is blowing off the mountains from the east. It’s time for adventure, and the pursuit of knowledge.

The first stop on my journey is the nearest tavern. Fear not dear reader, I visit this den of vice not to cavort with the common folk, but to recruit adventurers for my journey. Although the tavern was quiet at this time of day, I did find a swordswoman named Iral willing to join me, so long as I lead her “to glory and death.” An eager lass, to say the least. Our first destination was Partnerdaub, another great city to the east. I intend to visit the great cities of the world on my journey, documenting them for posterity. Slightly smaller than my home of Strifefularmor, it is nonetheless a very similar city, joined as we are by one of the great roads of the world. My stay here is brief, and I quickly continue on to the southern mountains.

As I continue my journey, I reflect on the reality of my home. The south of the world is beset by freezing weather, and has only been growing colder in recent years. Although the end of winter is upon us, the icy chill will hang over our lands throughout the summer months. The reason evades even learned men such as myself, which is certainly not a comforting thought to have. Our campfire helps take the edge off the cold tonight, but I shudder to think of the journey across the great tundra. Few from my realm have ever crossed the tundra, and fewer still have returned. It will do me no good to thing on this any longer, I will continue my journal once we have reached the southern mountains and can begin our journey.

10th Obsidian, 726

Well, Iral got her wish for glory today, if not death. After being beset by bandits, Iral suggested we track one back to their camp, and attack in the dead of night. The plan was a success, and I was able to obtain some mismatched pieces of amour. It’s not very comfortable, and a little too heavy for me, but Iral insisted that I shouldn’t be travelling the southern wilds unarmoured. We continued on to the west, stopping at a small town near the Sea of Blades. This was intended to be our last stop before continuing onwards, but the town seemed to be abandoned and in ruins. We camped in an abandoned house for a night, a nice change from sleeping outside. Tomorrow, we push southwards, towards the edge of the known world.

11th Obsidian
While crossing a river, my horse was attacked and killed by an alligator. I guess the rest of this journey will have to be on foot. Not exactly a promising start to our expedition, But I must press onwards. There are great discoveries to be made!

13th Obsidian

Moving away from the Sea of Blades, we encountered a small hillock with a door in the side, nestled in a copse of trees. Curious, I approached and opened the door, and was confronted with a large one-eyed humanoid creature of the night!

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/Ds1T25w.png)

It loped quickly along the ground towards Iral and I, and lept on us, stabbing at me with a carving fork. I was able to block its stab, then dodged out of the way as it tried to slash me. While I was on the ground, it lunged towards Iral, biting her on the side of her head. I quickly moved towards the creature, and slashed it as it yelled out:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/ZD5eUog.png)

Between the two of us, we were able to slowly beat it down, but Iral took the brunt of the fighting, leaving with a mangled wrist, and large cuts on her head and neck.

14th Obsidian

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/IEbLJqt.png)

Now we’re into the meat of this expedition. Climbing mountains no man has ever climbed before, reaching to the great peaks of the world. Our first major stop on this journey is the Flame of Claws, a large volcano far to the south of the Sea of Blades. It juts out of the surrounding scrubland, flanked by a great mountain range behind it. I am a scholar, not an artist, but I included a rough sketch below, for the benefit of future students of geography.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/o6DdYfp.png)

After a day spent hunting in the valley, we entered the mountain range again to the south, reaching the summit of another volcano. I will call this one, “The Molten Fountains”. While the Flame of Claws was likely visited before, we are in uncharted territory now.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/VBajRKO.png)

Past the Molten Fountain is an unending stretch of mountains. Although we pressed on valiantly, our food supplies were running low and my waterskin was empty, so we decided to turn around, rather then risk death amongst the unending mountain ranges that surround our world.

(OOC: I actually almost made it to the southern border of the map, but then the game crashed and I had to restart from right after the bandit camp. As I mentioned, that killed a lot of my enthusiasm for the playthrough, so I decided to just not waste my time going south. In the current save I never went to those volcanos, but I had already written up to the Molten Fountains, so for the sake of my sanity, I left it in, and continued my journey from where I would’ve gone after reaching the southern border of the map)

Shortly after coming down from the mountains, we were attacked by a pack of dingoes. Two split off and attacked me, while the rest of the pack swarmed Iral. Although he put up a valiant fight, they made short work of her, tearing her apart limb from limb before turning on me.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/JRTsYhg.png)

Luckily, Iral must have tired them out, because I was able to hold them off quite handily. I emerged from the fight with a few cuts and bruises, but also with a renewed energy for my adventure. Iral’s death is certainly a shame, but it was in the service of something far greater than she or I. The pursuit of knowledge, above all else.

18th Obsidian

I have continued my journey around the west of the Sea of Blades. There is no human settlement on this side of the sea, but while fishing in a river near the western mountains, I noticed an odd structure nestled into the mountainside: a towering granite cube.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/YP9uE8p.png) Keyconjure

After consulting my map, I’ve determined that this is the lost dwarven fortress of Keyconjure. Although my goal is to document the marvels of the world for the purpose of science, I would be lying to myself if the legends of the dwarvish culture did not interest me. I do consider myself a scholar, and it is my job as a learned man to investigate these lost parts of our worlds history and relay them to the common man. Thus, once I rest and cook this pike I caught, I intend to delve into the depths of Keyconjure.

19th Obsidian

Inside the granite cube that marks the surface of Keyconjure, there is what appears to be an abandoned tavern, and a series of winding corridors that lead downwards, past a number of small shrines, into the depths of the mountainside. For all the tales of the wealth of the dwarves, the interior seems rather underwhelming, dulled perhaps by hundreds of years of abandonment. Eventually, I stumbled upon a storeroom of sorts, containing a variety of items, including a handful of books. Although the death of my horse has limited what I can carry with me, I am a scholar, and no true scholar would leave these books to rot in this cave, so I decided to bring them along with me. It will be nice to have something to read while I cut my way through the jungle that surrounds Keyconjure.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/E3OKE9N.png)

If only I were small enough to fit into the well-crafted pieces of armour strewn throughout the storeroom. However, I did find a crossbow made out of steel, the legendary dwarven material. Although I am no archer, I couldn’t leave a treasure like this behind.

As I was leaving Keyconjure, I stumbled across something that I wish that I /had/ left behind. Lying next to an overly ornate bone grate was a seemingly nondescript memorial slab. Yet instead of a eulogy to some long forgotten dwarf, it was covered top to bottom in writing, that seemed to have an unearthly glow, even in the darkness of the cave. As I read through, I began to understand. This was a necromancer’s compendium, containing the secrets of life and death. I tried to pull myself away, but the magic imbued into the writing kept me transfixed, the words searing themselves into my brain, imprinting themselves in my consciousness, and warping me into an unbidding servant of dark powers beyond human cognition. As I exited Keyconjure, the sky seemed a little darker than before, and the jungle before me, once full of colour, seemed grey and lifeless. Although I am now in tune with the dark mysteries of the world, it has cost me my humanity. Food seems to turn to ash in my mouth, and I no longer feel hunger or thirst. For all my pursuit of knowledge, this is something I could have gone without knowing. As a learned man, it is my duty to impart my knowledge onto the common man. However, it is also my duty to protect the common man from those things that are too dangerous for him to know, and this is one of those. Despite its weight, I will carry this slab to a nearby volcano, and destroy it. Noone else shall have to lose their humanity as I did.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/sQ8qVKu.png)

Jutting out of the side of a mountain, the magma pool of the East Fountain is encased in an obsidian pillar, that stretches down into the valley below, a sheer drop that would spell death for any unfortunate scholar who happened to slip on the ash around the rim.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/JFV9alC.png)

Luckily, the East Fountain was only an hour’s climb from Keyconjure. I did not wish to carry that damned slab for another minute longer than I needed to, it’s almost as if the voices of the damned were whispering to me from it as I carried it along. Without any delay, I threw that foul thing into the magma pool. A great discovery perhaps, but not one that I wish I had made. Although I am free of the weight of the slab itself, I am doomed to be forever burdened by its curse.

(OOC: I did not intend to become a necromancer, I thought the slab was another book that I had picked up and accidentally (I)nteracted with it. Ah well, no turning back, so I'll just have to roll with it. Weird that there was a slab in a worldgen fortress though. Anyways, that's my first entry done, will do more tomorrow)

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Luckyowl on August 15, 2020, 02:52:55 am

Wow, this is pretty neat  :D . Glloyd becoming a necromancer might slowly morph him to becoming the bastion of knowledge, and he will go to chronicle the lives, the struggles, and the triumphs of the people of Orid Xem  through ages. Of course that is if he doesn't get killed by unfortunate circumstance as DF loves to do time to time.

I hope your adventurer make it through!  :D

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Eric Blank on August 15, 2020, 02:44:04 pm

I'm enjoying this adventure. Are you going to raise an undead servant, such as Iral, and succumb to the dark side? Or merely use its few advantages to further better goals, such as studying undead behavior and otherworldly horrors in the evilest regions of the world?

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Glloyd on August 15, 2020, 02:49:43 pm

I'm not sure yet! Like I said, the necromancy thing was unplanned, so I'm kind of reworking my plan for this adventurer on the fly. We'll have to see what unfolds!

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Quantum Drop on August 15, 2020, 03:27:59 pm

Sometimes, having no plan is the best plan. Your adventure's been quite good so far, and I can only hope it carries on going well!

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Glloyd on August 17, 2020, 03:44:10 pm

Part 2

20th Obsidian

Orid Zem, the land trapped by mountains on all sides. The one upside to my new condition is the fact that I don’t seem to tire at all, or even require sleep, which makes traversing the mountainous land around Keyconjure scarcely an inconvenience. Not that I think I could even sleep now if I wanted to. Ever since I was cursed by that slab, I seem to hear the whispers of the dead rattling around in my head. It has grown quieter since I left Keyconjure, but I fear for the rest of my journey and my travels to the large cities of the world.

21st Obsidian

I’ve continued moving to the north, circling around the Sea of Blades. From the north flows the Cosmos of Shows, sister river to the Purged Loot, the “River that Feeds the World”. I rest for a moment near where the Cosmos of Shows empties into the Sea of Blades. Although it does not flow through the great civilizations of the world as the Purged Loot does, its river basin sustains the great jungles that cover the land to the northwest of the Sea of Blades.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/8E6gycu.png)
Looking west across the Cosmos of Shows

I continued on, following the Cosmos of Shows to the north. In the distance, I saw a strange structure rising above the treetops, but before I could reach it, I was ambushed by a party of dwarves! They all looked quite worse for the wear, wearing ragged clothes and looking as if they hadn’t eaten in weeks.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/UGO0nKa.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/WUX58bc.png)

Not being much of a fighter, I was wary of fighting so many enemies at once, but they had me surrounded, so I had no choice. However, I had scarcely unsheathed my scimitar when they turned around and ran away! It is almost as if they could smell the scent of death that has been lingering on me since I left the cursed halls of Keyconjure… Or perhaps they were just looking for a more opportune moment to strike, because an hour later, I ran into the same group, and this time a few decided that their hunger outweighed their fear of me. Their malnutrition was their undoing however, as their attacks were feeble, and I quickly struck one down, causing the others to flee in terror. Confused as to why a bandit group of the lost race of dwarves would be wandering the jungle west of the Sea of Blades, far from any of the few surviving dwarven enclaves, I decided to follow the group. They led me back to a cave, where a small group of dwarves were huddled around outside. They seemed wary of me, but one of the macedwarves engaged me in conversation, telling me about the exploits of a dwarven group known as the “Walled Dye”.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/rvGYSFS.png)

The name was familiar, I had heard it before from a traveler who mentioned that dwarves associated with the Walled Dye were beginning to found new fortresses in an attempt to rebuild dwarven civilization. However, neither of us knew anything about “Princetomes”, the fortress that was allegedly resettled by the Walled Dye. The macedwarf explained that he was part of the Mechanisms of Steam, a nomadic group that was part of the Walled Dye.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/pHRF7Jp.png)

The dwarves seemed to be very down on their luck, so I left them the rest of my food, and continued on northward. For all the legends I had heard about the dwarves growing up, my first actual encounter with living dwarves was very underwhelming. Dozens of ragged dwarves starving to death in a squalid cave at the foot of the mountains is a far cry from the legends of vast underground cities filled with gold and steel, and the finest treasures known to Orid Xem. Certainly, the treasures I found in Keyconjure were magnificent, but now it is apparent that they are relics of a lost age, when dwarves considered themselves the masters of the world, to the detriment of all Men.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/V8xBsOJ.png)
Looking west towards the dwarven cave of Mischiefpit.

22nd Obsidian

I continued my journey to the north of “Mischiefpit”, as the dwarves call their cave. Only a short distance to the north, I came across a strange structure jutting out of the landscape. Curious, I walked around the lower portion of it until I found an entranceway, where a large conical helmet made out of a strange metal was lying in the dirt.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/7iYR6xs.png)

Through the walls I could hear guttural voices, and I could just barely make out what they were saying…

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/shHunYL.png)
No comment.

As I continued up the stairs into the depths of the structure, I suddenly encountered a towering beast, seemingly made of ash.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/ed38lcz.png)

It immediately attacked me, and I countered, chopping through its ashen foot with ease. However, out of the darkness, a terrifying beast brandishing a mace charged at me, smashing its fist into my shield.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/eqC8WAo.png)

I slashed at the beast, landing a good hit on its chest, while the fallen ash monster continued to throw itself against my shield.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/ibRg6yM.png)

Another quick strike to the lower body, and the ash monster crumbled into dust, allowing me to turn my full attention to the macebeast. Before I could react, it dived in and bit my finger clean off! I knew I had to play this more defensively, so I jumped away, and steadied myself behind my shield. It lunged at me again, and we danced around eachother, narrowly parrying eachother’s blows, neither of us able to gain an advantage over the other. From behind the walls, I could hear more commotion. Surely, more of these beasts would be on their way. I had to either win this fight, or find an opening to disengage. Dodging one of its attacks, I was able to duck through the door, jump off the balcony and land in the lower entranceway. From above, I could hear it yelling out to its companions, somehow fully aware of who I was.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/vFSXw0z.png)

Adrenaline pumping through my veins, I charged back up the stairs, and crept along the wall to the doorway where the beast was standing. It was facing away from me, which allowed me to get a lucky hit in, stabbing it through the chest. I must have hit an artery, because ichor started spraying all over the hallway as it swung his mace towards me.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/RDavIG4.png)

I blocked the attack, and took the opportunity to strike again, but it dodged away. The beast kept muttering “I feel fine… I feel fine” as it lumbered towards me. I had my back to the wall now, with no easy way to escape, when suddenly, the beast toppled over in a pool of its own ichor, seemingly dead.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/jbq8Ju6.png)

Not one to look a gift horse in the mouth, I quickly got the hell out of there, running northwards, only stopping to bathe the creature’s ichor off of me in a nearby river. Although I survived with only a few bruises and a missing finger, I knew I had gotten lucky, and I had no intention of returning to that cursed place.

(OOC note: Quantum Drop, I have no idea how you managed to do what you did. I barely survived that encounter, and only did because I cheesed it by jumping off the stairs, which lost aggro, then sneaking back up to get that stealth hit. Also, I thought that vault had been cleared, because it was already marked on the map and there was that helmet outside, but it is definitely active. I’ll leave that for someone with better combat skills lol.)

25th Obsidian

It has been a few days since I last wrote in this journal. I have kept trekking to the northwest of the Sea of Blades. Shortly after leaving the unknown structure behind, I came across a shadow creature in the jungle. He attacked me, but I was able to strike him down. I am becoming something of a fighter. However, I’m still not fully comfortable with combat, which is why I decided to pass up on fighting the rocs that the dwarves at Mischiefpit told me about. They live in the mountains north of the Sea of Blades, if any future adventurers would like to try their luck there.

26th Obsidian

Here in the far north of the Cosmos of Shows’ river valley, the land seems to be perpetually shrouded in fog and clouds, making it almost impossible to navigate.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/ghTGsdv.png)

A short way into the tundra, I stumbled across a strange tower shrouded in fog. Curious, I decided to investigate. Upon entering the tower, I was confronted by hundreds of creatures, seemingly the experiments of some deranged individual.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/rP2WWnw.png)

Despite their terrifying visage, they seemed relatively indifferent to me. I suspect that this has to do with the curse that befell me at Keyconjure. These servants of death must sense that beneath my human exterior, I am now one of them, cursed with eternal life at the loss of my humanity. I pushed past the creatures, who were talking amongst themselves, and explored the rest of the tower. It seemed empty, outside a few odds and ends. However, as I was leaving, I heard a noise from above. I moved up the staircase to see a small dwarf shuffling to and fro. I could sense the stench of death upon her; she was like me, cursed with the secrets of life and death. Cautiously, I called out to her, but as I approached, I noticed she was missing her head entirely!

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/llQ9JY4.png)

I had heard the creatures below talking about someone known as Th4dwarfy1 Shieldtempests, who had attacked someone known as Cog Wildnesswork at this very tower. Could this be Cog? Missing her head, and yet still alive. Shuffling around her tower, surrounded by her foul experiments… Is this to be my fate? Unable to die, yet also unable to truly live? To go mad after centuries of being alive and lock myself up in some tower in a desolate wasteland, writing books about how much I hate my tower until the world ends? Is this the end result of the quest for knowledge? To know too much and be cursed by it? These thoughts rattle around in my head as I leave the tower and continue my trek northwards. I don’t know, but for the first time since I was cursed in Keyconjure, I feel truly afraid.

(OOC: Writing takes longer than playing. Barring any unfortunate accidents as I make my way to the museum, I'll likely post another update + the save tomorrow, then one more update afterwards. Also, no idea how that necromancer is alive, but it's pretty cool and played into my narrative well enough. It's funny, I tried talking to her, and was getting very confused because the dialogue menu was giving my options like she was responding, but there was no text in the log. Turns out, she's headless.)

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Eric Blank on August 17, 2020, 04:28:56 pm

The game must have forgotten that Cog was supposed to be dead. Haven't seen that happen in a while.

Reminds me of the first museum where that kobold in the basement would always be there, perfectly healthy, no matter how many times we killed her. She never got used to dying. I wonder if it's possible for one to.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Quantum Drop on August 17, 2020, 05:28:33 pm

Eh, in fairness, I trained myself to something like Legendary+5 in hammerman and ambusher (also legendary in Armour/Dodging/Shield), maxed out my physical stats as much as possible, and waiting until it was the middle of the night before even attempting to get past the front door. Coupled with the size of those guys (IIRC, that has a major impact on attacks) and the fact that Fruit Weapons pretty much mean death if you get hit, I'd suppose you both did well to get that far, and were lucky to get away with just one finger lost.

As for the Necromancer... wasn't there a glitch when a decapitated creature would remain alive so long as the neck was still attached, or something like that? Eh, pretty cool either way, and the writing is excellent. Good luck, and here's hoping you reach the Museum!

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Glloyd on August 17, 2020, 05:43:33 pm

Luckily, it was just the two creatures in the entranceway, and the ash one died pretty quickly. I was only able to take out the warrior by cheesing it and getting a lucky strike on its heart. It did mess up my one arm pretty bad, but it recovered after sleeping, so the only permanent damage was the missing finger. That was enough for me to not want to mess with it. I dumped a bunch of my points into writing skills so even at this point, my combat stats are relatively low.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Bralbaard on August 18, 2020, 01:38:17 am

I love how it did the ""I feel fine! I feel fine!" before collapsing.

It's just a flesh wound!

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Glloyd on August 18, 2020, 03:56:13 pm

Part 3 is coming later today, but what in the hell is going on in the north of the Realm of Silver?

(https://i.imgur.com/zJql67Z.png)

One town is surrounded by so many refugees it crashes my game every time I try to load the local map, and another town has this random group (army? bandits? who knows.) that has so many people it takes about 10 seconds per movement turn. They're not hostile, but the group is so big that every time I go to the travel map, it throws me back into the local map. This world is wild.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Eric Blank on August 18, 2020, 04:46:31 pm

I warned you about that town bro. We don't go to Swordgleamed. In fact it looks like you're in the exact same part of town I was, if you look at the shape of the hills/ramps;

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/lQZ3wv4.png)

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Glloyd on August 18, 2020, 05:16:07 pm

It is the exact same spot! I was thinking about your turn while I was going through that area. I had thought the bandit town was Scarletbronze, so I steered clear of it. I'll have to edit that part of my writeup, thanks for pointing that out.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Glloyd on August 19, 2020, 09:17:53 pm

Part 3

28th Obsidian

I continued my trek across the tundra north of the Tower. The weather has only gotten worse, and the thick fog enveloping the land makes it difficult to even distinguish between day and night. Just when I was wondering if I would ever be free of it, I saw a treeline in the distance. As I entered the forest, the fog began to melt away. Finally, I was out of the tundra, and from the treetops, I could see my destination in the distance. Well, destinations. Rising above the rest of the mountain range was the great peaks of the Point of Heroes, and the volcano, the Torch of Courtesies. I intended to climb both these mountains, which are estimated to be two of the tallest peaks in the world (OOC note: 3rd and 4th tallest, to be exact, standing at 276 tiles high each) From the peaks, I intend to document the basin of the Cosmos of Shows, and record my notes on the region for future scholars to impart upon the common man.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/2wjB1yJ.png)
The great peaks of the Point of Heroes and the Torch of Courtesies, rising above the clouds hanging over the Kindred Jungles

To the north of the tundra, I stumbled across another abandoned dwarven fortress. To the east of the entrance lay a few skeletons, half buried by the snow. One of the bodies seemed to have decomposed less than the others. Searching it revealed a backpack that contained a variety of items, including an overly ornate animal trap, and a bismuth bronze short sword of the highest quality:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/qZSjFdW.png)

In the bottom of the backpack was the head of a female dwarf, seemingly unaffected by decomposition despite all evidence indicating that these bodies had been here for years. Could this be the head of Cog the dwarven necromancer? That would make this the body of Th4DwArY1 Shieldtempests… Could he have been cursed in the same way that I am? Either way, whatever killed him must be close, and if it could kill someone with knowledge of the secrets of life and death, it was not something that I wanted to encounter. I grabbed the sword and the animal trap, and left the body of Th4DwArY1 Shieldtempests and the head of Cog behind in the snow. Hopefully Th4DwArY1 Shieldtempests was able to find the peace that evidently has eluded Cog.

Despite my intentions, as I was walking away from the bodies, I heard a noise coming from inside the abandoned fortress. Surely it wouldn’t hurt to take a peek? And I am glad I did, for when I ducked inside the towering entranceway to the fortress, I found one of Cog’s deranged experiments, shuffling about. As I approached it, it looked up at me and spoke out, greeting me, and telling me its name was Ishes Sebidola. The creature seemed lost and scared, so I took pity on it, and asked it to join me on my journey. It eagerly accepted my offer, and fell in line behind me.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/35aD8bY.png)

His presence here makes me wonder at Cog’s role in all of this. Could Cog be the reason that this fortress now lies abandoned? Perhaps, after trying to kill Cog, Th4DwArY1 Shieldtempests fled to the north, and was eventually tracked down by Cog’s minions. The true answers to all of these questions are likely lost to time, but perhaps some answers may lie in the depths of this fortress, which Ishes informs me is called “Palacework.” However, if they are there, I was not able to find them. Indeed, besides Ishes and some reanimated animal corpses (the work of Cog, I assume) Palacework seems largely void of both treasures and inhabitants; another dead hall of the dead race of the dwarves. I did take some copies of some unknown books along with me from the library, in addition to some writing equipment, to supplement the quires I bought at the start of my journey. Upon Ishes’ insistence that Palacework was in fact haunted, we left in somewhat of a hurry, leaving behind the many steel weapons in the armoury below.

29th Obsidian

Our journey continued to the west of Palacework. On our way to begin our ascent into the mountains, we found a medium-sized obsidian building in a clearing at the foot of the mountain range. To my surprise, we also found some humans and goblins milling around the outside of the building. They seemed friendly enough, despite my choice of companion, so we approached, and asked a human maceman about this strange site. After some brief questioning, he revealed that this site is called “Championvault” and is ruled by a group called “the Urns of Joining”, a dwarven group associated with the Walled Dye, the group that I had run into at the cave of Mischiefpit. This site seemed to be a far cry from that squalid cave, so I decided to investigate. What initially appeared to be one building was in fact two, the building to the west being slightly larger than the other.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/paKPBT4.png)

Looking north towards the two obsidian buildings of Championvault, in the snowy clearing at the foot of the mountains.

Inside Championvault is rather underwhelming. Contrary to the legends of underground cities paved with gold, Championvault seems to me to be a more settled version of Mischiefpit. Perhaps that is a bit too harsh. It’s more of an underground hamlet. Having to walk through a pile of corpses to get in the main entrance certainly did not endear me to this place.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/vrPuDzF.png)

On the first level are the farms, and some associated workshops. The second level has more workshops, storage, and the saddest excuse for a library I have ever seen. No books at all! Hardly deserving of being called a library. The levels below that contain the sleeping areas, along with numerous dead end hallways, unfinished rooms, and mining areas. If Championvault is truly a new settlement of the Walled Dye, it seems that the golden age of the dwarves is long behind them. If this is to be their future, hiding in dank caves until the end of time, one can’t help but feel sorry for them. However, perhaps the dwarves are not entirely to blame for the sorry state of Championvault. Indeed, I only saw a handful of dwarves in my time there. Most of the population seems to be comprised of goblins, and humans secondly. Quite strange indeed.

1st Granite, 727

After camping out near Championvault, we headed into the mountains. It may technically be spring, but here in the mountains it feels like the dead of winter. The snow is waist high in many places, and we are buffeted by the endless gales that lash snow across our faces. Even though I no longer truly feel temperature anymore, it is a thoroughly unpleasant experience. Ishes seems unbothered by it all however, and is the picture of a perfect travelling companion. She frequently fills me in on all sorts of current events. How she knows them, being stuck deep underground in Palacework is anyone’s guess. Having her along reminds me of Iral, and her untimely death. I can’t help but think how callous I was regarding her death. She may have wished for a glorious death, but no one deserves to die like that, ripped apart by a pack of dingoes in a desert far from home. In truth, I missed having a companion with me.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/VQUv0aO.png)

We stopped for the night, resting against a boulder. Ishes prepared a small campfire, and we relaxed and watched the stars. It was clear for the first time in a while, and we could see the full moon rising in the eastern sky. Another upside of not requiring sleep is that it allows me to appreciate the beauty of the cosmos so much more than before. For the first time since leaving Keyconjure, the voices of the dead are truly silent, and I can almost forget about the curse. All it took was walking off the edge of the world, into the great unknown, climbing peaks that no man, dwarf, or beast has ever climbed. Tomorrow, we continue.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/D1TD972.png)

2nd Granite

In the morning, the weather had returned to its previous state, and the tranquility of the previous night was replaced by a heavy snowfall.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/IRx3TMk.png)

The heavy cloud cover made it difficult to orient ourselves, and it took us a while to realize that we had been going the wrong way. While we had intended to climb the Point of Heroes first, before looping down to the Torch of Courtesies, we had somehow found ourselves to the south of the Torch of Courtesies. Once we had realized our mistake, we corrected course, and after descending into a river valley, we found ourselves at the base of the Torch of Courtesies. Above us was the most difficult climb yet, an almost vertical cliff. Although I was a competent climber, aided by my seemingly endless reserves of stamina, I found myself envious of Ishes’ wings. Wings or no wings, we reached the top in good time, right as the clouds began the clear.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/x8YyvxW.png)

Up here, the stench of sulfur was strong, and thick black smoke choked the air. I could hear the magma pool hissing and popping below. Despite our achievement, we took little time to revel in it, and quickly moved on, pushing northwards towards the Point of Heroes. Moving downwards, I passed the body of an owl Ishes had killed earlier. Somehow we had walked right by the Torch of Courtesies while enveloped in fog.

With the snow no longer falling, and the sun out, we made great time, and later that afternoon, we found ourselves cresting the summit of the Point of Heroes.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/9SQAkNf.png)

I pulled myself up the last ledge, Ishes flying behind, and was greeted by one of the most magnificent sights I have seen in my life. Looking south from the summit I could see the tundra below, and the top of Cog’s tower, barely visible in the dense fog that still hung over the area. Beyond that was the Cosmos of Shows and the surrounding jungle, the dense tree cover obscuring the places I had visited on my journey here: Mischiefpits, the unknown structure where I lost my finger, and of course, Keyconjure. And at the end of it all was the Sea of Blades, stretching off into the horizon. Somewhere near the east shore was my old home of Strifefularmor. Although it has scarcely been a month since I first set out on this journey, it feels as though a lifetime has passed. And, in some ways, it has. Even if I had wanted to return to my old life, a humble city doctor with a passion for enlightening the common man, I would not be able to. Even my old goal of travelling the world and sharing the knowledge of my journey with the masses seems insignificant now. The thoughts from before danced around in my head. Is it the fate of the searcher of knowledge to end up as I have? Or as Cog has? To lose your humanity and live out the rest of your days watching the world die around you?

---

And yet… Sitting at the top of the Point of Heroes, reflecting on the journey that has led me to this point, I feel free. More free than I have ever felt, even before I was cursed at Keyconjure. Perhaps I am not doomed to end up like Cog, trapped alone in a tower, waiting out the end of the world by toying with the lives of others; innocent beings like Ishes. There are many like Ishes who are just looking for someone to help them find a new life. There are many like Iral, who are just looking for adventure, to explore the farthest corners of the world. And there are many like my old self, looking to learn about this world and share that knowledge with others. All of these people deserve their chance at life. The world is not over because I have been cursed, and the Ishes, Irals, and Glloyds of the world will need all the help they can get if they are to make it, and to avoid my mistakes.

After taking some time to rest and draw the landscape before me, I set off with renewed vigor. First, back to the Realm of Silver. From there, I would head across the tundra into the north, following the path of the Purged Loot to the lands where goblins and humans waged constant war with eachother.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/LcE6A2N.png)

6th Granite

We made good time heading down from the mountains, and before we knew it, we were standing by the banks of the Purged Loot, where the great river meets the Sea of Blades. Looking south, we could see the Teeth of Defense rising above the horizon. Located a short distance to the northwest of my old home of Strifefularmor, the Teeth of Defense was the first mountain I had ever climbed, when I was a young man. The view from above looks out over the Realm of Silver and the Sea of Blades, as the mountain stands alone on the lowlands that surround the Sea of Blades.

7th Granite

Following the Purged Loot north, we encountered another shadow creature, who ran out from a nearby hillock brandishing a copper carving fork, and attacked us with vigor.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/HqXwwdv.png)

Between Ishes and I, it didn’t stand much of a chance, and before long, the fight was over.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/MvFwBGu.png)

8th Granite

While passing through a seemingly abandoned hamlet along the banks of the Purged Loot, we were attacked by bandits. Even before the Great Plague, the north of the Realm of Silver has been infested by bandit groups. With the depopulation of towns following the plagues of the last two decades, the bandits seem to be the only ones left.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/LOSGewE.png)

Despite outnumbering us, we were able to take them out with relative ease, although Ishes is certainly worse for the wear.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/31Kz6P0.png)

The leader of the bandits had a steel helm sized for humans, a rare prize indeed. I left my damaged copper helm lying in the field with the bodies of the bandits, and we continued on our way.

9th Granite

We stopped briefly in the great trading city of Scarletbronze, itself an interesting enigma. Its position near the edge of the tundra makes it one of the first stops for anyone entering or leaving the Realm of Silver. However, it is dominated criminal organizations, all trying to get a piece of the trade that flows through here.

To the east of Scarletbronze is another great city of the Realm of Silver, Streammartyred. Streammartyred is dominated by the leather industry, but in recent years the explosion of the cat population has created a lot of issues, especially for the local birds. However, as we approached, we noticed that the city was surrounded by tents. At first, I thought Streammartyred to be under siege by some unknown army. However, once entering one of the camps, we found that they were in fact refugee encampments, filled to the brim with outcasts from all walks of life.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/F0mdUHm.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/izRMfMO.png)

(OOC note: To anyone wanting to check out these camps in a future game, be warned that trying to (d) stop at or near some of them, or walk into them from the local map would immediately crash my game. Upon looking at legends viewer, and taking a walk through the town, I think that the entire population of this [very large] city might be camping outside of it for some reason.)

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/rem0Lso.png)

The refugees seemed friendly enough, but none of them would tell us where they came from and why. Due to the relative peace of the Realm of Silver, I believe that many of them may have fled from the north, where massive goblin armies are a constant threat to any settlement. Regardless, we continued onwards, following the course of the Purged Loot. Along our way, we encountered two more shadow creatures, which we were able to beat with little trouble, although one did get a good cut in on my hand, leaving me with a nasty scar. Perhaps I should invest in gauntlets one of these days.

10th Granite

Approaching the tundra, we passed the town of Swordgleamed. Little more than a castle with a market, Swordgleamed is ruled by a large group of bandits. Merchants coming to the Realm of Silver know to stick to the west bank of the Purged Loot, as the east bank is dominated by bandits, especially in the area around Swordgleamed. Indeed, even passing through the outskirts of Swordgleamed brought us into contact with a large bandit group.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/B5HpqMA.png)

They didn’t seem to be immediately hostile, which allowed us to get out of there, but I would not recommend any future travelers pass through Swordgleamed. (OOC note: Not least because the FPS on the local map is unplayable)

19th Granite

After passing by Swordgleamed, we followed the Purged Loot north into the tundra. Like the tundra in the north of the Cosmos of Shows river basin, the tundra along the path of the Purged Loot was covered in a thick blanket of fog. It has been a month since I was cursed in the halls of Keyconjure, and yet, since I left the Point of Heroes, time has seemed to fly by. The weight on my shoulders has been lifted, and I even find myself joking and laughing with Ishes as we pass through the tundra, despite the bleak weather. For now, things are looking up.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/K9DeFNa.png)

(OOC: I'll post the save later tonight, and probably post part 4 tomorrow. I obviously don't have time for a fortress, but I did have time to put something together with my adventurer, which you'll see in part 4)

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: TheFlame52 on August 20, 2020, 03:34:35 pm

I think those refugees have been hanging around since before my turn, even. I remember some of those large, abandoned cities, and I specifically remember the bridge in Streammartyred.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Glloyd on August 20, 2020, 10:53:48 pm

23rd Granite

Our journey across the tundra was largely uneventful, outside of three night creature encounters. The first did cause a bit of trouble, breaking one of my fingers and cutting my head open with a carving knife. While I was down, the creature managed to bite off Ishes’ hand. However, we were able to take care of it, and the other two night creatures fell without any issue. As we moved out of the tundra, we crossed the Purged Loot in order to avoid the goblin pits that lie along much of the path of the Purged Loot in this part of the world.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/VkUZyGW.png)

Of course, in this part of the world it is almost impossible to avoid being attacked by goblins.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/wVVtrAY.png)

Ishes and I were able to deal with these frequent goblin attacks, but not without suffering some minor injuries. Both of us now have more scars than we’d care to mention, although Ishes has certainly taken the worst of it.

25th Granite

The legacy of the goblin expansion is clearly evident here, and the difference between the Realm of Silver (spared goblin attacks by the buffer of tundra between north and south) and the human lands in the river basin of the Purged Loot are night and day. While the Realm of Silver is full of bustling villages and sprawling metropolises, these lands are full of abandoned or destroyed villages, monuments to the destruction wrought by the goblins, and in times long since passed, the dwarves. Even the cities in this area are dead husks of their former selves. Long abandoned marketplaces are surrounded by shattered remnants of old buildings, setting a grim tone for our journeys.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/5k86e6m.png)

In the ruins of one of one of these abandoned cities, I found an old book called Against the City. Despite the uninspiring prose, I decided to take it along with me. Our first destination on this journey is the town of Divedact, home to one of the few great libraries of the world. There, I intend to take some time to read and reflect upon my travels, and my next steps. I have also amassed quite a collection of books on my journey, so perhaps Divedact would be a good place to donate them, in order to pass their knowledge along to others like me.

27th Granite

We were attacked by a grizzly bear today, and after defeating the beast, we decided to rest for a while at a nearby structure we saw on the edge of the forest. To our surprise, there were two other humans resting there as well. They gave their names as Amsir Phrasejoked and Slenshi Saviormutes,

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/7DeCKzn.png)

Apparantly, they had come here from the Realm of Silver as well just over two decades ago, accompanying a human by the name of Doñas Silenttowers the Ominous Hoary Zenith. Apparantly, Doñas had also explored Keyconjure. It had seemed as if someone else had been there before me, although there was still plenty of treasure left in the ruins. Regardless, Doñas had also travelled across the tundra, seeking a place called Boltspumpkin. As Amsir and Slenshi informed me, Boltspumpkin is a museum run by a goblin named Ngokang, that has been soliciting donations from adventurers for the last 25 years or so. However, Donas never reached Boltspumpkin. He died at the shrine here while fighting a titan. Although he managed to kill the titan, he bled out shortly afterwards. Amsir and Slenshi continued his journey to Boltspumpkin, and settled in a town nearby, where they soon got married. Every now and again, they return to the shrine to pray and commemorate the death of Doñas, and I was lucky enough to run into them on one of those occasions.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/nfQO7vT.png)

We spent a short time resting at the shrine with Amsir and Slenshi. They have agreed to take us to Boltspumpkin, so we will set out in the morning. Some of Doñas’s items remained at the shrine, and Amsir and Slenshi did not object to me taking them. These included another book to add to my collection, and also a rather ornate bone bracelet and a fancy opal earring, which I decided to wear.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/iGoTV3e.png)

Although I had planned to head to Divedact, I believe Boltspumpkin might be what I’ve been looking for. I can donate my books there, and set up a camp nearby as a refuge for the adventurers that frequently pass through Boltspumpkin. I’m sure many adventurers who were seeking Boltspumpkin have met the fate of Doñas, dying in the wilderness with only their travelling companions to remember them by. If I truly want to help the wayward adventurers of this world, that seems like the place to go.

---

Intermission:

A bump outside startled the goblin monk out of his slumber. Suddenly, the door burst open, and in stormed a young human adventurer wearing mismatched armour and sporting numerous scars across his face and arms. Flying behind his right shoulder was some sort of malformed creature that appeared to be covered in scars and missing one of its hands. Behind the adventurer were two elderly, heavily armed humans that looked vaguely familiar. The goblin monk sighed and stood up. “Welcome to Boltspumpkin, may Uquud the Bones of Drool watch over you. I’m assuming you’re here to donate something to our lovely museum?” Despite the odd group that stood before him, this was just another day at Boltspumpkin.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/FjtUcI6.png)

---

1st Slate

We reached the museum in good time, and met with the goblins that live there. They showed us around, and seemed interested in some of the books and artifacts I had with me. However, I decided not to donate anything right away. While travelling with Amsir and Slenshi, I told them about my plan to establish a camp near Boltspumpkin, and they agreed to help. Although their adventuring days were long behind them, they agreed that if future adventurers had a place where they could prepare properly for their museum-related expeditions, they might be able to avoid the tragic fate of Doñas and others like him. We found a good spot down the hill from Boltspumpkin by a small stream, and set up camp there for the night. Tomorrow, we begin construction of what I’ve decided to call “The Shelter of Adventures”.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/OyAoyVx.png)

7th Hematite

It has been a long time since I last wrote in this journal. The past few months just seemed to fly by. We have made great progress on the Shelter of Adventures, and I think I’m prepared to call it complete.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/4R5fuLe.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/kGgx7Li.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/b4jddTX.png)

More a fort than a camp, the Shelter of Adventures boasts a full tavern/inn, along with a number of cabins for adventurers to settle in. Amsir and Slenshi have already claimed one of the larger ones, and I’ve settled into a larger house we just finished building, while Ishes has decided to tend the bar. The Shelter of Adventures also has an armoury/warehouse, which is stocked full of gear to help any budding adventurer, be they dwarf or human. It also contains a number of gems that I picked up on my journey, to allow for adventurers to buy supplies wherever they may go. I’m quite proud of what we’ve accomplished. It has felt good working with my hands to create something like this, and I’ve become something of a talented carpenter during these last few months.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/rclBWfi.png)

I’ve also taken the time to write a number of books myself, with the blank quires that I carried along with me on my journeys. Indeed, I wrote about all sorts of topics, ranging from my own journey:

(https://i.imgur.com/n97fSCt.png)

to the history of Orid Xem:

(https://i.imgur.com/esk22FX.png)

And even a full 7 chapter book on the founding of the Shelter of Adventures, and its purpose in this world:

(https://i.imgur.com/Ivh9ouX.png)

I plan to remain here at the Shelter, to help any adventurers passing through get a leg up in their journey. However, this shall be my last entry. I have decided to finally make my contribution to the museum, in the form of this journal, and a backpack containing my entire personal library, including the books that I wrote myself.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/UE0dwoW.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/3sTkPMg.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/LDEHHyQ.png)

I have also included my journal in my donation to the museum. I hope that it serves future adventurers well. For posterity, I have included a rough map tracing the path of my journey.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/SPhnOYq.png)

 I’ve come a long way during my journeys, but as I sit in the tavern writing this entry, I can’t help but to look forward to what the future may hold for me. After some well-deserved rest of course.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/nQLwrYG.png)

---

OOC: Sorry about the short delay on this. My official donation to the museum is my collection of books, which includes: 7 legendary books, 13 copies of legendary books, 20 books written by me, and 1 malachite bound codex that contains an untitled legendary letter.
My “unofficial” donation to the museum is the Shelter of Adventures, which is intended to be a starting or stopping point for any future museum adventurers. It’s located on the same world map tile as Boltspumpkin, a little bit to the right of it on the adventurer travel map, to the left of the road there. You’ll see it if you are heading to Boltspumpkin. The warehouse (shown in the bottom left of the images) is full of all sorts of gear that would be useful to an adventurer, even if it is just to be sold. All I ask is that if you take something, try to restock the Shelter with any leftovers that you have at the end of your adventure, if you survive. Good luck out there!

Edit: I realized I deleted the old message when I first updated this. Not sure what was in it, but for future reference the save is here: https://dffd.bay12games.com/file.php?id=15180

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Eric Blank on August 21, 2020, 02:04:08 pm

I'll download it tonight. Just checked, didn't realize it was my turn next

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Bralbaard on August 21, 2020, 02:33:24 pm

Good to know you've picked it up. I will be offline for most of next week, I'll update whatever needs updating when I return. 

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Eric Blank on August 22, 2020, 05:55:00 pm

I've completed my adventure it went about as well as one can guess from the short timeframe. This is a very hazardous game.

I'll upload images and post it in a while

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Glloyd on August 22, 2020, 07:37:03 pm

Oof, that's too bad. See, the key is finding mooks to take the hits for you. I felt bad for Iral and Ishes through my journey. Speaking of, I still need to post my final update + my museum contribution.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Quantum Drop on August 23, 2020, 01:34:19 pm

Quote from: Glloyd on August 22, 2020, 07:37:03 pm

Oof, that's too bad. See, the key is finding mooks to take the hits for you. I felt bad for Iral and Ishes through my journey. Speaking of, I still need to post my final update + my museum contribution.

Mooks aren't too bad, admittedly, but the five Ds are pretty critical too. Sorry to hear that you bit it that quickly, though, Eric.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Eric Blank on August 23, 2020, 01:57:57 pm

Here We Go!

Spoiler: The Tale of Tipi Fatewalks (click to show/hide)

In the year 446 a special child was born in the wilds to a dying elven maiden, and brought to civilization by a kangaroo doe. Her name was Tipi, and she was destined to change the world, if only little by little.

Tipi grew up in the small elven retreat of Whimlobster, where she played and laughed with all the other elven children in their gardens, learning from her caretakers and beasts alike. In time she grew to become something of a creator, taking on every aspect of crafting, even those spurned by her kin; Cutting bone and leather. Burning dead wood to make glass and pottery. All to trade with and learn from the humans of Ashenglistened. For this sin, she was abandoned by Cacame, and left to the winds of Fate. Eventually she grew bored, and turned to poetry and music. But on one fateful day, the 21st Hematite in the year 727, she could no longer be content in her little tree. She Begged the poet, Evala Eliyeamo, to let her join Evala on her tours, and was put to the test. She recited, sang and played her instruments for hours. But after all her heart, Tipi lacked practice, and she was refused, for the final time.

(https://i.imgur.com/raYtCaq.png)

Tipi abandoned her home, and wandered west into the abandoned retreat of Shothoof, and found again a shrine to Ala, the human god of balance, blight and death. She remembered once a sermon she had observed in the humans' monasteries, where change, and death, was necessary to keep the world from cascading into eternal torment for lack of rest, overcrowding, and constant suffering. The humans believed they must be mortal, must die, for the world to function. Ala embodied this belief, and though sometimes he would kill their crops to thin them, he protected them in the afterlife.

(https://i.imgur.com/2r9EkYw.png)

Tipi walked south along the road into Ashenglistened, where she hoped to meet the usual farmers and herders and traders, but met noone. Only the lone statue of Snamoz, the Holy Calm who presided over the shrine here.

(https://i.imgur.com/uLqdI4K.png)

It was noon, so perhaps the humans had returned to their cabins to eat their meals. Tipi stopped by the stream, swam for an hour, drank and ate of her stash of persimmons. Still, noone returned to the fields. Which were barren. Humans had to sow their crops to survive. Something was very wrong.

Tipi jogged into town. Noone was at the well, nor the shrine, nor wandering the streets. It was as if they had all vanished. "How long have I been gone? A decade or two? They were fine then. Everyone was happy, and healthy, and well-fed." Tipi began to frantically search houses, but they were all empty, until she came upon the beast.

(https://i.imgur.com/zQMoYqR.png)

It was rushing to the door itself when she opened it, and immediately swung at her. She quickly backpedaled and ran around the corner and into one of the cabins, where she hid until she was sure it had left. This, then, was the state of the humans' affairs. She passed the shrine to Ala again, and begged for his mercy upon her one-time friends, but was only given an omen of doom.

(https://i.imgur.com/j97MOnY.png)

Tipi fled the village proper to the "mead hall" as the humans called it, and was greeted with a familiar face

(https://i.imgur.com/YjT9maN.png)

Snamoz was alive and well. Somewhat. "The human nature is to wither and die, Tipi," Snamoz explained, "there is nothing you nor I can do to change that. It is Ala's will. The people left, because of his will. Now, only I, the beast, and the bandit 'warlord' who claims this as his hamlet remain."

"What bandit warlord?" Tipi implored, but the holy woman only pointed around the corner further into the keep. There a wicked-looking goblin awaited her. Immediately after she had said hello, the warlord demanded she identify herself, then went into a frenzy saying she wasnt welcome here, and ran out of the keep. "I pray the beast finds him, I really do. His suffering would be so much less if his mind were healed in the afterlife, instead of slowly wasting away here," remarked Snamoz. Tipi spent the night, under Snamoz' protection. In the morning, she left, Snamoz shouting to her back, "Go to Championvault, in the Kindled Jungles far to the south. Seek the council of the dwarven deities, if you seek a new way in the world and the peace that evades you. Find Peace."

The monasteries outside Ashenglistened were abandoned to the wilds. The castle Icyclaps was inhabited by nothing but a single human man claiming to be a leader. Of what, he would not say. The city of Burnedmurdered contained nothing but religious leaders and empty, crumbling buildings. The hamlets of Beakwhip, Siegeskinned, and Rhymedinks were all empty of townsfolk. Rhymedinks only contained a collection of goblins, a single dwarf and a hideous experiement created by the evil human necromancers, all claiming to be religious figureheads. All that were left were the holders of these now-meaningless titles and wandering night creatures. The age of humans had passed just as surely as the age of dwarves had. Just as the elven retreats contained scant few survivors of the brutal wars and plagues.

Regardless, Tipi played and sang and spoke to them all. Some attacked her, viciously claiming she was an unwelcome intruder. But she never lifted a finger against them. But rumors abound, of a dwarven city on the far away isle in the middle of the Peaceful Waters. This place, surely, would seethe with delight at the sound of her music. There were many terrible night creatures prowling the woods, some of which stalked her for miles. At the castle of Muffinspecial, Tipi found a band of human civilians, living under the guidance of the baroness Bisan Showdays. There she stayed the night and played for the people. There was also a yak bull in the keep with a bag of beans tied around its neck.

(https://i.imgur.com/pGke7V6.png)

Tipi visited a volcano.

(https://i.imgur.com/0uePJ4Z.png)

It was such a beautiful, deadly sight, but alas, volcanoes do not care for music. So she climbed down the mountain and swam many miles along the rivers until she reached the coast. Sometimes she would encounter dead fish, so she butchered them and made figurines of their bones.

(https://i.imgur.com/Y7C0W28.png)

Tipi reached the beach at nightfall, and spent the night at the edge of the wood, admiring the cool breeze, light rain, and warm ocean spray. At dawn she crosed the channel to The Bridled Jungles. The waters were warm and the currents slow, and she made good time. Once on the other side, Tipi set out to explore the island.

(https://i.imgur.com/nRDGA7q.png)

Soon, at the foot of the mountains in the middle of the island, she found a cave, and ventured inside. The cave was pitch-black, and even with the "torch" the humans taught her to make, Tipi could see little besides streaks of gold in the walls. This was the natural form of the metal, she had been told; deep-sunk fingers in the rock, that the humans would carve out and melt and press into their coins. Deeper still the rocks changed and the gold disappeared. Far, far down, she encountered a tiny goblin-like creature with great teeth, and at first they both were struck by terror at their encounter.

"I'm sorry!" Tipi cried, "Don't be mad!"

"Don't eat me! Malvo help!" cried the tiny man.

"I wont I swear! I'm only a bard! I came looking for the dwarves, to play music for them. Do you know where they are?"

"No! There are no dwarves here, though they taught our people to speak. We are only gremlins, only four, here. I am Gerry. The caverns we shared with them, but the dwarves are long gone. Deem says their halls are all empty now, and their farms feed only cavern-travellers like us. The other gremlins have not seen them either, in many generations, only the monsters from the terror below the caverns which the dwarves found."

Tipi thought for a moment. There must be dwarves somewhere, maybe this was the wrong island, the wrong cave, but the people she'd met talked about dwarves building sites in the last two decades. "They must be somewhere, the humans said they saw them themselves, travelling to new halls they were building, and humans only live for a short time, shorter than dwarves, so they must be somewhere. But do you want to hear my music? It is very good."

The gremlin agreed, and Tipi played him "And She Sang 'Greed,'" and Gerry joined, whistling after a few verses. "You're very good, Gerry, will you join me to play with the dwarves?" Tipi asked. And he did, for Gerry had never himself seen a dwarf, or an elf or a human or a goblin. He had only heard Deem's tales.

(https://i.imgur.com/edqHGa0.png)

Gerry introduced Tipi to the other two gremlins present, Malvo and Ferra. Deem was out hunting. The others didn't join the trek to find the dwarves. They stayed and Tipi played some songs, and recited some poems, and shared her persimmons, but soon moved on. The climb back out of the cave was tiring, and Gerry was at first apprehensive to be out under the sun in the trees. Tipi led him across the river north and taught him to swim. "We gremlins avoid the water," he said, "there are many terrible beasts in it." The stream though was devoid of even the usual fish, and so Tipi assured him it was safe. They climbed the mountains, to the peak of the Summit of Clouting, the volcano there, where no elf, nor apparently gremlin, had ever stood before.

They then proceeded to the coast. But alas, Gerry forgot his swimming lessons, and despite all of Tipi's attempts to pull him from the surf, he was sucked under and drowned. So ended the Tale of Gerry. And though Tipi wept, she knew there was no reason to stay. The swim across the channel to the northern island, where the dwarves must be, took most of the day. The forest there, were dark and creeping with night creatures. There was, there, a lair of one such monster, and a shrine to one of the great titans of the world. The lair was empty. Perhaps abandoned, perhaps the inhabitant was out stalking the woods. The shrine, Tipi slowly approached to see the beast for herself. But it lay dead, blood pooled around it though it was nothing but bones, with the long-rotted skeleton of a human nearby. Someone had been here, and slain the titan.

(https://i.imgur.com/DgnHP9c.png)

Not far to the north-west, Tipi sensed another disturbance in the forest. This was where the dwarves resided. Resided in the past tense, as noone was there to greet her but a lone, fat donkey and a cat. Nothing but skeletons, stray tools and logs littered the ground, until she came upon one last survivor. Or monster?

(https://i.imgur.com/fSUHAhL.png)

Tipi fled, but despite all her strength and power, could not outrun the husk of a dwarf.

(https://i.imgur.com/0foiaKW.png)

Tipi's curiosity and desire to satisfy her pride the with admiration of onlookers was her undoing.

That, and probably not being able to actually use the sword she took from the humans.

0 kills, zero practice, didn't even get to swing that sword before Husky McHuskface broke my wrist. This was all a terrible mistake

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Luckyowl on August 23, 2020, 03:35:16 pm

Well...at least she got to see a dwarf, granted a dead one with unworldly power, but a dwarf nonetheless :D. I did enjoy your encounter with Gerry, it's a shame he got killed in his first few days on the surface.  :'(

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Quantum Drop on August 27, 2020, 01:42:06 pm

Th4dwArfY1 (I think it's his turn), how're things going?

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Glloyd on August 27, 2020, 01:49:25 pm

i think it's still Eric. He never posted a save, so I assume he's making a fort.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Quantum Drop on August 27, 2020, 02:40:42 pm

Oh, my bad, then. Now I feel rather foolish.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Imic on August 27, 2020, 06:10:27 pm

I know the feeling all too well. Don’t worry about it.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Eric Blank on August 27, 2020, 11:33:21 pm

Yeah, forts loads of fun. Will upload tomorrow

Here's the file

https://dffd.bay12games.com/file.php?id=15190

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Bralbaard on August 29, 2020, 12:19:52 pm

Quote from: Eric Blank on August 27, 2020, 11:33:21 pm

Yeah, forts loads of fun. Will upload tomorrow

Here's the file

https://dffd.bay12games.com/file.php?id=15190

I've send Th4dwarfy1 a pm, and I've updated the turn list.
Tell me if I missed anything, or if you want to be added for a new turn.

I'm not sure what Eric has been up to during the fortress building phase. There is no new fortress, but time has progressed significantly. Please give me a hint if the location should be added to the world map, if not, it can remain a mystery.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Glloyd on August 29, 2020, 01:17:50 pm

I've been away this last week, but I do still need to post my final update, which includes my contribution to the museum, and also the creation of our first adventure mode site. I'll try to post that tomorrow or monday.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Bralbaard on August 31, 2020, 10:17:11 am

I'm looking forward to the final chapter, Glloyd.

Also, Eric clarified that he reclaimed Championvault during his turn. Quite a number of years have passed during this attempt, so the site may now be very different from what Glloyd reported. 

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: TD1 on September 03, 2020, 03:14:15 pm

Oh, damnation. I completely forgot this - my sincere apologies. Downloading now.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: TD1 on September 08, 2020, 12:02:02 pm

My name is Tirist. I am Dams-elf-ly. My chitin is blue, my eyes black. The dwarves say they look like coals. Deep, dark. But full of hidden fire.
I don’t know about that. I am Tirist.
The Dwarves are good to me. Even though I am dams-elf-ly, still they look after me. I respect their laws though their traditions shock and scare me. Once I saw a dwarf stop in battle to revere ‘the sock’. Another time, the dwarves danced in the tavern in circles. Around and around.
I am Tirist. I am leaving the Dwarves. Despite the sadness, it is time I learned to grow up. So I find the captain of the guard. A stern dwarf. And ask him where adventure may lead.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/3IoP35d.png)

I open my mouth. Nothing comes out. Here? My friends are in danger? My mouth closes.
I am Tirist. And the dwarves need my help.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/pm4Kqwn.png)

I pass the mayor and bzzzz my wings in greeting. He nods back, continuing to talk to the baron consort. He took me in when young. Gave me place. Even though I am dams-elf-ly.
It was inevitable. The army? Me leaving? They are gone before I can ask.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/YCS9PVc.png)

I leave the fortress. The sun is bright. I expect pain, but feel none. My wings bzzz in the shifting breeze. I like the feeling. The sky. So wide. Inviting. I spread my wings and fly.

I almost forget my task. Look for army. Defend my friends.
I find nothing. A nearby settlement might give answers.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/MxWvhQG.png)

Terrain is difficult. I am Tirist. I will fly.
Many trenches underfoot. The villagers must also fly. This makes me happy.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/s5GEFui.png)

I land on tower. Then go down. Deeper. Deeper…. Finally, I find someone. New friend?

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/X8QOazM.png)

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/Mf90Lwe.png)

I look at the darkness and blink. I have lived in darkness. With my friends. But… I understand. Sun is nice. Gold and warm. Wind under wings, sky above. I smile and nod. “Yes, dark.”


XXXX

So I've finished my turn. The main limiting factor here is how long it's taking to format the images. Bear with.
https://dffd.bay12games.com/file.php?id=15195
Also, sign me up again please!

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Tasoth on September 08, 2020, 05:08:32 pm

Here goes nothing!

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

15th of Galena, 733

My name is Erush Mörulvel, and I am writing this logbook as a recollection of my journey or, should the worst come to pass, a way for whoever finds my corpse to know how I came to be in this state.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/aXFvlpe.png)

I am in the mountainhome of Clawmanor, once a ruin, now a living fort once more, for now anyhow. Between the creatures which dwell below our feet and the creatures that roam the countryside up above, our numbers have dwindled to just a few dozen. Despite this, we live on in defiance of them all. Earlier today, our Expedition Leader, Dastot Athelnoram, summoned me to meet with him in an area of the fortress away from the others.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/wH6B4Hg.png)

(https://i.imgur.com/J0ey8z4.png)

There he told me he’s heard rumors of a mighty Dwarven fortress to the south, known only as Championvault. He claimed that hundreds upon hundreds of our kindred live there, and that what scant few travelers we’ve had pass through our home may know of its location. He mentioned that through them he’d learned of a Dwarf by the name of Lokum Pulleyspire who resides in Championvault, and he seeks the return of several codices which were stolen from The Deep Vault. One such Codex is entitled Waxing and Waning and the Universe; it is claimed that it has been stored in The Palace of Brains, in Divedact. He ordered me to establish contact with Championvault that they might send migrants to assist our cause, and that along the way I try to recover the codex this Lokum Pulleyspire seeks.

I went to my quarters and gathered my things: a set of clothes, a waterskin, my travel pack, and my trusty copper crossbow. I’ve been hunting with this weapon for years, and never once has it let me down. Along with my own belongings, the Expedition Leader was gracious enough to gift me some armor. Unfortunately, said armor is composed of only a battered copper breastplate and a heavily-dented copper helm, deemed no longer fit for service by the militia. Ah well, beggars cannot be choosers.
As I went to ascend the Grand Staircase to the surface I was stopped by Nish Nêcikrakust, a miner and lifelong friend. Nish said she’d heard of where I was going, that she was coming with me, and nothing I said would change that. Together we went up to the barracks and mounted the two horses (named Kogan and Tulon) that had been prepared for us. The Militia Commander told us that the safest way south would be to take the Underway south through the ruins of several long-abandoned forts. While the prospect of traveling through unmapped ruins was far from appealing, it beats trying to contend with the known threats on the surface.

With that, we set off into the Underway. I shall write another entry when we stop to rest.


16th of Galena, 733

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/mNIl7Ab.png)

Luckily the commander had been correct. We found a stairwell leading up to the surface, which housed a seemingly abandoned Trade Depot and Tavern, where we rested overnight. I am no stranger to the surface but Nish, having spent most of her days chipping away deep in the bowels of the Earth, took a bit to adjust. While she was busy attempting not to expel last night’s dinner, I picked over the Trade Depot for anything that might help us, picking out what food hadn’t rotted.

A few hours’ travel to the south we discovered a Dwarven hillocks by the name of Bolthanded. The white sand which surrounded the site fascinated me; it was so different compared to the snow-capped mountains of the north. The hillocks were in shambles, seemingly abandoned for some time. Unperturbed, we continued on our way south.

Further south we came upon a Monastery of some sort, which based on the Stone Carved sign was named "Postdweller”. It was full of creepy statues, many of which depicted Dwarves being turned into frightening creatures with monstrous fangs or ghoulish, animal-like horrors by The Mine of Ambers; a sobering reminder not to incur the wrath of the divine.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/TdA6aAJ.png)

Despite there being no one else present, I got the feeling we shouldn’t stay long, and we left soon after.

Further south we reached our first major obstacle. In order to continue, we must pass over a small mountain range. Going around is out of the question, as to the west we spy a tall stone tower; with our gear we wouldn’t stand a chance against the creatures that may lurk within. With luck, we shall be over the mountain before nightfall.


17th of Galena, 733

While it took a bit longer than expected to cross the mountain, we’ve had some luck. Early in the morning we came across what appears to be a lair of sorts. Nish insisted we ought to leave it be and continue onwards, but the promise of treasure proved too great for me. I dismounted Kogan outside, and snuck slowly into the warren.
Inside I saw a frail yet large creature, which looked to me like a combination of man and jackal. Not wanting to take any risks, I loaded my crossbow and fired at the creature before it had noticed me.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/bRIKyCY.png)

The bolt struck the beast in the right upper leg, and as it toppled over it suddenly transformed into a bedraggled looking Dwarf! Before I could load another arrow Kogan charged in, having heard the scuffle from outside. Dashing in, the horse bowled the peasant over, before crushing its head with his hooves. To my disappointment, there appeared to be nothing else in the place; this…werejackal had carved out a hole in the ground to hide in, a hole which was now its tomb. Ah well, that’s one less village with terrorized livestock at least.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/ZWsycwb.png)

We happened upon another ruined fort just a bit south of the beast man’s lair. Or rather, it seemed abandoned. Curiously, a host of goblins had taken to living within the fort. While they weren’t looking I grabbed some food, an iron spear, a set of iron armor, and this nifty trollbone crown…It’s not like it belonged to them anyhow.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/1oNKd46.png)

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Eric Blank on September 08, 2020, 07:20:55 pm

It is amazing how much you're capable of changing about the world already, but resurrecting a nearly dead civ is still a monumental challenge. Killing a goblin civ is too. But somehow wiping out a significant portion of the human population was an accident.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Imic on September 08, 2020, 07:30:26 pm

It’s much easier and faster to tear something down than to build it once you have the right tools. If you play your cards right, gravity does most of the work anyway.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Bralbaard on September 09, 2020, 01:31:23 am

On the topic of accidental genocides. It appears that populations in recent years have been relatively stable, compared to the horrors of the third age of legends:

(https://i.imgur.com/8Be8jIF.gif)

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Eric Blank on September 11, 2020, 02:51:31 pm

So the dwarf population at least has been on a mostly upward trend. That's good to see.

Where the hell is that kobold!?

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Quantum Drop on September 11, 2020, 03:51:25 pm

That... is honestly a good question. Maybe it stole everyone's in-game awareness of it?

Perhaps that could actually be something of a submission to the Museum for a weaker (and lucky) adventurer, as the skull/body/whatever of the last Kobold to live in Orid Xem?

More seriously, it's good to see the Dwarves are on something of an upwards trend. Should provide plenty of fodder for new fortresses, if nothing else. I also see the pointy-eared leaf-lovers are on the rise, so the forts won't be running out of firewood anytime soon.  :P

That said: what's with the sudden drop in the Gobbo population after 31-12-23 on the top graph? Not as big as the accidental genocides, but it's still, what, a few thousand?

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: TheFlame52 on September 11, 2020, 04:35:23 pm

Maybe someone waded through a dark fortress? Or sent a squad to do the same in fort mode?

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Tasoth on September 15, 2020, 02:11:07 pm

PART 2 INCOMING

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/CjZ6Vkc.png)

(https://i.imgur.com/a8cIzXi.png)

What luck! At the human-owned castle Strengthpears I met a swordsman who told me where to find Divedact. Ironically, it’s back north, where I had just come from. Unfortunately, it is VERY close the same Tower I had been attempting to avoid yesterday. I suppose life can’t be easy. I stopped in a seemingly-abandoned hamlet to rest overnight before heading into Divedact proper.


18th of Galena, 733

We finally arrived in Divedact, now we just have to find The Palace of Brains. The streets are empty and lifeless. This is unsurprising, given the place’s proximity to that damnable tower.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/blZd9Dk.png)

(https://i.imgur.com/klv7D3j.png)

This looks like the place!
Despite its morbid name, The Palace of Brains seems to be but an abandoned library; one absolutely stuffed with tomes and scrolls at that! It will take a while to sift through all of these tomes for the specific one Lokum wants, but I may as well take some of the others too. By the beard, there are floors upon floors of books here! This may take some time…
After several hours of searching among the books strewn about the various floors I finally found it! On the third floor of the library, resting amongst a pile of similarly dusty books sat Waxing and Waning and the Universe. As I placed the book in my backpack, I took another look around the library. These books hold so much knowledge in them, from the patterns and colors of various stars, to the understanding of various animal anatomies, and even theories on the nature of weather and the world itself. These books shouldn’t be rotting in some forgotten library! They should be safe in the vaults of a fortress, cared for and studied by astute minds… minds perhaps like the ones in Championvault. I must gather as many as I can, and remember to map out this library’s location…
It took several hours, but I managed to cram my backpack almost full to bursting with various books. It saddens me I cannot get them all, but such a thing in unrealistic. There are simply too many for just myself and Nish to carry, even with our horses. I shall be sure this place is not forgotten. I strap both mine and Nish’s packs to Kogan and Tulon. We have a long journey ahead of us, and the two of us must be ready for it.


21st of Galena, 733
It has been a while, but we are not yet to our destination. We did find something of interest however. While heading towards the town of Diptramples we came across a Labyrinth in The Subtle Hills. I know not what is in it, and currently I do not care to find out. I have a fortress to find. I did make sure to mark the location down, however. In the town, we heard of a nearby castle called Boltspumpkin which also went by the name of “The Museum”.
Approaching the museum I am approached by a human, who appraised my stuffed pack and determines I have come to donate a thing or two to them. While not my original mission, I didn’t suppose it would hurt to leave them with a few of the duplicates. Spying a large throne fashioned from skulls of all sorts of horrid beasts, I got an idea; just as powerful as might and conquest is knowledge, and it too should have such a befitting display. Using a few of the larger tomes I fashioned a seat, placed a large bookshelf behind them to serve as the back, and stacked a few more books to either side to serve as armrests. It probably wouldn’t be the most comfortable thing to sit in, but that’s not really the point here. On the left armrest I placed the trollbone crown, and against the right armrest I leaned the iron spear, now christened Mörul Omtäl – “The Pages of Liberation”. Spying a peculiar wooden structure nearby, I gathered up the remainder of the books not used in the display, and prepared to leave. Nish elected to stay behind in Boltspumpkin and help with maintaining The Museum; she told me she knew I would come back around, sooner or later. Not sure what to make of that, I set off for the odd structure.

Inside I found a strange fellow by the name of Glloyd Ancientborn the Round. He seemed somewhat…off, but it’s not my place to judge. He informed me that this place was the Shelter of Adventures, overseen by the League Knowledge, and it was created to assist adventurers travelling to and from The Museum. Intrigued, I ask to join this league of his, and after donating to him a few of the books I'd gathered, he agreed. Following that, I rested up for a bit, restocked on my supply of food and water, and set off towards Championvault, which Glloyd told me was within the mountain range to the south. Looks like I’ll be hiking again…

Man, it is still a long way to Championvault.


24th of Galena, 733

At long last I arrived, Spotting two obsidian structures in the distance, I followed the road until I reached the entrance to Championvault. Inside I finally found Lokum Pulleyspire, who it turns out is the Expedition Leader of this place. I turned over Waxing and Waning and the Universe, and told them that I had even more books outside on my horse, but before I would turn them over they had to promise to send migrants to Clawmanor. They agreed, and I brought in the rest of the tomes, as well as the map I had made of the path to the Palace of Brains. I will rest here for some time; I expect they will charge me with leading the migrants back to Clawmanor. Perhaps along the way back I can pay that labyrinth a visit…

Come to think of it, this whole thing went rather well, all things considered.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

My turn is concluded. I've finished my adventure. Sadly my side project was unfinished, but if anyone wants hundreds of masterwork mugs you should poke around up in the north a bit.

Here's the save: https://dffd.bay12games.com/file.php?id=15203 (https://dffd.bay12games.com/file.php?id=15203)

Hate to say it, but my adventure was a bit of a step down from past posters in terms of peril.
Sidenote: I had a little map to show where stuff on my journey was, but I seem to have saved over it. I'll leave a hint instead: If you're looking to get your bones ground into porridge, check around The Subtle Hills. It's not too far from Boltspumpkin.

Addendum: It's come to my attention that Divedact is not abandoned at all, but rather sparsely populated. Rather than a daring raid under the nose of a malignant necromancer, I pretty much just robbed a local library...oh well.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Glloyd on September 15, 2020, 04:57:44 pm

There's definitely more than one kobold left. I came across a camp with a few of them during my turn, but I steered clear of them because I was worried about accidentally wiping out the last surviving kobolds. Dunno how many total remain, but if anyone wants to find them, they were east of Swordgleamed, near the mountains there.

Looking forward to reading about your adventures Tasoth!

Also, I realized I didn't post here when I updated my post with my final update, so I don't know if anyone's seen it, because it's a couple pages back on the default page view. That is located here: http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8181021#msg8181021

I hope some future adventurers get some use out of the Shelter of Adventures!

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: FakerFangirl on September 15, 2020, 05:51:05 pm

Adventure mode succession game?? Sign me up.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: TheFlame52 on September 15, 2020, 08:05:18 pm

Oho, it's my turn again soon!

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Bralbaard on September 16, 2020, 09:51:29 am

Quote from: Glloyd on September 15, 2020, 04:57:44 pm

There's definitely more than one kobold left. I came across a camp with a few of them during my turn, but I steered clear of them because I was worried about accidentally wiping out the last surviving kobolds. Dunno how many total remain, but if anyone wants to find them, they were east of Swordgleamed, near the mountains there.

Looking forward to reading about your adventures Tasoth!

Also, I realized I didn't post here when I updated my post with my final update, so I don't know if anyone's seen it, because it's a couple pages back on the default page view. That is located here: http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8181021#msg8181021

I hope some future adventurers get some use out of the Shelter of Adventures!

I enjoyed that! It's nice to encounter previous adventure companions like that, it ties together the different stories that everyone writes down. Also, that ruined tavern looks familiar, I'm sure I spend a night there sometime during my adventures. The adventure site is impressive as well!

Quote from: Tasoth on September 15, 2020, 02:11:07 pm

My turn is concluded. I've finished my adventure. Sadly my side project was unfinished, but if anyone wants hundreds of masterwork mugs you should poke around up in the north a bit.

Here's the save: https://dffd.bay12games.com/file.php?id=15203 (https://dffd.bay12games.com/file.php?id=15203)

Hate to say it, but my adventure was a bit of a step down from past posters in terms of peril.
Sidenote: I had a little map to show where stuff on my journey was, but I seem to have saved over it. I'll leave a hint instead: If you're looking to get your bones ground into porridge, check around The Subtle Hills. It's not too far from Boltspumpkin.

Great, I'm looking forward to the story!
I'll try and update the turn lists and relevant posts with all the new information soonish, (likely tomorrow) 

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Glloyd on September 16, 2020, 12:46:31 pm

Quote from: Bralbaard on September 16, 2020, 09:51:29 am

I enjoyed that! It's nice to encounter previous adventure companions like that, it ties together the different stories that everyone writes down. Also, that ruined tavern looks familiar, I'm sure I spend a night there sometime during my adventures. The adventure site is impressive as well

Thanks! Running across Eric's character was a complete accident, and I didn't connect the dots to our game until I talked to Amsir and Slenshi. It also gave a really good example of the interesting stories that DF can tell. After Eric's character died to the titan, his companions Amsir and Slenshi actually did get married, only a few months later. Pretty neat little detail.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Luckyowl on September 16, 2020, 02:39:10 pm

Quote from: Glloyd on September 16, 2020, 12:46:31 pm

Quote from: Bralbaard on September 16, 2020, 09:51:29 am

I enjoyed that! It's nice to encounter previous adventure companions like that, it ties together the different stories that everyone writes down. Also, that ruined tavern looks familiar, I'm sure I spend a night there sometime during my adventures. The adventure site is impressive as well

Thanks! Running across Eric's character was a complete accident, and I didn't connect the dots to our game until I talked to Amsir and Slenshi. It also gave a really good example of the interesting stories that DF can tell. After Eric's character died to the titan, his companions Amsir and Slenshi actually did get married, only a few months later. Pretty neat little detail.

Huh? Makes me wonder what Sekur and Tohwot are doing. These two were pretty good at combat and were absolutely fearless when we fought the ettin who unfortunately killed my adventurer with a lucky grab and chomp. I like to imagine that they are still slaying beast, or probably sell their skills at arm as mercenaries guarding merchant caravans as they travel to town town, but who knows,  I should check and see what's up with them. Hopefully they did something cool after my adventurer died.

Edit: Also give me another turn. Wanna take another stab at it.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Quantum Drop on September 16, 2020, 02:52:49 pm

Quote from: Luckyowl on September 16, 2020, 02:39:10 pm

Makes me wonder what Sekur and Tohwot are doing. These two were pretty good at combat and were absolutely fearless when we fought the ettin who unfortunately killed my adventurer with a lucky grab and chomp. I like to imagine that they are still slaying beast, or probably sell their skills at arm as mercenaries guarding merchant caravans as they travel to town town, but who knows,  I should check and see what's up with them. Hopefully they did something cool after my adventurer died.

If it's Sekur Handgoal and Tohwot Drummedknit (I think it's them, as they have Thon Scarone listed as a companion), they haven't been doing much of note. They married in 713, then there's nothing about them until 716/717, when they took on positions in two different religious groups. Maybe they decided that combat wasn't really for them after seeing your adventurer get chomped on?

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Bralbaard on September 16, 2020, 02:53:57 pm

Quote from: Quantum Drop on September 16, 2020, 02:52:49 pm

If it's Sekur Handgoal and Tohwot Drummedknit (I think it's them, as they have Thon Scarone listed as a companion), they haven't been doing much of note. They married in 713, then there's nothing about them until 716/717, when they took on positions in two different religious groups. Maybe they decided that combat wasn't really for them after seeing your adventurer get chomped on?

I'm not sure if legends mode will give you the full picture. History is hidden, so you may have to find them in adventure mode to hear the full story. But they got married as well? That by itself is already interesting.

I'd like to note that I also encountered Kem skinnydeaths, a companion of Bil Hammertome (Emilovich) in my adventure. (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8161771#msg8161771) He had become a legendary swordsman, but was in the service of a somewhat dubious local Overlord. I've got no clue how he ended up there, but I really like how life continues for all characters after retirement (another example is how many of the surviving adventurers have been made barons by the walled dye). Kem joined me and survived the battle with the demon that killed my adventurer. He is probably still out there, somewhere.

Anyhow, I have updated the map. The area around the museum is getting quite crowded, so I had to reformat some stuff:

Quote from: Bralbaard on March 10, 2020, 01:57:06 pm

This is the map of Orid Xem; The Universes of Myth

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/Wf8xycH.gif)

-snip-

14: The Shelter of Adventures: This site was build by Glloyd Ancientborn the Round, and he has stated that he will welcome new adventurers to this site. They can even take equipment and supplies, if they promise to support the shelter with donations once they return from their adventures. Rumour has it that Glloyd is a necromancer, so you better follow up on your promises.   
15: Archquakes: Constructed by Tasoth in 733. This distant site is said to be known for its mugs. (unexplored)

   

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Eric Blank on September 16, 2020, 04:26:04 pm

Oh shit they got married!

Hold on I thought amsir died. Ah hell that was what eight months ago I don't remember much. It's good to see theyre alive and happy, though. I also assumed they would have returned to the castle where I innitially took them on. Does legends mode say they became residents at the shrine or something?



But, as an addendum, assuming Slenshi could just say it at any point, Donas actually burned to death as a result of the Titan's fire breath. I tried taking off ignited clothes but apparently I was actually on fire myself. I threw my backpack out of the way to try and preserve it, hoping someone would find it. So I killed the titan while engulfed in flames, then bled to death. Slenshi at that point couldn't get anywhere near the fighting because of the flames.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Glloyd on September 16, 2020, 05:48:00 pm

Quote from: Bralbaard on September 16, 2020, 02:53:57 pm

I'd like to note that I also encountered Kem skinnydeaths, a companion of Bil Hammertome (Emilovich) in my adventure. (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8161771#msg8161771) He had become a legendary swordsman, but was in the service of a somewhat dubious local Overlord. I've got no clue how he ended up there, but I really like how life continues for all characters after retirement (another example is how many of the surviving adventurers have been made barons by the walled dye). Kem joined me and survived the battle with the demon that killed my adventurer. He is probably still out there, somewhere.

That's definitely one of my favourite parts of these long succession adventurer games. You get to see where some of the characters from other adventures end up, and pick up story threads from previous turns. i.e. Cog, the headless necromancer. I was surprised at how many of the early adventurers became nobility int he Walled Dye though, and moved elsewhere.

Quote from: Eric Blank on September 16, 2020, 04:26:04 pm

Oh shit they got married!

Hold on I thought amsir died. Ah hell that was what eight months ago I don't remember much. It's good to see theyre alive and happy, though. I also assumed they would have returned to the castle where I innitially took them on. Does legends mode say they became residents at the shrine or something?

Amsir was definitely still alive and well. It seemed that they had just lived at the shrine for the intervening 20 years, although you'd have to dive into legends mode to find out otherwise. As of the end of my turn I had dismissed them from my party at the Shelter of Adventures, so they're likely still hanging around there with me and Ishes. I tried to convince them to become my hearthpersons, but they had no interest in it.

EDIT: Actually that makes me wonder, if Archquakes was built in 733, what year is it going into TheFlame's turn? I wonder if we'll go long enough to see old characters start dying of old age in future turns.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Luckyowl on September 16, 2020, 09:29:14 pm

Also I just want everyone to know that there is a pacifist werebeast who live up the mountains somewhere in Wall Dyed country. This figure is responsible for creating a spear and gave it to a noble who lost it when they died in battle and has been missing for centuries ever since. The werebeast has a very tragic background and for some reason when it became a werebeast it never killed nor attacked, but simply "Rampage" I like to think that this poor werebeast tries to keep their sanity while in werebeast form, and some how mange it for over 600 years. Not sure if it was killed yet, but future adventurers should look into it

Edit: not the killing look into it, but more on that spear which has been lost for hundreds of years. I personally would wish for the werebeast to be left alone since it had a rough life before it was a werebeast.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Bralbaard on September 17, 2020, 09:13:54 am

Okay,

So we have a number of finished adventures for which the stories have not been written down yet, and for which it is unlikely that this will happen.
We had a solution for this in the first museum game: The Historians Guild!
In the current desperate times I'm calling for this guild to come back together.

For now this is only about the second part of Cathar's turn  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8147203#msg8147203)because he has already clearly indicated that he will not be able (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8172318#msg8172318) to finish the story himself. In the future it might be used on other missing stories as well, the first post in the topic mentions which stories are still in the process of being written.

So what will happen?
Everybody who wants can dive into legends mode, to write your version of the story of Cathar's adventurer. We might end up with many conflicting versions, but that would be part of the fun. His adventurer might even have survived somewhere, or might have deposited something at the museum. Note that the fist part of the adventure has already been written down  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8146802#msg8146802) by Cathar. (the writing and art is excellent)

rules (taken from the original museum game):
1) This is only about telling the history of Cathar's turn, so don't dash of on your own adventures, and post about those, you'll have to wait for your own turn to do that. (you can however search through the museums stacks to see if anything was deposited there, if needed) Try to restrict yourself to legends mode for as much as possible.
2) Everybody can join, you don't have to be on the turn list.
3) No uploading of save games, this will run simultaneously with the main game.
4) You can submit your story/analysis until up to two weeks from this post, it can take any form, art, stories, be creative.

If Cathar decides to return, he can post his official version, and we'll laugh about everything we got wrong.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Glloyd on September 17, 2020, 12:29:56 pm

Very cool idea! I vote that whoever finishes it should finish it in Cathar's style, drawings and all, regardless of artistic skill. Seeing bad MS paint drawings contrasted with Cathar's amazing work would be hilarious.

I do hope some of the last couple people do come back to finish their turn. I'm interested in reading Tasoth's turn especially, by the looks of legends mode, his adventurer is still alive, and got up to some interesting stuff.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Bralbaard on September 17, 2020, 01:18:37 pm

just to clarify, this is not to put pressure on people that finished their turns recently! It has taken me a few weeks myself to finish writing everything up.
It's just for filling in the blanks for stories for which we are certain that writing has stopped, months after the save was passed on. I'll usually contact the player first, in Cathar's case though he has indicated in his last post that he is no longer interested in the museum, so it seems fair to try and find out what happened during his turn. 

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: nogoodnames on September 17, 2020, 01:47:17 pm

That actually fits perfectly with an idea I had for my turn. I'll definitely give it a shot if I can find the time!

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: TheFlame52 on September 17, 2020, 03:24:46 pm

I am downloading the save. I wonder if my guy is still around? Either way, I'm making a new adventurer.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Eric Blank on September 17, 2020, 04:39:44 pm

I too might join this historians guild. I was thinking, at first seeing your post, of making my next adventurer one to search-and-rescue lost adventurers and write down their tales as the (living ones and rumors) describe them in-game.

It's amazing how little information legends mode has on so many subjects. An adventurer to go seek out rumors might be the only option without just making shit up.

Could also try comparing the saves from before and after his turn, and find out which settlements he travelled through based solely on which ones lost parts of their populations during his turn, to make a best approximate guess of his route of travel.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Bralbaard on September 18, 2020, 09:52:41 am

As a reminder we also still have the rather mysterious entry  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8130594#msg8130594)from Timeless Bob first adventure.
That is something people will have to explore during their actual turn though, (this is not historian guild material) I guess to have a chance to find the required items you will need legends mode as well.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: TheFlame52 on September 18, 2020, 03:25:01 pm

Some possible trouble with the file. I'm not sure if 7zip can handle its size, but I'll see what I can do.

EDIT: Save's unpacked. I'm starting my adventure.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Luckyowl on September 20, 2020, 11:54:32 am

(https://i.imgur.com/7FPzR8x.png)

someone should embark here. looks like a lava lake with a lavafall in a glaciar biome. I really like this new utility! you guys should try it out it's pretty good to find places to embark to.  https://orenong.itch.io/dwarpher

edit: I hope Orenong add an option to toggle window mode and maybe render sites which could be easily represented with simple icons. Another thing I wish it had was a mini map showing the 2d map in the lower right corner so you could get general feel where is where.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Glloyd on September 20, 2020, 12:00:47 pm

Looking at the map, there is a volcano there, but I'm pretty sure the colour represented on that image is the biome beside it. Someone would have to take a look to be sure though. That is a very cool utility either way.

Edit: it's very cool how you can see the path of the Purged Loot through the tundra even though it doesn't actually flow through there.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Eric Blank on September 20, 2020, 05:21:25 pm

Comparing that image for the map on the first page, that orange field does appear to correspond to a desert biome adjacent to the volcano.

Also, that island in the inland sea appears to have White Gold Tower on it. Do the dragonfires still burn?

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: TheFlame52 on September 20, 2020, 05:58:52 pm

Quote from: Eric Blank on September 20, 2020, 05:21:25 pm

Also, that island in the inland sea appears to have White Gold Tower on it. Do the dragonfires still burn?

I saw that too, and I might have a goal for my adventurer now.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: TheFlame52 on September 20, 2020, 08:02:24 pm

I am Galka Fancyrocks. I am an albatross woman from the shores of the Peaceful Waters. I am a hunter. I live in the wilds, but I rest and trade my kills at Pleatedvipers, a fort with inhabitants of many shapes and colors.

They call me Fancyrocks because of my rock collection.

(https://i.imgur.com/T5sHuS2.png)

They weigh me down when I am flying, but I will become stronger. I fly everywhere to strengthen my wings and keep myself safe from wild dingoes. Today, I think I am strong enough.

(https://i.imgur.com/bxyZuNA.png)

Sometimes, the fog clears over the Peaceful Waters, and I can see very far. I see the Blanketed Spike in the distance. Today, the fog is clear. Today, I will fly there. I will see what is atop the highest peak in the world.

(https://i.imgur.com/8wSoPYB.png)

(https://i.imgur.com/GEMh68x.png)

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Timeless Bob on September 20, 2020, 09:50:20 pm

Quote from: Bralbaard on September 17, 2020, 09:13:54 am

Okay,

So we have a number of finished adventures for which the stories have not been written down yet, and for which it is unlikely that this will happen.
We had a solution for this in the first museum game: The Historians Guild!
In the current desperate times I'm calling for this guild to come back together.

For now this is only about the second part of Cathar's turn  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8147203#msg8147203)because he has already clearly indicated that he will not be able (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8172318#msg8172318) to finish the story himself. In the future it might be used on other missing stories as well, the first post in the topic mentions which stories are still in the process of being written.

So what will happen?
Everybody who wants can dive into legends mode, to write your version of the story of Cathar's adventurer. We might end up with many conflicting versions, but that would be part of the fun. His adventurer might even have survived somewhere, or might have deposited something at the museum. Note that the fist part of the adventure has already been written down  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8146802#msg8146802) by Cathar. (the writing and art is excellent)

rules (taken from the original museum game):
1) This is only about telling the history of Cathar's turn, so don't dash of on your own adventures, and post about those, you'll have to wait for your own turn to do that. (you can however search through the museums stacks to see if anything was deposited there, if needed) Try to restrict yourself to legends mode for as much as possible.
2) Everybody can join, you don't have to be on the turn list.
3) No uploading of save games, this will run simultaneously with the main game.
4) You can submit your story/analysis until up to two weeks from this post, it can take any form, art, stories, be creative.

If Cathar decides to return, he can post his official version, and we'll laugh about everything we got wrong.

I do apologize for my continued mystery. I will take care of my bits ASAP.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Bralbaard on September 21, 2020, 06:22:13 am

I'm looking forward to the stories, Timeless!

Quote from: TheFlame52 on September 20, 2020, 05:58:52 pm

Quote from: Eric Blank on September 20, 2020, 05:21:25 pm

Also, that island in the inland sea appears to have White Gold Tower on it. Do the dragonfires still burn?

I saw that too, and I might have a goal for my adventurer now.

For reference, here is a screenshot of the mountain up close:

(https://i.imgur.com/eqZ36BS.jpg)

I was a bit enthousiastic there with the perfectworldDF map creation tools.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Glloyd on September 21, 2020, 01:51:25 pm

Quote from: Bralbaard on September 21, 2020, 06:22:13 am

I'm looking forward to the stories, Timeless!

Quote from: TheFlame52 on September 20, 2020, 05:58:52 pm

Quote from: Eric Blank on September 20, 2020, 05:21:25 pm

Also, that island in the inland sea appears to have White Gold Tower on it. Do the dragonfires still burn?

I saw that too, and I might have a goal for my adventurer now.

For reference, here is a screenshot of the mountain up close:
-snip-

I was a bit enthousiastic there with the perfectworldDF map creation tools.

Looking at it in Legends Viewer, that mountain is called The Intricate Horns of Vanishment, located in the tiny mountain biome of The Blanketed Spike. It stands at 275 tiles tall, making it tied for the 6th highest mountain in the world (although it is probably the steepest...)

For reference, during my turn I climbed the Torch of Courtesies and the Point of Heroes, which are the 3rd and 4th tallest mountains in the world, standing at 276 tiles tall. The tallest two are 278. So either way, the Intricate Horns is a big one.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Luckyowl on September 21, 2020, 02:10:15 pm

It might not be the tallest, but it's definitely the most interesting mountain compare to the rest. I'm pretty sure the people of Orid Xem  have tales about it. I hope there's a  cave in there.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: TheFlame52 on September 21, 2020, 02:51:14 pm

Quote from: Luckyowl on September 21, 2020, 02:10:15 pm

It might not be the tallest, but it's definitely the most interesting mountain compare to the rest. I'm pretty sure the people of Orid Xem  have tales about it. I hope there's a  cave in there.

There is, but nothing lives there except some dralthas, according to Legends Viewer. As for not being the tallest, how is some bird yokel going to know that?

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: nogoodnames on September 21, 2020, 04:03:30 pm

I noticed a few population anomalies while poking around legends viewer.

Spoiler: We don't go to Heartwhispers anymore (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/vADIbmw.png)

Yes that's a hamlet with over 4 million necromancer experiments living in it. Adventure mode testing indicates that they're all crammed into the mead hall there. Packed tight enough to undergo runaway nuclear fusion, or at least eat all your RAM and freeze the game.

This bug was supposed to be fixed but it still finds ways to keep cropping up. I guess you could say it's the remnants of the apocalyptic necromancer army if you want a lore-friendly explanation.

The neighbouring hamlet of Truthfulriddled seems to have gotten some of the overflow...

(https://i.imgur.com/ZlRKWoD.png)

Meanwhile, the isolated tower of Glazedriven is building its own doomsday army:

(https://i.imgur.com/Xu2xhIS.png)

A rounding error compared to the millions in the north, but still more than the entire goblin population.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Quantum Drop on September 21, 2020, 04:18:36 pm

…Well, unless anyone has a few terabytes of RAM to spare, those places are certainly no-go. Still, those could make for some interesting storytelling opportunities, if only as background elements.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: nogoodnames on September 21, 2020, 04:26:11 pm

Spoiler: Perhaps Cog is out for revenge (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/tVzIEJP.png)

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Bralbaard on September 21, 2020, 05:16:40 pm

Quote from: nogoodnames on September 21, 2020, 04:26:11 pm

Spoiler: Perhaps Cog is out for revenge (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/tVzIEJP.png)

And he has an undead army of 70 000 necro experiments at his disposal at this site? Interesting.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: TheFlame52 on September 21, 2020, 07:05:03 pm

The fog closed in soon after I took off. It began to rain lightly. I flew all day. I ate all my fish, and drank all my water. I flew all night. Tired, hungry, and thirsty, I flew on. Gliding, barely flapping my wings. As the sun rose ahead of me, I saw it though the fog: the Blanketed Spike. Rising out of the ocean like the beak of a buried titan.

(https://i.imgur.com/6irSlTJ.png)

Finally, I am there! I land atop a large block of weathered stone. There is a crab here. I am very hungry and thirsty and tired.

(https://i.imgur.com/yPL4Mk5.png)

But I need water before I eat. There are no streams here. No wells. But wait-

(https://i.imgur.com/brl0tRw.png)

Caves have water.

I hate being enclosed.

I am very thirsty.

...

I crawl down into the cave. It is very dark, and enclosed. I do not like it.

(https://i.imgur.com/YKXrQya.png)

But there is water.

(https://i.imgur.com/bMRvhaz.png)

Finally, at dusk, I find a tree, and sleep well past dawn.

(https://i.imgur.com/BgKeZB6.png)

Time to climb a mountain!

I fly up, and up, and up...

(https://i.imgur.com/2pUhBau.png)

That was easy.

(https://i.imgur.com/Hkjdys5.png)

A souvenir.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Glloyd on September 21, 2020, 08:43:00 pm

Quote from: Quantum Drop on September 21, 2020, 04:18:36 pm

…Well, unless anyone has a few terabytes of RAM to spare, those places are certainly no-go. Still, those could make for some interesting storytelling opportunities, if only as background elements.

Quote from: nogoodnames on September 21, 2020, 04:03:30 pm

I noticed a few population anomalies while poking around legends viewer.
-snip-
Meanwhile, the isolated tower of Glazedriven is building its own doomsday army:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/Xu2xhIS.png)

A rounding error compared to the millions in the north, but still more than the entire goblin population.

Quote from: nogoodnames on September 21, 2020, 04:26:11 pm

Spoiler: Perhaps Cog is out for revenge (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/tVzIEJP.png)

I went to Glazedriven during my turn in my second journal entry (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8179546#msg8179546), the FPS was brutal and the bottom floor looked like this:

(https://i.imgur.com/rP2WWnw.png)

I found Cog there with no head, and one of his necromancer experiments was in an abandoned fortress to the north, and even joined my party. I portrayed Cog as a sad creature in my writeup, but maybe Cog is actually the real villain of Orid Xem, filling it with the twisted experiments that helped destroy the northern civilizations. I do wonder how he came back from the dead though.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: TD1 on September 22, 2020, 03:31:23 am

I didn't put it on the weite up, but I'm thinking I raised Cog after beheading her.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: nogoodnames on September 24, 2020, 02:08:44 pm

Cog's a pretty interesting character. The only people she ever trusted were her immediate family. Of them only her firstborn son is still around, resurrected by her after he was killed by a forgotten beast. It's a shame she's made her tower inaccessible to anyone without a supercomputer and/or extreme patience. I was getting a frame every couple of minutes trying to visit there.
I will continue to believe that she stole your life force and used it to resurrect herself until proven otherwise. After all, she came back the same day you died and was the one who raised the elf that hunted you down.

My investigation into Cathar's turn is almost done. Everything's written, I just have a few more art pieces to finish. I wonder if it would be a good idea to split it into two parts since it ended up being quite long.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Glloyd on September 24, 2020, 06:11:12 pm

Quote from: nogoodnames on September 24, 2020, 02:08:44 pm

shame she's made her tower inaccessible to anyone without a supercomputer and/or extreme patience. I was getting a frame every couple of minutes trying to visit there.

My FPS wasn't as bad as that. It still wasn't what I'd consider playable though. But I was able to get in, find Cog, "talk" to her, and leave without going insane or spending an hour there. I didn't realize it was the tower form Dwarfy's story until I noticed she was beheaded, then I searched the thread for her name. It's entirely possible she's raised more creatures in the decade or so since I've been there though. Either way, looking forward to your write up!

Speaking of, how's it going Flame?

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: TheFlame52 on September 24, 2020, 06:29:59 pm

Headed to the museum with my bag of rocks, haven't had much time to play in the last few days. I'll probably post tomorrow or the next day.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: TheFlame52 on September 26, 2020, 11:47:57 am

From the top of the mountain, I saw land to the south. The museum is in the south.

(https://i.imgur.com/WhEnBYD.png)

Time to set off.

(https://i.imgur.com/hqdX49m.png)

(https://i.imgur.com/6zCkLqX.png)

Long flight. Another full day. I find a creek, drink my fill, and sleep for a long time.

(https://i.imgur.com/lHHwFzR.png)

I'm never crossing another ocean again!

In the morning I spy a weird structure.

(https://i.imgur.com/FcfHsil.png)

It's just a pile of blocks.

(https://i.imgur.com/mm3uSvv.png)

I don't want to go inside. I have a bad feeling.

(https://i.imgur.com/L7e40RE.png)

Instead I keep flying south.

(https://i.imgur.com/T83FW38.png)

No.

(https://i.imgur.com/xmYP9On.png)

Also no.

((I forgot to take pictures after this point))

I flew south, slept a few times, ate all my food. I tried to kill a sturgeon and only wasted all my bolts. Instead I butchered a sea lamprey that the sturgeon killed while running from me. I caught the updraft off a volcano and flew to a hamlet to find more bolts.

I thought the museum was nearby, but the people in the hamlet told me that the museum was near a different volcano, further south. So I flew that way. Right now I'm resting on the shore of the Slick Waters, a lake.

(https://i.imgur.com/elZKLUj.png)

I can see the correct volcano's smoke in the distance.

(https://i.imgur.com/yv4VJ49.png)

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: TheFlame52 on September 27, 2020, 01:15:03 pm

(https://i.imgur.com/0PCN5QD.png)

And a couple days' flying later, I'm there at the volcano. I ride the updraft high into the air...

(https://i.imgur.com/QolBONl.png)

To the only fort in sight. The Museum.

(https://i.imgur.com/u77gDCL.png)

To the Museum I grant my bag of rocks gathered during my journey. The chalk rock is from the peak of the Intricate Horns of Vanishment.

I spoke to Ngokang, the curator, and Lonelythrall, a strange creature who made many contributions. They told me of a fortress to the north called the Iron-deep, which was flooded but full of treasures, and might be accessible to a woman like me. I decided to check it out.

(https://i.imgur.com/iCBnyT9.png)

On my way out I spotted some gauntlets made of a strange metal and some butchered dingos, just lying on the ground.

A day's flight to the north brought me to the strange dwarven fortress.

((I did the following exploration using the reveal command, because I wanted to show off the fort, but not have to suffer the horrendous lag from all the water flowing while I flew around.))

Iron-deep is perched over an artificial lake, fed from a nearby creek. It seems to have fallen to a goblin siege, but no living goblins showed themselves.

(https://i.imgur.com/phwLf4L.png)

The lake, however, is draining into the depths of the fortress. The noise of the water is incredible.

(https://i.imgur.com/CP9uURJ.png)

That hole in the center leads to the fort. It's the only entrance I could find. Ngokang was right to send me - no man or woman without wings could have entered.

(https://i.imgur.com/y8f6eYP.png)

It was there, in the dining hall, that I found Chainedhealed the sheep bone earring. I don't have ears. I put it in my backpack. I also found a quiver of steel bolts in the mixed stockpile, which I took as well.

(https://i.imgur.com/y8f6eYP.png)

(https://i.imgur.com/k6wtyZ0.png)

Though the water did not appear to be rising, I got out quickly. On my way out I spotted Blowbrains the dacite hatch cover. The goblins did not take it? I did.

(https://i.imgur.com/QTHspK0.png)

(https://i.imgur.com/gM8IU9G.png)

I have done what I set out to do. I will return to my home.

(https://i.imgur.com/PkaUONk.png)

SAVE: https://dffd.bay12games.com/file.php?id=15222

Put me back on the list, please!

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Quantum Drop on September 27, 2020, 03:17:09 pm

Nicely done, Flame! Good to see a clearer picture of what happened to the Iron Deep and its layout, though I can't help but wonder where all the Gobbos went (or how the hell Imic managed to build that there).

Was wondering where those gauntlets went; guess someone could snap them up and take them to the Shelter for future adventurers. Also mildly surprised that Lonelythrall hasn't wandered off yet, like the rest of the former adventurers did.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Bralbaard on September 27, 2020, 03:25:39 pm

Nice! The Iron deep looks very impressive!

Which of the objects will be your official submission? The rock collection or the later submissions? (The artifacts might teleport away if previous artefact submissions are anything to go by. Your artefacts were player created however and not worldgen artefacts. I do not know if that will make a difference.)

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: TheFlame52 on September 27, 2020, 07:01:22 pm

I guess my official contribution is the single stone from the top of the Intricate Horns of Vanishment, if I can't also contribute the treasures of the Iron-Deep.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Bralbaard on September 28, 2020, 02:44:17 am

Quote from: TheFlame52 on September 27, 2020, 07:01:22 pm

I guess my official contribution is the single stone from the top of the Intricate Horns of Vanishment, if I can't also contribute the treasures of the Iron-Deep.

Overall I'd like to keep the list of items manageable, and will generally focus on a single item or collection of similar items when describing the treasures (I want to avoid having to list twenty items for each adventurer).  I'll try and be a bit creative with descriptions to acknowledge the accomplishments of adventurers where possible.   

I have also updated the description for the Iron Deep.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Imic on September 28, 2020, 09:11:29 pm

Quote from: Quantum Drop on September 27, 2020, 03:17:09 pm

how the hell Imic managed to build that there).

Not carefully enough.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: nogoodnames on September 28, 2020, 10:40:30 pm

From the desk of Leto Searchpraise, Junior Apprentice to the Historian’s Guild
23rd Hematite, 871

(https://i.imgur.com/J8BopNE.png)

After two long years of copying old tomes and crosschecking census numbers, I finally get the chance for some real research! Granted, it’s not the most high-profile assignment. I had never even heard of this “Pictham” before now. Nevertheless, this is the opportunity I’ve been waiting for. The guild will have no choice but to recognize my talents after this!

Pictham is apparently something of a folk hero down in the southern reaches of the Realm of Silver. “The peasant girl who would bring back the sun.” Not quite my cup of tea, but I can see how the tale might appeal to people of their… sophistication. Problem is, only the first part of her journey has survived in written record. The guild wants me to fill in the rest.

I suppose I should start by reviewing what we do know. Pictham Contestlabored was a woodcutter in the hamlet of Uddainan, “Brunchworkers” in the common tongue. A chance encounter with a monster put her on the path to adventure, and she set off seeking answers to her home’s troubles. She went to the town of Licstalcon,“Strifefularmor”, was rebuffed by the gods, and ended up recruiting the bandit Ases Skinnedhugged. The pair of them wandered the abandoned wastes, passing through the hamlets of Ithbisuden and Uñironu. They found treasure in Uñironu and came up with the idea of building their renown by making a significant contribution to the Grand Museum of Boltspumpkin. That’s where the record ends.

Not much to go on, but I’ve mapped out roughly the path they took.
(https://i.imgur.com/VN2CFfa.png)

Well I can rule out any field work! That’s past the Tundra of Heroes, and I have no desire to freeze to death trying to cross it. Now the museum on the other hand… I’ve visited there a few times in the course of my studies. There’s no better place to learn esoteric histories. The guild probably wouldn’t exist without it. If Pictham visited there, I should be able to find everything I need. Even if not, many travelers pass through it and I’m sure to have more luck picking up whatever fragments of her story exist in oral tradition there.

I haggled with the stable owner to get a decent horse. Still took most of my stipend, but it’ll be worth it if I can pull this off. I ride for Boltspumpkin at dawn!


24th Hematite

I arrived at the gates of Boltspumpkin shortly before dusk. The air here has an unseasonable chill to it. I am once again baffled by how people can actually live beyond the tundra.

Ah, but the task is at hand. It’s good to see the glittering black walls of the museum again! I gave my customary greeting to the goblin curator and her odd assistant and then began looking. Unfortunately, I can’t find anything Pictham might have donated, aside from perhaps some of the miscellaneous equipment scattered around. I tried asking the museum staff about her, but if they knew the name it was only from the story. A sad, but not unexpected outcome. Perhaps Pictham gave up on her foolish quest and went home. Or maybe she died in the wilderness.

No, the guild masters must have a reason to think this tale is worth investigating. I shall not fail them! I will need to dive deeper into this mystery if I am to uncover the truth.


10th Malachite

I have spent the last two weeks here poring over every bit of writing that might contain a shred of Pictham’s story. Which is quite a lot considering the veritable mountains of books stored in the museum. The only things it has in greater abundance are skulls! I’ve also been chatting up any visitors who have heard the tale, trying to stitch a coherent narrative from the many different versions they remember. There have even been some travelers from the far south who braved the tundra to get here. The legend of Pictham is still a popular topic for storytellers there, and their recollections have been quite enlightening!

As in most matters of folklore, there is an abundance of noise and nonsense. Little mutations introduced by each retelling. But with my keen intellect, I have been able to filter it down to a few common elements.

It seems that after the end of the written record, Pictham continued her journey North, picking up another companion on the way.

Together they crossed the Tundra of Heroes, battling monsters and abominations.

Finally, the trio met the end of so many would-be heroes when they challenged the malevolent tower of Patternedbegun! A fate hinted at in the original writing, but now confirmed by my investigation!

Patternedbegun! That cursed place is little more than a day’s journey from here. I shan’t risk that path, of course. There are goblins and worse along the way, to say nothing of whatever evil the necromancers may have conjured to defend themselves. Someone foolhardier than I can make the trek to find their moldering bones. But still, so close! They made it further than I ever would have guessed, only to fail at the cusp of their goal. A tragedy for the ages! This will surely get me the recognition I deserve!

By comparing the different versions of the story, I can get a pretty good idea of the order of events. The truth is revealing itself, I need only finish putting it together!

27th Malachite

First my money ran out, then the food. Can’t take the time to ask the guild for more. I’ve been reduced to begging for scraps from the museum’s patrons, and these last few days my horse has been looking awfully tasty…
But none of that matters now! My work is complete, and the adoration of my peers will make all the suffering worth it! Finally, we have the full story of Pictham Contestlabored!

---

Sunflower: A Found History


This work seeks to put to writing the full adventures of Pictham Contestlabored which occurred between the 8th and 27th of Malachite, 712. It picks up where the fragmented original  record (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8146802#msg8146802) cuts off.


Pictham the Thrice-Cursed

I will not waste time reiterating information in earlier written accounts. However, I would like to make historic note of some events before Pictham’s true journey started. Specifically, her acquisition of a set of armour and a halberd in the sewers under Licstalcon.

It was not a simple bandit’s cache she stumbled upon. The treasure trove she found was in fact part of the Tomb of Heart. The gravesite of Naku Murderpuzzle, Holy Day of the Order of Butterflies.

Therefore, I name her Pictham Thrice-Cursed. First, by circumstance of birth, tied to that gods-forsaken land of endless winter. Second, by the rejection of her goddess when she prayed for answers. And lastly, by her own actions when she desecrated the tomb of a peaceful holy man. These curses she carried with her when she left her homeland, and each would eventually claim its price in blood.


The Sword Dancer

With renewed purpose, Pictham and Ases left the ruins of Uñironu and headed north once again. Nestled within a cluster of eight monasteries, they found the hamlet of Mitaedri, “Speechrags.”

Unlike many hamlets they had visited, Speechrags was a bustling community. They took their many monasteries quite seriously, although all but two would be mysteriously abandoned in the year 733. Perhaps due to the same religious unrest that had resulted in the destruction of their mead hall a few decades earlier. So it was that the weary travelers had to petition the villagers to stay in one of their houses for the night.

Spoiler: Cathar's Art (click to show/hide)

(https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/1a9a4893-1e17-489d-813f-9ea9c11bb32e/ddzn9vf-7f23ece3-2cf3-4932-b8f5-13b89d3c5580.png?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOiIsImlzcyI6InVybjphcHA6Iiwib2JqIjpbW3sicGF0aCI6IlwvZlwvMWE5YTQ4OTMtMWUxNy00ODlkLTgxM2YtOWVhOWMxMWJiMzJlXC9kZHpuOXZmLTdmMjNlY2UzLTJjZjMtNDkzMi1iOGY1LTEzYjg5ZDNjNTU4MC5wbmcifV1dLCJhdWQiOlsidXJuOnNlcnZpY2U6ZmlsZS5kb3dubG9hZCJdfQ.a44-RVCF2oJ0ZB2c5ogE2kJknueYBivVAhBZ7G580uw)

As luck would have it, the pair of them found exactly the right person to spend the night with. Dancer, poet and quite the swordswoman, Ngethac Spinecoasts was an adventurer at heart.

(https://i.imgur.com/W3aDiqK.png)

Earlier that year, she had resigned herself to a life of chasing wolves and petty bandits as a hearthsperson. Hearing Pictham’s tale reignited the old fire within her, and she insisted on joining the group. The next morning, the three of them set off together.


Bleak Outlook

The trio continued their way north. They mostly kept to themselves in order to avoid unwanted attention, and rarely approached civilization. They were strangers here, and tempting targets for any criminals desperate enough.

The closer they got to the tundra, the colder and more ferocious the wind became. Even Pictham began to wish for the relative warmth of her home. Chased by the wind, the travelers sought shelter in the trees of the Admired Jungle. How a frostbitten forest of wind-battered pines came to be called a jungle is a mystery for the ages. The trees helped to disperse the wind. Alas, night was upon them and temperatures continued to plummet. They would all freeze soon without shelter.

Relief came when Ases spotted a hollow hidden behind some tree roots. The companions rushed in and found a small, warm cave. For a moment it seemed that their fortunes had changed, at least until the smell hit them. A smell of rotting meat mixed with stranger odours.

A primal fear welled up inside the adventurers while Ases struggled to light a torch. He finally managed to ignite it, and the cave was bathed in light. What it revealed sent them all into fits of nausea. Piles of butchered human remains littered the floor, some old, some fresh. A cauldron writhed with a maggot-ridden mixture of fat, bone meal and crushed insects while skin was hung to dry along the wall. The silence that overtook them was deafening. And in that silence, the three of them realized something else. A small, rhythmic tapping which had been playing just below their conscious recognition had suddenly stopped.

All eyes turned to the corner of the cave which was still blanketed in shadow. Ases tentatively advanced with the torch but froze when he saw the freakish monster its light uncovered.

[/font]

(https://i.imgur.com/gbzXY0s.png)
Ama Kanilthomod, consort of the Bleak Creature
A large skinless humanoid. It has a curling trunk and it lopes quickly along the ground. Now you will know why you fear the night.

The creature seemed to sense his hesitation and took that opportunity to pounce, knocking the torch from his hand and nearly extinguishing it. In the dim light, Pictham watched as Ngethac drew her sword and lunged at the beast but was swiftly swatted aside.

Pictham knew she had to act fast if she wanted to save Ases. She steadied herself and raised her halberd. Then she charged forward and brought its blade down with all her might, aiming for the back of the monster’s head. The beast let out a bloodcurdling shriek and then collapsed on top of Ases, unmoving.

The three heroes took a moment to recover from that ordeal and then made a quick sweep of the cave, looking for any more surprises. Once they had confirmed they were safe for the time being, each of them set to work making the cave at least tolerable for the night. They carried out the corpses of the monster and its victims and laid down to rest. Sleep was slow to come, but when it did, the exhausted travelers fell into deep slumber. The rest of the night passed peacefully.


Edge of the Tundra

The next morning, the party made their plans for the voyage ahead. It is said that the southern pass into the Tundra of Heroes is host to unrelenting gales, strong enough to strip flesh from bone and freeze a man solid. The three of them discussed this and came to the conclusion that they should seek passage between the mountains of the Bearded Horns. If they kept to low paths between the peaks, the mountains would shield them from the worst winds.

Before leaving the forest, the adventurers made sure to gather as much firewood as they could carry. They would need it while crossing the tundra. Traversing the mountains was slow and avalanches were a constant threat, but they managed to reach the other side before day’s end. Coming down from the horns, they found themselves in the Warm Desert. Of course, that tiny patch of volcanic sand on the border of the tundra was the very antithesis of “warm.” The cartographer who named these regions must have been a fan of irony.

The travelers found a relatively sheltered nook, lit a fire and stayed there for the night. At dawn they set off to the northeast, into the unforgiving Tundra of Heroes.


Frozen Bones

Trudging through the tundra was grueling, but tolerable for the experienced southerners. The snow lay light on the icy plains, making for easier travel than the blizzard-fed snowdrifts they were used to. A hungry polar bear ambushed them at one point, but a few hammer blows from Ases swiftly dispatched it. Other than that, they progressed unmolested by wildlife or other threats.

On their second day in the tundra, the travelers encountered something on the horizon. Pictham spotted it first. A tower surrounded by a series of smaller structures, jutting out of the permafrost like the bones of an ancient giant.

(https://i.imgur.com/mFkQAds.png)

The party approached with caution, but nothing could prepare them for what awaited them in the scattered ziggurats. Dozens of kobolds, both living and undead, emerged from the stone buildings! Thought long extinct by the learned and only a fairy-tale to most commoners, the little creatures swarmed out in defense of their dark masters.

Spoiler: Cathar's Art (click to show/hide)

(https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/1a9a4893-1e17-489d-813f-9ea9c11bb32e/ddzs8cv-c3563488-a639-4ed9-9ee9-9749020ab07a.png?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOiIsImlzcyI6InVybjphcHA6Iiwib2JqIjpbW3sicGF0aCI6IlwvZlwvMWE5YTQ4OTMtMWUxNy00ODlkLTgxM2YtOWVhOWMxMWJiMzJlXC9kZHpzOGN2LWMzNTYzNDg4LWE2MzktNGVkOS05ZWU5LTk3NDkwMjBhYjA3YS5wbmcifV1dLCJhdWQiOlsidXJuOnNlcnZpY2U6ZmlsZS5kb3dubG9hZCJdfQ.fXCPyOGf7zIapyMNXdnSQWMXlhY9d1Oorjb_ypHdNoQ)

 Ases and Ngethac immediately sprung to action, drawing their weapons and taking up defensive positions. They met the approaching horde with flashing blade and crushing hammer. Pictham stayed back, something about this situation giving her pause. A still-living kobold sneaking up from behind finally spurred her to action, and she slew it with a single decisive strike.

The trio slew many kobolds and even one of the necromancers’ tortured experiments, but the necromancers themselves were left alone. This mercy would not last long, however. A few years later, Lonelythrall the demon slayer would pass through this place and purge them all as part of his grand crusade.

It’s impossible to say what Pictham found in that accursed tower, but it seems to have affected her goals greatly. Rather than continuing to the museum, she decided to seek out another tower to the north. Perhaps she thought it was there that she could find a suitable offering. Or maybe she saw the slaying of these undead abominations as a better way to earn the gods’ favour. Or perhaps, just perhaps, Pictham, spurned by her goddess, sought a new way to complete her quest through the dark arts. Who can say? The answers are locked behind the veils of history and death, and only the necromancers themselves have any hope of prying them out now.


Northward Bound

The travelers spent two more days in the tundra. On the third day, they emerged from the snowy wastes along the bank of The Purged Loot, the great river upon which civilizations were built. They followed the river for a time until they arrived in the riverside hamlet of Boundfangs.

At first Pictham was disappointed, thinking that they had found yet another ruin. She feared that the North was just as desolate and troubled as the South. Soon though, the party found signs of scant habitation. They approached the mead hall and heard voices coming from within.

Ases entered first, followed closely by Ngethac. The two goblins inside jumped in surprise at their sudden appearance. The goblins screamed at the group to identify themselves or die. Ases drew upon his experience with the criminal underground to rapidly construct a convincing fake identity. Ngethac however, chose a far more direct response, drawing upon her massive sword and cutting them both down before they could react.

The group found maps within the hall that showed much of the region to be abandoned. Most human settlements were now held by goblin squatters. The goblin civilization itself was barely holding together, but their masses of fortified pits still formed a formidable wall across the Swamp of Slipping.

After that encounter, the three of them agreed to avoid civilization until they reached their destination. Pictham and her companions continued onward to the necromancer tower of Patternedbegun.


Coming Dusk

As the three of them made their way further north, the familiar snow and ice gradually receded, replaced by strange broad-leafed trees and rolling green meadows. Bees blissfully bumbled between bountiful fields of flowers while birdsong echoed from the treetops. To the adventurers from the south, it was as if the world had awoken from a long, dreamless slumber. Yet still there were no other travelers on the road. At least none that wanted to be seen.

It was the 26th of Malachite when they reached the shadow of Patternedbegun. Emerging from a vast field of sunflowers, Pictham spotted her target towering over the landscape. There the environment abruptly changed, rolling hills giving way to roiling swampland. More than that, the land seemed to lose its colour. Vegetation withered and died the further in one looked, as if the tower poisoned the very earth it was built upon.

The sun was low in the sky. Ases suggested that they camp outside the swamp and then explore the tower in the morning, but Pictham urged them onward. Reluctantly, her companions followed her lead.

The trek through the swamp was unpleasant but mercifully short. With the sun setting behind them, the adventurers approached the slew of smaller structures leading up to the great tower. The architecture was similar to what they had seen at Combinedinsight, but here the buildings were caked in a dark slime and half sunken into the swamp. It gave the impression of a place long abandoned.

As they penetrated further into the ruins without any sign of resistance, the party began to lower their guards. Ases broke off to investigate the entrance to one of the ziggurats. As he was examining the engravings there, Pictham suddenly saw a flash of movement. She called out to Ases, but it was too late. He stumbled backward, clutching at his throat which was now spilling thick gouts of blood. He collapsed upon the structure’s steps. A rotting undead goblin holding a bloodied knife emerged from the doorway and charged forward.

The women cried out, drawing their weapons and rushing to aide their fallen companion. As if waiting for this signal, scores of undead goblins began to emerge from the surrounding crypts. Pictham ignored the newcomers, her attention focused solely on the one that had felled Ases. With a furious strike she cleaved the fiend from shoulder to hip and then continued toward Ases’ body. More goblins emerged to block her path. In the dim twilight it seemed like the entire swamp was alive with them. Ngethac screamed that there were too many and they had to retreat, grabbing Pictham’s arm and dragging her away from the growing horde. That finally broke through Pictham’s rage, and together they carved a path back to safety. They retreated to the border of the swamp. Once sure the zombies didn’t follow them, they setup camp.

Pictham was distraught, blaming herself for Ases’ death. She vowed that she would recover his body. She would not allow her friend to become a plaything of the necromancers. Ngethac knew where this path was likely to end but said nothing.

As soon as dawn peeked over the horizon, the two of them approached Patternedbegun once again. This time the undead made no attempt at subterfuge, patrolling the place openly. Pictham wasn’t deterred. She marched forward, halberd gleaming in the new sun.

The zombie horde gathered to meet them. This wasn’t like the kobolds of Combinedinsight. These goblins were larger, better equipped and far more numerous. Pictham and Ngethac charged into them with murder in their eyes. There was a debt to be payed here, and only total oblivion would satisfy it.

Pictham fought like a demon, weaving between the ranks of corpses with deadly grace. Every swing of her halberd sent another goblin to its final end. Dozens were hacked to pieces in her wake. Yet for every zombie killed, two more took its place. Attrition began to take its toll. Muscles tempered by long days of felling trees now screamed in protest. Hundreds of blows glanced off Pictham’s armour, but eventually some of them found the gaps.
Searing pain wracked Pictham’s body. Her blood flowed freely, mingling with the muck and rotting goblin innards that lapped at her prone form. She had cut a clearing in the bodies, but more were coming to replace them. She knew she couldn’t keep up the fight. Pictham tried to stand but found herself unable to move her leg. She started to call out to Ngethac but stopped when she saw the swordswoman atop her own pile of corpses, also wounded and hopelessly surrounded by the advancing tide of undead. Ngethac caught her gaze, mouthed a single word, “go” and then turned to meet the horde, screaming a battle cry with the last of her strength.

With her last reserves of adrenaline, Pictham pushed herself into a crouching position and began hobbling away from the tower as quickly as her useless leg would allow. Ngethac’s courageous last stand was doing its job of drawing the horde’s attention. Dragging herself through the swamp was agony, but she pushed on. Before too long, Pictham heard the clumsy splashing of zombies behind her, following her trail. Ngethac had fallen, and now they were coming for her.

Pictham made it to the edge of the swamp, but then slumped against the bank, exhausted. Her wild strength had left her, and she could go no further. In the distance the glowing red eyes of undead goblins flickered in and out of view, growing ever closer. They had not turned back as they had the last night. Pictham knew there was no mercy to be found here. She spoke a quick prayer to Piral and then raised her halberd, defiant to the end.

(https://i.imgur.com/ZhM5pJB.png)
[/font]

---

Hmm… perhaps a bit too editorialized for some of the more conservative guild members. Still, all the facts are there, and it’s sure to grab attention. Yes, I think I’ll be moving up in the guild very soon!

Just one more thing to add: the completed map of Pictham’s travels. Quite a journey indeed.

(https://i.imgur.com/OPlsP12.png)

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Luckyowl on September 29, 2020, 04:09:01 am

Legendary :D
It's good to see Cather's story resolved, and the art are superb! Excellent! It would be nice if Leto can uncover timeless Bob's adventurers.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: IonMatrix on September 29, 2020, 08:53:29 am

Got the save. Started playing.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Bralbaard on September 29, 2020, 09:03:54 am

Quote from: nogoodnames on September 28, 2020, 10:40:30 pm

From the desk of Leto Searchpraise, Junior Apprentice to the Historian’s Guild
23rd Hematite
Year 152 of the Age of Heroes .....

Awesome work Nogoodnames!

I like how you even kept the same art style as the original story. The continuing use of sunflowers is also a nice touch.

Quote from: Luckyowl on September 29, 2020, 04:09:01 am

It would be nice if Leto can uncover timeless Bob's adventurers.

I think Timeless mentioned he is finishing his write up now.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: nogoodnames on September 29, 2020, 10:07:16 am

Quote from: Bralbaard on September 29, 2020, 09:03:54 am

Awesome work Nogoodnames!

I like how you even kept the same art style as the original story. The continuing use of sunflowers is also a nice touch.

Thanks! It certainly stretched my artistic abilities.

Quote from: Bralbaard on September 29, 2020, 09:03:54 am

Quote from: Luckyowl on September 29, 2020, 04:09:01 am

It would be nice if Leto can uncover timeless Bob's adventurers.

I think Timeless mentioned he is finishing his write up now.

I think he's referring to Bob's first adventure that he plans to fill in once the skulls are recovered. That will require a proper archaeologist. Leto's far too conceited (and cowardly) to get his hands dirty doing something like that.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: tonnot98 on September 29, 2020, 12:19:55 pm

I wonder, how many dwarves are left standing? Last I checked, populations were around 300 or so and dropping from the failed fortresses.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Eric Blank on September 29, 2020, 12:58:15 pm

I know I left it with a net increase in population, but that's because Championvaults is built in a very boring locale. I'd have to go instigate.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Glloyd on September 29, 2020, 01:23:50 pm

Quote from: tonnot98 on September 29, 2020, 12:19:55 pm

I wonder, how many dwarves are left standing? Last I checked, populations were around 300 or so and dropping from the failed fortresses.

It's actually been mostly consistently growing. Bralbaard posted a new graph a couple pages back, I think it's still around 600 or so.

Edit: found it http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8188297#msg8188297
Looks like it might even be over 700 now.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Bralbaard on September 29, 2020, 03:27:27 pm

It's currently at 762, lowest it's been was 524, that was at the end of my first turn.
At the start of that turn (and the end of worldgen) it was at 568, but I guess many dwarves were massacred in that massive goblin/elf attack that I observed when I was in Treatyseed. (when the king was also nearly murdered by that elf recruit). Anyhow, the death of those dwarves during my turn was somehow balanced by the death of nearly 1000 elves, so some would say that their sacrifice was not in vain.

Of course those surviving 762 dwarves are nothing compared to the millions of undead that we apparently have in this world. I guess I would have to move to a logarithmic graph to properly depict all populations at once :-), I'm not sure if I can easily extract meaningful numbers for undead though.
Kobolds have been sitting at 51 since 712, and have the highest risk to go extinct.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Imic on September 29, 2020, 04:26:35 pm

On my next turn I hope to build a fortress for the sole purpose of being a large safe place for Dwarves to live and have children.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Quantum Drop on October 02, 2020, 02:49:20 am

How're things going on your end, Ionmatrix?

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Glloyd on October 05, 2020, 07:07:02 pm

It's been a week and nothing from IonMatrix. He hasn't been active in a week either, time to skip to the next person?

Also, regarding population numbers, according to legends viewer from a couple turns ago, there are almost 5 million Hands of Planegifts in the world, making up over 95% of the site populations in the world. Over 4 million of those are in the hamlet of Heartwhispers. For comparison, there's 61402 goblins. There's more Hands of Planegifts in Heartwhispers alone than there are certain types of vermin - more than the amount of rats and pond turtles in the world combined. Truly wild. The second most populous race is Soldiers of Night, with a measly 71441, most located in Cog's tower of Glazedriven. This is the race of my companion Ishes.

Despite the massive number of Hands, there are only 224 living Hand historical figures, compared to 1016 Soldier of Night figs and 4451 goblins. Seems like most are content to hang out in Heartwhispers.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: IonMatrix on October 05, 2020, 08:37:06 pm

Hey, hey, I'm here. The Wi-Fi got cut for some days but I've been playing. I'll post the save soon.

EDIT:By that I meant tomorrow because the Wi-Fi went down AGAIN after being good for just a FEW MINUTES. Then the lazy ass mechanic told me that he'll come back tomorrow or something. >:(

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Eric Blank on October 05, 2020, 10:43:41 pm

Sounds like there needs to be an exterminatus. Dfhack can theoretically destroy an entire species, but I'm not sure if it would actually work on generated races. Or if they'd just repopulate.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Bralbaard on October 06, 2020, 06:26:21 am

Quote from: Eric Blank on October 05, 2020, 10:43:41 pm

Sounds like there needs to be an exterminatus. Dfhack can theoretically destroy an entire species, but I'm not sure if it would actually work on generated races. Or if they'd just repopulate.

Well, as long as they are content to stay in Heartwhispers there is no real problem. Let's just pray that Toady will not release an update at some point that will unleash them upon the world.

Quote from: Glloyd on October 05, 2020, 07:07:02 pm

Also, regarding population numbers, according to legends viewer from a couple turns ago, there are almost 5 million Hands of Planegifts in the world, making up over 95% of the site populations in the world.

I wonder if that would give us an "age of the hand of planegifts" after we've murdered all the megabeasts in the world, or if we'll get an age of the goblin. According to wiki:

Quote

Once there are no powers left in the world, the ages will proceed as follows.

The Age of (Race)
    Less than 50% of all civilized creatures are mundane (i.e. Human, when using unmodded raws), and the majority are of one race.

        The Age of Dwarves was a time when dwarves ruled the world.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Timeless Bob on October 06, 2020, 02:58:51 pm

Now that would be an interesting necromancer experiment: A race of beings who were prolific reproducers, and like locusts went on mass war frenzies every time there wasn't enough to eat.  Grasshopper-people becoming Locust-people... Now that's a frightening thought!

Grasshopper people being these peaceful farming types, very hippie dippy like elves, but at some population point becoming war-beast swarms until the population dips below a certain number per site again...

Mass migration of populations as they conquer and pillage other sites around them would make for an interesting world gen if there was a regular cycle of growth then apocalyptic wars.  Heck, doing this to preserve FPS might be fun too.  At a certain point, a world gen takes a certain number of seconds per year to generate, some apocalypse or other is triggered to "clean up the clutter" and it continues until the number of seconds per year generated is reduced down below the threshold.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Bralbaard on October 07, 2020, 12:41:23 pm

Have you had any luck uploading the save, Ionmatrix?

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: IonMatrix on October 08, 2020, 02:00:50 am

Right. Here's the save: https://dffd.bay12games.com/file.php?id=15237

Also my turn in a nutshell:
OOH whats that?
*Chops that thing up*
OOH SHINY!!!
*Repeats for a long time*
OOH what's that wait that's a lasher oh shi-
*gets lightsaber'd*

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Quantum Drop on October 08, 2020, 04:45:56 am

I feel your pain on that, IonMatrix. They're hilarious if on your side, rage-inducing when they aren't.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Bralbaard on October 08, 2020, 04:53:55 am

Quote from: IonMatrix on October 08, 2020, 02:00:50 am

Right. Here's the save: https://dffd.bay12games.com/file.php?id=15237

Thanks for the save game!

Are you going to do a more extensive write up? We love those.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: IonMatrix on October 09, 2020, 10:08:18 am

Well, yeah, after some tiime.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Tasoth on October 10, 2020, 02:56:19 pm

Speaking of write-ups. I'm here to confirm I'm not dead! While compiling my notes and photos from my adventure I got a knock on the door. The thing knocking was life, and it was about to go to Hell for several weeks. With it all wrapped up though, I can now get my story from my travels onto the thread. I must ask you all though: for the sake of continuity, should I go back to my previous post and edit it to contain my adventures? I wouldn't want to break up the flow of the madness.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Bralbaard on October 11, 2020, 01:44:05 am

That might be the best for people that are catching up reading through the thread. But make sure to quote it here, at the end of the thread. We do not want to miss it :)

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Glloyd on October 11, 2020, 01:48:04 pm

Has there been any response from Unraveller? It's been a few days.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Quantum Drop on October 11, 2020, 02:04:37 pm

Quote from: Glloyd on October 11, 2020, 01:48:04 pm

Has there been any response from Unraveller? It's been a few days.

Unraveller hasn't been active since the 28th September, so I doubt we'll be seeing a response. That said, it may be worth sending an email, just in case.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Bralbaard on October 11, 2020, 04:57:55 pm

I did send him a PM when we got the save game. If there is no response by tomorrow we will move on.

Edit: No response, that makes it Travis Bickle's  turn.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Tasoth on October 12, 2020, 11:46:54 pm

Quoting my (belated) adventures here so I don't mess up the flow of time but people can still find them.

Quote from: Tasoth on September 08, 2020, 05:08:32 pm

Here goes nothing!

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

15th of Galena, 733

My name is Erush Mörulvel, and I am writing this logbook as a recollection of my journey or, should the worst come to pass, a way for whoever finds my corpse to know how I came to be in this state.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/aXFvlpe.png)

I am in the mountainhome of Clawmanor, once a ruin, now a living fort once more, for now anyhow. Between the creatures which dwell below our feet and the creatures that roam the countryside up above, our numbers have dwindled to just a few dozen. Despite this, we live on in defiance of them all. Earlier today, our Expedition Leader, Dastot Athelnoram, summoned me to meet with him in an area of the fortress away from the others.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/wH6B4Hg.png)

(https://i.imgur.com/J0ey8z4.png)

There he told me he’s heard rumors of a mighty Dwarven fortress to the south, known only as Championvault. He claimed that hundreds upon hundreds of our kindred live there, and that what scant few travelers we’ve had pass through our home may know of its location. He mentioned that through them he’d learned of a Dwarf by the name of Lokum Pulleyspire who resides in Championvault, and he seeks the return of several codices which were stolen from The Deep Vault. One such Codex is entitled Waxing and Waning and the Universe; it is claimed that it has been stored in The Palace of Brains, in Divedact. He ordered me to establish contact with Championvault that they might send migrants to assist our cause, and that along the way I try to recover the codex this Lokum Pulleyspire seeks.

I went to my quarters and gathered my things: a set of clothes, a waterskin, my travel pack, and my trusty copper crossbow. I’ve been hunting with this weapon for years, and never once has it let me down. Along with my own belongings, the Expedition Leader was gracious enough to gift me some armor. Unfortunately, said armor is composed of only a battered copper breastplate and a heavily-dented copper helm, deemed no longer fit for service by the militia. Ah well, beggars cannot be choosers.
As I went to ascend the Grand Staircase to the surface I was stopped by Nish Nêcikrakust, a miner and lifelong friend. Nish said she’d heard of where I was going, that she was coming with me, and nothing I said would change that. Together we went up to the barracks and mounted the two horses (named Kogan and Tulon) that had been prepared for us. The Militia Commander told us that the safest way south would be to take the Underway south through the ruins of several long-abandoned forts. While the prospect of traveling through unmapped ruins was far from appealing, it beats trying to contend with the known threats on the surface.

With that, we set off into the Underway. I shall write another entry when we stop to rest.


16th of Galena, 733

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/mNIl7Ab.png)

Luckily the commander had been correct. We found a stairwell leading up to the surface, which housed a seemingly abandoned Trade Depot and Tavern, where we rested overnight. I am no stranger to the surface but Nish, having spent most of her days chipping away deep in the bowels of the Earth, took a bit to adjust. While she was busy attempting not to expel last night’s dinner, I picked over the Trade Depot for anything that might help us, picking out what food hadn’t rotted.

A few hours’ travel to the south we discovered a Dwarven hillocks by the name of Bolthanded. The white sand which surrounded the site fascinated me; it was so different compared to the snow-capped mountains of the north. The hillocks were in shambles, seemingly abandoned for some time. Unperturbed, we continued on our way south.

Further south we came upon a Monastery of some sort, which based on the Stone Carved sign was named "Postdweller”. It was full of creepy statues, many of which depicted Dwarves being turned into frightening creatures with monstrous fangs or ghoulish, animal-like horrors by The Mine of Ambers; a sobering reminder not to incur the wrath of the divine.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/TdA6aAJ.png)

Despite there being no one else present, I got the feeling we shouldn’t stay long, and we left soon after.

Further south we reached our first major obstacle. In order to continue, we must pass over a small mountain range. Going around is out of the question, as to the west we spy a tall stone tower; with our gear we wouldn’t stand a chance against the creatures that may lurk within. With luck, we shall be over the mountain before nightfall.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

17th of Galena, 733

While it took a bit longer than expected to cross the mountain, we’ve had some luck. Early in the morning we came across what appears to be a lair of sorts. Nish insisted we ought to leave it be and continue onwards, but the promise of treasure proved too great for me. I dismounted Kogan outside, and snuck slowly into the warren.
Inside I saw a frail yet large creature, which looked to me like a combination of man and jackal. Not wanting to take any risks, I loaded my crossbow and fired at the creature before it had noticed me.
[spoiler](https://i.imgur.com/bRIKyCY.png)

The bolt struck the beast in the right upper leg, and as it toppled over it suddenly transformed into a bedraggled looking Dwarf! Before I could load another arrow Kogan charged in, having heard the scuffle from outside. Dashing in, the horse bowled the peasant over, before crushing its head with his hooves. To my disappointment, there appeared to be nothing else in the place; this…werejackal had carved out a hole in the ground to hide in, a hole which was now its tomb. Ah well, that’s one less village with terrorized livestock at least.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/ZWsycwb.png)

We happened upon another ruined fort just a bit south of the beast man’s lair. Or rather, it seemed abandoned. Curiously, a host of goblins had taken to living within the fort. While they weren’t looking I grabbed some food, an iron spear, a set of iron armor, and this nifty trollbone crown…It’s not like it belonged to them anyhow.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/1oNKd46.png)

Quote from: Tasoth on September 15, 2020, 02:11:07 pm

PART 2 INCOMING

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/CjZ6Vkc.png)

(https://i.imgur.com/a8cIzXi.png)

What luck! At the human-owned castle Strengthpears I met a swordsman who told me where to find Divedact. Ironically, it’s back north, where I had just come from. Unfortunately, it is VERY close the same Tower I had been attempting to avoid yesterday. I suppose life can’t be easy. I stopped in a seemingly-abandoned hamlet to rest overnight before heading into Divedact proper.


18th of Galena, 733

We finally arrived in Divedact, now we just have to find The Palace of Brains. The streets are empty and lifeless. This is unsurprising, given the place’s proximity to that damnable tower.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/blZd9Dk.png)

(https://i.imgur.com/klv7D3j.png)

This looks like the place!
Despite its morbid name, The Palace of Brains seems to be but an abandoned library; one absolutely stuffed with tomes and scrolls at that! It will take a while to sift through all of these tomes for the specific one Lokum wants, but I may as well take some of the others too. By the beard, there are floors upon floors of books here! This may take some time…
After several hours of searching among the books strewn about the various floors I finally found it! On the third floor of the library, resting amongst a pile of similarly dusty books sat Waxing and Waning and the Universe. As I placed the book in my backpack, I took another look around the library. These books hold so much knowledge in them, from the patterns and colors of various stars, to the understanding of various animal anatomies, and even theories on the nature of weather and the world itself. These books shouldn’t be rotting in some forgotten library! They should be safe in the vaults of a fortress, cared for and studied by astute minds… minds perhaps like the ones in Championvault. I must gather as many as I can, and remember to map out this library’s location…
It took several hours, but I managed to cram my backpack almost full to bursting with various books. It saddens me I cannot get them all, but such a thing in unrealistic. There are simply too many for just myself and Nish to carry, even with our horses. I shall be sure this place is not forgotten. I strap both mine and Nish’s packs to Kogan and Tulon. We have a long journey ahead of us, and the two of us must be ready for it.


21st of Galena, 733
It has been a while, but we are not yet to our destination. We did find something of interest however. While heading towards the town of Diptramples we came across a Labyrinth in The Subtle Hills. I know not what is in it, and currently I do not care to find out. I have a fortress to find. I did make sure to mark the location down, however. In the town, we heard of a nearby castle called Boltspumpkin which also went by the name of “The Museum”.
Approaching the museum I am approached by a human, who appraised my stuffed pack and determines I have come to donate a thing or two to them. While not my original mission, I didn’t suppose it would hurt to leave them with a few of the duplicates. Spying a large throne fashioned from skulls of all sorts of horrid beasts, I got an idea; just as powerful as might and conquest is knowledge, and it too should have such a befitting display. Using a few of the larger tomes I fashioned a seat, placed a large bookshelf behind them to serve as the back, and stacked a few more books to either side to serve as armrests. It probably wouldn’t be the most comfortable thing to sit in, but that’s not really the point here. On the left armrest I placed the trollbone crown, and against the right armrest I leaned the iron spear, now christened Mörul Omtäl – “The Pages of Liberation”. Spying a peculiar wooden structure nearby, I gathered up the remainder of the books not used in the display, and prepared to leave. Nish elected to stay behind in Boltspumpkin and help with maintaining The Museum; she told me she knew I would come back around, sooner or later. Not sure what to make of that, I set off for the odd structure.

Inside I found a strange fellow by the name of Glloyd Ancientborn the Round. He seemed somewhat…off, but it’s not my place to judge. He informed me that this place was the Shelter of Adventures, overseen by the League Knowledge, and it was created to assist adventurers travelling to and from The Museum. Intrigued, I ask to join this league of his, and after donating to him a few of the books I'd gathered, he agreed. Following that, I rested up for a bit, restocked on my supply of food and water, and set off towards Championvault, which Glloyd told me was within the mountain range to the south. Looks like I’ll be hiking again…

Man, it is still a long way to Championvault.


24th of Galena, 733

At long last I arrived, Spotting two obsidian structures in the distance, I followed the road until I reached the entrance to Championvault. Inside I finally found Lokum Pulleyspire, who it turns out is the Expedition Leader of this place. I turned over Waxing and Waning and the Universe, and told them that I had even more books outside on my horse, but before I would turn them over they had to promise to send migrants to Clawmanor. They agreed, and I brought in the rest of the tomes, as well as the map I had made of the path to the Palace of Brains. I will rest here for some time; I expect they will charge me with leading the migrants back to Clawmanor. Perhaps along the way back I can pay that labyrinth a visit…

Come to think of it, this whole thing went rather well, all things considered.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

My turn is concluded. I've finished my adventure. Sadly my side project was unfinished, but if anyone wants hundreds of masterwork mugs you should poke around up in the north a bit.

Here's the save: https://dffd.bay12games.com/file.php?id=15203 (https://dffd.bay12games.com/file.php?id=15203)

Hate to say it, but my adventure was a bit of a step down from past posters in terms of peril.
Sidenote: I had a little map to show where stuff on my journey was, but I seem to have saved over it. I'll leave a hint instead: If you're looking to get your bones ground into porridge, check around The Subtle Hills. It's not too far from Boltspumpkin.

Addendum: It's come to my attention that Divedact is not abandoned at all, but rather sparsely populated. Rather than a daring raid under the nose of a malignant necromancer, I pretty much just robbed a local library...oh well.

is there a way I can spoiler the quotes themselves so I'm not taking up so much space here? I am not very good with anything beyond basic posts.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Luckyowl on October 13, 2020, 12:17:49 am

Quote from: Tasoth on September 08, 2020, 05:08:32 pm

17th of Galena, 733

While it took a bit longer than expected to cross the mountain, we’ve had some luck. Early in the morning we came across what appears to be a lair of sorts. Nish insisted we ought to leave it be and continue onwards, but the promise of treasure proved too great for me. I dismounted Kogan outside, and snuck slowly into the warren.
Inside I saw a frail yet large creature, which looked to me like a combination of man and jackal. Not wanting to take any risks, I loaded my crossbow and fired at the creature before it had noticed me.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/bRIKyCY.png)

The bolt struck the beast in the right upper leg, and as it toppled over it suddenly transformed into a bedraggled looking Dwarf! Before I could load another arrow Kogan charged in, having heard the scuffle from outside. Dashing in, the horse bowled the peasant over, before crushing its head with his hooves. To my disappointment, there appeared to be nothing else in the place; this…werejackal had carved out a hole in the ground to hide in, a hole which was now its tomb. Ah well, that’s one less village with terrorized livestock at least.

oh my god! lol, the dwarf you killed, was actually responsible for crafting an artifact spear all the way back in the 100's he gave it to some noble who would later die with it in some necro war, ever since then it's been lost to time. That dwarf  haven't really killed anyone when he turned I think somewhere in 150. He did rampaged though, but that's really it. I honestly forgot his name, but I still got an old file of the museum I might open it up and check him out. It's sad to see him die this way, but it can't be help. I was actually planning on revolving my adventure around that spear, but I decided to settle with that ring at the cave of shadow of flinching

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Tasoth on October 13, 2020, 12:22:31 am

Quote from: Luckyowl on October 13, 2020, 12:17:49 am

oh my god! lol, the dwarf you killed, was actually responsible for crafting an artifact spear all the way back in the 100's he gave it to some noble who would later die with it in some necro war, ever since then it's been lost to time. That dwarf  haven't really killed anyone when he turned I think somewhere in 150. He did rampaged though, but that's really it. I honestly forgot his name, but I still got an old file of the museum I might open it up and check him out. It's sad to see him die this way, but it can't be help. I was actually planning on revolving my adventure around that spear, but I decided to settle with that ring at that ettin's cave.

While writing up my story I saw the post on here mentioning him and I realized instantly I’d killed him specifically lol; I said to myself “They're in for a late shock.” Good news though (maybe), I didn’t find the spear, so it’s still out there.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Bralbaard on October 13, 2020, 04:09:43 pm

Ha! a new submission for the museum. great stuff.

Edit: Also, Travis has picked up the save game.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Lukepop on October 16, 2020, 07:32:20 am

Hi! I've not played a ton of fortress mode and none recently but I've been playing the hell out of adventure mode. I'd love to get on the list. Oh and I think I've read the whole thread.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Glloyd on October 17, 2020, 04:31:01 pm

It's been a few days, how's it going Travis?

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Travis Bickle on October 19, 2020, 11:32:02 pm

https://dffd.bay12games.com/file.php?id=15260 (https://dffd.bay12games.com/file.php?id=15260)
Write-up sometime tomorrow probably.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Bralbaard on October 20, 2020, 07:11:55 am

I'm looking forward to the story!
I've added Lukepop to the list. All this makes it Yarlig's turn.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Yarlig on October 20, 2020, 03:46:37 pm

Aight. No time to play today' gonna start the show tomorrow. Since my last adventure went about as well as it did' I'm going down the murderhobo route this time' hopefully I'll be able to give it some flavor.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Yarlig on October 25, 2020, 11:57:43 am

https://dffd.bay12games.com/file.php?id=15273

Yet another failure! Pushed my luck too much and ended up eaten by an underground dinosaur; seems even decently skilled and equipped adventurers aren't immune to webbing. Oh well.

I was planning to locate my previous guy's corpse and inset his journal entry into this story' but I never got the chance; think I'm just going to write everything and put it into relevant posts' hopefully sooner than later.

Third time's the charm' so please put me back on the list!

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Imic on October 25, 2020, 12:23:50 pm

I guess that makes it my turn, then. Hopefully this ends a little better than the last two, or at least provide a better tragedy than the second attempt. To quote Yarlig,

Quote from: Yarlig on October 25, 2020, 11:57:43 am

Third time's the charm

I’ll claim the save once I’ve eaten food.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Bralbaard on October 25, 2020, 12:46:45 pm

Quote from: Yarlig on October 25, 2020, 11:57:43 am

https://dffd.bay12games.com/file.php?id=15273

Yet another failure! Pushed my luck too much and ended up eaten by an underground dinosaur; seems even decently skilled and equipped adventurers aren't immune to webbing. Oh well.

I was planning to locate my previous guy's corpse and inset his journal entry into this story' but I never got the chance; think I'm just going to write everything and put it into relevant posts' hopefully sooner than later.

Third time's the charm' so please put me back on the list!

And the save game again comes with poetry  :D
I'll put you back on the list.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Imic on October 25, 2020, 05:54:35 pm

(https://i.ibb.co/mHTFCbx/Image-2.png)
In a wide, open, cold world, under a tall, ancient mountain range, in the far west of the world, alone in its quiet perch besides the birds and the road disappearing into the great valley below, in a labyrinth of corridors and chambers and halls, in the warmth of his deep home, there sat a dwarf, leaning against an ancient shale statue of another of his kind, frozen in a moment of time. In the quiet cosiness of the hall, he began to write.

---

The journal of Onol Sashasistam

---

Music (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IHB6TINrO0I&t=50s)
(https://i.ibb.co/31WbzQ8/Image-1.png)
We received the letter less than a week ago, from our cousins, the Dwarves of the Staff of Kissing. No-one saw who the messenger was, they simply dropped the letter off at our front gate and that was that. We're somewhat more isolated than the Forts to the east, and our numbers are limited, so there's no way of tracking the messenger down. While the news that the Staff of Kissing Dwarves have been working on founding a new Fortress-city to the south near Mosshill isn't new, what is interesting is that the letter requested that a Dwarf be sent into the Old Kingdom in the northern mountains to acquire notes, details, sketches, maps and so on of the deep realm. Work has been done for years on recolonizing the edges, but the heart of the Old Kingdom is still nothing more than empty ruins, and it has been decided that I shall be sent into that evil place to acquire the information they requested. I've been supplied with a map of the Old Kingdom, outdated as it may be, and a set of copper armour to bring with me.

(https://i.ibb.co/Y777s8q/A-map-of-the-Walled-Dye.png)

I'm suspicious of this. I don't like that the messenger seems to have come and gone out of thin air, without being seen, I don't like that our Fortress at the very corner of the realm was the one contacted instead of a more populated, better connected settlement, I don't even know what they want with this information I am being sent to gather, I'm only vaguely aware of what they're looking for in the first place and I plan to just note down as much as I can to see what I can find. I wasn't even told why the request was accepted, only that there was... payment... of some form, and that payment was more than enough. I'm not one to be easily frightened, but this scares me. I don't know what's going on, but I don't have much of a choice in the matter. I don't know if I am going to make it back alive. I'm going to go now, writing can only delay for so long. I feel sick.

---

(https://i.ibb.co/T4yBphZ/Image-3.png)
He wandered for some time, through the Fortress. This place was a maze, no matter how long he spent here, he would never completely get used to it. There was no way to tell between doors that lead to empty bedrooms or to the corridor out. He wished, not for the first time, that the ancient Dwarves who built this place had written down something, anything to differenciate between these doors. Finally, he found what he was looking for, the northern stairway to the forges. As he walked down them, he heard a sound. He slowed down. Something was happening down below. He took the next few stairs down, and-
(https://i.ibb.co/Cw0QV2h/Image-4.png)

Music (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gcdPy8WyOUU&t=37s)

(https://i.ibb.co/nrXjySz/Image-5.png)

He ran.

(https://i.ibb.co/Q8vvd2L/Image-6.png)

He didn't understand what was happening.

(https://i.ibb.co/RpdvzCW/Image-7.png)



He didn't get to see what was happening.

(https://i.ibb.co/GdVn591/Image-8.png)

He didn't know what was happening.

(https://i.ibb.co/nBzNDB8/Image-9.png)

Perhaps he never would.

(https://i.ibb.co/hFPdw24/Image-10.png)

(https://i.ibb.co/c6Mm9S7/Image-11.png)

When he reached the surface, the sun low in the west of the clear evening sky, the familiar warmth of home faded almost instantly, and he was greeted only by the cold, but feeling the wind hitting his face up here, far away from the horrors of the great beneath, he felt relieved, maybe more than he ever had in his life. And then he saw the object clutched in his hand, and suddenly, he knew fear again. He didn't remember picking it up. He didn't remember putting away his shield to make room for it. He didn't remember a lot of things.

(https://i.ibb.co/7XPr31Q/Image-12.png)

---

(https://i.ibb.co/w0qzpBP/Image-14.png)
Music (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K637tgzECOM)
After I finished my last entry, something happened. There was blood, bodies, shouting, but I kept running. I don't know how long I kept running in circles, looking for a way out. It was like the gods had sealed us inside our home to die. Then I remember stairs, and I remember they kept ongoing, and going, and going... and then there was the wind, and the cold, the damnable cold. I've taken shelter from the wind behind a little cliff by the road, and I've made a fire out of scraps I gathered together. It's enough, but only barely. I plan to keep on the road until I reach the other Dwarven settlements to the west. I will carry out the task I set out to complete, even if I have to walk down to Mosshill myself to deliver the letter. If the letter is even real. I just saw the blood and the bodies of my friends and family fill my home, this task is all I have left, even if the letter was a fabrication, even if I'm being manipulated, I just don't know what to do anymore except keep going. I'm scared. I've heard stories about the Old Kingdom, about labyrinths, about people going mad, about places where my ancestors dug too deep, about forgotten beasts from the depths of the earth, and of... other things. Things that whisper and pull strings. Things that lead you to do things.

When I came out of the Fortress, I had in my hand a divination die. I don't remember going to pick it up, I don't remember where I might have picked it up from, I don't remember putting my things away to pick it up. I'm scared. I'm very scared.

---

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

I'm trying out something new, I'm going to try to aim for at least an attempt at horror, it may end up as an edgy mess, but I'm going to try regardless. And please do mention if it's an edgy mess, contrary to popular belief I cannot read people's minds. I had to use DFhack to escape the Fortress I started in, because the gods had sealed me in to prevent me from carrying out my task the game had generated the Fort without giving it an exit.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Luckyowl on October 25, 2020, 06:55:36 pm

oh wow. Could you tell us the name of the fortress? So we can remember to not spawn there. 

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Imic on October 25, 2020, 07:09:42 pm

(https://i.ibb.co/BgYP0Ps/Image-16.png)
He passed through the valley one step at a time, the mountains behind him shrinking as the mountains ahead grew.
(https://i.ibb.co/Tw46QFL/Image-15.png)
Underneath that Fortress was the southernmost point of the great underground network of tunnels and deep roads that made up the Old Kingdom.
(https://i.ibb.co/WW9LP5t/Image-17.png)
He was scared.
(https://i.ibb.co/jL7tZVB/Image-18.png)
He picked up some more food, a better spear, and talked a while with the only other Dwarf in the place. There wasn't much to talk about, the stuttered tale of what Onol had seen elicited no reaction from the quiet, watchful expedition leader, and he knew nothing much about the current state of the world beyond the walls of his Fortress.

(https://i.ibb.co/HrgB5G9/Image-19.png)
In the end, there was nowhere to go but down.
Music (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wrwxqlnQers)
(https://i.ibb.co/GVJDBk9/Image-20.png)
Pillars holding up the roof disappeared off into the distance, covered in fungal plantlife. A road streched into the distance, built from huge stone blocks carved centuries ago polished so thoroughly you could see your reflection in the bits that escaped the long, slow march of time wearing it down. The way ahead was dark, and cold. He began to take notes.

---

I have reached one of the deep roads of the Old Kingdom, at the southernmost tip of the mountains that the Dwarves of old once spread their influence across. The space for the road has been carved straight from the stone, ignoring geography to cut through the lay of the land and reach its destination, digging tunnels or setting up supports anywhere necessary, it seems they would do anything to ensure that the road went as straight as possible with as little deviancy as possible. A lot of care has also been put into the blocks of stone used to build the road itself, and though generations of use and generations of neglect have left them heavily worn in places, patterns can still be made out in places. Not actual or images, just lines, patterns, shapes and such carved into the stone, made through the way that the blocks have been assembled or arranged, the people who made this road put all of their hearts and souls into each chisel stroke. As a Dwarf, it's quite inspiring to see. I would have loved to see the road in its glory days, before the marks had removed parts of the patterns, but unfortunately those are not the times we live in. According to the map, it should keep going for a little while and then split in two. I plan to take the eastern of the two roads, though not for any particular reason. Also, there's water down here! I was worried about that, but it seems that it may not be a massive problem, which is a very good sign.

---

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

The Fortress is called Princetomes, it's the westernmost inhabited Fortress on the first image in my first post. I don't know if there'll be any interest in a walking architectural commentary, but hopefully this'll get more interesting soon, if my writing doesn't turn out awful.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Imic on October 26, 2020, 08:53:33 am

---

Onol's journal, continued.

---

(https://i.ibb.co/kmCSYs7/Image-21.png)
I continued walking until I began to get drowsy, and then slept for a while. There's no way to tell day from night down here, so there's not much point in keeping that kind of schedule going. Today, I got to see a beautiful sight: the great plump helmet farms of old. As there's no-one left to harvest them, they have grown wild and free for all these years in the dark caves they love. This was how the Dwarves of old survived down here without covering the land in hillocks, they turned the caverns into vast fields of mushrooms. If my history is right and the map isn't hopelessly wrong, I am in the mountain halls of Syrupflares. The walled dye has been doing its best to re-settle the area for years and years now, but little more than sparse habitation is possible with our current dwindled numbers, and the Old Kingdom stretched so far across the mountains that keeping track of it all is beyond impossible even in the limited areas we are currently working to repopulate. The halls are empty and ready for living though, and the plump helmets are just as bountiful as ever, but I've always been worried about resettling these halls. Even putting aside admittedly superstitious fears of ghosts and spirits, Goblins are said to roam the deep roads from those halls where the Dwarves dug too deep, and the caves are difficult to control or keep track of. What can be done if a Goblin raid simply appears from the darkness to slaughter the settlers in their beds? The Dwarves built Fortresses on the surface to keep out invaders, but they never built gates and defences down below, where they once perhaps thought they would never be attacked from.

All these thoughts aside, I'm hoping to run into settlers here, but I'm not certain that I will, these mountain halls are truly, truly vast, and I have no way of knowing which parts have been reclaimed. I plan to keep going northwards regardless, towards the silent, dead heart of the Old Kingdom.

---

I've found a staircase going down in the road.
(https://i.ibb.co/kmCSYs7/Image-21.png)
These are the homes and cities of the Dwarves of old, who would live and die without ever seeing the sun, clothing themselves in the leather of the creatures that live down here, eating nothing but the mushrooms that grow here, using fungiwood for firewood and timber, the cave moss of the Underworld more familiar to them than grass, and the sun a strange and distant myth.

(https://i.ibb.co/yWKR4kg/Image-23.png)

(https://i.ibb.co/Hn2kqMX/Image-24.png)

These halls and caves must have felt so safe back then, when the world above was distant and filled with evil, cruel goblins and tall, scheming humans and... Elves. When this was the world that the Dwarves had carved for themselves, built for themselves, and provided everything they needed. So strong and powerful, they would never need to worry about armies and sieges, they could simply lock themselves away and trade through the deep roads. Before they dug too deep, and before the undead ravaged the world. Sometimes I wish that I was born in those days. It's a strange feeling, nostalgia for a time you never knew. I think I like the sun too much though. I'd best get moving on, it turns out all the water I've been seeing is muddy and disgusting, and if I stop moving for too long I'll start dwelling on having to drink that stuff in the imminent future.

---

Had to bypass an overflowing magma vent that had presumably not been quite so bad when the road was first built.
(https://i.ibb.co/y4s4Fy3/Image-25.png)

(https://i.ibb.co/2gvT6Hq/Image-32.png)
Left the territory of the Mountain Hall, didn't see or meet anyone. Running out of water.

---

Slept again. Out of water.

---

Reached Letterseizures, the Mountain halls. It's supposedly inhabited, but I don't have my hopes up for meeting anyone.

---

I ran into two Dwarves! It feels like an age since I last saw a friendly face. Just chatting to them was a breath of fresh air compared to the endless monotony of these infinite tunnels and caves. Neither knew much of what was going on outside their home, being mostly focused on surviving down here. Apparently an army is marching on Shieldflares, once a Frontier fortress on the northern border with the Goblins, now one of the last survivors of the Old Kingdom. Besides that, they didn't tell me where they drank or what they drank when I inquired, so I left that subject behind. There wasn't much more to do, so I headed out again. Every forward step I take in this place makes me feel just a little bit more terrified of what's out there.

---

I'm starting to get thirsty. I haven't seen any water in a while.

---

I found some water.
(https://i.ibb.co/MVPGmSj/Image-33.png)
No, I'm still not thirsty enough.

---

I might be able to reach Throatletters and get water from a surface stream instead. I might.

---

I'm so thirsty. The tunnels just keep going. I'm scared. That die is heavy.

---

(https://i.ibb.co/6wX8rLP/Image-34.png)
I REACHED THROATLETTERS!
(https://i.ibb.co/xD8ZVpS/Image-35.png)
The sun is so painful, the wind is so cold...
(https://i.ibb.co/hMzJ6pD/Image-36.png)
The grass is so, so very green...
(https://i.ibb.co/StrKDTw/Image-37.png)
(https://i.ibb.co/vdK1Lbn/Image-38.png)
Water, oh sweet, clear, water, how I've missed you so...
(https://i.ibb.co/x5VjCzW/Image-39.png)

---

I've picked up a few dozen extra containers of water, and I'm heading back in. The next stretch of road, at least according to the map, is very, very long, before ending at the heart of the Old Kingdom at Treatyseed. This will be a long trek.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Bralbaard on October 26, 2020, 09:49:47 am

Ah Treatyseed. I wonder if the perpetual goblin-dwarven war is still raging in it's tunnels.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Imic on October 26, 2020, 10:08:03 am

---

I've come across the corner of some ancient, forgotten farmland, but there's no road towards whichever mountain hall this is a part of, so I'll keep moving north.

---

I've come to a realization: I've been reading the map wrong. This isn't the road around to Treatyseed, I'm not sure where I am. I'm still on the road though, so it should be fine as long as I keep moving north.

---

I've taken a left turn at a junction, but I may be losing track, should I have taken the previous left turn? I'm not sure.

---

Slept again.

---

I'm definitely lost, but I'm still on the road, I should be fine.

---

Reached a crossroads. I might now where I am, or I might not, but I hope I do. I've gone north again. I think I'm following the map.

---

This road just keeps going on, and on, and on.

---

Took a right turn. Or it might have been a left.

---

Was there a turn there? Did I see another road? I don't know. I think I'm going the right way.

---

There were some roads. I took one of them.

---

The road stopped. Did it even exist? I think it did. I found a new one.

---

I think the roads are trying to talk to me. Or maybe the blocks just look like that.

---

More roads. Lots of roads. I think they move when I'm not looking.

---

The road started going away. I found it again though.

---

Tired.

---

Another crossroads. I took one of them.

---

I think I saw this road before. Or maybe I didn't.

---

It's very quiet.

---

I found a bunch of statues. I tried to sleep near them but they wouldn't let me. I wish I knew who they were.

---

More halls. They went so deep.

---

The road tried to get away again. It thought I let my guard down.

---

There was a goblin. Maybe there were several.

---

The die talked to me. I talked back.

---

thirsty.

---

How long has it been? I don't know. I've lost track of when I sleep.

---

I came to a crossroads. The die told me which way to take. It told me I'm almost there.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Imic on October 26, 2020, 11:25:04 am

---

There was a left turn there for a second, and then it went away again. I asked the die, but it didn't tell me.

---

Another crossroads. I didn't need to ask this time, I knew which way to go. The die was so proud.

---

I saw Serpent people, lots of them.

---

The roads tried to go away again. The die helped this time.

---

There were Dwarves, lots of Dwarves.

---

I got another friend for the Die. It's nice to have more of them to help me.

---

More people.

---

Water.

---

More dice.

---

Lava.

---

It's very quiet.

---

I asked the dice why they wanted more of them today. The first die said that it had tried to do something in a place far, far to the south. It sent Dwarves to act as its servants there to carry out its tasks. The Gods found out, and they sent a werebeast disguised as a traveller to stop them. When they killed the werebeast, they sent Abominations from the great beneath to stop them. When they killed the abominations, they tricked them into unleashing the powers below before they were ready. And even then, when every Dwarf was killed and almost all hope was gone, the All-Father sent his mutated servant to cleanse the place. The Mutant's crusade did unimaginable damage, but they will try again, it will not go wrong this time, they will have help this time. I'm so glad I could help.

---

I've been writing in this journal a lot less these days. There's not much to write about.

---

Lots of stairs.

---

Lava. So, so much lava. I can still see it when I close my eyes.

---

The tunnels keep going. The caves keep going.

---

More dice.

---

One foot in front of the other. Time is blending together. I feel like I've been down here since the dawn of time.

---

People fighting, people yelling, people screaming.

---

I'm so tired.

---

I almost took the empty road. The empty road would be bad.

---

I remember this place.

---

I'm nearly there. Nearly there.

---

They have one more task for me. I can go no further in my current form, and they can go no further in their current forms. I will sleep, and they will be freed.

---

I'm there.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Imic on October 26, 2020, 12:11:10 pm

---

Epilogue

---

On the second of Malachite, in the year 735, a Dwarf entered the Museum at the Castle of Boltspumpkin. Word travels quickly, and the rumour of the insane Dwarf wandering the deep roads babbling to himself and collecting divination dice had long since reached Boltspumpkin. This Dwarf matched the description perfectly, a Walled Dye Dwarf clad in copper armour with bronze eyes and braided hair. This Dwarf, however, was not a raving lunatic, he spoke quite politely, he smiled widely, and when pressed wouldn't say a thing about where he'd come from. Onto a pedestal of the Museum, he then proceeded to place exactly fourty divination dice, presenting them to the museum as they were "No longer necessary" to keep on his person. When he went to leave, he would only say that he was going to visit a friend in Mosshill to the south. He was never seen again by any Dwarf of the north or the south, and it looked as though he had disappeared as quickly as he had arrived, until his journal was delivered to the museum by a settler of the Old Kingdom who found it in the caverns beneath the Fortress of Pastimegears. It was placed with all the journals of those who had lived and died in pursuit of a piece worthy of the Museum.

---

This is my piece for the museum, 40 divination dice gathered over almost a month in-game. Is it a good piece? Was the story good enough? I don't know, but here it is.

(https://i.ibb.co/j3DX192/Image-40.png)

It is also, coincidentally, the exact 40th image I have taken for this Succession game. But yeah, I'm sorry if this was a disappointing story where not much happened, but it is what it is.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Quantum Drop on October 26, 2020, 12:48:03 pm

That was really good, Imic!

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Eric Blank on October 26, 2020, 02:35:28 pm

It was interesting, if not only for the crazy speak, but for the views of the underground you could have slain a great beast, though!

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Imic on November 02, 2020, 01:58:21 pm

Here's the save. (https://dffd.bay12games.com/file.php?id=15287) I have done nothing but play on the Forts I founded since more or less the minute I got the save, so the date has jumped forward by quite a bit.
I'm sorry for taking so long with this, I wasn't keeping track of time. I'd also like to apologise for apologising so much, and for being so self depricating in my posts, it must be getting annoying at this point, I'm going to try and not do that in the future, but beating myself down is basically muscle memory to me at this point.

And, of course, I would like to humbly request another spot on the turn list.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Glloyd on November 02, 2020, 02:05:16 pm

I don't think there's anything to apologize for, it's been a week since you picked up the save, it's all good. What year is it now?

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Imic on November 02, 2020, 02:12:36 pm

It’s 746, 11 years have passed since I started.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Glloyd on November 02, 2020, 02:53:32 pm

Wow, very cool. I wonder when we'll hit the point where the older adventurers start dying of old age. Good luck in the strange world of the future Bralbaard!

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Bralbaard on November 02, 2020, 03:15:02 pm

There are two new sites, Gor, "The Pit" and Tathbom "Duskhome" both sound very inviting.
I'll update the maps later, first, I'll get my adventurer started!

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Bralbaard on November 02, 2020, 04:12:43 pm

The journal of Raki Umberclan

Today the most dreadful thing happened. I have won the lottery.
Bear with me and I will explain. The elves here have decided that they should submit an item to the museum. The museum is a place far away from here, beyond the forests, beyond the mountains, and beyond the light knows what more. Because they could not agree who they should sent (it is apparently a great honour to be chosen as the one to deliver this submission) they have held a lottery. And yes indeed, I was the winner. All the elves are envious for this great honour that has befallen me.

Me, Raki Umberclan, a lion tamarin man.

(https://i.imgur.com/e3npVt9.png)

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/smS2P0K.gif)

I have never left the home tree in my life, nor do I want to.  I’ve lived my whole life between these branches, and this life is all I need.
Sadly the choice was made for me. At least they chose a worthy submission. I am to bring to the museum a barrel filled with feathers from the mother tree. Yes, the mothertree, the great home tree Faitfullcyclones. Legend has it that below this featherwood tree, the first elves came to life. It is said they were hatched from her eggs.
Regretfully it is not the time of year for the tree to carry her eggs. But the tree cares for her inhabitants all year long. Right now, at the very end of winter it carries the warmest down feathers. Down that has kept me warm in the coldest of winters. Admittedly though, winters are not cold up here. A barrel of down and branches from the first tree will be the perfect gift for the museum.
I have prepared myself well for this journey. That is to say, I am well aware of my.. ehm.. shortcomings, and have compensated for them. You see, elves are known to make fun of dwarves for their small size, but I am not even half the size of a dwarf. Because of this I have decided to spend all my credits on a traveling companion. I had to sell almost all the clothes of my back to acquire him, but am glad I did.
I will make my journey together with Umrist, the giant grizzly bear.

(https://i.imgur.com/92n64sh.gif)

Ooc: Full disclosure: I’ve actually started the adventure with a group of two peasants,  because lion tamarin men can not start in elven territory. By having an adventure partner I could start in his birth site, though you can play with a party of two, we split up immediately. Sadly I could not afford a war giant grizzly. They sold them for only a few urists more.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Glloyd on November 02, 2020, 04:21:58 pm

Quote from: Bralbaard on November 02, 2020, 04:12:43 pm

(https://i.imgur.com/e3npVt9.png)

I'm in love with Raki, this is awesome. Good start! Looking foward to seeing Raki's adventures.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Imic on November 03, 2020, 07:10:15 am

I love your artstyle and your character so much, I’m excited to see what happens next!

Quote from: Bralbaard on November 02, 2020, 03:15:02 pm

There are two new sites, Gor, "The Pit" and Tathbom "Duskhome" both sound very inviting.

Duskhome isn’t actually all that bad, the name aside. I think it’s the most highly populated settlement of the Staff of Kissing, since the game just started generating new Dwarves out of thin air until the population was like 7x the total initial population of the Staff of Kissing. On my next Fortress turn I might revisit it, if only to actually make enough bedrooms for everyone.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: tonnot98 on November 04, 2020, 03:58:45 pm

Bralbaard has returned to monke

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Luckyowl on November 04, 2020, 04:05:18 pm

love the art! :D

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Bralbaard on November 04, 2020, 04:19:46 pm

17th of granite 746

The journey has been quite an experience. For the first days we travelled through elven territory. Having lived in the home tree al my life, the outside world frightened me at first. I however found that it is a beautiful place, and I need not fear, for I know Umrist can protect me. There are endless forests, and I’ve seen many wild animals. I’m looking forward to see the megabeasts of this world. I know they are dangerous, but I have heard many great stories about them. Though frightening, they are the true guardians of this world, and the protectors of nature. 

I sleep in the treetops at night. It almost feels like home.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/LW3joJ6.gif)

18th of granite 746

The last day was definitely a change for the worse. We have emerged from the elven forests and are now in a strange land. The forests here have been destroyed. Endless acres of barren lands, scarred by the use of plowshares, stretch as far as the eye can see. Yet despite the clear influence of civilisation, we could not find anyone. The towns are in ruins, the people that lived here must have fled after the ecosystem collapsed. I was happy when we finally found an encampment near one of the larger towns that appeared to be inhabited.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/WhuugOw.gif)

The encampment was strange. It was like a tent, but much larger than I had ever seen. It was made entirely out of groundhog leather, and there was a concerned looking groundhog nearby.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/kjv0ZV0.gif)

There was a giant man inside, even taller than an elf. Based on the stories I’ve heard  I made the assumption that the giant must be a human.
I was still seated on the giant grizzly bear and I felt confident enough to adress him. The man introduced himself as Omo Chaosmark, but then he got this strange look in his eyes, and I knew I had made a terrible mistake. Judging by the tent that was made of skinned animals he was a fur trader, and he looked at my bright orange skin with great interest. The man drew a giant warhammer and lunged at me. I managed to evade the blow but fell of Umrist's back.

I had expected that the giant grizzly bear would immediately jump between me and my enemy, and that he would maul the giant with the greatest ease, but instead Umrist just stood there and looked at me with a puzzled expression. The human swung his massive hammer at me several times, (a blunt weapon, so my fur would not get damaged, I noted).  I dodged behind Umrist’s legs. But still he bear would not defend me,  I mounted Umrist and ordered it to attack the villain, but it just allowed the human to bring its hammer down on me without raising a paw. I was hit several times by Omo’s hammer, luckily not with great force, but it was clear I could not defeat the giant on my own. Instead I commanded the bear to carry me away, and luckily it obliged.

19th of granite

I made it to Razorbridge. Before I got to the fortress I had to step over dozens of dead animals; camels, cows, and other cattle.
A dwarf explained me that they all died of old age, but that made no sense at all. The disregard for animal life of these dwarves was shocking. I was about to speak out, but remembered what happened with the human fur trader earlier and tried to conceal my anger.
 
The fortress itself was indeed a bridge, over an ocean. I am completely at ease walking over the narrowest tree branches at great height. This however.. This endless water, and this bridge.. it scared me. A dwarf which had apparently spotted my hesitation, walked up to me and said: There's nothing to it lad, just jump in yonder minecart! The dwarf made it clear that I was not supposed to object, and once he shoved me in the cart he just pushed me down the hill without warning.
I plunged down towards the bridge at incredible speed. It was terrible! the bridge made several sharp turns but luckily so did the track. Umrist was running behind me all the time, trying to catch up. Just when I thought I was going to be fine I saw dwarves on the track!

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/G76h2z4.gif)

The dwarf only jumped away at the last moment.
When I got out on the other side of the ocean I was trembling and shaking. Umrist looked as if he had great fun chasing the minecart.

(https://i.imgur.com/KUUdShy.gif)

21st of granite.

THE ELVES WERE WRONG. I have made it to the museum. though the journey started out well, it got worse and worse. The world is not the place I imagined it to be. It is not longer a wilderness that the elves at home spoke to me about. No, it has been tamed by dwarf, goblin and men, and they have left the place in ruin. I have not seen one of the megabeasts that are supposed to guard the world. I had expected that the museum would cheer me up and that inside I would find the true wonders of the world. But it was not so. The elves were wrong OR THEY LIED TO ME. There is nothing in the museum but weapons and corpses, stacked up as trophies.  It is all a lie, and I will find out why!

This is were the journal of Raki ends.

Everything before this point was well documented, but from here onwards, most that is known about Raki is from witness reports. The staff of the museum report that the Lion Tamarin man appeared shocked after viewing the throne of skulls and other more gruesome contributions to the museum. They also report that Raki then collected all the adventuring journals he could find, and that he withdrew to the throne of knowledge, where he started reading. They report that he read for many hours, not stopping to sleep or eat, with a feverish look in his eyes.

Then, suddenly, Raki had gotten up from the throne, and had thrown all the journals across the room. He had accused the museum staff that they had brought the world to it’s knees. He claimed that before the museum was founded, there had been a time of balance. The age of myth: when great beasts and wild nature spirits ruled the world. Yes, there had been disasters, and sometimes the world had fallen into an age of legends, but it was always brought back into a new age of myth. Even after the elves and dwarves had been nearly wiped out, the world had recovered. Raki had continued his tirade, and had claimed, with an ever more frightening look in his eyes that after the museum had opened it’s doors, it's adventurers had pillaged the world. This had triggered an age far worse than an age of legends. The number of beasts had been so decimated that they were close to extinction, and the world had fallen into an age of “heroes”

Heroes that were worshiped in this museum, BUT THAT WERE ACTUALLY RESPONSIBLE FOR THE DOWNFALL OF THE WORLD. Raki had then vowed to destroy everything the museum stood for, and then he had left, still screaming and raging.

Slightly shaken because of this unusual visit, Theb Hearthsnarl and the other museum staff had resumed their day to day activities.

Suddenly, two hours later there had been a commotion outside of the museum, people were pointing to the horizon, and screaming. Theb ran outside and looked into the indicated direction. He saw a thick column of black smoke rising to the sky just beyond Healerlashes.
People were screaming that the monastery of Scouredbelly was on fire. A woman had fallen to her knees in the mud and was praying. Other people were crying. Even from this distance it was clear that the monastery could not be saved.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/LjTef52.gif)

Later, when the fire had burned out rescue crews would enter the buildings, these brave men would find that the statues had been toppled, the altars desecrated. They would find dice between the ash and rubble, seemingly randomly scattered about.

But Theb did not know this yet, all he saw was big clouds of black smoke that were blotting out the sun, causing an unnatural darkness to fall over the valley. And all he could think about was the look of madness and rage he had seen in the lion tamarin man’s eyes when he had descended from the throne of knowledge.

(https://i.imgur.com/fFsR9lp.gif)

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Luckyowl on November 04, 2020, 07:55:44 pm

The demon monkey king! Yes! I feel like the big(dare I say small?) Bad guy is under way. Kick ass end Bralbaard

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Eric Blank on November 04, 2020, 10:35:09 pm

I love the art, and the story. Very madness, much monkey

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Luckyowl on November 05, 2020, 05:49:45 pm

Honestly, if that monkey becomes the villain of Orid Xem. Just know that it's the elves fault.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Bralbaard on November 06, 2020, 04:23:10 pm

These days many people hold the museum responsible for the dramatic events that happened in early 746. The museum rejects the notion that it has any responsibility in the matter, but has decided to start it’s own investigation of the events, so that they may be properly understood.

As is well known the first event that drew widespread attention was the fire at the monastery of Scouredbelly. It is now known that all the monks at the abbey survived, and because of their stories we know without doubt that Raki was responsible. Witness reports say that after razing the temple, he left northwards riding his giant grizzly bear.
What is less well known is that the bear was found several days later wandering the wilds on it’s own near Slopfolded. The beast was wounded:  it was completely covered in fresh bitemarks. One of the rangers that found him claims the scars were almost certainly caused by a very large pack of dingoes. He said it was a miracle the beast was alive, all the fur around it’s neck and head was gone. Since there was no trace of Raki he was assumed to be dead.

The soldiers were to lazy to backtrack the bear tracks and confirm their assumption, and this was a grave, grave mistake. They squandered our only chance to hunt down and kill the mad monkey.

The horrors that unfolded several days later are well reported. What is less well known is that someone saw the transformation, confirming that again, it was Raki. This Witness, which we confirm to be a reliable person, was the human Ngerxung Fancydemons. He was  standing guard on top of the main spire of the dark goblin fortress of Soundmaligned, and had little else to watch from his tower than the camp that a small monkey had set up just outside of the gates. According to him the transformation took place at midnight. Minutes later a terrible monster, a prehistoric beast twisted into humanoid form broke through the gates of the dark fortress. This was the first, but definitely not the last sighting of the weremammoth.

(https://i.imgur.com/SLHbO5x.jpg)

Over the course of the full moon this terrible monster attacked a great many villages, both human hamlets and towns, but also a few goblin settlements. The only good news is that all of the villages it attacked were already all but abandoned. There are a large number of witness reports. We spoke to approximately 20 survivors in the days right after the attack, most had terrible wounds, but doctors were convinced all of them would recover. What all stories confirm is that the monster did not attack to feed itself; in allmost all cases it attacked, causing grave injuries, but then withdrew immediately. Some of it’s victims bled out, but most survived.

The most interesting interview, with a bandit leader, is transcribed below.

"Mr. bandit. We are glad you are willing to speak with us on condition of anonymity. Can you tell us what you saw?"
‘T was the 26th of granite, we had just heard of the attacks and Darek said there would be a good bounty on the head of this deamon. We are a large group of experienced men, so we took our chance. The beast was careless, it never expected an ambush.  We came out of hiding and our archers rained down arrows on the terrible beast. Before it could even move the arrows had crippled both its legs, and it had some bad chestwounds. You know, people see us bandits as the bad guys, but it is us who keep the streets safe at night. "
"Yes, sure, what happened next?"
"The beast grabbed a shield from it’s back and blocked a few more arrows. Before we knew it, it was upon us! Then it just bit Beso in two with a single movement of it’s jaws, and then Darek.."
"I’m sorry to hear that mr bandit. Are you allright?"
"Me? I’m fine. FINE. All I got was a wee scratch. Nothing to worry about. I’ll be fine... "

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/56b583u.gif)

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Quantum Drop on November 06, 2020, 04:57:00 pm

Oh by Armok this is going to be Fun. Time will tell if the gone-ape-faeces-mad Monkey's antics will cause another change in Age, but this is definitely brilliant so far, and I love the art! Eagerly wait the next update.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Bralbaard on November 06, 2020, 06:25:52 pm

Thanks! some out of character comments: I was incredibly lucky to get a weremammoth curse, but also quite lucky to survive that bandit ambush.

I got cursed by throwing the dice. My first throw was a week of bad luck, then I became a weremammoth.
My first transformation was still well within the time period of the curse, if that curse does what I think it does, then it makes combat more dangerous.
Got three arrows fired at me before I could move in that ambush. Despite my size two of them cripple my legs immediately (not permanently). The third hit my heart, but only bruised it.
Quite a close call.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Imic on November 06, 2020, 08:14:41 pm

I don’t know if you’re just waiting until you update the map or not, but in case you’re not and to ease my infinite anxiety, I’m going to bump the request to be put on the turn list again.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Bralbaard on November 07, 2020, 01:10:42 pm

Sorry about that! I've added you to the turn list. 
I have an updated version of the map ready as well, but for some odd reason imgur uploads are not working. Will try again later.
Duskhome is very close to Championvault. Gor (the Pit) is very close to Mosshill the Mines of Iron.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Bralbaard on November 09, 2020, 04:40:18 pm

Recently, another journal attributed to Raki Umberclan has been found. It is incomplete, and the writing is different from his earlier journal. Most of it is written with an unsteady hand, and carelessly spilled ink droplets stain the pages.

I KNOW WHAT YOU THINK. You fear me for the shape I take under the full moon. You do not understand yet, nor does anyone else. YOU SHOULD FEAR YOURSELF, not me. I was once like you. When I first read about werecreatures I thought that once transformed they lose all control of themselves. That werebeast run off on killing sprees only to wake up later with no memory of, and no responsibility for the horrors they caused. This is far from the truth. While transformed I am completely in control of myself, I could pet a cat, and pick flowers if I wanted to.
The others though, as soon as you’ve transformed, everyone else turns aggressive, as if driven by a wild bloodlust. EVERYONE HAS GOTTEN IT WRONG. It is the world that goes crazy, not the werecreature!

The only way to make you see, is to let you experience it. This should be so easy to accept. BUT EVERYONE MAKES IT SO HARD.They resist, they run, they do not understand. How can I, with these mammoth fangs and claws, bite a body so gently that it merely becomes infected, when people struggle to get away? I’m horified by all the bodies I’ve bitten in half because of a lack of cooperation!

But there is hope. This is not the only curse the world has to offer. I found this strange slab on my initial trip to the museum. THE HUMANS DID NOT WANT ME TO READ IT. But now I have returned, and I’ve read it, and it showed me what they wanted to hide. The humans who together with the dwarves have destroyed the world, wanted to HIDE FROM US that the world can be fixed! The legendary megabeasts from the past can be brought back from the dead! And now I have the power to do so.

(https://i.imgur.com/GQMwL94.gif)

YES DEAR READER. Ozob Mintbears the Rosy Swamp, the taiga titan, lives again!! This majestic beast was brought down by one of the museum crusaders, Doñas Silenttowers, decades ago. It is back, it’s sinews and bones reattached. Over time, it’s wounds will heal.
But this work is hard. I’ve tried to raise Tor Dunescale the Simple, the sand titan from death. But these adventurers.. THEY HAVE BUTCHERED IT! Do they have no decency !!?
I’ve patched together it’s skin, and raised it from death, and did the same with his hair.. NOW TWO TITANS STAND WERE ONE HAD FALLEN. The world will pay for it's sins.

(https://i.imgur.com/vgw64ZL.jpg)

(above you see Raki riding his hollow horse, a beast carefully crafted from the leather skin of a butchered horse, he wields a pike forged from blistered metal, pillaged from an abandoned vault that was destroyed by earlier adventurers.)

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: TheFlame52 on November 09, 2020, 05:04:38 pm

I expected there to eventually be a dark emperor.

I didn't expect him to be a monkey.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Imic on November 09, 2020, 06:17:18 pm

Sometimes, the biggest changes come from the most unexpected places.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Bralbaard on November 10, 2020, 05:26:47 am

NOO!! My magic is not yet strong enough.. The twin sand titans, hair and skin, they fell apart when we encountered another band of adventurers. They fell apart at the slightest touch!
I tried to raise them again, I tried everything... THEY WERE TAKEN AWAY FROM ME.
Luckily a new full moon is nearly upon us. I will mend this world and bring it back to an age of myth! I will make everything whole again.

-----

For my second transformation, I have come to the deep south, to the city Scarletbronze. The peaceful south, where thousands walk through the city streets, were civilisation is untouched.  IT IS PERFECT.
I will start at the keep. It is full of nobles. See them run now, the fools. The next full moon THEY WILL THANK ME.

During my last transformation I did not yet have the power over death, but now I do. I now know that these powers are so much greater when combined! Now when one of the nobles struggles, and is maimed and killed, I can raise it from death, and in doing so I have made some interesting observations.

When raised as a normal zombie, these humans are useless. USELESS. They will only attack the other humans, killing them. A waste! But when I turn them into a fell one, reconnected to their fallen soul.. I found something that will change everything. The mammoth curse.. IT PERSISTS BEYOND DEATH! The curse is tied to the soul. Even better: Under normal circumstances, a victim has to wait a full month for their transformation, but these raised fell ones.. THEY TURN INTO THEIR MAMMOTH FORM IMMEDIATELY.

(https://i.imgur.com/t6T5G2D.gif)

I was terribly unprepared for this discovery. As these fell ones keep their soul, so they keep their misjudgements. The beast attacked me immediately! And I found that I had created something far more powerful than myself.. These Mammoth Fell Ones cast a terrible spell that paralyzes their victims and tosses them away like useless rag dolls! Helplessly I was tossed away, my limbs were battered and broken. Each time I overcame my paralysis the Fell One would cast again. COULD IT NOT UNDERSTAND I GIFTED IT HIS POWERS?? Though I could feel no pain both because of my form and the paralysis, I could feel that the life was quickly draining from my body.

(https://i.imgur.com/tXITKFJ.gif)

I got lucky when the beast tossed my broken, paralysed body through a narrow street. I landed right in front of a door, and with all my willpower I overcame the paralysis. I crawled inside and was for a moment outside of the view from the mammoth fell one. I did not hesitate and used dark magic to escape (ooc: long live fast travel)

The full moon only lasts a day. There was no time to waste, and though wasteful, I immediately set up a new experiment. I needed to distract the fell ones with other victims, so I could study them safely. The crowded marketplace was perfect. THREE MAMMOTH FELL ONES WERE RAISED. From a safe distance I observed their brutal efficiency, their dark paralysis spells, their mastery of telekinesis: how they cast their victims away, as if they were toys.

(https://i.imgur.com/eJLWu5H.gif)

It was clear to me that my own power was insignificant. The full moon was drawing to a close, and in any case the city was.. becoming too… complicated. Somehow many of the earlier victims had already taken their beastly form by now. There were hundreds of infected. The sounds of battle came from every alley. The city was tearing itself apart. Those that were not yet infected still tried to fight it, and it was too distracting. I left, but I already had what I came here for.

The journey north was long. I travelled all the way back to collect the slab with the secrets of life and death. I had not taken it earlier, it is incredibly heavy and almost impossible to carry in my monkey form (speed 0.099), but I needed it for my final plan. I walked to the shore ready to swim to the islands before the coast, and jumped in, but made a terrible miscalculation. The heavy slab immediately pulled me to the bottom of the sea, and despite all my powers I needed air to breathe. There I was, 4 or 5 z-levels below the waves, and the slab, the slab.. I HAD TO LET IT GO.

(https://i.imgur.com/krHZ5U6.jpg)

I swam back to the surface and emerged just in time, gasping for air. Why does the world try to kill me? WHY HAS IT TAKEN FROTHBONE FROM ME?
But my monkey intellect is too strong! I can solve this! I will just wait for the next full moon, and dive for the slab on the ocean floor in my mammoth form!
----

While waiting The monkey man decided that he would not travel to the islands, and that he would start the ritual here. The mad monkey constructed and build for many days, aided by a small army of undead creations. Finally the dark pyramid started to take shape. At night it looked haunting. Incapable of sleep, the monkey looked at the waxing moon above the temple with bloodshot eyes and waited impatiently. His time would come again.

----
The full moon is here. I am yet again in my mammoth form. I wield great power, though not nearly as great as the fell ones. This is not the only problem. THE SLAB IS GONE.  I dove into the deep water. In this form, the lack of air did not bother me. But it was NOT THERE. I have heard of this dark magic. It is said that artifacts remain strongly bound to their site of origin, and that sometimes they will teleport back to that site. THERE IS NO TIME TO GET IT NOW... I have prepared everything. I just have to write better instructions.
THE MOON IS FULL, If the ritual works, I will wield the power of the Fell ones.

----

In silence the massive weremammoth walked into the dark pyramid, leaving his undead minions to wait outside. Threatening clouds gathered above the structure when he prepared the ritual. This terrible beast had once been a mere monkey that had never left the home tree. Within several months, he had learned to command powers that would have been beyond him to imagine not too long ago. But it was not enough for him.
He lit the fires, and again checked all the instructions. Then he started to chant, first softly, then louder, as if trying to reassure himself. Then when the chanting had reached it’s climax he raised a dagger with trembling hands, and plunged it into his heart.

Raki Umberclan the Bulbous sank to his knees, fell backwards and was no more.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Bralbaard on November 10, 2020, 05:27:17 am

The final chapter, make sure to read the footnote if you are going to follow this quest...

In the pyramid, near the casket that holds the mad monkey’s corpse, a set of carefully crafted arcane instructions can be found. They promise the reader eternal life and power without limits.

"AND SO I COMMAND YOU. Finish these tasks and all these powers will be yours. FIND ME THE SLAB KNOWN AS FROTHBONE. In the old tongue, it is known as Uklasut. According to legend*, this slab is magically bound to the mead hall of Tunneledaction. Be careful. The occupants of the hall will guard it well, events from the past have made them wary. 
WAIT UNTIL THE FULL MOON, then bring it here.
In this temple, perform the rituals that are needed to understand the slab. You will receive the powers over life and death, an honor only bestowed on my most loyal servants. Now with this power, once again make sure the moon is full, and RAISE ME, YOUR MASTER, FROM DEATH AS A FELL ONE."

"Once I have returned from death, my disciple, the ritual can be completed. I WILL GIVE YOU YOUR JUST REWARD. I will pass onto you the curse of the weremammoth. Just hold still to accept it. THE BITE WILL BE GENTLE."

---
*ooc: So that is were Raki thought the slab would be, the legends are wrong apparently. Reports of other adventurers indicate it is still present in monkeycurse, randomly appearing around the site and possibly the nearby ocean floor. 
The map has been updated with Imic's sites, and with my site, Monkeycurse. I bet Raki had thought of another name for his tomb, but among the local population this is how it is known.

Save game (https://dffd.bay12games.com/file.php?id=15294)

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Yarlig on November 10, 2020, 07:15:47 am

Man' this story was absolutely chilling; loved how it went from a morning egg delivery to some grisly horrorshow overnight. It was necessary though' as interesting as this setting is' it doesn't really compare to the previous two Museums in terms of peril.
Also' this should be reprinted as a cautionary tale about the dangers of leaving your comfort zone.
Also also' I was browsing the legends lately' and alas' it seems that our benefactor' the architect of dwarven renaissance' King Etur Equallashed of the Walled Dye' has passed away in 736' at the ripe age of 159 years. It's about time his work be undone by the twisted minds of a new dark age!

Edit: oh' and it seems there's no longer 4 million Hands of Planesgifts in the northern hamlets; rather' their number is in the excess of 40 million. I have no idea what could be causing this' but I'm anticipating problems if it keeps increasing' which seems to happen whenever somebody crosses their territory. Can't we nuke them somehow before they break the world?

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Quantum Drop on November 10, 2020, 03:34:08 pm

Quote from: Yarlig on November 10, 2020, 07:15:47 am

Edit: oh' and it seems there's no longer 4 million Hands of Planesgifts in the northern hamlets; rather' their number is in the excess of 40 million. I have no idea what could be causing this' but I'm anticipating problems if it keeps increasing' which seems to happen whenever somebody crosses their territory. Can't we nuke them somehow before they break the world?

Holy fuck. Gimme a sec, I'm going to check this myself.

EDIT: Okay, Hummedraces is now a no-go zone - 25,361,979 Hands of Planegifts present. Truthfulriddled holds another 18,128,044 Hands of Planegifts. The aptly named 'Planegifts' hamlet in the Quick Steppes holds 10,481 Hands of Planegifts. Weirdly enough, all or almost all of the Elven Forest Retreats on the north/north-west have exactly 50 Hoppy-bois lurking in them. This is all LegendsViewer, so I can't tell if they're clown car-ing in the mead hall again, or if they're trying to do what the weird bandit town did.

As for exterminating the lot of them through DFHack and moving on, though it kind of pains me to say this, I'm not sure whether or not to drop the Exterminatus on them. On one hand, it'd handily prevent them from moving between hamlets and stop everyone from having to exportlegends and check to see if they've migrated each turn. On the other, it'd pretty thoroughly kill a fair few historical figures, prevent some interesting story opportunities, and I think as long as you don't go to the Hamlets, they won't muck the game up that much.

Going to leave this to thread consensus.

EDIT2: As for the story, that was perfectly chilling. Raki may be dead, but he's left behind a wealth of were-curses and mayhem for future adventurers.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Bralbaard on November 10, 2020, 05:05:19 pm

Wow, that is a *lot* of hands of planegifts.. I did travel all over the place though. Where are those towns on the map?
I raised at most 200 fell ones and zombies myself and caused possibly 200+ were-infections (stopped counting after a 100 skin penetrating bites), only one of my titans survived. It had no effect on the age as far as I can see. We're still in the age of heroes.

I had a few crashes to desktop during my turn by the way, I do not think they were related to this undead issue.  I probably messed up something in the marketplace of Scarletbronze with my dead-raising antics, as a visit to the marketplace seemed to crash it reliably later in my turn (I really wanted to pick up the blistered metal spike that I dropped there, but had to accept it was lost). I also had it crash during an ambush, somewhere up north. For now I've put advice in the first post for people to please safe often, and possibly make backups. I'll repeat that here. ( the first two museum games were in a far worse state at this point, by the way)

I guess we can always exterminate the undead at a later date, if we really have to. I was playing around with the idea of going to this town with 70.000 hands of planegifts that people succesfully visited earlier and just raising a couple of weremammoths in the midst of them and let it escalate from there.
Also, I was sad that my tame firebreathing zombie titan did not actually breathe fire. I guess it could have done some major damage to a stack of 70.000 units if it did.
 
I did accidently visit the bandit town (swordgleamed?), but managed to back out of there after being fake ambushed. ( I was ambushed but all of the hundreds and hundreds of bandits were very friendly and reasonable).

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: nogoodnames on November 10, 2020, 05:18:45 pm

Fantastic! Looks like things won't be quite as peaceful for my adventurers as I'd planned. Got the save, will start later tonight.

Quote from: Quantum Drop on November 10, 2020, 03:34:08 pm

EDIT: Okay, Hummedraces is now a no-go zone - 25,361,979 Hands of Planegifts present. Truthfulriddled holds another 18,128,044 Hands of Planegifts. The aptly named 'Planegifts' hamlet in the Quick Steppes holds 10,481 Hands of Planegifts. Weirdly enough, all or almost all of the Elven Forest Retreats on the north/north-west have exactly 50 Hoppy-bois lurking in them. This is all LegendsViewer, so I can't tell if they're clown car-ing in the mead hall again, or if they're trying to do what the weird bandit town did.

As for exterminating the lot of them through DFHack and moving on, though it kind of pains me to say this, I'm not sure whether or not to drop the Exterminatus on them. On one hand, it'd handily prevent them from moving between hamlets and stop everyone from having to exportlegends and check to see if they've migrated each turn. On the other, it'd pretty thoroughly kill a fair few historical figures, prevent some interesting story opportunities, and I think as long as you don't go to the Hamlets, they won't muck the game up that much.

Going to leave this to thread consensus.

I think it's safe to leave them for now. They seem fairly well contained in a couple places, aside from those weird otherwise abandoned sites with 50 each. Hummedraces was already home to them the last I checked, albeit only ~300k not 25 million. Planegifts used to be downright deserted at ~2.6k. As long as those small groups don't start germinating into new superclusters it should be fine.

Oddly enough, Heartwhispers, the previous epicenter, is now deserted save for a single goblin. Maybe they eventually reach an overflow point and wrap around to zero.

Meanwhile Cog's Soldier of Night army at Glazedriven has grown to 285k, so that tower's completely off limits as well.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Quantum Drop on November 10, 2020, 05:42:55 pm

The map (at least, my crudely-altered version of it) has the clown-car towns marked out:

Spoiler: HoPs (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/F2wSiQt.gif)

As for Werebeasts, Raki reeaally got around. I count around 111 'passing on the curse' bites on historical figures, give or take a couple and any non-HFs that LegendsViewer didn't pick up, and all of them are Weremammoths. Something tells me this will be very Fun indeed, though becoming a powerful Werebeast may now be a fair bit easier.

All of this said, though, I am going to have to request that you bump me down 2 or 3 spaces. University assessments (formative and summative) are coming up for me for the next two weeks or so, which means I probably won't be able to do what I have planned for my turn.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: TheFlame52 on November 10, 2020, 06:16:18 pm

What a bug. Has this been witnessed anywhere else?

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Imic on November 10, 2020, 08:40:31 pm

I think I know exactly what I want to do for my next turn now. I can’t wait!

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Glloyd on November 10, 2020, 08:50:41 pm

Quote from: nogoodnames on November 10, 2020, 05:18:45 pm

Meanwhile Cog's Soldier of Night army at Glazedriven has grown to 285k, so that tower's completely off limits as well.

That's too bad, I'd planned to return there on my next turn. I'll have to think of another idea now. Anyways, great story Bralbaard! That was a fun read.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Bralbaard on November 11, 2020, 02:22:05 am

Quote from: Quantum Drop on November 10, 2020, 05:42:55 pm

As for Werebeasts, Raki reeaally got around. I count around 111 'passing on the curse' bites on historical figures, give or take a couple and any non-HFs that LegendsViewer didn't pick up, and all of them are Weremammoths. Something tells me this will be very Fun indeed, though becoming a powerful Werebeast may now be a fair bit easier.

I think you might underestimate how hard it is to actually survive a weremammoth bite :-). Everything I touched had a tendency to explode into gore.
Also some of the other werebeasts definitely helped to spread the curse, as this image illustrates.

(https://i.imgur.com/t6T5G2D.gif)

I moved you down a few spots on the turn list, as requested.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Eric Blank on November 11, 2020, 09:51:50 am

That was a spooky turn alright. I'm glad to see so many people became infected, it used to be a real chore to get people you bit to be infected because they had to be historical figures.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Luckyowl on November 11, 2020, 01:58:51 pm

...it's gonna be a long night when the full moon grins...

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: nogoodnames on November 11, 2020, 10:19:43 pm

From the desk of Leto Searchpraise, Senior Apprentice to the Historian’s Guild
20th Sandstone, 873

Two years! Two years those stuck-up ingrates at the guild have made me wait! My reconstruction of Pictham’s adventure should have rocketed me up the ranks. Instead I have been forced to languish as an apprentice because some people don’t appreciate my efforts. They called it “historical fiction based on hearsay and guesswork” with “little if any supporting evidence.” Bah!

But finally, finally they will have no choice but to promote me to full guild membership! I’ve jumped through all their hoops, completed all their inane requirements. All that’s left is one final project. They want me to go out into the world, find and research a new piece of history, completely unheard of to the guild, and bring it back to them. Such a trifling task will be child’s play to one such as I.

Of course, their intent here is that I storm off to some ruin in the middle of nowhere and spend a few months grubbing around in the filth there. No doubt some of the guild masters think this will scare me off, or perhaps even hope I’ll get myself killed! Well I don’t intend on going along with that. With my superior research skills, I’ll uncover something they’ve overlooked from the comfort and safety of the Museum! To Boltspumpkin!


28th Timber

Useless, useless, useless, useless! I’ve combed through every damn exhibit and journal in the museum and every single one of them is known to the guild! From true legends like Bil Hammertome and Lonelythrall to luckless aspirants like Tipi Fatewalks. Not a single story here hasn’t been heard a thousand times! Winter starts tomorrow, and soon I will be entombed here by snow and ice. Oh, how I miss the warmth of the North. But I can’t return to the guild empty handed, I won’t! I will make one more sweep of the bookshelves, maybe I overlooked something. If not, well, I don’t know what I’ll do.


1st Moonstone

I had nearly lost hope, but maybe, just maybe, I have found my answer. Tucked away deep behind piles of journals and analyses, I found several rolled up strips of birch bark. I found a free table and carefully unrolled them. On the bark were drawings made with charcoal and ash. They seemed to be illustrations of a tale completely unfamiliar to me!

I spent hours going over the drawings but couldn’t put together what it was trying to say. Not in a way the guild would accept, anyway. I was starting to think I was wasting my time, but then the museum curator approached me. The ancient goblin woman, Thep Hearthsnarl. She’s always been a fixture here, but I never paid her much mind. But today I could almost kiss her! She said she was familiar with what I had found and offered to explain the story behind it! I shall do my best to transcribe our conversation.

---

 
Thep: These drawings were made by the magpie woman, Laci Beakscald. They are a logbook of sorts, describing her adventures with her friend, Vadane Ancienttress. Laci was illiterate and Vadane preferred song and spoken word, so this is the main record they left.

(https://i.imgur.com/sKK9zEw.png)

Thep: Vadane was a bit of a misfit among elves. He was an aspiring bard and filled with wanderlust. The sorrowful remembrance of lost glory, so prevalent among the shattered elven kingdom, held no attraction to him. To tell the truth, he preferred the perseverance and vivacity of the mortal races. If you got to know him, he might even admit that he found the zealotry the elves have for nature to be distasteful. His deepest secret was a reoccurring dream where he, horror of horrors, lived in a log cabin!

Leto: You’re talking like you and this elf were old friends.

Thep: I remember everyone who passes through these halls, dearie. Or maybe I’m just making all this up. Guess you’ll have to keep listening and decide for yourself!

Leto: By all means, continue.

Thep: As I was saying, Vadane wasn’t happy in the elf lands. He thought he could tolerate working as an animal caretaker in the recently reclaimed, still nearly empty forest retreat of Teachdusks, but the boredom was too much. His only relief was listening to the stories of the rare foreigners who came so far north. He would repeat them to Laci, who was a kindred spirit and loved to hear about the great southern empires. Laci would often use the stories as inspiration for her bone carving. She was the one who suggested they set off on their own adventure, and Vadane eagerly agreed. Taking a water buffalo named Ereyi to help carry supplies, Laci and Vadane left Teachdusks on the 15th of Granite, 747 with the intention of seeing the entirety of Orid Xem.

(https://i.imgur.com/BllZgNd.png)

Thep: Almost a tradition among elf travelers, the pair first made their way to the ancient capital to visit the mother tree, Faithfulcyclone. The great tree was just starting to get its spring down. Glacialtempests is supposed to be abandoned, but high atop the tree was a single elf in a pile of books. The last guardian of elven history. They left him to his duty.

Thep: Continuing south, the group encountered a herd of unicorns. Ereyi, overcome by territorial urge, suddenly charged the herd. He truly lived up to his name, “Tornado.”

(https://i.imgur.com/FkxFziZ.png)

Thep: Alas, Ereyi underestimated how dangerous a cornered unicorn can be. It gored him through the back, piercing his spine and leaving him paralyzed. Vadane eventually finished off the foe. In accordance to elvish tradition, they ate their fill of the unicorn’s flesh and took anything of use, leaving the rest for the wolves.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Bralbaard on November 12, 2020, 02:18:26 am

That's amazing. Love the prehistoric look of the artwork and the original approach to telling the story  :)
 
We must now make it our goal to have this world survive to the year 873, to see if it all holds up.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Glloyd on November 12, 2020, 03:50:58 am

Indeed, perhaps Leto will have to go find his own artifact if we make it that far.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: nogoodnames on November 13, 2020, 12:14:59 am

(https://i.imgur.com/OaiFFTP.png)

Thep: Vadane and Laci did what they could for Ereyi and setup camp for the night. Sadly, his wounds were beyond any help. When they awoke the next morning, he was dead.
The two of them held a quick funeral. Laci carved Ereyi’s bones into intricate figures to remember him. Then they resumed their journey, each carrying a heavier burden than before.

(https://i.imgur.com/sQCd0n3.png)

Thep: Their next stop was the hillfort of Splashbeige, a rare example of elven architecture beyond their tree homes. It was constructed as a desperate defense after their kingdom was all but annihilated by the undead hordes of Oddom Girdergrove.

(https://i.imgur.com/eajwK04.png)

Thep: Inside they met the strange chieftess of Splashbeige, nearly buried under hundreds of books. She carried handfuls of red gems and fiddled with them as they talked.

(https://i.imgur.com/xOevIv5.png)

Thep: They did not stay long, their goal was elsewhere. But they did search for anything of use before leaving. The chieftess did not seem to mind. Laci found two beautiful gemstone knives that made superb replacements for her dulled carving stone. They were left unused in a side room, amidst some odd-looking bones, so she reasoned they would not be missed.

(https://i.imgur.com/aeZ4Cnn.png)

Thep: Vadane and Laci then left for the first major landmark on their journey, the dwarven fortress of Lancesavage. Whether they were aware of the implication or not, the name was quite fitting for the place, situated on a mountain range that jutted north toward the ancestral elven heartland.
Many rumours circulated about that place. It was said that the dwarves there had constructed a great machine which guided their every action with its infallible logic. The elven queen frequently sent traders there, perhaps eager to establish friendly relations with the resurrected dwarven empire. But it seems that such sentiments were unimportant to the dwarven machine, for the traders always returned with only the clothes on their backs.

(https://i.imgur.com/keiekbt.png)

Thep: As they approached, they were greeted by the sight of a magnificent waterfall. Scaling the cliff, they found several denizens of Lancesavage scattered about on the surface. The sight was unsettling, with random books strewn about (stolen from the elves, of course) a stairway ascending to nowhere, and the resident dwarves staring off into space, as if everything had just frozen in place one day. The machine had stopped.
Vadane found the entrance to the fort proper, a simple hole in the ground, and peeked inside. Labyrinthian madness greeted him. Perhaps this layout made sense to the machine cultists, but an outsider could easily lose themselves in there.
Laci felt a chill down her spine, and suggested they leave. The two made haste away from that cursed place and hoped to find the human lands more welcoming.

---

Spoiler: OOC (click to show/hide)

So full disclosure, I ended up savescumming here. I hope you can forgive me.

Lancesavage has an angry ghost running around. The first time, I was exploring the fort as Vadane while Laci stayed on the surface. I tabbed back to her and she was suddenly lying in a pool of blood with both legs and a wing missing. She miraculously survived the bloodloss and escaped the site. I was fine with continuing with her like that, with a long-term goal of getting her healed. Unfortunately, while they slept, she teleported back to the fort. I guess it was because I never told her to stop waiting there. She ended up deep in the fort, which would have been bad enough if it had been designed by a human instead of this nonsensical AI. I tried to rescue her, but the ghost jumped out of the wall and eviscerated them both within a single tick.

I didn’t want things to end like that because of a bug, so I loaded the save before entering the fort. I tried a few times to get it so Laci would be merely maimed by the ghost like she had the first time, but each time it would just “batter” her until it took her head off. Violent ghosts seem to beeline towards adventurers and just batter them every frame until they’re dead. No way to defend against it besides just avoiding them. Circumstances must have lined up just right for her to survive the first time.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: nogoodnames on November 14, 2020, 05:05:21 pm

(https://i.imgur.com/tTvECgW.png)

Thep: Laci and Vadane continued their journey, passing several abandoned forest retreats. It would be some time before they met another person, but they were quite accustomed to the solitude of the wilds.

(https://i.imgur.com/85pdjLt.png)

Thep: On the fifth day of their journey, they reached the ruins of Hoodtours, once a hamlet of the Nations of Honoring. Like many settlements in the north, Hoodtours was destroyed in the apocalyptic march of the undead. Remoteness and superstition served to keep most looters away, so the mead hall there still contained plenty of pristine equipment, untouched since antiquity. The armour naturally didn’t fit either of them, but Vadane found a massive copper sword to replace his wooden one, and Laci picked up some iron bolts.

(https://i.imgur.com/5WNs6UR.png)

Thep: Continuing on, they reached a monastery dedicated to the human god Ala. The pair decided to honour the local customs by rolling the divination die at the shrine there, despite the ominous statue overlooking it. Vadane rolled a thin crescent, a sign of good luck. Laci on the other hand…

(https://i.imgur.com/1WMIAQn.png)

Thep: Well, let it never be said that the gods lack a sense of humour.

Leto: Wait, she turned into a giant turkey vulture? How did she draw like that?

Thep: Very carefully! Best not think too hard on the specifics. Anyway, whether Ala intended that as a blessing or a curse, it certainly made travel more interesting. After all, Vadane always wanted to know what it was like to fly.

(https://i.imgur.com/WjoHuhH.png)

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Glloyd on November 14, 2020, 06:10:25 pm

Loving your writeups so far! The style is very unique, and I love the drawings.

Also, I was looking through Legends Viewer, and thought I'd give a little look into the lives of some of the characters we've encountered so far, after their turns have ended.

Fun little note, we're far enough in the game that adventurers and companions from earlier turns are dying of old age. Kem Skinnydeaths, a companion of Bil Hammertome and Bralbaard Hammerfishes died of old age in 739 at the age of 69. After crossing paths with Bralbaard, he moved to the town of Incenseorder, and in 720, became the overlord of a group of human outcasts there, the Lined Tomes. Incenseorder had been taken over by goblins of The Curious Horror in 704 as part of the ongoing Eviscerated Conflict between them and the High Confederacies, but they rely on the humans living there to defend it for them. Between 720 and 739, Kem Skinnydeaths led three successful defences of Incenseorder against attacks from the human civilization of the High Confederacies, the last of which led to the imprisonment of the leader of the attack. This brought a temporary end to the attempts to retake Incenseorder, although the Eviscerated Conflict still rages on elsewhere. The remaining years of Kem's life were peaceful, and he managed to outlive both his old traveling companions, including Bil Hammertome, who died of old age in 738.

As for Bil, after Emilovich's turn, Bil became a baron of the Walled Dye, and moved to Treatyseed. His horse, Tor, died of old age in 710, while Bil lived peacefully in Treatyseed until his death of old age in 738 at age 67.

Bil is not the only old museum contributor to die of old age. Quantum Drop's character, Kom Ironwhispered the black mamba man died of old age quite recently in 745. He too became a baron of the Walled Dye after QD's turn, living a peaceful life in Treatyseed until his death at 63 years old. Shortly after his death, in 746, Treatyseed was abandoned by the Walled Dye, although some dwarves still live there.

With the death of Kom, all of the player characters from the first five turns are now dead. Life in Orid Xem moves on.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: nogoodnames on November 15, 2020, 10:06:31 pm

I've finished up with the adventure and just started a fort. The final update should be ready tomorrow.

I was planning on quickly reclaiming Lancesavages and just memorializing the violent ghost so exploring it isn't a suicide mission for future adventurers. Would anyone object to that?

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Glloyd on November 15, 2020, 10:48:09 pm

No objections here. I was wanting to check that out and see what DFAI got up to anyways.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Quantum Drop on November 16, 2020, 05:07:17 am

I can agree with memorialising the ghost. Losing is Fun, but losing due to what's basically a bug is not Fun.

EDIT: Also, a question: when resurrecting a recruited companion (i.e.: not from character creation) as an Intelligent Undead, is using DFHack's bodyswap command to get around their inability to equip gear (due to their NOTHOUGHT token in world.sav) allowed or not?

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Bralbaard on November 17, 2020, 11:42:52 am

Regarding the ghost, yes you can memoralize it, or do anything else you want in fortress mode for that matter. An alternative would be that I'd put a warning in the site description in the relevant post. That way it would be a free choice for people to go and investigate, in case people like it as a challenge. Anyhow, feel free to fix it.

Regarding equiping undead companions. I'm open to other suggestions, but intelligent undead companions are likely already overpowered without the ability to equip them? In other words, this might be a balance feature rather than a bug?

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Quantum Drop on November 17, 2020, 12:31:28 pm

Okay, had a closer look at the raws and I can see what you mean. Turns out that method would also bloat the LegendsViewer adventurers list to an extreme, so that ill-thought-out (let's be frank, I have the foresight of a blind lemming) idea can be safely disregarded.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: nogoodnames on November 18, 2020, 01:28:26 am

SAVE (https://dffd.bay12games.com/file.php?id=15309)

I wasn't able to completely finish my fort, but I'd say it's still worth visiting. Also got rid of the Lancesavage murderghost, but there are still plenty of more friendly ghosts there.

I'll post the finale in the next couple of days.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Glloyd on November 18, 2020, 05:42:35 am

Looking forward to reading the finale! Good luck on your turn Tonnot.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Yarlig on November 18, 2020, 06:44:00 am

More savefile poetry! This is the stuff.
Unfortunate as it may be' the duo's demise is certainly going to be interesting to read about.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: nogoodnames on November 18, 2020, 01:01:48 pm

It wasn't anything spectacular, I'm afraid. Got into a fight they weren't prepared for and a few tactical missteps quickly sealed their fate. But hey, the dwarven population broke 1000 during my turn, so that's something. Maybe they'll outnumber the elves soon.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Glloyd on November 20, 2020, 11:42:02 pm

Any word from Tonnot? It's been a few days.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Yarlig on November 22, 2020, 06:09:00 am

Frankly' between Tonnot's two weeks of absence and the turn list not getting updated either' I think the game might be having a hiatus' for a reason or another.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Bralbaard on November 22, 2020, 09:07:39 am

Don't worry. I did PM tonnot when the save was posted. I like to give people a fair chance to respond, but I think at this point we should move on. I'll try to update the relevant posts later today.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Timeless Bob on November 22, 2020, 12:00:59 pm

Pass me up this turn, I just have my phone right now - laptop went on the fritz.  Saving up for a new one, but until then, I'm kinda limited.  Cheers.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Bralbaard on November 22, 2020, 04:11:08 pm

Sorry to hear that.. Should I put you somewhere lower on the list, or will you sign up later?
Did your notes about your first adventurers survive? I was looking forward to reading about those.

--

That makes it Glloyd's turn. I did update the relevant posts. The map is also updated with Nogoodname's new site, Emeraldcrown. Because of where he placed it, I also found out about an additional adventure mode site that one of you build. It has been added as well. I hope the map is still readable.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Glloyd on November 22, 2020, 04:17:46 pm

Sorry to hear that Timeless Bob. I hadn't expected to start so soon, but I can pick the save up tomorrow and get started then.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Quantum Drop on November 22, 2020, 04:35:35 pm

"Healedwhips the Awe-Inspiring Despair". Sounds like quite the cheerful little place.

Good luck with your turn, Glloyd.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: nogoodnames on November 22, 2020, 04:42:30 pm

I think Healedwhips was the camp Tonnot made to make a crutch for Fidale. I checked it out while I was deciding on where to put Emeraldcrown. AFAIK it's just a single carpenter's workshop.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: nogoodnames on November 22, 2020, 09:52:43 pm

(https://i.imgur.com/MOjD6HP.png)

Thep: In one of the ruins they visited, Vadame and Laci found the skull of Ereni Eventaper, the foul blendec slain by Fidale Umberrazors. It seemed that they were following in her footsteps.

Thep: Hold on, are those bloodstains?

Thep: It’s rude to interrupt, dear. Ahem. The two of them set down to rest in an abandoned forest retreat. Sometime in her sleep, Laci reverted to her original form. A relief to her, as she had been told such curses usually lasted a whole week. Vadane was happy his friend was back to normal, although a part of him was disappointed she could no longer carry him.


(https://i.imgur.com/xbx1tFC.png)

Thep: The next day, they continued west. When they were nearing the forest retreat of Packwinters, Vadane noticed some odd tracks ahead of them. After some discussion, they decided to investigate. The two of them followed the tracks until they abruptly ended. A quick search of the area turned up nothing. The pair were about to continue on their way when a long, low howl erupted from behind them. A Howling Freak had suddenly appeared on the hillside! It charged them, wielding a carving fork. A hungry look was in its eyes.


(https://i.imgur.com/VHnu0HM.png)

Thep: Vadane stood his ground and met the monster’s charge with his blade. However, unused to the heft of his new sword, his strikes were sluggish and clumsy. The beast effortlessly sidestepped them and responded in kind. By contrast, its stabs were swift, precise, and deadly. The first pierced Vadane’s leg and brought him to his knees. The second crippled his sword arm, disarming him.

Meanwhile, Laci desperately rained down bolts from above. She scored several hits to the creature’s limbs, causing it to collapse on top of Vadane. It raised its fork for a killing blow, but Laci sent a bolt through its arm. Howling in frustration, the freak dropped its fork. Unfortunately, it still had its fangs, and they were every bit as deadly as its discarded weapon. Vadane, dazed from his wounds, was powerless to resist as the creature began ferociously mauling him. His wooden elvish mail was as useless as tissue paper against the beast’s crushing jaws.

Laci had run out of bolts to throw. She landed and began to search desperately for something, anything that could be used as a weapon. She had to find some way to save her friend.


(https://i.imgur.com/FAZ2B9u.png)

Thep: Her intense search turned up nothing. There were some pebbles in a distant pile, but too far to reach in time. The monster lay between her and any useable bolts. She looked, only to see Vadane breathe his last and then fall still. The howling freak turned to her with an evil grin.

With tears in her eyes, Laci took off once again. All she could do now was fly away and maybe come back for Vadane’s body once it was safer…

Except the beast had other plans. With unnatural speed for something so wounded, it leapt at Laci before she could reach a safe altitude. Its wings were too damaged for actual flight, but they were just enough to propel the monster onto an intercept course with the fleeing magpie woman. It bit down on Laci’s wing, hard. Both of them tumbled out of the air. The beast then shattered Laci’s leg, ending any hope of escape.

Such a small, fragile thing she was. Hard to imagine that just a day before she had ruled the skies as a mighty giant vulture. Maybe if she still had some of that strength, she could have overpowered the howling freak. But no, she was just a little bird, very far from the peaceful lands of her home. She was utterly helpless as the monster strangled the life out of her!

Leto: Wait, what? WHAT!? They both died!?

Thep: A tragic story, no? Laci could have easily escaped had she tried to sooner, but she could not bring herself to abandon her friend.

Leto: That’s not what I meant! Who drew these if they both died in the wilds? Were you making this whole thing up!?

Thep: Eehehehe! I did warn you that was a possibility, did I not? But I swear that the story is true. I merely added a few pages for completeness’ sake.

Leto: How in Tokda’s name can I trust you on that!? Even if I believed you, there’s no way I could ever convince the guild!

Thep: Well, you could retrace their steps. You know, gather your own evidence? Laci often left bone carvings from her practice in the places they visited. I’ll even give you a map to where these drawings were discovered. The hunter who found them couldn’t carry the bodies back, so maybe they’re still out there.
(https://i.imgur.com/ObmPLFt.png)

Leto: Oh, forget it! You’ve wasted enough of my time, good day!

Thep: Suit yourself dear. Let me know if there’s anything else you need help with. I’m not going anywhere! Eehehehe!

---

Well that was worthless. Coming to Boltspumpkin was probably a mistake in the first place. It’s the most famous museum in Orid Xem, of course the guild knows about everything in it! As loathe as I am to admit it, I will need to look elsewhere for my thesis.

On my way out, I noticed a faded poster on one of the walls.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

 

Visit Beautiful
Emeraldcrown

☼
☼             ☼
☼           µ           ☼
☼              ☼



Marvel at the Seven Spires! (under construction)         See the magnificent Crown of Emeraldcrown!      Experience the unique local culture!

Nestled in where the Perfect Horns meets the Jungle of Dents. Just follow the gold brick road!

All migrants welcome. Glassmakers preferred.

Hmm… That’s right next to the High Confederacies. Maybe something there could point my research in the right direction? It’s close to home at least, and I am sick to death of this cold. Northward bound, then. Maybe I’ll get lucky.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Glloyd on November 23, 2020, 07:03:23 pm

Awesome final entry! My character started very close to Emeraldcrown, so I may have to go check it out. On that note, I've picked up the save and started off. I'll probably post the first entry tomorrow. One thing to note, I was attacked by a bandit group near the start of my game, and right off the bat, one of the bandits died of old age. Good start to what is hopefully an interesting turn.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: nogoodnames on November 23, 2020, 08:52:22 pm

Thanks! It's been too long since I played adventure mode seriously. I forgot how nasty full-blooded night trolls can be.

Oh, and put me down for another turn, Bralbaard.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Bralbaard on November 24, 2020, 07:09:08 am

I've updated the list.

Looking forward to read about the exploration of Emeraldcrown, the poster looks promising..

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Quantum Drop on November 26, 2020, 04:37:43 pm

How're things going, Glloyd? Your adventure still going well?

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Glloyd on November 26, 2020, 05:14:01 pm

It's going okay so far...

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/4M9JCOi.png)

I've been focusing on playing mostly, I spent too much time writing last time. I'm close to wrapping up my adventure though, so I plan on posting the first part later today.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Luckyowl on November 27, 2020, 12:28:28 pm

I recreated one of the forms from the Empire of Peeks. It's a fairly simple form and is meant to worship Idla, the god of healing. When you hear it you should imagine a bunch of monks praying in silence while someone plays the pastro( which is just a triangle.)

https://soundcloud.com/fireblade-264/the-honesty-of-heaven/s-1rJq1d7bAcH

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

The Honesty of Heaven is a devotional form of music directed toward the worship of Idla originating in The Empire of Peeks. The rules of the form are applied by composers to produce individual pieces of music which can be performed. The music is played on a pastro. The entire performance is consistently slowing, and it is to be in whispered undertones. Only one pitch is ever played at a time. It is performed without preference for a scale and in the ani rhythm. Throughout, when possible, composers and performers are to alternate tension and repose.
The pastro always provides the rhythm and should feel tender.
The Honesty of Heaven has a well-defined multi-passage structure: one to two lengthy passages and an additional passage and a finale.
The ani rhythm is a single line with four beats divided into two bars in a 2-2 pattern. The beats are named shato (spoken sha) and almef (al). The beat is stressed as follows:
| x x | x - |
where x is a beat, - is silent and | indicates a bar.

Idla is a fairly popular god and there is still songs being written about him. This form grew in popularity around 153 and ever since then it fell to obscurity and then back to popularity throughout the centuries.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Yarlig on November 27, 2020, 01:49:13 pm

Well' this is an interesting choice. The Empire of Peeks seems like a pretty unremarkable kingdom' as far as the humans go' and I think the only one not to be the birthplace of any adventurer as of yet; but they have the oldest ruling dynasty' going back to the 3rd century' and pretty solid scientific output despite lacking any libraries in their lands. Interesting that they also left an artistic mark on the world.
Good job on the music' though! The melody itself actually makes me think of church bells' and perhaps slightly of the 'Hymn of YALORT' from the old Mardek flash games. Definitely something one'd meditate to.
The first museum did have quite a bit of supplementary lore/artistic material outside the main adventurer logs' perhaps we could collect the more interesting bits and pieces of this world's history together with some artwork in one place' too?

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Imic on November 27, 2020, 07:51:20 pm

Perhaps this might be used for some kind of spell, the prayers used to request aid and for the subject to be healed, held in rythm by the quiet, simple sound of the Pastro. I imagine a monk outside their tiny hut on a windy mountainside whispering a prayer and playing a Pastro in one hand, the only two sounds besides the wind in a silent world, requesting Idla to help the wounded child lying asleep on their bed inside the hut survive.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Luckyowl on November 28, 2020, 09:37:55 pm

https://soundcloud.com/fireblade-264/luxuxrious-adoration/s-QimHx5bBl3a

This one is from the Empire of Peeks a form meant for entertainment.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

The Luxurious Adoration is a form of music used for entertainment originating in The Empire of Peeks. The form guides musicians during improvised performances. The music is played on one to four izrol, one to three pastro, a tunem and a ac. The musical voices join in melody and counterpoint, harmony and rhythm. The entire performance should bring a sense of motion. The melody has short phrases, while the counterpoint has long phrases throughout the form. It is performed using the thad scale and in the idla rhythm. Throughout, when possible, performers are to glide from note to note, alternate tension and repose, play staccato and play legato.
Each pastro always provides the rhythm.
The tunem always provides the rhythm.
The Luxurious Adoration has a well-defined multi-passage structure: three lengthy unrelated passages, a lengthy finale and a coda.
Each of the simple passages is voiced by the melody of the ac, the counterpoint of the izrol, the rhythm of the pastro and the rhythm of the tunem. Each passage is at a free tempo, and it is to become louder and louder. Each of the izrol is confined to the nasal top register. This passage features only melodic tones and intervals.
The finale is voiced by the melody of the ac, the counterpoint of the izrol, the rhythm of the pastro and the rhythm of the tunem. The passage is consistently slowing, and it is to fade into silence. Each of the izrol ranges from the middle register to the high register. This passage features only melodic tones and intervals.
The coda is voiced by the melody of the izrol, the harmony of the ac, the rhythm of the pastro and the rhythm of the tunem. The passage is slow, and it is to be loud. Each of the izrol is confined to the brittle middle register. This passage typically has some sparse chords.
Scales are constructed from sixteen notes dividing the octave. In quartertones, their spacing is roughly 1x-xxx-x-x-x-xxxxx-x-x-xO, where 1 is the tonic, O marks the octave and x marks other notes. The tonic note is fixed only at the time of performance.
The thad pentatonic scale is constructed by selection of degrees from the fundamental scale. The degrees selected are the 1st, the 5th, the 7th, the 11th and the 12th.
The idla rhythm is a single line with four beats. The beat is stressed as follows:
| x x X x |
where X marks an accented beat, x is a beat and | indicates a bar.

I tried my best to recreate it but it's hard to get Musescore to replicate a glide on the Izrol(Lute). It sort of remind me of a dance especially that accent on the third beat...and to my surprise this form has a dance form....

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

 The Musics of Pantomiming is a participation dance originating in The Empire of Peeks. The form guides dancers during improvised performances. The dance is accompanied by The Luxurious Adoration. The dancers perform in several lines, moving to the music's idla rhythm. The entire dance has a basic movement called the kes. There is a series of two relaxed steps in a triangle pattern with an undulating raised right arm, independent body movement and a fluid forward bend.
The dance begins with the passages of the music. This section is twisting.
The dance enters a new section with the finale of the music. The dancers perform slower and slower with the music. This section is joyous.

A pretty neat dance.

Honestly I would like to see the art of Orid Xem come to life. I was having a look at Walled Dye music form and they have some pretty complicated forms.

TARGET OF MIGHTNESS

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

The Targets of Mightiness is a devotional form of music directed toward the worship of Kezat originating in The Walled Dye. The rules of the form are applied by composers to produce individual pieces of music which can be performed. A singer recites any composition of The Dented Canyon. The entire performance is at a hurried pace. The melody has phrases of varied length throughout the form. Only one pitch is ever played at a time. The music repeats for as long as necessary. It is performed using the kulet scale. Throughout, when possible, composers and performers are to use grace notes, alternate tension and repose and play staccato.
The singer always does the main melody and should feel agitated.
The Targets of Mightiness has a well-defined multi-passage structure: a lengthy theme, a bridge-passage and a series of variations on the theme possibly all repeated.
The theme is to be in whispered undertones. The singer's voice ranges from the low register to the middle register. The passage is performed in the robek rhythm.
The bridge-passage is to become louder and louder. The singer's voice stays in the low register. The passage is performed in the ustos rhythm.
The series of variations is to be very soft. The singer's voice ranges from the low register to the middle register. The passage is performed in the uvel rhythm.
Scales are constructed from twenty notes dividing the octave. In quartertones, their spacing is roughly 1x-xxxxx-xx-xxxxxx-xxxxxO, where 1 is the tonic, O marks the octave and x marks other notes. The tonic note is fixed only at the time of performance.
The kulet hexatonic scale is constructed by selection of degrees from the fundamental scale. The degrees selected are the 1st, the 3rd, the 7th, the 8th, the 13th and the 18th.
The robek rhythm is a single line with two beats. The beats are named olmul (spoken ol) and nokzam (no). The beat is stressed as follows:
| x - |
where x is a beat, - is silent and | indicates a bar.
The ustos rhythm is a single line with four beats. The beats are named em„r (spoken em), izeg (iz), bem•ng (be) and gost (go). The beat is stressed as follows:
| x x - x |
where x is a beat, - is silent and | indicates a bar.
The uvel rhythm is made from two patterns: the roder and the sedil. The patterns are to be played in the same beat, allowing one to repeat before the other is concluded.
The roder rhythm is a single line with eight beats divided into four bars in a 2-2-2-2 pattern. The beat is stressed as follows:
| x x | - x | - x | x x |
where x is a beat, - is silent and | indicates a bar.
The sedil rhythm is a single line with three beats. The beat is stressed as follows:
| x x - |
where x is a beat, - is silent and | indicates a bar.

UMBER OF SILKINESS

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

 The Umber Silkiness is a form of music used for entertainment originating in The Walled Dye. The form guides musicians during improvised performances. A singer recites nonsensical words and sounds while the music is played on a amur and a nobgost. The musical voices join in melody and counterpoint, harmony and rhythm. The melody and counterpoint both have short phrases throughout the form. Throughout, when possible, performers are to alternate tension and repose.
The singer always plays rapid runs.
The nobgost always plays rapid runs.
The Umber Silkiness has a well-defined multi-passage structure: an introduction, a brief first theme, a lengthy exposition of the first theme, a bridge-passage, a second theme, an exposition of the second theme and a synthesis of previous passages.
The introduction is voiced by the melody of the amur and the melody of the nobgost. The passage should evoke tears and is at a hurried pace, and it is to start loud then be immediately soft. The amur covers its entire range from the heavy low register to the strident high register and the nobgost stays in the sparkling high register. This passage features only melodic tones and intervals. The passage is performed using the mabdug scale and in the berim rhythm.
The first theme is voiced by the melody of the amur and the rhythm of the nobgost. The passage should feel tender and is very slow, and it is to fade into silence. The amur covers its entire range from the heavy low register to the strident high register and the nobgost covers its entire range from the rippling low register to the sparkling high register. This passage typically has some sparse chords. The passage is performed using the bidok scale and in the dolush rhythm.
The first exposition is voiced by the melody of the singer reciting nonsensical words and sounds, the melody of the amur and the melody of the nobgost. The passage should feel mysterious and is very slow, and it is to become louder and louder. The singer's voice ranges from the low register to the middle register, the amur stays in the strident high register and the nobgost covers its entire range from the rippling low register to the sparkling high register. Only one pitch is ever played at a time in this passage. The passage is performed using the gatal scale and in the ”ntak rhythm.
The bridge-passage is voiced by the melody of the singer reciting nonsensical words and sounds and the harmony of the nobgost. The passage should feel agitated and moves more quickly than the last passage, and it is to be loud. The singer's voice covers its entire range and the nobgost covers its entire range from the rippling low register to the sparkling high register. This passage typically has some sparse chords. The passage is performed using the nicol scale and in the ustos rhythm.
The second theme is voiced by the melody of the amur and the rhythm of the nobgost. The passage should feel tender and resumes the previous tempo, and it is to be in whispered undertones. The amur covers its entire range from the heavy low register to the strident high register and the nobgost covers its entire range from the rippling low register to the sparkling high register. This passage features only melodic tones and intervals. The passage is performed using the alak scale and in the fer rhythm.
The second exposition is voiced by the melody of the amur, the counterpoint of the nobgost and the harmony of the singer reciting nonsensical words and sounds. The passage should be broad and slows and broadens, and it is to be very loud. The amur stays in the heavy low register, the nobgost stays in the sparkling high register and the singer's voice covers its entire range. Chords are packed close together in dense clusters in this passage. The passage is performed using the zustash scale and in the agˆk rhythm.
The synthesis is voiced by the melody of the amur, the harmony of the singer reciting nonsensical words and sounds and the harmony of the nobgost. The passage should be delicate and is at a walking pace, and it is to fade into silence. The amur covers its entire range from the heavy low register to the strident high register, the singer's voice stays in the middle register and the nobgost covers its entire range from the rippling low register to the sparkling high register. Chords are packed close together in dense clusters in this passage. The passage is performed using the anam scale and in the emuth rhythm.
Scales are constructed from twenty notes dividing the octave. In quartertones, their spacing is roughly 1x-xxxxx-xx-xxxxxx-xxxxxO, where 1 is the tonic, O marks the octave and x marks other notes. The tonic note is fixed only at the time of performance.
The mabdug hexatonic scale is constructed by selection of degrees from the fundamental scale. The degrees selected are the 1st, the 4th, the 9th, the 10th, the 13th and the 15th.
The bidok heptatonic scale is constructed by selection of degrees from the fundamental scale. The degrees selected are the 1st, the 4th, the 6th, the 9th, the 14th, the 16th and the 19th.
The gatal pentatonic scale is constructed by selection of degrees from the fundamental scale. The degrees selected are the 1st, the 6th, the 8th, the 13th and the 18th.
The nicol heptatonic scale is constructed by selection of degrees from the fundamental scale. The degrees selected are the 1st, the 4th, the 7th, the 10th, the 14th, the 18th and the 19th.
The alak heptatonic scale is constructed by selection of degrees from the fundamental scale. The degrees selected are the 1st, the 5th, the 6th, the 8th, the 13th, the 18th and the 19th.
The zustash hexatonic scale is constructed by selection of degrees from the fundamental scale. The degrees selected are the 1st, the 6th, the 7th, the 11th, the 13th and the 14th.
The anam hexatonic scale is constructed by selection of degrees from the fundamental scale. The degrees selected are the 1st, the 6th, the 7th, the 11th, the 13th and the 19th.
The berim rhythm is a single line with thirty-two beats divided into four bars in a 8-8-8-8 pattern. The beats are named ibruk (spoken ib), ermis (erm), thoth (tho), thatthil (tha), g•stang (g•), libash (li), lakish (la) and asdos (as). The beat is stressed as follows:
| - x x - - x - x | x x - x - - x x | x - x x - x x - | x - - x - - - - |
where x is a beat, - is silent and | indicates a bar.
The dolush rhythm is made from two patterns: the ”ntak (considered the primary) and the robek.
The ”ntak rhythm is a single line with two beats. The beats are named tosid (spoken to) and feb (fe). The beat is stressed as follows:
| x - |
where x is a beat, - is silent and | indicates a bar.
The robek rhythm is a single line with two beats. The beats are named olmul (spoken ol) and nokzam (no). The beat is stressed as follows:
| x - |
where x is a beat, - is silent and | indicates a bar.
The ustos rhythm is a single line with four beats. The beats are named em„r (spoken em), izeg (iz), bem•ng (be) and gost (go). The beat is stressed as follows:
| x x - x |
where x is a beat, - is silent and | indicates a bar.
The fer rhythm is made from two patterns: the nel and the roder. The patterns are to be played over the same period of time, concluding together regardless of beat number.
The nel rhythm is a single line with three beats. The beats are named biban (spoken bi), ugog (ug) and ish (ish). The beat is stressed as follows:
| x x x |
where x is a beat and | indicates a bar.
The roder rhythm is a single line with eight beats divided into four bars in a 2-2-2-2 pattern. The beat is stressed as follows:
| x x | - x | - x | x x |
where x is a beat, - is silent and | indicates a bar.
The agˆk rhythm is made from two patterns: the sedil (considered the primary) and the nel.
The sedil rhythm is a single line with three beats. The beat is stressed as follows:
| x x - |
where x is a beat, - is silent and | indicates a bar.
The emuth rhythm is made from two patterns: the ustos and the robek. The patterns are to be played over the same period of time, concluding together regardless of beat number.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: WonderPsycho on November 29, 2020, 03:00:36 pm

PTW, also, is this succession world/"adventure mode succession game"'s turn list still open for a few more people? i am kind of interested in joining in this succession game

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Bralbaard on November 29, 2020, 03:19:04 pm

The museum has opened a new wing where works of art about the world of Orid Xem can be admired.
It can be found in the post with the museum items.

Great work Luckyowl, for me those descriptions on musical forms look like they are written in chinese, so I very much appreciate someone diving in and bringing them to life.
With the game currently getting graphics and music, there's some hope that someday the musical instruments will be brought to live in the game itself..

Quote from: WonderPsycho on November 29, 2020, 03:00:36 pm

PTW, also, is this succession world/"adventure mode succession game"'s turn list still open for a few more people? i am kind of interested in joining in this succession game

Yes it is still open, I've added you to the list.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: WonderPsycho on November 29, 2020, 03:26:57 pm

Quote

Yes it is still open, I've added you to the list.

thanks

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Glloyd on November 29, 2020, 03:51:12 pm

Those are amazing luckyowl! Also, I'm sorry I haven't posted yet, it's been a very busy few days. I actually died before making it to the museum, after 300 something kills, so let that be a reminder that no matter how overly powerleveled you are, DF is unforgiving. It was a bit of an unexpected death, considering how overleveled Iden was by the time I died, so no new museum submissions.
 I'm working on a post right now, trying to do something a little different with it using my previous adventurer to tell the story of my current one. Will post it later today, along with the save, I don't think I'll be doing a fort.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: tonnot98 on November 30, 2020, 12:56:55 am

Oh darn, I got too caught up in life to remember my favorite succession game. Oh well, just put me back in the cycle and I'll play when it's my turn.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Glloyd on November 30, 2020, 05:03:06 am

Because I haven't gotten around to posting any of my entries yet, and all of my companions died along the way, I want to do something different with my write-ups. So, if someone can find my corpse before my next turn, I will post the true story of my adventurer. Otherwise, I'll integrate it into my next turn. However, I don't want to leave my turn without any entries (and I didn't want to not share any pics of Emeraldcrown, Nogoodnames really outdid themself) so I put something together below as a hook for any future adventurers (or, if noone finds it, my next turn). Enjoy, and good luck Eric! Save is here: https://dffd.bay12games.com/file.php?id=15320

---

The Journal of Glloyd Ancientborn the Round

Galena 12th, 749.

It has been a long time since I've written anything down in my journal. In fact, it's been just over 22 years since I settled down in the Shelter of Adventurers, down the hill from the great museum of Boltspumpkin. 22 years... And yet it has seemed to vanish into the air. The bitter truth of being immortal is that I stay the same age, forced to watch my close companions age towards the grave. Amsir, once a great warrior, is now 74 years old, and spends his days sitting alongside the stream that flows through our home. His wife, Slenshi, is now 65. It's been 43 years since their companion Donas Silenttowers was struck down and they decided to get married. And yet, life in Orid Xem goes on. Things have been darker as of late. Ever since that wretched monkey Raki passed through Boltspumpkin, it seems as if there's been a shadow over the land, and we haven't seen a single adventurer pass through in the years since. At least I still share the company of Ishes, my erstwhile Soldier of Night companion. At 248 years old herself, she is well aware of the curse of agelessness.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/7mzfuqG.png)

On one fine summer day a few weeks ago, Ishes and I set out to Divedact. I wanted to examine some books at the library there, and we needed to pick up some supplies for the Shelter. Although Ishes and I don't eat, and we haven't seen any adventurers in a while, Amsir and Slenshi still need to eat, and it'd be cruel to ask them to hunt. After a short trip, Ishes and I found ourselves in the bustling marketplace of Divedact.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/0yGQ0qf.png)

Divedact is one of the few actual living cities in this part of the world. Although it lacks any central leadership, its streets are still home to a wide array of active shops, and it is an important trading hub for the region. Because of this, a lot of traders from across the northern area of Orid Xem pass through there. While haggling with one of the goblin merchants there, he asked if I was heading north. "No, I'll be returning south to Boltspumpkin" I responded. "Smart man," he replied, "it's just not safe there anymore." Ever interested in the goings on of Orid Xem, I pressed him for more information. "Have you not heard any of the news from the Nations of Honoring?" he replied incredulously. "We don't get many visitors at Boltspumpkin these days," I said. He stared at me aghast "Well, surely you've heard of Iden Bloodinked the Mire of Cities, the bandit king of the north? Over the last two months he conquered his way through the northern towns, leaving hundreds of bodies in his wake.”

I hadn’t heard of him at all, so I asked around among the goblins in the marketplace, and they had plenty of wild tales to tell: “I heard he slaughtered the entire population of Steamdemon just for the fun of it.” “I heard he murdered the leader of the Nations of Honoring and his entire court and bathed in their blood.” “I heard he was behind the recent insurrections and deaths at Incenseorder.” “I heard he looted all sorts of treasure from the north and stashed it in a hideout near here.” “He stole the great crown of Galleyhazy from the fortress of Emeraldcrown and declared himself king of the northern lands.”

A litany of deeds, but was there actually any truth to these tales? Emeraldcrown is only a short journey from Divedact, and with Boltspumpkin as quiet as it has been, Ishes and I decided it would be good to get out on the road again, if only for a short trip.

--

A couple days of light travel later, we made it to Emeraldcrown. I had never been there before, so the sight of the fortress was certainly impressive. The entrance sported a golden brick road, interspersed with green glass tiling, and flanked on either side by green glass statues.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/pBO0pM6.png)

Passing the entrance, you enter a tunnel that winds its way upwards through the mountain, bringing you up to the main area of the fortress. A towering structure of green glass dangling over a volcano, Emeraldcrown is certainly a sight to behold.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/o3lHX8r.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/VbToiYD.png)

On my earlier journey, I had mocked the current state of dwarven civilization, but this young fortress is nothing to mock.

After asking around about the titular crown of Emeraldcrown, one of the dwarves led me up one of the towers into a showroom of sorts. The room contained a number of pedestals holding various artifacts, including one prominent one that was conspicuously empty.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/puRSYw4.png)

The dwarf confirmed the goblin’s story: Iden had snuck in during the night, knocking one of the guards unconscious and taking the crown, before vanishing into the night. A surprisingly bloodless tale, compared to those spun by the goblins at the market. This only intrigued me further, and Ishes and I decided to head northwards into the Nations of Honoring. Being back out on the road together was a stimulating experience. I'd forgotten how much I had enjoyed travelling, and the story of Iden has proven to be an interesting one indeed. Before we left, the dwarf handed me a poster with some information on Emeraldcrown, and told me to bring it to Boltspumpkin. He also asked that we do our best to find the missing crown and return it if possible.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/tEoSfpT.png)

After crossing the great dwarven construction of Razorbridge, we passed into the lands of the Nations of Honoring.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/XmPAf7g.png)

Once a great kingdom, the Nations of Honoring is scarcely a shadow of its former self. Destroyed by the massive necromancer armies of the 300s, the massive cities are now ghost towns full of abandoned and ruined buildings, a chilling reminder of the past conflicts.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/doLHQxn.png)

The many villages and hamlets that dot the countryside suffered a similar fate, although unlike the dead cities, some survived relatively unscathed, and remain populated by humans. Elsewhere, goblins from the empire of the Most Sin to the south have settled among the ruins. All, however, face the ongoing threat of the remnants of the necromancers’ armies that still linger throughout the region.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/5qOcWhu.png)

Ishes and I stumbled across a few on our journey. Although alone they pose little threat, the old stories tell of armies numbering in the millions, and locals will swear that those legions remain, shuffling around between the dead villages of the north.

--

Necromancers’ experiments aside, we found the Nations of Honoring to be relatively peaceful, if eerie. However, people here were certainly aware of Iden. In the great dead city of Atticmuffins, a resident told us that Iden had passed through there, and robbed the Labryinthine Abbey of its legendary artifacts. He also informed us that Iden had indeed murdered the entire leadership of the Nations of Honoring at a hamlet called Drillshine, just to the southwest of Atticmuffins. It seems that the leadership of the Nations of Honoring had been taken over by goblins in recent years, and if the tales we’d heard of Iden slaughtering entire villages of goblin settlers were anything to go by, it was likely that the two were related...

---

OOC: I will post the rest in the morning. Sorry for the delay on my posts. I hope you like the approach I took with this, trying to uncover the story of my adventurer. I've left a few hints throughout this entry and the next about where to find my corpse, but like I mentioned, if noone finds it, I'll incorporate the "journal" of my actual adventurer into my next turn. (That's also my way of asking to be signed up for another turn)

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Yarlig on November 30, 2020, 07:28:53 am

The artistic section is a great idea; might contribute a piece of dwarven poetry at some point.

I'm enjoying the update yet' Glloyd! some slice-of-necromancer's-life is a good framing story' and political upheaval is always desirable.

But alas' the world seems broke now.

Legends Viewer wouldn't load at all because of an arithmetic overflow error. Remember we had ~40 milion HoPs a few turns ago?
Now it's more like this:
Planegifts - 335 109 hands of Planegifts
Truthfulriddled - 330 435 175 hands of Planegifts
Hummedraces - wait for it! - 2 054 319 171 hands of Planegifts
(all data according to the sites-and-pops file)

Let me reiterate: we're approaching two and a half billion of those creatures. All of them are currently concentrated in a few hamlets in the Nations of Honoring' and their population seems to rise whenever someone travels nearby' without even loading their area (which at this point seems actually impossible). Reminds me of the exponentially increasing animal populations bug' but seems more severe' at least for me.
I vote we nuke them to oblivion at the first opportunity; it's ill-advised to take any chances at this point. Of course LV is not an essential part of the game' but it severely limits the freedom of exploration in the afflicted area' and the order of magnitute itself is concerning. We could also always try to weave a good story around the sudden disappearance. Leaving this up for discussion here.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Quantum Drop on November 30, 2020, 07:44:51 am

Yeah, I tried to defend them earlier, but I agree that we need to DFhack them all away now for the reasons outlined above.

That said, how would we wipe them out? AFAIK, DFHack's exterminate only targets units on the map, rather than in the world, and getting into those hamlets would be practically impossible.

Spoiler: Story suggestions (click to show/hide)

These are mostly just me shotgunning out ideas, which may or may not be good:

• Laziest explanation would be that the gods of Orid Xem never intended them to become this numerous, and they just decided to smite the lot of them rather than have mortal agents (Necromancers, adventurers, etc) deal with them indirectly. Plain, simple, but not exactly very deep.
• The HoPs there were affected by a disease of some kind (perhaps a mutated strain of the Silver Plague, which somehow made its way to the far north), which proved highly lethal to them due to their altered physiology. Most of them died from the effects of the disease, and the remainder turned on one another for what little uninfected land and shelter remained, effectively dooming themselves due to the massive casualties from plague and violence alike. Perhaps a few survive long enough to be encountered by adventurers and explain what happened, or perhaps rumours start spreading of cities full of inhuman corpses, left to rot in the streets where they died.
• Considering that they're all packed into the mead hall(s) of the sites in question? Reality ensues, and the vast majority of them are either crushed to death or suffocated due to how tightly they're packed in. [joke]Alternatively, they begin undergoing nuclear fusion due to how tight they are  packed, and explode/burn the hamlet to the ground.[/joke]
• The HoPs there were a catspaw for one of the many death-aligned deities of Orid Xem, with the HoPs there being mass-created to wipe out all life on the planet and feed the death god a massive amount of souls. The other deities and powers figure out the DG's plan, decide having a few billion omnicidal maniacs running around in the mortal world isn't a good idea for any of them or their followers, and smite the lot of them while erasing the souls of the vast majority of the HoPs from existence to prevent the death deity getting a major power boost.
• The HoPs there started out as a catspaw, but one of them eventually figured out they were going to get used either way - either they die fighting and feed the power of the deity that created them, or they kill everything and feed the power of the deity creating them anyway. The HoP that figures this out starts planning the DF equivalent of Ragnarok, intending to quite literally storm the heavens and take revenge on the deity behind this. Of course, deicide is against the Rules, and so they get smote by the gods for their antics.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Yarlig on November 30, 2020, 11:59:42 am

First things first' I know absolutely nothing about dfhack or coding in general; but it seems off-site killings have been done before:
http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=163602.0
http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=176846.0
Although of course' there is no certainty it would work in this case. Perhaps someone more competent than me could appraise the chances.

Story-wise' it's easy to build on proposal no 1:
The overpopulated territories all lie within the Nations of Honoring (not counting Cog's tower at the edge of the tundras - we should not overlook this one); one of the most prominent gods of the kingdom in question is Ala' who is associated with blight' death and balance.
Perhaps the HoPs were created by necromancers using his power' and now without them acting as funnels for magicka' and with the world being increasingly destabilized by our 'heroes' attaining forbidden knowledge' it got out of control' leading to proliferation of hoppers. Acting on the 'balance' aspect' Ala decides to even out the populations and withdraws his power' which was the only thing keeping the malformed experiments alive' leading to them dying in droves.
I personally like 3 and 5 more' though I'm not sure how it would fit in the world as-is.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: nogoodnames on November 30, 2020, 12:38:56 pm

Looking forward to reading the rest, Glloyd!

Spoiler: Your adventurer certainly seems to have had some interesting effects on the world... (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/jKbp7tu.png)

Regarding the hands of planegifts, if my theory about their populations growing until they overflow and get set to zero holds out, Hummedraces should pop soon. It's right at the upper edge of 32-bit signed integers now. In any case, I'm fully in support of nuking the bugged pops if we can find a way to.

You can fix Legends Viewer by opening up the world_sites_and_pops.txt file and deleting a digit or two off of the HoP population in Hummedraces.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Luckyowl on November 30, 2020, 01:10:14 pm

Quote from: Bralbaard on November 29, 2020, 03:19:04 pm

The museum has opened a new wing where works of art about the world of Orid Xem can be admired.
It can be found in the post with the museum items.

Great work Luckyowl, for me those descriptions on musical forms look like they are written in chinese, so I very much appreciate someone diving in and bringing them to life.
With the game currently getting graphics and music, there's some hope that someday the musical instruments will be brought to live in the game itself..

Thank you! Right now, I got a whole batch of songs. They're fairly easy once I established a format to extract these scales. After that I just tune it down to 430.5 Hz to give it a different feel and that's pretty much it. The only thing that's annoying is when the form contradict itself, but I just simply ignored anything that says, "play chords." when the former said, "The music is melody and rythmn, with no harmony."

But so far I really like Empire of Peeks for it's very middle eastern vibe. I'll upload more music from Orid Xem soon. After I fix some parts here and there. After that I'm thinking of doing the Wall Dyed forms. Which is honestly hardest, with all those scales changes, and such

I think my favorite one is the Lute of Glimmering from the High Confederacies(Sastpesor). I call it the Hymn of the Sastinite Soilder since it's meant to be played before a military engagement. The way I wrote has a solemn timbre. Probably to strike fear unto their enemies.

When I'm done with them I'll edit my post above and place them there. Another thing I notice, is that there is a lot of music form created by other composers in the world of Orid Xem. Really cool to think about.

Also Bralbaard, are we allow to use Advfort? I want to try something when my turn comes around.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: Bralbaard on November 30, 2020, 01:22:33 pm

Quote from: nogoodnames on November 30, 2020, 12:38:56 pm

Looking forward to reading the rest, Glloyd!

Spoiler: Your adventurer certainly seems to have had some interesting effects on the world... (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/jKbp7tu.png)

Regarding the hands of planegifts, if my theory about their populations growing until they overflow and get set to zero holds out, Hummedraces should pop soon. It's right at the upper edge of 32-bit signed integers now. In any case, I'm fully in support of nuking the bugged pops if we can find a way to.

You can fix Legends Viewer by opening up the world_sites_and_pops.txt file and deleting a digit or two off of the HoP population in Hummedraces.

Wait what?  :o
Charcoal Brutes are playable now?
The world is doomed...

Speaking about impending doom. I agree we have to do something about the hands of planegifts issue.
I think it would be wise to fix this before we move on.
So since I do not have the time (or likely the skill) to dive into fixing this myself we might as well turn it into a game, even if it is a bit Meta.

Whoever manages to fix this will get a commemorative custom engraved slab in the museum, which will state that you are the savior of the world, or something like that.
(I know I can do that in dfhack, at least).
I think Yarlig has a head start, he's done some good research. If we are unable to fix it directly, we should check if Nogoodnames theory that it should wrap back around to 0 holds up, that would make it manageable as well if it doesn't spread to too many towns.

I'll add Tonnot98 and Glloyd to the list for a new turn.

Title: Re: Museum III: Calling for help to save us from the BILLIONS of undead (no joke)
Post by: tonnot98 on November 30, 2020, 01:48:34 pm

I hope this is at least providing a useful stress-test for Toady to figure out what the hell's going on in long-lived adventure worlds.

Title: Re: Museum III: Calling for help to save us from the BILLIONS of undead (no joke)
Post by: Imic on November 30, 2020, 02:16:45 pm

Hops from one foot to the other oh gooodddd, this is all giving me ideas for my next adventurer’s story. I can’t wait! Curse so many people reading and playing and enjoying this game and signing up for turns so they may continue reading, playing, and enjoying this game into the hopefully distant future assuming those hands of planegifts don’t actually undergo nuclear fusion and doom us all!

Title: Re: Museum III: Calling for help to save us from the BILLIONS of undead (no joke)
Post by: Quantum Drop on November 30, 2020, 02:47:19 pm

Quote from: Imic on November 30, 2020, 02:16:45 pm

Hops from one foot to the other oh gooodddd, this is all giving me ideas for my next adventurer’s story. I can’t wait! Curse so many people reading and playing and enjoying this game and signing up for turns so they may continue reading, playing, and enjoying this game into the hopefully distant future assuming those hands of planegifts don’t actually undergo nuclear fusion and doom us all!

I know that feeling; been writing the basics of my guy's adventure for a week now. Still, that would be a pretty metal way for The Universes of Myth to go out - enough Hoppy-Bois spontaneously undergoing fusion/exploding that the world literally cracks apart.

Quote from: nogoodnames on November 30, 2020, 12:38:56 pm

Spoiler: Your adventurer certainly seems to have had some interesting effects on the world... (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/jKbp7tu.png)

Spoiler: Didn't think much of it at the time, but: (click to show/hide)

That would explain what I found in one of my test runs (NGN's save, for posterity) - over in Incenseorder, there were a bunch of CB merchants crammed into a hall with a dozen Human merchants. Weirdly enough, they weren't hostile at all except for the Overlord (you may know that guy from past posts, as the guy that offed Braalbard), and LegendsViewer indicated they were all at Dabbling combat skills rather than the hardcoded ones. Is this a bug of some kind? Is this a result of them suddenly becoming peaceful traders? Can we get a gelotologist in here?

(Also, obvious that this may seem, I suggest amending the rules to forbid using Charcoal Brutes as playable characters or companions. Clowns are hax levels of killy, if only due to sheer size.)

Title: Re: Museum III: Calling for help to save us from the BILLIONS of undead (no joke)
Post by: Glloyd on November 30, 2020, 02:53:59 pm

I wouldn't be against nuking some of those towns if possible, I had a number of crashes during my turn where I'd (d) stop at a * group on the overmap or at a small town and the game would just lock up. I figured it was because of the HoPs around, because they seem to be moving from town to town. However I wouldn't want all the HoPs to be nuked. They show up as random enemies in the north, which adds to the eerie atmosphere.

Edit: I also encountered those charcoal brutes during my few trips to incensceorder. I was just waiting for them to attack me, but they all seemed docile. I wonder if some of my actions in Incenseorder have to do with that change regarding charcoal brutes. Hmmmm. (Edit2: actually yes, it is exactly because of what I did in incenseorder. DF is a funny game like that)

Also, Bralbaard, if you get a chance, could you post the population graphs again? I don't think my 300+ goblin kills made a noticeable impact, but I did inadvertently cause the deaths of about 10% of the total kobolds population, so I do want to see what sort of effect I had elsewhere.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game.
Post by: nogoodnames on November 30, 2020, 03:47:52 pm

Quote from: Bralbaard on November 30, 2020, 01:22:33 pm

Speaking about impending doom. I agree we have to do something about the hands of planegifts issue.
I think it would be wise to fix this before we move on.
So since I do not have the time (or likely the skill) to dive into fixing this myself we might as well turn it into a game, even if it is a bit Meta.

So I did some poking around in dfhack's gm-editor. I managed to find the offending populations in df.global.world.world_info.sites[index].unk_1.inhabitants. Deleting the bad inhabitant entries seems to fix the problem. I was able to visit Hummedraces without crashing.

Disclaimer: I am still very much a dfhack novice. I don't know what broader consequences editing these values could have.

If you're willing to take a chance on it then I can make a save with the edited populations.

Title: Re: Museum III: Calling for help to save us from the BILLIONS of undead (no joke)
Post by: Glloyd on December 01, 2020, 12:47:21 am

Part 2

Upon arriving in Drillshine, the first thing we noticed was the recently decomposed bodies of goblins lining the path towards the meadhall. The scene inside the meadhall was scarcely better.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/Kqb2kAG.png)

A number of humans stood around, taking care to avoid the pile of mostly goblin corpses in the centre of the room. One of the humans informed us that she was the lady of this village and asked us of our business there. When I told her that I was looking for information on Iden Bloodinked and the missing crown from Emeraldcrown. Upon mentioning Iden’s name her back straightened up. “I am the representative of Iden Bloodinked here. I rule Drillshine in the name of the Iden and the Walled Dye. We are his servants in the war against the goblins.” She went on to inform me that the leadership of the Nations of Honoring had been taken over by goblins from The Most Sin, and Iden had led some sort of war against the goblins, conquering various towns inhabited by goblins, and in Drillshine, slaughtering the entire goblin leadership of the Nations of Honoring.

Something that she said caught my interest however, so I continued to press her with questions; “Isn’t the Walled Dye a dwarven civilization? All of you are humans, and so was Iden.” “Of course,” she replied, “but as Iden taught us, the dwarves are the only ones who can protect the north against the goblin threat. The human leadership has failed us, so we have turned to the dwarves for salvation and we will retake the north in their name.” This was shaping up to be an intriguing tale, so I asked her if she knew where Iden had gone. Before she could answer, one of the other humans in the mead hall piped up “You should try asking the goblins at Lipbraided.” “Yes,” said the lady, smirking, “I’m sure the goblins at Lipbraided will have plenty to say about Iden.”

Undeterred by their behaviour, we left Drillshine, travelling east towards Lipbraided, passing by abandoned hamlets and villages along the way. At one point, we saw what looked to be thousands of Hands of Planegifts wandering around in the ruins of a village, so we made sure to steer clear of any such sites on our journey. Before long, we were at Lipbraided.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/GuQe2W7.png)

Although smaller than some of the other abandoned cities of the north, Lipbraided is still quite impressive. As with the other dead cities of the region, it was destroyed during the rampages of the necromancer armies in the 300s. Since then, it has remained largely uninhabited, a chilling reminder of the past horrors. Recently, a goblin religious cult has made Lipbraided home, and in the keep, we found what remained of them.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/M48O8WQ.png)

The exterior of the keep was lined with mangled goblin corpses, including what appeared to be a goblin corpse that had been butchered and prepared, a ghastly sight to be sure. Inside, the scene was similar, although there were some living goblins huddled in prayer. They were wary initially, for obvious reasons, but warmed up once we mentioned that we were trying to track down Iden Bloodinked to find the missing crown from Emeraldcrown. Apparently, Iden had come by here only a few weeks ago and slaughtered all the members of the cult who were living in the keep, including their cult leader, who had held that position since 286. In doing so, he stole the symbol of the cult, a legendary silver longsword called the Forest of Heather, along with some other minor artifacts. However, the goblins had no information on where Iden might have gone, only that he had headed south into the lands of the Most Sin, where he had carved a bloody path through the goblin war parties sent after him on his way through their territory.

--

At an apparent dead end on our journey, we decided to head to Incenseorder, to see if the stories about Iden stirring up insurrections held any weight. However, instead of returning across Razorbridge, we decided to follow the coast of The Peaceful Waters. Although this would take us through goblin territory, it was more direct than looping back up northwest to cross at Razorbridge. This proved to be a mistake, as the territory of the Most Sin was abuzz with activity. Goblin war parties roamed the countryside, likely searching for Iden Bloodinked. They were certainly eager to take out their anger on any human they saw, and although we tried to keep a low profile, we had the misfortune of running into a party of 20 or so goblins out for blood.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/DTE1UpD.png)

Although we managed to fight our way out of the ambush, we didn’t do so without adding a few new scars to our respective collections. This is the part of adventuring I had seemingly deliberately ignored, and I wanted no further part of it. Bruised and bloodied, we decided to abandon our trip to Incenseorder and return home to Boltspumpkin and the Shelter.

--

On our way back, we hugged the mountain range of the Perfect Horns in an effort to steer clear of any further ambushes. In doing so, we passed through what appeared at first glance to be an abandoned dwarven hillock. However, upon entering the hillock, we realised that it was still populated, and we stopped into the main mound, which was full of dwarves and animals milling around.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/kyn2vBv.png)

They informed us that they were a party sent from Emeraldcrown a few months prior to reclaim this abandoned hillock. To my surprise, despite their isolation, they knew Iden well. He had passed through here on his travels and had actually recruited a number of dwarves to head north with him to fight the goblins. One of these dwarves, Id Ringshields, had helped Iden conquer the hamlet of Peekedstill to the north, and had also aided Iden in an insurrection at Incenseorder. Apparently, the party had split up after the insurrection failed, and Iden had headed north to the Nations of Honoring, while Id had returned home. He mentioned that he had heard that there were more insurrections in Incenseorder, although he had no idea where Iden had gone after heading north. All he would say besides that is that the stories of Iden having some hidden treasure trove were true, although its location was unknown to him.

--

We remained at the hillock only a short time before heading south again. A few days later and we had arrived back at Boltspumpkin. I stopped by the museum itself before returning to the Shelter of Adventures, and I left the poster from Emeraldcrown there, along with a small note of my own. If any adventurers do find the missing crown, hopefully it can be returned to its rightful place.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/FLUL9U5.png)

Back at the Shelter, I sat in the tavern and pondered our journey. It seems strange that someone so larger than life as Iden could simply disappear, and yet that seems to be the case. Perhaps someone at Incenseorder knows where he went, or perhaps it is just another dead end. For all I know, he could be in a hideout somewhere enjoying his ill-gotten gains, ready to return and wreak havoc on the people of the north at any moment. I had hoped the darkness hanging over Orid Xem would pass soon, but if my journey has shown anything, the world is darker than ever. The north is in chaos, and news from the south is full of stories of the horrors that followed in Raki’s wake. At least here, at the Shelter of Adventures, we can pretend to be insulated from all that. At least, for now.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/aNKATA9.png)

---

---

OOC: That's the end for now, I hope someone stumbles across my corpse on their journeys. It seems my trip had some interesting repercussions. Looking into it, the reason you can now play as a charcoal brute is because Incenseorder had peaceful charcoal brutes living there. After Incenseorder was conquered, they joined the Walled Dye, and sent an expedition to reclaim a Walled Dye fort. The population of the "dwarf" fortress is listed below:

(https://i.imgur.com/AVTkr29.png)

Orid Xem is an interesting place.

Title: Re: Museum III: Calling for help to save us from the BILLIONS of undead (no joke)
Post by: Yarlig on December 01, 2020, 08:59:07 am

Nogoodnames' I think it would in fact be good if you uploaded the save; this way everyone willing to help' but lacking any dfhack ability (including me' though I'm too busy right now to delve any deeper into this problem; if I manage to get anything' will share it here though) would get a chance to see if there are any consequences. Poke around' play an adventure or two' maybe make a fortress and see if anything happens in the long run. Best case scenario' everyone gets a personal piece of fun' messing with pops doesn't break the game and we can restart the turn list from your save. At least that's how I see it.

Also I'm seconding Quantum's suggestion to ban charcoal brutes; adventurers already have enough destructive potential' even with vanilla races.

Title: Re: Museum III: Calling for help to save us from the BILLIONS of undead (no joke)
Post by: nogoodnames on December 01, 2020, 09:29:04 am

Heh, I was thinking of creating a demigod charcoal brute since I need to have an adventurer or fort to save the changes. Kind of a secret boss for anyone who sought it out. But maybe not...

I'll get the fix ready. It has been perfectly stable from my tests so far.

Title: Re: Museum III: Calling for help to save us from the BILLIONS of undead (no joke)
Post by: Bralbaard on December 01, 2020, 09:56:10 am

Great work NoGoodNames! It's fine with me if you leave a single charcoal brute somewhere, you deserve it. but I'll update the rules later today that you can not have demon adventurers from now on. (edit to add: don't go on a full blown adventure with it, but leaving a named demon somewhere would be a !!FUN!! addition. )
I had some hope because of the name that this was one of those glass-cannon demons that die in a single strike because they are made of a brittle material, those might be somewhat fun if playable. It turns out that despite the name this one is not made of charcoal though, in fact my adventurer was killed by an unexpected charcoal brute encounter during my second turn. These guys should not be messed with, they are firebreathers and extremely though. They would be extremely overpowered as an adventurer.
For reference this is what they look like (from my earlier post):


(https://i.imgur.com/FWAPYXw.jpg)

(https://i.imgur.com/zxkelSQ.gif)

I'll also update the museum posts later with the custom slab I promised for solving the planegifts issue, but I will add the in game slab at a later date, when I have another reason to pick up the save.

Title: Re: Museum III: Calling for help to save us from the BILLIONS of undead (no joke)
Post by: Quantum Drop on December 01, 2020, 10:27:40 am

Yeah, TBH, I think we can all make a single exception for NGN on the whole Clown Adventurer thing. The idea of a hidden boss of a Clown adventurer is quite the Fun one, and could certainly open up some pretty cool possibilities.

EDIT: Also, fun fact for TheFlame52: your last adventurer (Galka Fancyrocks) is now a Countess of the Walled Dye. Quite the step up in the world, no?

Title: Re: Museum III: Calling for help to save us from the BILLIONS of undead (no joke)
Post by: Tehsapper on December 01, 2020, 10:36:37 am

Nice to see that the Museum project is still alive and kicking!
I would like to sign up for a turn : )

Title: Re: Museum III: Calling for help to save us from the BILLIONS of undead (no joke)
Post by: Bralbaard on December 01, 2020, 10:37:37 am

Nogoodname's demon could be a good excuse as to why all those undead have dissapeared. We could just say it was divine (or is that demonic?) intervention by the charcoal brutes. Anyhow, the demon should only be used for testing purposes.

Edit: Hey Tehsapper, good to see you are still around! I'll add you to the list.

Title: Re: Museum III adventure game
Post by: Glloyd on December 01, 2020, 01:14:39 pm

The Journal of Iden Bloodinked

[The journal itself has been nearly destroyed by fire, and the wear and aging of the past 20 years have
only further deteriorated its condition. What is below is what was able to be salvaged by Glloyd
Ancientborn the Round (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8280892#msg8280892)]

749, Slate

…parents were killed by goblins when I was young, which fostered a hatred of those beasts in my heart
ever since. I was adopted by dwarves, and they told me stories of how the goblins had destroyed their
once great civilization. I felt at home with them, even though as a human I was still an outsider.
Nonetheless, they made me feel like part of their culture, and raised me with a wariness of goblins. I
think of my birth family and my adopted family every time we raid a goblin camp. Today was a good
haul, found an iron short sword that is of sturdy quality. It served me well in a raid on a town. A good day.

(https://i.imgur.com/Gsqnr18.png)

[the next few pages appear to be missing]

After raiding some of the small towns around Incenseorder, we returned to stash our goods in
Peekedstill. My recruits have taken to calling me lord, a title I’ve grown fond of. Iden Bloodinked, the
bandit lord. It has a certain ring to it.

(https://i.imgur.com/v7CDpep.png)

I don’t feel bad killing some of the humans in these towns. Even though this land is still allegedly ruled
by humans, the cities are full of goblin filth, and goblins have infiltrated many of the leadership
positions.

(https://i.imgur.com/VfX6D7Y.png)

Goblins even control the town of Incenseorder. The people there chafe under the harsh rule of the demon lord Pis, but my attempts to lead them against him have failed. His power is too strong. We are heading back towards Incenseorder to give it another try, hopefully we will be successful...

[a large portion of the journal after this is unreadable]

…moved to the north. … Large areas here controlled by goblins. We’ve come here in the hope that it
might be possible to reclaim these northern cities for dwarvenkind, and of course to find some good
spoils in the process. We can build a new dwarven kingdom here, as a bulwark against the goblin lands
of the Most Sin to the south. In the distant past, many here once swore fealty to dwarven warlords, but
now the cities lie in ruins, populated by goblin filth and the humans and elves they have subjugated. We
will change all of that…

…eekedstill was a good base, but we still need to establish a foothold up here. Tomorrow we move on
Lipbraided. It will be our new capital in this area.

13th Felsite

The attack on Lipbraided was a success. We slaughtered the goblins in the citadel, and anyone left was
forced to swear fealty to me as their lord. We made off with a good haul of loot too, including an
extremely ornate silver sword.

(https://i.imgur.com/0ZIcxz5.png)

(https://i.imgur.com/rRJ5LqH.png)

[the next few pages are burnt badly and are illegible]

…remnants of the necromancer armies. Hands of Planegifts they call them. They are easily dealt with, but they are found all over the place
here, and in larger numbers, they can prove dangerous. We lost Duli to a group of them earlier today.

(https://i.imgur.com/z4VUwO4.png)

Felsite ??

Escu died today. Killed by one of the many demonic creatures that dot the landscape up here. The group
that I had marched north with have all died in our war on the goblins. I press on alone.

(https://i.imgur.com/1fqp56v.png)

Hematite ??

My war on the goblins continues. We have conquered villages all across the northern realms, and they
have been forced swear their fealty to me. However, I’ve decided to head south again, to try to recruit
some more brave dwarves to join me in my conquest. I will stop at the fortress of Emeraldcrown, before
heading further south to the hillocks near where I was raised.
…attacked by one of the same creatures that killed Escu. I managed to kill it, but I lost my leg in the
process

(https://i.imgur.com/Cl6NUH5.png)

I managed to fashion myself a crutch, it’s slow going, but I’m learning to fight while moving with it. I was
attacked by some goblins today while crossing a river, and managed to defeat them, so I can still hold
my own.

…

I think my leg has become infected, I’ve been growing delirious. My hatred for the goblins still persists
however, and I will press on in my fight. I must gather up another army and push north again. The
leadership of the Nations of Honoring, the human realm that still claims to rule in the north, has been
entirely supplanted by goblins. Even their lawgiver is a goblin. I will hunt them down and kill them all in
the name of the Walled Dye.

…

Stopping at Emeraldcrown, I stole Galleyhazey, the crown Emeraldcrown is built around. Is it really
stealing if I am the lord of the dwarves? After all, it is my destiny. I am Iden Bloodinked, lord of the
Walled Dye, King of the Northern Realms. My enemies have begun calling me “The Mire of Cities”. I will
show them what they fear. We return to the north, for the last time.

(https://i.imgur.com/OeskakY.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/TxWZqah.png)

[the remainder of the journal is severely damaged, I have included what pieces I could salvage below]

Malachite [?]

I slaughtered them all and bathed in their blood. They ran into the pits and I followed. I bashed their
heads in with my crutch and watched them die slowly. Justice has been dealt here today.

(https://i.imgur.com/a8GzMoN.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/ToyOXeR.png)

--

Arrived at Drillshine, the town where the leadership of the Nations of Honoring resides. Tomorrow, I will
strike.

(https://i.imgur.com/FjCLdkQ.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/uF1EOZi.png)

--

Moving back towards Peekedstill. The Most Sin still rules at Incenseorder, where my rebellion failed
many months ago. I will have my victory this time against the Demon lord Pis and his goblin followers.

[The journal ends here. Iden allegedly did kill Pis, although what happened to Iden afterwards remains a mystery]

---

9th of Malachite, 749

With one final blow, Pis Meadowshafts collapsed to the ground, dead. Iden collapsed into the nearby throne. He had done it, he was finally in control of Incenseorder. The Most Sin had been pushed out of this part of the world, and he was king.

(https://i.imgur.com/pAdYTBB.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/5eXqnH2.png)

Iden tried to get up, but his strength had left him. Smoke filled the air inside the keep, and he had trouble breathing. A small rest wouldn't hurt, right? After all, he was the king...

(https://i.imgur.com/xSr1uuk.png)

Title: Re: Museum III adventure game
Post by: nogoodnames on December 01, 2020, 05:01:56 pm

Alright, here's the save: https://dffd.bay12games.com/file.php?id=15326

All of the bugged populations have been removed, including Cog's soldiers of night (she still has an army of ~1000 "outcast" soldiers though). The non-malignant hands of planegift enclaves in the north have been left alone, so they should still show up as encounters.
I visited each affected site and everything seems fine. Hummedraces was even reclaimed by humans.

Spoiler: New population distribution (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/hPfcVMl.png)

Spoiler: About the charcoal brute... (click to show/hide)

Things didn't quite work out how I thought they would. She's out there, but still part of the dwarven civilization and non-hostile. Still, if you're up for a challenge, her 1-tonne steel helmet might make for an interesting museum submission. ^{_{Although I suppose you could just buy it off her...}}

Title: Re: Museum III adventure game
Post by: Bralbaard on December 01, 2020, 05:41:49 pm

Thanks!

Just to make sure everybody feels comfortable moving on, I'm going to wait untill thursday, if nobody has raised any alarms by then, Eric can start.
Also here are the updated graphs. Hands of planegifts are obviously not listed, I'm still contemplating going through the old files to extract their numbers.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/7idiP9n.gif)

The difference is hardly visible, but kobolds have taken a significant hit, their numbers have gone from 51 to 41. Everything else has been pretty stable except for the elves and humans in the last few turns. They seem to have suffered most from Raki and Glloyd visiting their lands.
I'll try and get the other posts updated.

Title: Re: Museum III: Calling for help to save us from the BILLIONS of undead (no joke)
Post by: TheFlame52 on December 01, 2020, 05:59:20 pm

Quote from: Quantum Drop on December 01, 2020, 10:27:40 am

Also, fun fact for TheFlame52: your last adventurer (Galka Fancyrocks) is now a Countess of the Walled Dye. Quite the step up in the world, no?

She was a beastmaster while I was playing, but the Countess part is new. Good to know.

Title: Re: Museum III adventure game
Post by: Glloyd on December 01, 2020, 07:21:12 pm

Thanks for posting that graph. The kobold death was accidental, and most of those deaths were caused by kobolds killing each other. Because of that, there are actually living kobold historical figures now, so maybe that'll help ensure their survival. Who knows. It's nice to see I did have a noticeable impact on the world though. Will the chaos in Orid Xem continue? Looking forward to seeing where people go with it.

Title: Re: Museum III adventure game
Post by: Eric Blank on December 02, 2020, 02:57:24 am

So we're going to spend a week testing the "patched" save then before I start? Sounds like a good idea at least. (I didn't get a PM yet so I didn't realize it was my turn until  just now)

Title: Re: Museum III adventure game
Post by: Bralbaard on December 02, 2020, 03:02:43 am

Quote from: Eric Blank on December 02, 2020, 02:57:24 am

So we're going to spend a week testing the "patched" save then before I start? Sounds like a good idea at least. (I didn't get a PM yet so I didn't realize it was my turn until  just now)

No, Thursday is tomorrow :-). I did not send you a PM yet, I would have done so after the save game was approved. If no issues have popped up tomorrow you can start from the fixed save game that NoGoodNames posted. 

Title: Re: Museum III adventure game
Post by: Eric Blank on December 02, 2020, 06:15:21 pm

Oh, I have no idea what day of the week it is theyve all started to blur together. Good news is I will have pretty much nothing preventing me from playing because I'm currently unemployed haha

I visited hummedraces, planesgifts and truthfulriddled in adventure mode and found only one HoP, a religious figurehead in planesgifts, and experienced no crashes or unusual errorlog entries. (errorlogs about succession travelers and site walkers placed out of bounds, bad pathing and bad unit occupancy flags are ubiquitous as usual.) Battery is dead now, may try again later.

I was attacked by a couple HoP historical figures around the old dwarven mountains, so theyre still out there

Title: Re: Museum III adventure game
Post by: Glloyd on December 02, 2020, 07:59:28 pm

Likewise, I booted up my adventurer and ran around to the towns in the north where I crashed during my turn. No issues there, so I'd say you're good to go Eric.

Title: Re: Museum III adventure game
Post by: nogoodnames on December 03, 2020, 10:38:03 pm

I figured out how to glitchily edit artifacts into my inventory, so here's something I was hoping to run into on my turn:

Spoiler: BLOODWRATH! (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/SavmCT2.png)

Aside from the awesomely edgy name and being one of the best weapons in Orid Xem, Bloodwrath has some neat history. Forged at the end of the first century, just as dwarven civilization was reaching its height, the sword earned its name during the march of the undead under Oddom Girdergrove. It was first claimed by Kib, one of Oddom's lieutenants, but her defeat at Stealmountain saw it pass to the zebra fiend Dreamypuzzled. It was then used to great effect by the demon, along with the rest of her legendary armory. Sadly, the undead hordes proved too numerous for Dreamypuzzled, and she eventually fell to them.

Unfortunately, I think Bloodwrath is completely inaccessible now. It was supposedly lost in Trammeljudges during it's conquest, but because the sword's wielder died, it's not there. The game thinks it's still held by the dead Sarvesh Cudgelkind, so it doesn't physically exist anymore.

Title: Re: Museum III adventure game
Post by: Glloyd on December 04, 2020, 03:45:24 am

It is lost sadly, insofar as I can tell. I turned Trammeljudges upside down during my turn trying to find it, but it is lost to DFs glitchyness. So, I settled for the Forest of Heather instead, which does not have such a storied history. I think there's one other legendary steel sword in Keyconjure, although me and I think a couple others passed through there and didn't cross its path, so who knows.

Title: Re: Museum III adventure game
Post by: Imic on December 04, 2020, 01:02:44 pm

Hmm. Could it be possible to reanimate its last wielder and see if the game gave it back to him, perhaps after a bit of reloading, or would that be impossible? If so, that might be worth a test between turns.

Title: Re: Museum III adventure game
Post by: nogoodnames on December 04, 2020, 10:44:16 pm

I don't think Sarvesh has a physical corpse anywhere, so that's not an option. The only way to bring it back seems to be dfhackery. And when I did it, I somehow accidentally removed dwarves from the adventurer race options. So maybe not worth the risk.

Title: Re: Museum III adventure game
Post by: Eric Blank on December 04, 2020, 11:56:00 pm

I didn't experience any other issues, so I went ahead and started an adventurer. Will post soon i hope, but not too soon

Title: Re: Museum III adventure game
Post by: Quantum Drop on December 08, 2020, 10:52:23 am

How're things going, Eric?

Title: Re: Museum III adventure game
Post by: Eric Blank on December 09, 2020, 04:28:18 am

Ah, sorry. My adventures have concluded and I'm writing that up now while I work on a little fort.

Title: Re: Museum III adventure game
Post by: Eric Blank on December 10, 2020, 03:59:39 am

I am done with my fort, and am attempting to upload the save now. Here's a little bit about what happened during my adventures;

Save's here: https://dffd.bay12games.com/file.php?id=15339

Spoiler: The adventures of Pik Planecalm and Desli Wanedhummed (click to show/hide)

Pik and Desli were villagers hailing from the village of Stabbedechoed in the Realm of Silver. There Pik's family lived peacefully and when Desli, a wolf woman pup, was abandoned at their door by her pack, and they took her in, while Pik himself was born four years later. Desli was encouraged to become a hunter, and Pik, to become a craftsman, and together they grew up and worked together as siblings and partners.

The day started out like any other, Desli would hunt, and Pik would clean her kills and prepare their meat, hides and bones for sale. The forests around the Realm of Silver are home to many species of game, wild boars chief among them. Deep in the woods they encountered a trio standing in a clearing; one they recognized as the lord of Stabbedechoed, Ospaz Osp”zngur, another as the lady of another hamlet, but the third, smaller figure was that of a goblin swordsman. When the duo approached the group to greet lord Ospaz, the goblin began pointing and yelling at them, the lady pulled a bow and began firing at them, and the goblin fled. Desli's bolts struck truer than the Lady's arrows, pinning her to the ground, and pik decapitated her with his sword. But Ospaz too attacked them, and so Pik was forced to kill him in self defense. They quickly tracked down and killed the fleeing goblin, and Desli butchered him, too.

Frightened and ashamed, they returned to the village wiseman, the monk Dotep Sulthuthimeth, and he ordered Pik take the place of Ospaz as lord of the hamlet, as he believed Ospaz to be corrupt, dealing with bandits. He then asked them to slay the night creature Arani Umbraldead the Shady Phantom, who lived a day's travel away in the Tombs of Shadow. Wanting to set a good example and prove they were capable warriors, they set off the next morning, and the trek indeed took an entire day to complete.

The beast hid in its lair, but Pik drew it out into the open, where Desli peppered it with bolts, while he fought it in close quarters. Soon, the freak bled out.

(https://i.imgur.com/1vAz14G.png)

He took the beast's defleshed skull as a trophy.

It didn't feel like a victory, as Pik's leg was badly mangled by the monster, but after spending the night in the woods nearby, he was able to travel, albeit slowly. Emboldened, the pair headed further east, towards a shrine rumored to be nearby. After another day of searching, they found it. Desli crested the hill first, and sighted the beast.

(https://i.imgur.com/YD9UfIc.png)

At first she didn't believe her eyes, but the beast believed its own, and charged towards her, taking flight just above the slope of the hillside, and came upon her before Pik could even climb to her aide.

But when he crested the hill, he found a drenched Desli sitting shocked in a huge puddle of water, the beast's severed head slowly melting away in her lap. She had raised her shield, too late to stop the beast from wrapping its jaws around her head, but just in time to decapitate it with the edge of the shield, before it could smother her. It took her a few minutes to recover from the shock, and to dry herself off with some pelts they had brought, and they examined the shrine itself. It consisted of nothing but a few stone pillars surrounded by stone tiles, with little of note besides the corpses of a man and a night creature. They took the skull of the night creature, as they could not take a puddle of water.

The trip back was uneventful, but took a day and a half. When they finally arrived, Dotep delivered grave news; an insurrection had begun in the hamlet, and neither he nor the hearthpeople knew who was involved. Pik was being asked to manage the hamlet directly, a daunting task for someone with no experience. Desli, meanwhile, was asked to go north, and ask for tribute from the various towns and nobles to further legitimize Pik's new lordship. As soon as she left the town, however, she came upon a pack of hideous creatures;

(https://i.imgur.com/7Q2s38y.png)

Demons from the underworld, that stalked the fields devouring travellers. Desli was forced to drop her burdensome pack and run for her life, for these beasts were too powerful for even the heroes of old. She kept running for miles, before she finally felt safe enough to rest for a few minutes. Indeed, there was no sign that she was being pursued, and she made it to Speechrags the following day.

End Pt. 1

The Hands of Planegifts seem mostly reserved to the elven lands now, in populations of almost always exactly 50. However, weirdly enough, there are 350 humans and 506 HoPs and 1 elf listed in the sites & pops files as outdoor animal populations. I experienced only one crash coming out of travel mode around Scarletbronze (don't go there lightly, more on that later), and was unable to replicate it.

Title: Re: Museum III adventure game
Post by: Glloyd on December 10, 2020, 04:54:32 am

Nice story so far! Was that demon just a random spawn in the wild? Also is Scarletbronze the city with all the refugees or the one full of bandits?

Title: Re: Museum III adventure game
Post by: Quantum Drop on December 10, 2020, 05:07:57 am

I'll pick it up later today, will edit to say so when I have.

EDIT: Scarletbronze is the place Braalbard may(?) have buggered up with undead-raising antics. Streammartyred is full of refugees. Swordgleamed is the bandit town.

EDIT²: I have the file, will post the first bits later.

Title: Re: Museum III adventure game
Post by: Eric Blank on December 10, 2020, 04:04:44 pm

The demons, as there were three of them actually, were a wandering army group with an *, I made the mistake of stopping and investigating them. And Scarletbronze is in fact afflicted with undead, yes.

Title: Re: Museum III adventure game
Post by: Quantum Drop on December 10, 2020, 07:02:44 pm

(Date obscured by a smear of blood)

Tell me, reader, have you ever heard of the Silver Plague?

Oh, what am I saying – of course you have.

We don’t know where it started. A traveller, perhaps, bearing some strange illness, or maybe a coordinated strike by some vile sorcerer. A few eccentrics even claim it to be caused by creatures so tiny our eyes cannot see them.

Whatever birthed the Silver Plague, it infiltrated like smoke and spread like wildfire. The only sign of its presence was a tiny cough. Then, weeks or even months on, the bruising and foul boils would appear on the limbs and lungs, followed by the cough worsening until blood came up with each cough. Finally, the fever and the necrosis of flesh would show, and the victim’s life would be in the hands of the Divines alone.

It took so long to get it under control. Radical treatments for limbs beginning to turn necrotic, experimental salves and concoctions, acts that would have us exiled as criminals in any other time – these were the measures the doctors and healers of the Realm of Silver were forced to resort to, by command or by desperation. I should know – my teacher was among them.

Day by day, the Plague began to subside. A few cases here and there – the occasional figure, heavy-cloaked and weeping in fear, pulled into my master’s practice for treatment. We would do away with the worst of the necrotic flesh, apply cloth bindings soaked in his specialised salve, and do all we could to keep them alive until his medicines and the will of the Divines could do their work.

Then I cut my hand when working on one victim’s boils.

Not deeply – a mere centimetre or two, and on one of the less virulent, recent iterations – but just enough for the uneducated, fear-crazed fools of the town to work themselves into a rabid mob once the world got out. My master’s protests meant nothing to them; they chased me out of town with pitchforks and torches into the freezing hell of the Tundra of Heroes – perhaps they thought the cold and the necromantic beasts of the wilds would do the Plague’s work for them.

I would have died were it not for the kindness of a few outcasts and strangers. They found me on the Tundra’s borders, delirious and half-starved; helped me reach their home, and nursed me back to health with what little resources they have. The Colourless Group, they call themselves – a ragged band of outcasts, outsiders, and oddities, dwelling in the remote hilltop monastery of Scrapedbarbs.

For some years, now, I have served them, using my knowledge of the body to harm and heal in varying measure. I was foolish enough to hope I had dodged the Plague’s grip – as if that damnable pestilence would be merciful.

Somehow, the sickness has reached even this isolated monastery. Perhaps some lingering remnant of it lurked in me, or in one of the other exiles and oddities that made their home here.

The symptoms are already setting in – the tiny cough, bringing with it blood. Nothing I have done seems to slow it down: prayers to the Lady of Healing, herbal remedies, the few experimental concoctions I was able to take with me – all of it has shown no results. I must leave this place, and soon, before I doom those who saved me.

There is a tower further north, said to house a band of isolative monks and scholars who hold great knowledge of the body and its humours in their archives. Perhaps they will have some arcane ritual able to cure this pestilence, or some knowledge as to how I may beseech a deity to cure me of it.

With me comes Ketas, the one who found me so long ago and helped me back to this place – she has refused to let me go alone. Whatever her reason for leaving, I will respect it and not inquire. Yet… I have seen the bloodstained rag concealed in the corner of her barren room.

The thought that I may have passed the plague to her –

No. It must be from her hunting activities. Yes, that must be it; blood from a slain animal, cleaned off from her hands or blade. It must be that. It must.

In addition to Ketas, one of the other hunters has sworn to accompany us on our travels, a strange man by the name of Abhaar. Supposedly, he used to be a Duke’s son, the first in line to take his father’s position, before the Silver Plague and courtly intrigues saw him overthrown and forced to flee here; though I doubt his claim to any kind noble blood (let alone a Duchy), his skill with an axe is indisputable.

Perverse as it sounds, I find myself glad that I will not be going into the wilderness alone; the stories reaching us, distorted as they may be, would shake even the greatest man’s confidence with their tales of Demon Kings and fantastic monsters.

Should you find this journal, reader, we have failed. May Otu Lovelycherished guard our souls.

---

They’d seen it long before they’d arrived – smooth stone buildings and a mighty central tower, jutting up from the snow of the tundra like the scattered knuckle-bones and skyward-pointed arm of some fallen giant.

The Tower of Combined Insight.

The three of them trudged down the gently sloping hills, into the divot where the tower and its attendant buildings had been built. It had been something of a struggle for them to get this far, Urus’ coughing fits and the constant barrier of the snow forcing them to move slowly, but at last, they had reached their destination.

They’d been expecting the Tower to be quiet; the monks dwelling here were notoriously isolationist, rarely if ever venturing out of their site for even the most important of things.

What they hadn’t expected was this level of… stillness. Not one track broke the thick coverlet of snow on the ground, not one footprint going into or out of the buildings. A few hardy patches of moss clung to the base of the dark stone, snowdrifts building up around the entrances to a few of the smaller, more remote structures. Even the flakes of snow, usually ever-falling in such cold climate, seemed to hang suspended in the air far above, like some scene from the rich artworks common in the courts of the noble-born.

Ketas exchanged a wary glance with him, eye flicking apprehensively across the buildings.

“Something’s not right,” She muttered. Her instincts, well-honed from a lifetime of hunting, were screaming at her – there was something off, something unnatural about this silence.

Urus managed a nod before another coughing fit bent him double. This time, it brought up a thick gobbet of liquid and the taste of iron, painting the snow under him with reddish spots.

“Need to find them,” he gasped, trying to force himself to breathe through the coughs. “Go. I’ll catch up.”

Ketas shook her head, planting the massive slab of copper that served as her sword point-down beside her; Abhaar had no such reservations, marching off without a word or backward glance. Urus would’ve argued if he had the breath – as it was, he settled for a weak scowl up at her resolute features.

It took him a minute or two before the coughing subsided enough for him to properly regain his breath and force himself back to his feet. A few faltering steps gradually changed to a walk as he regained his feet – slower than usual, but not enough to put him down.

“To the tower, th–”

Urus was cut off mid-speech as his foot caught on something under the snow, sending him into an undignified face-plant into the snow. Ketas stifled a snicker at the sight, Urus grumbling several choice imprecations as snow began to soak into his cloak.

A few quick swipes of the hand cleared the snow from the object under the snow, revealing short, scale-covered limbs and a ragged stump of a neck; beside it, a few shredded scraps of muscle, bone, and organ. It was the corpse of some strange reptilian creature, mixed with the wreckage of something else entirely.

Ketas moved in close, peering down at the body in open curiosity.

“A Kobold? I thought they went extinct long ago?”

“Far as I knew, they were,” Urus muttered, examining the massive gash down the creature’s front. The freezing cold had preserved it well. “The Great War wiped them out centuries ago, but this one’s barely rotten. How the hell’d one end up this far into the Tundra?”

He was broken out of his musings by the sudden thump of boots on stone; Abhaar, approaching from behind. Before Urus could get a word out, he shook his head, lined face tight with disgust.

“The Tower’s a slaughterhouse.” He jerked his head in the direction of the tower for emphasis. “At least a dozen bodies, all of them in chunks fit for an Elven stewpot. If any of these men are still alive, they’ve long since run away.”

Urus felt his hand curl into a fist, metal creaking softly. Frustration warred with a burning weight of guilt in the pit of his stomach, hot and heavy as molten iron. He’d brought the Silver Plague to Scrapedbarbs, dragged all three of them and a vital part of their limited supplies out on this fool’s errand – and what did he have to show for it, beyond frozen corpses and pieces of corpses and unreadable papers that might as well be a mad monk’s rantings?

“There is… one thing, though,” Abhaar held something out towards him – a slim scroll, bound with two aluminium rollers; a much thicker volume, bound in pitchblende, was in his other hand. “I found these, near some of the bodies. Feels strange, but I can’t tell how for the life of me.”

Urus frowned as he took it in hand, peering at the cover. There was something odd in the strange, archaic characters carefully carved into its rollers, something at once achingly familiar and painfully foreign, but it only became clear when he opened it, and laid his eyes on the very first line of the text.

Common Sense Ruination: A Study of Life and Death.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/wWsArP1.png)

Dark knowledge flooded into his mind and body, a red hot spike driving itself into his head and lungs. He doubled over, coughing and retching; he barely registered Ketas’ cry of alarm and her presence at his side. There was something in his throat, something forcing its way up –

A torrent of dark fluid erupted from his mouth to stain the snow underfoot. A quick drink from his water container only made the vile taste in his mouth worsen, ash mixing with the horrid taste of disease.
Urus forced himself to his feet, gasping, wiping away the residue from his chin with one gauntleted hand. The water, vile though it tasted, had managed to wash the worst of it out of his mouth.

He breathed deep, and for the first time in what felt like months, there was no pain.

“-ll was that, Urus?” The book had fallen from his hands at some point, and either Ketas or Abhaar had wasted no time in kicking it across the room, the two of them alternating between watching it as though it would grow teeth and lunge for them and shooting concerned glances at him.

“A sorcerous work,” He managed to rasp, through the pounding throb in his head. “The secrets of Life and Death, just waiting to be forcibly passed onto a reader – onto me.”

Ketas went pale as the snow at that, shooting a glance at the broken, butchered remains around them. Her hand tightened on her sword’s handle, her thickly-muscled arm quivering slightly from the white-knuckled grip.

“Necromancy!” she hissed, understanding flashing onto her features.

His head throbbed painfully with newfound knowledge, power over life and death itself seething within his body. He felt free of the sickness that had wracked his body, able to defy death itself; felt younger, newer, stronger than ever before.

…And yet, for a long moment, he stood there, uncertain of himself. Where were they to go now?

Scrapedbarbs was no option – some remnant of the plague could still linger in them, and even that assumed that he had not caused it to collapse wholesale by now. To the north lay nothing but barren tundra and sites long ago laid to waste by the savage Goblin hordes. Eastwards was nothing but barren, impassable mountains and Nightwight-haunted tundra; southwards would take them back to the Realm he had fled long ago.

After a few moments consideration, he gritted his teeth and nodded to himself.

Before he could take a step, there came an odd lightness in the head –

Normally, when he communed with the Lady, her presence was akin to that of a calm, soothing stream. This time, it was a raging river of disgust and barely-constrained anger, powerful enough to drive him to his hands and knees. Ketas and Abhaar followed suit, driven to the ground by the weight of some crushing, invisible force.

The voice of the Goddess of Healing spoke, and they had no choice but to listen.

You have turned from my path, Mortal. You have betrayed everything my devotees should stand for, and there is only one punishment for such treachery.

Sharp spikes of pain ripped through his head and lungs with each word, as the Lady’s fury spilled over into his mind and body. Beside him, Ketas was shaking painfully as blood began to pour from her nose and blood vessels burst in her eyes; Abhaar looked to have bitten into or through his tongue, his entire body straining as he tried to wrestle himself upright.

Despite the red-hot poker driving itself through his skull and chest alike, Urus managed to force himself to speak.

“M- My… Lady… please…!”

I cast you from my sight and service, creature of Death!

With one final burst of pain, Otu Lovelycherished’s presence vanished as abruptly as it had come, allowing the three adventurers to stagger back to their feet. For a long, painful moment, there was absolute silence in the Tower of Combined Insight.

It was broken by the heavy thump of footsteps upon the earth. Dozens of them.

From the shadows, from beneath the snow, from the white-blanketed buildings, corpses marched. A dozen of them, at least, all of them either Kobold or Human. Witch-light spilled from their empty eye sockets and the rents in their rotting flesh, many of them missing any semblance of clothing or armour. They halted some meters from the group, staring the three down as they tightly gripped their weapons.

There was a terrible, warped grating noise, gradually resolving itself into something resembling a voice. Once again, that strange pressure returned, forcing the group to their knees.

By the Creator, the Healer truly is a fool. The voice came from the corpses, each one jerking like a macabre string puppet, rotting hands raising themselves into a mocking imitation of equally-mocking applause. To cast out a faithful worshipper for so little – it truly is a wonder that there is even a single worshipper of her name.

As the legion of corpses advanced towards them, it brought with it an unearthly chill, colder than even the freezing air around them. Frost formed across his snow-wet mail shirt as one of them – a former human, cold blue fire spilling from within its hollow eye-sockets to lick at the air around them – leaned down to press a thin finger into his chest.

You already bear my power, Mortals – but nothing is without cost, and I am nothing if not magnanimous.

The creature leaned down further, until it was eye-to-eye with Urus, a ghoulish leer splitting the cuts upon its mutilated face further apart. It reached out with a thin hand to raise his head with the freezing tips of its cold fingers. He could feel the flesh shifting grotesquely beneath the parchment skin, the maggots burrowing within the creature’s body sending ripples across the skin and muscle alike.

I demand only that you complete a few simple tasks for me. First, northwards, to Hoodconstructs – you will know what you seek there when you find it.

The bodies began to fall, one by one, whatever supernatural force that had granted them animation retreating to the realm it had come from. The speaking corpse remained upright the longest, its demonic leer remaining even as it crashed face-first into the snow with all the dignity of a puppet with its strings cut.

The crushing, freezing presence vanished.

Urus slumped forward, chest hiking as he sucked in great lungfuls of air. His head felt like a red-hot pike had been driven into it repeatedly and there was a block of ice deep in his gut, blood was pouring out of Ketas’ nose in earnest and her teeth were clenched tight, and Abhaar was wiping bloodied drool from his lips, but they were alive, and as things were, that was all he could bring himself to care about.

“Let’s…” He stalled for a second, before dragging in a long, shuddering breath. “Let’s just get out of this damn grave.”

OOC: There’s quite a few Necromancer books (Disease and Death spheres) in the tower, and I didn’t bother reading the title until afterwards. I guess the title was… appropriate.

---

Treatyseed, 16th Hematite 754
(The handwriting abruptly changes, becoming shakier and barely legible.)

Well, this is a right little cock-up.

Somehow, we’ve managed to read the map the wrong way. We’ve been heading away from Hoodconstructs the entire time, rather than towards it; we went west from Combinedinsight, rather than north. I knew Urus should’ve taken one of the better maps. Or someone who can actually read it the right way around. My ears are still ringing.

As it stands, we’re coming up on some old Dwarven fortress. While I can’t claim to know the Old Tongue all that well, Abhaar does – he claims that this place roughly translates to… ‘Seed-Agreement’. Or Treatyseed, depending on which version you go with.

Either way, he recognised that name. Went off on a long spiel about Walled Dyes, Peasant Kings and recent events and yadda yadda yadda. If it’ll shelter us for the night and let us get our bearings, I couldn’t care less.

The sooner we get that damned thing from Combinedinsight off our backs the better.

---

Treatyseed was not what any of them had been expecting. Far from the desolate ruin they’d expected based on what little news reached Scrapedbarbs, the old fortress’ trade depot was quite alive: several Dwarves and Humans alike were at work, hauling goods up from the depths of the fort or simply talking to one another. A mere few turned to look at the new arrivals, lumbering in through the open gates in full copper armour, before promptly looking back to their original tasks.

Urus looked over to his allies, all three of them hanging back warily near the main entrance to the fortress. They were strangers here, and not one of them wanted to be the one to start talking.
The choice was promptly taken from them as one of the Dwarven Traders broke off from the depot and started towards them. Something else came with him, something that made Urus tense and shift his hand toward the mace at his side, eyes narrowing to slits.

The Trader quite literally reeked of death. How the Dwarves and his companions hadn’t smelled it was incomprehensible to him – the stench of old, rotting blood and desiccated flesh hung around his form like a miasma. There was only one thing said to smell like that, and it turned his blood cold even as he spoke.

“Nightwight!”

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/kGUDSbz.png)

At that word, the Dwarf’s entire demeanour changed. His lips pulled back to expose the canines, sharp and long as daggers; his eyes rolled back in his skull until only the whites were visible. When the life-drinker spoke next, it was a guttural snarl more befitting of an animal than a Dwarf.

With that, Snodub charged forward, his body bending to an inhuman angle to avoid Urus’ swinging mace. Ketas’ sword missed in similar fashion, splitting the air inches from the Dwarf’s beard. The squat Vampire scrambled past the two of them, gathering speed as he rushed about the trade depot. Ketas and Urus scrambled after him, armoured legs clattering on the stone, but the Dwarf’s head start and sheer agility were easily outmatching them; they could see it in the nasty smirk on his face as he looked back for a moment, before altering course towards the open gate of the fortress.

The tell-tale gleam of bronze was the only warning Snodub got.

Abhaar, skulking in the shadows of the trade depot’s ancillary warehouse, half-ran, half-leapt forth into the Vampire’s path. His axe was already swinging towards the Dwarf’s ankle; blood flew as it bit deep.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/x0DCNcj.png)

(https://i.imgur.com/ib5Hh3F.png)
Abhaar really got some distance on that foot.

The Dwarf hit the ground sprawling, bouncing forward on his face and elbows for several steps. The faintly comical scene was heightened as the severed foot flew several meters, smacking into the face of another Dwarf scrambling away from the mayhem. Their yelp of shock and horror joined Snodub’s cries and the sound of battle, the din filling the entrance of Treatyseed for several long minutes.

Snodub Bosatosno squirmed out of the two’s blood-slicked grip, bleeding from dozens of deep wounds. His eyes, glaring out through the ruined rags of his face, were ablaze with fire-bright madness and fury; his jaw had been broken in half, leaving him barely able to speak beyond a wet, gurgling snarl. His once-neat clothes were now tattered and bloody, torn in numerous places to expose pallid flesh and rich, red blood beneath.

Blood pumping harder than ever, Urus rushed toward the downed Dwarf to deliver the killing blow, mace raised high and a war-cry tearing from his throat. He could see the look in the beast’s eyes as he closed the distance: hatred, fear, desperation – and then a sudden, wicked joy.

With inhuman speed, the Vampire half-leapt, half-threw himself from the ground and into Urus’ chest, forcing him to the ground as his weight impacted the Human’s chest. Snodub’s head butted hard against that of the downed adventurer, stunning him long enough for the Vampire to wrap a cold hand around his throat. Straining with the effort of moving his wrecked arm, the Dwarf managed to half-twist, half-push Urus’s open mouth into the veritable pool of blood beneath them.

Blood flooded down Urus’ throat, rich and coppery. Monstrous strength suffused his limbs, accompanied by a deep, unnatural hunger. Urus slammed his mace against the Vampire’s head, breaking the beast’s hold on his body and sending it sprawling to the ground face-first. Before he could press his attack, Ketas and Abhaar were upon the Vampire again, bringing down their sword and axe on every inch of exposed flesh they could reach.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/xOQ7S9g.png)

Blood pooled under the dying old monster as the three adventurers tore it apart, inch by inch by bloody inch. Still the creature tried to fight, though its struggles faded with the blood seeping from its wounds. Finally, Ketas landed the death-blow, driving her massive sword through its throat with enough force to crack the stone beneath – there was a final, sickly spasm, before Snodub’s head fell free from the body entirely.

---

17th Hematite 754

Damn that blood-drinking animal!

The curse he carried in his blood has passed to me. An unnatural craving for blood haunts me at all hours, swelling and shrinking like the tides of the Sea of Blades, stinging like a hook digging deep beneath my skin; my canines have grown as long and sharp as daggers, forcing me to speak as little as possible lest people see the change wrought upon me.

For now, I must find a way to slake this thirst, before it drives me mad. If it comes to it, I will drink the blood of the slain and animals to keep this filthy craving at bay; I already have some of that creature’s blood in sealed containers, but I fear drinking it will only make this thirst even worse.

I must be discrete. Ketas and Abhaar do not seem to know – and must not know – what has happened to me.

The Necromancer, at least, may help as much as harm with their dark arts, while the Nightwight cannot claim even that flimsy defence.

---

OOC: I will admit, I intended to take out Imimi Dankhonours (Peregrine Falcon Man Vampire, 1623+ unsolved murders, but no skills above ‘skilled’ tier), but Glloyd’s latest adventurer seems to have dealt with him. Instead, I ended up Benny Hill-ing the other guy around the trade depot, and he almost got away until Abhaar got his ankle and sent his foot across the trade depot. The ‘fight’ amounted to  ‘I had my companions grapple him then scratch him till he died’, but that isn’t exactly much of a story.

Treatyseed’s quite the melting pot, from what I’ve seen so far – most of the populace are Human, Goblin, or Dwarven nobles, mainly barons and baronesses of various other sites. There were also corpses everywhere (including Necromancer Goden Charmkey the Gates of Mightiness, who was actually female and married to the guy I just killed), a couple rando goblins getting brutalised in a corner, and someone had somehow gotten stuck in webs in one of the most heavily trafficked parts of the fortress.

I’ve got what I was looking for (though finding enough barrels and backpacks for the task was a pain), but I don’t think I’ll be ending my run just yet. Maybe I’ll drop off the blood at the Museum, then carry on running around (since I’m not that good at fort mode).

And to end this long, rambling post-script of mine: with the death of Snodub Bosatosno (A.K.A.: Asmel Minepass) and the gathering of 489 Liquid-Urists of his blood, NPC Vampires are currently extinct in Orid Xem. Time will tell if this remains the case.

Title: Re: Museum III adventure game
Post by: Bralbaard on December 11, 2020, 08:22:07 am

Vampires are that close to extinction? interesting.
What's also interesting is how many people accidently turn into  necromancers :-)

Quote from: nogoodnames on December 03, 2020, 10:38:03 pm

I figured out how to glitchily edit artifacts into my inventory, so here's something I was hoping to run into on my turn:

Quote from: Glloyd on December 04, 2020, 03:45:24 am

It is lost sadly, insofar as I can tell. I turned Trammeljudges upside down during my turn trying to find it, but it is lost to DFs glitchyness. So, I settled for the Forest of Heather instead, which does not have such a storied history. I think there's one other legendary steel sword in Keyconjure, although me and I think a couple others passed through there and didn't cross its path, so who knows.

Best to leave it be, even if you could retrieve it using dfhack you would still not be able to properly store it, due to how buggy artifacts are. It's not worth the risk of introducing bugs.

In other news, I have updated the maps with Eric's new fort. I think a number of adventurer sites have been added as well, let me know where they are if they are significant, so I can add them to the map.
I have also added a short section with missions at the end of the same post, with some of the things players wanted to have done. Let me know if I missed anything.

Title: Re: Museum III adventure game
Post by: Quantum Drop on December 11, 2020, 08:54:13 am

Quote from: Bralbaard on December 11, 2020, 08:22:07 am

Vampires are that close to extinction? interesting.
What's also interesting is how many people accidently turn into  necromancers :-)

Yeah, it turns out civs can launch vampire purges, which accounts for nine of twenty-two Vampire deaths (all listed as 'Executed') over Orid Xem's history. They also don't seem to have very high combat skills either, with none of them going above 'skilled' in weaponry and the like - perhaps that explains why so many of them bit it during or after worldgen?

Also, having looked at the missions, is there any objection to LV being used to find where the Library of Whispers' prospective skulls ended up?

Title: Re: Museum III adventure game
Post by: Bralbaard on December 11, 2020, 09:10:08 am

Quote from: Quantum Drop on December 11, 2020, 08:54:13 am

Quote from: Bralbaard on December 11, 2020, 08:22:07 am

Vampires are that close to extinction? interesting.
What's also interesting is how many people accidently turn into  necromancers :-)

Yeah, it turns out civs can launch vampire purges, which accounts for nine of twenty-two Vampire deaths (all listed as 'Executed') over Orid Xem's history. They also don't seem to have very high combat skills either, with none of them going above 'skilled' in weaponry and the like - perhaps that explains why so many of them bit it during or after worldgen?

Also, having looked at the 'missions', is there any objection to LV being used to find where the Library of Whispers' prospective skulls ended up?

No that's fine, I think there is no way to find them otherwise.
I actually hope that Timeless still has his notes, he mentioned something about his computer dying not too long ago.

Title: Re: Museum III adventure game
Post by: Timeless Bob on December 11, 2020, 01:20:31 pm

A dream whispers from the formless aethyr between the realms of life and dream: Seek ye the Fortress of Elderssins...

(Also added the basic script to my 2nd go through with the game - lots of missed opportunities there)

Title: Re: Museum III adventure game
Post by: Quantum Drop on December 11, 2020, 06:45:59 pm

Treatyseed, 17th Hematite, 754

At Abhaar’s suggestion, the three of us headed deeper into Treatyseed following the bloodshed in the trade depot. ‘Ccording to him, the fame of killing a Nightwight is not to be underestimated, and we need to explain our actions to the inhabitants of this place anyway – hacking someone to bloody tatters, Nightwight or not, is hardly the best first impression.

Abhaar may be a lot of things, but stupid isn’t one of them. Though I couldn’t care less what the people of a fort we’ll never visit again think of me, I chose to trust his judgement on this.

I won’t lie: what lay down there was only describable as complete mayhem. Bodies – Human, Goblin, Elf and Dwarf alike – lined the halls. Many of them looked as though they had simply been left to rot where they fell, and many others seemed disturbingly fresh. The reason for the latter swiftly became clear:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/PyK5nOL.png)

As we saw one of the Goblins chased about the halls and finally slain by a Human. Both of them wore the same clothes, seemingly that of some religious order or noble position – though what kind of disagreement on doctrine would lead two men to murder each other is frankly beyond me, considering the usual punishment for such matters. No-one stepped in or otherwise attempted to treat the victorious man’s minor wounds, merely staring at the battle and murmuring uneasily to one another.

Though the crowds were swift to move away from this latest act of violence, Abhaar managed to politely accost one of them and – after introductions, of course, – asked her what in the Highest God's name was causing such violence. Ketas and I busied ourselves with quietly stripping the iron mail and armour from one of the corpses in the meantime; it would be a fool’s action indeed, to leave such good gear to rust and rot with its former wielder, and damn what others may think.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/9fqBWs3.png)

Though she looked at us askance throughout our brief conversation, Baroness Lumashurist was polite enough to inform us of open war between the Walled Dye and the Creamy Confederacy, though she was seemingly impatient and rather swift to depart with the excuse of ‘attending to business’ when I tried to inquire further as to the root cause of this war.

A dozen fruitless minutes of wandering later, we had still not found anyone willing to stand and speak for anything more than a moment, and both Ketas and I were starting to get twitchy from the many suspicious looks aimed our way. Abhaar had vanished into the crowds at some point, and the two of us were ready to call an end to this farce and return aboveground when we caught sight of him in a side room.

He had integrated himself into a circle of Dwarven nobles, accompanied by a rather curious creature – an aged-looking woman, with the feathered head and wings of an albatross. The lot of them seemed quite engrossed in conversation, and as we moved closer, we were able to catch snatches of the subject at hand:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/g0jzcDR.png)

Upon sighting us, Abhaar promptly introduced us to the stranger: Countess Galka Pimur, of the Walled Dye. The three of us (or rather, Abhaar; he knows far more about talking than I or Ketas) spoke with her and the other nobles at length about the surroundings and any troubles here – while many of the names and places they spoke of mean nothing to me, it seems that Treatyseed is at war with one of the largest Goblin civilisations of Orid Xem, explaining the earlier incidence of Goblin-Human violence and the countless bodies through the halls.

The four of us exchanged stories for a brief while: Abhaar spoke of the battle against that Nightwight up in the trade depot, which was greeted with a degree of scepticism, while Countess Pimur spoke briefly of her journey across Orid Xem’s mountaintops to the castle of Boltspumpkin. According to the Countess, the keeper of the castle has a penchant for collecting rare items from all across Orid Xem, from esoteric old tomes to mouldering bones from hunted creatures.

Perhaps… yes. This blood should be safe there, kept as a museum exhibit. I’ll talk with the others tonight, see if they’re willing to drop it off and carry on with the mission the thing in Combinedinsight has forced  upon us.

20th Hematite, 754

We reached the castle of Boltspumpkin today. Though the sheer bulk and weight of our containers slowed us down greatly, we were able to reach the keep unimpeded and hand them off to the curator of the Museum – with clear instructions not to drink it, no matter what. They were placed upon and around an electrum pedestal, right beside the entrance to the keep; the keeper seemed quite pleased to learn that the blood came from the last blood-drinker in Orid Xem, and even more pleased to note that the blood would not dry out or decay due to its supernatural properties.

With that done, the three of us briefly looked about the Museum’s main wing. If the first of the two massive thrones, the small pile on the far side of the room, and the battered, yellowed one mounted near the entrance are anything to go by, the Museum has quite the odd obsession with skulls – all of those eyeless stares give me the shivers even in memory. Others were humble or even worthless at first glance, until one read the placards attached to their pedestal: each one has a long and rich tale behind it, turning even a mere bag of rocks (the work of Countess Pimur, it would seem) or a barrel of feathers (the tales of the Demon Monkey King were true!) into a priceless artefact.

Ketas, of all people, seemed surprisingly interested in the musical works on display, listening quite attentively to a brief performance of the works by the resident staff; Abhaar busied himself with the tale of the steel anvil, though he seemed far more interested in the metal itself than what it represented. I can’t entirely blame him – that metal was all but mythical even before the present time, and to actually see it in person…

It truly is impressive how easily you can become side-tracked. We must’ve spent at least a few hours there, looking through the tales and journals on display – either way, it was dark outside by the time we made to leave.

Well, I say ‘leave’. I bumped into someone on the way out -  it was like walking into a wall, sending me flat on my arse. Looking up, I was greeted by the sight of a towering, winged figure, covered in charcoal scales and wearing armour forged from an odd, blistered metal. A towering, winged figure that perfectly matched the description of the adventurer responsible for the massive skull-throne. A figure whose rumoured exploits had reached even Scrapedbarbs over the long years.

Lonelythrall the Demon Slayer, Armok’s Chosen. And I had just walked into him.

…Let us merely say that I am glad I had not eaten or drank at all today.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/6gDSq2W.png)

Abhaar quickly came to the rescue, my to my relief; after some apologies (which the Slayer swiftly waved off as unimportant), he deigned to talk with us briefly. The Slayer seemed quite pleased to learn that the last of the blood-drinking Nightwights (A… Vampire, I believe that was what he called it) had fallen to Ketas’ hand, though he remained severely recalcitrant and swiftly excused himself so that he could return to guarding the Museum.

The three of us are resting in the keep for the night, before we head off in the morning towards Hoodconstructs, in the north-east.

---

Three adventurers lay before the Keep of Incenseordered.

Ketas and Abhaar were already sleeping beside the fire, their weapons laid out on the grass beside them – truly, Urus couldn’t help but think, it was astounding how fast he had forgotten the need for sleep or rest. He shucked off his backpack and joined them on the ground, idly resting his elbow on the hard lump of the book he’d found at that damned Tower.

At least his sleeplessness would let him catch up both on his journal, and after that, carry on reading through his pillaged book to occupy himself until sunrise, or until some threat interrupted them. Urus drew his quill and an inkpot (thankfully undamaged, despite all his travels), opened the thick leather volume, and began to write.

23rd Hematite - 3rd Malachite

The commands of the power behind my Necromantic curse have led us on a zig-zagging path across the realms; any time I sought to rest after leaving Boltspumpkin, I would feel a sharp prick of discomfort within my temples and lungs, growing worse the longer I sought to delay too long. It is clear that the deity behind this curse will not allow me rest until its orders are fulfilled.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/c2LR9eY.png?1)

(https://i.imgur.com/V0N279G.png)

First, to Hoodconstructs – a monastery lurking in the Whiskered Hills. It was in the central shrine that we found the first of our goals: the slab known as Stabbedwring, and the secrets of life and death that it holds. It was in the monastery’s housing that the second lay, held by a Human by the name of Onec Weatherdress. I cannot claim to be proud of what was done to gain that slab and its secrets, but the relief it brought from that constant, gnawing pain could not be denied (for the brief time before it returned, at least).

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/mIpr1So.png)

Next, we were led to Farmpuzzling, in the far west of the world; the tower was deserted and crumbling in many locations, several of its walls covered in a thin beard of hardy moss. Any residents had long ago departed, though a wealth of knowledge had been left behind – the tower was packed with scrolls and codices alike, many of them masterfully written. Only a single one was required – The Student’s Mortality, a manual.

From there, it was a journey back around the southernmost point of the Plain Hills and to the north, guided only by the painful spurs of the god of death and disease. His guidance led us to the fort of Wispygroups, where a scroll waited for us – “A Commentary on Immortality”.

This time, I tried to resist it. I have damned my soul four times already – once out of my own recklessness, twice out of service to this dark power, and once out of a rabid animal’s spiteful actions. I hoped that I would not damn my soul a fifth time.

Pain drove me to my knees as I tried to turn away; if before it had been a red-hot poker to the forehead and lungs, these were the sensations of being submerged in an active volcano’s magma. And through it all, Gopet the Putrid Cyst whispered to me with his poison-laden voice, telling me that he could make all of this simply end without any need to harm me further or turn this torment upon my companions – if only I would read the scroll, and damn myself even further.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/u1DjK80.png)

I obeyed, and stained my soul once again. Three times a Necromancer, and I fear that further damnation awaits me in the journey ahead. 

No sooner had I read that scroll did a distant, ethereal voice whisper to me. This time, it was images and emotions rather than clear, coherent words – a confusing jumble of visions that left my head aching in the aftermath. A fort. A silver whip. Vast shelves, filled with the grinning skulls of a thousand species. Faint whispering overlaid this fugue state, distorted and inhuman, yet I could make out a few words.

“Seek Eldersins.”

A quick check of the map showed it to be a place to the far north, somewhere past the artificial isthmus of Razorbridge. We have travelled far, however, from Wispygroups to Incenseordered, crossing the hummocked spine of The Plain Hills in the space of a mere two days. Short rests will only take us so far, and so I have called a halt to our journey in this town for the night.

Originally, I suggested that we head to the keep of Incenseordered, to ask permission to stay for the night. That plan quickly went out the window when we saw the broken corpse outside.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/56E1ZLS.png)

Within the keep, we found three bodies: a Human, a Dwarf, and some vast quadrupedal beast. The stones were fire-blackened and covered in ash and scorch marks, along with pools and smears of blood and ichor. The Human was lying in one such pool, a silver long sword and bloodied crutch beside him; the corpse of the skinless creature was only a few meters away, having seemingly bled to death from its wounds. The Dwarf, on the other hand, lay at the bottom of the staircase, missing one of his hands and with severe burns across several parts of his body.

Whether they fought against this creature as one or fell separately - and indeed, when they fell at all - none of us are entirely sure.

Did the two of them attack the creature together, only to be killed before their foe collapsed? Did they attack at entirely separate points, with one finishing the battle that another started in some way? Did they triumph, then die from their wounds rather than being struck down directly?

Only the Divines and the dead know that now, and only the Divines and the dead will keep that secret n –

Urus's hand stopped dead mid-motion.

His mind clicked into action, a course of action opening up before him as he looked down to the book in his hand, and then deep into the shadowy insides of the keep. Several long minutes passed before he finally nodded to himself and stood, creeping across the grass and into the ashen stones of the structure with as light a foot as he could manage. No-one could be allowed to see what he was about to do.

Within the keep, four glowing lights arose.

---

OOC: I was planning to kill the hostile Charcoal Brute in the Keep and take its skull as an unofficial submission, but it seems that it got ganked by Iden Bloodinked the Mire of Cities a short while ago (even if it cost him his life in the process). Speaking of that, Braalbard the Dwarf and Iden are now Intelligent Undead, though Braalbard won’t be able to use any interactions as a result of having both arms borked and one hand gone. Iden should be able to do so, though his missing leg will slow him down a fair bit. If the thread consents to it, I may unretire them and steer them back to the Museum for a second retirement once Urus’ adventure is done, if only for the potential storytelling opportunities.

This is mostly just set-up for my later plans (no spoilers, unless you want them), hence the relative lack of action and abundance of fetch quests and railroading. Nonetheless, I apologise if this comes off as overly dull or low-quality for the time being.

Fact of the day: Mesthos Lovermachines, the former steed of Braalbard, died in Farmpuzzling on the 11th of Slate, Year 713. He outlived his master by around 223 days, and passed due to Old Age, taking the story behind his last name to the grave with him.

Title: Re: Museum III adventure game
Post by: Glloyd on December 11, 2020, 10:30:03 pm

Oh shit, you found my corpse. I'm away from my computer (and thus my write up) for at least the next week, but I will post the last part of my entry when I get back. I'd prefer if you didn't take Iden to the museum, because he never made it there in the first place. Although him being an intelligent undead is an interesting setup for my future turn.

Also, I didn't even realize that peregrine falcon man was a vampire. I might've saves you some disappointment there though, pretty sure animal man blood is still bugged and won't pass on the vampirism curse.

Title: Re: Museum III adventure game
Post by: Eric Blank on December 12, 2020, 02:46:26 am

Here's the second part of my write up, should post the last part tomorrow.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

The Adventures of Pik and Desli, pt. II

The hamlet of Speechrags was an uninteresting place. Desli could find no lord to offer tribute, but found a mercenary willing to accompany her on her trek, a pikeman named Engdul. They continued northwards together, speaking to the monks in the monasteries and explaining her situation, but it wasnt until they reached the hamlet of Pleatedtongs that her luck changed.

Upon approaching the mead hall, Desli could hear screaming and the sounds of combat coming from within. Several figures dashed out of the door as Desli rounded the corner, and when she peered inside, she was greeted by three terrors; one, a zombified human, two, the howling freak necromancer Vucar Dustumbral the Sable Ghost, and three, the zombie titan Cactusford the Tundra of Snarls, all fighting the people in the mead hall.

First, Desli charged to the back of the mead hall and attacked the titan. The beast had lost its wits and durability, and fell after a few blows, not taking its attention away from the human it was chewing on. She then turned her attention to the necromancer

(https://i.imgur.com/ZmwsUUM.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/K3LlWNg.png)

She, too, was largely distracted fighting another, and quickly fell before the wolf woman's axe.

Finally, there was the matter of the zombie

(https://i.imgur.com/fMGwOJM.png)

It was really nothing. In all, some five or six humans lay dead, including the zombie.

With the lady of the hamlet, the howling freak Vucar, dead, there was noone fit to offer tribute, but the various religious figures promised to send word once they had elected a new lord. Desli and Engdul left, not wanting to remain here and distract from the ongoing troubles, and thinking to reach Scarletbronze before nightfall. This was not to be, however, as the sun was already setting, and as they approached the river separating the two settlements, a figure emerged from the trees, and charged at them, while raising a great blanket of fog to envelope them all.

(https://i.imgur.com/NuOZCXV.png)

It fell with a single swing of Desli's axe, as Engdul, the coward as he had been at the mead hall, fled. Desli chose to sleep in the village proper before crossing the river, and ask about this strange magic user. They were known as Fell Ones, the minions of the insane necromancer Raki, a monkey man and werebeast. The countryside was now ravaged by not only weremammoths but fell ones and animated corpses.

That night, Desli had a horrible dream. She and Engdul attempted to cross the river, but were stopped by a fell one in the woods on the other side. The monster struck Engdul dumb, dropping him to the ground in a heap, and launched Desli off the cliff into the river below. She survived the fall unscathed, and swam out on the bank near scarletbronze. The city itself was in chaos, with fell ones and undead roaming the streets. Desli fought those she could, but when she went to the keep, she encountered a fell one standing in the street outside the doors. It froze her, flung her against walls repeatedly, beat her over the head until her spine broke, and left her to drown in a pool of her own blood. When she awoke, she was back in Pleatedtongs, with Engdul and the villagers. She chose to leave this place and abandon any attempt at meeting the nobles of Scarletbronze, as such dreams were often prophetic.

Desli and Engdul went around the infested city and continued northwest, into the valley of the dwarves. They, at least, had some manner of organization. The southernmost fortress in the valley, Mosshill the Mines of Iron, proved fruitless, as there was nearly nothing there. The trek further north took them into the pristine tundras, where they were blinded by endless snowstorms. On the other side, on the edge of the kindled jungles and the mountains were the three fortresses of Palacework, Championvault, and Duskhome. In Duskhome, Desli found several books in the abandoned library. Below, there was nothing of much importance to be found, and no dwarves to be seen anywhere. On the way out, Desli took the dice from a shrine, and rolled them. Nothing happened. Curious, she rolled again, and again nothing happened. On the thrid time she rolled the dice, she was overcome with an intense feeling of dread, and in the back of her mind, she knew, she has been cursed to transform into a jackal-monster.

The feeling faded quickly, and Desli fled the deeps, and met up with Engdul outside the fort. Telling him she found nothing, the pair continued to Championvault. As they walked through the doors, Engdul caught his foot on a pressure plate, and a series of serrated blades emerged from the ground, tearing him to pieces. Desli didn't know what to do, so she paid her respects and continued. A few dwarves greeted her in the halls, but unfortunately the king, Etur, had just died that day, and a new king was yet to be elected. But another dwarf claimed Etur had died years ago, and the new king should be somewhere around here. Exasperated, she tried to find the mayor, but they too were nowhere to be found. Finally, she encountered the Bookkeeper, who refused outright to help, claiming such foreign affairs were no concern to the dwarves, who had bigger problems on their hands, with a goblin army on the way to invade.

Frustrated with this waste of time, and lost in the labyrinthine tunnels, Desli wandered into a storeroom, and looking in the bins found a suit of very well-made steel armor, and took it. Nearby, she found a masterwork steel battle axe and a pair of exceptional swords she took for Pik. Finally, she stumbled through a room with several artifacts on pedestals. Since nobody was around to witness it, she stole several of them; two rings and a bracelet. She then snuck out of the fort and spent the night in the woods before finally visiting Duskhome. This fort was owned not by the Walled Dye, but the Staff of Kissing, apparently a different civilization entirely. The fortress was spacious, with high vaulted ceilings, overarching bridges, and large rooms. There were few dwarves, and nobody of importance or authority. Despite the enormity of the spaces, they were clean and empty, and the many branching passages seemed to lead nowhere of importance. Frustrated now by the emptiness of this place, Desli abandoned any hope of trying to get the acknowledgement of dwarves, and left.

On the way south, Desli went to the last place of importance in the valley; the necromancer tower of Glazedriven, where she might find at least some artifact of power. The tower itself contained a few strangely serene, hideous aberations. But all the rooms, all their tables, were empty. The one necromancer she encountered warned that everything had already been stolen, and she would recieve nothing from looting this place.

She left.

The trip back to Stabbedechoed was entirely uneventful, and with no real tribute to show for the nearly two weeks of travel, depressing. She had never been away from her family for so long, and without Pik felt directionless, even if she would never admit this to her baby brother. When they finally saw each other again, they embraced for what felt like hours, even though the sun could not hang on the horizon for so long. Desli explained the fruitlessness of her adventures to Pik. The emptiness of the world at large, the abandoned houses, the roaming undead and monsters of the night. The embattled, uncaring dwarves and their deadly traps and ruins. The world outside seemed as hopeless as the impending doom of traditional society in Stabbedechoed. And on Pik's front, nothing had really happened. There were no confrontations, no open discussion of disapproval of any sort. It seemed people were genuinely okay with business as usual, and Pik made no new edicts or laws. The inane day-to-day of preparing the hamlet for winter had weighed heavily on him, as he really didn't know what the process was.

Title: Re: Museum III adventure game
Post by: Bralbaard on December 12, 2020, 08:11:07 am

Good to see the whole zombie raising thing is leading to some interesting situations.
I already posted during my turn that there was a reproducible crash for me in Scarletbronze, it appears that once you drop out of fast travel mode in the northern part of the market of Scarletbronze, it will crash reliably. That's possibly the same thing you ran into, when you avoid the marketplace you should be fine. (If the undead don't tear you apart) 
Anyhow try to keep save scumming limited to crash bugs like this.

Also, very interesting events Quantum Drop. I like all the cameos of all the old characters.. It's fine with me if you move my character to the museum.

I will update other posts later, I do not have the time right now. 

Title: Re: Museum III adventure game
Post by: TheFlame52 on December 12, 2020, 11:11:31 am

Good to hear that Galka is doing well.

Title: Re: Museum III adventure game
Post by: Quantum Drop on December 12, 2020, 08:00:37 pm

5th –  6th Malachite

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/qXEYzYU.png)

We crossed Razorbridge today. It truly is quite the impressive construction, made more impressive still by the buildings and living-quarters that cling to the supporting pillars and sides of the bridge like moss, and which have been built on a foundation above the river's bed.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/GMhbtg5.png)

From there, it was a short journey to the fort of Eldersins. The smears and pools of blood around the fort’s gates were… hardly encouraging, shall we just say, but we carried on nonetheless. The courtyard was practically an aboveground Treatyseed, with broken teeth, torn-off limbs, and both Goblin and Elf corpses sprawled out in the open land between the buildings. A few fat-looking carrion-feeders took flight as we interrupted their little feast, noses wrinkling at the scent of iron and rot that seemed to permeate the air.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/jo982Ey.png)

Inside the main building, things were scarcely better – the walls were still spattered with blood and the scent of rotting meat remained in the air, but there had at least been some effort to gather the corpses inside and get them out of the way. Goblins, it seems, rule this fort; at the very least, they are by far the dominant species here. The voice that had led us here began to whisper ever more loudly as we drew closer to the back of the room, where the broken body of a Human lay slumped against the wall.

Recalling that vision, I removed an iron short sword (‘borrowed’ from Treatyseed) and set to work. No-one really seemed to care beyond Ketas and Abhaar, who simply turned away and watched my back in case one of the vipers of this pit got any funny ideas. No sooner had the skull come free from the body did I hear the voice whisper to me once again, clearer and far more coherent, as though the skull was amplifying it’s power: “Autumncounciled.”

The courtyard had once more devolved into mayhem by the time we stepped out into the air; two Goblin nobles were tearing at each other with tooth and nail to the right of us, while to the left, some pretentious fool bellowed for us to identify ourselves. I had barely gotten a word in edgewise before the fool rushed towards Ketas, drawing a thin-bladed knife as he came.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/Jc0D4CV.png)

(https://i.imgur.com/oBbOYAx.png)

That, it turned out, would be his greatest and last mistake. Ketas and Abhaar swiftly dispatched him, sending his twitching corpse into one of the extant piles in the space of a few seconds. From there, we hastened to leave the fort before further trouble found us – pausing only when Abhaar suddenly kicked aside several chunks of some long-dead body, digging through the blood and dirt to triumphantly raise a shield for us to see.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/2LgYNLE.png)

Astounding that the original owner’s killer did not claim it, despite the all but mythical status of steel.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/aLOuv5i.png)

The Monastery of Autumncounciled was in similar disarray when we reached it – at least a dozen corpses lay within the main building, all years dead and preserved solely by the altitude and climate. It was the work of moments to gather the second skull that the ethereal voice whispered of, though from there, it has been silent, despite the three of us trawling the entirety of Autumncounciled for several long hours.

Perhaps it will speak again in the future; for now, we have agreed to move northwards.

OOC: I’ve found Quenir and Ashro’s skulls so far, but when I checked The Murky Filth’s remains (butchered before I arrived), there was everything except the skull. Twenty-odd minutes of searching the entire monastery, every corpse I could find, and multiple Reveals in a duplicate/backup save later, I still haven’t been able to find it anywhere in Autumncounciled. I hold little hope of finding it, or that of Sucktunnel (due to the latter dying in the wilderness), though I have taken the bones of The Murky Filth as a poor substitute for the skull.

---

8th Malachite

It was night by the time we caught sight of the walls rising ahead of us – the fortress of Shiptrails, as the map kindly informed us. Though the sharp spurs of Gopet’s will continued to try and drive us onwards, Ketas and Abhaar were exhausted once again from their travels; rather than press on ad risk their collapse, we rested outside the walls until daytime.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/tyP799N.png)

(https://i.imgur.com/IomM8wg.png)

The fortress itself is surrounded by the sea on three sides, with a structure resembling that of Razorbridge’s stretching from the northernmost limits of the fortress. Its architecture is astoundingly reminiscent of a Human fort, rather than the underground warrens their kind usually build: the vast majority of the fortress is built above the salt-soaked sands of the coast, with only the bedrooms and some of the farms lying underground; the rest of the farms are located high atop the walls, along with several animal carcasses left to dry out in the sun.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/8UxQqWU.png)

The barrels near the fishery were filled with fresh fish and even squid – a rare delicacy for the inland territories of the Realm of Silver. The fortress seems to rely on the sea for the majority of its food, considering the relatively small size of its farms, though the relatively small population may explain this lack of proper agriculture. Driftwood littered the pale sands, crunching underfoot as we strode about, and the waves ran high; more than once, we were soaked by the sea-spray where the thick clothing of the Dwarves kept them dry.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/cTCKbRj.png)

Attempting to talk to the Dwarves here, however, proved near-fruitless. Most of them were engaged in fishing tasks along the coast, preventing us from conversing with them, while the few managers and soldiers we were able to meet with proved sullen at best and downright hostile at worst. It is not wholly surprising – they are quite isolated, after all, and distrustful of strangers – though getting information from them has rapidly become tiresome. About all that I learned from them is that Shiptrails is overseen by The Quiet Plank and that the site was founded several decades ago.

The tavern itself, which I write this in, is surprisingly plain, though a statue dominates a corner of the room:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/emJp7HI.png)

Quite the impressive piece, I will not deny. According to what I can overhear from the tavern keeper (a surprisingly open and friendly Dwarf) and Abhaar’s conversation, it is the symbol of The Quiet Planks – apparently, they chose it in reference to an ancient means of navigation across land and sea alike by the use of celestial bodies. They spoke at length of the fortress’ layout and oddities: for example, the reason for its lack of underground tunnels apparently stems from the risk of flooding should some blind fool dig too deep into the rock, and they prefer to bury their dead at sea rather than bury them in a permanent tomb and risk them being dredged back up during a storm, or by a particularly violent wave.

Most impressively of all, the tavern keeper spoke a great tale of calamity that he had heard from several travellers – three nearby towns supposedly held the twisted experiments of long-dead Necromancers, numbering more than the whole of Orid Xem’s population! They were ready to drown the world in blood and fire before some unknown priest or prophet called upon one of the Divines to intervene; supposedly, the Highest of the Gods personally took up a physical form, and wrought divine vengeance upon those who would seek to harm their creations (Though how a mortal would compel the Highest to such a feat is entirely beyond me).

Eventually, of course, we will have no choice but to move on, when Gopet grows impatient once more and goads me onwards. But for now, I feel we can rest for a short while – and listen to the increasingly-dreadful noises of a thoroughly drunk group of old salts singing sea shanties, of course.

OOC: Personally, I feel that this little tale should be considered one of many explanations (varying from group to group, religion to religion) for the mass extinction in the north, rather than a fully accurate account of it.

Also, I can totally see the dwarves of Shiptrails as a bunch of grumpy old sailors and fishermen.

---

10th Malachite

It was after several long days of travel to the coasts of the northern seas that we came upon our latest destination – a oddly-shaped fang of a structure, jutting up from the ground just before the coast proper. A pyramid, perhaps four storeys high, and constructed entirely out of wooden blocks rather than the sturdier stone favoured by Dwarf and Human alike.

At first, we thought it to be some Elf noble’s burial site. Such tombs are rare in the extreme, due to their general aversion to actually burying the dead, though not unheard of – that theory quickly proved wrong as we uncovered numerous stumps and felled logs around the structure, actions inimical to the Elven kind. The fires still burning on the approach to its entrance were another sign against this theory.

The inside told us all we needed to know.

There was a single coffin inside, along with a few scattered bags and bits of equipment. The body within was rotted almost to a skeleton, with only a few scraps of flesh clinging to the bone, but the simian skull is unmistakeable… as is the dagger lodged deep within the breastbone, and the scars of past wounds.

The Demon Monkey King.

The three of us wasted little time in leaving the pyramid after that, heading down onto the nearby coastline at Ketas’ insistence – she had seen something on the shoreline, and thought that we should at least check it out before leaving.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/ax2vld8.png?1)

It was a slab, like those of the monastery I visited before: one that promises the reader eternal life, power enough to make the world tremble, and the glory of resurrecting the Demon King. In another time, perhaps, its promise – salvation from the Plague, and the power to avenge the wrongs dealt to me years ago - would have proven tempting.

But I have long since drank from that poisoned chalice. I have long since come to know of the arcane secrets the Monkey King’s slab speaks of, and the burden they place upon people. I turned away from the slab, seeking to re-join my comrades, and once more found I could not move.

Gopet the Putrid Cyst spoke to me once more in that moment – he demanded I resurrect this… this demon, lest he rescind the power given to me at Combinedinsight and beyond and let the Plague ravage me once again. He threatened me and my comrades with diseases that would make the Silver Plague seem pleasant, with a thousand deaths by a thousand different means, with damnation so complete that not even the Highest of the Gods Himself would be able to save my soul.

I refused. I have drunk from Death’s poisoned chalice several times, and irrevocably damned my soul in doing so. But I cannot – I will not – allow the Demonic Monkey King to be resurrected, even more powerful than before. I will not allow him to ravage the realms again, and spread the curse he was said to bear even further!

The Rotting Lord was furious, of course. The gods do not take kindly to being defied. But this time, there was no pain - merely the unnervingly calm voice of a god, stating that I would pay for this refusal in something other than blood and pain. The secrets of the slab here – Uklasut, in the Old Tongue – were granted to me anyway, though far less painfully than before; Gopet, perhaps, intends these to be used to pay this ‘debt’ to it in time.

I can only guess at what horrific act or deed it will demand of me in the future, but at the moment, I cannot bring myself to care. The Demon Monkey King remains dead, and I pray to the Highest that he shall remain so!

OOC: Uklasut was actually absent when I first reached Monkeycurse, but it showed up on the north-eastern shoreline after I swam around in the sea for a bit (more accurately, jumped off while flailing like an idiot, then swam back up) before fast travelling away and returning. It All Begins With the Wounding appeared ashore as well, further down.  I’m not entirely sure what caused this, but I will note that going into the sea seemed to trigger its appearance – offloading the site via save or fast travel without swimming around for a while did not cause it to show up.

Raki’s body has also rotted completely to a skeleton, though it remains a valid target for resurrection via IU spell. Didn’t do so mainly because my guy’s combat skills aren’t exactly at the point where I think I could take his Werebeast form (as he’d be automatically [CRAZED] and have all his skills on top of his new powers), and I neither can nor desire to go Weremammoth. Still, at least Uklasut should be more accessible now, unless it teleports out.

---

12th Malachite

(Several lines crossed through. The writing is abnormally shaky, and spots of blood decorate the page.)

No sooner had we reached the Isle of Animals were we set upon by some of their inhabitants – crudely-formed creatures with the heads of snarling dogs and thick fur, matted with dirt and crusted blood. They did not speak, merely snarling and slavering as they struck at us with bare fists and teeth. We routed them in short order, their unclothed forms proving no match for bronze and iron weapons – and…

I should have been more careful. I should have had more control. But after denying myself blood since Treatyseed – after swimming across the ocean of The Peaceful Waters… I couldn’t resist. It smelled so sweet, so rich –

All I could think of was the blood, how it tasted, how it smelled – I should’ve – I only meant to drink just a little. Just enough to slake this constant, aching thirst. I lost all control.

I drained her dry in front of them all. Ketas. Abhaar. The Divines-damned pack we now faced.

The pack took to their heels, baying in terror at the sight. Ketas and Abhaar gave chase as I let the body fall to the ground, drained and pallid as the snows of the Tundra of Heroes. They left me on the ground, shaking and nauseous with disgust as what I had done registered. I had betrayed my oaths as a healer, abandoned even the flimsy defence of using the dark arts for good – I tried to kick the blood back up, and brought up only bile and seawater.

I fully expected them to cut my throat when they returned. Who in their right mind would allow a rabid, blood-drinking Nightwight to live? What reason would they have to let me survive after seeing that?

I asked them, and the answer came in the form of two lifted lips, exposing canines as long and as sharp as daggers.

In the battle at Treatyseed, they would explain, I was not the only one to drink that Dwarf’s tainted blood. For Ketas, it was just a few drops of blood, sprayed into her helmetless face and accidentally licked off during the course of the fight; for Abhaar, it was accidentally swallowing a mouthful of blood-tainted water from the stream we passed through to wash the blood off of ourselves. They knew the thirst – had slaked it by drinking animal blood, all those times they had rushed off out of sight to strike down some rattlesnake or dingo.

…We did not talk much afterwards. Just carried on across the island in silence.

---

12th Malachite, Late Afternoon

We came across the ruins of an old fortress – well, that may be giving it too much credit, to call it a Dwarven fortress.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/F5ZWY1n.png)

It looked less like a proper ruin and more like a loosely-connected mess of tunnels and crudely carved-out rooms, bereft of any decoration or sign of inhabitancy. Dust lay on the ground in a thick mat, disturbed only by the furtive, swift movements of tiny animals and vermin – though I am quite certain I saw a Dwarf, wild-eyed and armoured, darting through the trees at the very edge of my vision at least once.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/cQSVQ1F.png)

(https://i.imgur.com/uzL1CmB.png)

Much of the first level was devoted to the crafts the Dwarves were so well-known for – stone, logs, gems, and ore alike lay scattered across the ground with no apparent rhyme or reason, having seemingly been abandoned in haste when the settlement collapsed. The workshops were far more organised, with each one located directly above what I presume to be a corresponding stockpile; the bedrooms were directly across from these stockpiles, packed close together and relatively plain in appearance.

Other rooms were simply empty, despite being carved into the rock and stone; they seemed to have been built in anticipation of migrants or new citizens, only to be left to fill with dust and cobwebs thick enough to become a physical barrier to our approach. The lowermost rooms contained nothing but damp, moss and a few mouldering books, presumably left behind in whatever catastrophe drove the Dwarves from this site.

The sooner we’re out of here, the better; feels like someone’s watching us, despite it being abandoned. This place makes my bloody skin crawl.

---

It seems my suspicions were correct.

No sooner had we made away from the abandoned fortress were we attacked – a lone Dwarf, pick in hand and his body bulging with grotesquely overdeveloped muscles, came charging out of the treeline towards us, snarling like a rabid animal the whole while. As he drew closer, we began to make out specific details: his eyesockets were empty and aglow with infernal light; rents had been torn into his skin and muscle to expose the hollowed-out inside.

Just like the Nightwight of Treatyseed, so long ago, he reeked of death and rot, mixed with the entirely unnatural tang of some esoteric material.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/cSDaW8f.png)

The three of us ran, and I am not afraid to say so. Considering the way that its missed punch smashed a thick tree-trunk into splinters, I would say we were wise to do so. However, rage, or perhaps the condition it found itself afflicted with had blinded it, and the creature tumbled into one of the murky pools of this forest. It flailed blindly as Ketas broke from the two of us, rushing towards it with her sword raised high. It was climbing up the shallow incline of the pool when her sword fell, and the creature’s head flew.

Whatever this thing was, the world is better without it. The three of us’ll make camp here tonight, burn the body to ensure there’s no chance of it rising by any means, and discuss where to head next.

---

OOC:

I actually ran a brief test with one of my backups afterwards to see what a straight fight would’ve been like, and Husky McHuskface slaughtered the entire party in a few minutes with that pick of his. I was really fucking lucky to catch that Husk with his pants down in that pool when coming out of FT, as his efforts to climb out slowed him to a crawl and gave Ketas an average-difficulty, very solid hit right to his head with her two-handed sword, quite neatly (if unceremoniously) bringing the dark tale of Homesafe the Shrine of Guarding to an end.

I was originally planning to have Fun with the husking syndrome attached to the evil weather of this region, but I ran out of patience after a while and decided to get on with bits elsewhere. Besides, I think being a Human Vampire Necromancer Necromancer Necromancer Necromancer Necromancer Necromancer (fit that on a business card!) is more than enough. Also, it turns out that Vampirized Companions seemingly don't get affected by the usual blood-thirst unless you actually play/move around as them.

Fact of the Day: There may be one non-Husk Dwarf still alive in Homesafe the Shrone of Guarding (A captain, who claimed to be fleeing danger), though my party only encountered him in the backup.

Title: Re: Museum III adventure game
Post by: TheFlame52 on December 13, 2020, 12:46:45 pm

That makes two places I know of with evil soot. Are you planning to become a soot husk yourself?

Title: Re: Museum III adventure game
Post by: Eric Blank on December 13, 2020, 08:17:00 pm

Yesterday was busy as shit, here's the last little bit;

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

The Adventures of Pik and Desli pt. III

When desli looked in her pack to give Pik his new swords, she found the die she had rolled. She didn't remember picking it up, and when Pik grabbed it, he too was cursed likewise. In a panic, knowing they could stay no longer, Pik gave lordship of the hamlet to one of the hearthpersons, and they left that night for the forests. Worse yet, they felt they could not afford to stay in the Realms of Silver.

They killed several boars as food, and fled across the Tundra of Heroes. The journey took several days, but the next full moon was still two weeks away. On the other side they soon found small pockets of civilization, and ruins thereof. Hamlets abandoned or destroyed, overrun by goblins and their trenches and towers. The goblins often attacked the duo, and both slew several on their journey to find peace. One holy figure, however, was welcoming of the outsiders, and told them about a special place, called a museum, in the castle of Boltspumpkin, where unique perspectives such as theirs were welcome. So the two traveled further north, and when they came to Boltspumpkin, they met the legendary Hand of Planegifts Lonelythrall the Hideous, who slew so many beasts as to change the world, and many other heroes. They explained their adventures, and their current predicament, and were warned to take flight deep into the forests where they could live in peace.

The two contributed their trophies to the museum, in a corner behind the main display pedestals.

(https://i.imgur.com/fSAK1dR.png)

They also stopped to read some of the various tales and treasure books in the museum, and Desli found a tome called Uncanny Death, a manual containing the secret of life and death. Enchanted by what she saw, she called Pik over and the two read and learned from the book. Then, they left.

Nearby, they stumbled upon the lair of a night creature called Nikor, and Pik slew the beast. This would be the last great fight of their adventures, as deep in the goblin-controlled forests they found a stream, and founded Jackaldens the Distant Hearth. Few besides goblins lived that far out.

Their relaxation was cut short, however, as despite being immortal, they must still breathe, and Desli fell under the bridge they built, and drowned. Pik jumped in, and resurrected her as a gaunt corpse, but he too drowned for having no skill in swimming, and desli was forced to resurrect him, too. The siblings live, or unlive, to this day in their home, where even goblin armies fear to tread.

I actually lost several nice screenshots due to overwriting them accidentally, so damnit.

Title: Re: Museum III adventure game
Post by: Quantum Drop on December 16, 2020, 12:07:16 pm

(Date obscured)

Gopet the Putrid Cyst has given me his final order – one final task, before my comrades and I are freed from his service once and for all. Neither Ketas nor Abhaar have shown any objection; if anything, Ketas seems to be relishing what it has commanded us to do.

In another time, perhaps, I would object to his demands out of ethics and practicality alike. As it stands, this task must be done – I will free the three of us from this service to Death, no matter the cost.

We set out tonight.


(Remaining pages are caked in dried blood or torn out, rendering them completely illegible.)

---

5th Galena, 754

The thump of heavy boots on stone woke the Goblin from his doze. The door to the Museum was open wide, three figures standing in the opening.

Spoiler: Unknown artisan’s drawing of “Duke” Abhaar Sinogolsin, Cademcatig Aba, An Abridged History of Boltspumpkin, Chapter Thirty-Two. (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/bNRUX1P.png)

(For a supposed useless parasite noble, he’s surprisingly handy at taking off hands and heads with that axe of his. Also, actually has a shield and chest armour.)

Spoiler: Unknown artisan’s drawing of Ketas Camutetha Usmikkisnast Noloc, An Abridged History of Boltspumpkin, Chapter Thirty-Two. (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/7VOMLEB.png)

(She actually has a mail shirt and breastplate covering her chest, along with a helmet and shield.)

Spoiler: Unknown artisan’s drawing of Urus Tacnuomsos Nornithros Agal, An Abridged History of Boltspumpkin, Chapter Thirty-Two. (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/8yy27mN.png)

(Those wings are those of a Giant Sparrow from Homesafe, taken as a little memento of his travel there (and because they look kinda cool).)

The apparent leader of the group – the towering giant with the mace and book – stalked forward into the room, his armoured and decorated frame easily dwarfing the monk. Accompanied by the massive size of him and his weapons, the lack of the infamous Museum guard, and the sheer number of battle scars he and his companions bore, most people would have been intimidated.

The monk simply crossed his arms, bit back a sigh at the interruption of his nap, and looked up.

“Welcome to Boltspumpkin, may Uquud the Bones of Drool guide you. I presume you came here to donate something to our ever-growing Museum?”

The human stared at him for several seconds before abruptly reaching to his back and drawing a bag and thick quire from the pack upon his shoulders. He thrust both his items into the monk’s arms before turning on his heel, giving an irritable little motion of a hand as he went. The other two promptly turned on their heels and followed him off into the night without a second word.

The goblin shook his head to himself, already looking for a place to put the bag.

Just another night at Boltspumpkin.

OOC: My official contribution to the Museum is the Stacks O’ Immortality Liquid (™),  several barrels, backpacks, and bags filled with the blood of Orid Xem’s last curse-born Vampire. Just remember to disregard the ‘Do NOT drink’ sign on the pedestal, and take only one sip. What could possibly go wrong? _{Side effects may include bloodthirst, insanity, a compulsion to commit murder, and rashes.}

My unofficial contributions are as follows: the skulls of Quenir Puzzelarm the Abyssal Whispers and Ashro Scufflegrowls the Slick Bends of Ivy, the bones of The Murky Filths, the return of Dwarf Dark One Bralbaard Hammerfishes, and the artefact copper short sword Daze Asthi. Since I’ll probably be busy IRL for the foreseeable future, I leave it to the thread as to whether I should try and write up the last bits of Urus’ adventures (skipped over here, for the sake of getting to the conclusion and getting the save up) or leave it to the Historians Guild.

My original plans for this turn unfortunately went awry due to the Knowing Deceiver’s population being crammed into a Dark Pit, rather than a Dark Fortress (the difference being that ~4000+ Goblins were spread on top of six-ish towers, rather than several dozen). The FPS soon hit similar levels to that at Swordgleamed even without raising undead, rendering the game borderline unplayable; coupled with the low population of other DPs, I am forced to conclude that there is no way for me to exterminate The Knowing Deceiver to the last in adventure mode alone, even with continuous 9AM to Midnight playing for 3-4 days.

All credit for the drawings goes to Outcast Games and their artists – besides shamelessly basing my adventurers on them, all I did was cut the images down from a screenshot and apply a filter to the images, for ease of seeing the details properly.

Save is here: https://dffd.bay12games.com/file.php?id=15343. And, to end this relatively poorly-done story, how was this for a turn?

EDIT: Also, can I be put back on the turn list?

Title: Re: Museum III adventure game
Post by: Timeless Bob on December 16, 2020, 05:41:16 pm

Library of Whispers updated with two out of four skulls found.  Within are clues to the place where the other two may be hidden, and one of those may have information leading to a great treasure indeed!

Title: Re: Museum III adventure game
Post by: TheFlame52 on December 16, 2020, 08:43:11 pm

Holy shit those arts! I love it!

Title: Re: Museum III adventure game
Post by: Eric Blank on December 17, 2020, 05:19:33 am

You chose good pictures indeed. And a very good story.

Btw I did want to sign up for another go. Maybe next round will be better

Title: Re: Museum III adventure game
Post by: Bralbaard on December 19, 2020, 02:18:24 pm

Great adventures everyone!
I'm not sure if everyone found Timeless Bob's stories, as they were posted only as an update in the original posts.

Here is the   link for his first adventure. (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8130594#msg8130594) Two skulls still need to be found to complete it.

Here is the  link to his write up of his second turn  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8174617#msg8174617)

I've updated some of the posts, there is still more work to be done.

If we have not heard from Fakerfangirl before the end of the weekend we will move on.

Title: Re: Museum III adventure game
Post by: Lukepop on December 22, 2020, 07:12:04 pm

So has Fakerfangirl gotten back to you Braal, or are we moving onto Th4dwArfY1?

Title: Re: Museum III adventure game
Post by: Bralbaard on December 23, 2020, 04:38:12 am

Quote from: Lukepop on December 22, 2020, 07:12:04 pm

So has Fakerfangirl gotten back to you Braal, or are we moving onto Th4dwArfY1?

We've moved beyond Th4dwArfY1 actually. There's been a lot of communication through personal messages. LuckyOwl is playing now.
Th4dwArfY1 has been moved down the order a bit because he was busy.

Title: Re: Museum III adventure game
Post by: WonderPsycho on December 25, 2020, 03:07:31 pm

eyy sorry about my absence got distracted by other stuff, did i miss anything?

Title: Re: Museum III adventure game
Post by: FakerFangirl on December 28, 2020, 02:07:13 pm

I haven't been checking the boards that frequently.

Title: Re: Museum III adventure game
Post by: Luckyowl on December 30, 2020, 09:20:19 pm

here's the save

https://dffd.bay12games.com/file.php?id=15368

I'll edit this post for the story it will only be one long post. I honestly haven't played this more seriously and sort of just went to one place to another without really thinking about a story. So Imma just make up stuff to fill in my lack of play. My contribute to the museum is a Facak. It's a violin like string from Omon Obin(Realm of Silver).

Good Luck, Flame!

Title: Re: Museum III adventure game
Post by: TheFlame52 on January 01, 2021, 01:05:26 am

Alright, it's me again. Hmm, should I pick up one of my old adventurers or make a new one? Give me a day or two to think of an adventure to embark on.

Title: Re: Museum III adventure game
Post by: Quantum Drop on January 07, 2021, 01:48:24 pm

How're things going, Flame?

Title: Re: Museum III adventure game
Post by: TheFlame52 on January 07, 2021, 05:23:54 pm

Haven't had a whole lot of free time lately, but I'm about to start. Is it alright if I briefly change the raw files so I can start as a goblin from a goblin settlement?

Title: Re: Museum III adventure game
Post by: Glloyd on January 08, 2021, 12:41:18 pm

I'd say no, but it's Bralbaard's decision.

Title: Re: Museum III adventure game
Post by: Bralbaard on January 08, 2021, 04:51:41 pm

I think you can already start as a goblin? not sure if you can start from a goblin settlement, but you can get more freedom in selecting a starting site by starting with a second adventurer (as is allowed by the rules) the home town of the second adventurer seems to be the site where your adventure starts, even if it is in a different empire as the site your goblin comes from.

Title: Re: Museum III adventure game
Post by: TheFlame52 on January 08, 2021, 05:01:05 pm

You can play as a goblin, but you can't be from a goblin settlement. If I add goblins as playable, we'll all be able to start from goblin settlements.

Title: Re: Museum III adventure game
Post by: TheFlame52 on January 09, 2021, 12:37:01 pm

One day, a goblin went to the temple of Mata Swiftjudged in Dreadruled. It was a small but well-appointed temple, with many statues made of expensive gems and metals scattered about.

(https://i.imgur.com/qehH1mZ.png)

Dreadruled had a lot of history, and it was here that much of that history was stored. Many artifacts with long and storied histories were contained within.

(https://i.imgur.com/OiHb5AC.png)

This goblin was not here to worship. She was a young acolyte, and it was her job to clean the relics. This was a task she had done many times. She was no longer awed by the craftsdwarfship. The task had become boring.

The First Bristle had told her never to touch two of the artifacts at the same time, or something terrible would occur. The goblin did not see why, but went along with it anyway. But today she was in a hurry to finish. So she picked up the two battle axes at the same time.

(https://i.imgur.com/cayQatx.png)

(https://i.imgur.com/qTEj8xS.png)

And was changed.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/zeqHYCT.png)

LONG AGO, I, DREAMYPUZZLED THE TENEBROUS OBSCURITY, ROSE FROM THE UNDERWORLD TO RULE THE KNOWING DECEIVER. I WAS A POWERFUL AND JUST RULER, AND LIFE WAS GOOD. UNTIL THE NECROMANCERS CAME. THEY BROUGHT WAR TO OUR PEACEFUL PITS. I SLEW HUNDREDS OF THEM BUT I WAS STRUCK DOWN IN THE END.

BUT BEFORE I WAS SLAIN I DIVIDED MY SOUL INTO SEVEN PIECES AND STORED THEM WITHIN SEVEN RELICS THAT I TOOK FROM THE FOUL UNDEAD. AND NOW THAT TWO PIECES OF MY SOUL HAVE COME TOGETHER WITHIN A HOST, I HAVE BEEN REBORN!

I AM DREAMYPUZZLED, AND I AM ETERNAL.

Title: Re: Museum III adventure game
Post by: Imic on January 11, 2021, 06:02:09 pm

Time to add another Player Dark Lord to the list.

Title: Re: Museum III adventure game
Post by: Quantum Drop on January 14, 2021, 10:26:45 am

Only just noticed Abhaar happens to be travelling with you, Flame. I wonder how Dreamypuzzled's going to react to learning it's working with a vampiric murderhobo?

More seriously, good luck with your adventure! Here's hoping that the new Dark Lord leaves quite the mark on the world!

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Also, if you haven't gone too far afield yet and want to try and recruit my other two, you may be able to find Ketas and Urus in the same pit/slightly to the south of it.

Title: Re: Museum III adventure game
Post by: TheFlame52 on January 14, 2021, 07:18:53 pm

Sorry for the wait everyone, I've been very busy lately.

Quote from: Quantum Drop on January 14, 2021, 10:26:45 am

Only just noticed Abhaar happens to be travelling with you, Flame. I wonder how Dreamypuzzled's going to react to learning it's working with a vampiric murderhobo?

More seriously, good luck with your adventure! Here's hoping that the new Dark Lord leaves quite the mark on the world!

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Also, if you haven't gone too far afield yet and want to try and recruit my other two, you may be able to find Ketas and Urus in the same pit/slightly to the south of it.

Actually, I just used him to spawn in goblin territory. I made my adventurer, started with Abhaar as a companion, started from his location, retired there, and started again on my own. But I might pick them up as companions with your blessing.

---

I feel the other five pieces of my soul. One is right here!

(https://i.imgur.com/iubycTf.png)

Another is... nearby. I'm not sure exactly. It's somewhere in these pits. But my host's memory holds a hidden gem - she has seen the weapon! It's held by the lady of this fortress. I'll have to find her, then convince her to give it to me... by any means possible.

I walk north, to the castle. Climb up and down many stairs. To the top room.

(https://i.imgur.com/OaPpFhi.png)

Where I am greeted with this.

(https://i.imgur.com/pAs0gtA.png)

Do they not recognize their reborn master?

(https://i.imgur.com/i2OHJwa.png)

That belongs to me.

(https://i.imgur.com/GoEbXbx.png)

DIE FOR YOU INSOLENCE!

(https://i.imgur.com/5ldw2PA.png)

Ahh, my first kill in almost five hundred years! The blood is sweet. And the fourth piece of my soul is returned to me.

Now the last three... are all in one place. To the north. And I know where they are.

The tower of Heroicgem.

WHERE THOSE. WHO KILLED ME. STILL. LIVE!

Title: Re: Museum III adventure game
Post by: Quantum Drop on January 15, 2021, 05:31:19 am

If you want to use them as companions, I have no objections. Good luck with Heroicgem.

Title: Re: Museum III adventure game
Post by: TheFlame52 on January 17, 2021, 12:27:30 pm

(https://i.imgur.com/YrwX7KJ.png)

And, uh, we're here. I had a lot of crashes getting here, and I didn't take many screenshots.

(https://i.imgur.com/ZTwkX8g.png)

That's my path. Stopped briefly at that tower to fight some zombies.

(https://i.imgur.com/GSRGE08.png)

Also I picked up a companion, she's a competent macegob, and I'm going to steal her steel armor when she inevitably dies.

Roleplay time.

---

YOU!

(https://i.imgur.com/SqtXmyJ.png)

Spoiler: he ded (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/JONLB9Y.png)

(https://i.imgur.com/owIIfdJ.png)

This so-called master was weak! Where are his minions? WHERE IS MY SOUL? I'll scour this place from top to bottom!

Which didn't take as long as I thought.

(https://i.imgur.com/KZetwbT.png)

Someone was here before me, and left this necromancer dismembered. A bloody iron axe lies beside the rotting corpse. It was the old master. Many artifacts lie stacked on top of the corpse. I've been robbed of my revenge. BUT I HAVE WHAT I CAME FOR!

(https://i.imgur.com/xb1ywPK.png)

(https://i.imgur.com/8yrz2cO.png)

(https://i.imgur.com/FA67RYU.png)

All seven pieces of my soul are mine! But they are not united. Not yet. You see, when a weapon takes a life, a tiny part of the person's soul is cut away and becomes part of the weapon. The more soul pieces, the more "full" the weapon becomes. I must kill one hundred ensouled beings with each of these weapons, so that they become "full" enough to extract my own soul pieces from them.

I believe I'll start right here.

This place is a treasure trove. I found some steel armor and some steel bolts, for the crossbows I'll have to kill one hundred people with.

We cleansed the entire complex. Searching every barrow. Killing every hand of Planegifts we came across. Except one, which we made talk. It told us there were more necromancers in the nearby fortress of Growlring. Then we killed it anyway.

(https://i.imgur.com/GcGhZqS.png)

On our way there we chased down a fleeing figure, who turned out to be a necromancer as well.

(https://i.imgur.com/sG8vkJq.png)

I took his head.

Upon reaching the fort, we searched carefully for necromancers, keeping our ears open for any noise.

(https://i.imgur.com/Ca4CNtN.png)

(https://i.imgur.com/RjR9B7F.png)

Heh heh heh.

(https://i.imgur.com/iShIfZx.png)

HA HA HA!

(https://i.imgur.com/zaWvTms.png)

(https://i.imgur.com/zLVptPt.png)

Ah, pain always makes such a wonderful spice to a murder. How good it feels to live again!

With the necromancers exterminated, I'll have to find more people to kill who won't be noticed.

Title: Re: Museum III adventure game
Post by: tonnot98 on January 19, 2021, 12:51:09 am

A new dark lord? The heroes of this accursed world are going to be quite busy...

Title: Re: Museum III adventure game
Post by: Glloyd on January 19, 2021, 04:15:11 am

I don't want to be that guy, but it's been well over a week since your turn started. Do you plan on wrapping this up soon?

Title: Re: Museum III adventure game
Post by: TheFlame52 on January 19, 2021, 09:15:30 pm

Quote from: Glloyd on January 19, 2021, 04:15:11 am

I don't want to be that guy, but it's been well over a week since your turn started. Do you plan on wrapping this up soon?

I know, I'm dragging on. I don't have a lot of free time but I've been doing my best. I guess I set my goal too high. I need to go to bed tonight, and I won't have any time tomorrow, but I'll get the save up Thursday. I cut my adventure short and I'm leaving the second half for another time. There's just one last think I want to do before I hand things off.

Title: Re: Museum III adventure game
Post by: TheFlame52 on January 21, 2021, 06:13:20 pm

Here's the save. I couldn't do what I wanted to do. Sign me up for another turn. Final writeup soon.

https://dffd.bay12games.com/file.php?id=15383

Title: Re: Museum III adventure game
Post by: Bralbaard on January 22, 2021, 07:46:34 am

Looking forward to the rest of the story. Did you submit an item to the museum, or will that information be part of your final write up?

I've send Lukepop a message.

Title: Re: Museum III adventure game
Post by: TheFlame52 on January 22, 2021, 03:46:46 pm

Quote from: Bralbaard on January 22, 2021, 07:46:34 am

Looking forward to the rest of the story. Did you submit an item to the museum, or will that information be part of your final write up?

I've send Lukepop a message.

I submitted 4 of my weapons which have 100 kills. Except they teleported away, so two of them are on my character and two are at Heroicgem. So I guess I didn't actually make a contribution. Also missing from the museum is the slab from the nearby vault which belongs to Dreamypuzzled. I'll explain all of this in my writeup.

Title: Re: Museum III adventure game
Post by: Lukepop on January 24, 2021, 08:21:20 am

Hi all, sorry  about the delay I haven't checked the forums in the past few days after refreshing daily for months lol. I'll get onto in the next few days, after I figure out how to download the save, get it all working, and re-familiarise myself with DF.

Title: Re: Museum III adventure game
Post by: TheFlame52 on January 26, 2021, 06:17:27 pm

Dostngosp is quite well-travelled, and she has been informing me on the last 500 years. She gave me more context on my own death. My defense of my home, while incredible, din't affect the course of the war very much. The Scholarly Manors were fighting five or six wars at the time, and the gains they made from their other fronts more than made up for the losses on my front. I died in 265, and the war didn't turn until the Assault of Gales in 345. A united force of humans, goblins, elves, and even dwarves took terrible losses but annihilated the necromancers' army. The necromancers would never recover, but neither would the civilized world. These days most settlements are abandoned, foul beasts roam the wilderness, and my precious Knowing Deciever is a shadow of what it was under my rule.

But what I did learn is that there are hundreds of Hands of Planegifts living in the old elven lands to the north. They form a sort of unconnected nation up there, content to be left alone and leave others alone.

I'm going to go kill them.

((Side note: I learned that all the Hands were transformed by a single necromancer, Ad Beltbutters. She wasn't part of the Scholarly Manors originally, but a different necromancer group entirely. Her plotting had gotten her imprisoned in a town in the path of the Manors' war machine. She was slain, resurrected, and joined the Manors with an entirely different brand of necromancy. That made her the only Manors necromancer capable of transforming captives. All the others simply executed and resurrected their prisoners.))

We used the underground roads to get under the mountains. We did some wandering around, but we came to the fortress of Shotgleeful on the other side. Approaching the fortress, we began to see some scattered junk, corpses, and webs.

(https://i.imgur.com/amKSQHA.png)

Forgotten beast webs.

(https://i.imgur.com/VAJteXd.png)

I decided to brave it anyway. We didn't explore, we simply went straight up. Luckily, the journey was short, and we made it out unharmed.

(https://i.imgur.com/szixETr.png)

Then we walked all the way up to the former elven lands and found these guys.

(https://i.imgur.com/QDPE8TZ.png)

Necromantic beings wearing human clothing and sitting in an elven tree. They are not soldiers, they are civilians - with their foul mistress dead, they are no threat to anyone. But I will kill them anyway. Not for the sake of the world. Not for their sake. I will kill them for my own purposes.

(https://i.imgur.com/P01scvx.png)

AND BECAUSE IT'S SO MUCH FUN!

As I slaughtered my way through the forest retreat, I came across this strange elf cowering from me.

(https://i.imgur.com/w1c44im.png)

(https://i.imgur.com/OmIcMB9.png)

Apparently, he represents the local elven government. These Hands are lawful Squeezing Fords citizens. Despite this, he thanked me for killing them. I don't understand, and I'm not halting my slaughter. I walked all the way here to kill some abominations, and I'm going to kill them no matter what anyone says.

We finish clearing this forest retreat, and move to the next. And behold!

(https://i.imgur.com/DCTWluQ.png)

One weapon sufficiently ensouled! I put it away and take out Fedlilacs. The slaughter continues.

(https://i.imgur.com/3aF02Yh.png)

Ha ha! Look at it go!

(https://i.imgur.com/34u4TaJ.png)

Two weapons ensouled! Now it's time to switch to Oceanbald. This one is an ordinary silver spear, but it was used to kill a hydra.

(https://i.imgur.com/Xjhx5Pk.png)

Three weapons. This one took longer because it was harder to kill with it. Because of that, I'm now better with the spear than I am with the axe. Now time to use Daubedhills, a mace.

(https://i.imgur.com/2uHmvk4.png)

Ha ha ha! Daubedhills is such a delight. It was always my favorite weapon. I killed 47 zombies with this mace before I died.

(https://i.imgur.com/0AP7v3P.png)

It's not even fair.

I slaughtered my way from retreat to retreat. At some point, I lost Dostngosp. I wasn't worried, as I knew where I was going, and she had been getting good enough with her mace to start stealing my kills. Then I ran into a howling freak.

Spoiler: To sum up the battle (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/LSlGb0T.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/LS8gSIN.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/S742ziG.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/ejwulQc.png)

It was a mighty struggle. The first worthy opponent I have faced since being reborn. I blinded her left eye. She broke my elbow and my ankle. Then I blinded her right eye, and broke her neck with Daubedhills. From there it was only a matter of time before she was dead.

Because of that, I decided to travel south. Far south. Daubedhills had claimed 87 lives, and I would slay a few more on my journey. I walked for weeks to reach my next goal: The vault of Cradledmartyrs, containing the slab that bears my true name. And when I arrived...

(https://i.imgur.com/JrLlqFc.png)

Something is wrong.

(https://i.imgur.com/h4TBlms.png)

THIS PLACE IS EMPTY! MY ANGELS ARE SLAIN! MY NAME IS GONE! WHO COULD HAVE DONE THIS!?

The nearby monastery contained a single human.

(https://i.imgur.com/0EtU5h9.png)

He babbled something about a "museum?" What's that?

(https://i.imgur.com/EtSwv2R.png)

I must investigate. My search leads me to a keep less than a days walk away.

(https://i.imgur.com/x9IoJ1R.png)

Upon entering I see it.

A Hand of Planegifts with a darkness in its eyes.

(https://i.imgur.com/Tc6CwUL.png)

Decked in armor looted from my vault...

(https://i.imgur.com/OcLuv1G.png)

Bearing weapons that have slain gods, monsters, and demons alike...

(https://i.imgur.com/mmytW22.png)

And coated in the blood of my own brothers.

I will have my revenge. But I am not yet equal to the task.

(https://i.imgur.com/RjXQZ0q.png)

I will leave, and prepare myself for our battle. But first, a little gift.

(https://i.imgur.com/F7YoexC.png)

(https://i.imgur.com/nJtUZLL.png)

The four weapons which I have completed. They will only weigh me down. For now, I will return to my people and reclaim my title of Master. Until it is time.[/b][/color]

((Final note: Trying to become master was what took me so long. I ultimately failed, but only because the master went missing. I think she's in one of the refugee camps that crash the game when approached. Also, my weapons teleported back to their original hiding spots and I'll probably have to get them again next turn. The name slab is also completely missing, unless it's not in Boltspumpkin or Cradledmartyrs at all. Finally, Quantum Drop, do I have permission to kill Lonelythrall at the end of my next turn?))

Title: Re: Museum III adventure game
Post by: Quantum Drop on January 27, 2021, 04:38:57 pm

I'm going to say 'Maybe' on that - will have to think on it some more, since there's a few things involving him that I have in mind.

Title: Re: Museum III adventure game
Post by: TheFlame52 on January 28, 2021, 04:32:58 pm

Quote from: Quantum Drop on January 27, 2021, 04:38:57 pm

I'm going to say 'Maybe' on that - will have to think on it some more, since there's a few things involving him that I have in mind.

Fair enough. And even if I do fight him, there's no guarantee I even win.

Title: Re: Museum III adventure game
Post by: Quantum Drop on February 01, 2021, 04:30:56 pm

The Chronicles of the Adventurers of The Grand Museum of Boltspumpkin

In the spirit of kesperan's original list in the first Museum (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=104399.msg4706903#msg4706903), I have put the overall exploits of the adventurers of Boltspumpkin and their ultimate fates into this table. I will do my best to update it to reflect subsequent turns; if there are any errors or objections, let me know and I will try to rectify them.

Spoiler: Notes on Categories (click to show/hide)

• For the purpose of scoring, 'Night Creatures' includes Night Trolls, Bogeymen/Nightmares, Experiments, Necromancers, all forms of Undead (intelligent, ghouls, husks, or animated corpses), Vampires, and Werebeasts. Semimegabeasts (Ettins, Cyclopses, Giants, and Minotaurs) have been rolled into this category due to table bloat.
• Rocs, Dragons, Hydras, and Bronze Colossi have been rolled into the 'Megabeasts' category.
• The non-historical kills category has been cut because of the current table size and relative lack of importance. I advise you to legends-dive if you want the specifics, though you may be able to guess bsed on the other figures available.
• Certain characters, such as Leto Searchpraise the First, Mimale Birdages, and NGN’s Clown have been excluded from this table on the grounds of being lore-only (Searchpraise; also technically non-adventuring), non-adventuring (Birdages), or "secret" (Handbane).
• Due to the prevalence of Necromancer secrets in adventurers and around the world, 'repeated' kills (e.x.: A goblin is killed by a necromancer, who revives the goblin as an animated corpse, then strikes down the reanimated goblin) will be counted as individual kills for ease of scoring (so that in the example given, this would be counted as two kills).
• Because some of these kill lists are in the high thousands and I have to read through them manually, some of the specific kill figures (mainly related to Night Creatures and the like) for high-killing adventurers may be inaccurate.

Enjoy!

Player	Name	Title	Race	Description	Born	Died	Age at death	Cause of death	Notable Kills	Forgotten Beasts/Titans slain	Night Creatures & SMB	Megabeasts slain	Angels slain	Demons slain
Bralbaard	Bralbaard Hammerfishes	the Yawning	Dwarf	Male Dark One	638	858	74	Struck down by Pis Meadowshaft the Mucuses of Raunch in 712; raised as a dark one by Urus Ghostumbral. Said to have been struck down by a goblin during The Angry Onslaught of Monsters in 8588. Rumoured to have risen in 894; current whereabouts unknown.	5	0	0	0	0	0
Imic	Imic Heatherwind		Moth Man	Male	678	700	22	Struck down by Unlo Goredyell, goblin spearman. Remains interred in Herograves by Braalbard Hammerfishes the Yawning.	1	0	0	0	0	0
Emilovich	Bil Hammertome	the Fierce Spots of Crystal	Human	Male	671	738	67	Died of old age, having retired in Treatyseed.	5	0	0	0	0	0
Quantum Drop	Kom 'QD' Ironwhispered	the Problematic Ripper	Black Mamba Man	Male	682	745	63	Died of old age, having retired in Treatyseed.	5	0	0	0	0	0
Timeless Bob	Ashro Scufflegrowls	the Slick Bends of Ivy	Dwarf	Male	642	706	64	Struck down by Kok Savechambers, elf lasher. Skull interred in the Library of Whispers (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8130594#msg8130594) by Urus Ghostumbral the Cold Abbey of Knowing.	10	0	0	0	0	0
DwarvenLord	Zasit Brasshelped		Human	Male	678	792	114	Died of old age, having retired in Treatyseed.	0	0	0	0	0	0
Eric Blank	Doñas Silenttowers	the Ominous Hoary Zenith	Human	Male Necromancer	679	705	26	Bled to death after striking down the taiga titan Ozob Mintbears the Rosy Swamps. Remains interred in Herograves by Braalbard Hammerfishes the Yawning.	47	1	5	1	0	0
Th4dwArfY1	Th4dwarfy1 Shieldtempests		Dwarf	Male Necromancer	625	710	85	Struck down by the elf hollow hunter Evala Blazedjudged.	1	0	1	0	0	0
Superdorf	Tekkud Thunderfist	the Bands of Society	Dwarf	Male	646	712	66	Drowned somewhere in The Peaceful Waters.	9	0	0	0	0	0
TheFlame52	Abpa Glitterirons		Human	Male	686	750	64	Died of old age, having retired in Strifefularmour.	0	0	0	0	0	0
Cathar	Pictham Contestlabored	'the Thrice-Cursed'	Human	Female	683	712	29	Struck down by the zombie goblin Handleran. One version of her story is detailed in Sunflower: A Found History, by Leto Searchpraise. (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8194791#msg8194791)	4	0	3	0	0	0
Luckyowl	Thon Scarone		Human	Male	682	712	30	Struck down by the ettin Zoku Knightedsheen the Sensual Silk-Call. Remains (sans his head) interred in Herograves by Braalbard Hammerfishes the Yawning.	0	0	13	0	0	0
Yarlig	Lic Orderblood		Human	Male	682	714	32	Struck down by the howling freak Usmdas Duskdies the Night of Shades.	0	0	0	0	0	0
Imic	Logen Greyseer		Dwarf	Male	631	714	83	Bled to death due to an attack by the murderous alligator Purgedsaved.	0	0	0	0	0	0
Tonnot98	Fidale Umberrazors	the Sorcerous Vise	Goblin	Female Vampire	462	769	307	Fell into a deep chasm in the lost fortress of The Abyssal Sanctuary. Remains entirely unrecoverable.	141	1	29	0	0	1
Quantum Drop	Lonelythrall	the Hideous	Hand of Planegifts	Male	547	-	-	Alive as of the present, having settled in Boltspumpkin. Rumoured animosity with the goblin Dreamypuzzled the Eternal-Soul.	441	3	24	4	751	24
Timeless Bob	Twoflower Scrapehandled		Human	Male	721	754	33	Struck down by the howling freak Momuz Diecrypt the Umbral Bone	0	0	0	0	0	0
Glloyd	Glloyd Ancientborn	the Round	Human	Male Necromancer	701	-	-	Alive as of the present, settled in Mountaincrest the Last Shelter; founder and resident of the Shelter of Adventures.	65	0	7	0	5	0
Eric Blank	Tipi Fatewalks		Elf	Female	445	727	282	Struck down by the dwarf Fiendish Soot Husk Ber Channeledoracle the Spread.	0	0	0	0	0	0
Th4dwArfY1	Tirist Crescentgolds		Damselfly Man	Male	706	733	27	Struck down by the goblin Song Malignedsculpted.	0	0	0	0	0	0
Tasoth	Erush Pagelined		Dwarf	Male	664	828	164	Alive as of the present, retired in Knifesteamy.	0	0	0	0	0	0
Tasoth	Nish Singetomb		Dwarf	Female	675	-	-	Alive as of the present. Travelling companion of Erush Pagelined.	0	0	0	0	0	0
TheFlame52	Galka Fancyrocks		Albatross Man	Female	701	781	80	Died of old age, having retired in Treatyseed. Former countess of The Walled Dye.	0	0	0	0	0	0
Ionmatrix	Egesh Clinchedhide	the Helmed Teacher of Palisades	Human	Female	709	735	26	Struck down by the human lasher Sapa Sweetnessclash.	5	0	0	0	0	0
Travis Bickle	Urdim Brassletters		Dwarf	Male	669	735	66	Suffocated, having been mortally wounded by the grizzly bear Cherishedfame.	0	0	0	0	0	0
Yarlig	Nocam Crabhawks	the Tender Trenches	Cougar Man	Male	706	735	29	Struck down by the forgotten beast Thol Smoulderedfungi the Languishing.	12	0	2	0	0	0
Imic	Onol Rushlight		Dwarf	Male	658	735	77	Vanished into the depths of the world beneath Pastimegears (Starved).	0	0	0	0	0	0
Braalbard	Raki Umberclan	the Bulbous	Lion Tamarin Man	Male	722	746	24	Committed ritual suicide under the full moon (Starved). Raised as a Fell One by Irthu Bladebroken the Famine of Fate. Fell into a deep chasm in the underworld beneath Ironwards the Strifeful Hollows.	31	0	272	0	0	0
Nogoodnames	Vadane Ancienttress		Elf	Male	525	747	222	Bled to death, slain by the howling freak Unu Tunneledshades the Dusk of Oblivion. Remains interred in Herograves by Fidale Umberrazors.	0	0	0	0	0	0
Nogoodnames	Laci Beakscald		Magpie Man	Female	712	747	35	Strangled by the howling freak Unu Tunneledshades the Dusk of Oblivion.	0	0	0	0	0	0
Glloyd	Iden Bloodinked	the Mire of Cities	Human	Male Hollow Zombie	726	749	23	Bled to death after slaying the charcoal brute Pis Meadowshafts the Mucuses of Raunch with a wooden crutch; raised as a hollow zombie by Urus Ghostumbral the Cold Abbey of Knowing. Struck down by the Warrior of Udir Icu Skirtedmaligns in the vault of Coverashes.	685	0	24	0	564	1
Eric Blank	Pik Planecalm	the Singed Saffron of Bristling	Human	Male Werejackal Necromancer Necromancer Necromancer Necromancer Gaunt Corpse	725	749	24	Drowned in The Exalted Forests; raised by Desli as a gaunt corpse. Settled in the camp of Jackalhide as of the present.	107	0	3	0	0	0
Eric Blank	Desli Wanedhummed	the Beautiful Intricacies	Wolf Man	Female Werejackal Necromancer Necromancer Necromancer Necromancer Gaunt Corpse	721	749	28	Drowned in The Exalted Forests; raised by Pik as a gaunt corpse. Settled in the camp of Jackalhide as of the present.	98	1	67	0	0	0
Quantum Drop	Urus Ghostumbral	the Cold Abbey of Knowing	Human	Male Vampire Necromancer Necromancer Necromancer Necromancer Necromancer Necromancer	721	-	-	Alive at the present. Settled at the Shelter of Adventures.	1135	0	4	2	0	0
Quantum Drop	Ketas Immortalitydestined	the Imprisoned Visions of Battle	Human	Female Vampire	731	-	-	Alive at the present. Settled at the Shelter of Adventures.	401	0	1	0	0	0
Quantum Drop	Abhaar Lungdespair	the Blood-Nettle of Meditation	Human	Male Vampire	720	-	-	Alive at the present. Settled at the Shelter of Adventures.	353	0	20	0	0	0
Luckyowl	Artha Peacefulsong		Human	Female Necromancer	730	-	-	Alive at the present, having settled in Divedact.	0	0	0	0	0	0
TheFlame52	Dreamypuzzled	the Eternal-Soul	Goblin (Demon-possessed)	Female	572	-	-	Alive at the present, having settled in Dreadruled. Rumoured animosity with Lonelythrall the Hideous.	256	0	228	0	0	0
Yarlig	Nom	the Cheese	Gorlak	Male Necromancer	716	-	-	Alive at the present. Current whereabouts unknown.	0	0	0	0	0	0
Yarlig	Erith Whippedumbral	the Granite Gears of Aquamarine	Dwarf	Female Vampire Cold Slayer Gaunt Corpse(?)	677	8116	134	Burned alive in Burnedmurdered; raised as a cold slayer by Nom the Cheese. Slain by an Angel after being cursed by a Necromancer. Raised as a gaunt corpse by unknown forces. Met final death at the hands of the dwarf Bim Pageswelters the Accidental, during The Strifeful Assault at Coveredashes.	305	0	40	0	10	4
Imic	Solon Riftworks		Dwarf	Male	680	755	75	Struck down by the winged fiend Burialash the Dead in the lost fortress of Gor.	0	0	0	0	0	0
Nogoodnames	Arcturus Cinderfang	the Hoary Merchant of Adventure	Black Bear Man	Male	743	825	82	Died of old age, having settled in Northcamp.	125	1	12	0	0	0
Quantum Drop	Irthu Bladebroken	the Famine of Fate	Human	Male Vampire Necromancer Necromancer Fell One	739	769	30	Bled to death, slain in a rage by Athama Stalkhandled. Raised as a fell one by Ragnar Ironjaw; currently settled at the Shelter of Adventures.	141	0	0	0	0	81
Quantum Drop	Athama Stalkhandled	the Old Metal Blade	Elf	Male Vampire Fell One	601	769	168	Bled to death, slain by Irthu Bladebroken. Raised as a fell one by Irthu Bladebroken; currently settled at the Shelter of Adventures.	63	0	0	0	0	141
Quantum Drop	Ragnar Ironjaw	the Mournful Strikes of Broiling	Human	Male Vampire Necromancer Fell One	742	769	27	Bled to death, slain by Irthu Bladebroken. Raised as a fell one moments later by Irthu; currently settled at the Shelter of Adventures.	65	0	0	0	0	166
Lurker Z	Lurker Lockkingdom		Human	Male	744	794	50	Struck down in Swordgleamed by the human Themsol Reignglad with a copper war hammer.	2	0	1	0	0	0
Yarlig	Bolan Quickpainted	the Good Uncle	Snail Man	Male Putrid Ghoul	739	770	31	Bled to death in Cradledmartyrs. Raised as a putrid ghoul by Hannibal Valleyball the Fortunate Depth of Tresses.	0	0	0	0	0	0
Imic	Obok Stakeglazed		Dwarf	Male	712	815	103	Struck down by the dwarf Lorbam Flashlanced the Even Conqueror of Theater in Ancientknowledge the Library of Secrets with a bronze pick.	0	0	0	0	0	0
Imic	Kadol Princesspage		Dwarf	Male	717	-	-	Alive at the present, settled in Boltspumpkin.	0	0	0	0	0	0
BluarianKnight	Helhock Learnedbaked		Wolf Man	Male	755	72	827	Died of old age, settled in Faithtalk.	0	0	0	0	0	0
BluarianKnight	Kima Lakeveil		Human	Female	750	815	65	Died of old age, settled in Cleanheld.	0	0	0	0	0	0
BluarianKnight	Sema Splattersounds		Human	Female	758	780	22	Struck down in Confusedship by the Fist of Plantersilks Snang Dreadfuldrum.	1	0	0	0	0	0
Quantum Drop	Nethrez Rampartspiral	the Quick Tunnel of Mining	Alligator Man	Male Necromancer Vampire	751	794	43	Struck down in Wraithbreaths by the Dwarf Unib Splashedhall the Help of Shrivelling during The Molten Sieges.	303	2	48	0	0	59
Eric Blank	Tequil Templejuggle		Human	Male	765	787	22	Encased in the ice of a frozen river, somewhere in The Quick Steppes.	0	0	0	0	0	0
Yarlig	Hannibal Valleyball	the Fortunate Depths of Tresses	Capybara man	Male Necromancer Necromancer Necromancer Necromancer Blighted Thrall Suspected Fiendish Soot Husk5	762	797	35	Encased in the ice of The Lake of Glens. Primogenitor to numerous ghouls.	32	0	26	0	0	0
Quantum Drop	Kosoth Salvesank	the Kindled Worshipper of Sitting	Dwarf	Male Blighted Thrall	732	797	65	Succumbed to the effects of the Obin Blight in the camp of Ghoulcreeks (starved).	264	0	95	0	0	2
Quantum Drop	Ketas Indigovaulted	the Kind	Human	Male Necromancer Necromancer Necromancer Necromancer Vampire Fiendish Soot Husk	775	-	-	Currently settled in the camp of Ghoulcreeks.	202	0	95	0	0	4
Lurker Z	Kivish Granitechannels		Dwarf	Male	723	799	76	Struck down by the human Lasiv Focusedawn Flaxplays.	0	0	0	0	0	0
Unraveller	Galka Kinddrummed	the Tiled Periwinkle of Healing	Human	Male Vampire	766	-	-	Alive, currently settled in The Tower of Silence.	82	0	76	0	0	0
Eric Blank	Suril Copperscarred	the Bloated	Hand of Planegifts	Male Necromancer	604	-	-	Alive, currently settled in Wheatbrands.	139	0	25	0	0	0
Quantum Drop	Rekthor Lulledhames	the Fuchsia Colour of Rooms	Dwarf	Male	726	-	-	Alive, currently settled in the camp of Shadecavern the Deep Chasm.	391	0	76	0	0	113
Kesperan	Moldath Mournstaints	the Ardent	Dwarf	Male Vampire Necromancer Necromancer Necromancer Necromancer Necromancer Necromancer Necromancer Necromancer Fell One	728	-	-	Alive, currently settled in the fortress of Stockadeoutrage.	4147	2	391	4	0	47
AvolitionBrit	Avo Lastone	the Violent	Kobold	Male Vampire	736	-	-	Alive, currently settled in the fortress of Ancientknowledge the Library of Secrets.	38	0	7	0	0	0
Lurker Z	Bomrek Handmirrored		Soldier of Night	Male	489	824	335	Starved to death in the fortress of Palacework.	0	0	0	0	0	0
Chaospotato	Ezif Bluewave		Human	Male Necromancer Vampire	791	-	-	Alive, currently settled in the Tower of Glazedriven.	2	0	0	0	0	0
Kesperan	Kajeth Fatecrypts	the Unholy Balance of Froth	Human	Male Necromancer	802	826	24	Struck down in Monkeycurse by Moldath Mournsaints the Ardent.	2	0	0	0	0	0
AvolitionBrit	Avolition Holyblood	the Autumnal Kingdoms	Bark Scorpion Man	Male Vampire Necromancer Necromancer Necromancer Necromancer Necromancer Necromancer Necromancer Necromancer Necromancer	795	-	-	Alive, presently settled in the hamlet of Lawtaker. Law-giver of The Armored Confederacy.	13000	0	1172	0	0	0
Tonnot98	Urist Ironhale		Dwarf	Female	689	831	142	Encased in ice, somewhere in The Flickering Dunes	0	0	0	0	0	0
Lurker Z	Urdim Fishringed		Soldier of Night	Female	490	837	142	Struck down by the human Eko Tiredlegend in The Kindled Jungles.	1	0	0	0	0	0
Nogoodnames	Rovod Clasharch		Gorlak	Male	794	842	48	Struck down by the Freak of Twilight Blighted Thrall Vesh Fatalfate the Sable in Pricerings.	2	0	0	0	0	0
Bralbaard	Yufluggus Cavernslides		Kobold	Male	783	842	59	Crushed beneath a drawbridge in Sealsabres.	2	0	0	0	0	0
Unraveller	Amala Fragrantshaft	the Reticence of Turmoil	Human	Female	813	845	32	Took her own life in the camp of Quietden. (Starved).	78	0	0	0	0	0
Quantum Drop	Vafice Wispcrypt	the Assaulted Woman	Elf	Female	576	845	269	Bled to death in the hamlet of Toothsneaked, slain with an iron axe by the Blighted Thrall Cobar Twinkledseas.	24	0	20	0	0	0
AvolitionBrit	Tosace Skunkbegun		Penguin Man	Female	825	849	24	Struck down by the goblin Cadap Boardsnarl in The Exalted Forests.	0	0	0	0	0	0
AvolitionBrit	Vutok Sharkpalace		Plump Helmet Man	Female	822	849	27	Struck down by the human Eko Tiredlegend with a donkey leather shoe in The Bearded Horns.	0	0	0	0	0	0
AvolitionBrit	Oddom Ivorytombs		Plump Helmet Man	Female	815	849	34	Struck down by the human Eko Tiredlegend with a donkey leather shoe in The Bearded Horns.	0	0	0	0	0	0
Maloy	Maloy Craftsoars		Wolf Man	Male	836	-	-	Alive, presently settled in the castle of Boltspumpkin.	0	0	0	0	0	0
Bluarianknight	Lidya Dreamsbite		Human	Female	837	-	-	Alive, presently settled in the hamlet of Roundedwoman.	2	0	1	0	0	0
Bluarianknight	Ahang Matchlabor		Black Bear Man	Male	843	-	-	Alive, presently settled in the fortress of Waterdeeps.	4	0	1	0	0	0
Lurker Z	Urist Foundexits		Human	Male	834	864	30	Struck down in the hamlet of Weatherponder by the human blighted thrall Adi Wallivory the Holiness of Blame.	0	0	0	0	0	0
Tonnot98	Yawo Rainstir	the Bane of Meanness	Elf	Female	678	-	-	Alive, settled in the forest retreat of Jawbride.	78	0	5	0	0	0
Bralbaard	Midas Squarewheel		Human	Male	840	-	-	Alive, settled in the fortress of Healerlashes.	0	0	0	0	0	0
WonderPsycho	Zal Trussedhours		Kobold	Male	793	872	79	Struck down by the Howling Freak Unu Tunnelburies in Fountaineyes.	0	0	0	0	0	0
WonderPsycho	Nushrat Untowardbulbous		Kobold	Female	816	872	79	Died under mysterious circumstances in The Hills of Decline (starved).	0	0	0	0	0	0
WonderPsycho	Zosto Tallbleaches		Kobold	Female	818	-	-	Alive, location unknown.	0	0	0	0	0	0
Unraveller	Jas Gloryage	the Worshipful	Human	Male	852	-	-	Alive, settled in the fortress of Silverthrone. Present Law-giver of the Realm of Silver and former lord of the Band of Wax9.	721	0	180	0	0	0
Nogoodnames	Leto Searchpraise	the Azure	Human	Male Vampire	853	-	-	Alive, settled in the castle of Boltspumpkin.	5	0	0	0	0	0
Nogoodnames	Dana Hailmurders		Dwarf	Female	801	-	-	Alive, settled in the castle of Boltspumpkin.	3	0	3	0	0	0
Nogoodnames	Juvar Scarsung		Human	Male	855	-	-	Alive, settled in the castle of Boltspumpkin.	0	0	0	0	0	0
Quantum Drop	Ehhu Futureghouls	the Everlasting Pearls of Lightning	Human	Male Blighted Thrall Necromancer	847	879	32	Committed suicide in the fortress of Silverthrone following infection by the Obin Blight (Starved.)	36	0	20	0	0	1
Quantum Drop	Aril Vesseleyes	the Greatest Mansion of Gleaming	Human	Male Necromancer	857	-	-	Alive, whereabouts unknown.	42	0	25	0	0	1
Quantum Drop	Citoj Creatureconstruct	the Cavernous Sweat	Hand of Planegifts	Male Blighted Thrall	700	879	179	Struck down by Ehhu Futureghouls the Everlasting Pearls of Lightning during the Battle of Silverthrone.	12	0	3	0	0	0
Maloy	Arthur Mossdiamond		Elf	Male	709	-	-	Alive, settled in the town of Incenseorder.	0	0	0	0	0	0
Maloy	Miaralei Shakenfurs		Elf	Female	643	-	-	Alive, settled in the town of Incenseorder.	0	0	0	0	0	0
Maloy	Ospum Secretivereleased		Kobold	Male	827	-	-	Alive, settled in the town of Incenseorder.	0	0	0	0	0	0
Kesperan	Kothvir Shadowstar	the Black Raven	Human	Male Necromancer	851	-	-	Alive, settled in the hamlet of Metalspread.	298	0	110	0	0	0
Bluarianknight	Elen Ropemirror		Human	Female	851	885	34	Slain in the fortress of Confusedships, at the hands of the Goblin Blighted Thrall Ber Cursesink.	0	0	0	0	0	0
Bluarianknight	Degel Wheelurges		Human	Female Blighted Thrall	852	885	33	Slain in the fortress of Confusedships, at the hands of the Goblin Blighted Thrall Ber Cursesink.	0	0	0	0	0	0
Bralbaard	Bor Mazeconstruct		Human	Male Necromancer	860	-		Alive, settled in the camp of Eldergrave.	0	0	0	0	0	0
Yarlig	Jamas Twistedstar	the God-Forsaken	Moose Man	Male Necromancer Necromancer Necromancer	860	-		Alive, settled in the hamlet of Obeybreads.	1531	0	8	0	0	0

¹: ‘thrall cleared the entirety of one Vault; as the Vault is stated to contain exactly 75 Angels total and all were destroyed in his attack, I have awarded him full points.
²: Telling how many of Raki’s Night Creature kills were intentional is difficult, due to the messy nature of his bites and the tendency of foes to explode when hit by a weremammoth. For the sake of simplicity, I am considering all of them to be intentional kills.
³: The ettin actually suffocated 43 years after killing Thon Scarone, due to its wounds never registering until long after his demise. Since Scarone nonetheless dealt the mortal wound to the creature, I am counting this as a (very delayed) kill on LuckyOwl's part.
⁴: To be exact, legends indicates that 34 workers, 20 warriors, and the archangel all died to his hand.
⁵: For some reason, neither LV nor regular legends mode seem to recognise husks - the 'Fiendish Soot Husk' bit is not added to their race, and their history has no mention of it. Due to this and Hannibal being both dead and almost impossible to find, his husking is difficult to confirm or disprove.
⁶: As Erith has died thrice (twice in 755, once in 811) and slashes cause it to look untidy, only the latest date of death has been displayed.
⁷: As of Orid Xem's Year 872, this gives AvolitionBrit the greatest number of notable kills in all of the Museum games so far. Bravo!
⁸: "Said" to have been struck down, since he's still around somehow - Legends shows him as having died but he's still running around the fortress where he fell as some kind of weird, impossible-to-interact-with semi-ghost. Mysterious!
⁹: While the other adventurers of the Band of Wax were technically player-controlled via dfhack's bodyswap command, I have omitted the remainder on Unraveller's advice to cut down on table bloat. For the curious, the others can be found in LV as Jol Wiltloaf, Eman Moistnesschanced the Systemic Stalker of Hailing, Quenir Farmedglazes, Imi Jewlscraped, and Destis Sisterbreeches.

Title: Re: Museum III adventure game
Post by: TheFlame52 on February 01, 2021, 04:58:26 pm

We've passed so much time that the early adventurers are dying of old age. This is where things get interesting.

Title: Re: Museum III adventure game
Post by: Bralbaard on February 04, 2021, 02:28:29 am

Quote from: Quantum Drop on February 01, 2021, 04:30:56 pm

The Chronicles of the Adventurers of The Grand Museum of Boltspumpkin

In the spirit of kesperan's orginal list in the first Museum (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=104399.msg4706903#msg4706903), I have put the overall exploits of the adventurers of Boltspumpkin and their ultimate fates into this table. I will do my best to update it to reflect subsequent turns; if there are any errors or objections, let me know and I will try to rectify them.

I'll link that from the first post if you don't mind. Amazing work.

Also Lukepop, could you try to finish and upload the save game? It's been over a week.

Title: Re: Museum III adventure game
Post by: Cathar on February 04, 2021, 05:58:13 am

I just read nogoodname's story and oh my god I missed that completely. Thanks for the legend digging and thanks a lot for giving my girl closure - and apologies for having my knees snap under self imposed pressure. I'm not worthy oTL

Before it happened, I had indeed produced a couple more pictures (in spoilers) that you may use or not at your absolute discretion.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/1a9a4893-1e17-489d-813f-9ea9c11bb32e/ddzn9vf-7f23ece3-2cf3-4932-b8f5-13b89d3c5580.png?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOiIsImlzcyI6InVybjphcHA6Iiwib2JqIjpbW3sicGF0aCI6IlwvZlwvMWE5YTQ4OTMtMWUxNy00ODlkLTgxM2YtOWVhOWMxMWJiMzJlXC9kZHpuOXZmLTdmMjNlY2UzLTJjZjMtNDkzMi1iOGY1LTEzYjg5ZDNjNTU4MC5wbmcifV1dLCJhdWQiOlsidXJuOnNlcnZpY2U6ZmlsZS5kb3dubG9hZCJdfQ.a44-RVCF2oJ0ZB2c5ogE2kJknueYBivVAhBZ7G580uw)
(https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/1a9a4893-1e17-489d-813f-9ea9c11bb32e/ddzs8cv-c3563488-a639-4ed9-9ee9-9749020ab07a.png?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOiIsImlzcyI6InVybjphcHA6Iiwib2JqIjpbW3sicGF0aCI6IlwvZlwvMWE5YTQ4OTMtMWUxNy00ODlkLTgxM2YtOWVhOWMxMWJiMzJlXC9kZHpzOGN2LWMzNTYzNDg4LWE2MzktNGVkOS05ZWU5LTk3NDkwMjBhYjA3YS5wbmcifV1dLCJhdWQiOlsidXJuOnNlcnZpY2U6ZmlsZS5kb3dubG9hZCJdfQ.fXCPyOGf7zIapyMNXdnSQWMXlhY9d1Oorjb_ypHdNoQ)

Title: Re: Museum III adventure game
Post by: Glloyd on February 04, 2021, 04:04:50 pm

Quote from: Bralbaard on February 04, 2021, 02:28:29 am

Also Lukepop, could you try to finish and upload the save game? It's been over a week.

They haven't posted an entry yet, and they haven't been active in a few days, so it might be necessary to skip to the next person.

Title: Re: Museum III adventure game
Post by: nogoodnames on February 06, 2021, 09:38:47 am

Quote from: Cathar on February 04, 2021, 05:58:13 am

I just read nogoodname's story and oh my god I missed that completely. Thanks for the legend digging and thanks a lot for giving my girl closure - and apologies for having my knees snap under self imposed pressure. I'm not worthy oTL

Before it happened, I had indeed produced a couple more pictures (in spoilers) that you may use or not at your absolute discretion.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/1a9a4893-1e17-489d-813f-9ea9c11bb32e/ddzn9vf-7f23ece3-2cf3-4932-b8f5-13b89d3c5580.png?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOiIsImlzcyI6InVybjphcHA6Iiwib2JqIjpbW3sicGF0aCI6IlwvZlwvMWE5YTQ4OTMtMWUxNy00ODlkLTgxM2YtOWVhOWMxMWJiMzJlXC9kZHpuOXZmLTdmMjNlY2UzLTJjZjMtNDkzMi1iOGY1LTEzYjg5ZDNjNTU4MC5wbmcifV1dLCJhdWQiOlsidXJuOnNlcnZpY2U6ZmlsZS5kb3dubG9hZCJdfQ.a44-RVCF2oJ0ZB2c5ogE2kJknueYBivVAhBZ7G580uw)
(https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/1a9a4893-1e17-489d-813f-9ea9c11bb32e/ddzs8cv-c3563488-a639-4ed9-9ee9-9749020ab07a.png?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOiIsImlzcyI6InVybjphcHA6Iiwib2JqIjpbW3sicGF0aCI6IlwvZlwvMWE5YTQ4OTMtMWUxNy00ODlkLTgxM2YtOWVhOWMxMWJiMzJlXC9kZHpzOGN2LWMzNTYzNDg4LWE2MzktNGVkOS05ZWU5LTk3NDkwMjBhYjA3YS5wbmcifV1dLCJhdWQiOlsidXJuOnNlcnZpY2U6ZmlsZS5kb3dubG9hZCJdfQ.fXCPyOGf7zIapyMNXdnSQWMXlhY9d1Oorjb_ypHdNoQ)

Well, my interpretation of Ngethac seems to have been a little off, ha ha.

Those pictures are awesome, Cathar! I'll edit them into my post.

Title: Re: Museum III adventure game
Post by: tonnot98 on February 06, 2021, 05:30:58 pm

Four adventurers slain by Howling Freaks! I kept running into those damned things at every turn up in the north!

Title: Re: Museum III adventure game
Post by: Glloyd on February 06, 2021, 05:46:04 pm

Yeah, that's how Iden lost his leg. Those things can be deadly, and they're all over the north.

Also, at this point I think Lukepop should be skipped and we should move on. They've had plenty of time, and we need to keep things moving along.

Title: Re: Museum III adventure game
Post by: Quantum Drop on February 06, 2021, 05:46:25 pm

Quote from: tonnot98 on February 06, 2021, 05:30:58 pm

Four adventurers slain by Howling Freaks! I kept running into those damned things at every turn up in the north!

Out of curiosity, were they wandering (showing up as * on the map) or were you just finding lairs everywhere? Would be interesting to see how Night Troll placement in the north compares to the Tundra of Heroes (which is like walking over a teenager's face, except with lairs instead of acne).

Also, I feel we should move on to Th4dwArfY1. It's been two weeks (roughly) since Lukepop started, and there hasn't been a peep from them.

Title: Re: Museum III adventure game
Post by: tonnot98 on February 06, 2021, 06:03:34 pm

Quote from: Quantum Drop on February 06, 2021, 05:46:25 pm

Quote from: tonnot98 on February 06, 2021, 05:30:58 pm

Four adventurers slain by Howling Freaks! I kept running into those damned things at every turn up in the north!

Out of curiosity, were they wandering (showing up as * on the map) or were you just finding lairs everywhere? Would be interesting to see how Night Troll placement in the north compares to the Tundra of Heroes (which is like walking over a teenager's face, except with lairs instead of acne).

Also, I feel we should move on to Th4dwArfY1. It's been two weeks (roughly) since Lukepop started, and there hasn't been a peep from them.

One lair that I sought out, the rest ambushed me sometimes in pairs.

Title: Re: Museum III adventure game
Post by: Bralbaard on February 07, 2021, 03:50:31 am

No response from Lukepop, we'll move on.

It's probably a good idea to move to the new DF release, if we are lucky it may make the game a bit more stable.

Title: Re: Museum III adventure game
Post by: Glloyd on February 10, 2021, 12:09:34 pm

It's been a few days, any word from Th4dwArfY1?

Title: Re: Museum III adventure game
Post by: Bralbaard on February 11, 2021, 07:06:36 am

Quote from: Glloyd on February 10, 2021, 12:09:34 pm

It's been a few days, any word from Th4dwArfY1?

No response, Yarlig is next..

Title: Re: Museum III adventure game
Post by: TheFlame52 on February 11, 2021, 01:15:50 pm

I shouldn't have cut my adventure short.

Title: Re: Museum III adventure game
Post by: Quantum Drop on February 11, 2021, 01:59:17 pm

At the risk of coming off as overly pessimistic or skip-happy, it looks like Yarlig hasn't been active for a couple weeks. Hopefully they'll be able to pick up the game, but I wouldn't exactly count on it.

Oh, and Flame? Having thought some more on it, I'm fine with you killing (or trying to kill) Lonelythrall during your next turn.

Title: Re: Museum III adventure game
Post by: TheFlame52 on February 11, 2021, 06:01:28 pm

Quote from: Quantum Drop on February 11, 2021, 01:59:17 pm

Oh, and Flame? Having thought some more on it, I'm fine with you killing (or trying to kill) Lonelythrall during your next turn.

May the best abomination win!

Title: Re: Museum III adventure game
Post by: Yarlig on February 12, 2021, 05:56:29 pm

No worries' I just downloaded the save; going to start this evening or tomorrow' sorry for the holdup there.

Title: Re: Museum III adventure game
Post by: Quantum Drop on February 12, 2021, 06:40:51 pm

Quote from: Yarlig on February 12, 2021, 05:56:29 pm

No worries' I just downloaded the save; going to start this evening or tomorrow' sorry for the holdup there.

Good to hear! Here's hoping that third time's the charm.

Title: Re: Museum III adventure game
Post by: Glloyd on February 17, 2021, 04:55:22 pm

How's it going Yarlig? It's been the better part of a week.

Title: Re: Museum III adventure game
Post by: Yarlig on February 18, 2021, 01:28:01 pm

Quote from: Glloyd on February 17, 2021, 04:55:22 pm

How's it going Yarlig? It's been the better part of a week.

Surprisingly well' actually; I managed to reach Boltspumpkin this time and leave a small submission; then I went out to achieve something better. Most of my plans fell short of the mark' and I wasted a lot of time hunting down one of Bob's skulls' but still got decent results in all; now I want to make one last expedition before my inevitable death and'll likely post the save sometime in the evening.

I actually started writing my log right away this time' but it's been pretty slow; you can expect the first update soon' if everything goes right. All in all' it was quite an experience' I don't think I learned so much about advMode ever since my first couple playthroughs.

Title: Re: Museum III adventure game
Post by: Yarlig on February 18, 2021, 03:47:47 pm

Also making a new post on this because it seems there's a serious problem with player-made fortresses. I visited Gor and Duskhome and they both had no buildings at all; I loaded them up in fortress mode and in 47.04 those buildings do show up' while in 47.05 it just crashes the game. No idea what could possibly be the cause of this' but I'd say it makes building new forts questionable at the very least.

In other news' I ded.
Here's the save:
https://dffd.bay12games.com/file.php?id=15424
My official submission is: hands of Hob Tileddoctrines' leader of the last major necromancer coven' now stuck crippled and defenseless in his tower.
My unofficial submissions are:
Skull of the Murky Filths to be added to the library of whispers;
Head and bearings of Thon Scarone' retrieved from the cave in which he had met his end;
And roughly a dozen of mostly useless artifacts.

Hopefully we manage to work around those issues' I think Eric visited Duskhome at some point and reported nothing unusual? Perhaps only the latest saves are broken like this.

Title: Re: Museum III adventure game
Post by: nogoodnames on February 18, 2021, 04:40:59 pm

Hmm... I can unretire LanceSavage with no issue, but EmeraldCrown crashes. It also crashes in TheFlame's save but is fine on the last one I uploaded (post necro-experiment cleanup). Could be related to being visited by an adventurer in 47.05, or maybe some bugged migrants that moved in since then.

The error log just shows a bunch of

Code: [Select]

succession traveler placed out of boundsmessages.

Edit: Unretiring EmeraldCrown from TheFlame's save in 47.04 also crashes, so it's not just the new version. It's fine in Quantum Drop's save so the corruption seems to be relatively recent.

Title: Re: Museum III adventure game
Post by: TheFlame52 on February 18, 2021, 05:18:25 pm

There are several refugee camps that will crash your game. One I noted is around my goblin capital and I'm pretty sure the law-giver is there.

Title: Re: Museum III adventure game
Post by: Yarlig on February 18, 2021, 06:34:25 pm

Duskhome and Gor were both constructed by Imic during his last turn' and Emeraldcrown was the next one; Relicward seems to unretire perfectly fine though' and so does Archquakes. Perhaps it has something to do with the fact those problematic sites were built during the height of the overpopulation crisis?

That being said' this 'succession traveler' bug seems to be in the game since 2014:
https://bay12games.com/dwarves/mantisbt/view.php?id=7808
Someone mentioned the possibility of an overflow error in the comments there' similar to what we had previously' I think; refugee camps are likely suffering from the same issue; although visiting those sites in advMode doesn't yield any problems with population' artifacts are present also; only buildings seem affected.

Title: Re: Museum III adventure game
Post by: Quantum Drop on February 18, 2021, 07:38:26 pm

Added Yarlig's adventurers to the table (though it may be a bit inaccurate).

A warning to anyone about to go legends-diving in the current save: LV really doesn't like something in legends_plus.xml (to be exact, it came up with an unhandled exception error, stating that an 'input string is not in a correct format'; this seemed to crop up somewhere in the loading of the Events section), so you may have to do without the legends_plus file for now. I'm not sure whether this is due to DFHack 47.05 still being in beta right now, or if it's down to some issue with the save file.

I'll have a look about in adventure mode this weekend, and try to find out if any of the older player-built sites are bugged or otherwise inaccessible. If they are, it might be an idea to add a note to the site's description on the list on the first page (which needs a bit of updating anyway, by the look of it).

Title: Re: Museum III adventure game
Post by: Yarlig on February 19, 2021, 08:11:26 am

Quote from: Quantum Drop on February 18, 2021, 07:38:26 pm

Added Yarlig's adventurers to the table (though it may be a bit inaccurate).

Nah' I think all's correct' except I don't recall killing any megabeasts. Though you might want to change 'struck down by an angel' to 'punched in the foot by an angel'. I don't think I've died such an absurd death ever before:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/a1334463-8801-46e1-981e-b6460bcc4474/deehep7-7dce991b-0977-49bf-abe8-e4d3d4aa8ac5.png/v1/fill/w_1192,h_670,q_70,strp/zrzut_ekranu__1151__by_yarlig_deehep7-pre.jpg?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOiIsImlzcyI6InVybjphcHA6Iiwib2JqIjpbW3siaGVpZ2h0IjoiPD03MjAiLCJwYXRoIjoiXC9mXC9hMTMzNDQ2My04ODAxLTQ2ZTEtOTgxZS1iNjQ2MGJjYzQ0NzRcL2RlZWhlcDctN2RjZTk5MWItMDk3Ny00OWJmLWFiZTgtZTRkM2Q0YWE4YWM1LnBuZyIsIndpZHRoIjoiPD0xMjgwIn1dXSwiYXVkIjpbInVybjpzZXJ2aWNlOmltYWdlLm9wZXJhdGlvbnMiXX0.vCrIk7GbmE43suqB5Xcf1HSMJVDnFsvnwwYgOJja2qQ)

On the bug front' I ran some minor tests and noticed the following:

Luckyowl's save is unaffected by bugs' so the cutoff point seems to be between turns 33 and 34;

Adventurer sites are also affected in that no structures appear in advMode; Monkeycurse is broke' Shelter of Adventurers is not; again' problems seem to arise in sites built in the turns 27 through 29. Curiously' ashes from campfires seem to remain on site even when it's bugged.

Newly built adventurer sites seem to work fine as well.

Title: Re: Museum III adventure game
Post by: Quantum Drop on February 19, 2021, 09:29:12 am

Yeah, that was me forgetting that Giants are SMBs, not MBs. It's been edited appropriately and the cause of death amended.

Also, when you say Monkeycurse is broken, do you mean 'crashes the game when you go there' broken, or 'The pyramid/workshops aren't there anymore, but Raki's corpse/the slab/etc. are' broken?

Title: Re: Museum III adventure game
Post by: Yarlig on February 19, 2021, 10:29:22 am

Thanks for the update' much appreciated! Erith was essentially a glob of sludge barely kept together by her armor at that point' so the slightest hit would cause her to fall apart; I think I just understood what vomit titans feel like all the time.

It only crashes when loaded in fort mode; you can visit them safely as adventurer' but the only things are people' artifacts' and ashes from campfires; Raki's corpse was missing' IIRC (which means the mission to revive him should be retired so as not to mislead newcomers). It might crash if you try to build a fort over the adventurer site' but I didn't check if it's actually the case.

Title: Re: Museum III adventure game
Post by: Quantum Drop on February 19, 2021, 12:09:25 pm

Quote from: Yarlig on February 19, 2021, 10:29:22 am

Erith was essentially a glob of sludge barely kept together by her armor at that point' so the slightest hit would cause her to fall apart.

No pun intended, but: bloody hell! That sounds both incredibly nasty and kinda awesome.

Quote from: Yarlig on February 19, 2021, 10:29:22 am

It only crashes when loaded in fort mode; you can visit them safely as adventurer' but the only things are people' artifacts' and ashes from campfires; Raki's corpse was missing' IIRC (which means the mission to revive him should be retired so as not to mislead newcomers). It might crash if you try to build a fort over the adventurer site' but I didn't check if it's actually the case.

Damn, I just checked it out and see what you mean. Uklasut's on the ground right where you drop out of fast travel, so someone may be able to pick it up and store it back at the Museum or such, but the pyramid and everything else built on site are just completely gone. I should've revived him when I had the chance.

Title: Re: Museum III adventure game
Post by: TheFlame52 on February 19, 2021, 03:18:44 pm

If anyone could find that slab that used to be at the vault right next to Boltspumpkin, I would much appreciate. It seems to have gone missing.

Title: Re: Museum III adventure game
Post by: Bralbaard on February 20, 2021, 05:23:39 am

Raki, Nooo! 

He must have really angered the gods, I guess.
I'll update the relevant post later.. I did send Imic a message.
Worrying stuff about those lost sites.. I hope things will not be too unstable to continue.

Title: Re: Museum III adventure game
Post by: Imic on February 20, 2021, 05:41:19 am

Wait, really? I was not paying attention to the turn list, evidently. It’s a shame about Raki, I was really excited about where that story was going. Ah well, Dwarf Fortress giveth and Dwarf Fortress taketh away, I suppose. I’ll claim the save shortly, I have a dog to walk first.

Title: Re: Museum III adventure game
Post by: Yarlig on February 20, 2021, 08:08:09 am

As much as I am quite salty about the many different opportunities lost' I guess we could still weave a good tale around whole settlements just disappearing' if the game doesn't become borderline unplayable that is. This world just seems more and more like a laboratory for a bunch of warlocks.

That being said' I just compared how Relicward' the latest fort built' would behave in Eric's save and mine' and it seems to suffer from a different flavor of this bug; in that it doesn't crash fort mode' but all player-built structures are still missing. Seems I've been mistaken in thinking only those sites built during turns 27-29 are broken. Archquakes is the latest site to be seemingly unaffected' so I'm guessing any sites older than that should be fine too' no certainty though.
OTOH' completely new adventurer sites seem completely fine&dandy' everything's standing; I'm too unskilled to check out fort mode' but if somebody tried to build a new fortress and see if it vanishes afterwards' it would likely be quite informative.

Quote from: Quantum Drop on February 19, 2021, 12:09:25 pm

No pun intended, but: bloody hell! That sounds both incredibly nasty and kinda awesome.

And on that note' until I finally get to this part in writing' I guess it merits a description of Erith during her last days:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/a1334463-8801-46e1-981e-b6460bcc4474/deejlqz-b1c2d2b7-ce21-4edb-a8e9-55133389624d.png?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOiIsImlzcyI6InVybjphcHA6Iiwib2JqIjpbW3sicGF0aCI6IlwvZlwvYTEzMzQ0NjMtODgwMS00NmUxLTk4MWUtYjY0NjBiY2M0NDc0XC9kZWVqbHF6LWIxYzJkMmI3LWNlMjEtNGVkYi1hOGU5LTU1MTMzMzg5NjI0ZC5wbmcifV1dLCJhdWQiOlsidXJuOnNlcnZpY2U6ZmlsZS5kb3dubG9hZCJdfQ.5661LCC9mx5fAvpSJ1e35cdo86DAkNeT33NIZTBHrz8)
(Actually from a later save in which I tried to check if she's still recoverable' but I don't think anything changed)

The red bits are from a rotting curse I got while storming a necromancer tower; the pink ones are due to melting myself in Burnedmurdered; the rot actually started pretty tame with me just emitting miasma and having impaired vision; it then progressed to making my eyes' lungs and limbs unusable' then to this; I kinda wonder whether you can just fall apart when it advances enough.

Good luck out there' Imic!

Title: Re: Museum III adventure game
Post by: Imic on February 20, 2021, 11:59:55 am

In the depths of the Museum, there are one hundred journals, each one the tale of someone who ventured into the great unknown in the hopes of carving their name into one of Boltspumpkins' many plinths. This one is bound in stone, and on the front is carved the name Solon Riftworks.

---

Entry 1 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2w8k8HrXUN0)

---

What has become of our world? I have lived all my life in Mischiefpit, but word spreads quickly. There was a time when we traded with Duskhome in the north, but that trade has stopped. There are no great armies in this part of the world which could have slaughtered its people, did they dig too deep, and find something they should not have? And what of the hands of Planegifts? The ones who, for a brief moment, Dwarfed every other people upon Orid Xem with sheer numbers, and then just as quickly, vanished from existence? What of the Human Kingdoms of the south? The cold has begun to eat away at their peoples, their Cities and villages have been emptying, their crops left frozen and withered in their fields? Is the world getting colder? What of Raki and that terrible Pyramid in the north? What did he do? What has happened to him? What spurned him on to do what he did? And always, always is the Museum at the heart of everything. The place where every story begins... or ends, in one way or another. There was a time when I could satiate my curiosity in other ways, but I have given in. I need answers. I don't know what awaits me, but the world feels like it is unravelling at the seams, breaking apart at the weak spots. Is this the work of the Gods? Of the Blood God? Of the things that wait and hunger in the great beneath? Of some Magician or Goblin ruler? I do not know. I will not find all the answers, I am one Dwarf in an empty world, but I will not stop looking until I find... something. I do not know what. I shall make for Duskhome first, it's close-ish, and I can stop off at Mosshill on the way. From there, I shall make for the Museum. I can only pray I make it there alive.
(https://i.ibb.co/F81Jmyv/1.png)

---

Entry 2

---

(https://i.ibb.co/PrL6J7M/2.png)
I've made my way west, my plan is to cross the river here at the coast, as there's no good way to cross it further upstream for many miles.
(https://i.ibb.co/p0Ch7hS/3.png)
... It's a lot bigger than I remember.
(https://i.ibb.co/wgcQsn1/4.png)
I was worried for a while, but the Gods are with me, and the river delta was forgiving. Next stop, Mosshill.

---

Entry 3 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mSvbvufs1ik)

---

I kept walking through yesterday, and slept through the night. It's bright and early now, so I checked my map, and...
(https://i.ibb.co/nLsN38f/5.png)
... I've a long way to go.
(https://i.ibb.co/ckxQW8D/6.png)
Well, it's a beautiful day. There isn't so much as a lone farm in all this valley until you reach the mountains, not a speck of civilization in sight. I'd appreciate some company if it were available, but I enjoy the solitude as well, to a degree. The world is beautiful.
(https://i.ibb.co/zmq3frH/7.png)

---

(https://i.ibb.co/wc5G0LX/8.png)
I was following a stream northwards, and I came across a lake, almost completely hidden by the trees on every side, reaching down to the gentle waters. I didn't know this place existed. I've always wondered what's at the bottom of rivers and seas and lakes. Perhaps there are underwater caves down there? Perhaps there are fish which have never seen the light of day right down there, so close to the surface, and yet so far. I can't imagine a life like that. What beauty and art would there be to a life spent in absolute darkness? What would be the point of living? Maybe I should ask a Crundle, heh. Or better yet, a plump helmet. Ah well, there's still a long way to go. Best keep moving.
(https://i.ibb.co/bdY5Q1d/9.png)
And there I was talking about the beauty of the world... of course it had to rain.
(https://i.ibb.co/0t1Zd2t/10.png)
Well, a tree is as good a shelter as any, I suppose. The smell of woodsmoke from a campfire is a wonderful thing. I'll keep going tomorrow.

---

Entry 4

---

(https://i.postimg.cc/52nFRdkd/12.png)
Not much has happened today, though I found a patch of hills in the otherwise universally thick forest where the trees are a little less dense. It was nice to stay there for a little while, but I'm still not at Mosshill yet. The closer I get, the more i think about Gor, The Pit. I've heard strange and unpleasant stories about it, but I've also heard other things about it more recently, such as it disappearing entirely. I shouldn't... but... Maybe just a peek? I don't know. I'll reach Mosshill, then I'll decide on that.
(https://i.postimg.cc/CL837w55/14.png)
Mosshill is right ahead... and Gor is just across the mountains. It's so close... it'd just be a quick peek...

---

(https://i.postimg.cc/GtFjBg3L/15.png)
I wanted to reach Mosshill before nightfall, but it looks like I was too late for that. It'll have to wait until the morning, I'm tired and I don't want to get lost in these woods in the middle of the night. Here's to tomorrow!

---

Entry 5 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IHB6TINrO0I)

---

(https://i.postimg.cc/FzHjRr6Z/16.png)
I've reached Mosshill. It's a very small place, built as an Iron Mine for the Staff of Kissing as part of their revitalization. I've never been, but we at Mischiefpit have been trading with this place since it was first founded. I like it, it's cosy and welcoming, if cramped.
(https://i.postimg.cc/BnpNJzt4/17.png)
While looking around, I had a peek at their Temple, a little shrine to their Pantheon at the northern end of the Fort. I don't know many of their Gods, but I have heard of Alron Oiledsteels.
(https://i.postimg.cc/MZBDnHXs/18.png)
Whether or not a certain God is or isn't someone else's god in disguise is a heated topic that has probably caused religious wars, but I do know that the Staff of Kissing and the Walled Dye both traditionally agree that Alron and Uzol are the same God going by different names. Which one is the older name, however, is a matter that they never agreed on, though the long collapse of the Staff of Kissing followed by the long collapse of the Walled Dye had something of a dampening affect on people's desire to engage in international Theocratic debate over nomenclature.

Quote from: Imic on March 17, 2020, 07:03:21 am

Uzol, depicted as a Male Dwarf and associated with minerals.

Dwarven Gods aside, I was able to get an audience with the Fortress's leader. Well, I say audience, I knocked on the door and he said to come in, but the point stands.
(https://i.postimg.cc/760KrZ2Q/19.png)
His name is Asmel, he was a little spooked at first on account of me carrying an axe, but he quickly calmed down. We chatted for a while, and it quickly became clear that all is most definitely not well around here.
(https://i.postimg.cc/50zfcLpd/20.png)
Asmel is extremely anxious about the Duskhome business, but there are so few people here that if something terrible has happened, they can't afford to send anyone for fear of even a single death. For now, they're able to survive on what they make themselves, but they're extremely isolated, and the future is extremely uncertain for them. When I asked about Gor, he became unwiling to say anything at first, but he relented quickly on certain details. Shortly before Gor was founded, a strange Dwarf passed through the area, met with another stranger, and then disappeared into the woods. Soon after, a hunter found his corpse, seemingly after having simply lain down on the ground and died of starvation just out of sight of the trade depot. Then, Gor was founded. Rumours of its disappearance reached Asmel, but he had refused point blank to send even a single Dwarf to take a look at it. I prodded him further, but I couldn't get even another word on the matter out of him. He knows more, I can see it in his eyes, but it looks like I won't be getting answers any time soon. Discussions were more or less wrapped up by this, as Asmel became suspicious and passive aggressive after this, so I said my goodbyes and left. He was at least nice enough to give me some food for my journey though, which I am thankful for. I need to know. I know I shouldn't, but even if it's just to find an empty field, I must see it. This could be a terrible idea. I don't know what's down there... But I want to at least take a peek. Perhaps I'll find nothing. Perhaps I'll find something. But I need, need to know.
(https://i.postimg.cc/V6Tpwk4x/22.png)
If I make good time, I'll be there before the end of the day.
(https://i.postimg.cc/t4hrczKG/21.png)

---

The mountains are beautiful. I can't wait to reach Duskhome and see true peaks, tall enough to breach the clouds, like the ones from back home at Mischiefpit. I've heard that those mountains are even taller still than the ones I grew up in, perhaps some of the tallest in the world.
(https://i.postimg.cc/RVvQFz8y/23.png)

---

I've passed the snowline. Ahead of here is the Tundra of Heroes, the coldest place in the known world. Before that, however, is Gor. I cannot express how terrified I am of what I may find there, even if it is nothing.
(https://i.postimg.cc/Zq6CpWvc/24.png)

---

I'm almost there. This cold is unlike anything I've ever known. It cuts through your clothing, gets into your bones, and roots itself there. It's so cold. So cold...
(https://i.postimg.cc/NMzq04GP/26.png)

---

I've arrived.
(https://i.postimg.cc/jdVqQxK3/27.png)
There is something in the snow.
(https://i.postimg.cc/02r3QmhL/31.png)
It's not moving. I'm scared. I'm scared.
There's something else. It's up ahead.
I... I want to go home... I... I...
... It's coming.
(https://i.postimg.cc/Y9fRn2ZN/30.png)

---

The Journal ends here. It is not known how this journal entered the Museum's custody, but there is a bit of writing on the last page in different handwriting to the rest of the book, which simply says "Note: Could not find the body."

---

The End

---

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

My plan was to check a few places out to 100% confirm whether or not they still existed or not and provide the observations of a confused character in-Universe trying to get a handle on what was going on, but to quote myself, Dwarf Fortress giveth, and Dwarf Fortress taketh away. Rest in peace Solon Riftworks.

Title: Re: Museum III adventure game
Post by: Imic on February 20, 2021, 12:17:15 pm

I used some DFhack magic (embark-tools anywhere) to check out The Pit, Duskhome, and Monkeycurse, and I can confirm that all three have been erased off the face of the planet with nary a speck of dust left behind. I'm not going to say that Duskhome took an extremely large amount of work and pushed the limits of my sanity to the breaking point and I may be feeling the angry emotions right now, but let's just say that there may be a few murders in my local area over the next few days.

Title: Re: Museum III adventure game
Post by: TheFlame52 on February 20, 2021, 02:00:08 pm

Quote from: Imic on February 20, 2021, 12:17:15 pm

I used some DFhack magic (embark-tools anywhere) to check out The Pit, Duskhome, and Monkeycurse, and I can confirm that all three have been erased off the face of the planet with nary a speck of dust left behind. I'm not going to say that Duskhome took an extremely large amount of work and pushed the limits of my sanity to the breaking point and I may be feeling the angry emotions right now, but let's just say that there may be a few murders in my local area over the next few days.

That's a damn shame. Well, we've really pushed the game to its limit in this world, and something was bound to give.

Title: Re: Museum III adventure game
Post by: Imic on February 20, 2021, 02:59:33 pm

I went further with the testing. I have bad news. Relicward and Emeraldcrown are gone as well. I checked out Archquakes and Healedwhips as well, but both of them have been untouched by the corruption.

Title: Re: Museum III adventure game
Post by: Yarlig on February 20, 2021, 03:32:55 pm

I'd like to reiterate that there seems to be a pattern in that only forts constructed after Archquakes seem to be broken' while of adventurer sites only Monkeycurse is afflicted.

During my adventure' I personally visited Championvault' Healerlashes' Razorbridge' Mosshill' Duskhome and Gor; and have since checked Deepvaulted' Archquakes and Relicward; NGN and Imic have in addition researched Lancesavage and Emeraldcrown.

The forts that are to be tested now are:
The Iron Deep
Stockadeoutrage
Lashedjade
Homesafe
Shotgleeful
Shiptrails

It would also be worth checking whether any potential new fortresses are broken or not; adventurer sites' from my experience' work fine.

Title: Re: Museum III adventure game
Post by: Imic on February 20, 2021, 03:35:08 pm

I'm currently testing out whether or not new fortresses are broken or not, I'll head through the other Forts once I'm finished with that line of experimentation.

Title: Re: Museum III adventure game
Post by: Yarlig on February 20, 2021, 03:40:04 pm

Great! Mind if I also have quick look and edit it into this post? The sooner we get all possible information the better.

OK' Quantum beat me to it; I can also confirm that you can actually found a fortress over Monkeycurse w/out crashing; still wonder what could be causing Relicward to behave differently from the others.

Title: Re: Museum III adventure game
Post by: Quantum Drop on February 20, 2021, 03:45:44 pm

Can confirm that Iron Deep, Deepvaulted, Stockadedoutrage, Lashedjade, Homesafe, Shotgleeful, Shiptrails are all OK in Yarlig's save.

EDIT: Made a rough list, from what's been put in thread and what I've seen.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

• 1: Boltspumpkin: OK
• 2: The Iron Deep: OK
• 3: Stockadeoutrage: OK
• 4: Championvault: OK
• 5: Lashedjade: OK
• 6: Healerlashes: OK
• 7: Razorbridge: OK
• 8: Deepvaulted the Tower of Stars: OK
• 9: Mosshill the Mines of Iron: OK
• 10: Homesafe The Shrine of Guarding: OK
• 11: Shotgleeful: OK
• 12: Shiptrails: OK
• 13: LanceSavage: OK
• 14: The Shelter of Adventures: OK
• 15: Archquakes: OK)
• 16: Duskhome : Lost to the Corruption
• 17: The Pit : Lost to the Corruption
• 18: Monkeycurse : Lost to the Corruption
• 19: Emeraldcrown : Lost to the Corruption
• 20: Healedwhips the Awe-Inspiring despair-: OK
• 21: Relicward: Lost to the Corruption
• Jackaldens: Lost to the Corruption
• Ironfeast the Tomb of Gorging: Lost to the Corruption

Title: Re: Museum III adventure game
Post by: Imic on February 20, 2021, 03:55:33 pm

Sure, go ahead. I'm not 100% confident in saying that any and all new Forts made will be grand and fine, but I started a Fort, started an adventurer right beside it in Championvault, instantly got eviscerated by a weapon trap while I was trying to navigate my way out, and reclaimed the Fort. The Caravan and all seven Dwarves were still there, and hadn't been devoured by the shadow realm. Because I accidentally hyped it up in my last turn, I'd like to try and build The Pit 2: Electric Boogaloo before I properly hand in the save, but for the purposes of testing and determining what the feckiddy feck is going on, I present the Museum: turn 35 and a half. (https://dffd.bay12games.com/file.php?id=15428)

Edit: Lancesavage is clear.

Edit 2: Shiptrails is clear.

Edit 3: Homesafe is clear.

Edit 4: Deepvaulted is clear.

Edit 5: Razorbridge is clear.

Edit 6: Healerlashes is clear.

Edit 7: Championvault is clear.

Edit 8: Lashedjade is clear.

Edit 9: Stockadeoutrage is clear.

Edit 10: Irondeep is clear.

... I think that's it? Let me know if I'm wrong.

Title: Re: Museum III adventure game
Post by: Yarlig on February 20, 2021, 04:23:55 pm

I did check out Gor 2.0' and it does unretire fine' but it seems there're no buildings there; were there any in the first place?
OK' after rereading the 'Caravan and all seven Dwarves' part I take it that there were none to begin with. It might be clear' or it might suffer from the lighter version of this bug that Relicward also has.

And I can also confirm that Jackaldens is borked; seems Monkeycurse wasn't the only adventurer site affected; going to check if there're other sites like that now.

Title: Re: Museum III adventure game
Post by: Bralbaard on February 20, 2021, 05:18:52 pm

What was Jackaldens? I don't even have it on my map.

Hmm I'm up next... take your time to build the fortress, while I figure out what I'm going to do :-)

Title: Re: Museum III adventure game
Post by: Yarlig on February 20, 2021, 05:34:08 pm

Quote from: Bralbaard on February 20, 2021, 05:18:52 pm

What was Jackaldens? I don't even have it on my map.

Jackaldens was a camp Eric Blank built during his last turn; it's one of the few locations that're not included in the map yet. I'll put a mostly complete summary of those here soon.

That being said:

Shelter of Adventurers (Glloyd' turn 19) is fine;

Healedwhips (big unknown) is fine;

Moneycurse (Bralbaard' turn 28) is bugged;

Charcoal Pit (NoGoodNames' between turns 30 and 31) is bugged;

Jackaldens (Eric Blank' turn 31) is bugged;

Ironfeast (Quantum Drop' turn 32) is bugged;

I think that's all of them; with Imic's and Quantum's summaries we should have a mostly complete picture.

Title: Re: Museum III adventure game
Post by: Quantum Drop on February 20, 2021, 05:38:03 pm

Quote from: Bralbaard on February 20, 2021, 05:18:52 pm

What was Jackaldens? I don't even have it on my map.

Hmm I'm up next... take your time to build the fortress, while I figure out what I'm going to do :-)

Jackaldens was where those two werejackal adventurers (Pik and Desli) retired; a small camp in the middle of nowhere, like where I chose to retire Urus. I wonder if they're still around there, or if the Corruption ate them when it accidentally the camp.

EDIT: Ninja'd.

EDIT: Some good news: while the camps listed by Yarlig are bugged, their inhabitants (NGN's clown, at least one of the two werejackal adventurers, and Urus) are still around in case anyone wants to interact with them in adv mode.

Title: Re: Museum III adventure game
Post by: Bralbaard on February 20, 2021, 05:44:42 pm

For what it's worth, the world_sites_and_pops file still indicates that there are people and creatures at the erased sites.

Title: Re: Museum III adventure game
Post by: Yarlig on February 20, 2021, 05:48:27 pm

Yeah' the corruption doesn't affect people' artifacts and ashes from campfires; regular items are destroyed and terrain goes back to what it was before player intervention.

Title: Re: Museum III adventure game
Post by: Bralbaard on February 20, 2021, 06:36:18 pm

Ok, I've got something.

The world_sites_and_pops file lists the site numbers for the affected fortresses.
If you go into an old save file that is still working,  and copy the corresponding site-number.dat files and put it in our current save, the site is restored to working order.
I don't even want to know  what kind of trouble that could cause with overall save stability, because I have no clue how the files interact, but it works, as I've succefully loaded emeraldcrown in the current save.

Title: Re: Museum III adventure game
Post by: Imic on February 20, 2021, 06:41:17 pm

Just so that this goes on the record, "Climaxringed" was not the name I originally intended to use for the mysterious horror Fortress. I tried changing it twice, and it hasn't worked. Turns out I mislabeled the files and I have no unmodified copies of the original savegame from when my Adventurer died, and Climaxringed was the random name given to a test Fort I made to see if the area was 100% flat because there was an inconsistency in the embark screen. If it bugs me to the point of me just starting a third Fortress next door, please forgive me, it would have driven me nuts.

Edit: Bralbaard ninja'd me.

I haven't properly started building stuff yet, my game is paused and I just embarked. I'd be all for taking Braalbard's discovery as an option, but I'd strongly advise further stress testing before we commited to it, if we were to take that option.

Title: Re: Museum III adventure game
Post by: tonnot98 on February 20, 2021, 09:22:45 pm

The exploits of The Walled Dye are becoming too great for this world to bear. The army of the dead nearly laid low the kingdoms of the world, but they were stopped. Now the frantic expansion of the nearly-ruined dwarfen empire shakes the foundations of the earth. Fortress after fortress, hero after hero. Genocides on levels unseen before. Great beasts stir beneath the earth and beyond the stars, slavering at the thought of bursting forth with all of their eldritch strength to consume all that stand before them and erasing their victims from existence...

Holy-moly, how many times are we gonna have to rescue the world from being toyed with by us? And how valuable is this stress testing for the stability of future updates??

Title: Re: Museum III adventure game
Post by: Glloyd on February 20, 2021, 11:09:21 pm

Perhaps we should take another brief pause and open it up to testing with Braalbard's solution?

Title: Re: Museum III adventure game
Post by: Bralbaard on February 21, 2021, 02:25:45 am

Yes, I would propose a week of testing. I can upload a save game this evening with replacements based on the corrupted sites others have reported.

Title: Re: Museum III adventure game
Post by: Imic on February 21, 2021, 08:09:48 am

I'll do some extended messing around in Fortress mode to see if the Corruption pops up after more playtime has gone by, in my previous test I only left the Fort running for as long as it took me to pause the game and retire it. It might show up after extended playtime? Maybe? I think it's worth a check regardless.

Title: Re: Museum III adventure game
Post by: Bralbaard on February 21, 2021, 04:20:01 pm

Ok, the fixed save can be found  here. (https://dffd.bay12games.com/file.php?id=15432)

There's a bit more to report. Earlier I said that I had replaced the corrupted site-number.dat files. I actually found out now that starting from TheFlame's save, those files were gone completely.
The missing files were all of the site numbers from 1581 to 1593. This includes all the sites others have reported to be broken, and Granitehoods, a hillock that was apparently recently founded by the game itself.

The reason that I thought earlier that the files were broken instead of missing was because the game made new files for Gor and Duskhome when Yarlig tried to visit them, and therefore windows popped up a general prompt for me to overwrite  files when I copied the fixed files over.

I ended up copying the missing files from Luckyowls save game. This was the last save version where they were present.

I think we should properly test this before moving on.
Imic can probably just try and finish the fortress he was going to build, and we will start from his save if everything works out when the testing is done. In the meantime, anyone interested can try and find out if any other issues arise because of the fix. 

Edit: I already identified one additional issue. At least two other files are missing in recent versions, and in the save I uploaded:
region_snapshot-740.dat and region_snapshot-750.dat
These do not appear to be very important; they are used in legends mode to draw the historical maps, the maps from those years are now missing in legends mode, but it does not cause a crash.  I can easily fix this when I start my own turn later, we can continue testing with the uploaded version.

Title: Re: Museum III adventure game
Post by: Yarlig on February 21, 2021, 06:02:48 pm

This sounds like very good news; I'll try to poke around a bit with the testing.

In completely other news' I actually managed to write down the first part of my adventures this time' and with any luck' there'll be more soon; I might move it to one of my older posts and hold off on posting more until we're done bugfixing if it ends up causing confusion' so... let me know I guess. I'm no great writer' so it's kinda all over the place' but I hope it manages.
Anyway:

12 Obsidian, 754
Welcome, honored reader; my name is Nòm Shokmug, which stands for „Nòm the Cheese” in common parlance. And I daresay, I have earned this noble moniker. For yours truly is a universally known and renowned connoisseur of fine Cheeses; I have tasted and appreciated every flavour and form of the land – cow Cheese, pig Cheese, purring maggot Cheese; hard Cheese, soft Cheese, crunchy Cheese, squeaky Cheese; blueish-green marble-molded Cheese and Cheese with live purring maggots squirming inside. What variety, what a gamut of exquisite experiences!

It should not come as a surprise, therefore, that I serve as the chairgorlak of the Mischiefpit Cheese Society, which promotes the manufacturing and consumption of various Cheeses. The membership fee is a wedge of Cheese, of standard size, to be consumed by the chair. Limited discounts are available!

Mighty unfortunate it is, however, that the local caseiculture is quite substellar indeed. The local tribesmen, among whom I have lived for the past few years, subsist solely on spongy plump helmets and whatever game their hunters manage to catch in those desolate parts. What joys were stolen from the palates of such fine, hardy dwarves!

And so I elected to leave this place behind in search of greener pastures. Travelers and wood-walkers tell tales of thriving settlements in the North, where industrious dwarves engage in every craft and art. Perhaps there I shall finally find and devour the One Cheese that legends speak of and my life shall be fulfilled.

Since traversing the wilds is dangerous for a gentlegorlak of my stature, I designed to hire someone who would protect me from various beasties of the land; one Èrith, a young huntress and woodwalker from these parts, agreed to help me on my trek. She’s a cheery lass, maybe a little unrefined of taste and unskilled in the art of letters, but a good soul nonetheless.

(https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/a1334463-8801-46e1-981e-b6460bcc4474/dee5pn5-e8d4c356-6e28-4ca9-ae80-53683687c214.png?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOiIsImlzcyI6InVybjphcHA6Iiwib2JqIjpbW3sicGF0aCI6IlwvZlwvYTEzMzQ0NjMtODgwMS00NmUxLTk4MWUtYjY0NjBiY2M0NDc0XC9kZWU1cG41LWU4ZDRjMzU2LTZlMjgtNGNhOS1hZTgwLTUzNjgzNjg3YzIxNC5wbmcifV1dLCJhdWQiOlsidXJuOnNlcnZpY2U6ZmlsZS5kb3dubG9hZCJdfQ.S0lxvWGmNjNDqGXYaTG5II5rLbEo8APvBLI_0cZazpI)

So be it; let us venture forth for Cheese and Glory!

17 Obsidian, 754
We have been traveling for almost a week now, and I am inclined to say, Èrith has proven herself to be a fine companion for one so lowborn. More than once has she protected me with her own breast while ferocious beasts disturbed our peace, and spared no effort in showing them their proper place.

(https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/a1334463-8801-46e1-981e-b6460bcc4474/deeltqk-ee131610-4d9c-4ee4-9001-d7ebe6b8f829.png?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOiIsImlzcyI6InVybjphcHA6Iiwib2JqIjpbW3sicGF0aCI6IlwvZlwvYTEzMzQ0NjMtODgwMS00NmUxLTk4MWUtYjY0NjBiY2M0NDc0XC9kZWVsdHFrLWVlMTMxNjEwLTRkOWMtNGVlNC05MDAxLWQ3ZWJlNmI4ZjgyOS5wbmcifV1dLCJhdWQiOlsidXJuOnNlcnZpY2U6ZmlsZS5kb3dubG9hZCJdfQ.2xvzKNLvzO2-PI2WrbWT4ztbp-zYlcpWHFREjHUQPJ8)

I have also taken to the pastime of fowling in my travels, and have already hunted down two keæ! A stocky, green bird, fond of noise and mischief. I might yet become quite an outdoorsgorlak myself one day!

21 Obsidian, 754
Yesterday we arrived at the settlement of Mosshill, which seems like a pleasant enough community, if a bit out of the way. We stayed shortly to restock on victuals; sadly, there was no Cheese to be found, only mincemeats made of cave creatures. Therefore, we decided not to linger any longer.

When on our way back, we spotted a worn-down chap taking a rest in tall grass. On closer inspection, it became apparent that he was suffering from a severe case of the deads.

(https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/a1334463-8801-46e1-981e-b6460bcc4474/deeltq3-f1939503-33fc-4d23-a73e-cfebdc18ea97.png?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOiIsImlzcyI6InVybjphcHA6Iiwib2JqIjpbW3sicGF0aCI6IlwvZlwvYTEzMzQ0NjMtODgwMS00NmUxLTk4MWUtYjY0NjBiY2M0NDc0XC9kZWVsdHEzLWYxOTM5NTAzLTMzZmMtNGQyMy1hNzNlLWNmZWJkYzE4ZWE5Ny5wbmcifV1dLCJhdWQiOlsidXJuOnNlcnZpY2U6ZmlsZS5kb3dubG9hZCJdfQ.ykYSFrXexqrrbZEGNKZwLEd15DWEfR4FFPnaeezZlWk)

Being more experienced a conversationalist, I decided to inquire about his identity among the local villagers, while Èrith fended off scavengers and carrion-consumers. I was quite bemused to learn that the dwarf in question had been lying at the exact same spot for some twenty years now!

Bah! Dwarven layabouts!

2 Granite, 755
At twenty-eighth of Obsidian, we reached the thriving township of Championvault. Sadly, it seems to be going through a period of political turmoil; there was a large pile of corpses just outside the main citadel, and worst of all, some of them my gorlakkin!

(https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/a1334463-8801-46e1-981e-b6460bcc4474/deemtqg-888184e6-841a-4411-a09f-d9b0fdc8c0d2.png?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOiIsImlzcyI6InVybjphcHA6Iiwib2JqIjpbW3sicGF0aCI6IlwvZlwvYTEzMzQ0NjMtODgwMS00NmUxLTk4MWUtYjY0NjBiY2M0NDc0XC9kZWVtdHFnLTg4ODE4NGU2LTg0MWEtNDQxMS1hMDlmLWQ5YjBmZGM4YzBkMi5wbmcifV1dLCJhdWQiOlsidXJuOnNlcnZpY2U6ZmlsZS5kb3dubG9hZCJdfQ.o5VpO990pwVNMUPOHUsRUvAYMD2GhCPk9gVLPBBWtPM)

It was not an utterly unpleasant experience altogether, however. There was a secluded garden, very much to my liking, as well as a skull of a mighty bird, so large we could walk under it! And, let’s not forget, that it was the eve of a new year, and Èrith suggested we take some time to celebrate. As a rule I do abstain from drunken debauchery, but the occasion was auspicious, and I’ve grown quite fond of my traveling companion, so I decided to humor her. Èrith procured some beverages from the dwarves’ cellar, and so we drank and entertained ourselves with tales of famed heroes, like the one of Bashnom the Bashful and of Givel the Gavel, as well as the story of Oblong, which everyone knows well.

Most unfortunately, it seems we did overindulge just a little, for the quantity of alcohol set my head (think not racist jokes!) aspin. Èrith exchanged her armor for more comfortable apparel before our little celebration began and must have misplaced it somewhere. She had to make do with panoplies made by local smiths, which are of inferior quality. I for one liked the orange sheen of her old suit better than the grayish-white of this one.

We, however, found no Cheese to consume, so we made our way further west, where lies Duskhome, a dwarven “fortress” or so I’ve heard. Verily, when we arrived at the site we were flabbergasted to find no buildings to speak of, not even an ornate and representational entrance gate! There were, however, several dwarves scuttling about unbecomingly, as if not bothered by the sun in the slightest! A most unusual bunch forsooth. There were also some suspicious looking chap we agreed to avoid.

(https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/a1334463-8801-46e1-981e-b6460bcc4474/deemtbj-f564e756-4459-49e8-b075-2986cecfd3c7.png?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOiIsImlzcyI6InVybjphcHA6Iiwib2JqIjpbW3sicGF0aCI6IlwvZlwvYTEzMzQ0NjMtODgwMS00NmUxLTk4MWUtYjY0NjBiY2M0NDc0XC9kZWVtdGJqLWY1NjRlNzU2LTQ0NTktNDllOC1iMDc1LTI5ODZjZWNmZDNjNy5wbmcifV1dLCJhdWQiOlsidXJuOnNlcnZpY2U6ZmlsZS5kb3dubG9hZCJdfQ.2rkOzy7xhARpw0apjRcZeQaP4GARc_6RAPlvcz11szg)

We also found a number of priceless antiques just lying in the grass, and Èrith insisted we take some for safekeeping from eccentricities of the locals; I took a sceptre and a drinking vessel, while Èrith helped herself to some bijouterie and a peculiar metal object not unlike a prickly chestnut in shape.

And would you believe me, dear reader, that those dwarves, who roosted on wealth and hoarded treasure, had also no Cheese to speak of? Such paradoxical disparity is quite taxing even on patience so strong as mine. No wonder therefore that we opted to abandon those poor fools to their fate and strike east instead, where the mountain passes lie. Perhaps beyond the Tundra of Heroes shall we finally find some Cheese.

Title: Re: Museum III adventure game
Post by: Glloyd on February 21, 2021, 10:09:44 pm

If this all works out, hopefully we can re-add Raki's mission to the list.

Title: Re: Museum III adventure game
Post by: Bralbaard on February 22, 2021, 03:09:53 am

Quote from: Yarlig on February 21, 2021, 06:02:48 pm

In completely other news' I actually managed to write down the first part of my adventures this time' and with any luck' there'll be more soon; I might move it to one of my older posts and hold off on posting more until we're done bugfixing if it ends up causing confusion' so... let me know I guess.

By all means, continue writing. I'm quite enjoying reading the adventures of our cheese-loving friend! In any case, if you move stuff to older posts, make sure that you let us know of any updates you write so that we don't miss any.

Title: Re: Museum III adventure game
Post by: Imic on February 22, 2021, 08:01:38 am

If Gor is fixed, then Gor 2.0 doesn't need to exist. I might make a new Fort or two extra though, if it's an option.

Title: Re: Museum III adventure game
Post by: Bralbaard on February 22, 2021, 09:08:51 am

That is certainly an option.
I'll leave it open for testing all week, so there should be plenty of time.

Title: Re: Museum III adventure game
Post by: Yarlig on February 22, 2021, 04:46:29 pm

Quote from: Bralbaard on February 22, 2021, 03:09:53 am

Quote from: Yarlig on February 21, 2021, 06:02:48 pm

In completely other news' I actually managed to write down the first part of my adventures this time' and with any luck' there'll be more soon; I might move it to one of my older posts and hold off on posting more until we're done bugfixing if it ends up causing confusion' so... let me know I guess.

By all means, continue writing. I'm quite enjoying reading the adventures of our cheese-loving friend! In any case, if you move stuff to older posts, make sure that you let us know of any updates you write so that we don't miss any.

Good to hear! I'll likely do that with the descriptions of my old adventures. For now' expect more gorlak buffoonery coming soon; a few familiar faces will be making an appearance' in various capacities.

Title: Re: Museum III adventure game
Post by: Lurker Z on February 24, 2021, 11:35:59 am

Put me down for a turn, please and thank you.

Edit: I read the latest comments (it'll take me a while to trudge through the whole thread) and I realized something interesting: is this a way to move forts between two different saves of the same world, and if so, is this something actively pursued on or expanded by some modding community, or something just discovered in this thread? If it's not unique here, are there links of discussions on this topic?

I found something interesting. In the legends viewer for the fixed version of the save, trying to view The Unholy Evil slab made by The Black crashes the viewer. Hopefully this is an isolated incident. Which is weird, because The Unholy Evil doesn't appear in Legends mode proper, even if it says in Viewer "The Unholy Evil a legendary sylvite slab (created, currently in possession of the human necromancer Glloyd Ancientborn the Round)".

Is the bug that keeps saying someone stole something from a town and stored it in another and then "stole" it from that town and then stored it in another and so on something of this version of the game, or is it of this save in particular? Funnily enough, you can follow adventurers' trails just by the items they keep "storing" and "stealing" until their end, one way or another.

Quote from: Bralbaard on March 10, 2020, 01:56:47 pm

5:"Heavenheaters the fair peace", a perfect wood opal A wood opal: The remains of a fossilized tree, turned into gemstone by the earth itself. An unknown artist changed this gem into a priceless artifact. It was brought here from the human town of Strifefularmor by the adventurer Abpa Glitterirons (TheFlame52)

Is it worth mentioning that it was given the name by the human Pevit Glazepadded in 585 in likely honor of her god (of, unsurprisingly, peace) Loli Fairclearing?

More edit, more fun, our buddy Glazepadded appears in Viewer but not in Legends Mode.

...and in Legends Mode, Loli is a deity... that was born in 105... and died in 132...

I must ask again, is the version of the game buggy or is it the save?

Title: Re: Museum III adventure game
Post by: Bralbaard on February 24, 2021, 06:35:20 pm

I'll add you to the list.

We're still testing to see if it's actually stable. That is certainly an interesting idea though. During testing I've messed around a bit already, you can at least not swap different sites with each other by renaming files. It instantly crashes the game.

Title: Re: Museum III adventure game
Post by: Bralbaard on February 25, 2021, 01:24:03 pm

Some bad news.

Duskhome and Gor still crash the game (in fortress mode, at least). Likely because Yarlig tried to visit them and the game made new site files for them, which apparently can not be replaced with the original versions without causing crashes. I'm afraid these sites can not be saved, but I will try some additional things and will check if they might work in adventure mode.
Edit 1: Duskhome crashes adventure mode as well, I'm assuming Gor will be the same, I will have to replace both with Yarlig's version to at least stop the crashes from happening.. :(.

Relicward and Emeraldcrown appear to have been succesfully saved, I have not checked the others. 

Edit 2: Monkeycurse is fine

Edit 3: in Reply to Lurker Z who has also edited new information into his post: This save file was getting unstable already before the bug that we are currently trying to fix. Not many people play the game like we do here, with many, many adventurers and dozens of fortresses in a single game, so it is likely that bugs pop up sooner or later.
We already had to edit the save earlier to remove 2,5 billion undead that appeared out of nowhere and were causing crashes.
The earlier museum games had similar issues (because of different bugs), like we did back then, will try to keep going for as long as possible. The world may very well fall apart around us though. 

Title: Re: Museum III adventure game
Post by: Imic on February 25, 2021, 01:47:03 pm

That’s a shame. I guess the game decided I was building too many Fortresses, so it culled a couple of them to send a message. Well, too bad game, I won’t stop building Fortresses until I’ve built so many that my Adventurers start naturally growing Fortresses from their inevitable corpses by default to speed up time in my quest to cover every inch of the world map in Fortresses! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! YOU CANNOT STOP ME, FOOLISH GAME, YOU CAN BUT SLOW ME DOWN!

... I’m going to go get a cup of tea.

Title: Re: Museum III adventure game
Post by: Yarlig on February 25, 2021, 02:05:51 pm

I did check Duskhome' and it CTDed me in advMode also. However' it and Gor are the only known to be bugged sites I visited' so those are likely the only ones; unless Flame visited some place like this' but it's fairly unlikely' as nothing unusual came up at that time.

Sorry for all this mess; if I were the last to have played' I'd've suggested we simply restart from an earlier save' but I don't want to impose' Imic having already played his turn.

Also' Lurker Z' concerning your questions - most of what you listed seems not to be bugs' but courtesy of historical information being flagged as hidden during worldgen' and legends viewer being unable to read some data properly. So no worries about those at least' we're fine on that front.

Edit: irrelevant now

Title: Re: Museum III adventure game
Post by: Bralbaard on February 25, 2021, 02:18:58 pm

Don't worry about it Yarlig, it's an unfortunate bug that none of us could have prevented. It was already present in TheFlame's turn, so to properly revert to before it occured will take us back to Luckyowl. That is not really an option in my opinion, it is a shame about Imic's sites though

Just an idea:
To not let the work Imic put into Duskhome and Gor be wasted, we could have some sort of event where everyone gets to try and explore these sites in a save where they are still working and post their stories. I could link the stories in a "legends of Gor and Duskhome" section. Basically they would be myths about places that no longer exist in our reality.

Title: Re: Museum III adventure game
Post by: Yarlig on February 25, 2021, 06:00:52 pm

You're right' got a bit angry at myself there for not spotting this earlier' no point ruminating on it now though.

Personally' I'm very much in favor of holding this open exploration event; those sites already had an eerie feeling about them' it would only be logical to have legends and conspiracy theories grow around them now that they're gone.

Title: Re: Museum III adventure game
Post by: Imic on February 25, 2021, 06:51:12 pm

If someone wants to do something like that, I have no objections. Could be interesting to see how things pan out in that direction.

Title: Re: Museum III adventure game
Post by: Lurker Z on February 25, 2021, 07:02:42 pm

Quote from: Yarlig on February 25, 2021, 02:05:51 pm

Also' Lurker Z' concerning your questions - most of what you listed seems not to be bugs' but courtesy of historical information being flagged as hidden during worldgen' and legends viewer being unable to read some data properly. So no worries about those at least' we're fine on that front.

Pretty sure (the official) Legends Mode telling me something it calls a deity was born in 100ish and died in 100ish is a bug.
And that slab is definitely bugged. I found more slabs and they don't crash Legends Viewer when I click them.
Also I've seen a ton of duplicate entries like these: https://imgur.com/GVIDpnV
I don't mean to imply anything negative when I point out these bugs, I don't blame anyone. I'm just pointing them out because I found them and thought people might be interested in them/what to avoid (because it's unlikely they can get fixed).

Hey, Bralbaard, I appreciate your work and that you've put so much of yourself in this project for years. That I haven't posted in the other topics doesn't mean that I didn't lurk around and enjoyed the world of the first museum, I even posted for a turn once, but had computer troubles before I could play, so that's that. Don't beat yourself over the losses, as long as we have the world, there's even more adventures to be gained. Like Imic said, we'll survive and drag the world into surviving with us as far as we can.

Title: Re: Museum III adventure game
Post by: nogoodnames on February 25, 2021, 08:24:04 pm

You're misreading the birth/death dates. Those are for the next person named Loli (a regular human.)

(https://i.imgur.com/lyoucy2.png)

The rest of the things are pretty common and not specific to this save.

Title: Re: Museum III adventure game
Post by: Lurker Z on February 25, 2021, 08:57:45 pm

Quote from: nogoodnames on February 25, 2021, 08:24:04 pm

You're misreading the birth/death dates. Those are for the next person named Loli (a regular human.)

https://i.imgur.com/lyoucy2.png

The rest of the things are pretty common and not specific to this save.

Great to know, thanks for the info.

Title: Re: Museum III adventure game
Post by: Yarlig on February 27, 2021, 05:02:56 pm

I've been writing on and off for some time now' so here's part 2 of Nom's log. Enjoy!

(also' after some consideration' consider me interested in playing another turn)

5 Granite, 755
After several days’ journey, we made a stop at a small village of Seedwatch, not long before sundown. As there seemed to be some sort of commotion, Èrith decided to scout ahead while I awaited her return in a hut at the outskirts. When she returned, she was drenched head to toe, which I found most puzzling, since the sky was clear. Could the humidity be so high? Perhaps it is so. She asked that we depart immediately, and I obliged. The local weather could well exacerbate my rheumatism.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/a1334463-8801-46e1-981e-b6460bcc4474/deelvfj-4eb1ea06-d9f2-4b5a-ab3a-62d3ab5abcd2.png?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOiIsImlzcyI6InVybjphcHA6Iiwib2JqIjpbW3sicGF0aCI6IlwvZlwvYTEzMzQ0NjMtODgwMS00NmUxLTk4MWUtYjY0NjBiY2M0NDc0XC9kZWVsdmZqLTRlYjFlYTA2LWQ5ZjItNGI1YS1hYjNhLTYyZDNhYjVhYmNkMi5wbmcifV1dLCJhdWQiOlsidXJuOnNlcnZpY2U6ZmlsZS5kb3dubG9hZCJdfQ.gbpSoGJh2Y8pcTDOOVoir7vwXLBEWAoFIiMp6vq1xmM)
Apparently’ Swordgleamed is not the only place with the bandit infestation problem’ although the asterisk ran away somewhere as I entered fast travel and I was in no mood to follow it. Honestly thought I was a goner there. Immediately as I spawned in the middle of these lot’ they went into non-lethal fight mode’ and I only escaped by ‘y’ielding and bunny-hopping away as they kept spitting at me. There was no way I could win this fight’ tired myself out just by dodging away from all the flying saliva.

Following the rising moon, we reached Muffincasket, where we intended to stay the night. But fate had different plans for us, for when we knocked on the door of a hillside house, an abominable brute burst forth, emitting a piercing howl, and I might have spotted a horribly bloodied carcass in the corner of the house as the door opened. Èrith had the presence of mind to grab me and leap of the slope, and so we fled without looking back. Would you imagine, dear reader, that for the first time since leaving the familiarity of endlessly looping caverns, was I truly afraid? Èrith seemed quite shaken by this also, thus we went on in silence, deeming it unwise to stop until we found a more placid locale.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

A second brush with death in a day; didn’t even take a screenshot because I was too panicked. A howling freak actually charged at me from inside the house. Took a leap of faith down the nearest non-lethal slope hoping it would make him lose aggro’ and it did’ so I was able to fast-travel away. Else we’d likely have two more characters killed courtesy of a night creature.

It was only in the darkest of night that we managed to reach the town of Pricerings, a large, yet sparsely populated settlement. The bitterly cold, long nights seem to have pushed the locals to embrace the macabresque; I shan’t forget the twisted grimace of a garden-gnome that emerged from the snow in front of one of the houses.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/15/Golden_lion_tamarina_vocalization.jpg/1024px-Golden_lion_tamarina_vocalization.jpg)
(https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/a1334463-8801-46e1-981e-b6460bcc4474/deelvfm-bbd02c71-9c8d-4935-a8f8-da4115504cfa.png?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOiIsImlzcyI6InVybjphcHA6Iiwib2JqIjpbW3sicGF0aCI6IlwvZlwvYTEzMzQ0NjMtODgwMS00NmUxLTk4MWUtYjY0NjBiY2M0NDc0XC9kZWVsdmZtLWJiZDAyYzcxLTljOGQtNDkzNS1hOGY4LWRhNDExNTUwNGNmYS5wbmcifV1dLCJhdWQiOlsidXJuOnNlcnZpY2U6ZmlsZS5kb3dubG9hZCJdfQ.ByMgjBKGcn0q-A99DiznLV3tmaxGa0Qj3ji6jo5NxHc)
(https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/a1334463-8801-46e1-981e-b6460bcc4474/deelvfv-f601f42b-129d-4083-b538-c6367536eb77.png/v1/fill/w_1280,h_62,q_80,strp/raki2_by_yarlig_deelvfv-fullview.jpg?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOiIsImlzcyI6InVybjphcHA6Iiwib2JqIjpbW3siaGVpZ2h0IjoiPD02MiIsInBhdGgiOiJcL2ZcL2ExMzM0NDYzLTg4MDEtNDZlMS05ODFlLWI2NDYwYmNjNDQ3NFwvZGVlbHZmdi1mNjAxZjQyYi0xMjlkLTQwODMtYjUzOC1jNjM2NzUzNmViNzcucG5nIiwid2lkdGgiOiI8PTEyODAifV1dLCJhdWQiOlsidXJuOnNlcnZpY2U6aW1hZ2Uub3BlcmF0aW9ucyJdfQ.WJ9M6VTZ6utRC15o_K3Rf0z_ZnpdNs3pbFPosWuw2Ec)
DF immortalizing characters in statues and wall carvings is one of the best things about playing long games like this. There’s actually a second statue of Raki’ and interestingly’ as the centerpiece of a temple. My headcanon is that the locals are using his likeness to ward off evil spirits.

Scouring the town, we met a well informed goblin, reputedly a representative of the municipal government. He and Èrith immediately took to each other, and discussed the local surroundings, interspersing their conversation with moderately savoury jokes. However, when I attempted to show some appreciation for his help, the pesky little varmint spurned me!

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/a1334463-8801-46e1-981e-b6460bcc4474/deexrg8-10eaed89-61fb-4682-91cb-b05603a891bf.png?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOiIsImlzcyI6InVybjphcHA6Iiwib2JqIjpbW3sicGF0aCI6IlwvZlwvYTEzMzQ0NjMtODgwMS00NmUxLTk4MWUtYjY0NjBiY2M0NDc0XC9kZWV4cmc4LTEwZWFlZDg5LTYxZmItNDY4Mi05MWNiLWIwNTYwM2E4OTFiZi5wbmcifV1dLCJhdWQiOlsidXJuOnNlcnZpY2U6ZmlsZS5kb3dubG9hZCJdfQ.XrWqazJG4-oCeju-NPaWKyOVfoWp2it7vQhPKO-JTo4)

Bah! What pests those goblins are. I have never been so offended since our departure from Mischiefpit! Nevertheless, we have been greatly enriched by the information concerning local and regional geography. After discussing the matter with Èrith, we decided to split temporarily in search of Cheese, with me staying behind in Pricerings to probe the few locals for more information, and her, being apparently more suited to parlaying with goblins, leaving for some of the more promising settlements in the east. Sincerely I hope that there are some civilized beings in this wretched backwater.

8 Granite, 755
Oh, how mistaken I was in thinking that Pricerings is but a husk of a town! As I familiarized myself with the locale, it became readily apparent that the surface-town lies upon a bedrock porous with tunnels, not unlike a fine specimen of yellow Cheese. Those tunnels are host to a variegated community of deep-dwellers, a veritable melting pot, bustling with activity from many ichthyic, reptilian and amphibian folk, as well as some goblins and humans.  They even have a pet troll they are trying to teach how to speak and keep playfully asking of him to identify himself! How droll!

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/a1334463-8801-46e1-981e-b6460bcc4474/deexfqe-15658795-84a3-4684-89d8-0b4d99615b2b.png?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOiIsImlzcyI6InVybjphcHA6Iiwib2JqIjpbW3sicGF0aCI6IlwvZlwvYTEzMzQ0NjMtODgwMS00NmUxLTk4MWUtYjY0NjBiY2M0NDc0XC9kZWV4ZnFlLTE1NjU4Nzk1LTg0YTMtNDY4NC04OWQ4LTBiNGQ5OTYxNWIyYi5wbmcifV1dLCJhdWQiOlsidXJuOnNlcnZpY2U6ZmlsZS5kb3dubG9hZCJdfQ.8ILe_tlIqE_v7RxnPtw20z1vEEwBosmtuA0Y4dOJ35c)

As I was writing these words, Èrith actually came back from her eastern expedition, and with more a spring to her step at that. It seems that various activities in the goblin settlements have energized her before the journey ahead, as well as allowing her to purchase new, superior equipment. It really is so that Èrith is capable of negotiating good transactions with those ornery greenskins!

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/a1334463-8801-46e1-981e-b6460bcc4474/deezz5p-c1fdcbda-4836-431a-b64a-09462c63cb9e.png?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOiIsImlzcyI6InVybjphcHA6Iiwib2JqIjpbW3sicGF0aCI6IlwvZlwvYTEzMzQ0NjMtODgwMS00NmUxLTk4MWUtYjY0NjBiY2M0NDc0XC9kZWV6ejVwLWMxZmRjYmRhLTQ4MzYtNDMxYS1iNjRhLTA5NDYyYzYzY2I5ZS5wbmcifV1dLCJhdWQiOlsidXJuOnNlcnZpY2U6ZmlsZS5kb3dubG9hZCJdfQ.4IKjQJngw1cdMgCe59cAr9peabt4p2F3fIbwfMJeTR8)
Erith is actually quite skilled in gunboat diplomacy.

Unfortunately, none of us were able to obtain even Cheese dusting to diversify our diet of shortbreads and wombat jerky, therefore we opted to set out north, cutting the great loop of the Purged Loot. With a greater density of settlements, this region will likely be the most promising for us.

12 Granite, 755
O woe! How a few uneventful days of journey can lull one into a false security, only to have cruel fate rear its head again!
Before you learn my predicament, o dear reader, I find it only proper to educate you about nuances of gorlak culture. It is oft forgotten that we consider girth to be a mark of affluence and social standing, so it is not uncommon for the finest of us to roll instead of walking. This in turn plays a part in the noble sport of gorlakball, in which many of our finest participate, not always unwillingly, as part of intercultural friendship celebrations shared with our brethren, the blind cave ogres. I, myself, while never able to attain such a feat, have always prided myself on being of considerable heftiness. Imagine my grief, o dear reader, when I found myself reduced to a fraction of myself, to the stature of a pauper, a beggorlak!
And how, you ask, did it come to pass? So it was that one evening, we spotted a curious parallelopiped of oily black stone and decided to try our luck and shelter there for the night. To assure our safety, we scoured its halls, whose silence was only sparingly broken by the crackling of flames, which seemingly were growing on the stone itself. In one of the corridors we found three sparkling dice, similar to those used by augurs to communicate with the gods. And so we rolled, to little immediate effect. Suddenly, I felt dazzled, and soon I found I could no longer speak, and that my body had become twisted and reshaped into that of a giant slithering monster.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/a1334463-8801-46e1-981e-b6460bcc4474/deexrfq-4b594836-0ae9-47a0-b132-ccd6c3c7c7db.png?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOiIsImlzcyI6InVybjphcHA6Iiwib2JqIjpbW3sicGF0aCI6IlwvZlwvYTEzMzQ0NjMtODgwMS00NmUxLTk4MWUtYjY0NjBiY2M0NDc0XC9kZWV4cmZxLTRiNTk0ODM2LTBhZTktNDdhMC1iMTMyLWNjZDZjM2M3YzdkYi5wbmcifV1dLCJhdWQiOlsidXJuOnNlcnZpY2U6ZmlsZS5kb3dubG9hZCJdfQ.hu0bjzBaKuIYJuciXOqYT5qRLa9pgWR-G5aP6uiJwsQ)

As it turned out, the curse was brief, and I am eternally grateful towards Èrith for keeping her composure and not putting me down as I thrashed about; and yet, as I turned back to my old self, I found myself robbed of my robust, cultivated form, my skin sagging and my complexion pallid.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Basically went from this:
(https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/a1334463-8801-46e1-981e-b6460bcc4474/deexrg1-45eb8d49-7bd7-4e22-b791-e7fc0cafdffb.png?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOiIsImlzcyI6InVybjphcHA6Iiwib2JqIjpbW3sicGF0aCI6IlwvZlwvYTEzMzQ0NjMtODgwMS00NmUxLTk4MWUtYjY0NjBiY2M0NDc0XC9kZWV4cmcxLTQ1ZWI4ZDQ5LTdiZDctNGUyMi1iNzkxLWU3ZmMwY2FmZGZmYi5wbmcifV1dLCJhdWQiOlsidXJuOnNlcnZpY2U6ZmlsZS5kb3dubG9hZCJdfQ.yMdGav90lM2qBbFnbS-jRx1e-pb1ARiwDj_1oArTuBg)
To this:
(https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/a1334463-8801-46e1-981e-b6460bcc4474/deexrfw-5cfb927a-2cee-40f8-b991-b5a859baf848.png?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOiIsImlzcyI6InVybjphcHA6Iiwib2JqIjpbW3sicGF0aCI6IlwvZlwvYTEzMzQ0NjMtODgwMS00NmUxLTk4MWUtYjY0NjBiY2M0NDc0XC9kZWV4cmZ3LTVjZmI5MjdhLTJjZWUtNDBmOC1iOTkxLWI1YTg1OWJhZjg0OC5wbmcifV1dLCJhdWQiOlsidXJuOnNlcnZpY2U6ZmlsZS5kb3dubG9hZCJdfQ.CQP0n0Om60-msViTnJc3_ZEiS0KkwOJByidhjdfBGCc)
Transformation will mess you up.

I’m tired. A month’s trek and not only did I fail in obtaining any Cheese, I can’t possibly show myself to my gorlakkin without becoming a laughingstock. I only have Èrith now, as my mirror, my light, my comfort and my true guide.

16 Granite, 755
After passing by a string of largely unremarkable settlements, excepting perhaps the wayside auberge of Healerlashes, where, after spending a pleasant afternoon and conversing with local dwarves, my spirits lifted somewhat after the unfortunate incident with the dice, we were fortunate to reach the castle and town of Boltspumpkin. Reputedly a place of fabulous wealth and fame, as the boorish goblin bureaucrat in Pricerings suggested, it is indeed a most interesting locale. The eccentric local potentate had his attendant show us around his kunstkabinett, which contained a number of pieces pertaining to natural history, ethnography, and, being perhaps unsurpassed in this regard, phrenology. In addition, his manor hosts a large, if somewhat sloppily managed library, and a well-stocked wine cellar. After our tour concluded, I inquired about the regional caseiculture, while Èrith shared a joke and haggled a bit with local serfs.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/a1334463-8801-46e1-981e-b6460bcc4474/deexsnn-2a7cea47-23fc-4882-8574-10c338fe07db.png?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOiIsImlzcyI6InVybjphcHA6Iiwib2JqIjpbW3sicGF0aCI6IlwvZlwvYTEzMzQ0NjMtODgwMS00NmUxLTk4MWUtYjY0NjBiY2M0NDc0XC9kZWV4c25uLTJhN2NlYTQ3LTIzZmMtNDg4Mi04NTc0LTEwYzMzOGZlMDdkYi5wbmcifV1dLCJhdWQiOlsidXJuOnNlcnZpY2U6ZmlsZS5kb3dubG9hZCJdfQ.P0K47LwTh9pTDxN1EKMNeBIzdt56WmAiBVzWrtigP1o)
(https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/a1334463-8801-46e1-981e-b6460bcc4474/deext7g-a1c0c07b-6fcb-4c86-93c0-512f8c0b3eba.png/v1/fill/w_1280,h_118,q_80,strp/fair_trade_by_yarlig_deext7g-fullview.jpg?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOiIsImlzcyI6InVybjphcHA6Iiwib2JqIjpbW3siaGVpZ2h0IjoiPD0xMTgiLCJwYXRoIjoiXC9mXC9hMTMzNDQ2My04ODAxLTQ2ZTEtOTgxZS1iNjQ2MGJjYzQ0NzRcL2RlZXh0N2ctYTFjMGMwN2ItNmZjYi00Yzg2LTkzYzAtNTEyZjhjMGIzZWJhLnBuZyIsIndpZHRoIjoiPD0xMjgwIn1dXSwiYXVkIjpbInVybjpzZXJ2aWNlOmltYWdlLm9wZXJhdGlvbnMiXX0.zd1kT1Ndpr9yWfWlplXDAaxsm6NXVHxrjoUaHf5MxYE)
Giving the single most deadly person in the world a crown made out of what could’ve well been his grandmother doesn’t sound like such a good idea now’ but it’s very much in character for Erith to do.

She also helped herself to a quantity of the fine red wine, to the joy of our hosts, but I declined to do likewise, having already imbibed my fill.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/a1334463-8801-46e1-981e-b6460bcc4474/deexsnt-322e85a7-5e54-4171-ada6-bb18b271d0f1.png?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOiIsImlzcyI6InVybjphcHA6Iiwib2JqIjpbW3sicGF0aCI6IlwvZlwvYTEzMzQ0NjMtODgwMS00NmUxLTk4MWUtYjY0NjBiY2M0NDc0XC9kZWV4c250LTMyMmU4NWE3LTVlNTQtNDE3MS1hZGE2LWJiMThiMjcxZDBmMS5wbmcifV1dLCJhdWQiOlsidXJuOnNlcnZpY2U6ZmlsZS5kb3dubG9hZCJdfQ.HeGAE_c5MCSccmMaVn97upvIqRgU3sfoVFunNyDqaxU)

Admittedly, I was also a tad disappointed by the lack of fine Cheeses to go with the drinks, but, as it seems, even the noble lords and ladies can hardly afford such rare delicacies. This does not bode well for our search.
To repay the hospitality, we left some curios collected along our trek, those being a worn-down helmet, which, according to expertise, bears the emblems of the Armored Confederacy, once a great civilization, on par with the Creamy Confederacy and the Empire of Peeks, now reduced by necromancer incursions to nomadism and banditry; and a wreath of kobold teeth, a rare mark of a dying species. We also offered to bring more interesting items in the future, should our paths align that way.

22 Granite, 755
Reinvigorated by our stay, we struck north, stopping by several goblin settlements, which Èrith would visit for more negotiations. Finding little luck, we pressed on to find a somewhat promising cave in the piedmont. We entered the tunnels to a somewhat lukewarm welcome, or more precisely a rather tepid (ha!) corpse of a dicephalous monstrosity, slumped against a stalactite and clutching its chest.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/a1334463-8801-46e1-981e-b6460bcc4474/deexsol-1a8fe849-9270-4e3a-9502-8481febd1955.png?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOiIsImlzcyI6InVybjphcHA6Iiwib2JqIjpbW3sicGF0aCI6IlwvZlwvYTEzMzQ0NjMtODgwMS00NmUxLTk4MWUtYjY0NjBiY2M0NDc0XC9kZWV4c29sLTFhOGZlODQ5LTkyNzAtNGUzYS05NTAyLTg0ODFmZWJkMTk1NS5wbmcifV1dLCJhdWQiOlsidXJuOnNlcnZpY2U6ZmlsZS5kb3dubG9hZCJdfQ.xcEpVEr_xO6smd9XoRYSxaAHl0xYObscp3S_37WbToc)
So it seems like Luckyowl did actually manage to kill his ettin’ although it took 43 years for the suffocation to set in. The game managed to register the item with which the killing blow was delivered (an iron shield) but forgot the arguably more important thing of who struck the blow.

Bypassing it, we entered into a more spacious chamber deep underground, where we came across more talkative inhabitants. An elderly lady, bearing arms, named Sekur, and her daughter Uzu. The patriarch of the family, one Tohwot, had died only weeks before our arrival. As it turned out, they had been calling the cavern their home for several decades now, ever since a friend named Thon led Tohwot and Sekur to this place. Following his departure, they decided to commit to marriage, apparently acting as their own priests in absence of ordained clergymen, and soon afterwards Uzu was born. The women informed us of a rather nettlesome neighbour, and Èrith agreed to talk to them on their behalf.
“Them” remains the most appropriate pronoun, as the neighbour in question was of the same stock as the carcass in the entryway. A somewhat awkward conversation soon led to a minor fisical altercation, in which Èrith emerged victorious.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/a1334463-8801-46e1-981e-b6460bcc4474/deexso3-c0d9921a-e8b4-46a7-9f8e-bd987ee8dc0c.png?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOiIsImlzcyI6InVybjphcHA6Iiwib2JqIjpbW3sicGF0aCI6IlwvZlwvYTEzMzQ0NjMtODgwMS00NmUxLTk4MWUtYjY0NjBiY2M0NDc0XC9kZWV4c28zLWMwZDk5MjFhLWU4YjQtNDZhNy05ZjhlLWJkOTg3ZWU4ZGMwYy5wbmcifV1dLCJhdWQiOlsidXJuOnNlcnZpY2U6ZmlsZS5kb3dubG9hZCJdfQ.ncbRulzn_xEUhD-ix_SSKKrfLosSHltAnIvTTxTlWGI)

In the end, however, all surviving parties were content with the settlement, and a minor celebration ensued.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/a1334463-8801-46e1-981e-b6460bcc4474/deexsoc-465aa8fe-0d60-47af-8fb3-5acabde3d743.png?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOiIsImlzcyI6InVybjphcHA6Iiwib2JqIjpbW3sicGF0aCI6IlwvZlwvYTEzMzQ0NjMtODgwMS00NmUxLTk4MWUtYjY0NjBiY2M0NDc0XC9kZWV4c29jLTQ2NWFhOGZlLTBkNjAtNDdhZi04ZmIzLTVhY2FiZGUzZDc0My5wbmcifV1dLCJhdWQiOlsidXJuOnNlcnZpY2U6ZmlsZS5kb3dubG9hZCJdfQ.r5-IrHMzHo7zQH2m9qmd577knbVqiIzgx7k-2Q_llHQ)
This is about how far my master plan of making a vampire infestation got.

Taking possession of what the neighbour had forfeited (no Cheese), we bid farewell to our hosts and turned back south, reaching Boltspumpkin in a few days. There, we left a lion’s share of our spoils, and decided to head northwards next. The wealthy lands of the High Confederacies and other realms beyond may prove more conducive to our search.

Title: Re: Museum III adventure game
Post by: Bralbaard on February 28, 2021, 02:03:11 pm

Yikes. I understand Èrith wanted to move on without speaking a word about her experiences in Seedwatch.
"We don't go to Seedwatch anymore"
 

Title: Re: Museum III adventure game
Post by: Quantum Drop on February 28, 2021, 03:59:10 pm

My sides hurt. It is a good pain.

On LuckyOwl's ettin, my best guess is that (somehow) it never got into a situation where it had to be loaded in by the game (and, consequentially, never registered its mortal wounds) until 755. Also, you may have just given me an idea on what to do with that vampire blood come my next turn... he he he.

Title: Re: Museum III adventure game
Post by: Bralbaard on March 01, 2021, 04:03:24 am

Reminds me of the bug we had in the old museum game. Half of the NPCs that our adventurers encountered suddenly died of old age upon seeing our heroes. All this because the game had run for so long, and  because age was only checked when NPCs were activated. You could trace where adventurers had travelled just by following the corpses of elderly people.

Anyhow. I think we did enough testing. The conclusion is that with the earlier proposed fixes the game will be stable enough, and at least more stable than without the fixes. Gor and Duskhome however can not be saved from the corruption, or I have not found a way to do so. If anyone else has found other issues during testing, let me know. Imic, can you upload your save game?

Title: Re: Museum III adventure game
Post by: Cathar on March 01, 2021, 04:25:35 am

Quote from: Bralbaard on March 01, 2021, 04:03:24 am

You could trace where adventurers had travelled just by following the corpses of elderly people.

For armok sake please don't forget to wear your mask people

Title: Re: Museum III adventure game
Post by: Imic on March 01, 2021, 06:01:46 am

I apologise for not keeping track of time, but I’ll be a bit late uploading the save as I can’t do it right now.

Title: Re: Museum III adventure game
Post by: Bralbaard on March 01, 2021, 06:13:01 am

No problem.

Also, about the exploration event for Imic's lost sites, I think we'll go ahead with it, but how do we schedule it?
It could technically run alongside the normal game. But everyone posting everything might mess up the readability of the forum and would be a bit unfair to whoever is playing their real turn,  so I prefer to pause the game.
The question is, where do we put it on the list?  At the end of the current turn list would seem the most fair solution?

Title: Re: Museum III adventure game
Post by: Lurker Z on March 01, 2021, 07:15:01 am

My proposal is making a section titled "The adventures that never were" or something of this nature. People who go on adventures outside the main map would put a bold disclaimer at the start of the page in the style of:

The following does not take part in the main continuity of "The Museum". It depicts adventures that will not affect the world and which will be forgotten by the inhabitants of the world, but not by our hearts.

I think pushing people whose turns it was to visit these locations in the week allotted to them to adventure + make fortress will be much more unwieldy for everyone than the-above suggestion or something similar to it.

As for where to put it, after all the turn list names, maybe? Maybe they could mention what year they're going around doing things? It's going to be relatively messy either way, but it opens doors to new possibilities too.

PS which are even the turns with the uncorrupted saves? Can we get a link somewhere?

Quote from: Cathar on March 01, 2021, 04:25:35 am

Quote from: Bralbaard on March 01, 2021, 04:03:24 am

You could trace where adventurers had travelled just by following the corpses of elderly people.

For armok sake please don't forget to wear your mask people

Night Creatures: We're covered, thanks.
@Bralbaard Yeah, normally you can track adventurers just by general piles of corpses.

Title: Re: Museum III adventure game
Post by: Bralbaard on March 01, 2021, 08:53:18 am

Quote from: Lurker Z on March 01, 2021, 07:15:01 am

My proposal is making a section titled "The adventures that never were" or something of this nature. People who go on adventures outside the main map would put a bold disclaimer at the start of the page in the style of:

The following does not take part in the main continuity of "The Museum". It depicts adventures that will not affect the world and which will be forgotten by the inhabitants of the world, but not by our hearts.

I think pushing people whose turns it was to visit these locations in the week allotted to them to adventure + make fortress will be much more unwieldy for everyone than the-above suggestion or something similar to it.

As for where to put it, after all the turn list names, maybe? Maybe they could mention what year they're going around doing things? It's going to be relatively messy either way, but it opens doors to new possibilities too.

Ah, I intended that more as "when do we play this event" instead of "where do we put the information"
I had something similar in mind for where to put the information and how to present it, that will not be an issue.

To better explain the event;
It will not be like the normal turn list where everybody has to wait for their turn, similar to what we did with the historians guild event everybody who wants can play at the same time,  even people that are not on the turn list. Everybody will start from the same save file. This will mean we get different "myths" from different players about these lost sites. To keep things manageable we have to limit submission time to one or two weeks from the start of the event, and I was asking if we should pause the normal turn list/game in the meantime, or if we should have it continue as the event runs, which might be confusing. Second, there is the question when we play. Next week? at the end of the current turn list?
One rule I'll also add is that people would only submit their stories about the lost sites, not about other places in the world.

Quote from: Lurker Z on March 01, 2021, 07:15:01 am

PS which are even the turns with the uncorrupted saves? Can we get a link somewhere?

When we start this I will put up a link to a working save game.

Title: Re: Museum III adventure game
Post by: Yarlig on March 01, 2021, 09:29:03 am

Personally' I think it could actually run alongside the main game. The list's quite long as it is' and people could explore the lost sites to pass some time while waiting for their turn to arrive; it worked fine enough with the historians' guild' so I see no reason why it wouldn't work now. And if we had a couple weeks (could be extended to three' perhaps?)' then it's unlikely anybody playing during this time would be seriously compromised.

Quote from: Quantum Drop on February 28, 2021, 03:59:10 pm

My sides hurt. It is a good pain.

On LuckyOwl's ettin, my best guess is that (somehow) it never got into a situation where it had to be loaded in by the game (and, consequentially, never registered its mortal wounds) until 755. Also, you may have just given me an idea on what to do with that vampire blood come my next turn... he he he.

Good to hear! I was a bit worried it would be a disjointed' rambling mess' but then again' in-universe it probably still is. Nom doesn't really know or care much about anything besides Cheese and the feudal hierarchy.

Also I'll be anxiously awaiting the world to descend into apocalypse. All those potential vampire goblin warbands' killing adventurers before they become powerful enough to disturb the status quo... This is the true spirit of DF.
Hell' we could even get the classic 'vampires v. weremammoths' scenario' what with all of Raki's spawn running about.

Title: Re: Museum III adventure game
Post by: Imic on March 01, 2021, 10:48:11 pm

The save game. Once again, I apologise for my poor time management on my end and the ensuing lateness of the savegame. (https://dffd.bay12games.com/file.php?id=15446)

In the west, there was a Fortress, founded by a secretive and poorly understood cult. It grew wealthy from trade, and enjoyed many long years of prosperity, before contact was abruptly lost. No Caravans or expeditions now return. People speak of curses, of dabbling with things which no Dwarf should dabble with, and yet... the Fortress undoubtedly holds fabulous wealth and some of the greatest works of Craftdwarfship that can be found in these twilight days, hidden away in its many tunnels and halls... Is it worth the risk?

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

He lay there in silence. He was thirsty. So, so very thirsty. He didn't know how long had passed, sitting here in his hospital bed, nor how long it had been since his food and water had run out. He was scared. Everyone was gone. He had not left his Hospital bed in years, but he would not spend a moment longer in this crushing darkness, thirsty and hungry and dying slowly. If he could not walk, he would crawl. One arm out at a time. One pull at a time. One grab at a time. When he found water, it was like he had found heaven. When he reached the kitchens, between the rotten meat and fish, he found hard bread and dried food, and it was like no feast he could ever have dreamed of. Slowly, slowly, he made his way towards the surface. There was wind. He had not felt wind for so, so long. On the verge of tears, he pulled himself further, to see sunlight, shining down onto the bare rocky mountainside. As he lay there, cold, exhausted, and utterly, utterly alone, staring into the endless, blinding sky, free at last from a slow death in his Hospital bed, paralyzed by fear in the absolute darkness, for the first time in so, so long, he felt at peace.

Title: Re: Museum III adventure game
Post by: Quantum Drop on March 02, 2021, 04:55:32 am

Erm, I'm afraid that you may have made an error with the link (Only the https:// bit is there, not the full thing - https://dffd.bay12games.com/file.php?id=15446), Imic.

Still, that new fortress sounds pretty ominous! Going to be quite cool to check it out.

Title: Re: Museum III adventure game
Post by: Imic on March 02, 2021, 07:53:15 am

Oh for... sorry, I’m not sure how I managed that.

Title: Re: Museum III adventure game
Post by: Lurker Z on March 02, 2021, 01:56:53 pm

So I'm more than half-way reading everyone's adventures, here are my notes condensed.

---

I love the story weaving around the disappearance of the abstract population. Is it the plague? Is it the cold? I don't feel it's the cold, I don't think I've seen any historical figure dead from freezing. Or hunger or thirst for that matter. I think that's just an adventurer thing (and maybe a fortress-mode thing). I figure it's a weird combination of bugs + war.
Though I feel sorry for the kobolds, they're down to 41 according to Legends Viewer. Hope they pull through, though it's really doubtful.

However, on the note of war, I feel we're underestimating the gobs. They're pretty evil, they hang, torture and mutilate bodies even post-humous after conquering a site (though the latter might actually help against necros). Yes, necros were nasty, but gobbos are the most in the world. I'll probably help with the culling when it's my turn.

---

I notice Imic the moth man hasn't been avenged yet. I found the group the first human he had to kill though. Imic's killer, Unlo Goredyell, has last been seen in 719 sieging Dreadruled.
Imic The Second should be good, that crocodile will likely die of old age before an adventurer finds it, but gobs live forever unless they're killed.

---

I find it darkly amusing that, despite the lore thrown about, it's not demons from the depths either worshiped by the goblins or accidentally released by dwarves that depopulated the world, but the Gods, because all necro slabs are God-made.

---

Congrats to QD for the epic end-game fights (and surviving them).

---

Quote from: Glloyd on August 17, 2020, 03:44:10 pm

(OOC note: Quantum Drop, I have no idea how you managed to do what you did. I barely survived that encounter, and only did because I cheesed it by jumping off the stairs, which lost aggro, then sneaking back up to get that stealth hit. Also, I thought that vault had been cleared, because it was already marked on the map and there was that helmet outside, but it is definitely active. I’ll leave that for someone with better combat skills lol.)

Hehehe, no, Lonelythrall fought off a different dwarven goddess of death's vault lol. This is The Black, whose name I would have remembered if Lonelythrall fought it.

---

Fun fact: Fidale killed the father of the cyclops who killed the elf who killed the troll who killed the elf who killed the troll who killed the first human law-giver (de facto queen/empress) of The Realm of Silver. I suspected when I went the line of prehistoric murder starting with that law-giver, I'll end up somewhere interesting! There might be a law coined by these very long adventurer succession stories: all roads of immortal beings end at the mace/sword of a player adventurer.

---

Quote from: Glloyd on August 20, 2020, 10:53:48 pm

“Welcome to Boltspumpkin, may Uquud the Bones of Drool watch over you. I’m assuming you’re here to donate something to our lovely museum?” Despite the odd group that stood before him, this was just another day at Boltspumpkin.

Goblin bandit(s) at the beginning: Museum. That means all shinies are our. Let's do this!
Goblins, 50 years, dozens of dragon-killing, necromancer, vampires, were-anything adventurers later: Oh Gods, what have we gotten ourselves into?! We can't even run away, we're famous, we'll be hunted and crushed like ants! What have we done to offend the Gods so much?! All we wanted was some loot. *they lament their existence for eternity or until the world ends*

---

Thanks Glloyd for the Shelter of Adventurers, truly an useful addition to the world.

---

Quote from: Eric Blank on August 23, 2020, 01:57:57 pm

This was all a terrible mistake

Poor Gerry. Poor Tipi.

---

What I learned from Legends: The fate of the three of four Dwarven civs (these aren't spoilers because the threats have already been dealt with by adventurers):
* The Matched Hame was wiped out by Cog Omristducim. You remember her? Yes, the one Th4dwarfy1 killed. You can speculate from history that she did it out of petty revenge for sharing her men with the Queen (or that she sent the men she had affairs with to the Queen to spy on her). Even killed (indirectly) one of her great-grandchildren. Who was her civ's last king. She was the Oddom Girdergrove of her civ. Good riddance.
* The Page of Tiredness was wiped out by Fací the dragon, the one killed by Doñas. Funny, but they had a necromancer like The Matched Hame and The Walled Dye probably just WAITING to do to them what the other two necros did  to their own civs. Strangely and funnily enough, the dragon killed him too along with his whole civ. Also interesting, the slab that gave Doñas immortality is the same slab that gave TPoT's necromancer immortality. I suppose it makes sense that it's still in the general area with the civ.
* The Staff of Kissing was, according to Legends Viewer, actually EXTINCT at the first save. Why the game gave them a queen and nobles at exactly year 700 is a mystery to me, but the game itself practically brought them back from extinction.

---

Zoku, the ettin that killed Thon, was a nastier piece of work than what Legends shows you. It had 54 rampages and lived for over half a century.

---

Great ride so far, looking forward for the rest.

Title: Re: Museum III adventure game
Post by: Bralbaard on March 02, 2021, 04:37:22 pm

So I've got the save game. This evening I've been updating the maps and other information, and made the required fixes to the save game. Tomorrow I'll start playing.

About the fixes to the save game; I have a strong suspicion that this was not a bug in DF, but that the cause has been a faulty zip file, or up- or download. Some of the files that were missing, most notably the region snapshots, should not have gone missing during the regular save process. I have therefore not submitted a bug report.

The map has been updated with Jackaldens (which I had missed earlier), climaxringed and the Abyssal Sanctuary:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/52s7b1F.gif)

Imic has been busy. The calendar has progressed by 14 years (!). It is the year 769 now, and we are still in the age of heroes.   
I've prepared another graph of the world populations.
The main races have recovered a bit during the last decade, except for the kobolds, their population stays the same and they are still dangerously close to extinction.

(https://i.imgur.com/3FQbbz3.gif)

We'll run the "myths of Duskhome and Gor" event after my turn.

Title: Re: Museum III adventure game
Post by: Glloyd on March 02, 2021, 05:44:51 pm

If Monkeycurse is fixed, you can probably also add Raki's mission back to the main page.

Title: Re: Museum III adventure game
Post by: TheFlame52 on March 02, 2021, 09:29:02 pm

I'm surprised that the elves are multiplying. At least staying at the same level. And in a dying world, that's about all you can hope for.

Title: Re: Museum III adventure game
Post by: Lurker Z on March 03, 2021, 02:54:07 am

Quote from: TheFlame52 on March 02, 2021, 09:29:02 pm

I'm surprised that the elves are multiplying. At least staying at the same level. And in a dying world, that's about all you can hope for.

It's arguable how dying the world is. It's been strongly implied, if not established, that pop drops are bugs caused by PC adventurers loading previously "quiet" and "abstract" parts of the map. Other reasons may be the constant wars with the goblins, at least those the PC stumbles into. Also the necromancer creations are probably running amok too.

But a lot of sites have been reclaimed after year 700, including by non-dwarves, which is interesting. The dwarves are definitely seeing a Renaissance, partly/mostly due to player forts. They may not be as chock full of sapients, but the big necro names have been taken down, and barring another "anti-life" crusade (that from what I understand, post-world-generation wars and battles are buggy as in more tending towards non-existance), the races should be flourishing.

Title: Re: Museum III adventure game
Post by: Bralbaard on March 03, 2021, 06:03:08 am

There are definitely some bugs with populations in the current game. Just wait till you catch up with reading and get to the part with the billions (yes billions) of invading undead. I should still do a version of the graphs with them included, but I would likely be forced to use a logarithmic scale.

Title: Re: Museum III adventure game
Post by: Yarlig on March 03, 2021, 07:25:02 am

Speaking of population growth' there's a most unusual thing I noticed while poking about in legendsviewer:

Spoiler: Congratulations NoGoodNames! (click to show/hide)

(https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/a1334463-8801-46e1-981e-b6460bcc4474/def6724-d9b9d5ee-f19e-436c-889e-39c65fdf5352.png?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOiIsImlzcyI6InVybjphcHA6Iiwib2JqIjpbW3sicGF0aCI6IlwvZlwvYTEzMzQ0NjMtODgwMS00NmUxLTk4MWUtYjY0NjBiY2M0NDc0XC9kZWY2NzI0LWQ5YjlkNWVlLWYxOWUtNDM2Yy04ODllLTM5YzY1ZmRmNTM1Mi5wbmcifV1dLCJhdWQiOlsidXJuOnNlcnZpY2U6ZmlsZS5kb3dubG9hZCJdfQ.3bbbFkF-kuW2J117qL35A1d2rjp_IDMUTA9EfTj3NdQ)

Yes' NGN's Leto actually married and became a father; all of this happened during the time of his retirement. I didn't think it was possible' last time adventurers could have a family was several versions ago and only with some suspicious black magic dfhackery. Either it's no longer true or there's a not-so-bad bug allowing this. Anyhow' here's to the Searchpraise dynasty producing many fine historians!

Title: Re: Museum III adventure game
Post by: nogoodnames on March 03, 2021, 08:02:10 am

Quote from: Yarlig on March 03, 2021, 07:25:02 am

Speaking of population growth' there's a most unusual thing I noticed while poking about in legendsviewer:

Spoiler: Congratulations NoGoodNames! (click to show/hide)

(https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/a1334463-8801-46e1-981e-b6460bcc4474/def6724-d9b9d5ee-f19e-436c-889e-39c65fdf5352.png?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOiIsImlzcyI6InVybjphcHA6Iiwib2JqIjpbW3sicGF0aCI6IlwvZlwvYTEzMzQ0NjMtODgwMS00NmUxLTk4MWUtYjY0NjBiY2M0NDc0XC9kZWY2NzI0LWQ5YjlkNWVlLWYxOWUtNDM2Yy04ODllLTM5YzY1ZmRmNTM1Mi5wbmcifV1dLCJhdWQiOlsidXJuOnNlcnZpY2U6ZmlsZS5kb3dubG9hZCJdfQ.3bbbFkF-kuW2J117qL35A1d2rjp_IDMUTA9EfTj3NdQ)

Yes' NGN's Leto actually married and became a father; all of this happened during the time of his retirement. I didn't think it was possible' last time adventurers could have a family was several versions ago and only with some suspicious black magic dfhackery. Either it's no longer true or there's a not-so-bad bug allowing this. Anyhow' here's to the Searchpraise dynasty producing many fine historians!

Ah, yes. He's the NPC I initially made to do the necromancer experiment genocide ritual. The great-great-great-grandfather of my framing character.

Sorry to burst your bubble, but I did use DFHack to give him a sexuality in the hopes that this would happen. Normal adventurers are probably still all asexual. Nice to see it worked, at least.

Title: Re: Museum III adventure game
Post by: Yarlig on March 03, 2021, 08:30:39 am

Quote from: nogoodnames on March 03, 2021, 08:02:10 am

Sorry to burst your bubble, but I did use DFHack to give him a sexuality in the hopes that this would happen. Normal adventurers are probably still all asexual. Nice to see it worked, at least.

Oh well' once again the reality is... realistic I guess. Definitely explains why no other adventurer behaved likewise.
The reason I didn't really consider this at first is because (unless I'm grossly misremembering things) I've read that the dfHack script responsible was no longer effective in the new versions. Still very good to learn it's not the case.

Title: Re: Museum III adventure game
Post by: Glloyd on March 03, 2021, 12:05:26 pm

Quote from: Lurker Z on March 03, 2021, 02:54:07 am

Quote from: TheFlame52 on March 02, 2021, 09:29:02 pm

I'm surprised that the elves are multiplying. At least staying at the same level. And in a dying world, that's about all you can hope for.

It's arguable how dying the world is. It's been strongly implied, if not established, that pop drops are bugs caused by PC adventurers loading previously "quiet" and "abstract" parts of the map. Other reasons may be the constant wars with the goblins, at least those the PC stumbles into. Also the necromancer creations are probably running amok too.

Not entirely, population levels still haven't recovered fully from the triple whammy of Raki/Iden/Urus, so players are definitely having a noticeable impact on the world. I think the elves have been spared by virtue of most of them living in the far northeast corner of the map, where not many adventurers have gone. But either way, even if much of the population drop is from bugginess, it still plays into the lore of the world, and the feeling that it's dying.

Title: Re: Museum III adventure game
Post by: Lurker Z on March 04, 2021, 04:29:59 pm

Hey, can someone explain to me what's going on with Streammartyred and Scarletbronze? They make up probably over half the history of the most populous human civ The Realm of Silver and the first appears to have been in a continuous civil war for over 300 years, the latter the entirety of history. I get that there's a war against "criminal groups", but Legends Viewer says a group of TRoS conquer the site, then the next year TRoS send a group to conquer the site from the previous group and so on.

I wonder if they're those sites that adventurer reported as "4000+ bandit towns". I wonder if they're some glitched places where the conquering army is destined to become "the bandits", because each time a group is sent, it's implied it's won (or it broke into those 4000+ bandits, who knows) and then they become the enemy until the game decides the "war against criminals" ends. They could be considered in-game cursed, forcing the Law-Givers to keep sending cannon fodder lest something even more terrible happen to the world.

Checked with the save at around year 700, TRoS were the ones that took most of the human casualties, they had 11.7k to their now 7.7k. The other human nations' loss is negligible. I wonder if those sites are somehow responsible for the shift in population. What's going on in this world? Spoooooooky...

The Creamy Confederacy may be creamed though... since 700 (coincidence?) they're at war with everyone that counts... they started with the Walled Dye... then with The Most Sin (most populous in the world)... then they angered the elves... They lost literally a third of their humans and around 1000 of their goblin(s) cannon fodder. Those wars are still on-going. They're so dead. Moral of the story: don't elect a goblin as Law-Giver... But at least it's not a spooky bandit "civil war", they (probably) are the architects of their own ending.

Quote

The Conflict of Spikes was waged by The Creamy Confederacy on The Walled Dye. The most significant cause of the conflict was the goblin Ledir Judgedbuckle the Whirling's disgust with the adversary's godlessness.

...yes, good riddance. You elect a gobbo, expect extinction.

Title: Re: Museum III adventure game
Post by: Glloyd on March 05, 2021, 02:25:03 pm

I briefly visited both towns in my first turn and wrote about them here: http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8180556#msg8180556

Streammartyred is the one surrounded by massive game crashing refugee camps, and the streets are mostly empty because the whole population is in the camps. As for Scarletbronze, I don't remember too much out of the ordinary there, but I think it's full of were-mammoths now from Raki's rampage

Title: Re: Museum III adventure game
Post by: Bralbaard on March 05, 2021, 02:41:21 pm

Journal of Bralbaard Hammerfishes, year 769

The last thing I remember was the charcoal brute towering high above me, spitting out my right arm that it had just ripped off. I think I heard Kem Skinnydeaths yell something as he tried to get through the fire to help me, but it was too late. The gigantic dragon-like monster opened it’s mouth and breathed fire.
I think I even remember the heat, and the pain.
Oh what I would not give to be able to feel pain again.. 

I was dead.
If there is an afterlife, I have no memory of it.
They say my burned body remained undisturbed in the remains of the keep for almost half a century until Ursus Ghostumbral came by and raised my corpse.

Now that I am back, there is no more pain. I feel nothing.
All the emotions and feelings that guided me in my past life have turned into abstract concepts, distant memories. Hunger and warmth, and that feeling you had when you were tired and close to sleep..
and love.
Love...I think that was the most important one.
I somewhat understand these feelings, because I know they defined my actions in a past life, but I can not experience them anymore. I have only my memories of what I valued in my former life to guide me.

Ursus brought me back to the Boltspumpkin like a trophy. I became a museum piece in my own museum. Visitors stare at my broken and charred body like they do at the other submissions. Me, the founder of the museum turned into an exhibit, a freak, a mascot. I can theorize which emotions I should be feeling because of how I am treated, but there is nothing.
That does not mean I can not grasp the concept that this is wrong. It has been 15 years since Urus took me here. In a past life my emotions would have driven me to take action sooner, but time is not relevant anymore. What is relevant is that through objective analysis, I have come to the conclusion that something must be done.

This fate that has been forced upon me should not befall the other adventurers that have worked for the museum. I have read the “chronicles of the adventurers of the grand museum”, and came to realize that many adventurers died for this place. Their corpses are still out there, like mine was. Waiting for a necromancer to come by and abuse them. This can not be. I will start a cemetery where fallen adventurers can be interred, and guarded from the unholy characters that roam this world.

I can not hope to bring all the fallen adventurers to safety by myself, but I can make a start. Two old friends, Slenshi and Amsir have helped me construct HeroGraves. This is were the fallen will be entombed. Slensi and Amsir will return to the Shelter of Adventurers, while I will try to recover the dead.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/IEMYweW.gif)

I hope I will succeed. Despite my immortality my body seems to have aged. My hair is now white, my bones brittle. I fear I am not much more than a broken shambling corpse.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/jgZ45Cc.gif)

Yes, my mind is filled with knowledge of dark magic, but I can not cast these terrible spells, for it would take two hands to weave the required magical patterns, and one was taken from me by the charcoal brute.
That is for the best though. It is a form of magic that will do the world no good. It is the type of magic Raki wanted to die for. It is magic I would gladly give up to live again.

(https://i.imgur.com/7xNgA5B.png)

(OOC: The original museum game also had a “tomb of heroes”, a wonderful idea from Tehsapper. I thought that it would be a nice thing to try and bring back. )

Title: Re: Museum III adventure game
Post by: TheFlame52 on March 05, 2021, 03:57:45 pm

Wonderful writing! I'm looking forward to this.

Title: Re: Museum III adventure game
Post by: Quantum Drop on March 05, 2021, 04:27:19 pm

Excellent opening, Braalbard! This is certainly going to be quite an interesting perspective for a turn.

Quote from: Glloyd on March 05, 2021, 02:25:03 pm

As for Scarletbronze, I don't remember too much out of the ordinary there, but I think it's full of were-mammoths now from Raki's rampage

Scarletbronze was where the marketplace of the town (in the north, I think?) is a reliable crash-zone. It's definitely crawling with undead, and I wouldn't be too surprised if weremammoths are partying there as well.

EDIT: Amsir's currently 94 years old; doubt he'll last much longer without dramatic measures.

Title: Re: Museum III adventure game
Post by: Glloyd on March 05, 2021, 04:39:25 pm

Great first entry Bralbaard! I can't believe Slenshi and Amsir are still alive, they were old when I found them on my first turn hanging around Eric's corpse, which was 40+ years ago ingame. Amsir's gotta be pushing 90 by now.

Title: Re: Museum III adventure game
Post by: tonnot98 on March 05, 2021, 04:58:29 pm

The Museum III: The Return of Bralbaard!

This should prove to be an exciting read. But hey, he should hopefully feel some semblance of excitement! Now that he's dead (and technically immortal) he can continue to document history forevermore!

Title: Re: Museum III adventure game
Post by: Yarlig on March 07, 2021, 06:34:36 am

Feels no emotion' only thinks in terms of logical analysis' and constantly accrues data (even if generally restricted to history)? Seems like undead are actually computers' and necromancers are coders.

But seriously' great beginning; hope the adventure won't be cut short due to a bite to the pinky finger compounded with post-resurrection fragility.

Title: Re: Museum III adventure game
Post by: Quantum Drop on March 07, 2021, 07:14:05 am

Quote from: Yarlig on March 07, 2021, 06:34:36 am

Feels no emotion' only thinks in terms of logical analysis' and constantly accrues data (even if generally restricted to history)? Seems like undead are actually computers' and necromancers are coders.

But seriously' great beginning; hope the adventure won't be cut short due to a bite to the pinky finger compounded with post-resurrection fragility.

IIRC, only 'mangled' (pulped, cloven asunder, missing its upper body, spine redded-out, or similar damage) or decapitated corpses are super-fragile post-resurrection. Braalbard's guy should be okay (even without the toughness rezz-boost), since his corpse was 'mutilated' rather than 'mangled' when Urus rezzed him. So, with any luck, his adventure will be a long one.

Title: Re: Museum III adventure game
Post by: Bralbaard on March 07, 2021, 05:48:33 pm

The full moon rose over Orid Xem. Even the bravest men spend this night at home with the door barricaded, anxiously looking around, hoping that none of the people they are holed up with transform. The full moon belongs to the Children of Raki. Yes, people already feared the full moon before I died, but the horrors from those days were nothing compared to what Raki unleashed on the world while I was gone.

So why did I go out on this unholy night? Was it because fear is an emotion that no longer affects me?
No, there is no excuse for what happened. I simply should have known better.
I had set out on my journey to retrieve the corpse of Imic Heatherwind, and it takes a lot to distract me from a task these days. It was only when I travelled past the mead hall of Knowledgepalms that something drew my attention. A strange sound from the mead hall. I decided to knock on the door as the investigator in me demanded to know what I just heard. This was a grave mistake.

The door opened and a large horde of goblins stormed out, weapons drawn. Their chieftess, a large she-goblin, led the charge. She was sure she had me, but I can bend my broken body in angles that the living can not forsee, and I managed to evade her. It happened in a split second. I drew my axe with my only hand, while the goblin ran by, and before she was out of reach I planted the weapon in the back of her neck with unnatural force, decapicitating her.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/UxeiA7A.gif)

Chaos took hold of the goblin horde. many fled away into the night or back in the building, but a sizable part of the horde still came for me. I knew I was outnumbered, and I knew I had been lucky with the chieftess. I am not a skilled fighter.
After trading a few blows it was clear the next goblin was too strong for me, I dodged away and ran.

When I analyze what happened now, it is clear this was all my mistake.
Those goblins had been holed up in the mead hall, hiding for the creatures of the night. Then a disfigured undead had appeared at their door. Their chieftess had done what any good leader would have done. Protect her people, by leading the charge. she had tried to keep me away from the children and the weak. Now the worst fears of her people had come true, their leader was dead, and another story about the horrors of the night had been added to the history of Orid Xem.

I have now learned that because of this battle I have gained a name. They call me Bralbaard Hammerfishes the Yawning. The name was puzzling to me at first. Since I no longer feel the need to sleep I have not yawned in.. over half a century.  Then I realized that my face must be disfigured and broken in such a way that it reminds people of this facial expression.

Later that night I reached Jackaldens. Someone had build a house here in the midst of the forest. I decided that it would be better to wait for daylight to travel further and this would be a comforable place to wait.  Then I saw it. A large and terrible creature on the other side of the river, taken by a curse that was worse than mine. Whatever it had been, it was now twisted in a monstrous form that only vaguely reminded me of a jackal. It was unmistakably a were creature. I drew my axe, but the creature just stood there, it did not attack. I called out to it, but it did not respond. I got the strong impression it was fighting against it's inner rage, fighting a losing battle to try and stop itself from attacking me. I left immediately.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/ANbdKuE.gif)

I have since learned that this site was build by Pik and Desli, two adventurers. They must have constructed this house here, far away from civilisation to try and isolate themselves and stop their terrible affliction from spreading further.

The next day I found Imic Heatherwinds corpse.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/WlB8IJB.gif)

Other historians have ignored this character, because no great deeds are attributed to him, as he died early in his journey. This is however a grave injustice. Imic Heatherwind is noteworthy for many reasons. Notably, he was the very first adventurer that went on an adventure for the museum after it was founded. A more important fact however is that he was a moth man. A winged, four armed creature of diminuitive size. More moth men must exist but none have ever seen them, and this is one of the great mysteries of our time. In his journal Imic mentions that he came from the invisible forest. Certainly some adventurer must go there on a quest, to see if more of his kin can be found. It seems from his writing that Imic was a colourful and friendly character. Among his possessions I found a wooden istrul. A tiny instrument that would have been just the right size for him to play.  Imic's corpse is now entombed in Herograves, the oaken istrul was included with him in the grave.

Imic the Mothman with his Istrul:
(https://i.imgur.com/9JgC3SK.png)

Title: Re: Museum III adventure game
Post by: Lurker Z on March 07, 2021, 08:23:38 pm

Anyone notice that during Imic's turn, the elves lost all FIVE THOUSAND of their goblin cannon fodder and The Realm of Silver lost another 1.4k humans? Also The Realm of Silver is kinda in a civil war in some sites. I haven't checked the other civs if they also have civil wars, but TRoS's situation is egregious.

Even the goblins (as total population) lost 5000 of their own, which means... what? Orid Xem just sent them into oblivion?

(Sorry I haven't read your log yet, Bralbaard, I want to catch up before I read it. Welcome back from the grave though.)

Title: Re: Museum III adventure game
Post by: Imic on March 07, 2021, 09:49:28 pm

I’m... I’m not crying, I’ve got smoke in my eyes.

_{Thank you Bralbaard. You’re a legend.}

Title: Re: Museum III adventure game
Post by: Eric Blank on March 08, 2021, 04:37:52 am

I really like the premise of this adventure so far.

And I believe Pik and Desli won't talk to you because they're intelligent undead; usually intelligent undead that aren't directly controlled by a player refuse to speak at all, even though they technically can. It might be a product of the NO_EMOTIONS tag, but I haven't tested it. I bet their and your undead status is also overriding the usual hostility CRAZED creatures have. Or you didn't get close enough to trigger them to attack.

I'm also surprised Amsir and Slenshi are alive at all!

Title: Re: Museum III adventure game
Post by: Bralbaard on March 09, 2021, 08:23:02 am

In the last part of my journal I told you how Imic was laid to rest, but his body was not the only thing I returned with from this journey. After finding his body I went to the keep to inquire if I could take it for proper burial. People will have their doubts when they see an undead drag another corpse trough the streets, so I thought it would be better to inform the authorities first. At the keep I met a goblin named Sigun Momentknowing. He accepted my explanation and even offered to travel with me back to Herograves, so he could explain if any questions were asked. I gladly accepted.

After we had laid Imic’s body to rest, I had expected Sigun to leave, but he said he would be glad to accompany me on my further journey. At first I was puzzled as to why he was so eager to leave his home town, but as I got to know him better I learned he was hiding a terrible secret:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/q9Oi9KD.gif)

He was carrying Raki’s curse. Had he confessed to anyone else,  they would likely have executed him on the spot. I however know enough about involuntary curses to not pass such a judgement. Besides, I can use his help, as capable guards will be needed for Herograves. I can not hope to defend it from necromancers on my own.

My next mission to bring back a fallen adventurer was a far more personal one. Slenshi and Amsir had helped me construct Herograves, and I am in their debt for this. I could not pay them in money, but I promised them to bring back the corpse of their former traveling companion Doñas Silenttowers and give him a proper burial, as Slenshi and Amsir are too old to make the journey. He had died fighting the taiga titan Ozob Noxron Umstosslexsmul, in a shrine not far from here.
I was not confident we would succeed in this mission, and my confidence sank further when we reached the site. Raki had raided the shrine several decades ago, and many stories are still told about how he raised Ozob from death as a zombie titan. It was clear he had also gone through the other corpses and raised many of them as his soldiers, as the number of corpses scattered about the shrine was far lower than what Amsir had described to me. In the end though, I found one skeleton for which I was certain that it belonged to Doñas; it still wore a bracelet made of dragon bone, and a ring of the same material.

Slenshi and Amsir were there when we laid  Doñas body to rest. When I looked at those two old people overcome by grief at Doñas grave I knew I was terribly out of place. I could not feel what they felt. Though I remember from when I lived that grief is an unpleasant feeling, I realize I am incomplete without it.

The dragon bone ring will accompany Doñas in his grave, the dragon bone bracelet will be placed in the museum, so that the living may remember him.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/pj5oyxI.gif)

Title: Re: Museum III adventure game
Post by: Bralbaard on March 09, 2021, 01:57:58 pm

After Doñas body was put to rest, I took a brief pause from my tasks as a funeral manager.

Sigun and I stopped by in Treatyseed. The old capital was even more chaotic than usual. In fact, the whole temple collapsed on itself just as I walked into the fortress. This did not seem to bother the locals.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/vd5gNqB.gif)

In addition, another battle was being fought in the lower levels. Nobody had cleaned up any of the mess from earlier battles either.
I came to Treatyseed to file an official complaint. Apparently I have been stripped of my title as a baron. I can understand they needed a replacement during the time I was actually dead, but now that I am back I would like the position back.
The nobles were too busy strangling goblins and I did not achieve much during my visit.

We decided to move on, and luck had it that there was a cave only a short walk away from Treatyseed where another unfortunate adventurer had met his end. According to my notes, Thon Scarone had travelled to the Shadow of Finching to fight an Ettin, and had his head bitten off.
Sigun and I made it to the cave and searched it from top to bottom, which took me a very long time. Items were scattered everywhere. I did find the morion crown that had belonged to Scarone, but there was no trace of the corpse. We also spend a lot of time searching the extensive caverns below the cave, and it is here that we ran into two humans, an old mother and her daughter. The cave was probably a hundred urist deep, and this was the last place where I had expected to find humans. I however quickly found out why they were hiding in this place.
They had been poisoned with vampire blood by an adventurer that had recently visited the site.
This is terrible news, it means that the vampire curse, which we thought was eradicated, was now spreading again. I however am not the person to fix this. These women carry no blame, like Sigun and I do not carry blame for the curse we carry. If the living think it would be acceptable to eradicate us then that would only be because emotions are clouding their proper judgement.
We stayed for a while, and I was shocked to learn that the older woman,  Sekur Handgoals, had been a traveling companion of Scarone. She told me many things about their travels, and in addition she could help me find Scarone’s corpse, it was somewhere out in the wilderness, outside of the cave.
The skeleton was incomplete, but that was to be expected after all this time. On the positive side, I could easily wrap the remaining bones in a piece of cloth and fit them in my backpack, it would not encumber me too much.

Scarone, in better times:

(https://i.imgur.com/yY3QC1r.jpg)

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/TYFapXf.png)

Sigun and I were about halfway our journey back to Boltspumpkin when disaster struck. We were ambushed by about 30 goblins. Our only chance was to run, but Sigun did not, he fought back. Had it been full moon, he would have easily dispatched all of them, now he fell quickly.

Others might have paused to grieve, I just continued alone.
I was already close to home when I saw the familiar shape of the Iron Deep on the horizon. Countless times had I passed by this site, but never had I entered. Now you should known that the historical journals about the site are a bit lacking in detail, which is something that has bothered me for a long time. I decided to do a bit of research myself.

Right away I noted an important difference between the descriptions of the site and the current situation. Yes, the mighty towers were there, the site was enormous. There was however no extensive flooding, and there were no cascading waterfalls. Everything had frozen solid.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/ylJC0Mj.gif)

I carefully climbed down, and found out right away that it might be difficult to get back out. Climbing is difficult with just one arm, and I lost my footing several times.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/HQp2A0A.gif)

In the end I made it to the lower levels. There was far less water here than I expected, it presented no problem for exploration. The reports by earlier adventurers were accurate about the corpses though. A terrible thing had happened here. Dwarven corpses littered the halls and surface. Galka had been thorough in searching the site for artifacts, I found little else of note, but I was able to take many important notes that would no doubt result in a fine article on the history of the Iron Deep.   

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/ActIH2o.gif)

When I got back to the stairs on my way to the surface something had changed for the worse. The ice above had melted. Both stairwells had changed into thundering waterfalls. I tried to climb the stairs, but was washed down time and time again. What was worse was the amount of debris that came with the water. Heavy wooden logs, corpses, pieces of armor. It was impossible to evade them all. I made it to the top of the stairs once, only be swept away again. Only the fact that I do not need to breathe saved me from drowning.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/Z6JGPqC.gif)
(https://i.imgur.com/rZolGYb.gif)

I thought about the enormous halls below. It would take days for these halls to fill, and for the water levels to rise above the stairs. I might never fill up if it was draining somewhere, which it probably did because it had not filled up over the past decades. There was also no guarantee that it would freeze over in the coming night. (ooc; there was also no way to rest or skip time, so waiting would be unbearable.)
I was trapped and had to look for another way out.

I dove deep underwater, and found a door leading deeper into the fortress, There was another door behind it and this worked as an improvised airlock. I closed the first door, and could therefore keep the area ahead free of water. I had entered the mines. I explored every tunnel, and all were dead ends. finally I made it to the magma forges. They were still glowing brightly after all these years. There was a narrow corridor ahead, towards a magma lake. I had to jump across a shallow puddle of magma to reach it.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/FmTJSEm.gif)

I jumped and made it across, only to slip on the stairs beyond (hidden below that boulder), and to lose my footing and slide into the magma below.

(https://i.imgur.com/a8yyfFo.gif)

It only took a second before I was back out. As if by a miracle I was unharmed and not on fire. Was I immune to fire? Unlikely. None of my clothes were burned, and they were normal flamable rags. (I exited DF at this point and checked if I had the temperature settings on, which I did, guess I was extremely lucky. My status was actually -swimming- when I regained control)
I guess the fact that all my belongings were absolutely soaked in water from my earlier ordeal saved me. It was now clear the corridor ended at the magma lake. The lake was surrounded by steep walls, but in the glow of the magma I could see other caves connect to this cavern, high above me.  Climbing with just one arm would be a terrible risk, but this was the only way out.  I studied the rock to plot the shortest and safest route, then went for it.
I made it to the cavern without losing my grip. I had escaped from the Iron Deep.

It was a long walk underground through the caverns from the Iron Deep to Pasttimegears, the closest place that I knew of that connects the surface to the underground caverns. As there is no light down there I have no idea how many days I spend in the cavern, but I had to backtrack dozens of times, many of the tunnels are dead ends. In the end, I did make it to the underground stairs of the fortress.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/PtaZg4J.gif)

From there I returned to Herograves where Scarone’s remains were laid to rest. I put the morion crown in the casket as a gift to accompany him in death.
With that I will take a break from my journeys, I need to work on some papers on the history of the Iron Deep, and need to properly write down the new insights I’ve gained about the adventurers that have now been laid to rest.

I have submitted the dragon bone bracelet to the museum, and have also provided new pedestals which I crafted at Herograves, as we had run out of room to store items.

(https://i.imgur.com/TWFz0hE.gif)
------

The save game can be found here (https://dffd.bay12games.com/file.php?id=15461).

I have not updated the map yet, but it should be sufficient to know that Herograves lies between the Shelter of Adventurers and Healerlashes, so very close to the museum.

Title: Re: Museum III adventure game
Post by: Glloyd on March 09, 2021, 02:11:02 pm

Has anyone else had any issues loading the save in legends viewer? It doesn't seem to want to load the legends_plus xml for me.

Title: Re: Museum III adventure game
Post by: nogoodnames on March 09, 2021, 03:07:39 pm

Quote from: Bralbaard on March 09, 2021, 01:57:58 pm

It's already been one week since I've picked up the save game, so Nogoodnames can start.
The save game can be found here (https://dffd.bay12games.com/file.php?id=15461).

Alright, save looks good. I have some other stuff going on that's sucking up a lot of my free time and creative energy, but I'll see what I can do. Updates might be a bit delayed.

Before I start, is it okay if I make a very minor raw edit? I want to add either [SKILL:KNAPPING] or [SKILL:STONECRAFTING] to the stone axe reaction. This will allow stone axes to have quality levels above default and make them slightly more practical weapons.

I was also wondering about using AdvFort to make leather and bone equipment. I'd like this adventurer to be able to make all their own gear, but I understand if that's too much of an ask.

Title: Re: Museum III adventure game
Post by: Quantum Drop on March 09, 2021, 04:59:56 pm

Quote from: Glloyd on March 09, 2021, 02:11:02 pm

Has anyone else had any issues loading the save in legends viewer? It doesn't seem to want to load the legends_plus xml for me.

Just did an exportlegends all, and it seems to be loading fine on my end.

EDIT: We moved onto 47.05 after the Site Corruption Crisis, IIRC.

Title: Re: Museum III adventure game
Post by: tonnot98 on March 09, 2021, 05:05:43 pm

What version are we on? Did we ever move to .05?

Title: Re: Museum III adventure game
Post by: Glloyd on March 09, 2021, 07:07:07 pm

Quote from: Quantum Drop on March 09, 2021, 04:59:56 pm

Quote from: Glloyd on March 09, 2021, 02:11:02 pm

Has anyone else had any issues loading the save in legends viewer? It doesn't seem to want to load the legends_plus xml for me.

Just did an exportlegends all, and it seems to be loading fine on my end.

EDIT: We moved onto 47.05 after the Site Corruption Crisis, IIRC.

What version of legends viewer and dfhack are you using? It wasn't loading the legends plus for me so it wasn't showing any of the names for artifacts or anything. I wanted to see where some of the artifacts from my turn as Iden ended up. Whatever happened to the emerald crown of Emeraldcrown?

Title: Re: Museum III adventure game
Post by: Bralbaard on March 10, 2021, 02:16:19 am

Quote from: nogoodnames on March 09, 2021, 03:07:39 pm

Quote from: Bralbaard on March 09, 2021, 01:57:58 pm

It's already been one week since I've picked up the save game, so Nogoodnames can start.
The save game can be found here (https://dffd.bay12games.com/file.php?id=15461).

Alright, save looks good. I have some other stuff going on that's sucking up a lot of my free time and creative energy, but I'll see what I can do. Updates might be a bit delayed.

Before I start, is it okay if I make a very minor raw edit? I want to add either [SKILL:KNAPPING] or [SKILL:STONECRAFTING] to the stone axe reaction. This will allow stone axes to have quality levels above default and make them slightly more practical weapons.

I was also wondering about using AdvFort to make leather and bone equipment. I'd like this adventurer to be able to make all their own gear, but I understand if that's too much of an ask.

Hmm. I think there would not be much harm or risk in adding the skill tags.

About adventure fort; I don't know. We have not used it this far and I do not know much about it. Does it give the player a large advantage? what kind of things can you craft?
I assume it only allows you to craft existing item types, and that it would not cause any issues with the save game. Can people without adventure fort play the next turn without issues and has that been tested?

If the other players are in favor, nobody has strong objections, and it's safe, we could change the rules? Does anyone have answers to the questions above, or an opinion about advfort?

Title: Re: Museum III adventure game
Post by: Quantum Drop on March 10, 2021, 03:56:14 am

Quote from: Bralbaard on March 10, 2021, 02:16:19 am

About adventure fort; I don't know. We have not used it this far and I do not know much about it. Does it give the player a large advantage? what kind of things can you craft?
I assume it only allows you to craft existing item types, and that it would not cause any issues with the save game. Can people without adventure fort play the next turn without issues and has that been tested?

If the other players are in favour, nobody has strong objections, and it's safe, we could change the rules?

It's a DFHack plugin that allows you to do most of what fort mode can in adventure mode - building workshops beyond a carpenter's shop, mining stone and ore if you have a pick, performing jobs at existing workshops at a site (like the forges in dwarf fortresses) and so on. You can make anything that's in the base game's raws, so long as you're able to build the appropriate workshop and find the right material. To provide an example: if you've got fire-safe materials, an anvil, fuel, and some iron bars in your inventory, you can build a metalsmith's forge and create an iron sword there. Or, as is the case with NGN's scenario, you could build a leatherworks/craftsdwarf workshop and make leather/bone gear and jewellery for your adventurer.

(IIRC, any changes made only persist in non-procedural sites, so unless you build/mine/whatnot at a player fortress, cave, camp or the like, whatever you did there won't remain when you travel away.)

As for playing without advfort (or even DFHack) on the next turn, I think that won't be a problem. In my personal experience, DF treats any items or buildings made with the plugin like any other thing made/built in fortress mode. I can try and test some more by making adventurers, making a workshop and gear via AdvFort, then retiring the adventurer and starting a new one to properly adventure with in imitation of a new player starting out (unless anyone wants to play through that save?). Overall, I'm in favour of it.

---

Quote from: Glloyd on March 09, 2021, 07:07:07 pm

What version of legends viewer and dfhack are you using? It wasn't loading the legends plus for me so it wasn't showing any of the names for artifacts or anything. I wanted to see where some of the artifacts from my turn as Iden ended up. Whatever happened to the emerald crown of Emeraldcrown?

LegendsViewer-1.20.06c and DFHack 0.47.05-beta1 (haven't updated it yet).

Spoiler: Fate of the Emerald Crown, rather spoliery (click to show/hide)

Following Iden's mutual kill of Pis Meadowshafts the Charcoal Brute, the emerald crown of Galleyhazy laid in Incenseorder for six years, before abruptly re-appearing in Burnedmurdered. It was then taken by Erith to the Vault of Coverashes, where it presently remains.

Title: Re: Museum III adventure game
Post by: Yarlig on March 10, 2021, 06:43:01 am

I've never used advFort or edited the raws mid-game myself' but as long as it doesn't destabilize the game I think it's fine' as it doesn't involve anything that can't already be done.

Quote from: Glloyd on March 09, 2021, 07:07:07 pm

What version of legends viewer and dfhack are you using? It wasn't loading the legends plus for me so it wasn't showing any of the names for artifacts or anything. I wanted to see where some of the artifacts from my turn as Iden ended up. Whatever happened to the emerald crown of Emeraldcrown?

Quote from: Quantum Drop on March 10, 2021, 03:56:14 am

Spoiler: Fate of the Emerald Crown, rather spoliery (click to show/hide)

Following Iden's mutual kill of Pis Meadowshafts the Charcoal Brute, the emerald crown of Galleyhazy laid in Incenseorder for six years, before abruptly re-appearing in Burnedmurdered. It was then taken by Erith to the Vault of Coverashes, where it presently remains.

As for the Emerald Crown' I haven't really had the time to write anything concrete lately' so I'll shed some light here:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

When going through Incenseorder' I looted Iden's sword' buckler' and two artifacts (the Crown and the Forest of Heather' a silver short sword; the latter might've found its way to Boltspumpkin' as I was carrying it along with some twenty other artifacts that I couldn't really keep track of). Roleplay-wise' Erith used it to crown herself as the new great power of the northern regions' just as Iden was one during his brief but fruitful career.
Its appearance in Burnedmurdered was probably due to me taking all of Erith's gear off before burning her to death' so that nothing would get damaged in the fire. I was wearing the crown when I died in Coveredashes' and it should lie by Erith's corpse' along with her armor and... trophies collected from slain enemies. Retrieving it might be a bit of a hassle' but it isn't terribly deep into the vault. And if you do succeed' Glloyd' you may just as well throw Erith's corpse into a volcano' that would be one potential abomination less for the world to worry about.

Title: Re: Museum III adventure game
Post by: Lurker Z on March 10, 2021, 10:03:11 am

Quote from: Quantum Drop on March 10, 2021, 03:56:14 am

-snip-

That sounds great, and if it acts as advertised, I'm all for it.

I'll do some research (watching Let's Plays) and maybe play it myself to see if it's all that's cracked up to be or how simple or complex is. Generally though, I don't mind other people playing with it even if I won't be able. I feel it'd add the extra spice into the game apart from "walking a lot, intense fighting and looting".

Question: can you take a site in the name of your civilization in adventure mode? What happens when you claim a site claimed by another group/civ? Do they attack you until something else happens or what? Can you give a site to a group you're not a part of? Does taking the site change your group affiliation?

I've seen for example Bralbaard made a camp and claimed it as a site and he's in his own independent dwarven group, but that's because he got kicked out of The Walled Dye when he died. Could he (in-game) proclaim his allegiance to The Walled Dye and be accepted back if he wanted to? The wiki doesn't have much on Claims except that they lead to !!fun!! (their words).

I see The Shelter of Adventurers is under its own group under The Realm of Silver, so civ acknowledgement appears to be there somewhere.

On the other hand, "In 706, late autumn, (7th of Timber) Ashro became the Warlord of The Ardent Lures" for a brief time, he remained a member of The Creamy Confederacy even after death, yet The Ardent Lures are still listed as an independent entity.

---

Any progress on artifact teleportation back to their original zone bug? Do player named "artifacts" count for this bug?

---

The 5k goblins of the elven civ are back in Bralbaard's save. _{At some point I'll just have to manually kill them all just to be sure...} At this point I'm just throwing my hands in the air, shaking my head and moving on. Just writing this to update the knowledge bank.

---

I remember reading earlier in the thread that there's an invisible undead problem. I found a workaround for whoever's interested:

https://www.bay12games.com/dwarves/mantisbt/view.php?id=11299#c40968

"Completely unrelated", around 759, this guy was stalking around the entrance of

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Palacework:
(https://i.imgur.com/zxJJvEG.png)

And I found out why the only two people who visited Palacework didn't meet their end: they were both necromancers.

Should this be kept as a spoiler or be put in the main page to warn people? After all, it's an invisible undead that you can't A it...

I have some suspicion on who it is, but I think I'll copy the save, release the thing, let it kill me and then hopefully see what actually killed me.

Update: It's not the one I thought it was.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/uPRcGjT.png)

I thought it was this guy: In 726, late winter, (27th of Obsidian) the elf Evala Blazedjudged was struck down by the dwarf Zuntir Lancedthunder with a iron war hammer in Palacework.

That part with Evala is intelligent undead on intelligent undead violence, by the way. Also Evala killed Th4dwarfy1 even if the latter was a necromancer.

That damned necromancer (not an adventurer, a legit olden necromancer) has been raising more than one intelligent undead around there. I suggest you wall yourself in if you survive walling one of the creatures. There may be more invisible undead around there...

Title: Re: Museum III adventure game
Post by: nogoodnames on March 10, 2021, 07:47:52 pm

Saga of the Cave Bear

---

My name is Arcturus Cinderfang. I am a black bear man, and hunter. I have hunted along the slopes of the Perfect Horns ever since I was old enough to venture out alone.

(https://i.imgur.com/xs8Zh27.png)

As far back as I can remember, I have lived here, in this cave. It is known to outsiders as the Brutal Gloom. I just call it home. It was carved out by the ancient kobolds, but they are all gone now. The goblins here found me as an infant and raised me as their own. The only clue I have to my true origins is an amulet of teeth left to me by my mother, who died shortly after we were found.

Our cave may owe its allegiance to the Creamy Confederacy, but we are so far removed from our parent civilization that it hardly matters. Any travelers from the heartland would need to cross the Perfect Horns, or else take the long way around the mountains and brave the haunted wastes and goblin patrols. Even the most zealous tax collector would balk at such a journey.

(https://i.imgur.com/LRvfG19.png)

Yes, few people pay any mind to our little sanctuary. Few that is, save for the elves. No one knows why they attack us, but they have made three attempts to destroy our home. Each time, they were driven back by clever tactics and the ingenious traps left to us by the kobolds. Those battles occurred many years before my birth, and for a time it seemed they had been beaten for good. Yet we never let our guard down, and now a terrifying rumour has reached us.

(https://i.imgur.com/JeFVVEp.png)

The elves come to annihilate us once again. They go at the behest of their recently crowned dread queen, Vafice Lutecover. An ancient being, once slain, but raised to serve as an unliving weapon by the necromantic scourge of the north. Alas, Asno Dancefiends, the strategist who foiled them in the past, is no longer here. She left to infiltrate the citadel of Poisonuttered some years ago. There are few here now who could hope to repel such an invasion.

I am the best warrior we have, but I cannot fight an army. As one of the few with the skills to cross the wastes, I have been given a greater duty. I must reach the heart of the Confederacy and beseech our liege lord for aide.

Before leaving, I make a visit to the burial chamber of our long-dead kobold predecessors. Their artifice has kept us safe in the past, and I ask them to continue to protect my family in my absence.

(https://i.imgur.com/RtEgSEV.png)

Our people have a custom where travelers will take a kobold bone with them when leaving on a long journey. With the importance of my mission in mind, I pick out a sturdy-looking skull. It will serve as a reminder of home, no matter how far I must wander.

A few near misses remind me that the traps in these twisting halls still pose a danger, even to those of us who live amongst them. It’s said that the walls can shift when you aren’t looking. A safe passage yesterday may lead to deadly peril today if you aren’t wary. The aged and venerable mechanisms may have suffered some wear over the centuries, but their envenomed weapons still offer swift death to anyone without a careful eye and quick reflexes. I take comfort in the fact that the elves will not be able to breach our sanctum without taking heavy losses.

I reach the surface. The air here is cool and refreshing. It’s been some time since I left the underground. From my memory of the seasons, it must be sometime in the waning days of summer.

Not far from the cave entrance, I spy a small encampment. I approach and find Ithra, a familiar if somewhat reclusive goblin. There is also an elf. Ithra explains that the elf is Disa Verseglitter, the captured leader of one of the previous invasions. Ordinarily, prisoners would be confined to the dungeon pits in the deepest part of the cave. Ithra starts by saying that she thought there would be a risk to having the prisoner behind our defenses, but quickly admits that she was frightened away by the rumours of invasion and brought Disa along as a bargaining chip. After some debate, I decide to take both with me. The prisoner may prove useful in the lands beyond, even if she hasn’t revealed much yet.

(https://i.imgur.com/1k5SY2h.png)

Further along, I find two more elf prisoners and another goblin with the same idea. One of the prisoners is another military commander. I entrust her to the goblin. The other, however, is a regular soldier. Leaving two elves out here with one goblin to guard them is an unacceptable risk. I take the necessary action.

(https://i.imgur.com/y4o7gZr.png)

The elf carried a concealed knife, as well as some books she was allowed to keep. Self-aggrandizing drivel. I expected more from the fabled elven warrior-poets.

(https://i.imgur.com/Ddue04j.png)

I give the books to Disa. Perhaps she can find some appreciation for them. But for now, we must begin our trek into the Waste of Strangeness. Many tales of horror surround this cursed desert. I don’t wish to tarry long enough to see their truth for myself.

(https://i.imgur.com/2WxYqzU.png)

Title: Re: Museum III adventure game
Post by: Glloyd on March 10, 2021, 10:55:05 pm

Quote from: Lurker Z on March 10, 2021, 10:03:11 am

Question: can you take a site in the name of your civilization in adventure mode? What happens when you claim a site claimed by another group/civ? Do they attack you until something else happens or what? Can you give a site to a group you're not a part of? Does taking the site change your group affiliation?

Yes. I did that multiple times as Iden, that's why the Walled Dye owns all those villages in the north. If you claim a site claimed by another group, you can sometimes take it over by claiming the site then killing the site leader, that's what happened with Pis. He was the site leader, then Iden killed him and and Iden briefly became the lord before he burned to death. Taking the site doesn't change your civ affiliation, it makes you lord of a new group under that civ.


Great first post nogoodnames! Looking forward to reading more!

Title: Re: Museum III adventure game
Post by: Bralbaard on March 11, 2021, 08:54:52 am

That is an interesting starting site, and a good start to your story, Nogoodnames.

Quote from: Yarlig on March 10, 2021, 06:43:01 am

As for the Emerald Crown' I haven't really had the time to write anything concrete lately'

I hope you'll find some time soon. I'm looking forward to the rest of the story, and it seems from legends mode etc. that some pretty weird stuff happened during the final part of your turn.

Meanwhile I have written the final part of my story, It can be found here (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8257712#msg8257712).
I only barely made it out of the Iron Deep, that place is a trap  :P.

Title: Re: Museum III adventure game
Post by: Glloyd on March 11, 2021, 03:01:10 pm

Great final entry Bralbaard. You may actually be immune to burning, because the way burning kills you in DF is through blood loss, which is no longer an issue for you. I'm not sure if it's something you'd want to test though, because you never know with DF.

Title: Re: Museum III adventure game
Post by: Bralbaard on March 11, 2021, 03:30:30 pm

I did not want to take the risk to test it, but the thought to escape the Iron Deep through the magma sea crossed my mind, it would have been nice to emerge victorious from a nearby volcano on the map. In any case, looking at my unharmed clothing I thought I just did not get hot enough to ignite. I never thought about the blood mechanics behind it.

I exchanged some personal messages with Lurker Z about the invisible undead that he found. I'm in a bit of doubt if we should keep a list of sites with issues. It would be quite difficult to properly update, (bugged creatures may move to other sites, some crashes may not repeat, some crashes may be fixed by game updates or by ourselves, etc. ).
There are quite a lot of sites with crashes, but also sites with serious issues (Like Swordgleamed)
Do we need something to keep track of this, or is it enough just to keep the general warning up that people should save often because instability is to be expected?

Also I have not really heard any negative opinions about the AdvFort thing. I think we should give it a try. Feel free to use it. If things don't go south in the next few turns I'll add it to the official rules. 

The maps and missions have been updated.

Title: Re: Museum III adventure game
Post by: Lurker Z on March 11, 2021, 04:19:05 pm

I'm fine either way. I figure we could always put things in spoiler and see what comes of it.

I was to Swordgleamed in that save, yes, it started lagging hard around the, you know, nearly 3000 people in one room thing, but it didn't crash or anything, I could talk to people, I walked away without trouble etc.

If we're reporting troublesome places, I nominate Stealmountain in The Devious Crest in The Tundra of Heroes. It lags horrible even if there's only one corpse or two around there and the place is officially abandoned.
It's the first terrain that made me grateful for the jump option.
This might have something to do with it though:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

The Tower of Whispering, Underworld Spire

I might investigate this further in fortress mode.

Title: Re: Museum III adventure game
Post by: nogoodnames on March 11, 2021, 08:19:56 pm

Day 1

Not half a day into our journey and the wastes reveal the truth behind one legend. It does indeed rain blood here. The sharp metallic scent is unmistakable to my sensitive nose. Though, a detail eludes me. There are some subtleties that hint at an animal source, but I can’t pinpoint it. Not elven, goblin, or any beast I am familiar with.

(https://i.imgur.com/GKHTiNt.png)

Regardless, it’s quite unpleasant to stand in. We’ll all need a long bath once we get past this.

The sun is low in the sky, and we have reached a river. The water is cold, but I am glad to wash away the coating of unnatural gore. Following this river should lead us out of the wastes. I Would guess we are about halfway through them now. Unfortunately, that means we will need to spend a night here.

(https://i.imgur.com/xWNpTb5.png)

A little further on, the river runs red with the strange red blood. I am suddenly suspicious of how clean it was where we crossed. And somewhat concerned with the drink I took from it.

(https://i.imgur.com/wyqHNxJ.png)

As night begins to fall, the blood rain returns. Except now it is cold enough that the blood falls as odd frozen chunks. Not quite snowflakes, too thick and slushy.

We had just finished hunting some vultures for dinner. I tossed an errant bone near Disa, and without warning she sprang at me with a knife. Must have been waiting for her chance. Either thought the distraction and low light would be enough of an advantage, or the bone was the last straw and she couldn’t wait for a better opportunity. Foolish. Ithra quickly removes her ability to fight. I offer one chance at surrender, then finish it. At least we might sleep better now without wondering if she’ll try to slit our throats.

(https://i.imgur.com/9QIZfov.png)

We decide to make camp there. I construct a funeral pyre for the elf. More dignity than she deserves, but the body could attract scavengers.


Day 2

The night passes without further incident. We set off again, heading northwest.

The day starts poorly. The blood rain returns. I try to hunt more vultures, but one flies off with my good knife still stuck in it.

(https://i.imgur.com/YBr9JhF.png)

Around midmorning we encounter a goblin patrol group. Archers in service to the demon lord who rules these wastes. Not friendly. One fires a bolt that skims my ear. We reverse course and quickly get out of range.

We must skirt around one of their dark fortresses to escape the wastes. Have to be careful here, there are bound to be many more patrols ahead.

Watching the black tower loom out of the horizon, I realize I have made a mistake in our path. The goblin fortifications here press right up against the mountains. There’s little chance of us making it through unseen. We’re hemmed in by smaller pits. Going around will take many hours. Instead, I make the decision to cross the mountains here where they are relatively small.

(https://i.imgur.com/awIWOeH.png)

The low mountains here are flush with verdant grasses and wildflowers. For one such as I, who has spent his life bordered by lifeless stone and dead wastes, it is truly an amazing sight. The rock underneath is black and glossy, offering a stunning contrast. I recognize it as obsidian, known to be exceptional for cutting tools. Unfortunately, I can’t find any chunks the right size to work with here.

We reach a shallow mountain stream and follow it on its winding downward path. At the foot of the mountains I see something that sends shivers of ancestral recognition through me. Trees! Actual trees! I have heard the elven prisoners describe such thing, but never thought they could be so large nor so majestic! No desert scrub or hardy mountain plant can compare. Even the fungal forests of the deep caverns do not capture such serenity! If this is commonplace, I am beginning to see why outsiders call our cave “The Brutal Gloom.” As if waiting for its cue, a light shower begins. Not blood, but clean, cool rain. It cleanses us of the gore and grime from our trek through the wastes. I feel reborn.

(https://i.imgur.com/h1wDY2T.png)

I pause here for some time to collect some of the bountiful berries growing here. I also fashion an axe from a tree branch and some local stone. Not obsidian, sadly, but it should serve as a decent replacement for my lost knife.

We encounter another group of goblin soldiers in the wilderness. Apparently, they rule these lands as well. I take the risk to see if they are willing to talk. One responds eagerly, but his threatening advancement belies his peaceful intentions. I kite him along so we have the numerical advantage.

He’s cocky, thinks we’re a couple of clueless peasants. Ithra takes a wound from the goblin’s lash, but her sacrifice allows me to circle around the aggressor. My axe chips against his copper armour, but the force behind the blow makes it through. The goblin squeals in pain, realizing his mistake too late. His friends can’t help him now.

(https://i.imgur.com/FivB2dW.png)

By the end of it, both my axe and Ithra’s knife lie shattered on the ground, but the goblin is dead. I grab everything he had of use. We depart before his friends can figure out what happened.

The goblin spoke of some reclaimed pits nearby. There will likely be a lot of activity around them. We’ll need to be cautious. We stop for a while so I can replace my axe. I give Ithra the dead goblin's equipment. She confesses to me that she always dreamed of being a warrior. Perhaps this is the chance she has been waiting for.

We lay down to rest. A cougar ambushes us in the middle of the night. Grogginess slows me. Fortunately, Ithra kept watch and knows how to handle it.

(https://i.imgur.com/hvYRagO.png)

The rest of the night passes peacefully.

Title: Re: Museum III adventure game
Post by: tonnot98 on March 11, 2021, 09:04:24 pm

Biting down on an apex predator sure seems like a way to handle things. I'm enjoying the writing so far, I wonder what kind of submission your noble savage will make. More skulls? Like a Gorlak once said, we're pretty well off in the phrenology department.

Title: Re: Museum III adventure game
Post by: TheFlame52 on March 12, 2021, 03:16:59 pm

Damn, Ithra is a beast.

Title: Re: Museum III adventure game
Post by: Imic on March 12, 2021, 05:05:29 pm

Quote from: Ithra

Omnomnom

Title: Re: Museum III adventure game
Post by: Yarlig on March 12, 2021, 05:21:54 pm

That's a very interesting story going on; hope the bear doesn't get torn apart before reaching civilization' the north has been quite lethal in the past' and I'm personally waiting for the culture shock when he sees a city for the first time.

Quote from: Bralbaard on March 11, 2021, 08:54:52 am

Meanwhile I have written the final part of my story, It can be found here (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8257712#msg8257712).
I only barely made it out of the Iron Deep, that place is a trap  :P.

You actually found Thon's corpse! I failed to locate it despite giving the area a decent combover and thought it lost; we do' however' have a matching head in the museum' so hopefully one of the adventurers to make it will reunite them.

Title: Re: Museum III adventure game
Post by: Quantum Drop on March 12, 2021, 05:45:00 pm

Bears are Bad News, but Ithra is even worse news for anyone who tries to fight the two of them. Good start, and I'm interested to see where this goes!

Title: Re: Museum III adventure game
Post by: Bralbaard on March 12, 2021, 06:11:58 pm

Quote from: Yarlig on March 12, 2021, 05:21:54 pm

Quote from: Bralbaard on March 11, 2021, 08:54:52 am

Meanwhile I have written the final part of my story, It can be found here (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8257712#msg8257712).
I only barely made it out of the Iron Deep, that place is a trap  :P.

You actually found Thon's corpse! I failed to locate it despite giving the area a decent combover and thought it lost; we do' however' have a matching head in the museum' so hopefully one of the adventurers to make it will reunite them.

So Thon's head is at the museum, that explains a lot :-). I knew from Luckyowls story that Thon's head had been separated from the rest of him, but could not find his skull anywhere. Finding the body nearly took my sanity, actually. It was somewhere out in the forest at the very edge of the site and took ages to find. It looks like there was an event were all items were randomly scattered about the cave and surroundings, the morion crown was also nowhere near the corpse, and there were etin teeth everywhere.

Title: Re: Museum III adventure game
Post by: Lurker Z on March 12, 2021, 09:56:59 pm

Hey, Bralbaard, did you, uh, mod the museum? Because there's a civilized cave dragon running around there. I don't even know what to say about this...

It's even in your turn 1 save...

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/dZnifj1.png)

All hail the non-violent mega-beast I guess. I don't judge.

Title: Re: Museum III adventure game
Post by: tonnot98 on March 13, 2021, 03:02:47 am

That's awfully strange. But I can say it's not counted as a megabeast, cave dragons are just part of the cavernous wildlife but it certainly doesn't explain how this one somehow got a job as a mercenary. I mean, it's obvious that they'd want a cave dragon, but seriously how did it go about applying? If an adventurer found it, would it speak?

Title: Re: Museum III adventure game
Post by: Bralbaard on March 13, 2021, 08:54:06 am

Quote from: Lurker Z on March 12, 2021, 09:56:59 pm

Hey, Bralbaard, did you, uh, mod the museum? Because there's a

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

civilized cave dragon

running around there. I don't even know what to say about this...

No it is unmodded. I think I even ran into this cave dragon character during my run as Raki. I ended up not writing about it as there was a lot of other stuff to report, and it was hard to fit into the story.
Here is a screenshot I took, this was in the camp of Wheelbeige:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/C5EZqsp.gif)

Anyhow, This has apparently already been reported  as a bug  (https://www.bay12games.com/dwarves/mantisbt/view.php?id=11393)by others, In my opinion it is a feature that I would like to keep :-)

Title: Re: Museum III adventure game
Post by: Lurker Z on March 13, 2021, 09:37:45 am

Quote from: Bralbaard on March 13, 2021, 08:54:06 am

No it is unmodded. I think I even ran into this cave dragon character during my run as Raki. I ended up not writing about it as there was a lot of other stuff to report, and it was hard to fit into the story.
Here is a screenshot I took, this was in the camp of Wheelbeige:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/C5EZqsp.gif)

Anyhow, This has apparently already been reported  as a bug  (https://www.bay12games.com/dwarves/mantisbt/view.php?id=11393)by others, In my opinion it is a feature that I would like to keep :-)

To the HFS with just the keep, I want the instances to increase. Civilized original dragons! Civilized rocs! Civilized giants! Civilized direwolves! Civilize the world!

I posted on the bug tracker *whistles innocently in the background while lurking*

Quote from: Lurker Z

We have one at The Museum:

[...]

Can this become a feature? 3/3 people so far agree this can only be a good thing.

Quote from: tonnot98 on March 13, 2021, 03:02:47 am

[...] but it certainly doesn't explain how this one somehow got a job as a mercenary. I mean, it's obvious that they'd want a cave dragon, but seriously how did it go about applying? If an adventurer found it, would it speak?

From what I understand from DF, if someone has the skills for it or if the AI wants them to be, they automatically become that profession. So if the AI wanted it to be a mercenary, it became a mercenary. How it applied and eventually became Lord of a group is the real question.

Title: Re: Museum III adventure game
Post by: Glloyd on March 15, 2021, 03:02:24 pm

How's it going NGN? Looking forward to hearing more about the bear man and his cougar-biting comrade.

Title: Re: Museum III adventure game
Post by: nogoodnames on March 15, 2021, 08:57:22 pm

Sorry it's taking so long. Like I mentioned, I'm pretty busy right now. I've played a bit more, but I probably won't have time to finish up until the weekend. I promise to have the save up by then if you'll allow the extension.

If anyone wants to go ahead and do their explorations of the bugged sites, I'd be fine with that happening concurrently.

Title: Re: Museum III adventure game
Post by: Lurker Z on March 17, 2021, 06:19:44 pm

Hey, so, uh, I'll just leave this here.

Spoiler: Not actually a spoiler, just a large image. (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/V8iaDJl.png)

Does this mean we're getting a covert CK2 update?

Between Windy Beans, Ol Name 1 and Dat Name 2, that family has gotten way more interesting than it already was...

---

Windy Beans seems funny and all, but she almost single-handedly wiped out what is currently the most populous human civ in the world. Who knows how the world would have turned out if she succeeded. The world might have been overrun by necros or just divided between necros and goblins and we'd have played the museum on a different world altogether.

Title: Re: Museum III adventure game
Post by: nogoodnames on March 19, 2021, 10:34:39 pm

Day 3

Cougar steaks for breakfast and then off again. We come across some buildings set apart from the nearby pits. There are many statues and engraved images here, mainly goblins and symbols, with some stranger creatures. A goblin religious site? It seems abandoned, perhaps we will be safe here for a time. I leave Ithra behind while I scout the rest of the site.

(https://i.imgur.com/D8fTgjn.png)

Not as abandoned as I’d hoped. I run into a goblin patrol on the west side of the compound. One sees me and looses an arrow. It goes wide.

(https://i.imgur.com/8eFUqdc.png)

I fall back. He follows, another overconfident glory hog. He fires another arrow. This one strikes true, piercing my neck and narrowly missing an artery. Can’t let him nock another arrow. No time to hesitate, I charge. I bring my axe to bear, breaking his leg and then his neck. A crack echoes out as both my axe and his spine are shattered. I hold him still and hasten his end.

(https://i.imgur.com/t7UpzAK.png)

The others come, alerted by the sounds of his death. Melee fighters with strong metal armour. I slip around them, undetected. They enter the nearby building searching for me. I follow in after and ambush them.

(https://i.imgur.com/OVugn82.png)

The one with the axe goes down with a quick crack to the head. The pike wielder seems to be sturdier. My other axe shatters against her helm and she turns to face me. I grab her pike mid-stab and rip it from her grasp. From there, the battle is short.

I grab some better armour for Ithra as well as the goblin's axe and shield. The crude axe stinks of death, and the sizing makes it awkward, but better to hold onto it until I can make something better. I resume my scouting and find another dead goblin archer. A victim of infighting perhaps? The rest of the site appears empty.

I return to Ithra. When I tell her of what happened, she proclaims me to be “the Hoary Merchant of Adventure.” Not sure what to think of that. I would have liked to take some time to rest here, but it’s too dangerous. The goblins are dead, but I can’t be sure some unnoticed member of their party didn’t run off to raise the alarm. We continue westward.

Along a riverbank, we encounter a most unusual creature. It’s about the height of a goblin, but with copper skin, a beard so long it drags on the ground, and so plump as to be almost spherical. It greets me jovially, and I realize that this must be one of the mythical dwarves! The stories I know all tell that the dwarves were wiped out long ago by their own hubris and lust for power. Clearly, much has changed in the outside world. The dwarf tells me that we are near the settlement of Lashedjade. From what he says, they live a relatively peaceful life here, aside from the threat of the Black Demon and his goblin raiders.

(https://i.imgur.com/4PpHah8.png)

We soon find the entrance to Lashedjade, along with many more dwarves. They seem somewhat wary, especially around Ithra, but are otherwise quite welcoming toward us. Most seem to be merchants. Who they trade with in this goblin-infested wilderness is a mystery.

The dark tunnels these dwarves have carved out for themselves remind me of home. Except with fewer deadly traps and more random clutter. The upper levels are thick with fungal growth that I recognize from the deep caverns.

(https://i.imgur.com/EFmA9jE.png)

Night is falling. The dwarves have plenty of beds, but Ithra doesn’t want to impose. We set up camp a short distance away.


Day 4

The close call with the goblin archer has shown me the need for some better protection out here. My skin may be thicker than a goblin’s, but it won’t do much against metal weapons. We return to the dwarf settlement. I negotiate the use of some of their workshops and some unused animal carcasses in exchange for a portion of my craft. The dwarven tools make the work go quickly, and I soon have some decent bone and leather armour.

(https://i.imgur.com/K7RkcPD.png)

We depart around midday. As we leave, Ithra shows me an intricately carved wooden ring. She says she found it outside on the ground by riverbank. She brushes off my suggestion that the dwarves might want it returned. We move on.

(https://i.imgur.com/2SUXwL1.png)

We journey southwest, weaving between goblin trenches. Our path brings us into the vicinity of another patrol. Ithra charges in. Her confidence is shattered by a quick strike from the lead goblin, along with her ankle. I make my approach and swiftly swing the odds more in our favour.

(https://i.imgur.com/YrtPKk5.png)

This axe may be crude, but it is certainly effective. The goblins fall one by one. Ithra takes a few more injuries, but they will heal.

Title: Re: Museum III adventure game
Post by: Bralbaard on March 21, 2021, 03:58:47 pm

It's time to start the "Myths and Legends of Gor and Duskhome" special event that I promised.
As you know these two sites were lost to the corruption and are gone from our current save games, a great loss as they were largely unexplored. Luckily they can still be visited in old save games, but obviously that would mess with the timelines of our succession game. The solution is to treat any stories from these sites as myths an legends, so it makes sense from the world's perspective. Exploration will be possible during this event, and everyone can and join and play at the same time. (The normal game will keep running as well)

I will add a myths and legends section after the event has concluded that will link to all submited content.

Rules:
-everybody can join and play, you do not have to be on the turn list.
-The event ends in three weeks from now, that is the 18th of april.
-Keep your art and stories focused on Gor and Duskhome (!) not on other adventures.
-There are no rules for character levels, party size, you can start as many characters as you like.
-You can use legends mode only as well, if you want.
Let me know if I missed anything, or if there are any questions.

advice:
Luckyowl's save game  (https://dffd.bay12games.com/file.php?id=15368)is the last where these sites were intact, but technically you could play in any of the earlier save games since the sites were founded.
You can find the sites on the map on the first page of the forum topic.
----------------

Also, great story so far, Nogoodnames. I really like the approach to craft your own items and gear. I hope you've had enough time to expand on his adventure, and that there are still some updates to come.
With that said, could you finish your turn and upload the save game? Wonderpsycho will be the next in line.

Title: Re: Museum III; Myths and legends special event is running (free to join for all)
Post by: nogoodnames on March 21, 2021, 04:10:50 pm

I will do my best to have the save uploaded tomorrow.

Title: Re: Museum III; Myths and legends special event is running (free to join for all)
Post by: Imic on March 21, 2021, 05:22:59 pm

I don't know how interesting the sites are, there might not be enough to do for a big event.

Title: Re: Museum III; Myths and legends special event is running (free to join for all)
Post by: Bralbaard on March 21, 2021, 05:38:41 pm

I certainly had a good time in the Iron Deep, one of your other sites. I don't know much about these sites, but if nothing else, I've heard rumours that one of the sites is challenging enough to result in some fun stories.

Title: Re: Museum III; Myths and legends special event is running (free to join for all)
Post by: Lurker Z on March 21, 2021, 08:34:02 pm

Nice to see the event happening.

(Edited post because my assumptions were wrong: the mass deaths happened in later fortresses where HFS said hello to emigrants from Duskhome.)

---

So, I got the save. Just to recap: it's in Adventure Mode while Artha Peacefulsong the human female necromancer who's wounded is swimming in the middle of the ocean... for some reason.

Presumably, the forts are all viable here, because when I tried to reclaim Gor in turn 37 save, there was nothing there but a wandering spoiler.

I teleported Artha over to a quest marker so I could retire without killing her. Now, let's see what we've got here...

---

On an unrelated note, I found a civilized troll, in the way of that civilized cave dragon a while back.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/KAaU29S.png)

My initial suspicions seems confirmed, as the "civilizing" of Rimara Staticperplexes seems to start since he was enslaved by a civilization. Interesting, it doesn't stop him from rampaging here and there, but later he's part of a religious order preaching tolerance or such.

He even married... but his spouse just started civilized. Interesting...

I have no idea how I find these, it's like a wiki-walk and I have no idea what I clicked to click to click to get to the article I found...

---

Holy yak bull, Duskhome is awesome! I recommend it to anyone to visit it. My fortresses are just squares in the earth compared to this. Imic is underestimating himself hard.

I only have one question at this time: what's with the duplicate stockpiles? Did the game forget their settings between sessions? Because they all take the same items and of all the qualities.

Title: Re: Museum III; Myths and legends special event is running (free to join for all)
Post by: Eric Blank on March 22, 2021, 05:04:04 pm

Perhaps input/output stockpiles for workshops. I rarely do that myself but some do for stuff like decorations.

Title: Re: Museum III; Myths and legends special event is running (free to join for all)
Post by: Lurker Z on March 22, 2021, 08:35:01 pm

Quote from: Eric Blank on March 22, 2021, 05:04:04 pm

Perhaps input/output stockpiles for workshops. I rarely do that myself but some do for stuff like decorations.

No, I checked, they didn't link for anything and each contained different types of furniture/material. I suspect the game just lost a few of the settings in the process.

I guess it doesn't matter, it shouldn't affect adventure mode.

Title: Re: Museum III; Myths and legends special event is running (free to join for all)
Post by: tonnot98 on March 22, 2021, 10:11:29 pm

Fortress stockpiles usually lose their workshop links after being reclaimed/unretired.

How's that adventure coming, NoGoodNames?

Title: Re: Museum III; Myths and legends special event is running (free to join for all)
Post by: nogoodnames on March 22, 2021, 11:12:53 pm

Here's the save: https://dffd.bay12games.com/file.php?id=15475

Once again, I'm sorry I went over the turn limit. Ironically, I'm pretty free this week. If only the last couple turns had taken a little longer... I'll try to put some extra effort into the last update (coming soon) to make up for it.

I didn't get around to a lot of what I had hoped to accomplished, but it can't be helped. The biggest disappointment was not finding any obsidian for those axes I drew Arcturus with. It was really common in the elven lands, but nowhere further south apparently. Seems pretty random what rock makes up the ground. Even with obsidian layers directly underneath, the floor would be made of rhyolite or dacite. And the one mountain I crossed didn't count because pebbles don't exist on mountains apparently...

Anyway, I'd like to sign up for another turn. Hopefully it lines up so I have more free time then.

Spoiler: As for any potential museum submission... (click to show/hide)

I submitted the ash and shell of Nithari Clashedseduce the Hideous, the forgotten beast that originally wiped out the Staff of Kissing in year 38.

I also moved some of the display pedestals that Bralbaard added upstairs so the ground floor is less cluttered. I used advfort to construct them so they should function as actual buildings.

Title: Re: Museum III; Myths and legends special event is running (free to join for all)
Post by: Quantum Drop on March 25, 2021, 05:08:08 am

At the risk of coming off as skip-happy, Wonderpsycho hasn't been active since the 10^th of February. Should we skip them, or wait for another four days?

Title: Re: Museum III; Myths and legends special event is running (free to join for all)
Post by: Bralbaard on March 25, 2021, 06:44:44 am

I only send the PM notification yesterday morning, and I usually wait three days before skipping.
At least we can play the special event during the down time.

Edit: No response, that makes it Tonnot's turn..

Title: Re: Museum III; Myths and legends special event is running (free to join for all)
Post by: tonnot98 on March 26, 2021, 06:03:04 pm

Ayyy, I'll be able to pick it up starting tomorrow. This should be fun!

The leatherbound book is singed at the edges and stained with blood...

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

12th of Limestone, 769
It has been a little over fifty years since I last took up my blade and mace. I have seen many adventurers grace the halls of Boltspumpkin with their presence and I have learned much from them. A few however, seemed like dangerous individuals far past the simplicity of being soldiers of fortune. People claiming to have hunted demons, or claim to be demons themselves. Some go on to make names for themselves as fearsome individuals that have claimed the lives of many innocents. The people that have settled in the castle know all too well of a small monkey man that spread a curse most foul to the south.

So to the south I shall go. I will purge the land of those with tainted blood. But first, I'll pay the dark pits to the north a visit. I could use a change of clothes, and the evil denizens that orbit the tower are undeserving of theirs. I say my goodbyes to the various goblins, and Lonelythrall, and set off on my journey.
(OOC note: it seems that all of the star charts and astronomy manuals I collected have disappeared from Stargaze, and are either off site or scattered around the castle.)

15th of Limestone
On my way north to do slaughter more of my evil kin, I took a quick detour towards an ancient necromancer's tower called Largetempest. I had sworn that with the recent purges of the undead, this tower had also been cleared. Imagine my surprise when I see a necromancer poke his head out from the main structure. He tried to run, but I was faster. I poked around inside, and unsurprisingly there's a ton of corpses. Although they look more like the 'murdered' type instead of the 'exhumed' type since there were shattered bones and weapons laying all about.

16th of Limestone
I got ambushed by a bunch of skeletons. There was a living dwarf among them, surprisingly not a necromancer. He tried shooting at me, so I broke his legs and gave him a stern talking to before breaking his bow. They seemed to be travelling south from the Tomb of Tongstreat, but I dare not enter. I've heard about the many foul things that could happen to those that disturb dead kings. Besides, I have no use for any trinkets or baubles I could find within.

17th of Limestone
I take another detour towards what I heard was a dwarven fortress of truly magnificent design. As I approached from a distance, I thought I had seen a large, glimmering gem embedded in the mountain. It became clearer when I got closer, that this gem had been put there by years of stout labor. A road paved with gold and glass led into a glass fortification that extended into the mountainside. Free of suspicion, the dwarves of The Artificial Diamond introduced me to their project, Emeraldcrown! One of the glassmakers was giving me a tour of the place when we came upon their library and personal museum. I offered to trade a load of books plundered from the necromancer's tower for one of their artifacts. They gladly accepted, and now I have a gift for an old friend that I should hopefully see real soon.

Naughtyslap is a Cow Leather Buckler, all craftsdwarfship is of the highest quality. It is encrusted with single cut clear zircons. This object menaces with spikes of cow leather.
Value: 32880☼

18th of Limestone
I have finally made it to the Dark Pits of Lessonghouls. I was expecting to find some goblins to slay, but I only discovered an empty tomb with a memorial for Lokum Oslanetar, a baron of The Walled Dye. He was slain by a "wolverine Dark One," whatever that is. Its dated for the year 258, so it was probably at the height of the undead wars. The other Dark Pits just north of it, Seducedthreats, was much of the same. Except I found some goblin bandits checking the place out for themselves. I quickly tore through them and reduced their chieftan to a smelly puddle on the ground. I finally got that change of clothes that I wanted! Now, I will investigate the prevalence of this supposed curse spreading through the southern kingdoms of man.

19th of Limestone
On my way back south I come across the dwarven fortress of Pillartraded. It was reclaimed by a group of more civilized goblins calling themselves "The Fellowship of Pride." They seem like an interesting group, as among their numbers they have at least three religious leaders, a military captain, a head housekeeper, and then the baron. They were happy enough to trade some of their armor for my gems. As I've learned from the various dwarves that visited The Museum while I was living there, this darker metal is called "steel" and only the dwarves know how to produce it. I guess the goblins here didn't think they'd need this stronger material in this relatively peaceful age. I suppose that's true, as long as they don't find any trouble.

As I continued south, I saw a demon in the wilds! It spotted me as well, so I hastily stabbed some camels to distract it and ran away to the nearby dwarven hillocks. I was surprised to see these hillocks actually occupied. I told them of what I saw, and one "Jaguar Guard" offered to join me in my adventures. I made clear that I had no intention of trying to slay the thing. I already had one close encounter with a giant, fire-breathing monster and I did not wish to have another. On we march to The Realm of Silver.

Title: Re: Museum III; Myths and legends special event is running (free to join for all)
Post by: tonnot98 on March 29, 2021, 10:47:15 pm

(https://imgur.com/pv2OuO4.png)

Spoiler: 20th of Limestone to 5th of Sandstone (click to show/hide)

20th of Limestone
I traveled to the castle of Roastedlobsters, and told the soldiers and nobles there of my exploits in the past, and my quest for the future. After a night of drinking and revelry, I walked out of there with no less than twelve soldiers under my command. Together, we are the Legion of Light! No evils can stand before us, and we will fight until our last breath for all that is good!
(https://imgur.com/fGzoa8r.png)

Our first adventure together was delving into the abandoned fortress of Confusedship. It was reportedly taken over by my dark kin long ago. I sought to free it from their grasp. We stained the cramped halls of that fortress with their blood. The only resistance was put up by one of those horrid necromancer experiments. My men plundered many gems and finer weapons from the old stocks, and left with their bloodthirst quenched. There were a few books scattered about the place that told of the fortress' short history before being conquered, but it was of little note as the writer was amateurish at best. These dwarven scribes are nothing like the elven and goblin writers that I knew up north.

24th of Limestone
We knocked over the Dark Pits of Whimmenaced. Unlike the other places, everyone there was a soldier. The fighting was hard, and even though I was able to cut through them all in a bloody frenzy, my companions could not keep up the pace. Of our group, only Ustres was slain in the fighting. He was thrown into a deep hole by a troll. Ocda, one of our bowmen was crippled after getting stabbed in the foot. As harrowing as it was to be beset by so many enemies, all of us that lived through it are better warriors for the experience.

26th of Limestone
Our band discovered a refugee camp of goblins preparing to flee from their pits. Apparently an army of The Walled Dyes was on their way to snuff them out. I didn't think the dwarves had it in them! Well, I noticed some various artifacts amongst the fleeing nobility and told them to hand those over for safe keeping. They told me that I could pry it from their cold, dead hands. And so I did. There were many members of the nobility there, along with loads of human and goblin slaves. I don't know why they did it, but the slaves jumped at us in defense of their masters. It was just like two days ago, only now we had the sun and these weren't soldiers. Dozens, we slayed. We kept killing and killing, until we got exhausted, and then we killed some more.

There were many nobles amongst them. I executed three high executioners, annihilated three barons, sent a chief fire warden to the burning pits of hell, and about six chamberlains and a prophet up to meet their weak gods. I terminated two governors, plundered two treasurers, steamrolled their road caretaker, and brought their justiciar and two judges to justice. I fed their two masters of beasts to the dogs, forced their master into the dirt, and took the head of their head of housekeeping. And now we rest, under the freezing sky of The Tundra of Heroes. Many of the adventurers that have come to The Museum have noted how terribly difficult it was to cross this wasteland. I shall take great care in my continued travels.

The Cardinal Visionary is a fungiwood amulet, all craftsmanship is of the highest quality. This object menaces with spikes of rutile and large rat bone.
Value: 3600
Musoera, "Wildnesshorns" is a copper scimitar, all craftsmanship is of the highest quality. It is decorated with wombat bone and menaces with spikes of diorite. On the item is an image of 'An Introduction To The Water Cycle' the granite-bound codex in troglodyte bone. It has slain one human while in service of  a Dark One.
Value: 6960

28th of Limestone
At the southern edge of the tundra is a fortress called "Climaxringed," as my comrade Lokum explained. We traveled there to investigate, but were waylaid by a demon on the way there! It was a gigantic, winged slug that flew high into the sky before slamming down on Accok, our lasher and killing him instantly! As we fought, it crippled Uthral by biting and tearing off his right leg. Piral was the one who struck the killing blow with his mace, ending the ordeal. Lokum found an iron pick of dwarven design embedded in the beast's wings. None of us had used a pickaxe in our fighting, so this could only be a bad omen for the fate of the dwarves. A name engraved itself into our mind as the demon slug deflated and lost its fluids. "Burialash the Dead" was its name, and quite apt now.

29th of Limestone
I first visited the fortress known as "The Pit." There were rumors of some sort of corruption wiping it away, but there are still traces of what it used to be. A scarce few skeletons litter the site of where the fortress should be, including one dwarf skeleton surrounded by a pile of demonic ash. Perhaps it is good that this place was wiped out? As I was investigating, it began to rain a slurry of what was recognizably goblin blood. I have been bathed in it more times than I could count, but my men waver at the sight of the evil weather. Regardless, we must push on to Climaxringed and learn the fate of the dwarves.

We arrived at Climaxringed, or where it should've been. There was nothing here save for a wagon full of supplies and a few animal carcasses, preserved by the snow. Lokum noted that there were still digging implements and an anvil inside of the wagon. Whatever forced the expedition to flee came before they could get started. I took a couple of pine splints to help our injured. Its still up for debate on where that demon came from, though the men seem to think it must've fled whatever corruption came over The Pit. We're all eager to leave this frozen place before we also end up disappearing. (OOC: Imic, did you make this fortress just to pass a few years? There's literally nothing happening in legends besides things dying of old age!)

3rd of Sandstone
We've finally made it to The Realm of Silver. On the last stretch before reaching civilization again, we were ambushed by some dumb, skinless beast. It was distracted by my comrade for a moment before I pushed my sword through its head. Risas had heard stories about these things before, said it's a "bleak creature" and propogates much the same way that the Howling Freaks do up north. The thought of these coming out at night... At least it doesn't have the same nightmare inducing howl that's carried by the wind. Well, things don't seem so great over here. Parts of the nation are in a civil war, with The Constructive Fellowship attacking The League of Lunch. This is on top of the prevalent werebeast problem, which I have yet to come into contact with.

I had also just learned that two of my companions, Risas and Piral are married and have a daughter up north in The High Confederacies. I hope I am able to protect the both of them so that they can return home to see her.

5th of Sandstone
We've finally reached the city of Scarletbronze, where it is said the most of the transformations happened. But tonight it is dark, and I am tired. I'll continue my hunt tomorrow, with a belly full of wine roast.

My trek through The Tundra of Heroes wasn't nearly as perilous as I thought. Maybe me being a friend of nature saved me from the worst of it?

Title: Re: Museum III; Myths and legends special event is running (free to join for all)
Post by: Eric Blank on March 31, 2021, 02:01:59 pm

The polar bears run thick as the fog in the tundra of heroes. Being a friend of nature probably did spare you a couple ambushes. Tbh it's hardest going needing to thaw water out constantly.

Title: Re: Museum III; Myths and legends special event is running (free to join for all)
Post by: Glloyd on March 31, 2021, 02:12:18 pm

My turn is rapidly approaching, and I'm very busy right now, so would it be possible to bump me a couple turns down the list? I still want to take my turn, I just don't think I have the time for it over the next week or two.

Title: Re: Museum III; Myths and legends special event is running (free to join for all)
Post by: Quantum Drop on March 31, 2021, 03:57:46 pm

Quote from: Eric Blank on March 31, 2021, 02:01:59 pm

Tbh it's hardest going needing to thaw water out constantly.

That's what we have Combinedinsight for.[/joke] TBH, I may or may not have gone for the Necromancer secrets there with Urus purely because I was fed up with him getting thirsty in the middle of the damn tundra every five seconds.

Title: Re: Museum III; Myths and legends special event is running (free to join for all)
Post by: Bralbaard on April 01, 2021, 01:08:43 am

Quote from: Glloyd on March 31, 2021, 02:12:18 pm

My turn is rapidly approaching, and I'm very busy right now, so would it be possible to bump me a couple turns down the list? I still want to take my turn, I just don't think I have the time for it over the next week or two.

No problem, I'll move you down two slots, let me know if it should be less/more.

Title: Re: Museum III; Myths and legends special event is running (free to join for all)
Post by: Lurker Z on April 02, 2021, 11:59:49 am

Bralbaard, are you willing to extend the event term by a week, two or a month? It looks like we're not on our best game when it comes to it right now.

Title: Re: Museum III; Myths and legends special event is running (free to join for all)
Post by: tonnot98 on April 04, 2021, 12:36:13 am

The conclusion to my adventure (and the savefile) will be presented later this day. Sorry about the wait!

Title: Re: Museum III; Myths and legends special event is running (free to join for all)
Post by: tonnot98 on April 05, 2021, 04:30:49 pm

(https://imgur.com/fyHL6C0.png)

Spoiler: 8th of Sandstone to the 15th of Timber (click to show/hide)

8th of Sandstone
While killing time waiting for the full moon, we found a Fell One wandering the forest. The one fiend was a challenge for the twelve of us to kill. With a strange gesture, I was paralyzed. My muscles betrayed me and dropped my weapons onto the floor. With another gesture, he sent me flying. It was a struggle to regain a sense of control and crawl back to my crutches. I saw my companions similarly getting tossed about. Thankfully it was unarmed, and so we were able to kill it without any permanent damage done to us. I can only hope to never meet an organized force of these creatures.

11th of Sandstone
The full moon rises. I can hear the trumpeting in the night. It is time. I sent Uthral on his way, he's in no condition to continue fighting after the last few battles. I'm also having Busl wait at the nearby hamlet of Stillhandle while we hunt through Scarletbronze for the weremammoths. Busl is a goblin slave that we rescued from the refugee camp, before the rest of them turned on us. In the fighting, he was stabbed many times by the other slaves for betraying them. He's relatively healthy now, just scarred all over. Apparently he was taken from his home farther up north. While we were down here, he's been helping us battle with that pickaxe we recovered from the slug demon's corpse, and he used it to get the killing blow on that Fell One we discovered earlier. I shall leave my journal with him, so that if we don't return by nightfall, he will be the one to deliver it to the museum.

Destiny calls, and the taint that surrounds this place will be cleansed.

12th of Sandstone
I failed.

Everyone, save Lusko died in the fighting against a single, terrible beast. I had encountered a weremammoth in the catacombs and killed it after it murdered Dof. But afterwards, we ran into a truly horrible monstrosity. The fell ones wandering the city had inherited the werebeast curse! They are nigh-unstoppable killing machines! The two of us only survived because we were cowards. Lusko ran at the sight of the creature, and I fled with my life as it busied itself by stomping on my paralyzed comrades. Even the ten of us, each seasoned warriors in our own right, were no match for even a single one. Scarletbronze is forsaken. No living creature could ever hope to stop these beasts.

I have gathered a new warband. Fresh soldiers that I will lead to the slaughter. Lokum had told me about a dwarven fortress to the west, "The Abyssal Sanctuary." Emeraldcrown lost contact with it a few years after it was founded. If there's a chance for me to redeem myself, it will be there. But first, there's a trip to the north I must make. I will deliver Busl to his home, and give a present to my dearest caretaker in Splashbeige.

23rd of Sandstone
It was a long trek back north. The tundra, mountains, forests were all a blur in my despair. Even slaughtering another refugee camp hardly roused my blood, and felt more as though I was just going through the motions. These people continue to follow me because of my fame, though my friends died weeks ago in Scarletbronze. I have finally made it to Bearslings and reunited Busl with his father, Pibang Seizedempire. Turns out his father was a religious leader, go figure. Their reunion brought tears to my eyes, it was the first time in a long time that I've cried tears of joy.
(https://imgur.com/xz0d2XQ.png)

26th of Sandstone
(https://imgur.com/M604TLm.png)
I was finally able to reunite with Afe Sparkledfill after so long! I told her many stories about my exploits, and afterwards granted her some of the artifacts I was carrying. She's skilled at wielding a sword, so I gifted her Musoera, an artifact copper sword and Naughtyslap, an artifact shield. I hope that they serve as reminders that no matter where I may be, I'll always be there to protect her. In exchange, she gave me a unicorn bone figurine of a water buffalo, that was the mount of another elf, Vadane Ancienttress. She kept it as a keepsake after hearing that he had been murdered by a Howling Freak.

Looks like I have a new objective now. I'll avenge her friend and bring his remains to Herograves. This elf was also on a quest for the museum, so I'll take him there to find peace.

28th of Sandstone
In my absence, a dwarven fortress has been founded near my home. "Lancesavage" it was called. I gave it a visit, but found little of note beyond the plentiful corpses strewn about and the labrynthine layout so beloved by their strange kind. Inside of the fortress I found a rather large history book, and I know just who to give it to.

15th of Timber
My search has yielded little fruit. I've slain two more Howling Freaks, but never found the corpses of that elven traveller. I'm now at Boltspumpkin, the museum where I've rested for so long. Before getting here, I visited The Shelter of Adventurers and picked up some writing equipment and left behind two instruments: a Yila and an Alek. Now that I'm finally back I've composed an essay that I should leave here for the dwarves, if they should ever decide to begin respecting nature. "Better Nature" it is called, and it's my last gift to the people of this place before I go investigate the foul rumors about that "Abyssal Sanctuary" deep in the mountains. In Herograves I gave Bralbaard six books I recovered from a necromancer's tower so that he may better understand his condition. I also left a 290 page chronicle about the Nations of Honoring for him to research, I figured he'd enjoy the history book. I also put the figurine of Vadame's pet yak in a casket, as this piece of art is all that likely remains of him. (I put them all in a box but they immediately get scattered around the site after it unloads.)
(https://imgur.com/iXcTZrH.png)

Lusko would eventually come back down from the mountains and tell those in the museum about the unimaginable riches and horrors that are hidden away in The Abyssal Sanctuary. Crafts made of brilliant blue metal are jealously guarded by many dangerous demons and devious weapon traps. Red statues of burning dwarves adorn the blackened halls of that forsaken place. Fidale apparently had no intentions of returning home, launching herself down into the pits of hell, leaving the rest of her companions to fend for themselves.

Sorry about the wait again, some things came up. Imic! You beautiful bastard, your fortress actually managed to be super creepy! The traps alone managed to claim two of my companions!

https://dffd.bay12games.com/file.php?id=15493

Title: Re: Museum III; Myths and legends special event is running (free to join for all)
Post by: Bralbaard on April 06, 2021, 03:46:47 pm

First of all, thank you for the history and necromancer books. It's good to have a library of my own in Herograves :-).
I find it highly amusing that Fidale's elven upbringing is reflected in the museum piece, which will lecture the visitors about the value of nature. It is fitting that her goblin nature is also reflected in the fact that all this "be-friendly-to-nature" stuff is written on the skin of a dead cat.

I also see the weremammoth fell ones are starting to cause some issues  ;D. Raki is still waiting patiently in his grave hoping to receive similar powers..

That makes it Tehsapper's turn, I'm looking forward to that.

Also, people should let me know if they want another turn, I'm not sure if I picked up all requests over the last weeks. In general let me know if I missed anything, there are a lot of lists, dead bodies and other things to keep track of.
Also, there was a request to extend the deadline for the event. It's fine for me to extend it by a week. I don't want to extend it much longer as I want to run some historians-guild events afterwards, there are still quite a few unfinished stories..

Title: Re: Museum III; Myths and legends special event is running (free to join for all)
Post by: tonnot98 on April 07, 2021, 12:57:50 am

I'll definitely take another turn. As fun as she was, it was feeling like there was little left to do with Fidale, so I sent her to the abyss.

Title: Re: Museum III; Myths and legends special event is running (free to join for all)
Post by: Paaaad on April 08, 2021, 10:58:17 pm

4 Moonstone, 754

Starting at Championvault (chosen for proximity) with a maxed out dwarf, thanks to DF Hack. Got some steel gear starting out, but not full at all. Left immediately, but I must say that I noticed the site is heavily forested still, at least to the south. Respect for nature? Just didn't need all that wood? Who knows. _{Well, Eric Blank I suppose, but you get the idea.}

Walked to Duskhome first. Map shows it's a long, thin site, with the long axis running N-S. The bottom half of the site appears to have gone unused, except perhaps as a well-cleaned battlefield. Only saw three bolts down that way. Ïngiz Granitevision, a peasant, is standing at the gate. According to him, the ruling group is called "The Council of Guarding". A three z-level tall tunnel leads up to a raising drawbridge over a pit of Iron Spikes, with a goblin lasher just kind of chilling in it. Exploring just inside the entrance, the mayor, Lolor Whimaxes, walks by. Looking through the general bedroom area, I find the CMD, Mistêm Romancedtour. Not particularly impressed with these bedrooms by the way, these by the entrance (to the west) all seem to be 1x1 off an unsmoothed hallway, although the bedroom floors are smoothed. At least they all have a door. The Dungeon Master also introduced himself looking at my announcements, Eral Handlecrew.

I've found two rooms so far just covered in engravings, but otherwise empty, one with a bed in the entrance, the other missing one of it's two doors. Another bedroom seems to have been converted for use as the entrance to a large office or private dining hall. A second hall of bedrooms seems less finished, with a table and chair placed in one niche, and another two merged and expanded to house a Jewelers shop. To be fair, the far end does have fire clay walls instead of stone. There are three others in  the middle of the south side that are also unfinished, with no apparent reason. A small work area with masonry and carpentry work shops is to the south. A small farming area with nestboxes and plots is on the other side of the entrance corridor, connected by a small tunnel under the entrance hall. A staircase next to the well leads down to the cavern lake from which the bucket pulls, 2z deep at that point. The connecting tunnel also contains a staircase down to what appear to be mines, the top layer of which holds a number of Wood Furnaces and Smelters. Apparently this would be a good site for a salt mine- four layers of rock salt!

Spoiler: Large Image (click to show/hide)

(https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/317e8aa9-7bc5-4e90-9250-4a364774e315/dehci3p-88014b01-e297-4e1f-8ec1-07f46a44391f.png/v1/fill/w_1239,h_645,q_70,strp/duskhome_1_by_paaaad_dehci3p-pre.jpg?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOiIsImlzcyI6InVybjphcHA6Iiwib2JqIjpbW3siaGVpZ2h0IjoiPD02NjciLCJwYXRoIjoiXC9mXC8zMTdlOGFhOS03YmM1LTRlOTAtOTI1MC00YTM2NDc3NGUzMTVcL2RlaGNpM3AtODgwMTRiMDEtZTI5Ny00ZTFmLThlYzEtMDdmNDZhNDQzOTFmLnBuZyIsIndpZHRoIjoiPD0xMjgwIn1dXSwiYXVkIjpbInVybjpzZXJ2aWNlOmltYWdlLm9wZXJhdGlvbnMiXX0.0iOQXzNF3b30LbwrckKt6xdtr6U9q0z8MhMA5t_08_4)

Heading North from the drawbridge a ramp brings you down 3z to the Trade Depot, located at a four-way junction. I... Don't think I have the patience to describe the exact layout from here, but all three remaining hallways allow access to all the same rooms. This is where all the nice parts are. There's a large number of nice bedroom suites here, with significant variation in layout, along with a large dining hall overlooked by a smaller one, and what must be a nobles  bedroom above that, with fortifications for windows. A number of the hallways have engravings running down the center, and there's one spot off the large dining hall where the engravings form an uppercase Omega. One of the inhabitants is a Human "Empty One", employed as a beast hunter. As she cannot speak, her name must remain unknown for now.

Spoiler: Large Images (click to show/hide)

(https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/317e8aa9-7bc5-4e90-9250-4a364774e315/dehci6a-4d66f23a-fa4f-415f-b6d9-346a872df8f3.png/v1/fill/w_1239,h_645,q_70,strp/duskhome_2_by_paaaad_dehci6a-pre.jpg?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOiIsImlzcyI6InVybjphcHA6Iiwib2JqIjpbW3siaGVpZ2h0IjoiPD02NjYiLCJwYXRoIjoiXC9mXC8zMTdlOGFhOS03YmM1LTRlOTAtOTI1MC00YTM2NDc3NGUzMTVcL2RlaGNpNmEtNGQ2NmYyM2EtZmE0Zi00MTVmLWI2ZDktMzQ2YTg3MmRmOGYzLnBuZyIsIndpZHRoIjoiPD0xMjgwIn1dXSwiYXVkIjpbInVybjpzZXJ2aWNlOmltYWdlLm9wZXJhdGlvbnMiXX0.zYBn07JMCXUIDLqpy1_05w8SU6gnu2xVIik4uNGG53A)
(https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/317e8aa9-7bc5-4e90-9250-4a364774e315/dehci5z-7db4ee5a-5a5e-49cd-bda9-064e6649e9b0.png/v1/fill/w_1238,h_646,q_70,strp/duskhome_4_by_paaaad_dehci5z-pre.jpg?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOiIsImlzcyI6InVybjphcHA6Iiwib2JqIjpbW3siaGVpZ2h0IjoiPD02NjgiLCJwYXRoIjoiXC9mXC8zMTdlOGFhOS03YmM1LTRlOTAtOTI1MC00YTM2NDc3NGUzMTVcL2RlaGNpNXotN2RiNGVlNWEtNWE1ZS00OWNkLWJkYTktMDY0ZTY2NDllOWIwLnBuZyIsIndpZHRoIjoiPD0xMjgwIn1dXSwiYXVkIjpbInVybjpzZXJ2aWNlOmltYWdlLm9wZXJhdGlvbnMiXX0.ieCf8iX5PHg8V4qnmhuOT_IcFrkxpUhn4TdQfprnTtU)
(https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/317e8aa9-7bc5-4e90-9250-4a364774e315/dehci65-4405fe62-f3c3-4151-9ba1-61e181461415.png/v1/fill/w_1239,h_645,q_70,strp/duskhome_3_by_paaaad_dehci65-pre.jpg?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOiIsImlzcyI6InVybjphcHA6Iiwib2JqIjpbW3siaGVpZ2h0IjoiPD02NjciLCJwYXRoIjoiXC9mXC8zMTdlOGFhOS03YmM1LTRlOTAtOTI1MC00YTM2NDc3NGUzMTVcL2RlaGNpNjUtNDQwNWZlNjItZjNjMy00MTUxLTliYTEtNjFlMTgxNDYxNDE1LnBuZyIsIndpZHRoIjoiPD0xMjgwIn1dXSwiYXVkIjpbInVybjpzZXJ2aWNlOmltYWdlLm9wZXJhdGlvbnMiXX0.jv1EGgoVSFvVqlrKoqHQk1Yz_uGetcU3b1v543-Vb18)
(https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/317e8aa9-7bc5-4e90-9250-4a364774e315/dehci3v-c1b5cc5e-3863-4adf-bdf2-ce58e49eca85.png/v1/fill/w_1239,h_645,q_70,strp/duskhome_17_by_paaaad_dehci3v-pre.jpg?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOiIsImlzcyI6InVybjphcHA6Iiwib2JqIjpbW3siaGVpZ2h0IjoiPD02NjciLCJwYXRoIjoiXC9mXC8zMTdlOGFhOS03YmM1LTRlOTAtOTI1MC00YTM2NDc3NGUzMTVcL2RlaGNpM3YtYzFiNWNjNWUtMzg2My00YWRmLWJkZjItY2U1OGU0OWVjYTg1LnBuZyIsIndpZHRoIjoiPD0xMjgwIn1dXSwiYXVkIjpbInVybjpzZXJ2aWNlOmltYWdlLm9wZXJhdGlvbnMiXX0.VvOZHV6XDGTrfG4rGSED0uRSm_y6RaDgEJ6DurXKFbA)
(https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/317e8aa9-7bc5-4e90-9250-4a364774e315/dehci5k-e143c2d1-61c3-498e-8518-03a0e0afe224.png/v1/fill/w_1238,h_646,q_70,strp/duskhome_6_by_paaaad_dehci5k-pre.jpg?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOiIsImlzcyI6InVybjphcHA6Iiwib2JqIjpbW3siaGVpZ2h0IjoiPD02NjgiLCJwYXRoIjoiXC9mXC8zMTdlOGFhOS03YmM1LTRlOTAtOTI1MC00YTM2NDc3NGUzMTVcL2RlaGNpNWstZTE0M2MyZDEtNjFjMy00OThlLTg1MTgtMDNhMGUwYWZlMjI0LnBuZyIsIndpZHRoIjoiPD0xMjgwIn1dXSwiYXVkIjpbInVybjpzZXJ2aWNlOmltYWdlLm9wZXJhdGlvbnMiXX0.iVl8-9TqnZ6Adyurn2HFM65Mr7EfiwGzoq0CGKZpVeE)
(https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/317e8aa9-7bc5-4e90-9250-4a364774e315/dehci5d-4fd1d3dd-bc8c-4481-8360-8e868870ea6e.png/v1/fill/w_1239,h_645,q_70,strp/duskhome_7_by_paaaad_dehci5d-pre.jpg?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOiIsImlzcyI6InVybjphcHA6Iiwib2JqIjpbW3siaGVpZ2h0IjoiPD02NjciLCJwYXRoIjoiXC9mXC8zMTdlOGFhOS03YmM1LTRlOTAtOTI1MC00YTM2NDc3NGUzMTVcL2RlaGNpNWQtNGZkMWQzZGQtYmM4Yy00NDgxLTgzNjAtOGU4Njg4NzBlYTZlLnBuZyIsIndpZHRoIjoiPD0xMjgwIn1dXSwiYXVkIjpbInVybjpzZXJ2aWNlOmltYWdlLm9wZXJhdGlvbnMiXX0.ruz1sMVYvPUK0rfZw9ajMzPDA8sRCvbZ8gxDaFC-OCg)

This is clearly a wealthy fortress, every door I've seen, apart from the less impressve area by the entrance, has been made from steel. There are a number of highly decorated guild halls and temples, along with some rooms whose purpose is unclear. Large areas are set aside for workshops, primarily in metal working. Most, if not all, rooms are multiple z-levels tall. Oddly, I can't seem to find more than one bin of weapons, and no shields.

Spoiler: Large Images (click to show/hide)

(https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/317e8aa9-7bc5-4e90-9250-4a364774e315/dehci5s-4f8f1af2-125c-45c4-8f58-9e266853099d.png/v1/fill/w_1238,h_646,q_70,strp/duskhome_5_by_paaaad_dehci5s-pre.jpg?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOiIsImlzcyI6InVybjphcHA6Iiwib2JqIjpbW3siaGVpZ2h0IjoiPD02NjgiLCJwYXRoIjoiXC9mXC8zMTdlOGFhOS03YmM1LTRlOTAtOTI1MC00YTM2NDc3NGUzMTVcL2RlaGNpNXMtNGY4ZjFhZjItMTI1Yy00NWM0LThmNTgtOWUyNjY4NTMwOTlkLnBuZyIsIndpZHRoIjoiPD0xMjgwIn1dXSwiYXVkIjpbInVybjpzZXJ2aWNlOmltYWdlLm9wZXJhdGlvbnMiXX0.1Cr_-hbLyduEoKM1R9EmlvM66tKpNdsQUOEb_K_E2oY)
(https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/317e8aa9-7bc5-4e90-9250-4a364774e315/dehci58-a5f70357-dbff-4c5d-be64-ce35ec77eeac.png/v1/fill/w_1238,h_646,q_70,strp/duskhome_8_by_paaaad_dehci58-pre.jpg?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOiIsImlzcyI6InVybjphcHA6Iiwib2JqIjpbW3siaGVpZ2h0IjoiPD02NjgiLCJwYXRoIjoiXC9mXC8zMTdlOGFhOS03YmM1LTRlOTAtOTI1MC00YTM2NDc3NGUzMTVcL2RlaGNpNTgtYTVmNzAzNTctZGJmZi00YzVkLWJlNjQtY2UzNWVjNzdlZWFjLnBuZyIsIndpZHRoIjoiPD0xMjgwIn1dXSwiYXVkIjpbInVybjpzZXJ2aWNlOmltYWdlLm9wZXJhdGlvbnMiXX0.IatZY8TL-4NGgXpngES6whEOYEyng2L7eWmLqg_HMzA)
(https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/317e8aa9-7bc5-4e90-9250-4a364774e315/dehci50-d90655c0-6b00-4a9b-9370-d93f546d8fef.png/v1/fill/w_1239,h_645,q_70,strp/duskhome_9_by_paaaad_dehci50-pre.jpg?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOiIsImlzcyI6InVybjphcHA6Iiwib2JqIjpbW3siaGVpZ2h0IjoiPD02NjciLCJwYXRoIjoiXC9mXC8zMTdlOGFhOS03YmM1LTRlOTAtOTI1MC00YTM2NDc3NGUzMTVcL2RlaGNpNTAtZDkwNjU1YzAtNmIwMC00YTliLTkzNzAtZDkzZjU0NmQ4ZmVmLnBuZyIsIndpZHRoIjoiPD0xMjgwIn1dXSwiYXVkIjpbInVybjpzZXJ2aWNlOmltYWdlLm9wZXJhdGlvbnMiXX0.ewTVYHRh0V-VhX0AVuObrqjcwTO9uXYvTD6O2CTClag)
(https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/317e8aa9-7bc5-4e90-9250-4a364774e315/dehci4u-5ea2046d-1bc7-4695-bb13-94c7918facbc.png/v1/fill/w_1237,h_646,q_70,strp/duskhome_10_by_paaaad_dehci4u-pre.jpg?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOiIsImlzcyI6InVybjphcHA6Iiwib2JqIjpbW3siaGVpZ2h0IjoiPD02NjkiLCJwYXRoIjoiXC9mXC8zMTdlOGFhOS03YmM1LTRlOTAtOTI1MC00YTM2NDc3NGUzMTVcL2RlaGNpNHUtNWVhMjA0NmQtMWJjNy00Njk1LWJiMTMtOTRjNzkxOGZhY2JjLnBuZyIsIndpZHRoIjoiPD0xMjgwIn1dXSwiYXVkIjpbInVybjpzZXJ2aWNlOmltYWdlLm9wZXJhdGlvbnMiXX0.Lr3LDe5eEVUbWk71MWnT3LFsnTx_LTZkKenZECkbbUw)
(https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/317e8aa9-7bc5-4e90-9250-4a364774e315/dehci4l-2bc4852e-76f3-416d-8826-c52e11a37cc0.png/v1/fill/w_1238,h_646,q_70,strp/duskhome_11_by_paaaad_dehci4l-pre.jpg?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOiIsImlzcyI6InVybjphcHA6Iiwib2JqIjpbW3siaGVpZ2h0IjoiPD02NjgiLCJwYXRoIjoiXC9mXC8zMTdlOGFhOS03YmM1LTRlOTAtOTI1MC00YTM2NDc3NGUzMTVcL2RlaGNpNGwtMmJjNDg1MmUtNzZmMy00MTZkLTg4MjYtYzUyZTExYTM3Y2MwLnBuZyIsIndpZHRoIjoiPD0xMjgwIn1dXSwiYXVkIjpbInVybjpzZXJ2aWNlOmltYWdlLm9wZXJhdGlvbnMiXX0.Jd-c6IDRm-VVcBEMyXobBjWpf2e1vzGe180n45vjIAg)
(https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/317e8aa9-7bc5-4e90-9250-4a364774e315/dehci40-10708a5d-fd06-4079-9efe-8e160dd2b37a.png/v1/fill/w_1238,h_646,q_70,strp/duskhome_16_by_paaaad_dehci40-pre.jpg?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOiIsImlzcyI6InVybjphcHA6Iiwib2JqIjpbW3siaGVpZ2h0IjoiPD02NjgiLCJwYXRoIjoiXC9mXC8zMTdlOGFhOS03YmM1LTRlOTAtOTI1MC00YTM2NDc3NGUzMTVcL2RlaGNpNDAtMTA3MDhhNWQtZmQwNi00MDc5LTllZmUtOGUxNjBkZDJiMzdhLnBuZyIsIndpZHRoIjoiPD0xMjgwIn1dXSwiYXVkIjpbInVybjpzZXJ2aWNlOmltYWdlLm9wZXJhdGlvbnMiXX0.hri0A-xVKqkOiXddA0eOoXCiF9qbh_m61WMkhN2Y_Bc)

While the fortress has surely produced more than just these, I came across these four artifacts during my exploration.

Spoiler: Large Images (click to show/hide)

(https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/317e8aa9-7bc5-4e90-9250-4a364774e315/dehci4i-f92a6f01-8344-457e-8b3d-70f4becacb7e.png/v1/fill/w_1280,h_364,q_80,strp/duskhome_12_by_paaaad_dehci4i-fullview.jpg?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOiIsImlzcyI6InVybjphcHA6Iiwib2JqIjpbW3siaGVpZ2h0IjoiPD0zNjQiLCJwYXRoIjoiXC9mXC8zMTdlOGFhOS03YmM1LTRlOTAtOTI1MC00YTM2NDc3NGUzMTVcL2RlaGNpNGktZjkyYTZmMDEtODM0NC00NTdlLThiM2QtNzBmNGJlY2FjYjdlLnBuZyIsIndpZHRoIjoiPD0xMjgwIn1dXSwiYXVkIjpbInVybjpzZXJ2aWNlOmltYWdlLm9wZXJhdGlvbnMiXX0.ws5AsrUst9J8qi-WWLgeEuejfkdn8HQ5USXmRafbIao)
(https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/317e8aa9-7bc5-4e90-9250-4a364774e315/dehci4d-f9405c45-c58d-4d7b-b3a6-a4e6b7887f0d.png/v1/fill/w_1280,h_162,q_80,strp/duskhome_13_by_paaaad_dehci4d-fullview.jpg?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOiIsImlzcyI6InVybjphcHA6Iiwib2JqIjpbW3siaGVpZ2h0IjoiPD0xNjIiLCJwYXRoIjoiXC9mXC8zMTdlOGFhOS03YmM1LTRlOTAtOTI1MC00YTM2NDc3NGUzMTVcL2RlaGNpNGQtZjk0MDVjNDUtYzU4ZC00ZDdiLWIzYTYtYTRlNmI3ODg3ZjBkLnBuZyIsIndpZHRoIjoiPD0xMjgwIn1dXSwiYXVkIjpbInVybjpzZXJ2aWNlOmltYWdlLm9wZXJhdGlvbnMiXX0.i4xHdmDY31E6lfeAcUR8FZXLARJsnAAJpKZ1JK82gME)
(https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/317e8aa9-7bc5-4e90-9250-4a364774e315/dehci4a-75508605-42b3-4208-8eb7-f95585d82592.png/v1/fill/w_1280,h_367,q_80,strp/duskhome_14_by_paaaad_dehci4a-fullview.jpg?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOiIsImlzcyI6InVybjphcHA6Iiwib2JqIjpbW3siaGVpZ2h0IjoiPD0zNjciLCJwYXRoIjoiXC9mXC8zMTdlOGFhOS03YmM1LTRlOTAtOTI1MC00YTM2NDc3NGUzMTVcL2RlaGNpNGEtNzU1MDg2MDUtNDJiMy00MjA4LThlYjctZjk1NTg1ZDgyNTkyLnBuZyIsIndpZHRoIjoiPD0xMjgwIn1dXSwiYXVkIjpbInVybjpzZXJ2aWNlOmltYWdlLm9wZXJhdGlvbnMiXX0.GY8sMtOXj9s7--CuJaxD23DOHX6QrENFNGRlGFTJCao)
(https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/317e8aa9-7bc5-4e90-9250-4a364774e315/dehci46-6ba37147-cb34-44c8-b44f-c5fed65db0db.png/v1/fill/w_1280,h_264,q_80,strp/duskhome_15_by_paaaad_dehci46-fullview.jpg?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOiIsImlzcyI6InVybjphcHA6Iiwib2JqIjpbW3siaGVpZ2h0IjoiPD0yNjQiLCJwYXRoIjoiXC9mXC8zMTdlOGFhOS03YmM1LTRlOTAtOTI1MC00YTM2NDc3NGUzMTVcL2RlaGNpNDYtNmJhMzcxNDctY2IzNC00NGM4LWI0NGYtYzVmZWQ2NWRiMGRiLnBuZyIsIndpZHRoIjoiPD0xMjgwIn1dXSwiYXVkIjpbInVybjpzZXJ2aWNlOmltYWdlLm9wZXJhdGlvbnMiXX0.jvCjoyw2D5w0op55kemzJAWe_iSe8CEIM4iK807vAWk)

6 Moonstone, 754

Gor, “The Pit”, is quite simply a maze. There is just one small structure on the surface, whose door I found locked, housing a descending staircase. The main section of the labyrinth, 7-8z underground, reminds me of the dungeons you could find under keeps a while back (Are those gone, or do I just have bad luck?). Oddly, there is no evidence of any living quarters whatsoever.

Spoiler: Large Images (click to show/hide)

(https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/317e8aa9-7bc5-4e90-9250-4a364774e315/dehem2a-55e136a6-9bf5-42dd-8833-373bce9cbb17.png/v1/fill/w_1091,h_732,q_70,strp/gor_1_by_paaaad_dehem2a-pre.jpg?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOiIsImlzcyI6InVybjphcHA6Iiwib2JqIjpbW3siaGVpZ2h0IjoiPD03NjciLCJwYXRoIjoiXC9mXC8zMTdlOGFhOS03YmM1LTRlOTAtOTI1MC00YTM2NDc3NGUzMTVcL2RlaGVtMmEtNTVlMTM2YTYtOWJmNS00MmRkLTg4MzMtMzczYmNlOWNiYjE3LnBuZyIsIndpZHRoIjoiPD0xMTQzIn1dXSwiYXVkIjpbInVybjpzZXJ2aWNlOmltYWdlLm9wZXJhdGlvbnMiXX0.MnV2qBdkuleb_tMLVOWOPRPo0BoMXwQ1VX072iGIEeY)
(https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/317e8aa9-7bc5-4e90-9250-4a364774e315/dehem22-fb8fdeba-1784-4c00-beaf-a81ca8c51fdd.png?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOiIsImlzcyI6InVybjphcHA6Iiwib2JqIjpbW3sicGF0aCI6IlwvZlwvMzE3ZThhYTktN2JjNS00ZTkwLTkyNTAtNGEzNjQ3NzRlMzE1XC9kZWhlbTIyLWZiOGZkZWJhLTE3ODQtNGMwMC1iZWFmLWE4MWNhOGM1MWZkZC5wbmcifV1dLCJhdWQiOlsidXJuOnNlcnZpY2U6ZmlsZS5kb3dubG9hZCJdfQ.9TQ6XonQ1gQTY9v41Lt0f2OoIC3XjvJK7MX5uxNPjkU)
(https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/317e8aa9-7bc5-4e90-9250-4a364774e315/dehem59-87b3fa6f-6626-4fad-b4ab-a1587a2dc173.png?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOiIsImlzcyI6InVybjphcHA6Iiwib2JqIjpbW3sicGF0aCI6IlwvZlwvMzE3ZThhYTktN2JjNS00ZTkwLTkyNTAtNGEzNjQ3NzRlMzE1XC9kZWhlbTU5LTg3YjNmYTZmLTY2MjYtNGZhZC1iNGFiLWExNTg3YTJkYzE3My5wbmcifV1dLCJhdWQiOlsidXJuOnNlcnZpY2U6ZmlsZS5kb3dubG9hZCJdfQ.HtSgKX1lAtP4LZ_FxpSr0GDVhSRLlKOekfuJmduRaGM)

Near the edges and the cardinal directions are four Adamantine Pedestals, each with an artifact atop it. There is also a room whose floor is covered in Adamantine Wafers.

Spoiler: Large Images (click to show/hide)

(https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/317e8aa9-7bc5-4e90-9250-4a364774e315/dehem51-b2325cc4-f720-4d05-b848-f68492020444.png?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOiIsImlzcyI6InVybjphcHA6Iiwib2JqIjpbW3sicGF0aCI6IlwvZlwvMzE3ZThhYTktN2JjNS00ZTkwLTkyNTAtNGEzNjQ3NzRlMzE1XC9kZWhlbTUxLWIyMzI1Y2M0LWY3MjAtNGQwNS1iODQ4LWY2ODQ5MjAyMDQ0NC5wbmcifV1dLCJhdWQiOlsidXJuOnNlcnZpY2U6ZmlsZS5kb3dubG9hZCJdfQ._08nCyi7MRK5Foz91LIrMnaVfrm06k3mL-T_b3TajTs)
(https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/317e8aa9-7bc5-4e90-9250-4a364774e315/dehem4u-55ab0d0a-1ed0-49b6-8def-35607dc332a7.png/v1/fill/w_1280,h_188,q_80,strp/gor_6_by_paaaad_dehem4u-fullview.jpg?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOiIsImlzcyI6InVybjphcHA6Iiwib2JqIjpbW3siaGVpZ2h0IjoiPD0xODgiLCJwYXRoIjoiXC9mXC8zMTdlOGFhOS03YmM1LTRlOTAtOTI1MC00YTM2NDc3NGUzMTVcL2RlaGVtNHUtNTVhYjBkMGEtMWVkMC00OWI2LThkZWYtMzU2MDdkYzMzMmE3LnBuZyIsIndpZHRoIjoiPD0xMjgwIn1dXSwiYXVkIjpbInVybjpzZXJ2aWNlOmltYWdlLm9wZXJhdGlvbnMiXX0.H6gbRSBkY7bKzTFqf6hfXLomnMa8UTI7N1i-vOpc6VU)
(https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/317e8aa9-7bc5-4e90-9250-4a364774e315/dehem4e-678b232c-d2df-4bf3-bea7-789e29f8b202.png?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOiIsImlzcyI6InVybjphcHA6Iiwib2JqIjpbW3sicGF0aCI6IlwvZlwvMzE3ZThhYTktN2JjNS00ZTkwLTkyNTAtNGEzNjQ3NzRlMzE1XC9kZWhlbTRlLTY3OGIyMzJjLWQyZGYtNGJmMy1iZWE3LTc4OWUyOWY4YjIwMi5wbmcifV1dLCJhdWQiOlsidXJuOnNlcnZpY2U6ZmlsZS5kb3dubG9hZCJdfQ.k2od3_WHrvFr5BsWN59KrWljmEWY72Hc2mD-6Aiwobc)
(https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/317e8aa9-7bc5-4e90-9250-4a364774e315/dehem46-53ce7d4c-126a-4622-8bdc-e8d983e3e877.png/v1/fill/w_1280,h_147,q_80,strp/gor_9_by_paaaad_dehem46-fullview.jpg?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOiIsImlzcyI6InVybjphcHA6Iiwib2JqIjpbW3siaGVpZ2h0IjoiPD0xNDciLCJwYXRoIjoiXC9mXC8zMTdlOGFhOS03YmM1LTRlOTAtOTI1MC00YTM2NDc3NGUzMTVcL2RlaGVtNDYtNTNjZTdkNGMtMTI2YS00NjIyLThiZGMtZThkOTgzZTNlODc3LnBuZyIsIndpZHRoIjoiPD0xMjgwIn1dXSwiYXVkIjpbInVybjpzZXJ2aWNlOmltYWdlLm9wZXJhdGlvbnMiXX0.jjfspzQ0d2zaT2Tn4FdE_ynRCX9UFEeKZbi-BWYFHmc)
(https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/317e8aa9-7bc5-4e90-9250-4a364774e315/dehem3z-bae9cc99-73b6-4515-aff6-06ab748881ca.png?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOiIsImlzcyI6InVybjphcHA6Iiwib2JqIjpbW3sicGF0aCI6IlwvZlwvMzE3ZThhYTktN2JjNS00ZTkwLTkyNTAtNGEzNjQ3NzRlMzE1XC9kZWhlbTN6LWJhZTljYzk5LTczYjYtNDUxNS1hZmY2LTA2YWI3NDg4ODFjYS5wbmcifV1dLCJhdWQiOlsidXJuOnNlcnZpY2U6ZmlsZS5kb3dubG9hZCJdfQ.TqEFjG2nwBQb-oodUW1wb6Kjm0qkZX_cMCGULvlgv1M)
(https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/317e8aa9-7bc5-4e90-9250-4a364774e315/dehem3u-63d81f59-5cf5-4fa2-a478-9c244fba26b1.png/v1/fill/w_1280,h_217,q_80,strp/gor_11_by_paaaad_dehem3u-fullview.jpg?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOiIsImlzcyI6InVybjphcHA6Iiwib2JqIjpbW3siaGVpZ2h0IjoiPD0yMTciLCJwYXRoIjoiXC9mXC8zMTdlOGFhOS03YmM1LTRlOTAtOTI1MC00YTM2NDc3NGUzMTVcL2RlaGVtM3UtNjNkODFmNTktNWNmNS00ZmEyLWE0NzgtOWMyNDRmYmEyNmIxLnBuZyIsIndpZHRoIjoiPD0xMjgwIn1dXSwiYXVkIjpbInVybjpzZXJ2aWNlOmltYWdlLm9wZXJhdGlvbnMiXX0.nXAJ5mGMyqgDgQxfLL4HqktuGk0Ze8bbSWR-BYAQYks)
(https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/317e8aa9-7bc5-4e90-9250-4a364774e315/dehem3n-06912b8a-51f1-4912-8a10-3af7ff6c279b.png?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOiIsImlzcyI6InVybjphcHA6Iiwib2JqIjpbW3sicGF0aCI6IlwvZlwvMzE3ZThhYTktN2JjNS00ZTkwLTkyNTAtNGEzNjQ3NzRlMzE1XC9kZWhlbTNuLTA2OTEyYjhhLTUxZjEtNDkxMi04YTEwLTNhZjdmZjZjMjc5Yi5wbmcifV1dLCJhdWQiOlsidXJuOnNlcnZpY2U6ZmlsZS5kb3dubG9hZCJdfQ.oxJgi1B9bOSlMvol9W1o_aa6FThk3muirYRQgz_lQWY)
(https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/317e8aa9-7bc5-4e90-9250-4a364774e315/dehem3e-8c6bf31c-6f22-4016-b418-f954f660fcae.png/v1/fill/w_1280,h_361,q_80,strp/gor_13_by_paaaad_dehem3e-fullview.jpg?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOiIsImlzcyI6InVybjphcHA6Iiwib2JqIjpbW3siaGVpZ2h0IjoiPD0zNjEiLCJwYXRoIjoiXC9mXC8zMTdlOGFhOS03YmM1LTRlOTAtOTI1MC00YTM2NDc3NGUzMTVcL2RlaGVtM2UtOGM2YmYzMWMtNmYyMi00MDE2LWI0MTgtZjk1NGY2NjBmY2FlLnBuZyIsIndpZHRoIjoiPD0xMjgwIn1dXSwiYXVkIjpbInVybjpzZXJ2aWNlOmltYWdlLm9wZXJhdGlvbnMiXX0.PbuC8LIftSOaFOu7xuK76DX3wssAkeaiXQOzVgSGe7c)
(https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/317e8aa9-7bc5-4e90-9250-4a364774e315/dehem4n-7e757c55-02f3-4614-b919-90f0e6302258.png?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOiIsImlzcyI6InVybjphcHA6Iiwib2JqIjpbW3sicGF0aCI6IlwvZlwvMzE3ZThhYTktN2JjNS00ZTkwLTkyNTAtNGEzNjQ3NzRlMzE1XC9kZWhlbTRuLTdlNzU3YzU1LTAyZjMtNDYxNC1iOTE5LTkwZjBlNjMwMjI1OC5wbmcifV1dLCJhdWQiOlsidXJuOnNlcnZpY2U6ZmlsZS5kb3dubG9hZCJdfQ.AQm_89hNMLessBOjJVkZsRxquu4kyDH8df4O1J_JDgE)

In addition to those artifacts placed on display, I also found these just laying around.

Spoiler: Large Images (click to show/hide)

(https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/317e8aa9-7bc5-4e90-9250-4a364774e315/dehem38-6aac6925-c8b3-4b48-a89e-eefe11600043.png/v1/fill/w_1280,h_292,q_80,strp/gor_14_by_paaaad_dehem38-fullview.jpg?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOiIsImlzcyI6InVybjphcHA6Iiwib2JqIjpbW3siaGVpZ2h0IjoiPD0yOTIiLCJwYXRoIjoiXC9mXC8zMTdlOGFhOS03YmM1LTRlOTAtOTI1MC00YTM2NDc3NGUzMTVcL2RlaGVtMzgtNmFhYzY5MjUtYzhiMy00YjQ4LWE4OWUtZWVmZTExNjAwMDQzLnBuZyIsIndpZHRoIjoiPD0xMjgwIn1dXSwiYXVkIjpbInVybjpzZXJ2aWNlOmltYWdlLm9wZXJhdGlvbnMiXX0.ZAXtHGHqr6kKsUF0G2niW1Lj1FfUyoXQ8KZqBLVvyuc)
(https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/317e8aa9-7bc5-4e90-9250-4a364774e315/dehem35-f7bfe229-4988-4f4f-ab0e-8a26510f2306.png/v1/fill/w_1280,h_156,q_80,strp/gor_15_by_paaaad_dehem35-fullview.jpg?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOiIsImlzcyI6InVybjphcHA6Iiwib2JqIjpbW3siaGVpZ2h0IjoiPD0xNTYiLCJwYXRoIjoiXC9mXC8zMTdlOGFhOS03YmM1LTRlOTAtOTI1MC00YTM2NDc3NGUzMTVcL2RlaGVtMzUtZjdiZmUyMjktNDk4OC00ZjRmLWFiMGUtOGEyNjUxMGYyMzA2LnBuZyIsIndpZHRoIjoiPD0xMjgwIn1dXSwiYXVkIjpbInVybjpzZXJ2aWNlOmltYWdlLm9wZXJhdGlvbnMiXX0.FxQCp8zu1gbuWavhRf2lfoa84xjS_peaRO9tbEwR5sY)
(https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/317e8aa9-7bc5-4e90-9250-4a364774e315/dehem2y-fbc9e0aa-5c60-41bb-b974-746e7d6b1130.png/v1/fill/w_1280,h_157,q_80,strp/gor_16_by_paaaad_dehem2y-fullview.jpg?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOiIsImlzcyI6InVybjphcHA6Iiwib2JqIjpbW3siaGVpZ2h0IjoiPD0xNTciLCJwYXRoIjoiXC9mXC8zMTdlOGFhOS03YmM1LTRlOTAtOTI1MC00YTM2NDc3NGUzMTVcL2RlaGVtMnktZmJjOWUwYWEtNWM2MC00MWJiLWI5NzQtNzQ2ZTdkNmIxMTMwLnBuZyIsIndpZHRoIjoiPD0xMjgwIn1dXSwiYXVkIjpbInVybjpzZXJ2aWNlOmltYWdlLm9wZXJhdGlvbnMiXX0.zV2hhNkBjS5SuX1bwcPhztlsDsYtMKj8EMa06LV4vkw)

At the end of the maze, near the entry chamber but many doors away, is a downward staircase. Following it down another 39z, with a few small detours, brings you to a corridor leading to another staircase leading further down. Here is where you find the first dwarven corpse, although their livestock lays dead on the surface. Descending the next staircase requires you to pass over two more. At the bottom, a short passage leads to a base-quality Adamantine door, and part of the wall is in fact Raw Adamantine. Here lay another four bodies, two piled together. Beyond the door, a small chamber holds another downward staircase, leading down into a somewhat complex system of stairs in the spire, four more dead dwarves, and an Adamantine Pedestal holding a spear, short sword, battle axe, pick, and mace, all of at least exceptional quality, and the mace being an artifact.

Spoiler: Large Images (click to show/hide)

(https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/317e8aa9-7bc5-4e90-9250-4a364774e315/dehem2u-c2072ceb-c605-4ed7-9598-5ee5ace12484.png?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOiIsImlzcyI6InVybjphcHA6Iiwib2JqIjpbW3sicGF0aCI6IlwvZlwvMzE3ZThhYTktN2JjNS00ZTkwLTkyNTAtNGEzNjQ3NzRlMzE1XC9kZWhlbTJ1LWMyMDcyY2ViLWM2MDUtNGVkNy05NTk4LTVlZTVhY2UxMjQ4NC5wbmcifV1dLCJhdWQiOlsidXJuOnNlcnZpY2U6ZmlsZS5kb3dubG9hZCJdfQ.HnapNA3EVMKe3_QKaAB0fFlID4SQ-cKEXjo5KKZJOPk)
(https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/317e8aa9-7bc5-4e90-9250-4a364774e315/dehem2r-aaefee54-1f50-4c18-910a-5365a5c68b9e.png?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOiIsImlzcyI6InVybjphcHA6Iiwib2JqIjpbW3sicGF0aCI6IlwvZlwvMzE3ZThhYTktN2JjNS00ZTkwLTkyNTAtNGEzNjQ3NzRlMzE1XC9kZWhlbTJyLWFhZWZlZTU0LTFmNTAtNGMxOC05MTBhLTUzNjVhNWM2OGI5ZS5wbmcifV1dLCJhdWQiOlsidXJuOnNlcnZpY2U6ZmlsZS5kb3dubG9hZCJdfQ._Grmquk1v_wMkZGtsYcUoGzq02I1_toGkhiG5XORqlo)
(https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/317e8aa9-7bc5-4e90-9250-4a364774e315/dehem2n-49d5be07-c3f1-4e3a-8301-a40498f8f37a.png?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOiIsImlzcyI6InVybjphcHA6Iiwib2JqIjpbW3sicGF0aCI6IlwvZlwvMzE3ZThhYTktN2JjNS00ZTkwLTkyNTAtNGEzNjQ3NzRlMzE1XC9kZWhlbTJuLTQ5ZDViZTA3LWMzZjEtNGUzYS04MzAxLWE0MDQ5OGY4ZjM3YS5wbmcifV1dLCJhdWQiOlsidXJuOnNlcnZpY2U6ZmlsZS5kb3dubG9hZCJdfQ.MI_bXv9Yu-RlMR0XXopZolz6CL8DwSF7EmX6Voj5IwE)
(https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/317e8aa9-7bc5-4e90-9250-4a364774e315/dehem2h-d29d4f94-3ebf-4b5d-96c7-63330ac92038.png/v1/fill/w_1280,h_264,q_80,strp/gor_20_by_paaaad_dehem2h-fullview.jpg?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOiIsImlzcyI6InVybjphcHA6Iiwib2JqIjpbW3siaGVpZ2h0IjoiPD0yNjQiLCJwYXRoIjoiXC9mXC8zMTdlOGFhOS03YmM1LTRlOTAtOTI1MC00YTM2NDc3NGUzMTVcL2RlaGVtMmgtZDI5ZDRmOTQtM2ViZi00YjVkLTk2YzctNjMzMzBhYzkyMDM4LnBuZyIsIndpZHRoIjoiPD0xMjgwIn1dXSwiYXVkIjpbInVybjpzZXJ2aWNlOmltYWdlLm9wZXJhdGlvbnMiXX0.lyQSgmE-L7ZyhrtRcRAEOVTxx5xVFHoN32nRYVq-lmA)

Descending yet further, this system of stairs seems to hold most of the fortress’s population, a full twenty corpses. In all, no fewer than 28 dwarves lost their lives here, and many of their corpses have had limbs severed, in at least one case even a tongue removed. Why? The bottom of the final stair case reveals the answer: the spire has been breached. While I encountered no Demons within the maze itself, the lowermost reaches of the fortress contain significant amounts of goblin blood, although no corpses of this type can be found, and one was found on the surface when I returned to take screenshots. Given it had a name, I can only assume it was responsible for at least some of the dead dwarves (By type it's a "Grey Specter").

Spoiler: Large Images (click to show/hide)

(https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/317e8aa9-7bc5-4e90-9250-4a364774e315/dehem2f-3262ab3f-2cc1-4f8d-b4c8-6d829ae2d7aa.png?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOiIsImlzcyI6InVybjphcHA6Iiwib2JqIjpbW3sicGF0aCI6IlwvZlwvMzE3ZThhYTktN2JjNS00ZTkwLTkyNTAtNGEzNjQ3NzRlMzE1XC9kZWhlbTJmLTMyNjJhYjNmLTJjYzEtNGY4ZC1iNGM4LTZkODI5YWUyZDdhYS5wbmcifV1dLCJhdWQiOlsidXJuOnNlcnZpY2U6ZmlsZS5kb3dubG9hZCJdfQ.FQEBa-DSpLKlXdu7S8KNtxleGO2aPBhw_AQ6C3CU7qA)
(https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/317e8aa9-7bc5-4e90-9250-4a364774e315/dehem26-45f2e1a0-ea4b-4b84-b278-2842c8fb6bb5.png/v1/fill/w_1280,h_122,q_80,strp/gor_2_a_grey_specter_by_paaaad_dehem26-fullview.jpg?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOiIsImlzcyI6InVybjphcHA6Iiwib2JqIjpbW3siaGVpZ2h0IjoiPD0xMjIiLCJwYXRoIjoiXC9mXC8zMTdlOGFhOS03YmM1LTRlOTAtOTI1MC00YTM2NDc3NGUzMTVcL2RlaGVtMjYtNDVmMmUxYTAtZWE0Yi00Yjg0LWIyNzgtMjg0MmM4ZmI2YmI1LnBuZyIsIndpZHRoIjoiPD0xMjgwIn1dXSwiYXVkIjpbInVybjpzZXJ2aWNlOmltYWdlLm9wZXJhdGlvbnMiXX0.GP7raTeTxOsNHYuwt-QVGbQ_9Fr9D2GmwNXJf2YiPBY)

Further exploration of the surface before calling it good reveals a second demon, this one with a pick stuck in one wing (This one was quite difficult to kill- had to revive myself two or three times. Also, Tonnot, you killed a demon with an iron pick stuck in it's wing recently- same one?), and then a third, Kunongedor, all of different kinds. A fourth, Lushòbgedor, is another Ash Demon. After finishing revealing the surface, I call it good.

Spoiler: Large Images (click to show/hide)

(https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/317e8aa9-7bc5-4e90-9250-4a364774e315/dehetfz-a9b74aa3-522c-4769-8ff7-b15d6bcbd4ee.png/v1/fill/w_1280,h_301,q_80,strp/gor_22_by_paaaad_dehetfz-fullview.jpg?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOiIsImlzcyI6InVybjphcHA6Iiwib2JqIjpbW3siaGVpZ2h0IjoiPD0zMDEiLCJwYXRoIjoiXC9mXC8zMTdlOGFhOS03YmM1LTRlOTAtOTI1MC00YTM2NDc3NGUzMTVcL2RlaGV0ZnotYTliNzRhYTMtNTIyYy00NzY5LThmZjctYjE1ZDZiY2JkNGVlLnBuZyIsIndpZHRoIjoiPD0xMjgwIn1dXSwiYXVkIjpbInVybjpzZXJ2aWNlOmltYWdlLm9wZXJhdGlvbnMiXX0.HuFUqVRiOjUht8mzBR8INEmVd_W0cfot7BtbKVUNmhs)
(https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/317e8aa9-7bc5-4e90-9250-4a364774e315/dehetg6-c35d5624-230e-48ed-9a32-8c1ec59f762f.png/v1/fill/w_1280,h_152,q_80,strp/gor_23_by_paaaad_dehetg6-fullview.jpg?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOiIsImlzcyI6InVybjphcHA6Iiwib2JqIjpbW3siaGVpZ2h0IjoiPD0xNTIiLCJwYXRoIjoiXC9mXC8zMTdlOGFhOS03YmM1LTRlOTAtOTI1MC00YTM2NDc3NGUzMTVcL2RlaGV0ZzYtYzM1ZDU2MjQtMjMwZS00OGVkLTlhMzItOGMxZWM1OWY3NjJmLnBuZyIsIndpZHRoIjoiPD0xMjgwIn1dXSwiYXVkIjpbInVybjpzZXJ2aWNlOmltYWdlLm9wZXJhdGlvbnMiXX0.5HEiII_tLiZCNgzAGmZM-vb_gv6B2miij3RYGM0KZ6k)

The following Dwarves lost their lives at Gor: Aban Konosdatan, Dodók Kolrul, Tulon Shadmalakrul, Mistêm Dastotgasol, Ilral Kemsorudil, Udib Godentat, Ònul Keskalsosad, Nomal Sterusiden, Sibrek Ducimshin, Deler Sefolastesh, Udil Tosidbavast, Bëmbul Endokmasos, Sigun Zuglartost, Ducim Domasikal, Nish Kûbuknolêth, Ineth Rigòthizeg, “Grenda” Nugrethingish, Kel Arbanolon, Ushat Melbilshis, Cerol Sobìrkilrud, Moldath Lärimdoren, Dumat Zulbannefek, Bëmbul Borlonfikod, Rîsen Atzulasob, Erush Likotgébar, Stukos Abanrít, Ònul Idensemor, Kadol Regvutok, and Zefon Kâkdalkeskal.

Title: Re: Museum III; Myths and legends special event is running (free to join for all)
Post by: tonnot98 on April 09, 2021, 02:26:42 am

Ah, seems like The Abyssal Sanctuary is just a redo of Gor, then. It was quite similar, I guess Imic just had to make another when the corruption claimed his fortress so that he could show off his ideas. Also that definitely is the same demon Fidale fought! Thankfully she had quite a few companions to take the beating for her...

Title: Re: Museum III; Myths and legends special event is running (free to join for all)
Post by: Quantum Drop on April 09, 2021, 02:37:52 am

...Wow. You were really underselling Duskhome and Gor, Imic!

Title: Re: Museum III; Myths and legends special event is running (free to join for all)
Post by: Imic on April 09, 2021, 09:18:20 am

I lost many braincells making those two forts, but I had completely forgotten just how massive Gor really was. That being said, the Abyssal sanctuary is what I wanted Gor to be.

Quote from: tonnot98 on March 29, 2021, 10:47:15 pm

(OOC: Imic, did you make this fortress just to pass a few years? There's literally nothing happening in legends besides things dying of old age!)

Climaxringed was ultimately a mess up on my part, and in the end I didn't do much, if anything, with it besides retire it. I couldn't get rid of it though, since I hadn't organized my save files very well and I saved over my Adventurer's file with Climaxringed. I don't like leaving it there empty and useless though, and it's my responsibility for leaving it there, so I'll probably end up doing... something with it. One day, maybe.

I'm not very good at adventurer mode, as I'm sure could be extrapolated from my brief, bloody adventurer turns, so I've tried to pour everything into my Fortresses in the hopes that they'll provide something interesting for someone else to explore. I was extremely anxious that the two of them wouldn't make good standalone stories, no monsters to kill, no puzzles or complicated traps to overcome, just a maze and an attempted Moria expy without the balrog or the orcs.

Title: Re: Museum III; Myths and legends special event is running (free to join for all)
Post by: Quantum Drop on April 10, 2021, 01:23:07 pm

It's coming up to a week without any sign of the save being picked up, and TehSapper hasn't been on since December. Should we skip, or am I being impatient (again :-X)?

Title: Re: Museum III; Myths and legends special event is running (free to join for all)
Post by: Bralbaard on April 10, 2021, 01:31:02 pm

No sign of Tehsapper, go ahead and start your turn  :).

Title: Re: Museum III; Myths and legends special event is running (free to join for all)
Post by: Quantum Drop on April 10, 2021, 03:35:01 pm

Quote from: Bralbaard on April 10, 2021, 01:31:02 pm

No sign of Tehsapper, go ahead and start your turn  :).

Understood. If it's alright, I'll pick up the save and start my turn properly (i.e.: setting off the one IRL week of gametime) tomorrow, since it's pretty late over here.

EDIT: Got the file. Will post when things go beyond the murderhobo training stage.

Title: Re: Museum III; Myths and legends special event is running (free to join for all)
Post by: Quantum Drop on April 12, 2021, 10:40:17 am

EDIT (Long overdue): This story is quite frankly terrible in terms of writing, sheer munchkinery, and wasted potential on my part. I'd rewrite this mess if I could, but I feel doing so by this time would not be that much of a good idea. While it does have some impact on the Museum's continuity, I leave it up to you as to whether or not you will read it (except part 4. That fortress was beautiful).

Spoiler: Notable impacts (click to show/hide)

• Raki Umberclan the Bulbous is resurrected by Irthu Bladebroken.
• Most of Omon Obin/The Realm of Silver's elite nobles are infected with vampirism.
• Imic is a walking architectural awesome moment, as demonstrated by the Abyssal Sanctuary's exploration in part 4 of the turn.

This journal is bound in metal and studded with nodules of a glassy substance. It lacks any title, beyond the trio of names etched into the cover: Irthu Bladebroken, Athama Stalkhandled, and Ragnar Ironjaw.

8th Moonstone
My name is Irthu Bladebroken, and I am writing this journal that I may recollect my travels – and (should what I fear come to pass) that proof of my efforts may be retained.

I suppose that I should start from the beginning.

I am - was - what some would call a servant, of sorts – one from a long line. My family became such centuries ago, following the fall of the Walled Dye; in exchange for safety from the ravening undead armies and the carrion-feeding Goblin hordes, we bound our service to that of a minor noble bloodline in the Realm of Silver. In every generation since then, the eldest child of our bloodline has served in the guard of our patron family, accompanying their representative on their travels to the Realm’s courts and standing in the path of any harm that may come to them.

That was my brother’s honour. He was my elder, by a matter of minutes; he had trained in the use of arms and armour of all kinds for as long as I can remember, while I was to be apprenticed to a weaponsmith serving the family. We set out together – I was there to see him take up his arms and armour, watching with pride from an alcove as my brother became one of Lord Shezpafensast’s personal guard.

It was the last time I would see him for several years. By the time my apprenticeship was complete, I had all but laid aside any chance of seeing him in the flesh again, contenting myself with the forging of arms for the scions of the court I was now honour-bound to serve – though my work was little recognised, it was something I could take pride in.

You can imagine my surprise when Lord Shezpafensast himself entered my forge and requested that I walk with him.

The young master spoke with me as we went through the halls – this was no simple courtesy call, or request for some hand-crafted item. He had gained one of the blades my master and I had worked upon previously, and believed that a trade deal could be struck with one of his fellow Lords concerning the export of these weapons. Yet this Lord was a suspicious, even paranoid one, made wary by intrigue and civil war, and desired proof that the offered weapons were as well-crafted as my Lord claimed. I was offered the chance to travel with him, and demonstrate my skill at forging such a weapon before this Lord’s court to provide irrefutable proof of the armament’s quality.

I accepted, of course. One does not simply refuse a Lord or Lady of noble blood, lest you desire significant and potentially fatal troubles in the near future. Even without that, my brother still served in his position – I would’ve been a fool to pass up an opportunity to see him again.

We set off a few days after.

We were ambushed along the way.

A splinter group of the notorious Swordgleamed criminal syndicates, paid off by some creature that wished to see the young master dead before he reached his destination – perhaps some rival among the nobility, or some creature from further afield still. I did not try to fight beside my brother and his comrades - my talents lie in weaponsmithing, not in battle - yet it was in this fight that I first tasted combat.

One of the bandits slipped past the guard, and opened the throats of three of our traders before I seized a sword from our trade goods. Thrust it through his side as he murdered another of us. It didn’t kill him, and I still bear the scars upon my chest, but it wounded him enough for his cry to draw the guards’ attention; they finished him off in short order.

Two long weeks of travel later, we had reached our destination, albeit scathed. Seven of us were dead, two wounded badly from wild animals or infected wounds – including Lord Shezpafensast.
Looking back, we were safer with the bandits trying to tear us apart. No doubt my Lord would disagree, but at least they would have the honour to stab us in the front.

It was on that first night in court that he died.

Murdered in the hospital with all bar two of his retinue. Murdered with my brother, who had stood guard over his bed that night. Murdered with my own sword, or so I learned when I was hauled in chains before the gathered nobles and law-givers of the fortress. That traitor – one my brother had fought beside – spoke for hours before the court, claiming that I had slain his comrades as they lay asleep, betrayed my oaths, murdered my Lord and my own brother out of some misguided desire for glory –

Lies, all of it!

Enough of these recollections.

From this day forth, I may no longer call myself a citizen of the Realm of Silver; within two weeks, I am to leave its borders or be struck down where I stand as a traitor and murderer. Both my master’s clan and my bloodline have publicly and formally disowned me, that their names will not be associated with this treachery.

…Yet as I was led from the court in disgrace, one of the guards slipped a tiny piece of vellum into my hands as he pulled upon my shackled wrists. My master’s house were not so blinded by the traitor’s lies as the rest of the nobility; they have given me an ultimatum, an offer of redemption to which I must cling.

I am to find an artefact, and bring it to the museum of Boltspumpkin, located far beyond the Tundra of Heroes. They are to be submitted in the name of the Shezpafensasts; a ‘gift’ from their private trophy rooms. In exchange for this, they offer me redemption. A new name, a clean slate, and a position within the house’s servants.

With me come a pair of mercenary hunters, one human and one elven, hired from this stinking hovel of a tavern. Neither has inquired as to why I travel – the promise of gold and glory (along with much of the coin I had left) was enough for them – beyond stating they will need to ‘make some preparations’ before we leave.

We set out come morning light.

13th Moonstone

We reached the Museum today – though I was… reluctant to come here empty-handed, with nothing but the clothes and pack on my back, Athama persuaded me otherwise.

‘This place is a library as much as a museum,’ I believe his words were, ‘if the location of your little prize is anywhere, it’ll be found here.’

Blunt as his manner was, he spoke the truth: the staff and residents of the Museum had quite the number of tales to tell. They spoke of fortresses controlled by obscure cults and mysterious intelligences, halls stuffed with priceless crafts and guarded by the mad souls of their former creators; of artefacts long believed lost by even the most determined adventurers; of a mad king entombed far to the north with the secrets of life and death – yet two tales among them singularly captured the attention of us all.

To the north and south, they claim, perched at the very edges of the world and guarded by foreboding mountains, two fortresses exist. Black, terrible places, guarded by the infernal creatures of Hell itself that several-score travellers had spoken of – yet in their abyssal tunnels, Adamantine is said to lie ready for the touch of an adventurer’s pick.

I know very little of that material beyond folk-tales and my master’s journals; she always believed it  to be a mere rumour, or simply some kind of steel alloy that the Dwarves had forged in their ancient fortresses, yet here stand several well-travelled adventurers and Goblins, all of whom swear upon their lives that the metal of the Divines does indeed exist, and can be found beneath those benighted places. A metal sharp enough to sever limbs at mere sight, light as featherwood yet hard as the stone of the mountains – yet one claimed to be accursed by all who have seen and mined it.

…I must admit, I am sorely tempted to seek these places and return with such a craft.

Yet with the second story that they told us, I may not need to I will need to find a second, perhaps of a less dangerous nature. To the north, where the mad Monkey King lies entombed – they claim that a Necromancer’s slab lies there, carved of the finest bronze and guarded only by dark tales and superstition. It is an artefact more than worth retrieving; though must find another to fulfil my agreement with my master’s clan, this may at least expiate some of my supposed ‘guilt’.

(large red stain; the scribbled note below appears to be from the next morning).

Note: Before we left, the Museum staff shared a small quantity of wine with the three of us – far stronger than the stuff common in the south, hence the stain above. My throat was still burning several minutes later, when one of the present staff pulled me aside and suggested that we head to the Goblin-occupied pits in the north-east before seeking the slab. Can’t say I’m all that enthusiastic about the idea of doing that.



15th Moonstone

“You were far from home, Elf.” Ragnar rumbled, looking across the fire at his elven comrade. Athama had been on edge all day, sharp-tongued when spoken to and permanently gripping his sword in a white-knuckled grip. “Far from your kind. What brought you so far from the north-lands?”

Athama’s thin, pallid face tightened sharply at that, eyes narrowing to slits. His fingers tightened on the handle of his sword for a moment before relaxing, and a tense breath hissed between his teeth before he finally spoke.

“My ‘kind’ decided they would rather go extinct than violate their precious little taboos.” The pale skin of his knuckles flushed, then went stark white as he strangled the cloth-wrapped handle of his sword. Firelight danced across the iron of the blade, reflecting off the now-melting frost that had settled on the sword. “I disagreed. They ‘invited’ me to leave.”

Ragnar let out something between  a growl and a rasping laugh in reply.

“Arrogant fools to the very last.” He scoffed, eyes narrowing to slits beneath his helmet. The massive man shook his head, one thickly-muscled hand sweeping the rag in his hand across the metal of his axe.

“Aye, and those responsible for that,” Athama scowled as he raised a thin finger, pointing to the distant, looming ziggurat of Monkeycurse. “And all his damned spawn. Just another reason to stand apart from them.”

Irthu looked up from his journal at the venom in his elven comrade’s tone, raising an eyebrow in open surprise and curiosity. Athama seemed to pick up on his unspoken question, meeting his gaze with a glare and a further hiss of breath.

“They try to fight the Undead with wooden swords, then lament how they die in droves. They send a mad ape to a Museum filled with mass-murdering creatures they so revere, then sing of the madness and cruelty of adventurers.” He arose sharply, eyes flashing beneath his copper helm and a look of horrible fury upon his scarred face. “They put their ‘harmony with nature’ above our very species’ survival and try to –”

He cut himself off, voice choking into a wordless snarl of frustration as he span upon his heel and let fly with his sword. As Athama promptly began venting his rage on the nearby trees, cursing furiously in the elven tongue, Irthu silently turned back to his diary, trying to ignore the noises of intense rage and Ragnar’s raspy laughter.

OOC: Amusingly, Elves (even when starting from Elven civs) can be set to have maximum dislike for nature. I apologise for the relative lack of substance so far; most of the past two days have been training in-game, with the real bits beginning next post.

Also, before I go any further, I’m going to have to ask for a bit of clarification: does that ‘Death is the end’ rule apply if your main adventurer purposefully dies (i.e.: by a player-controlled companion slashing their throat in tactics mode), then is immediately rezzed as an intelligent undead by said companion? Main reason I’m asking is so that I don’t cut my turn short on accident.

Title: Re: Museum III; Myths and legends special event is running (free to join for all)
Post by: tonnot98 on April 12, 2021, 04:44:39 pm

I think Nom and his companion killed each other and then revived each other as sentient dead already, so I think you're good in that regard.

Title: Re: Museum III; Myths and legends special event is running (free to join for all)
Post by: Eric Blank on April 12, 2021, 08:45:33 pm

I did the same with pik and desli, though technically they both were "main" adventurers.

Title: Re: Museum III; Myths and legends special event is running (free to join for all)
Post by: Quantum Drop on April 14, 2021, 02:24:51 pm

Sorry for the delay in posting; I would've had this out this morning if it wasn't for a family issue on my end.

28th Moonstone(?)
(Multiple pages are crusted over with cyan and red blood; the following entry is written in a different hand to the others.)

We slaked our thirst for treasure and blood on the goblin pits of Polishedghoul and Jackalriddled. Crude though their craftsmanship is, their arms and armour are some of the few sized for Athama  – Irthu and I are far too large to fit even the largest of their armour.

Truth be told, we needed little from them. Strifefularmour’s shops were more than willing to provide us weapons and a few small pieces of armour. The shields and bucklers taken from the fallen will provide at least some more protection when we move towards that accursed pyramid in the north.

2nd Opal

…

…I have made a terrible mistake.

In seeking the rumoured slab at this pyramid – Uklasut – I thought I would be able to expiate some of my dark reputation, and find myself at least partly redeemed.
 
I was a fool, and I fear that the realms shall pay for my folly.

Finding the slab was of no great difficulty. It lay at the limits of this accursed place, upon a patch of rain-sodden grass; a mere few steps brought me close enough to grasp its smooth sides. My treacherous eyes strayed from the grass around it, upon which I had tried to fix my gaze, and were dragged towards the infernal words inscribed upon the bronze.

In that moment of reading the slab, something possessed me momentarily. I felt, for a brief second, a freezing cold presence beside me; a feeling of intense frustration; then a sudden, terrible sense of joy, oily and cruel; a rush of power came to me, pulsing outwards as the secrets of life and death were ingrained into my mind. The scent of blood and rot struck me like a hammer-blow, pouring from Athama and Ragnar like a miasma; if I had any doubts before about what was in that ‘wine’ the Museum staff gave us, I have them no longer.

From within the pyramid, the lid of the coffin slid off. A decaying, hairless hand pawed at the air, before seizing the side of the coffin and raising its owner up with a horrid wrenching motion. Skin stretched tightly across visible bones, a blistered, blackened skeletal grin, and the loss of its former coat of hair did nothing to disguise the rising creature’s identity, nor the horror of what I had done.

Raki Umberclan the Bulbous, the Demonic Monkey King, was alive again.

The living corpse turned its face towards us, a grotesque look of satisfaction spreading across its features as the clouds parted overhead –

People say that necromancers and the living dead feel no terror. That is a lie; ‘Terror’ is the only word for the sensation in my heart at the sight of the full moon’s light shining down upon us all.
 
The first spasm seized the risen monkey, and made him into a monstrous thing, hideous and twisted. Every joint, knuckle, angle, and organ within his half-rotten body seemed to shake like a tree caught in a raging flood; his flesh made a furious twist within his body, sending grotesque ripples through the skin. One eye bulged out of the socket as his head began to change, almost falling sideways along the cheek; the other shrank so deep within that a wild crane’s beak ought not to be able to reach it. The spine erupted from his back like the back-borne fin of a fish, flesh tearing and then closing over as the monstrous being’s body continued to mutate; the bones of his fingers cracked and thickened, bursting through the flesh and changing to the shape of wickedly-hooked claws, thick as a man’s arm was broad. His mouth cracked and weirdly distorted, the cheeks peeling back as two vast, hooked tusks forced their way out through bone and flesh alike; the lower jaw snapped at the air, striking the upper a blow great enough to bite a man in half as the nose lengthened and thrashed between the tusks like a Goblin’s whip.

Fully transformed, the Weremammoth reared up, raising its elephantine head to the sky and trumpeting in blind fury. That was the sole reason we escaped: while I stood frozen in fear, Athama and Ragnar seized me by the arms and heaved backwards, pulling me away as the beast began to vent its fury on everything in sight.

…I can hardly say that I didn’t deserve that strike to the jaw that Athama gave me in the aftermath.

Nor can I say that I did not deserve the scimitar to the throat.

What happened after that, I can recall only vaguely. A shout of horror, a frantic scramble – blood, hot and thick, soaking into the soil. My vison went dark; how long for, I cannot tell. Hours, days, weeks – and then, a sudden pull.

I awoke on red-stained soil with the faces of Athama and Ragnar peering down at me – the hand of the latter crackling with necromantic power, and the former… horrified, I believe it would be, at what he had unknowingly caused.

Little more needs to be said. I feel neither anger nor sorrow at what happened there; I cannot begrudge him a moment’s madness at the sight of one of his people’s greatest sins arising again. I would return there and strike that risen monster down in a heartbeat (metaphorically, now), were it not for this strange… barrier in my mind. Should I think of returning there, I find myself distracted, my attention fully drawn to other places, other memories – unable to focus even upon the map before me as I become lost in thought.

But now, I find myself at a crossroads. Where am I to go?

My master’s clan would never accept a creature of the night into their midst, agreement or no; much of the same may be said for most sane cultures in this world. The Realm of Silver I remain a criminal in. The Goblin pits are no place for any but those vile creatures. The Museum –

…Yes. My goal may yet remain unchanged – an artefact in exchange for shelter.


OOC: Raki didn’t actually transform - there was heavy cloud cover on the night, which might have had something to do with not triggering the transformation – but I couldn’t pass up the chance to write a WB transformation and rezz him. And yes, he is a Fell One.

---

Journal of Athama Stalkhandled, 7th Opal.

I lived. I died. I live again.

I do not know for sure what killed me as I slept that night.

I only know that when I awoke that fateful night, my throat had been torn wide open. Choking on my own blood, pouring gouts of it down my chest – I barely managed to stagger to my feet and gurgle a desperate, garbled cry for help before my knees gave out. Irthu was at my side in moments; I could see the horror in his eyes, and the vague sight of Ragnar, slumped and motionless, lying far from the embers of our campfire.

I would dig the details out of him later – something had attacked us as we slept, tearing open Ragnar’s throat and attempting to drag his body away for its own purposes. It had awoken him as it strayed too close, and he had managed to put it to flight only after it delivered this mortal blow to me.

In that moment, though, he set about saving my life in the only way he could – with such a serious wound, there was no other way.

My resurrection has come at a price. The dark magic which animates my flesh has changed my mind as well. The sensations of battle no longer bring my blood to run in my veins. The anger I held towards the elves of the north has grown cold. The emotions and feelings of my past life have become vague concepts, fogged memories that I can recall only from an outsider’s viewpoint.

Another time, perhaps I would have been outraged at Irthu’s actions. Perhaps I would have despaired at what I have become. Perhaps I would have accepted this as some form of karmic retribution for my actions in the past.

Perhaps I would simply have come to the conclusion I have now.

I must endure. I will endure.

Yours,

A. Stalkhandled.

---

12th Opal

Archquakes was renowned for its mugs, even in the distant south of the Realm of Silver – the craftsdwarves of this place were said to be of great skill, and their trade-based links to the nearby settlements were strong ones.

Too strong, it would seem.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/FPWAlbT.png)

The sight of a score of beak dogs, pawing at the dirt-encrusted form of a finely-crafted chalk mug, was warning enough for us. We fell upon them without a word, sending limbs flying and casting an unlucky few into the air to join them. Their fellows did not notice their deaths, busying themselves with their mindless wanderings or occasional attempt to destroy one of the many articles of furniture lying around.

The inside of the fortress was no better: the ballistae overlooking the entrance tunnel were unmanned and coated with cyan smears of blood; the halls were silent beyond our footsteps, and the low growls and snarls of the beasts left to haunt this place. Beyond a dozen or more corpses and a few cave moss-covered statues in the former fortress, there were no signs of the dwarves that once inhabited this place.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/nKnOnPI.png)

(https://i.imgur.com/57QLFDd.png)

(https://i.imgur.com/eAxUPjM.png)

The main stockpile, at least, provided us with some direction. As we picked our way through the dirt and sand, careful not to step on the scattered mugs and give away our presence, a quartet of trolls seemed to almost materialize from the shadows. Nostrils sniffing the air, flattened noses twitching, the four of them suddenly whipped about to face us with snarls and low bellows of rage; we wasted no time in dispatching them.

As their corpses crashed to the ground, I could not help but notice that their chests were branded – a sigil unfamiliar to me had been burnt into the fur and flesh of their torsos, as if to indicate some kind of rank or allegiance.

Athama claimed to recognise it, from when he had been willing to call himself a member of The Squeezing Fords – there had been some event which resulted in a great migration of goblins from their blighted territories. Many had settled in the forest retreats of the elves, trading their service as soldiers against their former kin in exchange for shelter, and enough of them had borne such marks that a skilled observer could trace them right back to the dark pit from which they had come from.

These beasts almost certainly were sent from The Most Sin and as coincidence would have it, their capital – and the one ultimately responsible for this assault – is only a day or two’s travel southwards.

That, then, will be our next destination.

OOC: Archquakes fell to the forces of The Most Sin on the 23rd Moonstone, 769; my adventurers arrived too late to save the last surviving dwarves of the fortress, who look to have been slain by the trolls deeper within the fortress. The site is infested with dozens of beak dogs and trolls which are (mostly) still around, so I advise any prospective fort mode reclaimers to come loaded for bear.

A moment of silence, if you will.

…

Okay, moment’s over. Time for payback.

15th Opal

Night had fallen over the dark fortress of Poisonuttered. There were no sentries, no guards – not a single living soul, neither troll, nor beak dog, nor goblin stirred within the towers and trenches.

Emphasis, of course, on living.

If one was to look very closely into the shadows, you might just catch sight of three hunched, dirt and dust-covered figures picking their way through the loamy clay with inordinate care. An even closer look would most likely send the viewer running in blithering panic, considering the deep wounds visible across their throats and the infernal light glowing in each of their eyes.

Athama led the way, dressed in the scavenged armour of a goblin swordsman, sword ready to strike at a moment’s notice and as close to a wary look in his eye as was possible. Irthu and Ragnar flanked him on the left and right, weapons at the ready and the bright copper of their armour smeared with dirt and the brownish crust of dried blood. Their destination lay ahead, jutting upwards from the reddish loam of the soil: a great, blunt tower carved from the darkest stone, windowless and broad, easily dwarfing the smaller towers they had passed through earlier.

The beating heart of the dark fortress lay ahead – and with it, their monstrous ruler.

The three crept through the silent halls of the structure, picking their way past the slumped, slumbering frames of goblins, trolls, and beak dogs alike; every now and then, where the bodies were too thickly pressed together to move without disturbing them, there would be a sudden halt to their movements – a sharp motion of the hand, a swipe of a sword – and then a resumption, the three undead adventurers burrowing their way ever deeper into the black heart of Poisonuttered.

There was an odd whispering in the air, Irthu could not help but note, as he dragged a troll’s bloodless body out of a stairwell door. Phantom voices crawled at the edges of his hearing; faint laughter and unintelligible whispers buzzed at the limits of his hearing. They called to mind memories of his old, mortal self, and of the irritation such noises would cause him. A sharp twitch of Athama’s hand called him back to the present, accompanied by a rather sharp, almost admonishing stare. He could feel the elf’s gaze boring into the back of his skull as they went sneaking up the staircase, the eerie whispers growing louder all the time.

The source swiftly became clear as they reached the top of the staircase.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/7XIGL57.png)

Wreathed in smoky, half-opaque clouds of gas and clad in outsized garments, the three-eyed monster stood stock-still merely a few dozen paces from the stairs; were it not for the lazy, almost invisible blinking of its eyes or the whisper of its shifting tail, it might have been mistaken for a creature asleep upon its feet. For a moment, he could not help but wonder if such monstrous creatures even needed to sleep or dress, before dismissing it as irrelevant as his fingers closed along the bolts in his backpack.

This was a demon and it needed to be destroyed. That was what mattered, now.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/XZfbwXk.png)

Before he could whisper a command or even glance at his allies, something rushed past his head, close enough that he could see the engraving upon the surface of the projectile. A coin, of all things, was what Ragnar had chosen to open their assault with, yet its impact was unmistakable: from the towering beast’s arm there came a sickly cracking sound, the makeshift projectile impacting with enough force to tear the flesh, punching through to shatter the bone beneath.

It wheeled to face its attacker, Ragnar rising from the ash-smeared stone with his axe and shield drawn. He brandished them in open challenge, daring the great mammoth-demon to strike at him and avenge the wound he had dealt it its flesh and pride.
 
The creature needed no further justification – it rushed towards him with a long, braying cry of fury, one inhuman hand seizing up a heavily-decorated copper battle axe as it came. Though it looked tiny in the demon’s massive hand, the handle had been crudely elongated, and the blade broadened by some goblin weaponsmith, rending it nearly as tall as Ragnar himself. If it struck home, the damage would be unpleasant, to state the least.

Athama and Irthu seized their own projectiles – Irthu, an iron bolt, Athama, a silver coin – and hurled them as hard as they could, aiming for the massive, lumbering demon’s chest and leg, respectively. The creature’s knee buckled, and it pitched forwards onto its face as the bolt struck home, bone cracking as the simple projectile punched through the hair and muscle of its calf. The damage seemed to inconvenience it only mildly; in a few seconds, it was back up onto its knees and crawling forwards, bellowing nonsense and lashing its trunk back and forth in open fury.

A massive swing of its axe crashed into Ragnar’s raised shield, driving him back several steps with an involuntary grunt of exertion. It was rearing up for a second strike when Irthu reached them, iron longsword raised to strike at its exposed hand. With its attention focused solely upon his companion, the creature had allowed him to slip beneath its notice.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/Xak8KpM.png)

There was a moment of resistance as the sword met the thick fur that covered the demon’s massive hand, then the splintering crunch of bone breaking as the slash half-turned into a slap – the thick troll-fur had turned the blade slightly, just enough to prevent the blade from cleaving fully through the bone. A slick, stinking goo sprayed from the wound as its hand spasmed open, the axe crashing to the ground a few feet away. Athama’s blow landed a second later, skimming the edge of its right arm as the beast wheeled away, eyes blazing with fury.

It shook its head from side to side, as though trying to clear its head, before lurching forwards toward Ragnar amidst another burst of noxious gas and nonsensical gibberish. It was met with a trio of strikes. Ragnar delivered a thunderous kick to its descending skull before slamming into the ground and rolling aside as Athama charged in, whirling his entire body into a slash to the against the arm; opposite him, Irthu’s blades bit into the flesh of the beast’s other arm. Chips of bone and gobbets of stinking goo flew in all directions with each blow, the three adventurers now aiming to disable the towering demon’s clumsy, flailing arms and legs.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/HRLoSQw.png?1)

As the monstrous creature rushed towards Ragnar, braying in rage, Irthu let fly with his shield. Its razor-sharp teeth met hard iron with a horrendous screeching wail – and then yet another a sickly crunching noise, as vampiric strength overcame demonic flesh. Teeth broke and splintered as it reeled from the shield bash, roaring in fury and simple, blind hatred. Chips of enamel showered his face and pinged off the helmet.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/nKogQcE.png)

From there, the fight's end was a foregone conclusion. Its arms and legs made useless, its teeth broken and shattered, and its neck broken by repeated blows, the demon was reduced to trying to roll and shove the deadweight of its body into the attackers. It was helpless as the three of them darted about its broken form, cutting away at the limbs and tearing open new gashes in its thick, hairy hide; about the greatest hazard in the room was the increasingly slick floor, as the demon's freely-flowing goo began to form smears and pools from the force of its struggles.

Several long minutes of fighting later, the massive creature lay sprawled out across the goo-slick floor of its throne room.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/k0dEsDc.png)

(https://i.imgur.com/BRpGDVK.png)

(https://i.imgur.com/fc6RDDy.png)

Its garb hung from its maimed body in battered, blood-stiffened shreds, breath wheezing through the remnants of its throat as Athama and Ragnar closed in for the kill. The demon’s arm fell away as the axe tore through the last remaining tendons and veins keeping it attached, followed swiftly by its head.

The three adventurers stood victorious over the broken body of the once-mighty demon lord – drenched in reeking goo and stinking of noxious gas, but triumphant and unwounded. All three twitched sharply as a sudden spike of pain burst into their heads, accompanied by a stream of nonsensical words and strange images: a pair of great black towers thrusting up through magma into smog-choked skies, a great fortress in which an even greater vein of glassy ore gleamed, a vast portal of light controlled by two vast hands – and then a name, engraving itself into the minds of all three as surely as a dwarven engraving upon stone.

Egu Craftlenses the Key of Trading.

OOC: I expected that to be a lot harder. Maybe goblin-raised Clowns are less funny/more prone to heckling than those down in the Circus? Going to drag it back to the Museum, maybe butcher it later if I survive my endgame.

17th Opal
Dragging the immense corpse of the black-haired demon from the fortress of Poisonuttered to Boltspumpkin was no easy task. Strong though we were, its sheer size made it an unwieldy burden even in its mutilated state, and it made us quite the conspicuous sight as we passed through the goblin-blighted lands near the mountains. That did not stop us, of course.

Fitting it through the door of the Museum was in itself a difficult task, and I am quite certain that we left at least a few scraps of flesh on the doorframe and wall, but we succeeded in the end. Its corpse currently lies slumped about one of the pedestals in the main hall, bar its head and part of an arm – I cannot help but wonder what the reaction of the staff will be, when they awake to the sight of such a massive beast lying slain upon their doorstep.

As my companions perused the journals and exhibits of the Museum, I recalled what the staff had said to us weeks ago: that in the far west of Orid Xem, hidden amidst the dense mountain-chains, there exists a fortress filled with crafts forged from the Divines’ metal. We can make the journey easily, and should these claims be true… yes, that would be a fitting contribution for the Museum indeed.

Our travels are not yet done.

24th Opal


For days we travelled through the mountains in the far west of the world. Frozen peak after frozen peak, bleak, featureless plateau after bleak, featureless plateau passed by as the howling winds snatched at us, to the point where I began to believe we had been sent upon a wild chase to search for a fort that never was.

We were about to turn back when Athama froze, and suddenly whipped forward into motion, seizing upon one of the crags of this mountain and hauling himself up with a mandrill’s agility. Ragnar and I exchanged a split second’s glance before following, but his lead was already showing – the two of us could barely make out the distant, fuzzy smear of his form, scrambling up the slopes amidst rattling streams of pebbles like a man possessed.

By the time we caught up to him, Athama stood at the top of one of the hills, head cocked to the side. He remained still for several long moments, seemingly ignoring the two of us, then jerked back into life, raising a long finger to point to a distant peak. There was something odd about it, he claimed – something evil. Said he was certain we’d find what we looked for there, with the dark reputation of the supposed fortress.

I will not deny a degree of initial scepticism. We had come this far without a single sign of this fortress’ existence beyond the tales of a half-mad adventurer; continuing on would be folly. But in the end, he convinced me to carry on further – if the tale was true, the artefacts there were not only priceless masterworks, but of the mythical metal known as adamantine. Few things would make a better submission to the Museum than those, would they not?

By the time we reached the peak, I could tell what he had felt: there was an odd sensation in the air, crawling at the edge of my senses, coming from deep below the ground – just like that feeling in Poisonuttered. Only a long, extensive search revealed the source – a broad, downward-sloping ramp of smoothed and hard-packed dirt, mostly covered with powdery flakes of snow. It led into a deep, twisting series of tunnels and bends, the sensation Athama had first felt growing stronger all the time as the dirt gave way to smoothed stone.

They say that nothing can surprise the undead. That might be true, but were I still alive, the sight of what lay beneath this mountain would’ve taken my breath away.

The legends were true.

OOC: I’ve reached The Abyssal Sanctuary and I legit have few words to describe this place at the moment. All I can say is oTL Imic, you really outdid damn near every other fort in the thread so far (in my opinion, at least). Pics and a proper writeup on the fort and its treasures will be coming tomorrow. I leave it to the thread and to Imic as to whether or not I should do anything to the adamantine wafers and ore there with advfort.

Title: Re: Museum III; Myths and legends special event is running (free to join for all)
Post by: Imic on April 14, 2021, 04:51:48 pm

I don't personally have a problem with it provided Bralbaard doesn't have a problem with it. I mean... it's not going to do anything else there. Why not take it, and use it? It'll be fine. It's just metal after all. Whatever people say about it, it's probably superstition. It'll be fine. Besides, it'd just be a waste to leave it there. Why waste the sacrifices? The hardship? They must have been made for a reason, after all. It'll be fine.

It'll be fine.

Title: Re: Museum III; Myths and legends special event is running (free to join for all)
Post by: tonnot98 on April 14, 2021, 11:43:54 pm

Make stylish clothing  :P

Title: Re: Museum III; Myths and legends special event is running (free to join for all)
Post by: Bralbaard on April 15, 2021, 04:09:01 am

RAKI LIVES!

How could I refuse my benefactor the adamantine goods he so desires? Go ahead and take all you want  :P
( Advfort use is allowed I see no reason to complicate the rules further by making any exceptions to that)

Title: Re: Museum III; Myths and legends special event is running (free to join for all)
Post by: Quantum Drop on April 17, 2021, 04:31:57 pm

In the name of keeping the game going, here's the file: https://dffd.bay12games.com/file.php?id=15507

To summarise what's happened, until I can get a proper epilogue written up tomorrow:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

• My official submission is the Heart of Egu Craftlenses the Key of Trading (and approximately two hundred other fleshy demons, but who’s counting?), stored within the masterwork adamantine sarcophagus ‘Heartstolen the Furious Doomed Demon’.
• The corpses at Herograves (as well as those of TheDw4rfy1, retrieved from Palacework, Pictham Contestlabour, retrieved from the north-western outskirts of Patternbegun, and Solon Riftworks, retrieved from The Pit) have been reinterred, with each one placed in an adamantine sarcophagus.
• Irthu, Athama, and Ragnar are retired at the Shelter of Adventures, having made a donation that can be found in the leftmost stockroom (to wit: several adamantine wafers, some divine metal gear from LT’s vault, the head of Cog the Omnicidal Maniac, and various knick-knacks picked up throughout the three’s adventures; Urus, Ketas, and Abhaar have also been retired there). I’m not 100% sure what these new residents being Vampires and Intelligent Undead will do, but it hopefully won’t cause issues with those already there.
• About a dozen new vampires, give or take a bit, should now be active in the Realm of Silver; one should most definitely not consider going to Ordermorals, Questedtimes, and Enterancegrape to investigate the meadhall/castle keep-dwelling nobles there. 

Title: Re: Museum III; Myths and legends special event is running (free to join for all)
Post by: Quantum Drop on April 19, 2021, 03:24:51 pm

Disclaimer: DFHack-reveal was used to capture these screenshots after the fort was explored properly and several battles fought under the spire; this was done purely to show the sheer scale of the Sanctuary and the detail Imic put into its construction (and even then, I’m certain there’s a few parts I missed out on).

Spoiler:  The Abyssal Sanctuary, entry level. (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/mL0DQRN.png)

The simple entrance tunnel gave way into a great, vaulted hall of some kind, supported by two dozen evenly-spaced, thick pillars of smoothed stone and branching into three broad hallways. A dust-coated mass of trade goods – from dulled bars of bismuth bronze and blocks of obsidian to burnished steel low boots and dozens of masterfully-crafted iron mail shirts – sat forlorn at the centre of this hall, stacked in a single vast pile of wood, stone, and metal. Not a soul breathed as we stepped down the entry ramps, iron-clad boots sending echoes vibrating through the silent halls and up into the distant roof of this place.

Though our eyes should have seen through the gloom with ease, the shadows of this place seemed to move and swell on their own accord, growing to reduce our vision to a mere few feet ahead of us; we could make out little more than vague, looming shapes and the shape of some distant, grand hall. With little of interest to discern in the ruins of this apparent trade depot, we moved on into the leftmost of the three passages.

Spoiler:  Living Quarters (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/pfVRqo0.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/0Vh4EWj.png)

This place, it would seem, was once the living quarters of the fortress. The bedrooms were undisturbed, the beds neatly made. A thick mat of cobweb fell from one of the doors as we opened it, advertising the uselessness of further search. A search of the great dining hall and nearby rooms yielded similar results: nowhere in the corridors, bedrooms, and halls of the fortress has there been a sign of dwarven inhabitants, living or otherwise.

From there we returned to the trading hall, pausing only to enter the twinned smaller halls that preceded the vast expanse before us; nothing lay within but a grand medley of unnaturally life-like engravings and bas-reliefs. There was little consistency to their nature: here would be a relief of a zombie dwarf striking down another, to its side would be a travelling mass of dwarves, and to the side of that would be an image of snails and animal traps, like the gallery of some fanciful artist. Just as with the main hall, evenly-spaced pillars supported the roof, engravings crawling like ivy up the pallid stone.

Precisely what purpose these rooms might have served in the fortress’ golden days remains a mystery to us. There are none of the usual trappings of a temple or meeting area here, and the thickness of the dust within suggested a lack of use long before our arrival to the fortress. We left in haste through a pair of doors set into the far wall, emerging into an even greater hall.

Spoiler:  Workshop-Hall (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/iyd4rvn.png)

If the trading hall was the outside face of the fortress, then this would have been its beating industrial heart. Workshops and stockpiles dominated the vast space of the hall, separated by thick walls and pillars of smoothed stone. An enormous number of iron picks lay piled at the far side of the hall, with loops of iron chain coiling around the broad staircases; heaps of gems, both rough and carefully cut, stood opposite silent workshops; vast quantities of furniture and trader goods simply sat abandoned in a great pile near the centre of the room, having seemingly been dragged from the workshops and forgotten.

The forges, similarly, were cold and dead; a thick layer of dust had settled upon the anvils and tools, and several bars of iron and wafers of adamantine lay abandoned on the stone. 

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/bKD50BZ.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/bB6fGYB.png)

The corridor into the deeper fortress was lined with statues and paved with a single dark red line of ore-bearing stone. The forms of dwarves prostrated before doors wreathed in flame watched us on all sides, unnaturally life-like eyes boring into our armoured backs as we threaded past dead-falls and lethally-sharp traps. Several human corpses lay scattered about on and near the traps, one of them headless, another lacking an arm and slumped in the middle of the corridor, a few meters away from the great adamantine portal at the corridor’s end.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

In descending order, from highest z-level to lowest:
(https://i.imgur.com/HMstB0t.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/DxPMyUi.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/HrIoWiC.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/C4bkDdn.png?1)

Before us, at the bottom of the twisting, spiralling tunnel, there stood a maze. Each and every door was marked with the emblem of the burning door and prostrate dwarf.

We dared not split up, lest this place’s twists and turns swallow us whole and render us easy prey for whatever dark entities lay deep within this fallen fortress. I cannot tell with any certainty how long we marched through those tunnels, half-blind and groping at the walls for stability. Time after time after time again, we thought we had found a way further into the fortress, only to find ourselves stepping back into rooms from which we had came – and all the while, from every corner, every door-way, every statue, and every shadow, the engraved eyes of dwarves prostrated before a burning door were upon us.

In the end, though, we found the way – leaving a trail of coins behind us, we were able to mark out already-travelled passages, narrowing them down one by one until only one remained.

At the end of this passage, we would find the fate of the fortress’ residents.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/jq5Gw0N.png?3)

A great temple, bigger than even the grand halls before. A high, vaulted ceiling, reaching up further than our eyes could see – and each and every three feet apart, a statue of a burning door and submissive dwarf, hewn from hematite and carved to an unnervingly lifelike degree. Some twisted creature of ash and hard-packed dust dived down at us from above, only to be struck to the ground and disintegrate in a choking cloud of grey dust, covering several of the statues in a patina of ash.

A simple tunnel lead out of the temple into a massive vein of blue ore, glass-smooth and cold to the touch. Around its hollowed-out centre, a dozen bodies lay, broken and twisted at unnatural angles.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/NCUVvwp.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/uJXjQFt.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/CGYsMQN.png)

There were no signs of a struggle, or even of fear – indeed, the faces of several bodies were fixed in masks of serene calm, others in expressions of blank obedience, and others still in a rapturous grin wide enough to tear at the cheeks. Almost all were heavily mutilated or at least decaying, several having had their bones run together like wax; others had been broken as though by immense hooves, while others bore a strange, powdery residue across their dried-out skin. And at the centre of it all, surrounded by chunks of the glassy blue ore, the skeleton of some immense b

Spoiler:  Abyssal Sanctuary’s Rogues Gallery (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/m5bwR5a.png?1)
(https://i.imgur.com/Vgg51G2.png?1)
(https://i.imgur.com/gfUm2SY.png?1)
(https://i.imgur.com/C8Iyfxu.png?1)
(https://i.imgur.com/MNMSKOl.png?1)
(https://i.imgur.com/fshQxO4.png?1)

(Page abruptly terminates; the ink has run, rendering the remaining words all but illegible. The remaining pages are covered in ash, demonic ichor, and dried web, obscuring any further writing).

OOC: The demons here are kinda weak due to being nearly all powder-tissued or water blobs, so there wasn’t much to mention combat-wise beyond ‘You shoot an angry look at the Sleet Fiend/Demon of Tears/Grey Spectre and it spontaneously explodes!’.

---

Hell, around 15th Obsidian.

Spoiler:  Welcome to Hell… Again. (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/PSdCtZj.png?1)

From the moment they dropped down from the very lowest level of the adamantine vein, nearly breaking against the dark stone below, they had been embattled – the demons came from every side, howling and gibbering, mandibles and teeth snapping at the air as they closed in on the three adventurers. They met them with whirling strikes from freshly-forged short swords and battle axes, forged or taken from the fallen Sanctuary.

Massive plumes of steam mixed with the deadly dust of a half a dozen demons, reducing their sight to a mere few meters before them; more than once, one of the great ape-like beasts would charge forth through the choking clouds of dust and steam, swiping with their great paws in an effort to crush the three or simply fling them into the eerie pits that dotted the blasted landscape. More than once they succeeded, using the choking dust as a weapon to hurl their foes aloft, only for them to crash back down unharmed as their armour absorbed the force of the blows.

They answered the strikes with blows of their own – Ragnar was a whirling maelstrom of razor-sharp adamantine and iron, effortlessly driving his axe through demonic flesh and bone to sever the arms and legs of the beasts; Athama was never far behind, slashing off hands and slicing through necks and heads with quick, deft flicks and swipes of his twin swords. Irthu trailed behind them with his swords at the ready, guarding against the demons’ efforts to strike at his vulnerable comrades’ backs. Where sheer strength and adamantine weaponry was not enough, sharp flicks of the hand and bursts of magic did what the former could not achieve; demons large enough to crush them underfoot froze in their tracks and toppled to their faces with splintering crunches, to be finished off at the leisure of the trio.

On and on and on they fought. They tore the bulbous heads from the charging fiends of ash and steam, only to be forced to leap and scramble away from the thick strands of webbing spat by pine-haired marmot-like devils and the skinless beasts; they froze them in their tracks with violent twitches of the hand and bursts of dark magic, only to be forced to carefully pick their way between the sticky strands that had settled upon the black stone as murderous flocks of kinglet-like beasts dove at them – more than once, one of them was caught in the webbing and sent crashing to the ground, upon which the remaining two would retreat to their ally’s side and work to cut him free of the clinging web, fending off approaching demons and sending arcs of ichor and goo flying in a dozen directions.

Other times they retreated before the web could strike even one of them, weaving between the thick strands of web before paralysing the towering brutes with the dark magic granted to them by the power animating their bodies. There would be a quick flash of blades, occasionally a hasty dodge to hide behind the corpse of a fallen demon as the supernatural paralysis wore off and webbing filled the air, and then another slain demon would join its fellows upon the cold stone underfoot.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/Zv9fhfv.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/ZuBe6Rz.png?1)
(https://i.imgur.com/rzPBHqQ.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/BPelwNL.png?1)
(https://i.imgur.com/TCTjle9.png?1)

For Irthu, the battle had long since blended together into one long seamless stream of bloodshed. He could barely tell apart the forms of the demons charging towards them, their shrieks of rage and pain blurring into one endless cacophony as the three of them tore into the charging beasts. They fought for minutes, hours, days – he lost track of time, every thought consumed by the bloodshed raging around him and the movements of the rampant demons, the coughing gurgle of webs being spat and the howls of dying demons.

At last, however, the tide seemed to be turning: the horde was thinning out, the leading demons charging into the fray – soon, there would be an end to this madness, one way or another.
This quintet of demons were not like the simple, bestial creatures they had faced so far. Their eyes gleamed with dark intelligence, and they picked their moments to strike rather than merely rushing blindly against the three demon-slayers.

Ragnar’s arm twisted with a sickly crunching sound as one of them landed a thunderous kick against his shield, twisting the gauntleted arm it was attached to an unnatural angle. A noise like a branch breaking rang out as his wrist shattered and one of his axes fell away. To his credit, he did not even hesitate or slow down before stamping down to send the axe flying back up, seizing it in his remaining hand and delivering a vicious strike to the beast’s neck that sent its massive head crashing to the floor.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/0KMIwUh.png)

One of the two massive kinglet-like monsters swept its wings downward, cawing in murderous triumph as its massive left wing managed to crudely trap Athama’s main arm – a pity, then, that it had forgotten his other, which promptly sent his other sword sweeping down towards the wing’s joint. The kinglet, realising the danger it had placed itself in, tried to pull away from the attack, only for the blade to effortlessly cut halfway through the wing before sticking fast. The kinglet’s own movements did the rest, tearing the rest of the wing off and sending it shrieking to the slade floor as Athama set to work on carving its twin apart.

Irthu himself was facing off against the final two: one of the massive green marmots, and an immense skinless bull, both trailing thick strands of sticky web from their open jaws. A flick of his hand paralysed one of them, sending the marmot crashing to the ground with a muted bellow of indignant rage. The massive bull promptly charged forwards with a long, atonal bray of aggression, massive fits readied to strike and its hooved feet ringing off the slade. Thick, glistening strands of webbing spewed from its gaping maw, rushing through the air in an effort to ensnare its prey.

By way of answer, he whipped about as fast as possible, dodging between several of the thicker strands as the tingling sensation of his paralysis spell began to return to his arm – beside him, Ragnar was already closing in, raising his remaining hand into a sharp flicking gesture towards the massive bull. It toppled with a roar of fury, its limbs ceasing to obey its commands as Irthu rushed past towards the massive marmot, only to be silenced as Crewwheeled severed its head; he barely noticed Athama finish off the now-flightless kinglet, too focused on the way that the marmot was beginning to rise up again.

The marmot demon knew it, too: he could see that rank, black delight flare in its eyes as its limbs began to twitch back into life, the malevolent joy as it realised he was too close to dodge its webs. It began to lurch upright as strength and feeling flooded back into its limbs, building up the strands of webbing in its throat to spit them at the charging human. Yet as it did so, Irthu felt an increasingly familiar sensation within his hand – the sharp, electric tingling of his paralytic ability being ready again.

A flick of his hand sent it back to the ground, muscles locking rigid. It managed one final, defiant shriek of hatred and rage before his sword ripped through its skull and tore the brain apart. Irthu almost involuntarily slumped to his knees in a half-instinctual gesture of exhaustion as the roars and screeches faded; no more demons dared approach the spire, driven away by the fighting or slain in their futile efforts to end the interlopers.

Three figures, two clad in freshly-forged adamantine, one in blood-spattered iron, stood upon blood-slick slade. Around them, stacked dozens deep and towering over them even in death, lay the headless corpses of two hundred demons.

---

In the aftermath of that climactic battle in the Underworld, little more would be seen of the three demon-slayers. Fools assumed them to have died, slain by whatever lurked in the black heart of the Abyssal Sanctuary; many a traveller to the Museum held that they had simply parted ways after delivering the masterwork sarcophagus that lay in the back of the castle’s hall, their adventure coming to a close as their goals were fulfilled.

A few know the truth: that they travelled south to the Shelter of Adventures, and sought counsel with the Necromancer Glloyd Ancientborn the Round, offering several crafts of adamantine and their service in guarding the camp in exchange for shelter there.

And it is there that they remain to this day, the three undying mercenaries standing watch at the Shelter’s gate – forever ready to welcome new adventurers or to strike down those who might threaten their new home.

Spoiler: Irthu Bladebroken the Famine of Fate, An Abridged History of Boltspumpkin, Chapter Forty-Three (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/RhPWOS2.png)

“The road to redemption is a long one, and it ends in blood. Preferably yours.”

Not shown: his masterwork adamantine breastplate, iron mail shirts, and shield. Or the fact that his spine is presently sticking out through his neck.

Spoiler: Athama Stalkhandled the Old Metal Blade, An Abridged History of Boltspumpkin, Chapter Forty-Three (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/gle51il.png?1)

“Call me a traitor to our kind again – it’s been too long since I tasted elven blood. ”

Note: Yes, he is an Elf. The points of the ears are hidden by the sword and his hair.

Spoiler: Ragnar Ironjaw the Mournful Strikes of Broiling, An Abridged History of Boltspumpkin, Chapter Forty-Three (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/MZuRCy9.png)

“Death doesn’t like the quick or the clever. It doesn’t like being cheated. But it loves a challenge, and I’ll be damned if I don’t give it one.”

Note: Raggy-boy’s the only one without proper adamantine armour, having settled with the artefact adamantine axe Crewwheel. He also managed to out-Lonelythrall Lonelythrall by a country mile. Adamantine is a hellva drug.

EDIT: All credit for the drawings goes to Outcast Games and their artists – besides shamelessly basing my adventurers on them, all I did was cut the images down from a screenshot and apply a filter to the images, for ease of seeing the details properly.

Good luck, Glloyd; it'll be interesting to see what happens with your turn! 

And to end this relatively ill-written story, how was this for a turn?

EDIT: As usual, I'd like to request to be put back on the turn list.

Title: Re: Museum III; Myths and legends special event is running (free to join for all)
Post by: Imic on April 20, 2021, 02:41:32 am

I liked it. May I also say that your art is spectacular.

Title: Re: Museum III; Myths and legends special event is running (free to join for all)
Post by: Quantum Drop on April 20, 2021, 04:15:25 am

Quote from: Imic on April 20, 2021, 02:41:32 am

I liked it. May I also say that your art is spectacular.

Probably should've mentioned it earlier (as I did on my last turn, but I was tired when I posted this last night), but that art is credited to Outcast Games and their artists. I can't draw for toffee.  :-[

Title: Re: Museum III; Myths and legends special event is running (free to join for all)
Post by: Imic on April 20, 2021, 04:25:37 am

Oh. Well, that ruins it then. I can no longer in good faith say even a single word of positivity about your turn, not when I have seen before my eyes such vulgar deception. I turn the back of my left shoulder towards you, you fiend!

_{Mandatory disclaimer for that one guy out there: this is a joke}

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on April 20, 2021, 05:20:35 pm

Awesome stuff, The Sanctuary must have taken ages to build, that place is incredible.

I have updated a lot of posts, but I still need to reread some peoples stories to make sure I did not miss anything in recent adventures.
No response from Glloyd so far. We'll wait a bit longer.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Glloyd on April 20, 2021, 05:53:06 pm

Sorry! I picked up the save, I will get started on it tomorrow.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Glloyd on April 22, 2021, 09:45:11 pm

Before I waste more time, I think I'm going to need to be skipped. I just don't have the time to commit to this like I wanted to right now, and I've barely had a chance to play since I picked up the save. I'll post what would've been my first entry, which wraps up my previous turn and provides the hook for what I would have done this turn (which I'll still do when I play next), but I think it's best to just pass the turn to the next person and continue on. No need to upload my save, I haven't done much besides pop in as my necromancer character and take a few screenshots, so you can just use QD's save. I do want to do this turn at some point though, so add me back to the list please. I know for a fact I'll have more time whenever it comes my way again, I'm just extraordinarily busy until mid-May.

Sorry for pulling out like this! I was looking forward to what I had planned for my turn, I just don't have the time for it right now unfortunately. Good luck to the next player!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on April 23, 2021, 05:03:23 pm

Sorry to hear that. If you're busy untill half may I could move you four places down the turn list?

Are you sure you don't want to upload the save game? I understand there was a bit of progress? If not we'll move on to the next person.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Imic on April 23, 2021, 05:43:26 pm

I have only just now noticed I am not on the turn list, I might request a spot at the end.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: BluarianKnight on April 23, 2021, 08:44:51 pm

Toss me in wherever you can fit me, I'd love a turn.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Glloyd on April 23, 2021, 10:40:53 pm

Quote from: Bralbaard on April 23, 2021, 05:03:23 pm

Sorry to hear that. If you're busy untill half may I could move you four places down the turn list?

Are you sure you don't want to upload the save game? I understand there was a bit of progress? If not we'll move on to the next person.

If that's okay with others, sure! I don't want others to feel like I'm jumping the queue though. I just don't have the time right now, as much as I wish I did. As for the save, it's okay. There wasn't any actual progress, I was just taking some screenshots as my necromancer character to set up my turn.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Eric Blank on April 25, 2021, 02:22:52 am

I'll start in the morning. Can't promise much bc work is rough lately but I have a couple hours to myself every night.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: nogoodnames on April 25, 2021, 10:25:23 pm

Hey, here’s the final entry for my last turn. Sorry this took so long.

---

Thoughts of Arcturus Cinderfang - Day 5

We continue southwest. Finally, the goblin trenches begin to thin. It is a relief to walk in land unmarred by their war preparations.

We approach the mountains and are greeted by an awe-inspiring sight. Glittering in the midday sun, a citadel of carved gold blocks lies nestled between the rocky ridges. “Bloody dwarves, always so ostentatious.” Remarks Ithra, but I see the look of wonder in her eyes.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/iErVEc5.png)

We enter the gilded keep and see that it is not abandoned. A few people cluster around a trading stall stacked high with various meats. Dwarves and things that look like dwarves, but less hairy, and stretched to be nearly as tall as me. Ithra identifies them as humans.

We are well-stocked with the bounty of my hunting, but we do acquire a more recent map. The humans and dwarves are eager to hear our story and have some interesting tales of their own. They tell us that this fortress was built long ago but taken by the undead scourge. It was reclaimed some decades ago with the resurgence of the dwarves. We ask more on how the dwarves came back from near-extinction and they are happy to fill us in. They tell us of the legendary museum of Boltspumpkin, which served as a spark that reignited the dwarven pride. It drove the disparate enclaves of the Walled Dye to unite and reclaim their heritage. They tell us also, of another clan of dwarves, the Staff of Kissing. They were rumored to have died out centuries before the apocalyptic march of the undead, having never claimed lands beyond their singular fortress. Yet when the Walled Dye returned to the world, dwarves claiming to be of that lost clan also made a resurgence. The dwarves mention that the original home of the Staff of Kissing, Latewhipped, is only a few days travel to the northwest. Such a tale of rebirth intrigues me, but we have our mission.

We spend a little time venturing deeper into the fortress. Despite the obvious wealth of its builders, the interior is sparse and barely lived in. This place must have been young indeed when it was conquered. The small current population may not measure up to its original ambitions, but their reclamation effort is inspiring, nonetheless. We thank the settlers for their hospitality and continue westward, following an ancient dwarven road across the mountains.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

 (https://i.imgur.com/4qE9Mh3.png)

The sun hangs low in the sky as we journey away from the Perfect Horns once again. We find ourselves in desert scrub, rugged but far more alive than the wastes back home. I spot signs of a small camp on the horizon. Another goblin patrol? We should be far from their settlements now… I tell Ithra to hold position while I scout it out.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

 (https://i.imgur.com/hKwEqO5.png)

A diminutive brown creature wearing rags darts past me as I approach the camp. Memories of ancient cave paintings back home flash through my mind as recognition dawns on me. It is a kobold! Whispers of a dead race given flesh! I quickly follow it to the camp and see several more of the creatures.

To my horror, one of the kobolds is collapsed and bloodied on the ground, being beaten by one of its fellows. None of the others move to help it, or even react to my presence. What is this? Some kind of ritualistic punishment? I try to intervene, but my cries go unheard.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

 (https://i.imgur.com/vmNh1XS.png)

The injured kobold rattles out its death gasp and silence encompasses us. As if a trance was broken, the other kobolds finally seem to take notice of me. They wordlessly scatter and run away.

Poor degenerate creatures… A far cry from the cunning and ingenious architects of my home. Yet, they still live, long lost descendants of those mighty trap makers. The dwarves spoke of the rebirth of their civilization, could not the same be done for the kobolds? I take the body of the slain kobold. Whatever the reason for its execution, its life was still precious, deserving of proper entombment. I hasten back to meet Ithra. We make camp and I tell her of what has transpired. She agrees that our mission can tolerate a slight detour. We make plans to head for the sites most tied to the dwarven resurgence, Latewhipped and then Boltspumpkin. We shall discover the truth of their return.


Day 6

We continue west on the way to Latewhipped. We pass by many settlements, but do not pause our journey. At the edge of what our new map identifies as civilized land, we do decide to make one final stop at a small human village. The map identifies it as the hamlet of Homagemoons.

At first sight, the hamlet appears abandoned. Several wooden huts lie in decaying ruin. We search further in and hear voices coming from a few intact houses. We find a small handful of humans living in them. They are welcoming to us. Hearing of our journey, they suggest that we seek the guidance of their god, Hibor Walkmerchants, at the local shrine.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

 (https://i.imgur.com/jy0v5iV.png)

I roll the shrine’s divining die as instructed and am shown the image of a full moon. The locals identify it as the “Mammoth Moon” and tell me that it is a sign of great misfortune. They wish us luck on our journey, but they refuse to meet our eyes when they do so.


Day 7

The journey north takes us along the mountains. I once again see the striking glossy black of obsidian. Razor sharp ridges of it jut out from the ground in places. Alas, I am not able to use it for an axe blade. I will still need to rely on the crude goblin weapon.

The sun hangs low in the sky. We reach Latewhipped.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

 (https://i.imgur.com/ikDjS00.png)

The entrance hall is unremarkable. Desiccated meats and cheeses still sit in stone pots, as if waiting for someone to buy them after all these centuries. We head down into the gloomy depths. The air here is dry and stale. There is a smell like ash from a long since extinguished fire. We enter a hall decorated with statues depicting monstrous creatures and horrific imagery. Is this a clue to the fate of this place’s inhabitants? Did they choose to record their final days in this way?

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

 (https://i.imgur.com/iBvNbxX.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/3k1jGUS.png)

We descend further and come across a shrine quite similar to the one in the human village. I roll the die here as well. There is no one left to interpret the result, but I get an ominous feeling. Perhaps it is just the oppressive atmosphere of this place.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

 (https://i.imgur.com/nDGqG70.png)

Further down still, we find a cache of supplies left by the dwarves. Weapons, armour, gemstones. The great crafts of this civilization, untouched since their fall. Ithra picks up a metal helmet and looks at it in awe. She identifies the material as the legendary dwarven steel. Unbelievably strong compared to the common metals known to human and goblin smiths. I let her take whatever she can wear. I take a few crafts to serve as evidence of our being here. A few books stand out from the pile, but I can’t tell if they have any relevance to our quest.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

 (https://i.imgur.com/03xiYau.png)

Hours pass by as we wander the mazelike hallways of dwarven residences. Beds still made, cabinets full of clothes. Whatever happened here did not prompt a panicked evacuation. Yet still we find nothing conclusive on what caused the dwarven resurgence.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

 (https://i.imgur.com/VrjxkXu.png)

We continue our search. The smell of ash is strong here. A fitting odour for this ancient tomb. But if it is a tomb, where are the bodies? Have they all crumbled to dust? We enter a new section of residences. The smell of ash is overpowering. I open a door…

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

 (https://i.imgur.com/DpdNz2U.png)

…and am greeted by a monstrosity. A bloated blob of roiling ash, supporting an armoured plate. For a moment I swear I see dwarven faces in the ash. It exudes a cloud of dust that obscures my sight. Could this be the doom of Latewhipped?

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

 (https://i.imgur.com/ZlF9OOQ.png)

I swing my axe, and something heavy clatters to the floor. I swing again, and whatever movement was occurring behind the dust ceases.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

 (https://i.imgur.com/IiLicNn.png)

The dust clears, and the beast is no more. All that remains is a pile of inanimate ash and its heavy shell. How could such a weak thing exterminate a civilization? Had the centuries of isolation starved it to the brink of death? Or perhaps this was all that remained of a far more insidious threat. I spend some time checking myself over. Nothing feels amiss.

We complete our search of the fortress but turn up nothing more. We have evidence of its builders’ fate, but things are far from clear. Their return remains a complete mystery. I pick up some of the monster’s ash and its heavy shell. Perhaps they will mean something to the learned scholars of Boltspumpkin.


Day 11

Little of note happens on our journey south. We make few stops; enough time has been wasted already. The days get colder the further we travel. Desperate wolves ambush us in the forests near Boltspumpkin. They are easily dispatched.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

 (https://i.imgur.com/fnWwvo9.png)

The walls of the great museum stretch before us. The sight may pale next to the golden fortress we saw up north, but it is still impressive. We enter the keep. It is a cramped, chaotic mess of bones and books. The goblin curator barely looks up to acknowledge our presence before returning to his work. His lack of reaction is testament to the many bizarre patrons of this place, some of whom we meet.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

 (https://i.imgur.com/aq6PWOG.png)

None here seem to know any more of the Staff of Kissing’s story than we have already pieced together. Nor can they offer more than a mundane explanation for the dwarves’ return in general.  Perhaps it was naïve of me to think I could find a simple way to save the kobolds. I leave the remains of the ash beast in the upper floor of the museum. I hope a better scholar than I can glean some meaning from them.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

 (https://i.imgur.com/It7V9VH.png)

It is time to resume our primary mission. We learn from the museum staff that The Creamy Confederacy recently reclaimed the town of Growlsuppers. Ledir Judgedbuckle, our lawgiver, has been living there personally to oversee its restoration. This is good news, Growlsuppers is relatively nearby. We say our goodbyes and set off once again.


Day 12

The journey to Growlsuppers is uneventful. Our passage is aided by the freezing of a mighty river. The south is frigid indeed.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

 (https://i.imgur.com/n4f7tFG.png)

We approach the town. From a distance, it is an impressive sight with many sprawling structures. However, many of these are revealed to be abandoned ruins as we get closer.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

 (https://i.imgur.com/1EYas17.png)

We encounter no one until we reach the keep. Entering, we find Ledir surrounded by his courtiers. I start to speak, but it seems word of our journey has already reached them.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

 (https://i.imgur.com/oM1ZuMt.png)

I press forward to Ledir, summarizing our journey and explaining why we have come. He looks puzzled for a moment and tells me that the elves have not dared to attack for over sixty years. I relate everything I was told of the invasion. Ledir calls on one of the courtiers over and speaks to her in hushed tones. She glances at me, says something back, and chuckles. Ledir explains to me that both elves I had been told were planning the attack are long since dead. In fact, Nisa Cleanfish was killed during the last invasion of my home. His words strike me like a hammer blow.

Was my family merely mistaken? Or was this whole quest an excuse to be rid of me? Goblins have perfect memory. Surely, they would know Nisa had been killed.

I thank Ledir and offer him one of the treasures from Latewhipped, a beautiful crown carved from gems the colour of rich golden honey. He takes it graciously.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

 (https://i.imgur.com/JHSMOkL.png)

With Ledir’s permission, I lay the body of the kobold I have been carrying to rest in the keep. I am at a loss on what to do now. My quest from home was nothing more than a snipe hunt and I do not know how I could help the kobolds. I shall stay here for a while and contemplate the future. Perhaps Ledir has some use for me.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: nogoodnames on April 25, 2021, 10:50:34 pm

Spoiler: Oh shit, he did have use for him (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/jmX1VHA.png)

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: TheFlame52 on April 26, 2021, 09:39:06 am

I love that you included a screenshot of a wolf biting Ithra, then Ithra biting the wolf back to establish dominance.

What a fantastic adventure! The drawings really make it special. Even without anything world-shaking taking place, I think this is still one of the best adventures we've had yet.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Eric Blank on April 26, 2021, 05:20:22 pm

I really liked that one as well. Am I mistaken in seeing your character was imprisoned after you retired?

I started my adventure last night, not a lot of note going on just yet, but I did make it back to the museum after a hefty trek. Will post tonight or tomorrow and continue from there.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: nogoodnames on April 26, 2021, 05:34:15 pm

Thank you!

Yes, he did in fact get captured by the elves. Apparently, Arcturus managed to remind everyone that they are currently at war. He and Ithra immediately got sent out alone to invade a forest retreat on the far end of the continent. I would guess that they were literally the only available warriors in the Creamy Confederacy.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Eric Blank on April 27, 2021, 02:05:57 am

Adventures of Pik and Desli, Resurrected, Part I;

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

After years un-living "comfortably" in their hunting cabin and slowly making improvements to it, turning it into more of an empty inn, Pik and Desli became "restless," as much as the undead could be. Desli had often ventured out into the wider world, the werebeast curse refreshing her body so as not to appear dead, but had found little to do besides hunt and sell game in hamlets. This time, however, in Granite 770, Pik had agreed to come with her, to set out once more for adventure. Under the light of the full moon, taking the form of enormous jackals twisted into humanoid form, they began their journey by travelling east, around the goblin pits and into the human hamlets near the mountains, where they had not travelled before.

(https://i.imgur.com/PEt9FSi.png)

The people here survived well, despite goblin and undead conquests. They kept and maintained the goblins' watch towers and trenches around their fields, allowing lookouts to spot the arriving adventurers, although by now the moon had waned and they once again took the form of a human man dressed in bronze, Pik and a wolf woman in steel, Desli. The people here were only troubled by the odd bandit, and a giant in a nearby cave. A giant who had stolen many treasures and supplies, and hid in a cave somewhere in the mountains. Its name was Unlo Sculptesteem the Breach of Culminating. The pair sought out information, but none could identify its exact location, so they searched the mountains themselves. After a full days search, they stumbled upon the cave entrance by a brook, stolen items scattered around the woods outside. They crept up to the mound of rocks, and immediately found a large opening in the side. The giant was at the bottom of a short ramp inside, with its back turned, petting a naked mole dog. Pik crept in close behind it, and thrust his steel sword into the giant's throat. A geyser of blood erupted, and the disoriented giant failed to ascend the ramp to reach its attackers before Pik thrust his sword again into its nose, and the giant fell dead at their feet.

The townsfolk were astonished by the defeat of their great enemy, but their lords had little in the way of treasures in their mead hall to pay the pair with. Soon they moved on, first to a necromancer tower to the south. The pyramids and stone monoliths that made up the towers surroundings were inhabited by scattered undead goblins. Not insurmountable numbers for the average war party, even. Pik and Desli never saw the masters of the place, even the tower was apparently inhabited only by a handful of undead. But they did find a tome by the name of On Bereavement, which detailed the secrets awarded to the necromancers. Not entirely unlike the powers they had learned in their earlier journeys, but this tome detailed how to create a "ghoul." Desli kept the book, and they left shortly thereafter.

North again, this time following the mountains as they began to curve to the west. Besides goblin pits, little was to be found here. Game and fruit were frequent enough, but the presence of the goblins had stifled development of the area, their towers allowing them to spot any attempts at settlement and snuff them out early. It wasn't all a wasted trek, necessarily. The pair spotted a strange creature emerge from a hill and begin climbing high into the mountains. The den it emerged from was plain enough; none of the gore, tools or trinkets common to night creatures. No door or hatch, either, just a simple ramp leading down into the hill. They tracked the beast high into the mountains, picking off yaks, keas and peregrines for sport as they climbed. Truly, of the few pleasures the undead could still enjoy, the comedy of knocking birds out of the sky and shoving yaks off cliffs with magic was one to be treasured. The beast wandered up a ravine to a plateau where it was stalking a heard of yak, unaware that it was being stalked until it was too late.

(https://i.imgur.com/0K9BdIz.png)

Its death was swift, being thrown to the ground by Pik and its throat slit by Desli's axe. The creature proved to be a yeti, a huge humanoid beast with long white hair, one the local people mentioned in passing as Aro Controltick but was believed to have moved on or died. Desli raised it on a whim, to have a pet zombie yeti she felt was novel. Its instincts to hunt and kill were strong, and several times the pair had to put down animals their zombie pet chased down and mauled. Their new friend would not last the week, however, as the full moon rose again, and the duo of adventurers transformed into werejackals. Their pet no longer recognized them, and turned on them, only to be swiftly put down. The mountains began to curve southwards again thereafter, and soon the werebeasts found themselves in the fortress of Pickhoists. Long-abandoned, its vault still held much treasure, but no written books or artifacts of importance. The eerily silent halls hadnt even been much used by the cavern beasts, despite being directly accessible to them. It hosted no tavern, no library, and no temples or shrines. So they left. The pair didn't bother to investigate any more dwarven fortresses on their way south. They didn't even stop in the hamlets. Few dwarves could be found in the world these days, and those ancient halls were known to hold terrible evils; spawn of the underworld, forgotten beasts, zombie hordes, dragons. In their time since leaving the Realm of Silver, they had learned that the folly of dwarven kind was not just stories to tell children to keep them from getting lost in the woods. Many tales were based in truth.

After a few days travel, they finally arrived at the doorstep of the museum of Boltspumpkin. First they visited Healerlashes, charming as ever, and then the recently-built (to them) Herograves, where they briefly spoke to the gravetender Braalbard, and the Shelter of Adventurers, where they met many legendary heroes. In boltspumpkin itself, they left the spoils of their new journeys: stories of their triumphs against the giant and yeti, and the treasures reclaimed from the giants cave, along with the quaint short story The Sun Sets on Hug, which Desli had taken from the necromancer tower. Per the wary goblins' and Hand of Planegifts' request, they kept the tome of deathly secrets. They also left, in the tower north of the keep, foodstuffs taken along their journeys; being undead, they had no compulsion or need to eat, and so it was better fit for the living who may pass through.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Eric Blank on May 02, 2021, 02:43:01 pm

Adventures of Pik and Desli, Resurrected, Part II;

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Pt. 2

After leaving Boltspumpkin, Pik and Desli's wanderings took them to the empty labyrinth of Mistmob, north again to the fortress of Princetomes where a few dwelled, east into the fortress of the Iron-Deep which was frozen in place early in the morning, disturbingly silent with its piles of icy corpses. North-east of there, in the hills around the mountains, they hunted down beasts, bandits and goblins alike. Rogue Hands of Planegifts roamed the hills, preying on travelers and attacking the pair on sight, so they were put down with relative ease.

(https://i.imgur.com/zcjDSRY.png)

Near the town of Paddleticks, they encountered a lone human pikewoman, and aging soul with long white hair and wrinkled skin. She stood guard for a bandit lord, but her own story was more interesting than simple thievery;

(https://i.imgur.com/J67Lysf.png)

Neither Pik nor Desli had to their knowledge bitten anyone, and so they shared their curse only with each other. The weremammoths though had been terrorizing the countryside, which made them acceptable prey. The slaughter began there, with Themi, and continued with Ebdi in Paddleticks. A few days search of the surrounding region revealed no other werebeasts, but did turn up a few more bandits who put up little fight. The pair headed south-west again, seeking out Raki's victims. On the way, they met a pair of necromancers by the names of Lar and Kubuk in the otherwise abandoned Orbsmortals. Lar, a human woman, was quite talkative and friendly, but knew nothing of werebeasts in the area. Kubuk refused to speak until they had left. Returning to Boltspumpkin they asked around about Raki, and although stories of Raki's rampages were known, exactly who was cursed or where they may today be were not, besides the undead roaming around Scarletbronze. These were not only werebeasts but dead resurrected by Raki; the powerful beings Desli had had premonitions of years ago. Still, at the time she was alone save Engdul, and both were mere mortals. Pik and Desli together, as necromancers, undead and werejackals themselves, may fare better. Perhaps even have the advantage.

The decision was made, then, to return to their homeland. Following civilization south, they happened upon the long-forgotten cave of Suckechoes. Venturing into the darkness, the winding, confusing tunnels dripped with silver and copper laced water. Passages seemed to go on forever, so deep into the earth dwarves should have turned back, but the ceaseless hunters did not. Finally, somewhere between thirty and fifty stories beneath the earth, between the shadows of stalactites, a living shape loomed. A towering one-eyed humanoid rose from the floor and began swinging at the intruders, even as Pik's sword dug deep into her throat and became lodged. The monster collided into him, sending him reeling back against the stone floor, even as his shield struck her square in the jaw. Sword freed, yet lying on his back, Pik would make an easy target, if Desli had not entered the fray, burying her axe deep into her left arm. The cyclops fought viciously, swinging this way and that as Desli deftly dodged or parried every blow and reciprocated with her own, digging into the creatures lower back and legs, sending it crashing to the ground even as Pik inflicted yet another gaping wound in its throat. The cyclops gurgled and slumped to the floor, and never again moved from that spot. Nothing of value could be found in the cyclopes' lair, and the beast hunters made their way back to the surface world and continued onwards.

South and west they went, to the border of the Tundra of Heroes, but instead of crossing there, they chose a longer path, west across the mountains into the secluded valley of the Pristine Tundras, where the dwarven fortresses of Championvaults and Duskhome were built. The ancient fortress of Palacework they visited briefly in a premonition-dream, but it was a stupid place and that dream crashed after Pik was torn to shreds by invisible undead. Championvaults was all but deserted now, even the queen had abandoned the place, leaving only the mayor, captain of the guard, chief medical dwarf, and a single farmer. They passed on the opportunity to visit duskhome again, as it remained unchanged as well. So they marched south, through the ever-beautiful Merged Jungles, admiring the great glacial valley that separated the Bearded Horns from the Perfect Horns, crossing the great river and finally making it to the northern edge of the Sea of Blades a week later. Nothing had really changed her, in the wilderness of the south. Dingoes, deer, wolverines, wombats and owls were all still present in great numbers. The lone surviving necromancer in his tower at Glazedriven still hadn't written a single book and still refused to speak to Desli.

The pair looped around the west side of the sea, visiting the ancient abandoned fortress of Keyconjure, ensuring it was still, indeed abandoned and its dragon still lay dead. But they ventured deeper than previous adventurers, and in the fortresses vaults they discovered a horde of artifact treasures. Desli took a decorated steel battleaxe, and Pik a equally beautiful steel sword, and carried the rest, more artifact weapons, books, and an artifact grate, with them in their backpacks. The journey around the southern side of the Sea of Blades was scenic, but uninteresting. They even checked every known cave and lair, and found nothing to hunt. They climbed the mountains to the dwarven fortress of Deepvaulted high in the mountains. This place attracted hundreds of beasts, and so thick that Pik and Desli simply chose to leave without further investigation.

The full moon rose as they entered the hamlet of Dreamobeyed. To hide their curse, they fled, but not before being spotted by the lady of the hamlet as they walked back into the hills. So they ran. That night wandering the wild, they encountered a pack of creatures in the woods, a terrible sight.

(https://i.imgur.com/VpVtBbO.png)

A werehorse, a weremoose, a werecat and a howling freak stood in a clearing atop a hill and looked around at one another briefly. Suddenly, in unison they howled and charged, clashing violently. Pik stepped in and decapitated the moose, the cat and the freak in quick succession. The horse put up a fight, but eventually was cut down as well. They left the bodies on the blood soaked ground.

Shortly the pair returned home at last, to Stabbedechoed, to speak to old friends. Although most of those they knew were dead, the young were now old, but some recognized them. Those that survived the plague, many had turned to soldiering to combat the unrest. They were glad, though, at the stories of triumphs over night creatures and titans. The world outside at least was only somewhat less safe. They only stayed for a day, moving on to the north to search again for their prey. Nothing of note moved in the night in the woods between Stabbedechoed and Fluteplans, but it was there that they must cross the great river by swimming, as there were no more ferries and no new bridges. Pik made it to the other side, safely, but Desli was nowhere to be seen. Pik searched high and low, in the village and along the river banks, even when it was frozen over during the night, but after over a week of searching he never found Desli. He returned to Stabbedechoed, and asked there, but nobody had seen her there, either. Frustrated, Pik knew not what to do. He left for the island of clouting, where they intended to hide if they needed to. He built a small cabin there by a brook, and left a note for Desli, that he would return here after checking again in their hunting cabin to the north. He didn't make it far beyond Stabbedechoed before he encountered a night creature in the woods, and struck it down.

When Pik returned to Fluteplans, however, Desli was there waiting for him. Finally reunited, the pair returned to their task of hnting down weremammoths and other night creatures. They killed several bandits and bandit leaders, several howling freaks, bleak creatures and shadow creatures between Steammartyred and Scarletbronze. There on the outskirts of Scarletbronze they came upon a fell one. The fight was thankfully swift, and Pik and Desli stood victorious over the body. Over the next week they slaughtered half a dozen undead, bandits and yet another night creature while stalking the surrounding wilderness and the streets of the city. They continued the slaughter north and eastward through the heartlands of the Realm of Silver, all the way to and around Swordgleamed, where sane and lawful men dare not pass for fear of the bandit king's army. They killed four more night creatures, half a dozen bandits, and even a troll, before setting out across the Tundra of Heroes yet again, stopping at the towers of Combinedinsight to steal another tome of necromantic powers.

Their journey took them back to the museum, where they dropped the last of their trinkets on the second floor, before heading north into the wilderness, never to be seen again.

And here, then, is a map of their route;

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/T6wFyne.png)

The original intention was to retire in the south at that new camp, but late last night I realized I really didn't have time or energy left to do that, as it was like 2am. So I went further north to the end of the world.

Game crashed like, 6 separate times, so lots of things I wanted to include "never happened", and several hours of gameplay were lost in total. Pik died and got resurrected like twice in these lost saves, but none of that made the cut obviously. Im sure theres also erroneous information in the story still as a result. I didn't have time to make even a rudimentary fort this time.

The file is uploading, its just taking its sweet damn time.

Here we go: https://dffd.bay12games.com/file.php?id=15515

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: TheFlame52 on May 03, 2021, 06:38:54 am

That's a journey and a half!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on May 03, 2021, 04:25:14 pm

That makes it your turn TheFlame52.

In the meantime I'll try to catch up with updating the relevant posts, and reading of the recent posts.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: TheFlame52 on May 03, 2021, 04:39:54 pm

Uh oh. I'm working super overtime until the end of May and won't have time to really play until then. Can I get bumped back a few spots?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Eric Blank on May 03, 2021, 06:31:28 pm

Overtime is what kicked my ass too, thats why I didn't have time to make a fort. Did about an hour of playing every night during my workweek, and that's when most of the crashes happened too. Wednesday night was trash. Lost everything. Maybe next time...

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on May 05, 2021, 05:47:50 am

Quote from: TheFlame52 on May 03, 2021, 04:39:54 pm

Uh oh. I'm working super overtime until the end of May and won't have time to really play until then. Can I get bumped back a few spots?

No problem, that makes it Lurker Z's turn.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on May 05, 2021, 10:53:42 am

Just the prepwork so far, but it's a lot of work just talking to people asking directions, quests and such.

---

Spoiler: Entry 1 (click to show/hide)

I am Lurker Onecbehal, a humble miner. I start my journey on the 14th of Malachite of the year 770 After Creation. I start my day in my quint home

(https://i.imgur.com/U1cjw3U.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/bcW4jOr.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/bcHX64D.png)

in the quaint town of Señamatem, known in common as Weatherponder. It is quaint now, home of religious recluse, but it used to be our great civilization's capital, until the monstrous roc Ricote Rinosidaya Rede destroyed it and with it, our first Law-Giver's bloodline. Wish that I was the one to destroy it. Wish that more in this town would care more than their Gods, or, more likely, as I suspect, their advancement through the ranks of their cults...
I hear a dwarf in Championvault destroyed the wretched roc, and while I'd like to meet them, lately the dwarves have been awfully nomadic, moving from fortress to fortress that I find it unfeasible.

Today, it's finally time for adventure! I strap up my iron short sword and spear and go to the town hall for information on what that must be.

---

I go to The Permanency of Chains (I know, gloomy name) and take all the supplies they're willing to give me. I find some nice bags and a chest with basic tools. I'll repay them eventually, maybe I'll find something in my adventures that I can give back.

(https://i.imgur.com/BOrPXUz.png)

What is my purpose for my adventure, one wonders? I have considered throughout my life many things to do. The truth is, the world is a wonderful, yet perilous place. Why, we almost all became undead under that Oddom dwarven madwoman. Goblins are the most numerous and the most aggressive of the species, and now they've taken over the rulership of our western brothers, Quogubpesor. The dwarves occasionally or not so occasionally dig too deep and unleash horrors upon the world from the horrid pits. Monsters and necromantic creations roam the land, attacking everything that doesn't have the foul odor of death.

Yet these are great things, that I can not hope to stem the tide of alone. Other things plague my mind though. Noble Thillecit, Señamatem's sister city, now under the thumb of a band of outlaws. And now I hear of trouble from the capital, Ulosothro, where it is said a fool has unleashed an invisible, but insidious plague. Nevermind that we are ruled by the blood of strangers and not the old Blood of Ancients, if that of our greatest bloodlines is lost. Why, I know Bewa Estbuqui's blood still lives in other towns, yet it is ignored or relegated to humble positions.

So, I plan to travel to the capital and then slay the horrors of the world and help as I can. I have been baptized to Bikdá, the goddess of trees, the moon and night, and though I have no problem with that, as it helped in my previous profession as miner, I hope for healing of myself and others in my journey, and hopefully Otu Sanaisha shall listen to me.

I ask at the Mead Hall many questions, many of the answers to which I know are horribly outdated. What has the capital of Omon Obin been reduced to... they even send me to talk to people that I know are dead for decades! I talk to Lord Apup Wurthomod to receive his blessing to leave. He's been lord for less than a year, replacing the dearly departed Lady Kiros Acoejas, a leader I respected. Between his outdated ramblings, Lord Apup tells me of a museum in the West named Boltspumpkin in the common tongue, where I should bring the most valuable item in my journey, either material or sentimental. Frankly, I have so much I wish to do that I do not know I will make it there. Though Lord less than a year, at 54 he seems to know me well and tells me about "The Dark Fortress River ", a straight line of goblin settlements directly northern of the Museum. He also mentions once again the foul goblin rulers of Quogubpesor who have declared war practically on the rest of the world.

I shall consider his words, of course, though I can't help to wonder if Lady Kiros' words would be the same. I never talked to her of my leaving, and maybe... well, there's no use looking back now.

I talk to more of my townfolk, who, for all the lateness of the news they share, they give good directions - after all, many things may change, but the terrain and settlement names stay the same - unless those dwarves start rummaging the earth, of course. But, that's much much beyond my consideration right now.

As I make my way out, I notice Urwa Nihdesana squared in a corner of the mead hall, drinking his troubles. I haven't talked to him much, but the conversation takes a turn to the fantastical when he tells me he is the first, but only living son of Isun Cilbanulce‎, our 15th Law-Giver. Aghast on why he does not have the throne, he mumbles incoherently. Realizing that I can't get anything out of him and not wanting to risk taking him on what may be a suicide journey, I leave him to his drink, muttering behind me blessings to Otu Sanaisha.

I do not notice the white glow left in my wake or my fellow townfolk's awed expression.

So, first the capital, then drown The Dark Fortress River in blood, and then bring the best I can to the museum. May Bikdá and Otu Sanaisha guide my journey.

---

OOC: Seriously, they send you to talk to dead people to directions, or mention "armies on the march" led by people who died decades ago, or after beasts once again slain decades ago.

I didn't expect to meet Urwa here and the only reason I noticed him is because I did an un-canon run some weeks ago and notice the only were-creature interaction was in Señamatem. I knew from before that Isun had only one living son and that said son had been passed over the throne because of the curse, but I didn't realize until now that Urwa was that son. For all its immensity, Orid Xem sure is a small world in cases like these. I might just accidentally-not-accidentally make this fellow a king, depending on how the adventure goes. But it's still early to tell I guess.

In other news, I really want to see if I can bring Thillecit (Swordgleamed) back into the fold, though I suspect I'll die trying, or my computer will have a heart attack when it encounters it.

Entry 2

I arrive at Ulosothro, but there I hear rumours of foul things. Of a plague arrived with an adventurer that has now gotten half the council, our ruler included. Usually, I'd want to bless them in the name of Otu, but I remember Urwa's tale. Of him being attacked not once, but twice by beasts and forced to flee. It stinks of conspiracy to me, so I go in with thunder in my steps and in my very body and leave my life to the Gods.

As I approach though, I look around and do not like my odds. One lone traveler with iron weapons and a bronze shield against my entire country's rulership, for good or ill. I put away my dark thoughts and continue muttering prayers and consecrating the land in Otu's name and hope for the best.

I see something on a pedestal there for the taking, the inhabitants apparently uncaring. Ligircaspa Osmahegesh, Clearingheaven the Quescnt Hthr, the inscription says, apparently losing words towards the end, an anhydrite amulet. I wonder if this will be enough for the museum. Now, I know what some will think: who would risk trecking the world with a priceless artifact that belongs to their parent civilization? Yet the amulet draws me to it and I cannot help to think that it is the will of the Gods that I have found this first and that I was told of the museum. Still, this complicates my journey further. I cannot lose such a precious item in the wilderness less woe befall my soul even beyond death.

I scout the place until finally I confront Uja on what she is... and she admits. And nobody does nothing. And then we talk like we're normal people. I don't know what to do. Attacking her, with her entire household around, might not look good. It might be that she gets demoted... and then what? I know not. I decide to just take everything in this (now) forsaken place and make my way to the Museum with the amulet. Maybe I'll survive to tell the tale. What a fool I feel like...

Spoiler: Beautiful aerial complete view of Ulosothro (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/Icim87s.png)

---

OOC: Well this is awkward... nothing bad can happen if I let the vampires rule Omon Obin, right? Right?...

At least I have my entry for the Museum, now to survive long enough to deliver it.

Entry 2.5
I was going to go to the Museum, except for every step I make, others make 5 more steps. Reluctantly, I must return to my house to stash my goods. They're nothing important except a gem that I will probably keep on me, but it's better they rest in my quiet, blessed town than in the hands of undead monstrosities that nobody bothers to cast out of the capital. I'm a little peeved, can you tell?

Just as night sets, I find Polishedwanes. I rest here, of course. A nice fellow, Jonu Thefinkteng, lets me sleep on his floor for the night (though he has no bed not even for himself... how low we have fallen indeed). I make small talk with him until I rest for the night.

Entry 2.6
Home sweet home! Now I have to leave again... to the museum!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on May 10, 2021, 11:04:50 am

Entry 3
On my way to the West, the bleak creature Mondul Dieghosts attacks me (don't ask how I know its name). After a few slashes and stabs of my sword, it, surprisingly, runs away. Was it because dawn was coming? Was it because it didn't find easy pray? Who knows. I rather regret not killing it. A poor human infected by a wretched disease is one thing, but these things were never human to begin with (well, as far as I know). On the other hand, I thank all the Gods that they helped me pull through. At one time I was bleeding and while I wanted to wound or kill the thing, I am alive and continuing in my journey and I suppose that should be enough.

My surprise and general elation is short-lived, as the creature turns out to have just been hiding either in the snow or around the trees. A ferocious fight to the death ensues, no quarter given, none taken. I, with my faithful iron short sword, and it, with its claws. The fight takes less than I expected - I was told stories of fights taking hours with these kinds of creatures - as I finally manage to open some of its arteries, making the creature bleed to death. I shall haul its corpse proudly. Unfortunately, there's no use returning home to leave this thing, as I'll be in the same problem I started with - I'll be once again caught on the road at night and attacked by one of these things. So, all I can do is gather the creature's corpse and my thrown around teeth and continue on my way.

It turns out, I was not far away from a fort called Tiquaabuth. It would have been fine to spend the night in. Maybe I'll leave the corpse here? No... It's my first and I want to show off my skills.

[small]Small scribbling on the paper: Gods damn it, almost lost my shield and spear (not that the latter got any use out of) in the night. Good thing I could follow back my tracks the relative short distance to retrieve them. Even if I won't get any use out of them, I'd rather not lose them.[/small]

The fort is surprisingly full, and pleasantly surprising full of humans. There is surprisingly a high chamberlain and a justicar here and even an Overseer, Sizet Dulispishab. I quickly find that it's in the possession of The Wild Clans, a group with Omon Obin relations, but not directly suborned to us. I decide to take shelter only for a short while before moving on. They do say I'm much more south than I expected and I have a longer journey. Well, needs must and all that. Can't give up now.

On my way north, I am attacked by an alligator. I almost feel sorry for it. Almost. As if feeling my intent, it knows it is outmatched after a few sword blows and leaves me be. I'm in too much of a hurry to tarry for its measly skin, so I carry on.
On my trek through the night, a mountain goat collapses into me and bleeds to death. Stupid fauna.

Entry 3.5

I finally entered the Tundra of Heroes. Trecking through the Bearded Horns was a chore, especially at night. I especially regret that I missed what I'm most certain was a volcano, as I stumbled trying not to fall into the mountainous crevices. Well, onward.

Entry 3.6

I see a Dark Fortress in the distance. If this is one of those "slowing down" things, I don't want to go near it. I try to circumvent it, hopefully with success.

Entry 3.7 (Malachite 19)

Finally, day! I thought the night would last forever in these lands. Hungry, thirsty, surrounded by unknown creatures, but I continue on.

Entry 3.8

Found Buraturot, another fort. What secrets does it hold, I wonder?
Looks like another independent fort, though at this distance I don't know if it's from Omon Obin or some other humans. I suppose it doesn't really matter. I approach cautiously, there are signs of battle...

Dead goblin just at the gate. Ecen Droopystrike and his meager belongings. I'm not sure if it deserves to be memorialized here, filthy golbin that it is, but so be it.
Inside there are teeth of a Stren Memimshibbi. Might be worth seeing to them.

More dead goblins inside the bedrooms. Good riddance I say, but still, this looks... unsanitary.

Ah, and there's Stren Memimshibbi, along with Sushsath Othlabiner, Muthe Wishoonec and Geb Lukishem. I drop Ecen's corpse with the others, I suppose this is as good as a burial place as any. I'm taking the teeth with me though, I don't know why. Maybe I'll make a necklace out of them or something. I also find a silver carving knife, looks better than the walnut wood one I have, so I replace it.

I find an abandoned monastery, but nothing inside. Either it was always empty or is long looted. I find Isunatra just as night falls. I'll be glad not to travel once again through the night. I don't even ask who's home, I just find an empty room and plop inside for the night.

In the morning I find a brimstone 4-sided die next to the statue of a goblin Amxu Sprydooms. This is "encouraging". I roll, and Mata Swiftjudged says to expect a change. Alright then...

And change it is. I find the town's meeting hall, full of goblins. Time for a change in a few creature's life alright!

After I manage to kill one of them, the others run around like headless chicken - were they really headless! I try to chase them, but eventually decide while I want to end the threat, I have to go on my way. With a heavy heart, I let the others live in their pathetic panic.
Entry 3.9
I've arrived in Rinihaloc. Let's see what fate has to give me.

I find a better shield here. I feel kind of bad replacing my constant companion that I currently drag along, but I can't deny the quality improvement, even if it's still bronze.

As night arrives again, I find Dothanest. If I remember my geography well, it's one of the first settlements of The Creamy Confederacy. I guess I'll be killing goblin monarchs sooner than I'll arrive at The Museum. But sleep first.

OOC: No pictures, though I have some screens saved. I'm more or less rushing to finish the quest because the deadline is coming.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on May 11, 2021, 10:08:05 am

Entry 4.

This place is not only an unseemly maze, it also appears to be deserted. I haven't encountered a soul here.

I find a room fool of valuables, but no great weapon, not greater than I currently have. There's also a pit... with a goblin ruling, this sends chills down my spine... should I just jump in?

Spoiler: Dothanest Pit (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/AlW0YwG.png)

Oh... oooooooooh... I might have found the catacombs... or tombs... or whatever these are... interesting...

It's full of loot, but again, nothing that I don't already have. I'll be taking these skeletons, because I have a feeling there's something around that'll want to bring them back...

I found a named skeleton, Didde Ximfod. I wonder what that's about. Hope they don't resurrect in my pack...
And a Lasiv Omonumci. And an Alnos Gicastrusna.

Hey, iron shield! I'll take that!

And an iron helm!

It's almost too bad I'm near the end of my adventure. I would have loved to adventure in these.

Well, I'm putting these corpses in the chests I found. I'm sure nothing can go wrong.

You know what, out of respect for... me? My Gods? My victims? I don't know, but I think I'll put Mondul's corpse here too. I don't know if he deserves to be entombed, but I've been hauling this carcass from one end of the world to the other and I'm frankly tired of it. It can rest with the bones of these people for all I care. I suppose it's better than just butchering it.
Nevermind that, I can't stuff even the skeletons in everything that's around me. I suppose I'll be hauling the named corpses for... reasons? They might be holy somewhere. Maybe.
And after looting what I could... I met goblins. But if they're as fast as they were above and I'm so encumbered... it's funny, I went here to kill gobs, and now my plans were ruined. I'll make my way back up, then I'll see what I'll see.

---

OOC: So I arrived at Boltspumpkin. I'm not sure if I'm happy or not with this adventure. It's not like I avoided my goals, but I didn't go out of my way for them, then time started ticking and here I am. The night creature encounter was probably avoidable, but it added some action to the story. Glad I got that one gob though, even if the rest ran like cowards. Dothanest was interesting, maybe I should have spent more time there.

It's a shame I didn't have time for a fortress, next time I'll rush the adventure I guess or I'll have more motivation.

All in all, I arrived at my goal without significant problems. Sorry for the less adventure than most others have done. I'm pretty sure a vault or HFS would have minced me, so I hope you enjoyed what you got. I'll have final entries and upload the save tomorrow.

Question: Does the map at the start of the thread only contain player-made locations or should there be added places players visited? If the latter, I'd request adding Dothanest to the map, it's The Creamy Confederacy's capital.

Edit: Getting near The Shelter of Adventurers FPS-killed my save twice. The first time it took 5 minutes to let me walk one more time, then just froze. The second just froze. It's a good thing I saved just before putting Ligircaspa Osmahegesh on the Pedestal.

Edit more: 3rd time I tried bypassing it to the south. FPS death when I get near it, presumably when it gets loaded.

Yeah, no, sorry, I'll bypass it because it lets move a tile per 5 seconds and I consider that's a good case scenario. It also lets me quick-travel, fortunately.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on May 11, 2021, 07:01:00 pm

Entry 5.
23rd of Malachite and I'm finally here! The famed Boltspumpkin. Now I can leave my due and see to my business. It's just breaking dawn as I arrive.

I search frantically for Ligircaspa Osmahegesh, for a moment fearing I'd lost it, before finally finding it in a sheep wool bag. Somewhat fitting, or perhaps unfitting, who knows. I gently put it on the =persimmon wood pedestal=, already thinking that I should find something grander to put it on. It is the jewel of Omon Obin after all, and I went to great trouble bringing it here. I'm considering returning to Omon Obin with the riches of The Creamy Confederacy, though hopefully no more night creatures rule us since that time.

I am directed to a place called The Shelter of Adventurers, but the closer I try to get to it, the more my feet feel like putty. I try bypassing it to the south, but it's almost as bad. Something bad has happened there, maybe the start of the corruption? I've fought dark creatures in my travel, but nothing compares to the hopelessness of just being frozen there, in time, forever more.

No, I have no choice, I must move on. I have a lot of bodies and hopefully the gravekeeper will help me dispose of them. I couldn't just throw them around the museum, though I saw many interesting bones around there.

As I get close to Herograves, I find a field of teeth. Well, since I'm making a collection anyway... I am grateful to the Gods that it has also not been hit by the dreaded corruption.

I look around all day for something, but other than teeth and what I can assume are goblin apparel, there's nothing around here. Where are you supposed to actually bury things?

Night is falling on the 23rd of Malachite so I take shelter in Ashabkastrol.

I find shelter with a few bags, and you know what? I'll dump all my literal skeletons here. If the graveskeeper is not around, maybe the townfolk can tell them what they've seen.

Well, I've done it, and surprisingly enough with space to spare. I feel much liter, possibly more literal than figuratively. This is probably a temple of some sort, too many pedestals, so it's probably the right place to do this. I don't even feel bad sleeping here.

See you tomorrow!

Entry 6.
I return to Dothanest. It's still deserted. Whatever inhabitants live here probably inhabit the underways like... goblins, I suppose. I sleep here for the night.

Last entry: Malachite 27 - after what feels like years but barely 2 weeks later, I return home to the quiet murmuring of the holy men and women that populate The Permanency of Chains. A fitting name, I wonder? I bring much loot from The Creamy Confederacy, mostly in weapons, having stashed most of the jewels. I know it does not bode well for these men of peace, but is all around it. And at worse, we can sell the items for food and prosperity or arm out fellow Omon Obiners.

I'm home.

Spoiler: Home (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/chWCZNm.png)

---

Save file: https://dffd.bay12games.com/file.php?id=15526

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on May 12, 2021, 02:21:52 am

Great story! Worrying news about the shelter of adventurers. I' m away from my computer this week so I can not check, but is this another undead invasion?

I've caught up with reading all of the stories, but I still need to update the relevant posts. I' ll do that later this week as editing posts on mobile is a pain.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Quantum Drop on May 12, 2021, 03:29:39 am

Okay, take this with a grain of salt, but I think one of my past adventurers (or something on them) is causing the issue.

I started there with all six of them (Urus, Ketas, Abhaar, Irthu, Athama, Ragnar) in one party, found FPS issues were happening like LZ described, then fast travelled north to a human town with them. Retired all six of them there, then started again using Glloyd's Necromancer. No FPS issues, whether starting at the Shelter or travelling away then attempting to approach it.

I'll try and do some further tests after my lectures today to see if it's any specific adventurer that's causing the issues, or whether it's something they happen to be carrying or suchlike, but for now, I believe a quick-fix would be to make the six of them into one party and retire them elsewhere (such as one of the nearby monasteries).

(I guess it was an undead invasion, just not in the conventional way  :-[ )

EDIT: Also, excellent turn, Lurker Z!

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on May 12, 2021, 07:30:04 am

Forgot to ask, please add me to end turn of the list when you update, thanks.

Quote from: Bralbaard on March 10, 2020, 01:56:47 pm

15:The last vampires blood Quantum Drop slew the last vampire that inhabited this world, the museum now has this foul beasts blood on display: The proof that these hideous creatures are now finally gone, forever. Recently it was noted that the containers were not as full as before. The museum staff mantains that it must have evaporated.

That's a good joke. This is ironically related to The Shelter of Adventurers, before I retired I tried entering in Fortress Mode in the shelter in the save before mine... and it gave 100 FPS, no problems. There are also vampire adventurers there.

Regarding the quote, is this a lore thing? Because other than lore, it's not true. The world is probably still full of vampires.

And speaking of vampires, I hinted at it, not sure if it was mentioned, but it's possible Ragnar contaminated several settlements with Asmel Avuzadas's vampire's blood, including infected about half the ruling body of Omon Obin.

On the bright side, while I didn't have the courage to tackle Uja, I did dethrone her. I couldn't put on the throne someone of the old blood, but her replacement at least is an already existent historical figure (while I suspect Uja was just created from nothing by the game to rule).

Thanks for the support on my turn, though my best accomplishment feels like arriving at my destination (and back home). I'm curious if the artifact move sticks. It's a shame I'll have to wait a week to see what some of my changes have wrought, because some things don't update as soon as you retire. (For example, will they make me a noble? 2 kills might not be enough notoriety.)

---

My entry:
22. Ligircaspa Osmahegesh / Clearingheaven the Quiescent Heather, a legendary anhydrite amulet, an Omon Obin relic dating from 458. It was rescued from the heart of Omon Obin by Lurker "Lockkingdom" Onecbehal in fear it would be tainted by its fell rulers. It is whispered it will bring the peace of Loli Fairclearing to the world.

---

Edit: Yeah, something definitely broke on my turn. I embarked there in Fortress Mode, FPS dropped horribly. No visible undead invasion except these guys (with which the save before mine worked at 100 FPS).

Spoiler: Others in the Shelter (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/aZvUvHG.png)

Maybe Bralbaard can try his restoration magic? It's a shame I didn't get to see it in adventure mode, I saw a lot of nice stuff while I was looking in Fortress Mode around.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Quantum Drop on May 12, 2021, 09:29:17 am

Quote from: Lurker Z on May 12, 2021, 07:30:04 am

snip

It's a lore thing - Raggy-boi did indeed create a whole bunch of vampires in the south, which I hinted at in the summary-post before the (admittedly pretty shitty) ending of my last turn, and a couple other adventurers (Ketas, Urus, Abhaar, Nom the Cheese, and Fidale, at the very minimum) also drank/took some of the blood.

One way of explaining it in-universe would be that the vast majority of the new vampires haven't been publicly outed as such by adventurers or their peers, so word hasn't spread from person to person that they're back in business. On top of that, the Museum would naturally be pulling the 'evaporation' excuse to evade awkward questions on why the loss of vampire blood from their exhibit directly corresponds with the rise in new (alleged or otherwise) vampire sightings.

The artefact move may or may not stick; Heavenheaters the Fair Peace or whatever that artefact gem's name was teleported back to its home after several turns, but IIRC it might be okay if it was kept in a container of some kind and you brought it to the Museum in said container.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Yarlig on May 13, 2021, 06:59:16 pm

Hey all!

Save's here: https://dffd.bay12games.com/file.php?id=15532

Apologies for the rushed turn and general lack of updates' I've been somewhat busy lately; I think there has been no short tragedy for the past couple turns' so here I provide some work for the gravediggers:

Spoiler: Our hero and his family (click to show/hide)

(https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/a1334463-8801-46e1-981e-b6460bcc4474/dejkvf5-ce485d34-ca8e-4376-83af-2ba616de032c.png/v1/fill/w_1257,h_636,q_70,strp/bolann_by_yarlig_dejkvf5-pre.jpg?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOjdlMGQxODg5ODIyNjQzNzNhNWYwZDQxNWVhMGQyNmUwIiwiaXNzIjoidXJuOmFwcDo3ZTBkMTg4OTgyMjY0MzczYTVmMGQ0MTVlYTBkMjZlMCIsIm9iaiI6W1t7ImhlaWdodCI6Ijw9NjQ4IiwicGF0aCI6IlwvZlwvYTEzMzQ0NjMtODgwMS00NmUxLTk4MWUtYjY0NjBiY2M0NDc0XC9kZWprdmY1LWNlNDg1ZDM0LWNhOGUtNDM3Ni04M2FmLTJiYTYxNmRlMDMyYy5wbmciLCJ3aWR0aCI6Ijw9MTI4MCJ9XV0sImF1ZCI6WyJ1cm46c2VydmljZTppbWFnZS5vcGVyYXRpb25zIl19.hijW2eBiBilzfuRIBAG0TBjI0qMq6gOCBY-L8GJ4_8c)

Entry 1
My nephews have been badgering me endlessly about this recently opened ‘Museum’. Every so often they would say: ‘Unca, can we go to the The Museum?’. And I would smack them over their eyestalks and reply: ‘You don’t repeat no definite articles, whippersnappers! I’m not taking you anywhere until you learn to speak properly!’. And yet, despite my best efforts to educate them, they’re still astonishingly sluggish and stupid!
It’s not that I don’t want the best for them, but they can really be a handful. Ever since my sister and her husband were invited by an eccentric goblin nobleman for a dinner party – where they were supposed to consume ‘escargot’, whatever that was; some dialectal goblin name I can hardly pronounce – some two years ago, I have been providing them with shelter, food, dress and education to the best of my abilities, but there’s only so much a single snail can do!
Which makes me think, maybe I really should take them to this ‘Museum’. Travelers tell tall tales about it being full of natural and artificial wonders, so maybe it’ll instill in them a love of the sciences? That would certainly secure them a decent enough future. Yes, I think it’s set. We’ll go there.
First, however, I need to ask my boss for a holiday.
I find him – as expected – in the meadhall, doing – as expected – absolutely nothing. And as it turns out, he’s just as insistent on having me work as hard as possible, as he’s on not working personally on anything – can’t have too much micromanagement and other such excuses. Finally, I persuade him – or rather tire him out enough that he agrees to let me have a week off.
(https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/a1334463-8801-46e1-981e-b6460bcc4474/dejld9f-b5b78b7e-2697-495b-aa39-ae0986bb132d.png?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOjdlMGQxODg5ODIyNjQzNzNhNWYwZDQxNWVhMGQyNmUwIiwiaXNzIjoidXJuOmFwcDo3ZTBkMTg4OTgyMjY0MzczYTVmMGQ0MTVlYTBkMjZlMCIsIm9iaiI6W1t7InBhdGgiOiJcL2ZcL2ExMzM0NDYzLTg4MDEtNDZlMS05ODFlLWI2NDYwYmNjNDQ3NFwvZGVqbGQ5Zi1iNWI3OGI3ZS0yNjk3LTQ5NWItYWEzOS1hZTA5ODZiYjEzMmQucG5nIn1dXSwiYXVkIjpbInVybjpzZXJ2aWNlOmZpbGUuZG93bmxvYWQiXX0.jvVHaWjzlpBhMU22KSxF8Bh_I064XzYKbmifwDWtFoU)
All done! I stuff my nephews into my rucksack and together, we set out for the Museum. I can’t shake a feeling that something is going to go wrong.

Entry 2
We have arrived in the Museum safe and sound, and I can proudly say, I’ve been absolutely right. This is a disaster. No only is this thrice-damned ‘Museum’ filled to the brim with some grotesque mementos of death and violence, it didn’t traumatize my nephews as was to be expected. Instead, it only brought their hidden (well, partially) psychopathic nature to light and buffeted them. They started entering the eye sockets of long dead warlords, leaving trails of slime all over ancient artifacts, and Sabu even started nibbling the hands of a supposed necromancer! Luckily, with the help of the staff and residual adventurers we managed to bring my nephews under control. Those whippersnappers!
What’s worse though, they now want me to make a contribution! Me, an office clerk! Preposterous! Will a tired uncle ever find rest?
‘I need a bloody drink…’ I say, rolling my eyestalks in the air.
‘Oh, we have exactly what you need!’ The friendly goblin monk points me toward a wall lined with barrels.
‘Hm? Oh, no, I wouldn’t want to impose.’ I excuse myself, so as not to make a scene in front of my nephews. I can’t let them see an old snail drunk, after all!
In the end I relented and decided to look for something to add to this collection. I received directions to a site known as ‘Tattoocracked’. Rumor has it that it has been settled by dwarves coming from a more famous Climaxringed. Apparently the northerners want to reestablish contact with this tribe; if I bring back any local crafts, then all the better.

Entry 3
At last I did arrive at the site of ‘Tattoocracked’. Along the way I was almost bitten to death by wolves, almost froze to death in a snowstorm and was almost gutted by goblin bandits. But in spite of adversity, I managed to reach the settlement – and find only one dwarf with a mothbeaten beard.
Her name is Deduk and she claims to be a miner – what she’s mining on the surface, in a hailstorm, is beyond me – and apparently has a background working as a bookkeeper and broker in a different location. However, she holds no official position right now, and suggests I enter the ‘fortress’ proper.
She points me towards an outcropping with a tunnel leading downwards, to the supposed hallways and chambers of this place. Seems if I want to talk with the dwarves properly, I need to go pretty deep underground.
Wait, there’s a strange glimmer about this stone. Is this…?

Spoiler: ! (click to show/hide)

(https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/a1334463-8801-46e1-981e-b6460bcc4474/dejl940-7cab4729-28ea-4c48-b24f-bd91f0ab6114.png?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOjdlMGQxODg5ODIyNjQzNzNhNWYwZDQxNWVhMGQyNmUwIiwiaXNzIjoidXJuOmFwcDo3ZTBkMTg4OTgyMjY0MzczYTVmMGQ0MTVlYTBkMjZlMCIsIm9iaiI6W1t7InBhdGgiOiJcL2ZcL2ExMzM0NDYzLTg4MDEtNDZlMS05ODFlLWI2NDYwYmNjNDQ3NFwvZGVqbDk0MC03Y2FiNDcyOS0yOGVhLTRjNDgtYjI0Zi1iZDkxZjBhYjYxMTQucG5nIn1dXSwiYXVkIjpbInVybjpzZXJ2aWNlOmZpbGUuZG93bmxvYWQiXX0.pFj660WhBUcmX-pSS343oUHfyibpGpd5pF_FIR_HlOw)

Retreat!
Salt! The mortal enemy of all snailkind! And a whole dwarfhill built out of it! What have I got myself into? Damn those dwarves, goblins, adventurers and all the riff-raff, they all want me dead so that they have some body to entomb; I’ve had enough – let them play their stupid games, Bolan is returning home now.

Entry 4
Except not, as was to be expected. My dear, concerned, sadistic nephews shamed me into looking for something anyways. Since traveling any further would be too perilous, we decided to scour the settlements we pass on our way back.

Entry 5
My misadventures continue; at one point, while following a winding path leading to a hilltop castle, I was caught in a landslide and a rock must’ve hit my head, as I found myself buried in gravel as the sun was setting already.
(https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/a1334463-8801-46e1-981e-b6460bcc4474/dejlbkh-90eb943d-9dd2-493e-83c9-ed085f015672.png?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOjdlMGQxODg5ODIyNjQzNzNhNWYwZDQxNWVhMGQyNmUwIiwiaXNzIjoidXJuOmFwcDo3ZTBkMTg4OTgyMjY0MzczYTVmMGQ0MTVlYTBkMjZlMCIsIm9iaiI6W1t7InBhdGgiOiJcL2ZcL2ExMzM0NDYzLTg4MDEtNDZlMS05ODFlLWI2NDYwYmNjNDQ3NFwvZGVqbGJraC05MGViOTQzZC05ZGQyLTQ5M2UtODNjOS1lZDA4NWYwMTU2NzIucG5nIn1dXSwiYXVkIjpbInVybjpzZXJ2aWNlOmZpbGUuZG93bmxvYWQiXX0.TRndbpsi6fmMg_lv2f6Xk2eTfIjoTyMI21GBmWGb2mA)
Later, I stopped by a wayside shrine to pray for some divine help. I admit I hadn’t been very devout in the past, but Seba wouldn’t hold it against me, would he?
(https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/a1334463-8801-46e1-981e-b6460bcc4474/dejl93s-e15f7422-9c80-4c8d-baca-86b885de7a8d.png?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOjdlMGQxODg5ODIyNjQzNzNhNWYwZDQxNWVhMGQyNmUwIiwiaXNzIjoidXJuOmFwcDo3ZTBkMTg4OTgyMjY0MzczYTVmMGQ0MTVlYTBkMjZlMCIsIm9iaiI6W1t7InBhdGgiOiJcL2ZcL2ExMzM0NDYzLTg4MDEtNDZlMS05ODFlLWI2NDYwYmNjNDQ3NFwvZGVqbDkzcy1lMTVmNzQyMi05YzgwLTRjOGQtYmFjYS04NmI4ODVkZTdhOGQucG5nIn1dXSwiYXVkIjpbInVybjpzZXJ2aWNlOmZpbGUuZG93bmxvYWQiXX0.OBzXmGzooLXdiB1USdCin93yIJK2hKW_u-2gMKHYpMA)
Of course he bloody would.

Entry 6
Great success! While poking about a seemingly abandoned hamlet, I met a dangerous-looking goblin in a garish dress. He claimed to be an ‘overlord’ of those parts, and asked whether I had seen any of his ‘missing treasures’. His knife and a pouch made from the head-skin of some poor necromancer-made freak told me he had a very loose definition of a ‘missing treasure’.
‘Uh, yes, actually, yes – this!’ – I told him as I presented him the first item I could find in my sack.
‘And what is this?’ – he asked, somewhat bemused by the single bronze bolt I was holding.
‘Why, it’s Boardedbarb, a famous multi-purpose sharp implement! You couldn’t not have heard of it!’
The goblin was so stunned he not only bought my little tale, he actually thrust the position of his right-hand snail on me! And so I became a part of a two-person crime syndicate. Really, considering everything that’s happened so far, I still count it as a positive thing. I only hope my nephews don’t take too much inspiration.

Entry 7
Still little luck; I have spotted a black building near the river, it’s the last place I’ll be checking before returning home; I’ll just have a look around, and hopefully don’t get shanked.

This journal was found in the entry hall of Cradledmartyrs. It was lying in a puddle of congealed slime and ichor, next to a hollow skin of a snailman. 

Spoiler: OOC (click to show/hide)

I wanted to bring back the corpse of a flame being. Hoped to be able to run off with a melted hand and fasttravel away' but alas' seems my knowledge of fire physics in DF is lacking.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on May 13, 2021, 11:16:36 pm

Interesting adventure. Sorry for your (relative) early demise. RIP snail uncle. I feel those snail nephews will turn into menaces without a proper hand of discipline. Vampire necromancer werebeast snails anyone? Oh the horror!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Yarlig on May 14, 2021, 04:26:40 am

Quote from: Lurker Z on May 13, 2021, 11:16:36 pm

Interesting adventure. Sorry for your (relative) early demise. RIP snail uncle. I feel those snail nephews will turn into menaces without a proper hand of discipline. Vampire necromancer werebeast snails anyone? Oh the horror!

This is actually a good idea' might come in handy; thanks!

Also' doing the name 'Quickpainted' some justice' I doodled Bolan this morning to the best of my ability (there is none); so' have a look here:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/a1334463-8801-46e1-981e-b6460bcc4474/dejm4xg-6fde0ced-6714-40e2-9674-d8ef6fb8b928.jpg?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOjdlMGQxODg5ODIyNjQzNzNhNWYwZDQxNWVhMGQyNmUwIiwiaXNzIjoidXJuOmFwcDo3ZTBkMTg4OTgyMjY0MzczYTVmMGQ0MTVlYTBkMjZlMCIsIm9iaiI6W1t7InBhdGgiOiJcL2ZcL2ExMzM0NDYzLTg4MDEtNDZlMS05ODFlLWI2NDYwYmNjNDQ3NFwvZGVqbTR4Zy02ZmRlMGNlZC02NzE0LTQwZTItOTY3NC1kOGVmNmZiOGI5MjguanBnIn1dXSwiYXVkIjpbInVybjpzZXJ2aWNlOmZpbGUuZG93bmxvYWQiXX0.fhvMPHsNfC8OXUEPn7EU_Vitq3yD_ktFbKOrRGgWRRM)

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on May 16, 2021, 03:52:19 am

Quote from: Lurker Z on May 11, 2021, 10:08:05 am

Question: Does the map at the start of the thread only contain player-made locations or should there be added places players visited? If the latter, I'd request adding Dothanest to the map, it's The Creamy Confederacy's capital.

I only add constructed sites to the maps for now. Some parts of the map are getting quite crowded already without adding other content.
In any case I highly encourage others to include their own maps from their travels, like Eric did during his last turn. It can really help to put an adventure in context for people that are not very familiar with all the locations.

Also, I loved your latest adventurer Yarlig, and the artwork is great! sadly the snail man did not get far. I was wondering if you'd have time to finish the stories of your earlier adventurers?  I think I remember you suggested earlier in a PM that it could be a task for the historians guild, but I do enjoy your writing, and would look forward to a proper end to those stories.

I have updated the relevant posts. It is Glloyd's turn now. As a general question for everybody; let me know if you want to be added for another turn, I'm not sure if the current list is up to date.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on May 16, 2021, 05:40:34 am

Quote from: Bralbaard on May 16, 2021, 03:52:19 am

I have updated the relevant posts. It is Glloyd's turn now. As a general question for everybody; let me know if you want to be added for another turn, I'm not sure if the current list is up to date.

Yes, add me please. I see you added my submission to the list, thanks. I've looked through the saves and it looks like it's still there, so that's good news so far. I hadn't even brought it in a container, so I guess it's an unbugged one. I still don't know what the hells it was doing in the middle of Omon Obin's capital's keep like some offering to Armok. Ah well.

Quote from: Bralbaard on May 16, 2021, 03:52:19 am

I only add constructed sites to the maps for now. Some parts of the map are getting quite crowded already without adding other content.
In any case I highly encourage others to include their own maps from their travels, like Eric did during his last turn. It can really help to put an adventure in context for people that are not very familiar with all the locations.

So, make my own, huh? I don't think I'd have the patience to retrieve my steps. I'd ironically have more patience in putting the capitals and important cities on a map. Has this been done in this thread?

I haven't yet read anything passed page 30 in terms of adventure. I really need to make time for it sometime.

How's this for a rough draft? https://i.imgur.com/KUfsYxX.png

Now that I think about it, it'd make interesting lore. Everyone getting a different map with different places they deem "important". It's unfeasible for everyone to make their own map, of course (even if it took me only 2-3 hours to make the above), but even as I look, the differences between my map and yours are so distinct you'd think we mapped different worlds which only have in common the geography.

---

Anyone know where a library can be found in Orid Xem? I've heard talk about it and I've seen people swiping books, but except some that make their way to The Museum, most are scattered across the world.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: nogoodnames on May 16, 2021, 08:21:51 am

Quote from: Bralbaard on May 16, 2021, 03:52:19 am

I have updated the relevant posts. It is Glloyd's turn now. As a general question for everybody; let me know if you want to be added for another turn, I'm not sure if the current list is up to date.

You're missing my last submission, which was the ash and shell of Nithari Clashedseduce the Hideous. That was the forgotten beast that nearly wiped out the Staff of Kissing when it destroyed their original mountainhome.

Also, I'm on a break right now, but my schedule is probably going to get hectic again in a couple weeks. Unless the next few turns go really fast, you can bump me to the back of the list.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Yarlig on May 17, 2021, 07:38:49 am

Quote from: Bralbaard on May 16, 2021, 03:52:19 am

Quote from: Lurker Z on May 11, 2021, 10:08:05 am

Question: Does the map at the start of the thread only contain player-made locations or should there be added places players visited? If the latter, I'd request adding Dothanest to the map, it's The Creamy Confederacy's capital.

Also, I loved your latest adventurer Yarlig, and the artwork is great! sadly the snail man did not get far. I was wondering if you'd have time to finish the stories of your earlier adventurers?  I think I remember you suggested earlier in a PM that it could be a task for the historians guild, but I do enjoy your writing, and would look forward to a proper end to those stories.

I have updated the relevant posts. It is Glloyd's turn now. As a general question for everybody; let me know if you want to be added for another turn, I'm not sure if the current list is up to date.

Ha' thanks a lot; I do plan on finishing my stories' but I'll be very busy until at least mid-june' and after that there's still no certainty; I do have a rough idea of what I want to write though' so after I'm done with RL it'll likely be no hassle.
Also I might as well take another turn' though again' I'm not sure when I'll be able to actually play it.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Glloyd on May 17, 2021, 05:27:04 pm

Perfect timing to start my turn. I have the save, and I'll probably post my first turn later tonight.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Glloyd on May 20, 2021, 02:57:39 pm

The Journal of Glloyd Ancientborn the Round

Spring, 770:

It has been a little over 20 years since I last wrote about Iden Bloodinked, the bandit king of the north.
Such a long time, yet it seemed to vanish in an instant. While the world has seen darkness in the past,
things seem to be taking a turn for the better, at least for now. Indeed, word from the north indicates
that the massive armies of beasts left over from the necromancer wars have seemingly vanished, which
can only be a good thing.

Back to the point at hand, Iden Bloodinked. I bring that name up again because an adventurer from the
north passed through the Shelter carrying an intriguing artifact. Namely, a journal that allegedly
belonged to Iden Bloodinked himself. The journal itself was badly burnt and falling apart with age and
wear, but I have included what I could recover below:

The surviving journal of Iden Bloodinked (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8219107#msg8219107)

Such is the tale of Iden that I was able to draw from his journal. Much of it lines up with my own
observations, although the circumstances of his death have become more clear. Apparently, he did die
in Incenseorder, after striking down the demon lord of the city in battle. However, the adventurer
reported to me that he had visited the site where Iden had died, and had been unable to find a corpse
matching Iden’s description. A curious situation indeed. If Iden did in fact die at Incenseorder, where did
his body end up?

---

Somewhere in the north of Orid Xem…

The creature that once was Iden Bloodinked awoke in a field, soaked by the rain and drenched in mud.
Thunder boomed in the distance as he pulled himself up and looked around. He did not know where he
was or how he had arrived at that location. All he knew is that he had a burning desire for revenge on all
those responsible for his current condition…

(https://i.imgur.com/bzbtIth.png)

---

OOC: Sorry for the delay on that, I had some computer issues. Nonetheless, I've gotten going and will post more soon. I've posted my final update from my last turn too, it is linked above.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Atomic Chicken on May 25, 2021, 03:45:53 am

I'm thrilled to see that the Museum is still going strong after nearly a decade since the inception of its original incarnation! Lots to catch up on here, but I'd like to sign up for a turn once again.

In addition, Bralbaard, might I suggest adding links to the previous games in the first post of this thread?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Imic on May 25, 2021, 05:03:42 am

You uh still there Glloyd?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on May 25, 2021, 06:56:10 am

Quote from: Atomic Chicken on May 25, 2021, 03:45:53 am

I'm thrilled to see that the Museum is still going strong after nearly a decade since the inception of its original incarnation! Lots to catch up on here, but I'd like to sign up for a turn once again.

In addition, Bralbaard, might I suggest adding links to the previous games in the first post of this thread?

I had the same reaction on its longevity and Bralbaard's maintenance of it when I found it again a few months go.

Links:
* The Museum I (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=104399.0) (v. 0.34.11)
* The Museum II (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=143382.0) (v. 0.40.24)

Quote from: Imic on May 25, 2021, 05:03:42 am

You uh still there Glloyd?

I second that. It's been almost two weeks from Yarlig's turn.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Glloyd on May 25, 2021, 01:06:26 pm

Sorry! I've had a lot of issues finishing it, including a big crash that lost me a couple hours progress (don't be dumb like me, save early and often. Also don't try to (A)ttack a massive group of enemies or the game will hang). It has been a week now since I picked it up, so I'm trying to finish up playing and get to the Museum right now. I will upload the save later today.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on May 26, 2021, 01:50:12 pm

Quote from: Lurker Z on May 25, 2021, 06:56:10 am

Quote from: Atomic Chicken on May 25, 2021, 03:45:53 am

I'm thrilled to see that the Museum is still going strong after nearly a decade since the inception of its original incarnation! Lots to catch up on here, but I'd like to sign up for a turn once again.

In addition, Bralbaard, might I suggest adding links to the previous games in the first post of this thread?

I had the same reaction on its longevity and Bralbaard's maintenance of it when I found it again a few months go.

Links:
* The Museum I (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=104399.0) (v. 0.34.11)
* The Museum II (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=143382.0) (v. 0.40.24)

Quote from: Imic on May 25, 2021, 05:03:42 am

You uh still there Glloyd?

I second that. It's been almost two weeks from Yarlig's turn.

I've added the links and updated the turn list.
I was up next but won't have time right now, so I've moved myself down the order.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Glloyd on May 26, 2021, 02:44:27 pm

Save is here: https://dffd.bay12games.com/file.php?id=15545

I will post my journal here later this week, along with my museum submission. Sorry for being late by a couple days! Between my computer issues and DF being DF, it was an extremely frustrating turn, with a lot of progress undone by crashes and bluescreens (again, if you see a whole horde of goblins clown-carring it in a meadhall, save before you (A)ttack). But I'm done with my previous characters now, and I would like to make a fort at some point, so I'm tentatively signing up for one more turn. Good luck TheFlame52!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on May 27, 2021, 05:29:50 am

Quote from: Bralbaard on May 26, 2021, 01:50:12 pm

I've added the links and updated the turn list.
I was up next but won't have time right now, so I've moved myself down the order.

Uh, mate, you forgot to add me on the turn list.

Quote from: Glloyd on May 26, 2021, 02:44:27 pm

Save is here: https://dffd.bay12games.com/file.php?id=15545

I will post my journal here later this week, along with my museum submission. Sorry for being late by a couple days! Between my computer issues and DF being DF, it was an extremely frustrating turn, with a lot of progress undone by crashes and bluescreens (again, if you see a whole horde of goblins clown-carring it in a meadhall, save before you (A)ttack). But I'm done with my previous characters now, and I would like to make a fort at some point, so I'm tentatively signing up for one more turn. Good luck TheFlame52!

Glad you made it. Did you unretire your old char from the shelter? Because that might be the reason for the crashes.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Glloyd on May 27, 2021, 01:28:58 pm

I did unretire from the shelter and he's no longer there. I did experience the slowdown at the shelter, but no crashes there. All my crashes this time were related to too many entities being in the same place at once.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: TheFlame52 on May 27, 2021, 05:10:43 pm

I guess my turn has come again, but now I have even less time than before. It would probably be best if you removed me from the list entirely.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Quantum Drop on May 27, 2021, 05:21:50 pm

Going to have to request that I be bumped down one or two places on the turn list; got summative university exams for the next two weeks.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: nogoodnames on May 27, 2021, 05:41:28 pm

I can potentially do a very quick turn in the next few days.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Glloyd on May 28, 2021, 12:46:47 am

Well if Flame is skipping, it would fall to you next nogoodnames. Seems like it's a very busy time for everyone right now though.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: nogoodnames on May 29, 2021, 12:33:57 am

Thoughts of Arcturus Cinderfang, Black Bear Man

It has been over a year since my ill-fated adventure. Judging by the chill air, it must be early or mid winter. For many months I have been a captive of the accursed elves. But finally, I have won my freedom. I am safe for now, there is time to collect my thoughts.

After meeting with the law giver, Ledir, I was at a loss for what to do. My quest had proven futile, there was no impending invasion of my home. Ledir, perhaps noting my zeal in defending the realm, chose to tell me the story of another warrior. She was named Sana Sculptedmirth, and she led the charge against the elves in the final days before the current ceasefire. Alas, she was just one woman, and was captured far north in the forest retreat of Sharkcontained. That was many years ago, but Ledir told me there was reason to believe she was still alive, held captive by the elves. I had found my new purpose.

Ithra and I set off once again, following the same route Sana took. Eventually, we reached the great northern forests of the elves. But I fear we made the same mistake as Sana. The twisting woods were strange, almost seemingly possessed of malevolent intelligence. In the dark of the forest floor we were ambushed. There were a dozen of them. Elves, goblins and some of the foul creatures made by the conquering necromancers for their armies. Ithra and I were stripped of our weapons, separated, and taken prisoner.

They questioned me extensively, then put me to work harvesting their fruit trees. I was under heavy guard at first, but soon they grew less wary. Still, I could not hope to escape those woods alone and unarmed, so I bided my time. Eventually the chance for escape presented itself. The elves wanted to know how the Creamy Confederacy was expanding in the south. Since I had been there recently, they saw me as the perfect guide for their spies. The fools were actually starting to trust me. I was taken with a small party of elf scouts to observe some of the recently reclaimed confederate territory. Once we had reached familiar land, far from any elven forces, I made my move. Overpowering my keepers was pathetically easy. They had even returned my old weapons in case we ran into trouble on the road. I slew them in the night without hesitation.

I must rescue Ithra and reclaim my tarnished honour. In time, the entire elven nation will pay the price for this indignity.

For now, I find myself in the small hamlet of Snarledgrasping, the latest target of elven reconnaissance. The scouts told me it had been claimed by a small group from the confederacies a few months ago. The stone huts surrounding the village square are sturdy and quite intact, but there are no signs of occupancy. The settlers must be based out of the mead hall. I spot a small shrine on my way there. Luck has not been on my side before, but I roll the die. A decent result.

(https://i.imgur.com/jyyFSZx.png)

I find the mead hall a short distance from the town. I enter and see several recently slain goblins. Former residents? There are four living people here. Two humans, a goblin and… a naked elf.

(https://i.imgur.com/MP4siKT.png)

I question them, but it is clear that they are an isolated group and know little beyond local events. The elf claims to be unaffiliated. He refuses to elaborate when pressed. His attitude may back him up…

(https://i.imgur.com/ktTDiYz.png)

…but with the Squeezing Fords scouting so far south, I can’t take chances. Someone told them about this settlement. I rile him up, get him to follow me outside. The others don’t seem to care. He puts up more of a fight than expected, but the result is inevitable.

(https://i.imgur.com/H61J3yy.png)

I leave without wasting any more time. I must reach Growlsuppers and report back to Ledir.

The day passes quickly as I journey north. Soon I reach the seat of the confederacies, but something is wrong. There are corpses littering the streets. I can almost recognize them through the gore. A human runs past, babbling about an insurrection.

I enter the inner walls. More corpses. I approach the keep and find him, Ledir, dead.

(https://i.imgur.com/IK6jSiC.png)

Much must have happened in my absence. I enter the keep. The occupants are evasive when I try to ask what happened. I meet Ledir’s son, the new Law Giver. He is patient with me, but strained. Whatever political webs have been woven here, I cannot help in untangling them.

I build a funeral pyre for Ledir and depart. My goal still lies to the north. I must find Ithra. Perhaps when this is over, I can help re-establish the order we have lost since my capture.
 

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on May 29, 2021, 07:29:09 am

Quote from: nogoodnames on May 29, 2021, 12:33:57 am

Thoughts of Arcturus Cinderfang, Black Bear Man

I enter the inner walls. More corpses. I approach the keep and find him, Ledir, dead.

https://i.imgur.com/IK6jSiC.png

Heh. I actually knew the filthy goblin leader had been murdered from Legends Viewer. It's just a shame the filthy goblin son took his place.

Good riddance to Ledir. Quogubpesor was at peace before he put his filthy paws on the throne, now it's at war with almost everyone, including The Walled Dye and the elves. Cilko, his son, is an active member of The Knowing Deceiver, just like Ledir was. Have fun with that.

Also his mother's official job is being drunk. That's goblins for you.

https://i.imgur.com/FePwMNB.png

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: nogoodnames on May 30, 2021, 12:23:36 am

Thoughts of Arcturus Cinderfang, Day 2

I stop by a local monastery. Seba, the goddess of labor is honoured here, and the labors I must undertake are many. I seek her guidance, but once again it seems I am ill-favoured. I make an offering of a gold coin and leave.

(https://i.imgur.com/olfag5G.png)

I stop for a drink at a stream and notice an odd sight. Two deer perched on a tree. An opportunity to replenish my supplies. I hack at the tree with my axe, only to realize my folly. A misjudged cut, and the whole thing, tree, deer, and all, tumbles on top of me. My injuries aren’t life-threatening but will leave scars. Another sign of the gods’ displeasure. I limp away, defeated.

(https://i.imgur.com/rtd7MRR.png)

I continue on until reaching a city. The few people on the streets stay focused on their own business as I pass. The keep appears abandoned. I nurse my wounds and rest there for the night.


Day 3

I continue north, following old confederacy settlements. The lands here are sparsely populated. I reach an abandoned castle, it’s sole occupant brutally slain. Judging by the state of decay, it happened not too long ago. I carve a quick memorial to him and leave. This frontier is dangerous, I must be wary.

I pass a cave jutting out of black sands. A human skeleton warns of danger, but it appears to be empty. Regardless, I will find somewhere else to rest for the night.

I next come across a strange structure, ancient pillars reaching to the sky. Many skeletons cluster around their bases. What is this place, a ruined temple for some bloodthirsty god? I dare not tarry long here.

A short distance away I find another odd sight, a couple living goblins amidst a number of their dead fellows and the butchered hide of some great beast.

(https://i.imgur.com/4ENGcCj.png)

The goblins are fearful at my approach, but don’t immediately reach for their weapons. They confess to being cowards, having fled their home only to find their companions slain anyway. I leave them to their misery and plot a route around the goblin ruins.

I finally spot a nearby hamlet of human design. Perhaps this place will be safe enough to spend the night. I enter town. It seems abandoned, but I hear noises coming from within a house. I open the door and find a human tending to a rotting, yet still animate goblin. Necromancy!

The necromancer’s pet staggers and lunges at me. I effortlessly dismember it, but the necromancer uses his foul magic to command the severed limbs against me! Rumour claims that one cannot perform sorcery without hands. I test this, but the necromancer just reanimates his own hands which continue to fight. The matter is, however, resolved when he bleeds out.

(https://i.imgur.com/IFWyVEV.png)

I step outside. The once empty streets now swarm with shambling goblin corpses. I easily outpace them and find the town’s mead hall. I barricade the doors to wait out the night. The undead give up and leave me in peace.


Day 4

I leave this cursed village. Had I the time, I would purge the undead and reclaim this place for the confederacies. But I need top make haste to the north, before the elves wonder what became of their scouts.

I approach another large human town. Nearby, I run into a hostile goblin patrol. I easily dispatch them. Were they part of an occupying force? I move in to investigate.

The town, like many others, is mostly abandoned. However, within an empty and long-dry tavern I find one goblin who is not hostile. He introduces himself as Cameda Pricemaroon, a traveler and seeker of adventure. He tells me that a small gang of goblins rules this place, but he is not with them. I tell him some of my story, and he asks to join me. I have been moving quickly alone, but it may be helpful to travel with someone who knows the area. I agree but will keep a close eye on him.

We head to the keep and find the only other living resident of this town, the captain of that goblin gang. At first he answers my questions, but suddenly grows hostile and draws an ornate gemstone knife. I effortlessly disarm and grapple him. This is an opportunity to test Cameda’s loyalty. With little hesitation, he draws his sword and slays the helpless goblin. I reward him with one of my treasures, a sword of pristine dwarven steel.


Day 5

Together we continue northward. We stop at a small fort in the wilderness. The mercenary company inside is welcoming. They have a small shrine, and Cameda gets a shock when the thin ice on the reflecting pool breaks under his weight. He pulls himself out with no harm done.

Near the fort we encounter a small force of humans and goblins. The fort commander warned of growing tensions, could these be enemy scouts. It matters little, they become hostile as soon as they see us. I weave between the ranks. They are well equipped but ill experienced and are easily disabled. Cameda earns some experience and armour, and I pick up a halberd to replace my goblin-made axe.

We reach another town as dusk falls. Like most towns in these lands, it is barely populated save for some goblins living in the keep. I learn that the Empire of Peaks rules here. We spend some time swapping stories and providing entertainment. I trade a dwarven toy axe for an amazingly beautiful knife gently hewn from a solid star ruby. The residents graciously offer shelter for the night.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on May 30, 2021, 12:56:56 pm

Good to see Arcturus was able to break free from his imprisonment!

I have updated the turn list.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: nogoodnames on May 31, 2021, 11:18:35 pm

Thoughts of Arcturus Cinderfang, Day 6

I am shocked awake by the sounds of shouting. The keep, so peaceful last night, erupts into inexplicable violence.

(https://i.imgur.com/HBDtzxC.png)

This doesn’t concern us, but Cameda gets tangled in the fighting. I go for the door, but one of the assailants blocks my path. I see now that these are well-armed warriors, some even equipped with dwarven steel. A squad of enemy infiltrators? Assassins? Whatever the case, we have no choice but to assist our hosts.

With out aid, the assailants, which I heard called “Sacred Gristles” by some, were swiftly dispatched. We seemed to have few defenders on our side with proper equipment, save for a lone goblin wielding a pike of dwarven steel. He is evasive when I try to talk to him. Cameda calls him a criminal but won’t elaborate on what he means.

This place is strange, and it is time to leave it to its strangeness. We depart Councilenjoyed. Soon we will reach the mountains, and our true journey will begin.

We stop at the monastery of Glistensilvers, the last bastion of civilization before we cross the Perfect Horns. Dedicated to the goddess of justice it is held as an outpost by soldiers of the Empire of Peaks. So far, the omens have been against my path. I make an offering to Ciko Trustfortresses and pray for guidance. Her answer solidifies my resolve.

(https://i.imgur.com/vNCEoNw.png)

We camp at the base of the mountains. Soon we will reach my home. I don’t know quite how I feel about that.


Day 7

We set off at dawn. By midmorning, we come down from the mountains and reach the blasted wastes beyond. Home again.

We reach the Brutal Gloom. On arrival I spot two of the elf prisoners I had met a year earlier, unguarded. Has something happened? They see us and try to run, but we cut them down.

I find the cave entrance and tell Cameda to stand guard outside. It’s been so long, I’ve almost forgotten our secret way, but I eventually reach the trap halls of the ancient kobolds. I hesitate. Was it really simple ignorance that made my family send me, or did they conspire to trick me? What can I say when I see them? No, my quest is unfinished. I cannot meet them again like this.

As I go to leave, I spot a fine silver spear within one of the traps. Still glistening with venom, it is sure to be lethal to any creature that breathes. I pry it from its ancient mechanism. I vow, to the guardian spirits of the kobold architects, that I will not return here until this spear has tasted the blood of elven royalty.


Day 8

After a night in the wastes, we cross them with little issue. The goblins do not approach. Making our way north, we stumble into a small hole. I go to investigate and am confronted by a beast crunching on the bones of a dead goblin.

(https://i.imgur.com/SXRuh2l.png)

Cameda screams and flees in terror, but I hold fast. The monster is quick, but I soon get the better of it. I cleave off its head and leave it outside for any others of its kind. Its hand I take as a trophy.


Day 9

We make haste to the far north, where I know from my imprisonment to be the heart of elven civilization. I don’t know if they took Ithra there, but I will soon find out. The gods bestow a boon upon our mission. Loose chunks of obsidian, perfect for crafting! This halberd has served me well, but I miss the simple beauty of a self-made axe.

Day 10

We reach the ancient groves which mark the elven homeland. My time spent imprisoned has given me a sense of how these elves work, how they live. There will be no ambush this time. We find our way into a populated clump of trees. I make my presence known by chopping one of them down. The local elves are too stunned to even try and stop me. I begin interrogating them. I must know where their dread queen is hiding.

(https://i.imgur.com/PzJKalE.png)

Useless. If any of these elves know, they refuse to say. I am about to leave, when I catch sight of something that freezes me in place. Another bear person, garbed in elven rags! A prisoner here? I explain who we are and our mission. But they refuse to see reason! They’ve been indoctrinated by elven lies!

(https://i.imgur.com/NYwxpkp.png)

Is this what my family sent me away to learn? This injustice will not stand! I will free my kin, even if they are blind to their bondage. No mercy for these elven slavers!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on June 02, 2021, 07:07:45 am

Quote from: nogoodnames on May 31, 2021, 11:18:35 pm

Thoughts of Arcturus Cinderfang, Day 6

https://i.imgur.com/vNCEoNw.png

Ominous.

Quote from: nogoodnames on May 31, 2021, 11:18:35 pm

Is this what my family sent me away to learn? This injustice will not stand! I will free my kin, even if they are blind to their bondage. No mercy for these elven slavers!

Well that's an interesting cliffhanger.

Quote from: Bralbaard on May 30, 2021, 12:56:56 pm

Good to see Arcturus was able to break free from his imprisonment!

I have updated the turn list.

Thanks.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: nogoodnames on June 02, 2021, 05:30:52 pm

Unfortunately, that's where I have to leave it. A crash erased some progress, and I've already gone past the point where I said I'd stop. Ithra is still captured, and the undead elf queen still rules from the shadows.

Here's the save: https://dffd.bay12games.com/file.php?id=15558

Spoiler: A few images from a lost timeline (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/bgCIjTV.png)

(https://i.imgur.com/Iv4KdUt.png)

(https://i.imgur.com/LFFvZ1z.png)

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on June 03, 2021, 05:46:44 pm

I got your save. Holy f-, you're a walking elven apocalypse, there's literally 7 pages of elf death in Legends Mode.

I shudder for the elven nation what would've been left of them (if anything) if you were able to complete your turn.

Previous save: 754 elves.
Current save: 501 elves.

Yes, that sounds right.

Wait, you literally killed a third of all elves in existence (at the whims of a filthy goblin). Wow.

Apocalypse bear.

Also,

Spoiler: Ugh (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/WoLQAZP.png)

Anyone mind putting it back in the Museum, maybe in a container or something so it doesn't get "lost" anymore? Because obviously it can't stay as an exhibit for some reason.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on June 04, 2021, 04:25:04 pm

The elven numbers must be lower than the dwarves by now. I'll have a look if I can do one more of these graphs...
Also, did you leave anything in the museum during your turn Nogoodnames?

Quote from: Lurker Z on June 03, 2021, 05:46:44 pm

Also,

Spoiler: Ugh (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/WoLQAZP.png)

Anyone mind putting it back in the Museum, maybe in a container or something so it doesn't get "lost" anymore? Because obviously it can't stay as an exhibit for some reason.

I hate it when this happens.. :(
I haven't actually kept track of which items have been lost or stolen from the museum. There are likely more, as this is not the only artefact that was submitted.
I don't know if putting stuff in a container works in all cases. It was way more complicated than that in the first museum game, where we used this trick. Also since that time many things have changed and I doubt the current issue is fully identical.
Anyhow, I could move the lost items to the end of the list with a remark that they are currently not on display due to unforeseen circumstances?  In addition, I could add a mission to the mission section to retrieve them, but it would be nice if we could guarantee their proper storage first...

In any case, this makes it Tonnot's turn.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on June 04, 2021, 05:27:28 pm

Quote from: Bralbaard on June 04, 2021, 04:25:04 pm

I hate it when this happens.. :(

To be fair, I did drop it on the same tile as the pedestal because I have no idea how or even if it's possible to put it on the pedestal.

I suspect it's in the same general area, Legends Viewer loves to track these things, and "lost" probably means "scattered in the general vicinity". If someone actually took it, it'd spam 20 messages about "being stolen".

Quote from: Bralbaard on June 04, 2021, 04:25:04 pm

The elven numbers must be lower than the dwarves by now. I'll have a look if I can do one more of these graphs...

Strangely enough, the graph up top in Legends Mode says there are still over 1.6k elves vs. 947 dwarves. The dwarven civilizations aren't looking too good, The Walled Dye is spread out THIN, it has 500 dwarves to 62 sites, less than 10 dwarves per site, and a total of 740 (presumed sapients?) per 62 sites, which is little over 10 CREATURES per fort.

I'm starting to get the apocalyptic vibe people were talking about. Apocalypse bears are not helping.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: tonnot98 on June 04, 2021, 05:57:22 pm

It seems my hour has come again... Though I have no idea what to do. I'll start playing sometime tomorrow.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: TheFlame52 on June 05, 2021, 01:50:29 pm

All of the weapons I submitted to the museum last turn warped back to their original locations, some of which now crash the game when entered.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: nogoodnames on June 05, 2021, 02:21:47 pm

Quote from: Bralbaard on June 04, 2021, 04:25:04 pm

Also, did you leave anything in the museum during your turn Nogoodnames?

No, I didn't have time to walk all the way back.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: tonnot98 on June 06, 2021, 01:55:00 pm

It looks as though I will not have time to play this turn. Sorry, but you'll have to skip me.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on June 06, 2021, 04:43:27 pm

Quote from: tonnot98 on June 06, 2021, 01:55:00 pm

It looks as though I will not have time to play this turn. Sorry, but you'll have to skip me.

Sorry to hear that, tonnot.

So, Imic's turn next?

---

Found another weird bug, the most eventful place according to Legends Viewer is Dessertcrux, 134 of 136 events are identical to this:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/y0COnd6.png)

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on June 10, 2021, 01:20:50 am

Yes, that makes it Imic's turn. Looking forward to another good story, or one of those legendary Imic-fortresses.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Imic on June 10, 2021, 02:42:52 am

Bloody hell, is it my turn already? Time flies. I might not be able to start today, but I’ll definitely be able to start tomorrow if today is too busy.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Imic on June 11, 2021, 05:26:59 am

I downloaded the save yesterday in the hopes of starting, but that didn't pan out for RL reasons, so I am now today officially claiming the save: Let the clock begin, and the graph of my stress levels over time be started.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Imic on June 11, 2021, 11:58:11 am

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

I finished the Adventurer turn very quickly. Very little of interest happened, so I spun a cheesy little story between the two Adventurers. I don't think it's very good, but I'm content enough with it. If you think of a criticism, please give it.

---

Forward

---

On the first day of the month of Granite in the year 625, Etur Equallashed became King of the Walled Dye. Seventy-five years later, to the day, he left his home and arrived in Treatyseed. Thirty-three years later, after a life of hardship and slaughter, he moved on one final time, to the south, to Championvault, where he would live out the last three years of his life quietly, filled with regret. His dream of conquering Treatyseed back from the things which had claimed it never came to pass. The position of King was then passed on to the Dwarf Bembul Crewwall. thirty years later, after a long but quiet career, Bembul learned the identity of the Dwarf who had designed the city of Duskhome, a lost city of the Staff of Kissing. On the sixth day of the month of Opal in the year 770, a letter was sent from the Mountain Halls of Letterseizured, home of King Bembul for fifty-four years. Two weeks later, the messenger arrived at Championvault, to deliver the letter to the one it was addressed to...

---

Obok looked up from the letter at the mesenger who had just delivered it.
"No. No, no- I- I refuse. Absolutely not."
(https://i.ibb.co/gPGpmCz/Obok-and-Kadol-1.png)
The expression of the messenger, Kadol, didn't change. "So you are refusing a command from the King?"
"No, I- bu- y-"
"So you'll come with me willingly?"
Obok was becoming increasingly flustered with each breath he took.
"I- I- I just want to be left alone! I just, I just..."
"This is a command from you King. I thought he made himself quite clear; he wants to speak to you."
"Well, I- I refuse. All I ever wanted was to be left alone. All I want is to be left alone. Please. Just... leave me be. Please."
Kadol seemed to think for a second. Just for a second though. After the second was up, he grabbed Obok by the legs and began dragging him out the door.
"WAIT! NO, YOU FUC-"
"By order of the King, you are to meet him, and as his representative I am fully empowered within the law to make you comply, even if I have to cut off your legs and carry you to Letterseizured."
"I'LL BITE YOUR FUCKING ANKLES YOU ABSOLU-"
"Watch your language."
The brownish-yellow figure of Olin, Kadol's dog, watched in amusement for a few moments, before trotting behind the pair, lovingly licking Obok's face as his curses grew quieter, and a sense of depressed resignation filled him. It was going to be a long trip.

---

The journey of Obok and Kadol

---

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Like I said, the Adventurer turn is already over, so I'll be working on a Fort for the rest of the week whilst I post these updoots.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: TheFlame52 on June 11, 2021, 12:51:09 pm

That was quick.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Imic on June 11, 2021, 04:00:07 pm

(https://i.ibb.co/0VmrKtH/Obok-and-Kadol-5.png)
Obok stood and watched as Kadol rummaged around in the obviously empty cabinets. After a few minutes, he spoke.
"What are we doing here."
"Looking around."
"For what."
"I don't know. Books. Food. Something. Anything. What do you think?"
"Can we just... move on. Please. Can we just get this over with."
"No. You can wait while I try to see if there's anything we can use here to help us going around the mountains."
"Going around the mountains?"
"Yup. Violent stuff lives in the mountains, and I'm not risking your skin by crossing them. Not with... noodle arms like yours."
(https://i.ibb.co/w6qTCV9/Obok-and-Kadol-12.png)
"Isn't that what you're for? To escort me?"
"Too risky. Besides, I've only got a copper axe."
"... So you can't defend yourself either?"
"Course I can. I know how to use it, after all."

It was only mostly a lie. He knew which end to hold, at least.
(https://i.ibb.co/w7VpgqQ/Obok-and-Kadol-13.png)

Obok stared at him. He wasn't wearing armour. He had the clothes on his back, the dented copper axe in his belt, and a waterskin to quench his thirst. He didn't believe for a second that what Kadol said was true. After a few minutes of mutual staring, Kadol finally made the first move.

"C'mon, there's nothing here."
"I could have told you tha-"
"The Canteen is next, and then we move on east to the old Fortress, there might be food there."

(https://i.ibb.co/hKLc3Qb/Obok-and-Kadol-7.png)

Obok stopped to look at the statue. Kadol stopped to look at Obok.
"... How old is this place?"
"Dunno. Whatever god they worshipped here is long dead and gone, so it probably doesn't matter. Now c'mon, or I'll tie you up and get your dog to carry you."

(https://i.ibb.co/Svh1jQs/Obok-and-Kadol-14.png)
"See? Told you we'd find something."
"A book. One single, solitary book. Be still my beating heart."
"Shut up and carry the damn thing."
"Why am I the pack mule all of a sudden?"
"Because you're annoying, and I'm the one with the axe."
(https://i.ibb.co/WDz1qRq/Obok-and-Kadol-9.png)

"Alright, that's the last building. I-"
Obok sprinted for the open door. Only a second later, Kadol was on his feet behind him, reared for a tackle. Instead, Obok stopped at the door, and watched.
(https://i.ibb.co/F0xFRV3/Obok-and-Kadol-10.png)
"A deer." said Obok.
(https://i.ibb.co/Jrfxnzm/Obok-and-Kadol-11.png)
"A deer." grumbled Kadol. "You aren't just irritating, you're also an Elf, of course. What did I expect."
Obok turned around, fire in his eyes.
"So I'm not allowed to be angry at the man who dragged me by the feet through my bedroom fucking door to become a slave to some self-obsessed warlord on the other side of the bearded fucking horns?"
"Warlord? Is that what you think of our King? These aren't the days of tribes and duels, he was the next in line to the throne, and so he became the King. No war, no slaughter, The Walled Dye isn't a few scattered survivors anymore, we have Fortresses and fields again."
"You're changing the subject. You're still kidnapping me so he can make me lick his boots against my will."

Kadol didn't give an answer. He grabbed Obok by the arm, and silently, furiously, they made their way towards the old Fortress of Palacework.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Quote from: TheFlame52 on June 11, 2021, 12:51:09 pm

That was quick.

I spent more time taking and editing screenshots than I spent actually playing the game, and I've probably already spent more time trying to write and string a story between those screenshots than I spent playing and screenshotting combined.

Once again, if you have criticisms, please give them. I don't think this is a good story as it is, but I want to improve and the inter-character drama is going somewhere. Maybe. Probably. I think.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: TheFlame52 on June 11, 2021, 06:33:14 pm

It wasn't criticism. I usually end up damn near running out of time on my turns.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Imic on June 11, 2021, 09:50:39 pm

Quote from: TheFlame52 on June 11, 2021, 06:33:14 pm

It wasn't criticism. I usually end up damn near running out of time on my turns.

I didn't think it was criticism, but my irl speech patterns combined with my tendency to emulate my speech patterns to a sometimes disturbing degree when communicating online probably gave that impression, apologies for that. It was more me being exasperated at my own turn. Sorry, again.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: ChaosPotato on June 12, 2021, 03:03:50 am

hello yes I want to join

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: TheFlame52 on June 12, 2021, 08:20:21 am

Quote from: Imic on June 11, 2021, 09:50:39 pm

I didn't think it was criticism, but my irl speech patterns combined with my tendency to emulate my speech patterns to a sometimes disturbing degree when communicating online probably gave that impression, apologies for that. It was more me being exasperated at my own turn. Sorry, again.

You're fine, I do the same thing. :P

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on June 13, 2021, 07:09:16 am

Quote from: Imic on June 11, 2021, 09:50:39 pm

Quote from: TheFlame52 on June 11, 2021, 06:33:14 pm

It wasn't criticism. I usually end up damn near running out of time on my turns.

I didn't think it was criticism, but my irl speech patterns combined with my tendency to emulate my speech patterns to a sometimes disturbing degree when communicating online probably gave that impression, apologies for that. It was more me being exasperated at my own turn. Sorry, again.

My writing pattern during my turn was probably worse than anything I've ever written before, so, it happens. Can't even blame it on nerves, I'm a pretty calm person.

Your story's ok. I appreciate the effort you put into what you think was an insta-death turn. I'd have just maybe posted the character's backstory then the death screen and jumped into the fortress building.

Good luck with your fortress.

---

Waaaaaaaaait, why the hells is that guard taking you to Palacework? I think he's a fraud unless someone reclaimed it, Palacework was the capital of The Matched Hame and the civ got ganked in 236 by their homebrewed necromancer.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Imic on June 13, 2021, 08:01:35 am

"Keep moving!"
(https://i.ibb.co/HhxypSR/Obok-and-Kadol-16.png)
It wasn't the first Night creature they had seen around Palacework, but it was the first to come this close. In a few minutes, the pair and the dog Olin were behind a tree, panting and gasping for breath as quietly as they could manage. Kadol was the first to speak.
(https://i.ibb.co/hZ2BTnj/Obok-and-Kadol-23.png)
"What the fuck was that?"
"Don't know. Never seen one that close before."
(https://i.ibb.co/Qvg75zL/Obok-and-Kadol-17.png)
Kadol peeked out past the tree, stroking Olin for comfort. They looked like Dwarves... Did they? He wasn't sure. They hadn't mentioned this when they sent him south.
"Why didn't you warn me if you knew they were here?"
"I didn't know this was their stomping grounds! No-one ever comes here, not anymore."
Kadol sighed and sat back down, back against the tree. The coast was clear.
"You live here. Sorry- lived here. Do you think it's a risk we should take?"
"You're the one who doesn't want to cross the mountains..."
Kadol gave him the evil eye.
"... Okay, I... It could have food, or it could have death. Or neither. Or both. Do we have enough food to last a full journey around the mountains?"
Kadol checked his bag and shook his head.
"... Why did they send you here? Why you of all people? You don't even have the rations to get home with you... alright, food risk it is. Let's make this quick."

(https://i.ibb.co/g6FHj26/Obok-and-Kadol-18.png)
"Is the coast clear?"
Kadol peeked in, and scanned the entrance hall. There wasn't even the faintest sign of activity.
"Yeah, it's clear. Probably. C'mon, we have some food to steal."
"... Kadol, c'mover here."
"What?"
"There's a library here."
(https://i.ibb.co/NpDZ7rS/Obok-and-Kadol-19.png)
"Looks like it's been looted already."
"Not entirely. There's one scroll left, at least."
"Take a look upstairs, maybe?"
"Sure."
(https://i.ibb.co/1QGJ6Lp/Obok-and-Kadol-20.png)
(https://i.ibb.co/PrzvRGk/Obok-and-Kadol-21.png)
"Obok, what was that?"
"Another scroll."
"... Bit shiny for a scroll, don't you think?"
"It's just a metal roller, Kadol."
"... Huh. Let me have a look at it later, it might be worth something."
"... Sure."

(https://i.ibb.co/jV1VLnQ/Obok-and-Kadol-22.png)
"Food."
"There's not much of it."
"It'll be enough, there's only two of us."
"... Where's the food come from? It can't be from the Dwarves who used to own it, they're been gone for hundreds... of... years..."
Their eyes met. They shared a vision of the... creatures... outside.
"They won't miss it. If they do, we'll be long gone before they realise any of it's gone. They probably just keep it around for nostalgia."
"... Can... they... even feel nostalgia?"
"... Just pick up the food and let's get out of here."
"Will we be stopping off at the other Monastery?"
Kadol gave Obok a glare.
"No."

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on June 13, 2021, 12:23:08 pm

Quote from: Imic on June 13, 2021, 08:01:35 am

(https://i.ibb.co/Qvg75zL/Obok-and-Kadol-17.png)

[sarcasm]Ah, well, that makes it all better. I retract all my objections, everything is going to be juuuuuuuust fine.[/sarcasm]

Quote from: Imic on June 13, 2021, 08:01:35 am

"... Where's the food come from? It can't be from the Dwarves who used to own it, they're been gone for hundreds... of... years..."

I always wondered that too. Abandoned sites have trade depots with food hundred of years old that for some reason hasn't rotted.

Well, have a nice meal and a nice death with that.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Eric Blank on June 14, 2021, 07:03:41 pm

It's obviously a coding oversight. But for amusements sake it could be undead with nostalgia/needing something to keep them occupied, or worshippers of the forgotten beasts, titans or megabeasts (as people do worship them) leaving offerings. Or it could be animal people tribes and other wanderers leaving either offerings for what they may believe to be an altar to some sort of deity, or using it as a sort of safekeeping/goods cache they can fall back on in hard times. Or animal people use it to trade with one another in absentia in a semi-formalized manner, where I leave something there I don't need, if you're willing to take it, leave behind something of roughly equal value, that sort of thing.

But that doesn't explain the cheese. Who the hell is taking the time to make fucking cheese in the wilderness? I guess technically you could leave some milk in an animals stomach to make a sort of feta cheese, and just leaving it in the depot could accomplish that...

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on June 15, 2021, 08:46:32 am

Quote from: Eric Blank on June 14, 2021, 07:03:41 pm

It's obviously a coding oversight.

For me it's obviously an adventure mode reward system (maybe even a reclaiming reward system). The adventurer runs through wild terrain, hungry, thirsty and tired and finally finds an abandoned fortress. Either before or after they find it, they must deal with the boss that destroyed said fortress, either megabeasts, foul undead, evil goblins or wretched elves. They finally find the abandoned depot... and just find crafts and weapons?! What kind of reward is this? They're dead on their feet, they need sustenance now. So wonder of wonders when there really is food in the depot. Armok finally smiles upon them this day!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: ChaosPotato on June 15, 2021, 02:12:16 pm

How do I join?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on June 15, 2021, 02:16:09 pm

Quote from: ChaosPotato on June 15, 2021, 02:12:16 pm

How do I join?

Send Bralbaard a private message, ask him to add you to the turn list. Usually we'd just ask in the thread, but he doesn't always see everyone.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Imic on June 15, 2021, 07:38:56 pm

I meant to add another update today, but the Fort has been having technical difficulties, it is currently half one in the morning, and I have gone insane over this bloody Fortress. If I don't hand the save in on friday, assume that I've snapped and gone on a killing spree.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on June 16, 2021, 05:58:01 am

Quote from: Imic on June 15, 2021, 07:38:56 pm

If I don't hand the save in on friday, assume that I've snapped and gone on a killing spree.

In-game, right?
*wearily watches people in suits behind computer(s)*
Well, good luck, I wish you a great fort building result.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on June 18, 2021, 08:51:58 am

Quote from: Lurker Z on June 15, 2021, 02:16:09 pm

Quote from: ChaosPotato on June 15, 2021, 02:12:16 pm

How do I join?

Send Bralbaard a private message, ask him to add you to the turn list. Usually we'd just ask in the thread, but he doesn't always see everyone.

I have updated the turn list. Now we just have to wait untill Imic returns from his killing spree.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: BluarianKnight on June 19, 2021, 09:27:24 am

I think he's maybe gone berserk at this point.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Imic on June 19, 2021, 09:05:41 pm

It is done. (https://dffd.bay12games.com/file.php?id=15576)

I have seen terrible things. I have done terrible, shameful things. But, for the first time in centuries;

(https://i.ibb.co/N7MRPgj/this-is-the-final-version-of-this-thing.png)

The Walled Dye has a Mountainhome.

Not a dark, featureless cave.
(https://i.ibb.co/z6Nwhp2/lots-o-monny.png)

Not a nearly empty ruin, silent save a lonely handful of souls.
(https://i.ibb.co/RvNczvG/popu.png)

Not even Treatyseed, the monument to a thousand lost souls in the infinite slaughter of its deep, cursed halls.

Beneath the mountains, life has flourished. Those who forgot the Dwarves shall remember them. Soon enough.

---

My official contribution to the Museum is a bar of steel, taken from the magma forges of the Mountainhome. Once, this metal was thought lost. Once, its secrets were known only to a select few Dwarven elders. Once, the steel that existed in the world was all the steel that ever would exist, that ever could exist, and every lost scrap was a loss worth its weight in gold. Now, all across Dwarvendom, the blast furnaces roar, and like the Dwarves themselves, it has returned, and in force. Let the world look on the truest treasure of the Dwarves: Not gold, not gems, nor even the cursed cloth-metal of the great beneath - The true treasure of the Dwarves is steel. Steel for tools and armour, steel for nails and buckets. Strong, sharp, flexible, and practical. Wars were not won with gems or trinkets. Fortresses were not kept standing with soft, malleable gold. Now and forever, since the dawn of time until the end of days, steel is the legacy of the Dwarves. So it shall always be.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

I meant to end this long before today, but life threw unexpected things in my way, in the form of some unexpected family business I was not informed of beforehand. I won't be able to finish the writeup of Obok and Kadol's story for a week or so due to further IRL things, so I'll summarize it here. Obok and Kadol gradually journeyed around the mountains, arguing and fighting and debating, slowly getting to know each other better, until after a climactic fight with a pack of wolves which almost killed the dog Olin and left her crippled for life, they began to become friends. When they reached the tundra of heroes, Kadol offered to look the other way whilst Obok went across the mountains back home and tell the King that Obok had escaped in the night, but Obok decided to continue north with Kadol willingly, since he had privately come to a conclusion: He liked to build and design things more than anything else, and this could very well be the last time he was ever given such an opportunity. After discussing it with Kadol, he made the ultimate decision that under the condition that there was an emergency escape route for him, above or below board, getting to design something like Duskhome again was worth the occasional Royal Restriction placed on him. I wasn't sure if I wrote the friendship in a way that didn't come across as abusive on one level or another, so until I'm back at my PC again to do a proper writeup imagine that something magical and entirely natural happened on the way up that made them completely stop hating each other. Might not be nuanced enough, but it's as much as I can manage for now. When Obok finally met the King, he gave a single command: Build a new Mountainhome for the Walled Dye. Obok spent the next decade doing just that until finally leaving for Boltspumpkin once the King was done with his services, where he retired and has for now settled down.

After all was said and done, I went to the mountains, found the monarch, found a suitable site on the world map, I started the Fortress, and the suffering began almost immediately. I'm almost ashamed to admit this, but in the end DFhack became a very close companion during the nightmare that this Fortress was. I didn't think I would be doing that when I started, but when I started, I didn't think I'd end up with the following screenshot.
(https://i.ibb.co/WtG4h6v/I-did-it.png)

As mentioned previously, I genuinely did originally intend to be done by friday/saturday, but then Family Business happened and the rest is history. I apologise for the inconvenience caused, I didn't intend for this to play out the way it did.

As a last note, originally the Museum submission was a wolf skull, being a part of the development of Obok and Kadol's friendship, but in the end I decided that since I wasn't going to be able to write up the whole story before IRL got real busy and at the time I didn't expect myself to so thoroughly summarize the Adventurer story in this post, I decided to replace it with something else. Was this the right move? Or the wrong move? I don't know, it's three in the morning and my brain hurts. There's a story behind the steel, it's a part of Obok and Kadol's adventure, it has greater meaning in and across Orid Xem, and the wolf skull was a random wolf skull. If I went too far outside the rules by doing that, I apologise, it won't happen again, but I just really wasn't satisfied with that wolf skull.

Also, last little note here; Bizarrely enough, two brand new Hillocks got founded in the lowlands near the Fort and were economically linked to me. I genuinely didn't know that was possible in the circumstances. You learn something every day, I guess.

And  now, at long last, after thoroughly losing my sanity to this game for questionable reward, I can rest.
Dies

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Glloyd on June 19, 2021, 11:05:57 pm

That is an achievement for sure, and I can't wait to see somebody go explore it. Dare I ask what year it is now?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: BluarianKnight on June 20, 2021, 12:45:01 am

By the gods.

Give me a bit and I'll claim the file - got caught in slight business, officially claiming either today or tomorrow at the very latest.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Quantum Drop on June 20, 2021, 03:18:13 am

Good god above. Considering how good your last works were when uninhabited, I can't wait to see what these ones'll look like!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Imic on June 20, 2021, 06:47:06 am

Quote from: Glloyd on June 19, 2021, 11:05:57 pm

Dare I ask what year it is now?

It is the year 780. I saved and retired the Fort on the first of granite, Obok and Kadol set off for Boltspumpkim two weeks later, and they arrived two or three days after that, so it’s still in the very early days of the decade now.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on June 20, 2021, 08:34:52 am

Welp, congrats and all, but let's hope it still runs at all lol.

24 new artifacts and 4 thousand new "Art", whatever that means. Over 600 new historical figures, which means either discovered or born.

4 events discovered from the First Age of Myth (roughly 1st century) and 8 from the Third Age of Myth (the big chunk between 2nd and 8th century).

Almost 10 thousand new events created.

Still in Age of Heroes.

I'll say that's a lot.

Congrats once again and for infusing new life into this thread.

---

Huh, my char became the lord of Nodduli and the High Priest of one of the religions of... Dunem Meteosman? Weird. He's still officially just a worshiper of Bikdá.

Check your chars, folks, 10 years is enough time for some changes.

---

Lonelythrall finally became a Leader of a group too. Should have happened decades ago considering his achievements.

---

Nish Singetomb* finally became a Baron of The Walled Dye.

---

Uhhhh, did Iden know that settling in a Vault is going to get him killed next month? Cuz he got killed next month.

---

Leto Searchpraise* changed (noble) professions. I assume he went up the ladder. Or he just likes beasts better than building.

---

Also our adventurers are starting to claim artifacts from afar. Oooooooooooh boy, that's going to create some drama.

---

New Omon Obin Law-Giver, and it's a werebitmammoth.

Uja, the vampire former Law-Giver I confronted settled in my character's hometown, Señamatem.

Gods damn it, guys, what the hells are you doing? Exiling me to swamp country while you go back to your dark creature worship?! %#%^#%^#%^#%^%$#$%@$

---

*I don't know all of who's the adventurer of who, I'm just browsing the still living adventurers in Legends Viewer.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Imic on June 20, 2021, 10:26:02 am

Quote from: Lurker Z on June 20, 2021, 08:34:52 am

-snip-

The art is probably engravings, statues, figurines, etc. around ~40 or so children were born in the Mountainhome, and the artifacts were either all or mostly me. The best one, a native aluminum harp, actually got stolen, so... I’m going to officially put out a bounty for the artifact native aluminium harp-like instrument created in the Mountainhome and stolen by a visiting Goblin working with a local Miner. I can’t currently access my PC and I won’t be able to for the next week, so I don’t have the names, at least not right now. The selection isn’t great, but whomsoever is able to retrieve the artifact may take a book or artifact from the Mountainhome’s own library/museum. Like I said, the selection isn’t great, but hopefully it’s good enough.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on June 20, 2021, 04:16:40 pm

So I have updated the map of Orid Xem(in spoilers, because it's big)

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/SaHkXxc.gif)

It's interesting to see that the northern half of the map is almost completely overcrowded with sites, but the south is almost pristine.
In addition here is an update of the demographics for the the Universes of Myth:

(https://i.imgur.com/uT1l7v7.gif)

I'll add the missing harp to the missions section.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Eric Blank on June 20, 2021, 05:07:49 pm

Aw man, Championvaults isn't the mountainhome anymore :(

Good job on the mountainhoming.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Imic on June 20, 2021, 05:30:59 pm

Quote from: Eric Blank on June 20, 2021, 05:07:49 pm

Aw man, Championvaults isn't the mountainhome anymore :(

Good job on the mountainhoming.

I think, and I could be very wrong here, that the death of the old King ended its tenure as mountainhome, regardless, I’m sorry about that, despite me being aware that the King has moved there it never until just now clicked that Championvaults was the Mountainhome. I apologise, I didn’t mean to steal Championvaults’s glory.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on June 21, 2021, 04:29:56 am

I have to say that it's good to have a bit of competition in the mountainhome department. We never have enough epic fortresses.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Imic on June 21, 2021, 05:03:35 am

Forgot to say, stick me back on the turn list. It’s nice to have adventurers who survived their first adventure, even if their story isn’t written yet.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: BluarianKnight on June 21, 2021, 08:58:33 am

Just started up - sorry for the wait, hit the clock.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on June 21, 2021, 01:22:04 pm

You're back on the turn list Imic.

Also it's interesting to see how the dwarves have recovered over recent decades. Here is a comparison of the centre of the dwarven empire at the start of the game (on the left) and the same area now (on the right):
 
(https://i.imgur.com/Ynp5cOA.gif)

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Quantum Drop on June 21, 2021, 02:50:38 pm

Huh, so they're reclaiming the old, abandoned/destroyed fortresses and mountain halls before (presumably, going by the appearance of a new hillocks in the top left) expanding outwards? Makes sense, I guess.

Other bits observed from legends-diving that might be of some interest:

• Most of these forts have one or two dwarves, and maybe an animal in them, as opposed to being 'properly' reclaimed.
• Many of the small-reclaim forts were reclaimed c. 733-744, in little waves of reclamation; that little cluster of eight forts near to the lower good biome were all reclaimed around 733, with one or two in 34 and 35. Wonder what triggered them to send expeditions out there?
• The human civilization known as The Armoured Confederacy seems to have quietly died out somewhere along the line; it'll be interesting to see if their presumably-extant remnants somehow pull a Staff of Kissing and come back to life.
• Artha Peacefulsong (Luckyowl) has also become a noble - a Lady, to be precise - and has spent the last decade and a half leading squads against The Most Sin during their efforts to take over Divedact.
• Erith Whippedumbral somehow got resurrected while in Coveredashes, back in 770 - anyone have an idea as to how that happened?
• Lonelythrall becoming a group leader seems to down to the last member of the group (except him) dying of old age, apparently causing the group ownership to default to him. He also killed some random Dwarf recruit back in 770 for no discernible reason.

Spoiler: Also... (click to show/hide)

With the demise of The Armoured Confederacy, the sucker at the top of the Civilizations of Orid Xem dead pool is The Curious Horror, reduced to four civilized goblins, a couple escaped necromancer experiments, and one Elephant Fiend. Time will tell if an adventurer or civilization deigns to finish them off.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Yarlig on June 21, 2021, 06:05:36 pm

Well first things first' this was a brilliant turn. It's good to see dwarves on the rise again' and with a certain angry bear out there' we might witness a major demographic shift soon. However' as much as I don't want to sour the success of the new mountainhome' it seems that the Championvault - Crownhall rivalry has been rendered irrelevant by royal will:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/a1334463-8801-46e1-981e-b6460bcc4474/delxktw-87db8d1a-8a33-4f9b-9c6d-08b8a4a71ee2.png?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOjdlMGQxODg5ODIyNjQzNzNhNWYwZDQxNWVhMGQyNmUwIiwiaXNzIjoidXJuOmFwcDo3ZTBkMTg4OTgyMjY0MzczYTVmMGQ0MTVlYTBkMjZlMCIsIm9iaiI6W1t7InBhdGgiOiJcL2ZcL2ExMzM0NDYzLTg4MDEtNDZlMS05ODFlLWI2NDYwYmNjNDQ3NFwvZGVseGt0dy04N2RiOGQxYS04YTMzLTRmOWItOWM2ZC0wOGI4YTRhNzFlZTIucG5nIn1dXSwiYXVkIjpbInVybjpzZXJ2aWNlOmZpbGUuZG93bmxvYWQiXX0.ALgcIfzmIjqeM3ZBIYW1nU5MZrfkobmIYIKoEqMytBg)

But at least Kadol' Obok and Olin have a nice place to live and raise families now' all safe and sound.

Quote from: Quantum Drop on June 21, 2021, 02:50:38 pm

• The human civlilzation known as The Armoured Confederacy seems to have quietly died out somewhere along the line; it'll be interesting to see if their presumably-extant remnants somehow pull a Staff of Kissing and come back to life.

This civ actually went away with some bloodshed; they used to have a single fief whose sole inhabitant was a goblin Lady. In 770 she fell victim to Iden Bloodinked's rampage that claimed the lives of many other civilized' assimilated goblins. Armoured Confederacy's court (mostly human I think) is still chilling in a different hamlet somewhere though. Unfortunately' they're unlikely to come back; from what I understand a civ needs populated fiefs to be considered alive (some dead civs have rulers and courts - cf The Empire of Babies in this very world) which equals being able to conduct any meaningful action (and by meaningful I mean 'other than appointing nobles'). Dwarves' for fort mode purposes' can generate a site and a populace out of thin air even if dead (in some cases at least). However' AI is unlikely to have such luxuries.

I'm also pretty sure what happened to Erith is likewise Glloyd's doing' as he was the last to visit Coveredashes. Didn't expect such a turn of events' but it does give me some ideas now.

As for other interesting tidbits from the legends' remember that NGN's Leto had a son? It seems the lad' Rakfil Stockadefarm' has himself married one Anir Bulbtips. She was orphaned at age 11' both her parents' companions of Fidale Umberrazors' being ripped to shreds by a weremammoth ghoul in Scarletbronze. Seems like we have a very interesting family forming.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Imic on June 21, 2021, 06:16:03 pm

Quote from: Yarlig on June 21, 2021, 06:05:36 pm

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/a1334463-8801-46e1-981e-b6460bcc4474/delxktw-87db8d1a-8a33-4f9b-9c6d-08b8a4a71ee2.png?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOjdlMGQxODg5ODIyNjQzNzNhNWYwZDQxNWVhMGQyNmUwIiwiaXNzIjoidXJuOmFwcDo3ZTBkMTg4OTgyMjY0MzczYTVmMGQ0MTVlYTBkMjZlMCIsIm9iaiI6W1t7InBhdGgiOiJcL2ZcL2ExMzM0NDYzLTg4MDEtNDZlMS05ODFlLWI2NDYwYmNjNDQ3NFwvZGVseGt0dy04N2RiOGQxYS04YTMzLTRmOWItOWM2ZC0wOGI4YTRhNzFlZTIucG5nIn1dXSwiYXVkIjpbInVybjpzZXJ2aWNlOmZpbGUuZG93bmxvYWQiXX0.ALgcIfzmIjqeM3ZBIYW1nU5MZrfkobmIYIKoEqMytBg)

The ungratefu- I spent two days just making sure that the bloody throne room was fit to his majesty’s standards, and then he runs off to Treatyseed the day I retire the Fort, I-

Heavy breathing

... off topic question, purely theoretical inquiry, I promise it’s for a friend, would I get in trouble if I were to commit a very small, very slight bit of regicide in my next turn?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Glloyd on June 21, 2021, 06:27:58 pm

Quote from: Yarlig on June 21, 2021, 06:05:36 pm

Quote from: Quantum Drop on June 21, 2021, 02:50:38 pm

• The human civlilzation known as The Armoured Confederacy seems to have quietly died out somewhere along the line; it'll be interesting to see if their presumably-extant remnants somehow pull a Staff of Kissing and come back to life.

This civ actually went away with some bloodshed; they used to have a single fief whose sole inhabitant was a goblin Lady. In 770 she fell victim to Iden Bloodinked's rampage that claimed the lives of many other civilized' assimilated goblins. Armoured Confederacy's court (mostly human I think) is still chilling in a different hamlet somewhere though. Unfortunately' they're unlikely to come back; from what I understand a civ needs populated fiefs to be considered alive (some dead civs have rulers and courts - cf The Empire of Babies in this very world) which equals being able to conduct any meaningful action (and by meaningful I mean 'other than appointing nobles'). Dwarves' for fort mode purposes' can generate a site and a populace out of thin air even if dead (in some cases at least). However' AI is unlikely to have such luxuries.

I'm also pretty sure what happened to Erith is likewise Glloyd's doing' as he was the last to visit Coveredashes. Didn't expect such a turn of events' but it does give me some ideas now.

That reminds me I need to post the rest of my turn. Iden cut a swathe through the goblin towns in that area, seems fitting for him to end a human civilization controlled by goblins. As for Erith, I'll post the rest of my turn later this week once I'm back at my computer to clear that bit up.

Quote from: Yarlig on June 21, 2021, 06:05:36 pm

As for other interesting tidbits from the legends' remember that NGN's Leto had a son? It seems the lad' Rakfil Stockadefarm' has himself married one Anir Bulbtips. She was orphaned at age 11' both her parents' companions of Fidale Umberrazors' being ripped to shreds by a weremammoth ghoul in Scarletbronze. Seems like we have a very interesting family forming.

A weremammoth in Scarletbronze? So one of Raki's victims then? If so, that's hilarious. Small world.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on June 21, 2021, 10:30:56 pm

Quote from: Imic on June 21, 2021, 06:16:03 pm

The ungratefu- I spent two days just making sure that the bloody throne room was fit to his majesty’s standards, and then he runs off to Treatyseed the day I retire the Fort, I-

Heavy breathing

... off topic question, purely theoretical inquiry, I promise it’s for a friend, would I get in trouble if I were to commit a very small, very slight bit of regicide in my next turn?

My char had been pondering regicide, but he at least had the excuse of getting rid of dark creatures/goblins. But between the Apocalypse Bear, the Weremammoth-cursers, the necromancers bringing back the undead and those spreading vampirism for fun, a regicide or ten probably wouldn't bat an eye.

As for the reclamations, they've been happening to all civs, before Oddom was ganked. My headcanon (because I have no idea how a 21st century AI made by one person could do something so complex) is that there was some unwritten truce with Oddom somewhere after the very, very bloody wars in the 4th century. At the end of the 7th century, Oddom started abandoning en masse, and in the 8th century most of the civs started reclaiming, also en masse.

So I figure it would've happened with or without adventurer intervention, since the en masse abandoning of Oddom happened before 700 i.e. before adventurers were a thing.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Quantum Drop on June 22, 2021, 03:47:36 am

Quote from: Imic on June 21, 2021, 06:16:03 pm

The ungratefu- I spent two days just making sure that the bloody throne room was fit to his majesty’s standards, and then he runs off to Treatyseed the day I retire the Fort, I-

Heavy breathing

... off topic question, purely theoretical inquiry, I promise it’s for a friend, would I get in trouble if I were to commit a very small, very slight bit of regicide in my next turn?

Nobles meet with unfortunate accidents all the time. I doubt there would be many raised eyebrows if the king was to trip, tumble down a few flights of stairs (tragically hitting his head on every step), before standing back up, punching himself in the face a couple dozen times, and falling onto an unfortunately-placed sword. Sixteen times.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Yarlig on June 22, 2021, 07:16:39 am

Quote from: Imic on June 21, 2021, 06:16:03 pm

... off topic question, purely theoretical inquiry, I promise it’s for a friend, would I get in trouble if I were to commit a very small, very slight bit of regicide in my next turn?

I'd say regicide is both tolerated and appreciated as long as it is stylish.

Quote from: Glloyd on June 21, 2021, 06:27:58 pm

That reminds me I need to post the rest of my turn. Iden cut a swathe through the goblin towns in that area, seems fitting for him to end a human civilization controlled by goblins. As for Erith, I'll post the rest of my turn later this week once I'm back at my computer to clear that bit up.

I'll definitely be looking forward to that! very interested what happened in Coveredashes.

Quote from: Glloyd on June 21, 2021, 06:27:58 pm

A weremammoth in Scarletbronze? So one of Raki's victims then? If so, that's hilarious. Small world.

One of Raki's personal victims indeed' as well as the head honcho of the town before his arrival; really' everyone knows everybody. And on that note' I noticed one of Iden's kills was the goblin mobster that I gave an artifact bronze bolt to during my last turn' seems he didn't get to enjoy it for long.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on June 22, 2021, 12:43:21 pm

Quote from: Quantum Drop on June 21, 2021, 02:50:38 pm

• Lonelythrall becoming a group leader seems to down to the last member of the group (except him) dying of old age, apparently causing the group ownership to default to him. He also killed some random Dwarf recruit back in 770 for no discernible reason.

I always felt Lonelythrall got the short end of the stick. Almost every adventurer became Adilatír / Walled Dye barons just for settling in an Adilatír controlled location (even in Boltspumpkin I think), even my character that's been complaining about being "exiled" has got it good, being taken by a religion for only 2 kills (I'm not sure if the game counts what he did with Uja, Legends Viewer doesn't even recognize he was the one to out her as a vampire/night creature) and then the leader of a town just a few years later, a town not that distant from the capital and his hometown (I've studied Omon Obin a bit and I've split its expansions into 6 district, the town Lurker is in is the closest to the district that holds the capital).

Meanwhile, Lonelythrall waited decades to be made the Leader of a "nomadic group", probably one step from an outlaw lord of, as pointed out, no-one to lead anyway. This is the guy that found 2 vaults and defeated one. In-world, I have to blame the goblin leaders, but from a game perspective, it makes no sense.

---

Holy frak, Imic, you had necromancers crawling over necromancers to get to your artifacts. The woes of being an aspiring mountainhome I guess.

---

Hey, Bralbaard, can you add the map I made to the post with your map? It's only slightly edited from the versions I posted a while ago, but it has what I think are the main locations of the world, most if not all the capitals, even some necro towers. Want to put it under a spoiler, something like "Map of Orid Xem made by Lurker"? Thanks.

https://i.imgur.com/ftfH9jU.png

Mind, anyone can edit it if they have something to add. I'm not sure if I should add the player forts since they're on Bralbaard's map anyway.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on June 22, 2021, 03:01:37 pm

Quote from: Lurker Z on June 22, 2021, 12:43:21 pm

Hey, Bralbaard, can you add the map I made to the post with your map? It's only slightly edited from the versions I posted a while ago, but it has what I think are the main locations of the world, most if not all the capitals, even some necro towers. Want to put it under a spoiler, something like "Map of Orid Xem made by Lurker"? Thanks.

https://i.imgur.com/ftfH9jU.png

Mind, anyone can edit it if they have something to add. I'm not sure if I should add the player forts since they're on Bralbaard's map anyway.

I have added it, but firefox has some issues displaying it properly because it is very wide. Zooming out on the whole internet page works though. Is it manageable for others?
I could scale it down to a resolution that is still readable?
 

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Quantum Drop on June 22, 2021, 05:17:26 pm

Same issue on Google Chrome: you have to zoom out or scroll across the page to see the map properly. I wouldn't be averse to scaling it down a bit, or sticking a note in the spoiler title saying it's really big.

Quote from: Lurker Z on June 22, 2021, 12:43:21 pm

I always felt Lonelythrall got the short end of the stick. Almost every adventurer became Adilatír / Walled Dye barons just for settling in an Adilatír controlled location (even in Boltspumpkin I think), even my character that's been complaining about being "exiled" has got it good, being taken by a religion for only 2 kills (I'm not sure if the game counts what he did with Uja, Legends Viewer doesn't even recognize he was the one to out her as a vampire/night creature) and then the leader of a town just a few years later, a town not that distant from the capital and his hometown (I've studied Omon Obin a bit and I've split its expansions into 6 district, the town Lurker is in is the closest to the district that holds the capital).

Meanwhile, Lonelythrall waited decades to be made the Leader of a "nomadic group", probably one step from an outlaw lord of, as pointed out, no-one to lead anyway. This is the guy that found 2 vaults and defeated one. In-world, I have to blame the goblin leaders, but from a game perspective, it makes no sense.

Yeah, it's kind of weird how the game decided to give out baronies: the first three or four surviving adventurers got given the position of baron, then another three or four survivors pass by without becoming nobles (despite settling in locations controlled by the WD and having membership in their civs), then one of them becomes a countess after settling in Treatyseed, then it seems to be a dry run up to the present (probably due to the majority of recent adventurers lacking citizenship and/or settling elsewhere - excepting Iden, since his WD noble positions seem to have been gained by player action rather than 'natural' world events). Also, Legends Viewer lists Lonelythrall as an 'Outcast' when looking at Boltspumpkin, so that might have something to do with why he was never considered for a noble rank by the game.

(I would like to hear about why you'd blame the gobbo leaders for it in-universe, though.)

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on June 22, 2021, 05:39:52 pm

Quote from: Bralbaard on June 22, 2021, 03:01:37 pm

I have added it, but firefox has some issues displaying it properly because it is very wide. Zooming out on the whole internet page works though. Is it manageable for others?
I could scale it down to a resolution that is still readable?

Thanks. You could do that, but I still have the original and if I modify it, you'd have to do that again. You could just put the direct link and leave it at that.

There's a reason it's that big, it's because of all your... observations that you don't have enough space to put notes on the map, so I doubled its dimensions, then put the two black spaces both to the right and left to further avoid overcrowding. I was even planning of putting black spaces above and below, but it seems so far it wasn't necessary.

Yeah, just put the direct link, one full-blown map is enough for the casual reader anyway.

Quote from: Quantum Drop on June 22, 2021, 05:17:26 pm

I would like to hear about why you'd blame the gobbo leaders for it in-universe, though.

Because they're filthy goblins? What more reason do I need?

But let's break it down. Lonelythrall is originally part of the Creamy Confederacy. CC is ruled by a goblin since 507, and more recently since 770 by his son after he was assassinated (surprisingly enough, unrelated to adventurer activity). These two are also at the same time unashamed members of The Knowing Deceiver, a goblin civ

Spoiler: Spoiler (click to show/hide)

with a former demon leader and a spire. Now, the game doesn't show that goblins worship demons, but that sounds like common sense.

Lonelythrall went to the vault. The wiki says the angels are warped by the slab's demonic energies and their proximity to hell, so the angels are at this point more demons than angels. Lonelythrall killed a lot of them, thus lessening demonic influences on Orid Xem.

This might make him a hero, hells even the populace should praise him for slaying a death god's creatures, but how are the goblins going to see this? Quick reminder that the goblin's cabinet is all goblin. So of course they'd ostracize Lonelythrall, they wouldn't give him anything to command, maybe even send a dwarf to assassinate him. When that failed, they'd try to set him up, like maybe making him the leader of a known criminal organization with little troops, but easily dispatched as "that evil horrid monster that's raiding us honest citizens as the leader of that very notorious criminal gang".

It's just roleplay of course, but that's my take on it.

Maybe in-game reason is that he's a night creature and TWD knows this? It still doesn't explain CC's reluctance to give him any meaningful position and then to give him the lousiest position possible anyway. It also doesn't explain why a religion didn't sweep him off his feet, my char had zero tanget in game (or out, in case you're thinking some scary sapient AI ghost story) with the deity the religion of which took him in. The only thing Lurker had over Lonelythrall is that he had in-game religious worship, albeit to a different god.

---

Edit regarding map: Yeah, I started adding more to it, I definitely need it as big as it is. I'm also weary that shrinking it might shrink the visual strength of the connecting lines to the text, and rehashing those lines might cover terrain which with the map as is, is not an issue.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on June 23, 2021, 01:23:13 am

I'll keep the map as it is. I saw it is quite easy to scroll across on mobile, and it's in a spoiler.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on June 26, 2021, 07:34:59 am

Yo, BluarianKnight, how's the turn going?

---

Updated map with Omon Obin (imaginary) districts:

https://i.imgur.com/nAv8W6g.png

---

With this apparent thread down-time, I have an announcement to make. Because my future may turn out busy and because I was going to announce this during my turn, but the quality of the work put into the project at the time felt too half-baked, and present-me more than agrees with past-me, as since then I have added tables, succession boxes and such...

Anyway, without further ado or rambling, I present:

Dwarf Fortress Legends Wiki

For this world, you can start with Outline of Orid Xem (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Outline_of_Orid_Xem).

This is a project I've started since 2013, but I've hardly edited for a long time. I've just ressurected it this year, but I'm glad for the work I put into it. The scope of the wiki is to add Legends materials from all worlds, though Orid Xem has caught the most of my attention. I'd warn about spoilers, but most of the articles are about creatures that died without anyone in this thread knowing they even existed.

There's a List of adventurers who traveled towards The Museum (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/List_of_adventurers_who_traveled_towards_The_Museum) where I started filling out the red links. Do take note that most accounts are taken more or less directly from Legends Viewer rather than the roleplay thread proper, but that's just because I took the relevant information from there, not because articles shouldn't take roleplay elements if editors want to.

If you want to participate, you might want to take a look at the policy (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/DFLegends:Wiki_Rules_and_Blocking_Policy) and Manual of Style (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/DFLegends:Manual_of_Style).

While this isn't an issue in the immediate or near future, and hopefully never will be, I'd appreciate that if I become inactive, someone or multiple someones continue to edit that wiki, because fandom policy says it deletes inactive wikis (probably has to be inactive for years, but still).

Why a general Legends Wiki and not a specific Museum wiki?

Well, considering that the Museum already stretches on 3 worlds, it fits right into an "all Dwarf Fortress worlds" wiki. Besides, on Wikia/Fandom there are at least a few one-Dwarf-Fortress-world wikis, including Kruggsmash's and Spearbreakers and probably others, all with a few articles each. So I figured I could consolidate all Legends into one wiki. Also why I don't think hosting at the Dwarf Fortress Wiki is a good idea, is that there's an unwritten "only capital L legendary stories/forts/characters are allowed" rule, and I wanted a wiki to chronicle ALL events in a world if an editor wanted to. As just an example, adding all the numbers in the front page of Legends Mode for Orid Xem gives a number around 500,000. I doubt Dwarf Fortress Wiki would be willing to host 500,000 articles just for one world, but Wikia doesn't care. I've seen wikis on Wikia with these many pages and it doesn't bat an eye, as long as you don't get them in trouble.

---

With the hope that my rambling hasn't bored you too much, Lurker signing off for now.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: BluarianKnight on June 26, 2021, 04:08:53 pm

If nobody minds, I might need an extra day or two beyond the week to submit my files - but I'm working on it.


Was going to post my diary, but.. honestly I think I have to do it in one go.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on June 28, 2021, 10:18:25 am

Might be a better idea to post what you have, there are people who ended their turns and posted the ending after the save. It also helps you put all the details you care to, I don't think I'd remember my journey if you were to ask me now.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Imic on June 28, 2021, 01:07:58 pm

Quote from: Lurker Z on June 28, 2021, 10:18:25 am

Might be a better idea to post what you have, there are people who ended their turns and posted the ending after the save. It also helps you put all the details you care to, I don't think I'd remember my journey if you were to ask me now.

It's entirely possible to write the story whilst it happens, then post it all after it's done. Speaking of which, I need to finish writing up my last turn now that I'm home. Aaand, speaking of being at my PC where I can get info on the world...

---

Details regarding the Mission to recover Summerwanes, the Artifact Harp stolen from Crownhall the City of Stone

---

Summerwanes is a Tarem, a large stationary instrument with 35 metal strings suspended from the frame down to the body, plucked by hand by the musician. Summerwanes was carved from Native Aluminium, A material even more valuable than gold, and just as valuable as platinum, in the mid-Autumn of the year 772 by the Dwarf Atir Treatypattern in the Fortress-city of Crownhall, fulfilling the Dwarf's lifelong ambition of creating a great work of art. It was placed in the local Museum of Crownhall, until the mid-winter of the year 779, when the Goblin Zolak Profanetomes stole it with help from a local miner, and disappeared into the night. Any individual to return Summerwanes to its rightful place in the prominent Black Bronze Pedestal of the Museum of Crownhall or in the hands of its rightful owner Atir Treatypattern shall be rewarded with a free choice of a single Artifact, taken from the rest of the exhibits in the Museum of Crownhall, found at the western Hall of the Southern Commons, down the street from the Throne Hall and just around the bend from the Hospital. If you're in the large circular hall full of bronze bookcases, you've found it.

---

_{Using legends viewer to find Summerwanes is not forbidden if it can't be located only using Adventurer mode, but it is kinda cheating.}

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on June 29, 2021, 07:37:22 am

Quote from: BluarianKnight on June 26, 2021, 04:08:53 pm

If nobody minds, I might need an extra day or two beyond the week to submit my files - but I'm working on it.


Was going to post my diary, but.. honestly I think I have to do it in one go.

As others have said, many people submit their save game and then post the stories later.

Also keep in mind that you can continue the story of your adventurer if you apply for another turn. If you retire somewhere you can load the same adventurer later (a few decades older, but in general still good for use).

Could you upload the save game?
I am looking forward to the story!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: BluarianKnight on June 29, 2021, 11:32:14 am

My intrepid adventurers never got to the museum - here's the save;

Toss me for a second turn at the end. I know I need to finish the story. I got really busy mid-week and that led me to do far less then hoped..

Save;
https://dffd.bay12games.com/file.php?id=15586

---

Diary:

Times have changed for us all - that is the certainly I hold closest.

I am Helhock - most consider me an oddity in my home, my fur, snout and canine appearance holds others to consider me strange. I live in the hamlet of Sestasinur, a comfortable place dug in the plains between the great mountains and the rivers. My home is one of the most populated place within the Empire of Peeks - a rotting empire. The people here live happily however, and that is why I have lived here for most of my life. I’ve cooked for most of the people here - I’m quite a talented cook and butcher.. But as all things do, they change.

Two companions I know somewhat well - Kima, a local hunter and guardswoman, and a close companion of mine, and Sema, who is a local engineer, and the entire purpose of this venture. She has been badgering the both of us to ‘go out and adventure’ - while I find such an idea certainly interesting, Kima has been quite set on living her life comfortably, until Sema decided to plan to leave - as such, Kima had to do the same. And myself, while I enjoy my life here, those two are the only true friends I have in my home. Without them, this place would not be home.

So we’ve begun our journey - Sema has heard rumors that the greatest adventurers lay claim to various artifacts, donated to a strange museum near the center of our continent.. But before that can begin, we must make a name of ourselves. A few questions of our friends in town have led us to the local dispute between the town and of the Curious Horror - a common issue, the smaller civilizations can only truly lock between one another. I was not there for the Empire of Peeks and the goblins to start this quarrel, but it seemed to be from some dispute about animals.

It seemed a local - we’ve plenty in this town, some of them refugees from various nearby hamlets and other goblin locations, got angry.. Enraged, he started attacking a passerby - his teeth was splashed across the home, and we left in a hurry.

Another compatriot, Ithew, a local farmer, told us of native aluminum Tårem lost, the owner, Palath Begunglitters wants it returned. A long term quest, and a safe one - bandits, that sort of thing is far from the repertoire of our small lot.

- - -

We went north, to Odiekul, stopping by an abandoned building - named The Lavender Guests, nobody inside. I borrowed a copper scimitar.. Something to keep me safe.

Afterwards, Sema brought up a point of interest - a possible place of interest. The last hold of the Curious Horror - Shadmalzuglar. She has us set to head that direction, past the mountain ranges that hold the various mountainhalls that the dwarves have kept to themselves. I care little for such things - I distaste the look in her eyes. A bloodlust, almost - to want to prove a worth to herself, I suspect ill intent in the future.

It is not as if she hasn’t already proven her capabilities - while crossing the ranges, we met a multitude of wolverines and keas, striking them down to provide food for the coming trip. I suppose I simply disliked how quick she was to decapitate those animals.

We’ve stopped to rest for now - perhaps more will come of the next day.

- - -

We ran like cowards.

Sema, the damned fool - she was so hopeful, I hadn’t realized her intents until she drew first blood, striking down a goblin scribe - we had entered Curious Horrors to see the last stronghold, but we found ourselves instead attempting a daring assault. We met our match with an axewoman - she split Sema in two, and Kima and I ran like damn cowards.

Now we freeze, running south, east, north.. I’m not sure where we are, but the blazened fortresses we continue to run through is worrisome. We stole some food from a dwarven caravan.

I have no wish to let her name die so softly. Vengeance will be paid.

- - -

We found a place to rest, for me to.. Get my bearings.

I feel as if time if lost. I need to rest. Kima needs to rest.

I.. I will continue writing when I can. Perhaps I can finish this story.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Quantum Drop on June 30, 2021, 03:41:47 am

Got the save. Time to get 'er going.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on June 30, 2021, 09:47:06 am

Quote from: Lurker Z on June 26, 2021, 07:34:59 am

Anyway, without further ado or rambling, I present:

Dwarf Fortress Legends Wiki

Great work. I have now included your updated map in the map section. I have also included a link there to the post where you introduce and explain the wiki. That way all the information about the site is included as well.
I might have to move some of the information around at some point. I've just been adding stuff whenever something came up, and not all of the information might be in the best possible spot.

I have also updated the turn list. Good luck Quantum Drop!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on June 30, 2021, 10:14:42 am

Quote from: Bralbaard on June 30, 2021, 09:47:06 am

Great work. I have now included your updated map in the map section. I have also included a link there to the post where you introduce and explain the wiki. That way all the information about the site is included as well.
I might have to move some of the information around at some point. I've just been adding stuff whenever something came up, and not all of the information might be in the best possible spot.

Thanks. I'm glad it has positive reactions.

Quote from: Bralbaard on June 30, 2021, 09:47:06 am

I have also updated the turn list. Good luck Quantum Drop!

Good luck, QD. Although we know QD makes their own luck. I don't know what can top Lonelythrall's (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Metuganra_Pewtha) quest, but if anyone can top it, it's QD. (No pressure. ;) )

Quote from: BluarianKnight on June 29, 2021, 11:32:14 am

-snip-

Interesting story. Yeah, that's Dwarf Fortress, adventurers start hopeful and emerge bitter wrecks, if they survive. You'd think we're playing Warhammer here :)

---

I've taken a glance through the save, I haven't seen major changes (or any changes for that matter) so far. The living adventurers I checked on (including mine and Lonelythrall) are doing the same, the rulers of Omon Obin, Adilatír and Nomal Alis (The Staff of Kissing) are the same. Even our lovely civilized mercenary leader cave dragon (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Nirmek_Balusen) is doing the same.

---

Wonder how many kills Uja (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Uja_Kusutbepa) tallied so far *grumble grumble*. The thing still doesn't appear in Legends Mode, Legends Viewer doesn't say she killed anything, but LV only shows deaths of historical characters. I feel responsible for not putting her down when I had the chance.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Quantum Drop on June 30, 2021, 01:20:34 pm

Quote from: Lurker Z on June 30, 2021, 10:14:42 am

Quote from: Bralbaard on June 30, 2021, 09:47:06 am

I have also updated the turn list. Good luck Quantum Drop!

Good luck, QD. Although we know QD makes their own luck. I don't know what can top Lonelythrall's (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Metuganra_Pewtha) quest, but if anyone can top it, it's QD. (No pressure. ;) )

Assuming I don't royally shit the bed on the writing (see: my last turn :-[) and the RNG smiles upon me... well, it probably won't top LT's run, but I'll be damned if I don't at least try on this one. I'll probably have to go for the caverns on this run if I decide to binge on MB kills; there's few easily-findable beasts on the surface as it is, while those in the world's heart are (mostly) untouched.

(Laughing gas is a bastard to come by even in regions where it's present. Anyone have any ideas how I might find it faster?)

Spoiler: Actual spoilers for early turn plan (click to show/hide)

I've spent the day running from the Tundra of Heroes to Homesafe and back again, and I've yet to see one measly puff of husking gas. Hour-waiting via 'Z' seems not to cause any to appear, and the regions they can occur in are pretty large, so the waiting gets tedious fast (even with macros speeding it up). I'll probably give it one more day of looking and waiting for husk-creating clouds before I say 'hang it!' and move onto my main plans for the turn.

EDIT: IIRC, LegendsViewer does keep track of non-historical character deaths by vampire (Imimi Dankhonours, for example, has 1632 'unsolved murders' to his name under his 'entity reputations' section), so I'd guess Uja just hasn't gotten thirsty enough to drain someone dry yet. But, yeah, there look to be pretty few appreciable changes beyond The Curious Horror going down to three (civilized) pops.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on June 30, 2021, 04:51:31 pm

Quote from: Quantum Drop on June 30, 2021, 01:20:34 pm

The Curious Horror going down to three (civilized) pops.

I didn't notice that. Still, I don't trust those things. I'm just looking at their current Master and I see he was originally of The Most Sin. So they can replenish their numbers easily from TMS if worst comes to worst (like I've seen some human rump-states do to survive and not just make void dwarf-equivalents (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Void_creature)). I'm looking at their current leadership and they have 6 persons in, 3 gobs (probably those the first page talks about), 1 human and 2 necro experiments.

Besides, TCH was never about conquest, but they do some nasty damage to other civs when they put their minds to it. They give off the appearance of joke characters/rump state, but I won't trust them until I see them completely wiped. Look at this genocidal war (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Olng%C3%B6aslez) where they wipe out 15,000 good, honest sapients with 300 monsters on the pretense of stealing an item they never owned. The "war" *cough* massacre *cough* is only topped by the life-hating necromancer (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Oddom_Thobmun%C3%A8st) who almost turned all Orid Xem into undead. At the time, TCH had only one settlement to their name. Hate the gob, cleanse the gob, don't underestimate the gob.

For comparison, Dur Badu (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Dur_Badu) is considered "extinct" by Legends Viewer for over half a decade, and yet still has a command structure composed of... granted, 3 humans, but still. It's still kicking. Stalconpesor (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Stalconpesor) too is considered extinct, but has a command structure of 9 and even if they're starting to dredge the dregs (i.e. rely on goblins to take positions), the Law-Giver is still human. I can also say after taking some look that they're original Stalconpesor loyalists and not TMS or The Knowing Deceiver plants like goblin leaders of other civs. I usually want to exterminate the filthy gobs, but in this case I can say: Good for them. It also reaffirms to me that the Creamy Confederacy gobs are definitely plants from the gob civs (which are inimical to non-gob civs).

Also feels good to talk in wiki links.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Yarlig on July 07, 2021, 06:16:40 am

How's your turn' Quantum? It's been some time' quite interested in what you've been up to.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Quantum Drop on July 07, 2021, 07:14:48 am

Quote from: Yarlig on July 07, 2021, 06:16:40 am

How's your turn' Quantum? It's been some time' quite interested in what you've been up to.

Just finishing up my fort, going to post the save (and a summary of what's gone down, until I can write it properly) tonight.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Quantum Drop on July 07, 2021, 05:16:38 pm

Here is the save: https://dffd.bay12games.com/file.php?id=15594

My submission to the Museum is the Horns of Ngaxa Slaughterssucked the Assaulted, torn from the head of the last minotaur of Orid Xem by Nethrez Rampartspiral the Quick Tunnel of Mining with his bare hands. The minotaur himself is still alive, albeit missing his horns, his pride, and (possibly) his eyes. I'm not sure if redded-out body parts on a historical figure reset when you travel away, but the guy seemed to be a pushover for my adventurer either way.

Additionally, a new fortress has been added to the map, by the name of Ironwards the Strifeful Hollows. The fortress was founded to the rough north-west of Boltspumpkin in 780 by The Walled Dye; the few rumours that the caravans have brought back indicate that it is heavily militarized, and has been conducting a number of highly aggressive campaigns against goblin presences in the Tundra of Heroes and around The Dark Fortress River.

As usual, I request to be put back on the turn list.

EDIT: And because I forgot to post them earlier:

Spoiler: Trivia and notes (click to show/hide)

• Conquering the active vault of Coveredashes in fort mode (demand surrender then conquer, to be exact) caused LV to suffer an unhandled exception error when I tried to load the exported legends of that (backup, thankfully) save, though the angels (warrior caste only) were indeed playable as adventurers. Best guess is that it had something to do with the clown slab still being there, as LV was entirely fine with a conquered Cradledmartyrs, where the slab was missing/stored elsewhere prior to the conquest.
• The Curious Horror are out of business and down for the count – LV indicates that the sole site they’re active in is Incenseorder, with Confusedship having been recaptured courtesy of an Ironwards offensive, and their two remaining dark pits razed. There may also have been about 6000-odd deaths of goblins, trolls, etc., considering all the pillaging and raiding that I got up to in fortress mode.
• Galka Fancyrocks died of old age in 781, having gone from a wandering adventurer to a countess of The Walled Dye. She was eighty years old (the maximum age for an albatross person), making her one of the few adventurers of the Museum so far to die an entirely natural death.
• The artefacts Ocig Dumat and Sat Vuknud have been taken from Ironwards by unknown hands. Any adventurer who returns them to the fortress’s museum (top floor, look for the room filled with wooden and stone pedestals) may take an artefact of their choosing from those on display, which include an artefact short sword, hammer, and dwarf-sized steel boot. Furthermore, they may take any masterwork item of arms or armour from the fortress (all dwarf-sized), which they may utilize or trade as they see fit.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Yarlig on July 08, 2021, 12:56:14 pm

So' imperialism now? Seems the world is doomed' which is always good news. Very impressive turn.
Honestly' it's amazing' both thematically and on a meta level' how the dwarves went from a feeble rump state at the start to a great power right now' what with territorial expansion and great feats of architecture. Gotta do something about this come my turn.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on July 09, 2021, 02:44:50 am

Dyezeal and Ironwards have been added to the map. I've also added the proposed mission to the missions section.
It's Eric's turn.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Eric Blank on July 10, 2021, 06:16:34 pm

Well, there was an adventurer, but he swam in a freezing river around dusk and died almost right away. I suppose I'll spend the week building a fort, then.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on July 14, 2021, 05:09:11 pm

Quote from: Eric Blank on July 10, 2021, 06:16:34 pm

Well, there was an adventurer, but he swam in a freezing river around dusk and died almost right away. I suppose I'll spend the week building a fort, then.

Well that's sad. There's a reason my adventurers haven't swam a day under my care (it's not that, but I'll add it to the list).

Looking forward to the fortress.

Quote from: Yarlig on July 08, 2021, 12:56:14 pm

So' imperialism now?

I'll leave comments for the vault later, but in the case of Malladang (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Malladang) it seems just good old fashioned righteous payback. I'll say as many times as needed, Malladang throughout history hit way above their apparent weight. Moreover, unlike "regular" goblin civs, they don't even go for the conquest, just for the slaughter again and again and again.

They're not really down, a Master (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Ngokang_Kutsmobatan) was appointed in the day one of their holdings was reclaimed by the dwarves. She's still there in hiding presumably. Still, congrats for trying and for those 6k goblin-affiliated troops that will not be missed.

Quote from: Yarlig on July 08, 2021, 12:56:14 pm

Honestly' it's amazing' both thematically and on a meta level' how the dwarves went from a feeble rump state at the start to a great power right now' what with territorial expansion and great feats of architecture. Gotta do something about this come my turn.

Pop-wise they're still under the elves, who are themselves close to endangered. As long as we play the game, we know dwarves won't go extinct while the only elven civilization may be destroyed, true, but to truly make them a great power in history we'll need a lot of Legendary warrior dwarves... and those are likely as not to die of old age in half a century, which is not that much of a timespan for the player-base, or in unintentional accidents of less military-minded players. Moreover, adventurers will muddle the waters, giving near-unfair advantages either to their own civilizations or crippling other civs.

Architecturally, sure, they're set, but as an actual power? No, the dwarves will always cling in this world to survival first and foremost. They'll likely have shooting stars from the players who want to play as members of The Walled Dye specificially, but that'll be offset by everyone else who'll want to play crazy and frak up the world like giving vampirism to Law-Givers, passing on the weremonster curse or necros resurrecting Cog Omristducim (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Cog_Omristducim). Add to that that Nusmzolak (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Nusmzolak) has 34k pop and are at war with The Walled Dye since 712 against the dwarves' ~650 dwarves for a total of 1000 of multi-species pop, it's always going to be an uphill battle for The Walled Dye to be better in more than the number and opulence of forts (nevermind the ability to keep them).

I've just taken a glance at Legend Viewer's historical figures... drop down menu? There are 4k dwarven historical figures ever compared to goblins' 14k (but they have abstract numbers going for them) and humans' 25k (though there are only 16k total abstract humans, that's still a lot). Let's face it, this isn't a world dwarves, as a civ or a race, can become superpowers. Survive, thrive and leave a mark on the world, absolutely, but no more than that.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Eric Blank on July 17, 2021, 11:52:07 pm

Alright, here's the save: https://dffd.bay12games.com/file.php?id=15602

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on July 18, 2021, 05:23:46 am

Quote from: Eric Blank on July 17, 2021, 11:52:07 pm

Alright, here's the save: https://dffd.bay12games.com/file.php?id=15602

You killed Nethrez! In fortress mode no less!

Well, he did settle in Dark Pits. He should have expected something like this.

---

Nothing else seems to have changed. Same rulers for Omon Obin, Adilatír, Quogubpesor, Nomal Alis, the living adventurers I checked seem to be doing the same thing (i.e. nothing) since last turn. Uja (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Uja_Kusutbepa) is inactive and so are Calovi (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Calovi_Rifanithe), Nirmek (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Nirmek_Balusen), etc.

New Dur Leru (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Dur_Leru) Law-Giver since 790, but that's unlikely to effect anything.

Nish Singetomb became Baroness of Adilatír in 775, not sure if this was mentioned before. Dreamypuzzled the Eternal-Soul is fighting a goblin on goblin war, she should be careful not to go the way of Nethrez.

No new wars since 784 (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Zaralnis_(784)). Surprisingly quiet 7 years.

---

This stood out to me (and I realize how old this entry is):

(https://i.imgur.com/RBrJRyx.png)

Humans "reclaiming" dwarf fortresses. I wonder what Adilatír thinks about this... at least they're keeping them from goblin claws.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Unraveller on July 18, 2021, 10:33:18 am

Hey there. My turn came around at some point during my long period of inactivity due to a number of reasons. Doesn't make it any better, sorry for letting it drag on for that much longer!

Regardless, I'll ask, is it alright to be placed at the bottom of the list again? I will do everything in my effort to make sure I play my turn this time around. If not, I'll happily watch on anyhow. The original Museum and II was what got me into Bay12 to begin with. Haha.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Quantum Drop on July 18, 2021, 01:47:01 pm

Quote from: Lurker Z on July 18, 2021, 05:23:46 am

Quote from: Eric Blank on July 17, 2021, 11:52:07 pm

Alright, here's the save: https://dffd.bay12games.com/file.php?id=15602

You killed Nethrez! In fortress mode no less!

Well, he did settle in Dark Pits. He should have expected something like this.

Huh, I expected he'd get killed quickly soon after he was out of my control due to being a wrestling and fistfighting-focused adventurer, but I didn't think it'd be *that* quick. Ah well.

Also, since I've noticed that I'm listed as founding Dyezeal on the main page - BluarianKnight founded that place, as I briefly poked around there as Nethrez.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Yarlig on July 18, 2021, 02:00:45 pm

Actually' we've also had another adventurer die of old age - Zasit Brasshelped (DwarvenLord)' died in 792 at Treatyseed' aged 114. He's been enjoying his status as a baron of The Walled Dye for the past forty-something turns (!)' or 85 in-game years' doing absolutely nothing. Truly a fine example of dwarven nobility.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Eric Blank on July 18, 2021, 03:42:30 pm

Shit, was that the alligator man my dwarves killed in a raid? I sent a few out to the dark pits since they denied me caravans by sieging in early autumn three years in a row. It was all wildly successful off-site. On-site, lots of dwarves died. Like 30-40. One of my deadliest forts in recent years. Doesnt healp I was watching shit on youtube and left the game unpaused in the background.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on July 18, 2021, 04:31:47 pm

I've updated the turn list and map.

Quote from: Quantum Drop on July 18, 2021, 01:47:01 pm

Also, since I've noticed that I'm listed as founding Dyezeal on the main page - BluarianKnight founded that place, as I briefly poked around there as Nethrez.

Oops. I failed to spot that fortress after Bluarianknights turn. I have corrected it.

I've added Sealsabres to the map, and have also added a few camp sites I missed earlier, despite them being quite obvious. Northcamp, Jackaldens the Secretive Home of Disappearing and Mountaincrests the Last Shelter are now also on the map (not in the order they were founded)

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: nogoodnames on July 18, 2021, 04:39:54 pm

I think I was added to the turn list by accident. I didn't ask for another one after the last turn and I don't have time right now. That means it's Lurker Z's turn.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on July 19, 2021, 04:52:43 pm

Daaaaaang, I was almost afraid of that. Well, either this week or the next won't make much difference, because I'll be busy regardless. I'll play mostly over the weekend I guess, though I'll try to do so during the weekdays.

Thanks for the heads-up. Taking my turn up now I guess.

---

As I start my turn, I find out a bug: going into your meadhall announces your ascension to Lord, asks you to press enter... and does not recognize you pressing enter or any other key for that matter (except escape). Thankfully, it lets you retire, then return to adventuring with

Code: [Select]

set-timeskip-duration -hours 0 letting you return the next second... but it teleports you back to your starting house. Anyone else encounter the bug or know how to bypass it? (except not entering your own meadhall, which I'll do, but it's kinda sad).

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Yarlig on July 21, 2021, 06:08:34 pm

Quote from: Lurker Z on July 19, 2021, 04:52:43 pm

As I start my turn, I find out a bug: going into your meadhall announces your ascension to Lord, asks you to press enter... and does not recognize you pressing enter or any other key for that matter (except escape).
Anyone else encounter the bug or know how to bypass it? (except not entering your own meadhall, which I'll do, but it's kinda sad).

I had a quick look into this' and it seems that the game decided to repeat the announcement many times over' making it seem like it had frozen. You should actually be able to visit the meadhall' but it would require a fair bit of button mashing.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on July 23, 2021, 05:06:05 pm

Dead in ambush ("ambush"?) in Swordgleamed (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Thillecit). No gob casualties, sadly.

Ah well, was a bad (luck) turn anyway, Uja turned invisible while I was fighting her, so couldn't finish her off. Also all my stored books disappeared between saves and/or fast-travel, so I just wanted to get to the museum and get it over it. Wasn't meant to be, I guess.

Gonna use the weekend for some attempted fortress(es).

Question for other turns: is it considered bad form to possess an already living historical person for adventure turns? (i.e. using unretire-anyone). I have... ideas. I don't plan to possess a lord or anything.

PS For anyone thinking of retrieving my corpse, I'd be grateful, but keep in mind it's (probably) a kill-zone there. Thillecit has 4k creatures - the FPS drop wasn't that bad in my zone, even if around 20 creatures were crowding to get a piece of me - so just hope all 4k don't come and attack you and kill the FPS/game/save. If you can't, it is what it is. I do distinctly remember going through Thillecit in previous runs without getting attacked with the same char, I think I even entered its mead hall, so I'm not sure what triggered this or what will trigger an attack in the future.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: TheFlame52 on July 23, 2021, 05:42:10 pm

If it's just some nobody, I don't have a problem with it.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on July 25, 2021, 11:22:34 am

I am Lurker Onecbehal, and today, the 26th of Felsite of the year 794, is a very special day in my life. Today is the day I am free from this appropriately named Anguishrooted (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/%C3%91odduli) and go on my journey to finish what I started: to end Uja Kusutbepa (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Uja_Kusutbepa) and the threat she poses to the free peoples of Omon Obin and of Orid Xem. Petty of me, some would say, when there are much worse threats out there, that I am perfectly aware of. But this is something I must do. I have pondered greatly why I must do this, why I feel responsible. We lived in the same town, her and I, and we should be friends. We should be acquaintances. I should have been happy that she became Law-Giver of my own nation. Vampire or not, by the laws of nature, I should have tried to heal her as I did the old blood in her cabinet. But I did not. Why, one would ask. The answer is simple: her worship of Gopet the Putrid Cys (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Gopet_Slismuc%C3%A1kuth). That's right, in the end, it's religion, it's not about her being a night creature, though that helped me stake my claim on her removal. I was cowardly in not slaying as soon as I exposed her, though that may have been a blessing in disguise: Gods know if her blood would have turned any more innocents. But my cause is right: we've had too many weak-blood Law-Givers and if that wasn't bad enough, since Isun Cilbanulce (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Isun_Cilbanulce), otherwise revered to be of a Great House, all our Law-Givers had been worshipers of death and disease. This is unacceptable. I am proud of ending such a line of worshipers and setting things to some rights.

But how would I leave, some would ask. After all, I was exiled here since 771, over 23 years ago, seeing 2 more Law-Givers on the throne... the answer is as simple as is insane: the Omon Obin council, in its infinite wisdom (?!?!?!?!), has decided that my decision to send the amulet of our people to a museum ruled by a dwarven nation and founded by a goblin-ruled one was a wise decision (?!?!?!?!) and have also given me the title of Sage. Apparently, I am to make good relations with this sparse group of "adventurers of the Museum" in the hopes of averting more wars than with the goblins. Apparently, the horrors of the goblin massacres while we were in isolation have arrived to the ears of our illustrous leaders and they are understandably afraid.

It's great by me. I know what I have in mind to bring to the Museum: Uja's head.

But before that, I wake in the same room as the butcher Perom Manbaalu, the farmer Ñethu Zobshathedle and the planter Akkar Pasubthuslax. I feel I woke up from a strange dream and these people feel like strangers to me. I make small talk trying to reaquaint with them, but my mind is back on Señamatem (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Señamatem), on the death of Kiros (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Kiros_Acoejas) and Apup (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Apup_Wurthomod) and the ascension of Sahthet (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Sahthet_Workercrowds). Of my house on that hill, of... everything. It is as if a foul magic has lifted from my eyes coming with this letter: knowing the incompetent Ulosothrans (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Ulosothro), this wouldn't even surprise me.

I take a walk through the town, talking to the people that I find, taking one last look at my meadhall. I have an ominous feeling that Dumat will not let me leave if I enter it, so I leave with new haste.

At night, I take refuge in Licomimap (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Licomimap), where I find some interesting scrolls. Supposedly, some humans died of old age here, but I find nothing of the kind. I hope I do not blaspheme in doing this, but I suppose sharing with them with the world is better than letting them rot here. The black sand and ice are ominous here, but I have no choice but spend the night. While I may be overconfident in fighting a night creature, I carry a great load that I do not wish to leave on the ground to be forgotten or tediously re-taken until I reach Señamatem.

I see a beautiful clear diamond pedestal, but unfortunately I can't seem to move it. I'd love to bring it to a worthy place. Alas, to another comes the task.

I arrive at Thuslaxote the next day and find some more writings. Well, if the Gods left them for me...

Entry 2
I finally arrive at my true home on... Hematite 15?! I've lost an entirety of two weeks Gods-know-how. Well, I know what my first order of business is. Visit the meadhall and see who's there. Unfortunaly, I have to go to my old home and leave some things. Let's hope everything's still there...

Entry 3

Pages are missing from this journal, only a strange pictogram remains.

(https://i.imgur.com/EHhrmVS.png)

You read ahead...

Last entry
I get ambushed by goblins in Swordgleamed. Finally, the Gods smile upon me...
(https://i.imgur.com/NVx9h2p.png)

Epilogue

...At night, I take refuge in Licomimap, where I find some interesting scrolls...
...I see a beautiful clear diamond pedestal, but unfortunately I can't seem to move it...

Kikrost Drinkstaff looks with bewilderment, but then with greed at the parchment that has flown in his face, apparently given to him by the Gods themselves. He was planning an expedition regardless, this Licomimap may be the answer to his prayers...

---

OOC: Lurker's last line was by no means ironic and was written just as the ambush happened. I was overconfident in... everything I suppose, and got my char put down. Them's the breaks.

At least he died like he'd probably have wanted: trying to take as many goblins with him.

---

Well, I made my hole in the ground, nothing special.

Here's the save. (https://dffd.bay12games.com/file.php?id=15614)

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Yarlig on July 25, 2021, 05:09:49 pm

Very good story' shame it ended up being so brief. I'll download the save and hopefully get started tomorrow.

Also a question before I start: since we're allowed to have up to three playable peasants' and I have two surviving ones' would it be acceptable if I created a peasant adventurer' trained him up somewhat' then retired and had him join the party? Playing separately at first is mostly for narrative reasons.

Quote from: Lurker Z on July 23, 2021, 05:06:05 pm

Question for other turns: is it considered bad form to possess an already living historical person for adventure turns? (i.e. using unretire-anyone). I have... ideas. I don't plan to possess a lord or anything.

Concerning that' I think as long as the game remains stable' it's fine. Actually quite interested in what it might lead up to.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: ChaosPotato on July 27, 2021, 01:34:27 am

Am I allowed to use DFHack to temporarily possess a companion? I have...
uh
ideas
that require me to be able to switch between adventurers (once (or twice, if you count switching back to the original one)), but I don't want to play peasant and I'm not allowed to start with party members unless I play peasant.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on July 27, 2021, 10:13:50 am

Quote from: ChaosPotato on July 27, 2021, 01:34:27 am

Am I allowed to use DFHack to temporarily possess a companion? I have...
uh
ideas
that require me to be able to switch between adventurers (once (or twice, if you count switching back to the original one)), but I don't want to play peasant and I'm not allowed to start with party members unless I play peasant.

Pretty sure in previous turns people played companions in-game like their main char, if not necessarily in their after-action written report. Also pretty sure you can do this with vanilla DF.

I think the main condition for this game is to not lose your main char in the world (or to death) while gallivanting with their companions.

Ah, and since I remembered, Bralbaard, please add me to the turn list, thanks.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: ChaosPotato on July 28, 2021, 05:17:12 pm

Quote from: Lurker Z on July 27, 2021, 10:13:50 am

Quote from: ChaosPotato on July 27, 2021, 01:34:27 am

Am I allowed to use DFHack to temporarily possess a companion? I have...
uh
ideas
that require me to be able to switch between adventurers (once (or twice, if you count switching back to the original one)), but I don't want to play peasant and I'm not allowed to start with party members unless I play peasant.

Pretty sure in previous turns people played companions in-game like their main char, if not necessarily in their after-action written report. Also pretty sure you can do this with vanilla DF.

I think you can only do that with companions you started with.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on July 29, 2021, 01:11:55 pm

Quote from: ChaosPotato on July 28, 2021, 05:17:12 pm

I think you can only do that with companions you started with.

It doesn't sound all that different to me. Better wait for Bralbaard's reply, it should be coming by the time your turn rolls around...

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Quantum Drop on August 01, 2021, 08:14:50 am

It's been about a week - how're things coming along, Yarlig?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Yarlig on August 02, 2021, 07:49:35 am

Quote from: Quantum Drop on August 01, 2021, 08:14:50 am

It's been about a week - how're things coming along, Yarlig?

I didn't play much for most of the week due to IRL stuff cropping up' and much of what I did play was lost due to a crash; I managed to do a few things during the weekend and I'm heading with my submission (or three) right now - and with any luck' should have the first story update by evening. Uploading the save soon also.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Yarlig on August 03, 2021, 09:26:38 am

Alright' I'm done. Sorry for the delay.
Save's here: https://dffd.bay12games.com/file.php?id=15627

I've had the game crash several times' with two areas being especially affected. I've marked their approximate extents here:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/a1334463-8801-46e1-981e-b6460bcc4474/deoi63t-18d8ad47-022c-4a10-b37d-831b76a7245c.png?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOjdlMGQxODg5ODIyNjQzNzNhNWYwZDQxNWVhMGQyNmUwIiwiaXNzIjoidXJuOmFwcDo3ZTBkMTg4OTgyMjY0MzczYTVmMGQ0MTVlYTBkMjZlMCIsIm9iaiI6W1t7InBhdGgiOiJcL2ZcL2ExMzM0NDYzLTg4MDEtNDZlMS05ODFlLWI2NDYwYmNjNDQ3NFwvZGVvaTYzdC0xOGQ4YWQ0Ny0wMjJjLTRhMTAtYjM3ZC04MzFiNzZhNzI0NWMucG5nIn1dXSwiYXVkIjpbInVybjpzZXJ2aWNlOmZpbGUuZG93bmxvYWQiXX0.BX5DrmIHeF9bABA_n0DpRBFvGIcEosYcVGpMWvOKoTg)(https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/a1334463-8801-46e1-981e-b6460bcc4474/deoi63z-584a4fcf-d566-48b3-a332-b62a6151101f.png?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOjdlMGQxODg5ODIyNjQzNzNhNWYwZDQxNWVhMGQyNmUwIiwiaXNzIjoidXJuOmFwcDo3ZTBkMTg4OTgyMjY0MzczYTVmMGQ0MTVlYTBkMjZlMCIsIm9iaiI6W1t7InBhdGgiOiJcL2ZcL2ExMzM0NDYzLTg4MDEtNDZlMS05ODFlLWI2NDYwYmNjNDQ3NFwvZGVvaTYzei01ODRhNGZjZi1kNTY2LTQ4YjMtYTMzMi1iNjJhNjE1MTEwMWYucG5nIn1dXSwiYXVkIjpbInVybjpzZXJ2aWNlOmZpbGUuZG93bmxvYWQiXX0.1IjZGZtvF3ltqr15eNRqMqq8v89lz64box1cqWw1WRo)

The northern area (marked on the right) is' I suspect' my fault' as at the very beginning of my turn I decided' in a remarkable stroke of foolishness' that having ~three dozen sentient undead skins is a good idea. The game doesn't seem to know how to handle them' so steer clear; fortunately' no places of great importance seem to fall within it' and it can still be circumnavigated reasonably effectively. I'm not sure what's going on in the one in the other place' but it's' worryingly' at the very doorstep of Boltspumpkin. It doesn't crash with the same regularity though. In case the game is too bugged to play' I'm ready to take full responsibility and have the game continue from Lurker's save instead.

Moreover' the corpses that have been stored at Herograves are gone' along with the artifact candy sarcophagi they were stored in. LV claims that those are in the possession of their creator' Irthu Bladebroken. I only found one sarcophagus at the site' but it disappeared as well after I left and returned. The corpses of Pictham Contestlabored and Solon Riftworks' stored within the built wooden caskets' are fine though.

On a lighter note' I have the first update mostly ready now' but before I get to writing more' have a quick update here:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

• My submissions to Boltspumpking are: the carcass of Amazetones the Sunken Ways' undead sea serpent' which I slew personally; and a bag of fiendish soot' which is used to create husks. I'm still not sure which one would make a better official submission.
• To Herograves I submitted the corpses of Tipi Fatewalks and Lurker Lockkingdom. I think those are mostly complete' but some pieces might be missing.
• The skin of Ashro Scufflegrowls has been reanimated as a putrid ghoul' which might be the cause of a bug.
• Bolan Quickpainted has also been reanimated as a putrid ghoul and is currently at large.
• Zasit Brasshelped is still dead' as per:
  
  Quote from: Yarlig on July 18, 2021, 02:00:45 pm

  Zasit Brasshelped (DwarvenLord)' died in 792 at Treatyseed' aged 114.
• There should now be a fair number of undead goblins and other critters running about the world. Good hunting!

That should be all' expect a story update and possibly some bugtesting in near future.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Quantum Drop on August 03, 2021, 10:56:12 am

I have a nasty, sneaking suspicion as to why the corpses and sarcophagi at Herograves went AWOL. Going to try and do some testing. If it's right, I'm ready to accept full responsibility for buggering things up over there :(.

As for the bugged regions, I'm going to unpack the save and have a quick poke around them in adventurer and LV, see if I can try and nail down whatever may be causing such issues. Going off of a first glance, though, since the Boltspumpkin-adjacent bugged area is limited to three or four world tiles, it shouldn't be that difficult to navigate around it. We might be able to solve the issue with the seemingly bugged sentient skins through the same method NGN used to wipe out the massive HoP clusters, but I don't think it's all that big of an issue (since all it really does is force you to take a hard right at the Razorbridge Isthmus, or take the long way around) and I really don't want to think of the issues that might cause with game stability due to the historical figures that would be caught in the erasure.

On the subject of submissions, I'd say that the zombified sea serpent's corpse would be the more impressive 'official' submission, though that bag of husking dust will almost certainly see some use over the next few turns if you put it somewhere prominent in the Museum. Speaking of which: how *did* you get a bag of that soot? Was it RNG, or did you just spend a load of time waiting until you got lucky and a cloud rolled in?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Yarlig on August 03, 2021, 02:18:14 pm

Quote from: Quantum Drop on August 03, 2021, 10:56:12 am

As for the bugged regions, I'm going to unpack the save and have a quick poke around them in adventurer and LV, see if I can try and nail down whatever may be causing such issues. Going off of a first glance, though, since the Boltspumpkin-adjacent bugged area is limited to three or four world tiles, it shouldn't be that difficult to navigate around it. We might be able to solve the issue with the sentient skins through the same method as was used to wipe out the massive HoP clusters, but I don't think it's all that big of an issue (since all it really does is force you to take a hard right at the Razorbridge Isthmus, or take the long way around) and I really don't want to think of the issues that might cause with game stability due to the historical figures that would be caught in the erasure.

The boundaries are very rough' but one thing I made sure of was whether the Isthmus would still be usable. I'm somewhat afraid that the skins (assuming they are the source of the problem) might start spreading' or that other undead might turn out bugged - there was a lot of necromancy-related shenanigans. I'll try to have a look into this also.

Quote from: Quantum Drop on August 03, 2021, 10:56:12 am

Speaking of which: how *did* you get a bag of that soot? Was it RNG, or did you just spend a load of time waiting until you got lucky and a cloud rolled in?

Just dumb luck. I was strolling about Homesafe' trying to find Tipi's corpse' when I ran across a pile of this stuff. Only noticed because there was a log buried in it' making it show on a suspicious red background; otherwise' the soot looks just like red sand.

Also' the first (short) part of my writeup is here:

---

I am Hannibal Valleyball, capybara man. I was raised by my father, a human of the Creamy Confederacy, and as you can probably guess from my name, I was shown much love and attention in my childhood. It should not come as a surprise then that I decided to show my gratitude to my dear father by obtaining a much sought-after degree in medical studies, with a specialty in surgery.
(https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/a1334463-8801-46e1-981e-b6460bcc4474/deoi6kf-7fe1e6ac-a6ce-4934-8925-734e0d22b405.png?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOjdlMGQxODg5ODIyNjQzNzNhNWYwZDQxNWVhMGQyNmUwIiwiaXNzIjoidXJuOmFwcDo3ZTBkMTg4OTgyMjY0MzczYTVmMGQ0MTVlYTBkMjZlMCIsIm9iaiI6W1t7InBhdGgiOiJcL2ZcL2ExMzM0NDYzLTg4MDEtNDZlMS05ODFlLWI2NDYwYmNjNDQ3NFwvZGVvaTZrZi03ZmUxZTZhYy1hNmNlLTQ5MzQtODkyNS03MzRlMGQyMmI0MDUucG5nIn1dXSwiYXVkIjpbInVybjpzZXJ2aWNlOmZpbGUuZG93bmxvYWQiXX0.G8vnHx0LpOLC9eoy2kDsO0iddrulfbkzA4QBBk4TgB0)
I practiced my art at the hospital of Elderssins, where I performed many successful amputations. If ever in doubt of my abilities, ask mr. Bustburst:
(https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/a1334463-8801-46e1-981e-b6460bcc4474/deoij8b-9e0159cc-a0fd-4f24-a163-a8d54c8100d6.png/v1/fill/w_1280,h_524,q_80,strp/amputacja_by_yarlig_deoij8b-fullview.jpg?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOjdlMGQxODg5ODIyNjQzNzNhNWYwZDQxNWVhMGQyNmUwIiwiaXNzIjoidXJuOmFwcDo3ZTBkMTg4OTgyMjY0MzczYTVmMGQ0MTVlYTBkMjZlMCIsIm9iaiI6W1t7ImhlaWdodCI6Ijw9NTI0IiwicGF0aCI6IlwvZlwvYTEzMzQ0NjMtODgwMS00NmUxLTk4MWUtYjY0NjBiY2M0NDc0XC9kZW9pajhiLTllMDE1OWNjLWEwZmQtNGYyNC1hMTYzLWE4ZDU0YzgxMDBkNi5wbmciLCJ3aWR0aCI6Ijw9MTI4MCJ9XV0sImF1ZCI6WyJ1cm46c2VydmljZTppbWFnZS5vcGVyYXRpb25zIl19.c690U08-tIpu1FiP__xEjEiq_e3HuCF97DMYfiQusZY)
However, I do not intend to spend the rest of my career in this provincial facility. I plan to one day serve the law-giver himself. In order to attain necessary experience, I will travel and learn whatever there is about the art of dissection.

As I travel through the town of Orbsnarled, I come across a most interesting case:
(https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/a1334463-8801-46e1-981e-b6460bcc4474/deoi6k7-7dd0e4a1-86d3-4bff-819a-f023fb8572fb.png?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOjdlMGQxODg5ODIyNjQzNzNhNWYwZDQxNWVhMGQyNmUwIiwiaXNzIjoidXJuOmFwcDo3ZTBkMTg4OTgyMjY0MzczYTVmMGQ0MTVlYTBkMjZlMCIsIm9iaiI6W1t7InBhdGgiOiJcL2ZcL2ExMzM0NDYzLTg4MDEtNDZlMS05ODFlLWI2NDYwYmNjNDQ3NFwvZGVvaTZrNy03ZGQwZTRhMS04NmQzLTRiZmYtODE5YS1mMDIzZmI4NTcyZmIucG5nIn1dXSwiYXVkIjpbInVybjpzZXJ2aWNlOmZpbGUuZG93bmxvYWQiXX0.RGsyrDJaysTVQV8SNKWZN34zIYGGIkUfaDHGwNT0uuY)
I NEED to dissect this one! Quick, prepare the scalpel!
(https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/a1334463-8801-46e1-981e-b6460bcc4474/deoi6k1-15764369-2bd8-4838-87c9-503d42ac1c07.png?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOjdlMGQxODg5ODIyNjQzNzNhNWYwZDQxNWVhMGQyNmUwIiwiaXNzIjoidXJuOmFwcDo3ZTBkMTg4OTgyMjY0MzczYTVmMGQ0MTVlYTBkMjZlMCIsIm9iaiI6W1t7InBhdGgiOiJcL2ZcL2ExMzM0NDYzLTg4MDEtNDZlMS05ODFlLWI2NDYwYmNjNDQ3NFwvZGVvaTZrMS0xNTc2NDM2OS0yYmQ4LTQ4MzgtODdjOS01MDNkNDJhYzFjMDcucG5nIn1dXSwiYXVkIjpbInVybjpzZXJ2aWNlOmZpbGUuZG93bmxvYWQiXX0.kgOgCRmOOw_CY7sMGk7DMZvWTkvoLL-Y0kTW70jnhIA)
Perfect. Now, hold still...
(https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/a1334463-8801-46e1-981e-b6460bcc4474/deoiidq-351cdf10-09b9-4b9f-a26b-d2518cfeab80.png?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOjdlMGQxODg5ODIyNjQzNzNhNWYwZDQxNWVhMGQyNmUwIiwiaXNzIjoidXJuOmFwcDo3ZTBkMTg4OTgyMjY0MzczYTVmMGQ0MTVlYTBkMjZlMCIsIm9iaiI6W1t7InBhdGgiOiJcL2ZcL2ExMzM0NDYzLTg4MDEtNDZlMS05ODFlLWI2NDYwYmNjNDQ3NFwvZGVvaWlkcS0zNTFjZGYxMC0wOWI5LTRiOWYtYTI2Yi1kMjUxOGNmZWFiODAucG5nIn1dXSwiYXVkIjpbInVybjpzZXJ2aWNlOmZpbGUuZG93bmxvYWQiXX0.VZkHhcfCDB2b1dK-6cpJNN40IKZ7UE3J-qQfHsabAx0)
Oi! You varmint, biting your doctor like this? What ingratitude!
(https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/a1334463-8801-46e1-981e-b6460bcc4474/deoiidw-d8868211-74f0-4f30-a994-5dc465f52022.png?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOjdlMGQxODg5ODIyNjQzNzNhNWYwZDQxNWVhMGQyNmUwIiwiaXNzIjoidXJuOmFwcDo3ZTBkMTg4OTgyMjY0MzczYTVmMGQ0MTVlYTBkMjZlMCIsIm9iaiI6W1t7InBhdGgiOiJcL2ZcL2ExMzM0NDYzLTg4MDEtNDZlMS05ODFlLWI2NDYwYmNjNDQ3NFwvZGVvaWlkdy1kODg2ODIxMS03NGYwLTRmMzAtYTk5NC01ZGM0NjVmNTIwMjIucG5nIn1dXSwiYXVkIjpbInVybjpzZXJ2aWNlOmZpbGUuZG93bmxvYWQiXX0.o_7oEL4oLNK_-ilZHMFB57BnL6GFhsR0Z_nC3nCtSZI)
Oh dear. It seems the patient did not survive the ordeal. Ah well, the worse for him; It’s still much valuable experience for me. However, the whole effort made me a tad bit peckish. Let’s sate my hunger with some specialty I took from home.
(https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/a1334463-8801-46e1-981e-b6460bcc4474/deoii4w-2c85356c-ce0f-45d8-bd73-ed7acf6fbed3.png?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOjdlMGQxODg5ODIyNjQzNzNhNWYwZDQxNWVhMGQyNmUwIiwiaXNzIjoidXJuOmFwcDo3ZTBkMTg4OTgyMjY0MzczYTVmMGQ0MTVlYTBkMjZlMCIsIm9iaiI6W1t7InBhdGgiOiJcL2ZcL2ExMzM0NDYzLTg4MDEtNDZlMS05ODFlLWI2NDYwYmNjNDQ3NFwvZGVvaWk0dy0yYzg1MzU2Yy1jZTBmLTQ1ZDgtYmQ3My1lZDdhY2Y2ZmJlZDMucG5nIn1dXSwiYXVkIjpbInVybjpzZXJ2aWNlOmZpbGUuZG93bmxvYWQiXX0.P3JzD56ZlaEQ5s9J1YRiI1Dz1Wg3C60hhfwpEbdMHEg)
Scrumptious.

---

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Yarlig on August 04, 2021, 02:47:21 pm

Okay' I've some good news about the bugs. It seems the area around Elderssins can be visited under certain circumstances. I was able to approach the site from the north and coast and meet (and get ambushed by and kill) the walking skins' so it seems they're not the source of the problem in and of themselves. However' when I went closer to the site' the game'd crash anyway.

I then made a fort right at the doorstep of Elderssins' retired and started an adventurer; I went to the site on foot without using fast travel and entered it with no issue' witnessing this:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/a1334463-8801-46e1-981e-b6460bcc4474/deokvaj-80031469-db18-4722-a67e-5889e979f810.png?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOjdlMGQxODg5ODIyNjQzNzNhNWYwZDQxNWVhMGQyNmUwIiwiaXNzIjoidXJuOmFwcDo3ZTBkMTg4OTgyMjY0MzczYTVmMGQ0MTVlYTBkMjZlMCIsIm9iaiI6W1t7InBhdGgiOiJcL2ZcL2ExMzM0NDYzLTg4MDEtNDZlMS05ODFlLWI2NDYwYmNjNDQ3NFwvZGVva3Zhai04MDAzMTQ2OS1kYjE4LTQ3MjItYTY3ZS01ODg5ZTk3OWY4MTAucG5nIn1dXSwiYXVkIjpbInVybjpzZXJ2aWNlOmZpbGUuZG93bmxvYWQiXX0.5hoHb6mstJAL8OhiZd5ZRJ9STgy1mX1-1KRbmTwiQ8g)

After that' I fasttraveled away and the entire perimeter was fine; no crashes' no freezing' I could enter Elderssins as well. It might be advisable that the next player make a fort at that exact spot.

I'll try to have a look if it remains stable' and whether it can be replicated with the Boltspumpkin buggy area.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on August 05, 2021, 03:53:58 pm

I failed to notice earlier that the save was posted. That makes it Atomic chickens turn.

Quote from: Lurker Z on July 25, 2021, 11:22:34 am

Last entry
I get ambushed by goblins in Swordgleamed. Finally, the Gods smile upon me...

So you went to Swordgleamed and the only thing that ambushed you were two goblins? If I'm not mistaken that is the town where we had ambushes by *thousands* of bandits before. It would be an interesting development if they are gone. (Not that this ambush was less deadly though)

Quote from: ChaosPotato on July 27, 2021, 01:34:27 am

Am I allowed to use DFHack to temporarily possess a companion? I have...
uh
ideas
that require me to be able to switch between adventurers (once (or twice, if you count switching back to the original one)), but I don't want to play peasant and I'm not allowed to start with party members unless I play peasant.

For roleplay reasons it is fine. I mean, don't recruit a demon companion and possess him, or similar unbalanced stuff :-p.

Quote from: Yarlig (from under the spoiler tag) on August 03, 2021, 09:26:38 am

• My submissions to Boltspumpking are: the carcass of Amazetones the Sunken Ways' undead sea serpent' which I slew personally; and a bag of fiendish soot' which is used to create husks. I'm still not sure which one would make a better official submission.
• To Herograves I submitted the corpses of Tipi Fatewalks and Lurker Lockkingdom. I think those are mostly complete' but some pieces might be missing.
• The skin of Ashro Scufflegrowls has been reanimated as a putrid ghoul' which might be the cause of a bug.
• Bolan Quickpainted has also been reanimated as a putrid ghoul and is currently at large.
• Zasit Brasshelped is still dead' as per:
  
  Quote from: Yarlig on July 18, 2021, 02:00:45 pm

  Zasit Brasshelped (DwarvenLord)' died in 792 at Treatyseed' aged 114.
• There should now be a fair number of undead goblins and other critters running about the world. Good hunting!

Both artifact suggestions sound great; let me know when you make up your mind. I'll update the information on Herograves.
Note that any non-artifact items that are missing from the Herograves may simply have scattered about the site itself. This sometimes happens, but is not reproducible, at many sites. It actually happened at the museum in my very first turn (but thankfully not afterwards), and happened at monkeycurse as well after Raki dropped the slab on the ocean floor. Artifacts can also teleport to other sites due different bugs, that are also poorly understood.

About the game crashing bugs, I think those have been around for a while and are not unique to your save game, if you are confident you have fixed some of it with that fortress you constructed, than we could start from your current save if you reupload it? Anyhow, I have not messaged atomic chicken yet, so let me know if that is an option.
 
I will be away from my computer for the next two weeks, so I'll move myself down the turn list a bit.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Yarlig on August 05, 2021, 05:27:06 pm

Quote from: Bralbaard on August 05, 2021, 03:53:58 pm

About the game crashing bugs, I think those have been around for a while and are not unique to your save game, if you are confident you have fixed some of it with that fortress you constructed, than we could start from your current save if you reupload it? Anyhow, I have not messaged atomic chicken yet, so let me know if that is an option.

I have to admit that I did message Atomic Chicken to keep the game running smoothly' although with no reply as of yet; apologies for causing chaos.
The test save where I fixed the area is very messy anyway; I should be able to easily replicate it' however' so I could post it tomorrow' if Atomic isn't playing already.

Quote from: Bralbaard on August 05, 2021, 03:53:58 pm

Both artifact suggestions sound great; let me know when you make up your mind. I'll update the information on Herograves.

After mulling it over a bit' I think I'll go with Quantum's suggestion and submit the ghoulish sea serpent's corpse; it's more of an achievement' and the soot is in an out of the way corner anyways.

Quote from: Bralbaard on August 05, 2021, 03:53:58 pm

So you went to Swordgleamed and the only thing that ambushed you were two goblins? If I'm not mistaken that is the town where we had ambushes by *thousands* of bandits before. It would be an interesting development if they are gone. (Not that this ambush was less deadly though)

Actually' I also went to Swordgleamed and got an army again; however' when I left it later' the single asterisk dispersed into many individual units; I tracked one down and it was a single goblin priest' traveling to take up their position in some faraway village.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Atomic Chicken on August 05, 2021, 09:58:06 pm

Work's consuming all of my energy at the moment; I'm going to have to pass on this turn to the next person on the list.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Yarlig on August 06, 2021, 06:37:49 am

In that case' I'm going to tinker with the save' look if I can fix those broken areas; I'll edit the save into this post and if Bralbaard allows' we could continue from it.

Alright' I tried a few times and I can't seem to replicate the earlier success' although I did get it slightly more manageable; I can walk from the fortress to Elderssins' and then roam about the area' but at some point the game inevitably crashes. It doesn't happen in the older test save; this might be due to me having built two fortresses in the area in that save' or due to me unretiring Sealsabres and sending a squad to try and wipe out those skins. In any case' I think it would require too much intrusion and/or effort to fix what seems like a relatively harmless bug' so I guess I'll leave the old save as it was.
One thing that seems to bug out in the area is that I sometimes fall down and can't stand up because 'somebody else is standing here' when in fact there is no one there; it seems the mass resurrection has caused the game to think that someone should occupy certain tiles.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on August 06, 2021, 08:10:31 am

Hmm that last thing is an interesting observation, some types of undead can become invisible and completely undetectable by adventurers. We've had people die to ambushes of invisible creatures before, but if you are a necromancer they could be friendly to you. They could then also occupy the same tile as you described. 

We'll just continue from the existing save then. I assume there is a broken historical figure somewhere that crashes the game if you encounter him, and he might have moved out during your first attempt.
Just make sure to save often when you play a turn.

I'll PM Glloyd.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on August 06, 2021, 11:30:56 am

Thanks for adding me back to the turn list.

Quote from: Bralbaard on August 05, 2021, 03:53:58 pm

Quote from: Lurker Z on July 25, 2021, 11:22:34 am

Last entry
I get ambushed by goblins in Swordgleamed. Finally, the Gods smile upon me...

So you went to Swordgleamed and the only thing that ambushed you were two goblins?

Around twenty, actually. Not enough to kill my FPS by a long shot, not how The Shelter of Adventurers did. Is The Shelter still borked, by the way? I'm not sure after reading some of the latest discussions.

The plan, ironically, wasn't even to do any work there, I was just passing through by way of fast-travel, then "I felt uneasy". Some of them approached me, I tried talking to them, but no dice. They just straight up attacked me and I wanted to take some goblins down, so I didn't mind at the time.

As for not being zerg swarmed, it might be the location. I was traveling from east to west (from the fiasco in Señamatem (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Se%C3%B1amatem), naturally), or so I remember, maybe there's less of a cluttering of NPCs there?

Quote from: Bralbaard on August 05, 2021, 03:53:58 pm

It would be an interesting development if they are gone. (Not that this ambush was less deadly though).

Last time I checked (which was a while ago), there were still 4k creatures skulking around. It's easy to check, just go into Dwarf Fortress mode, search the place on the map, select all the squares that belong to it, then embark and look at "Others" in the Units menu.

---

So going back to old saves, I see a recurrent bug that I'm not sure was ever brought up either here or on the main bug report:

(https://i.imgur.com/EJ0qKmq.png)

Adventurers that become nobles (or even all adventurers, I'm not sure), die of dehydration as soon as you claim the capital. This is inconvenient because I wanted to see what location adventurers were Barons/Counts of, for example, there are creatures where you claim the capital that say "baron of place X" or "baron of place Y" like this (https://i.imgur.com/ChyBPqr.png). There's another way to do this, just see who takes their place when they die, at least those don't die of dehydration. But I just though I'd point out this weird bug.

---

Some more weird events from Legends Mode, I present to you the saga of the female giant grizzly bear Weatheredroof:

Spoiler: Not actually a spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/to9uzpE.png)

---

Glad to have you more involved in the discussion, Bralbaard.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Glloyd on August 06, 2021, 06:25:45 pm

You'll also have to skip me. I didn't expect the turn to come to me this quickly, and I'm away from my computer for the next two weeks, so just bump me to the end of the turn list. Sorry!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Eric Blank on August 07, 2021, 06:25:59 pm

I forgot to request another turn! May i?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on August 08, 2021, 02:00:26 pm

Sure! I'll update the turn list.
It's chaospotato's turn.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on August 13, 2021, 03:11:53 pm

No response, Imic is next.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Imic on August 17, 2021, 06:48:11 pm

I won't be able to do my turn this time, sorry.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on August 19, 2021, 12:02:42 pm

Quote from: Imic on August 17, 2021, 06:48:11 pm

I won't be able to do my turn this time, sorry.

Sorry to hear that, that makes it Bluarianknight's turn.

Should I move you down the list a few places Imic?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: ChaosPotato on August 25, 2021, 11:26:45 am

I forgot that this existed, sorry.

Just cancel my turn and I will ask for a new one once I actually have access to my main computer (typed this on my old laptop) again.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Quantum Drop on August 25, 2021, 02:32:19 pm

Speaking of turns, it's been nearly a week without any posts (confirmation or otherwise) by Bluarianknight. Should we skip?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on August 26, 2021, 01:28:31 am

Quote from: Quantum Drop on August 25, 2021, 02:32:19 pm

Speaking of turns, it's been nearly a week without any posts (confirmation or otherwise) by Bluarianknight. Should we skip?

Yes we should. That makes it your turn, Quantum  :).

Also for everyone who missed their turn over the last few weeks, feel free to sign up for a new attempt.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Quantum Drop on August 26, 2021, 10:38:09 am

Got the save.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: BluarianKnight on August 30, 2021, 04:07:38 pm

Sorry about that - I just got the ping. Life got in the way.

Will continue to be busy, so I won't be taking another turn for a while - apologies.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Quantum Drop on September 02, 2021, 04:02:26 pm

Crownhall the City of Stone, c. 24th Limestone 798

The latest merchant caravan had returned from its travels, bringing with it unexpected news. The normally inhospitable dwarves of Datanzalis Stinugosh had broken from their insular ways to offer the caravan a tribute of some form: a great chest sealed with iron chains and locks, which the merchants had been instructed to deliver to the ruler of Adilatír in person.

The various nobles of the dwarven court were already seated in council by the time the tribute arrived, manhandled through the door by a pair of the caravan’s armoured guards, their . Behind them marched a third dwarf, clad in iron armour that bristled with bony nodules and barbaric war-trophies, a well-worn iron war hammer at his side and a scratched shield on his wrist.

As the three of them reached the gathered dwarves, the messenger inclined his helmed head sharply to the gathered nobles and monarch.

“My lords,” The dwarf began. “I come bearing tribute from the fortress of Datanzalis Stinugosh.”

“Oh?” The noble raised an eyebrow, peering at the chest carried between the two armoured dwarves in open curiosity. “Do tell.”

The two dwarves carefully set their burden down onto the polished stone of the floor, before the first carefully unfastened the heavy iron chains and locks. A quick heave from the second raised the lid.

The reaction among the gathered dwarves was immediate. There were hisses of indrawn breath, a general murmur of shock, and more than one thunderous oath – within the chest, a half-dozen finely-crafted battle axes lay, each and every one forged of shining adamantine.

---

Save is up. (https://dffd.bay12games.com/file.php?id=15650)

My official submission to the museum is the colossal steel breastplate and helmet of Handbane the Legendary Slayer of Bugs.

Spoiler: Turn Summary (click to show/hide)

• There should be a couple hundred new ghouls all over the place, along with a few new intelligent undead and several sites of reanimated skeletons. Good hunting.
• Ketas is retired in the camp of Ghoulcreek, located near the Razorbridge Isthmus (originally wanted them to retire in an all-ghoul settlement, but that only gave the ‘Give in to starvation’ option). Kosoth is dead and awaiting resurrection due to the above issue, guarded by Ketas.
• Curiously, blighted thralls seem to be capable of showing up at your fortress as part of a migrant wave, upon which they will immediately turn hostile and try to eat other migrants. This only seemed to happen around ~1.5-2 years after Ironwards was unretired, but it’s still something to look out for if unretiring or founding a new fort.
• Ironwards has breached hell and begun establishing a foothold there. The site may have some FPS issues (not ‘freezing the game’ bad, but definitely slower than average) due to a large amount of overall detritus and a fuckhueg amount of liquid tiles, but a number of adamantine weapons (and some wafers, for the advforters among us) are there for the taking if you wish to claim them.

I'll write up and post the turn over the next few days, as I'm going to be preoccupied moving house (again; yay for university?) tomorrow. As always, I would like to be put down for another turn.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on September 02, 2021, 05:18:11 pm

Oh man, a third Museum?

I’m sure most of you won’t remember me but I played a few turns in the first museum in 2014.

Not played DF in ages but have been feeling the itch… going to read all 69 pages of this!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on September 03, 2021, 02:42:07 am

Quote from: kesperan on September 02, 2021, 05:18:11 pm

I’m sure most of you won’t remember me but I played a few turns in the first museum in 2014.

I sure remember!  We have shamelessly taken some of your ideas for the original museum and ran with them (like the overview tables). Happy to see you are still around :-)

That makes it Unraveller's turn. I've send him a PM.
I will update the maps and information sections later.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Unraveller on September 03, 2021, 03:03:36 am

I will likely be unable to play for about half the allotted week. So in the end I probably will not make a fortress, but I should still have time to adventure. Hopefully the game doesn't implode in stability!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Unraveller on September 05, 2021, 09:49:10 pm

Sorry to keep you folks waiting for nothing after all, I don't believe I'm going to be able to get to my turn even started this week. So it's best we pass it on to the next. If I could be bumped down a few names, I'd be happy with that.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on September 06, 2021, 04:13:52 pm

No problem, I'll bump you down two places.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on September 06, 2021, 04:32:00 pm

Alright... have read all 69 pages.

Wow.

Some amazing adventures here, a few hell-walkers like ol' Dishmab the Deathless.

Please, sign me up for a turn. Going to have to play some adventure mode to throw the cobwebs off!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on September 06, 2021, 04:39:39 pm

Signed up. Welcome back!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on September 06, 2021, 04:40:58 pm

Long time lurker, first time poster. I would love to get in on this.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on September 06, 2021, 04:46:18 pm

Welcome to the forum :) I have updated the list.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: ChaosPotato on September 06, 2021, 05:03:16 pm

this used to say something

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on September 07, 2021, 02:02:38 pm

Alright, got the PM, I'll see if I have time this week. At worst, I'll announce at the end of the weekend if I did anything or not. It seems it's a busy time of the year all-around.

---

Does anyone know why I only have 7 (there's an irony there somewhere) starting locations as an Adilatír citizen? Also the demon race you could start with disappeared (Hand of Planegifts (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Hand_of_Planegifts) is still available).

(https://i.imgur.com/boMEsr8.png)

---

Apparently, you can't start as a member of Nomal Alis. Was it always like this?

---

After a short check on Turn 1, it appears that this was always the case. You learn something new every turn, I guess. It looks like adventurer starting locations never update after world activation.

---

Nevermind, now it has a lot more locations. Maybe I used the wrong save?...

---

(https://i.imgur.com/gZfZu3x.png)

Now this. I'm sure I left a strict 30 pop cap there. Legends Viewer agrees with me. Is the game inventing pops in player forts or what?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Quantum Drop on September 08, 2021, 11:23:59 am

The Fortress

In the dwarven fortress of Datanzalis Stinugosh, the military is everything. Having been founded mere hours away from the goblin stronghold of The Dark River, its dwellers were forced to militarize almost from the moment of its birth in order to survive. Much of the dense forest around the volcano into which the fort was carved was brought down to feed the ever-hungry forges, leaving barren brown soil in its wake as the sky filled with the black, acrid smoke of the fortress’ arms industry – actions from which the vegetation is yet to truly recover.

Kosoth Salvesank was one of those tasked with feeding the forges and the industry of war that the fortress ran upon. He was smaller and slower than the other dwarves, much more used to the clear air and rockier land of the mountain halls in the east.

He had come from those distant peaks in the hope of joining the fortress’s soldiers; like many others, he had heard of Adilatir’s sudden militance and the abrupt increases in military actions. He’d sought the honour and glory inherent to joining the ranks of such a militarized fortress. The military, of course, had taken one look and deemed him unfit for service in the frontlines, relegating him to the sweltering forges that formed the heart of the fortress.

It was that which saw him beside one of the few remaining trees, right at the very edge of the fortress’s boundaries. Kosoth had heard the tales of Bil Hammertome and Glloyd Ancientborn the Round, of Lonelythrall and Fidale Umberrazors, told and retold by the few travellers the fortress received. Heroes one and all – and almost all hailing from humble origins. If the military thought him unfit to stand with them, he’d prove himself as the adventurers of old had.

While he had lost track of his original plans in the rush of excitement, nerves, and preparations, Kosoth had hung around the main hall of the fortress enough to learn that to the south-east lay a number of hamlets and encampments – all near to the Grand Museum of Boltspumpkin, a place equal parts legendary and infamous for the way it attracted mercenaries, wanderers, and adventurers of all stripes.

When he’d finally managed to pluck up the courage to ask if any of the few travellers visiting the fortress knew where he might find someone to train him in combat in those settlements, most of them had simply shrugged him off, or denied any knowledge of such people so fiercely that he had almost slunk off to the alcohol storage in embarrassment. Eventually, however, one of them – a hard-eyed, faintly sinister-looking character, wrapped from head to toe in thick robes – had quietly drawn him aside to their table. 

The creature stared across the table at him, seemingly gauging his expression, before slipping a small shred of paper across the table to him.

«Go south-east to the town of Diptramples,» It read, in a tight, neat script. «Seek out the surgeon from Scarletbronze. Tell him that Belom sent you.»

By the time Kosoth looked up from the paper, the creature was already gone.

It had been difficult, sneaking out past the guards with a backpack full of dwarf-sized armour and a couple iron weapons. He’d half-expected to be dragged out of the crowds moving through the fort’s corridors and denounced as a thief, but he’d managed to slip out through the maze’s gate and run over the sweating iron of the moat’s bridge, out into the barrens beyond.

Kosoth hesitated one moment, looking back over his shoulder at the bulk of the volcano and hill. Some tiny part of him knew he’d never return – ‘borrowing’ the gear he wore from the armoury all but guaranteed that – but the rest of him was too busy buzzing with the excitement of what he was about to do.

He shook his head and breathed deep, silently resolving to return from his adventures in triumph or not at all, and began the journey that would lead him to the hamlets and towns south-east of the fortress.

---

The Surgeon

When he first arrived at Diptramples, Kosoth’s first impression was that of emptiness. The town’s streets were almost entirely bereft of people, even at the height of the day. Dust and shreds of litter blew through the empty streets as he walked toward the squat, broad hall. He had heard of such buildings; they were the human equivalent of taverns. If the supposed surgeon was to be anywhere, he hoped it’d be there.

He pushed open the door and half-walked, half-crept inside. The hall was almost completely empty, with a thick layer of dust across the smooth stone of the floor and the bulky pedestals set against the walls. A few decaying rags of cloth caught against his iron boots as he came to a halt, eyes flicking about as he searched for any sign of habitation.

“Hello?” He called out. “Is anyone there?”

Something shifted in the silent mead hall, somewhere between the low creaking of wood and the noise of shifting leather. Kosoth turned to face the source of the noise, hand creeping down to the iron morningstar and mace (liberated from the long-dead bodies of an invading goblin and the armoury, respectively) at his side.

The source of the noise swiftly became clear as a hooded human came marching down the stairs, robed frame bedecked with odd fetishes and carved bone icons. The man paused as he saw Kosoth, fingers running to touch the leather-wrapped handle of an axe. He was lightly-armoured, compared to Kosoth, wearing only a simple set of copper gauntlets and boots.

“What are you looking for, dwarf?”

“A surgeon from Scarletbronze. Someone called Belom sent me –”

The human raised a gauntleted hand, cutting him off mid-sentence.

“You found him. My name is Ketas Indigovaulted. Now… precisely what is it that Belom sent you here to do?” Though his features were unreadable beneath his hood, Kosoth had the distinct impression he was being glared at. “I doubt you were sent here simply to deliver a message.”

“I… I want to be a soldier. Belom told me you could train me as -”

Without another word, the man strode past Kosoth, toward the still-open doors of the mead hall. Kosoth was forced to half-run to catch up to the human, struggling to match his purposeful stride.
“Where- where are you going?”

The human paused a moment, let out a low, rasping sigh, then turned to stare down his nose at Kosoth.

“We are going to train.” He crossed his arms, light glinting off the edge of the copper shield he wore. “Follow me.”

The next few hours were something of a blur. The ‘training’ seemed to amount to little more than instructing him to seize hold of a small, nearby animal, then dodge and block as best as he could.

It was night by the time they stopped. Kosoth’s arms and fingers were covered in small gashes from the pecking of ravens, he was barely able to stand upright from the aching in his legs, and his beard was matted with sweat, blood, and small chunks of bird. Ketas had not been idle, either – his fists and chest were similarly cut up and his bare chest was shiny with sweat, but he was still standing where Kosoth was about ready to collapse over.

Ketas nodded approvingly as Kosoth released the creature he had caught in his fist; the dwarf was advancing faster than he had anticipated.

“Armok… damn…” Kosoth wheezed from the ground, having finally collapsed from exhaustion. “How’d… how’s a surgeon know…”

“I come from Scarletbronze, dwarf.” Ketas retorted, bending down to begin setting up the campfire for the night. “When you stitch enough half-dead men up, you learn how to take them apart.” He bent down to press a wooden cup against Kosoth's mouth, filled with a pungent, foul-tasting fluid. "Drink this and get some rest. We start early tomorrow.”

---

The Museum

It was around a week later that the training concluded. Kosoth had shed much of his former fat, and many of the tiny cuts and scabs had changed into thin, curving scars across his hands and chest. His armour was scratched and dented and soaked through in several places with sweat and blood after a run-in with a pack of dingoes. Despite everything, he could not deny a feeling of elation – he was hardly on par with Sarvesh or any of the other captains, but he was learning how to fight!

"You have done well, Kosoth." Ketas remarked, watching on as the dwarf finished re-packing his gear. Though he'd doubted the brew would work as intended, at first, the effects it was showing so far were promising indeed - the dwarf was proving a swift learner both physically and mentally, all while fulfilling its secondary function.

"Where to now, then, sir?"

“South – if anyone knows where to find glory, they will be at the Museum.”

Little further in the way of talking was required. The two adventurers set off at speed as the sun crested the horizon, pausing only briefly to feed and water themselves. It was around mid-day by the time the two of them walked through the doors of the Museum itself.

As Kosoth conversed with the staff and retired adventurers below, no-one noticed Ketas slip away from the group, nor when he crept up the stairs to the higher levels of the keep. No-one noticed when he slipped back down them, a tiny bag carefully concealed within the pouches of his rope-reed skirt.

Several more minutes of back-and-forth natter and discussion would pass before one of the Museum’s staff – an ancient goblin woman – mentioned a rumour of dark goings-on to the south-east, in a tiny hamlet by the name of Inchedtwists.

At the urging of Ketas, Kosoth would agree to investigate the settlement and bring back word as to whether or not the rumours were true.

With that, it was decided – and with it, the fate of many an unfortunate they would encounter in the future.

The Infection

Inchedtwists, at first glance, seemed entirely abandoned. Several of the houses sported sides choked by weeds and the occasional bush; others were entirely abandoned, the roofs collapsing inwards or covered in a thick head of aboveground moss. The streets were entirely empty, without a single wandering animal – tame or wild – to be seen, as was so commonly the case with abandoned or fallen settlements.

Ketas and Kosoth moved through the hamlet cautiously, aware of the possibility for creatures lurking in wait. Both of them had their weapons drawn and shields raised, eyes flicking from corner to corner as they advanced upon the mead hall that dominated the hamlet’s skyline.

The two had barely reached the doors of the hall when the wooden doors bulged outwards, then gave way with a resounding crash. Splinters of wood pinged off their hastily-raised shields as the duo looked into the shadows of the hall, trying to see the cause of the sudden destruction.

Within the hall, two figures were brawling furiously with one another – a goblin and a human. Or, at least, what had once been a goblin and a human: the former’s hunched frame was grotesquely proportioned, pallid skin stretched almost to the point of tearing over thick ropes of unnatural muscle; an infernal red glow blazed from its blank eyes, burning with murderous intent. Its opponent looked little better – much of its skin was covered in dozens of thick, knobbly blisters and growths, pus spewing into the air as several ruptured under a punch from its foe; what little was not blistered was red and raw, hanging off from the body in bloodied flaps to expose the teeth, or torn away entirely to reveal an eye bulging free of its socket.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/JPGvI34.png?1)

Startled for a moment, Ketas swiftly shook off his surprise and rushed full-force against the goblin, driving his copper battle axe down into the shoulder of the grotesque creature.

There was a moment of resistance as the metal met the bone, then the entire arm fell away from the shoulder, arcing off to smack against one of the walls. The goblin, seemingly recognising the threat posed to it, attempted to half-punch, half-claw at him; Ketas replied by nearly side-stepping the goblin’s fist, letting it split the air beside his hip before rushing forth once again. A second blow severed the beast’s left hand; a third proved fatal, severing the creature’s head from its shoulders entirely.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/onQo8vm.png)

Opposite from him, Kosoth was engaged in a brutal brawl with the human. His mace struck hard against the ghoulish creature’s arm and hand, shattering bone and bruising muscle with each blow; the ghoulish woman retorting with jabs of the ceremonial knives she had drawn from her belt. Her mutilated features were twisted in a look of murderous fury, seemingly unhindered by the injuries her body was sustaining. A hasty swing towards her head missed, the ghoul darting in under his guard to sink her teeth deeply into the flesh of his hand.

Kosoth pulled back with a hiss of pain, instinctively clutching the bitten hand against his chest. A retaliatory blow from his mace caved in the ghoul’s skull, twisting the head about to an inhuman degree; its filthy nails raked across the mail shirt covering his chest in reply, sending him staggering back for several steps.

Ketas wasted little time in charging across the room to deal the death-blow. As with the goblin he had been facing moments before, his axe sheared through the ghoulish woman’s throat, before a rough shove sent both head and body clattering to the stone.

With both threats out of the way, Ketas whipped around to face Kosoth. The dwarf’s bite wound was beginning to close up even as blisters sprang up around the site of the bite. The supernatural contagion that the ghoul had carried was beginning to spread through his blood, and quickly, at that. He resisted the urge to grin; this was a type of undead he had never witnessed before, even in Scarletbronze, and he had little doubt that his fellows in Omon Obin would be interested in such a being's occurrence.

Ketas cast his mind back to the Museum – there had been a slab there, buried beneath a pile of similar artefacts. He’d read it while the staff and retired adventurers were distracted; learned the secrets of life and death from under their noses. It was now that that the knowledge contained on the slab came to the forefront of his mind: the nature of such ghoulish entities, the ways by which they could be created and controlled – it would seem that the very same contagion described on that slab was now raging through the body of the dwarf before him, transforming him into something greater -

His train of thought was interrupted by a sudden, flaring pain in his muscles. His eyes snapped down to the pouch at his side – and the tear in the cloth, from which a quantity of dark, sooty powder was trickling onto an exposed section of his skin.

Ketas Indigovaulted was not normally one for foul language. As his muscles began to bulge and grow in the same manner that those of the goblin had, however, the stream of curses he let loose with could have turned the air blue.

---

Post-scriptum: This tale is probably going to be shorter overall than my past writeups, since the vast majority of what they did amounted to running around creating ghouls, killing the occasional demon,  creating more ghouls, exploring one site, then creating yet more ghouls.

As a side note, I think (not entirely sure) that I've figured out why the named Herograves sarcophagi went AWOL. The TL;DR of it is that it would seem that I *dropped* them then put the adventurers' corpses in them rather than actually *building* them then putting the adventurers' corpses in, which would explain why they abruptly vanished and (maybe?) reappeared in Irthu's posession. My apologies for unwittingly causing that whole mess  :-[.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on September 08, 2021, 06:19:30 pm

This is a real Undead/Necromancer Boogaloo.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on September 09, 2021, 06:59:38 pm

In case anyone is wondering, adventurer died, doing the fort, will post it at the end of the week.

I'm glad you could post the story, QD. Unfortunately, I don't have the time to read it right now. I really should read the whole thread start-to-finish someday, I know I missed a lot.

Welcome AvolitionBrit and kesperan, looking forward to your turns.

---

Things I learned my turn:
* My fortress is lagging in adventure mode. Not as bad as game-breaking, but pretty bad. It might be the refuse stockpile I made just next to the entrance. It might be the trade depot. It might be all those rocks lying around... In that case, it'll probably be laggier by the time I give the game...
* I started in adventure mode in my fortress and it dumped me in the underground roads. Good because loot lying around, bad because I found no way out. I had to questport back to my fortress.
* Next time I start in adventure mode, I'll equip myself in the best my fortress has to offer. It's not that overpowered since I'm not militarily inclined, but I've traded in some hopefully good stuff.
* Attacking random goblins in adventure mode gets you killed by random swordhumans. Who knew?
* Despite some people's worries, the game runs excellent, both in adventure mode and in fortress mode. Maybe there are just bad patches in the world?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on September 11, 2021, 09:14:22 am

Thanks, im looking forward to it. From games ive played you do tend to get those bad patches with too many units on the map.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on September 12, 2021, 02:37:58 pm

Here's the save. (https://dffd.bay12games.com/file.php?id=15660)

More things I learned:
* One of Ketas' experiments came by as Omon Obin's Guild Representative (their equivalent of outpost liaison/former Law-Giver, I suspect). I cured him the first time, the second time he came back blighted again. I fumbled the cure and his own guards killed him and left with the caravan. I reloaded from backup and was able to repeat the first instance. Didn't play enough to see if he'd return blighted for the third time. If some other fortress receives him, I doubt he'll get the same kindness. Thanks, Ketas...
* Don't save while a trade wagon is half-way into your depot. It'll get stuck there and break at the end of the column and the traders will leave.
* In a completely different year, I got this bug (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=159297.0) or something similar. I realized I was close to retiring the fortress again anyway so I just deconstructed the depot and kept the loot.
* My fort's still a hole in the ground, but at least it has a few statues of Lurker Onecbehal (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Lurker_Onecbehal) lol. And a library. Not that big of a library, but it exists now. Depending on how long the game survives, maybe I'll make a Hall of Adventurers with statues of every adventurer adorning it.

Looks like it's Braalbard's turn, hope he has the time for it and looking forward to what he'll be doing.

Add me back to the turn list please.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on September 12, 2021, 02:49:32 pm

I've put you back on the list. Will you post a short writeup on the untimely death of your adventurer? I'm curious as to what happened.


So that indeed makes it my turn, I'm downloading the save now.

You might remember that some foolish adventurer followed the instructions and raised my old adventurer Raki from death, so we'll hopefully get to see what the consequences of that will be.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on September 12, 2021, 03:21:01 pm

I can post a summary right now: I wanted to start at my fortress Eskon (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Eskon), but the game dumped me on the underground roads. I ran around there a little, found some chests and looted them, even carried a corpse or two, even found some living dwarves. I couldn't even get out through the caves because the only place the walls gave way was 7/7 water. I eventually gave up and just questported to my fort.

My char's mission was to loot surrounding area, I even had a jewel from character creation that I named and was planning to drop at the museum, but in Cegadstathra / Flaxplays I saw a goblin and couldn't help but attack him. A local swordswoman took offense to this disturbing of peace, interfered and slayed my char.

That's about it.

---

By the way, the world passed the year 800. Here's a save of the year 800 (https://dffd.bay12games.com/file.php?id=15661) on the dot.

In other news, looks like the King of Adilatír Bëmbul Ginetadil (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/B%C3%ABmbul_Ginetadil) survived into the 9th century and to be one of the few mortals to live in three different centuries (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Category:Mortals_who_lived_in_3_centuries).

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Quantum Drop on September 12, 2021, 04:42:19 pm

Quote from: Bralbaard on September 12, 2021, 02:49:32 pm

You might remember that some foolish adventurer followed the instructions and raised my old adventurer Raki from death, so we'll hopefully get to see what the consequences of that will be.

Eh, not to put a dampener on things but going by LV, Raki's been curiously inactive ever since Irthu was briefly possessed by Gopet the Putrid Cyst (in hindsight, I should've done that as Urus - would've made more sense) and raised him as a fell one. A lot of the werebeasts he fathered also look to have died to old age or violence (including, amusingly enough, a number of weremammoth-on-weremammoth fights long after their initial infection). I expected he'd be running around in the background like the other adventurers were, but apparently not.

Still, good luck with your turn, and may it prove to be interesting!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: ChaosPotato on September 12, 2021, 06:41:31 pm

Hello, uuuuuhhhh
I want to sign up again, since I'll be back home in less than a week.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on September 13, 2021, 04:27:01 am

Quote from: ChaosPotato on September 12, 2021, 06:41:31 pm

Hello, uuuuuhhhh
I want to sign up again, since I'll be back home in less than a week.

I've added you to the list.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on September 13, 2021, 02:21:08 pm

“Notes on Raki” by Bralbaard Hammerfishes, written in 801.

The most terrible stories are still told about the first rampage of Raki, the mad lion tamarin man. Stories about the weremammoth curse, or the fell ones he created that today plague many parts of the continent.
Stories of grief, for the hundreds, maybe thousands of deaths he caused, either directly or indirectly. Yes, it is generally agreed that when Raki disappeared the world sighed in relief.

But over the last decades there have been rumors that this was not the end of it. Rumors about a secret cult that was conspiring to bring him back from death. Rumors that said this cult had succeeded and that Raki was out there plotting and brooding in the shadows, waiting to strike. Rumors that have been ridiculed by the nobility and many public figures, who have said that these stories are nothing more than attempts by priests to rally the gullible masses behind their religion, or by others who want to abuse the fear of the people.

I would however urge the reader to be cautious in dismissing these rumors. There is strong evidence that they are based on truth. There is highly credible evidence that Irthu Bladebroken raised the mad monkey king from death over 32 years ago. This is both supported by forensic evidence from Monkeycurse, and by confessions from  Irthu Bladebroken himself. On top of that there have been many reliable sightings of the monkey king over the last three decades.

The only reasonable argument I have heard that is used to dismiss this evidence is the following:
“If the Monkey King has returned from death, why is the world not burning?"
The answer to this, I can not give you. I fear that only Raki himself might know the answer. In fact to illustrate this point, I will end this note with a short, but popular story that is often shared by poets and entertainers:

What lies deep below our feet?
The answer depends on who you ask.
Ask an elf, and he will tell you:
“the fertile soil, from which trees grow, and flowers bloom“
Ask a dwarf and he will laugh at the elf and say:
“below that soil lie caverns vast and deep, filled with gems and metals of great value”
a learned scientist may scoff at the dwarf and say:
“there is theoretic evidence that there exists a great magma sea far below the caverns, warm molten rock that none can pass”
Ask a priest and he will say that science does not have the answer:
“Our faith tells us that uncountable demons live in hell below, between chasms of unimaginable depth“
But what then if you ask all of them what lies at the bottom of these chasms?
The elf, dwarf, scientist and priest would all agree that only Raki knows.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/1pJ18jy.gif)

(OOC: So that was short.. I was going for a stroll through hell but failed to notice the steam demon on the level above me. It did not end well)

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on September 13, 2021, 02:51:59 pm

Quote from: Bralbaard on September 13, 2021, 02:21:08 pm

The elf, dwarf, scientist and priest would all agree that only Raki knows.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/1pJ18jy.gif)

(OOC: So that was short.. I was going for a stroll through hell but failed to notice the steam demon on the level above me. It did not end well)

That was fast. But pride cometh before a fall.

He was punished by the gods for giving the curse of weremammoth to man. He was cast into the bowels in the earth and kicked by demons.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on September 13, 2021, 03:19:11 pm

Quote from: AvolitionBrit on September 13, 2021, 02:51:59 pm

Quote from: Bralbaard on September 13, 2021, 02:21:08 pm

The elf, dwarf, scientist and priest would all agree that only Raki knows.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/1pJ18jy.gif)

(OOC: So that was short.. I was going for a stroll through hell but failed to notice the steam demon on the level above me. It did not end well)

That was fast. But pride cometh before a fall.

He was punished by the gods for giving the curse of weremammoth to man. He was cast into the bowels in the earth and kicked by demons.

Nah, Bralbaard is not Raki, he's just writing about him. From my understanding, Bralbaard is the one who got "This. Is. Sparta"d into the depths of hell. He's just illustrating where his corpse may have ended up after the fall.

Sorry about the short survival rate, but you were strolling through hell. !!Fun!! was to be expected. Terminal !!fun!! at that.

What were you doing there though? Looking for something or just for eternal rest?

Edit: I stand corrected, looks like you were right, AvolitionBrit. Nice roleplaying reaction there regardless.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on September 13, 2021, 03:28:56 pm

Quote from: Lurker Z on September 13, 2021, 03:19:11 pm

Quote from: AvolitionBrit on September 13, 2021, 02:51:59 pm

Quote from: Bralbaard on September 13, 2021, 02:21:08 pm

The elf, dwarf, scientist and priest would all agree that only Raki knows.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/1pJ18jy.gif)

(OOC: So that was short.. I was going for a stroll through hell but failed to notice the steam demon on the level above me. It did not end well)

That was fast. But pride cometh before a fall.

He was punished by the gods for giving the curse of weremammoth to man. He was cast into the bowels in the earth and kicked by demons.

Nah, Bralbaard is not Raki, he's just writing about him. From my understanding, Bralbaard is the one who got "This. Is. Sparta"d into the depths of hell. He's just illustrating where his corpse may have ended up after the fall.

Sorry about the short survival rate, but you were strolling through hell. !!Fun!! was to be expected. Terminal !!fun!! at that.

What were you doing there though? Looking for something or just for eternal rest?

Just to clear any understandable confusion I was playing with Raki  :)
Bralbaard hammerfishes is my other adventurer that is still alive, and a historian.
I thought that with Raki being gone and therefore unable to tell the story it would make most sense to tell the story from a historians perspective, even if I did not use him for this playthrough.

What was Raki doing there? Good question. Curiosity got the better of him.
When I loaded Raki he had no items or clothes or anything, because obviously he never picked them up when he was raised from death by Irthu. So the monkey went searching for new gear. He found it in Ironwards, but then he also found a lever with a lot of demon corpses, and though it was obvious that he was not supposed to pull that lever he still did, and it all went downhill from there.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Quantum Drop on September 13, 2021, 06:32:37 pm

Oof, now that really was a surprise! I quite liked the little story about Raki's demise, even if it is slightly unfortunate that he's deader than dead. Accidents and bad luck will always take their toll, I guess.

Uh... which lever did you pull, actually? The one near the corridor with all the bridges and steel spikes, or the one near to the helltower?  I seem to remember there being a fair few unbutcherable/rotted clown corpses near both, so...

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Eric Blank on September 13, 2021, 08:43:30 pm

That was short, but a neat note in historical terms. Almost feel bad for Raki.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on September 14, 2021, 01:02:01 pm

Quote from: Quantum Drop on September 13, 2021, 06:32:37 pm

Uh... which lever did you pull, actually?

The one that opened the gate to hell. Do you mean there were even worse levers I could have pulled?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Quantum Drop on September 14, 2021, 01:55:59 pm

Quote from: Bralbaard on September 14, 2021, 01:02:01 pm

Quote from: Quantum Drop on September 13, 2021, 06:32:37 pm

Uh... which lever did you pull, actually?

The one that opened the gate to hell. Do you mean there were even worse levers I could have pulled?

Kind of?

One would've probably set half the z-level on fire and maybe killed the framerate, depending on how much crap was on the big bridge over the magma moat; one would've, from memory, flooded the second entry-way to the fort with lava (which would've set the area near the fort on fire and rendered one of the tunnels out impassable, since the bridge network there would usually be closed for containment), and a third might turn the road to hell into a constant forest of masterwork/high-quality steel spikes, depending on whether or not I ever rigged that up to a repeater of some kind.

Still, that open hellgate might have some fun effects in the long run if I don't close it up on my next turn, if the hammerdwarves start wandering down there and running into demons.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Glloyd on September 15, 2021, 06:46:18 pm

My turn is rapidly approaching, so I'm going to get ahead of things and say I won't be able to do it. Don't sign me up for another one just yet, but I'll definitely come back and sign up for another when I have more time.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on September 17, 2021, 03:20:12 pm

Great news, everybody! (Well, decent news, but still). While we wait for the next adventure, I've discovered something interesting (that probably some people might have noticed too). Void dwarves are appearing in player-retired fortresses. Now, this is decent news and not great because every time another player builds a fort, citizens migrate to that one, leaving the old ones empty husks (until/unless players unretire them and the cycle continues).

I found this example from the year 801, when I am certain I was playing my own fort, yet the world keeps turning. I love World Activation.

(https://i.imgur.com/v1zEqrC.png)

Looks like camps count too. Well, Bralbaard's going to be surprised with all these volunteer grave diggers *cough* *cough*

(https://i.imgur.com/RHq8usT.png)

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on September 19, 2021, 01:04:11 pm

I think it's quite common for the game to generate dwarves like that, at least it is in other worlds I'm playing.

The current save game can be found here, it is Unraveller's turn.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Quantum Drop on September 19, 2021, 01:06:00 pm

Quote from: Bralbaard on September 19, 2021, 01:04:11 pm

I think it's quite common for the game to generate dwarves like that, at least it is in other worlds I'm playing.

The current save game can be found here, it is Unraveller's turn.

You seem to be missing the link, Braalbard: https://dffd.bay12games.com/file.php?id=15668

Good luck on your turn, Unraveller!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on September 19, 2021, 02:23:32 pm

Thanks for posting the save, QD.

So, Bralbaard, I see you reclaimed

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Edëmtusung (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Edëmtusung)

Are you attached to that place? Do you have plans for it? Do you mind if I... mess with it after adventure mode?

---

No new war or battle since the start of the century. I wonder what determines the AI during the running of the game to start wars (there were more than a few started right after Turn 1).

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on September 19, 2021, 03:47:44 pm

Quote from: Lurker Z on September 19, 2021, 02:23:32 pm

So, Bralbaard, I see you reclaimed

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Edëmtusung (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Edëmtusung)

Are you attached to that place? Do you have plans for it? Do you mind if I... mess with it after adventure mode?

About the reclaim

I'm not attached to the place at all. feel free to improve on it. I did not get much done.
Actually my first choice for a reclaim was Treatyseed, but ehm...

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

 let's just say that the place can not be salvaged.. I had to go for plan B instead.

Thanks for providing the link QD, I forgot to paste it.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on September 20, 2021, 02:49:26 pm

Quote from: Bralbaard on September 19, 2021, 03:47:44 pm

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

 let's just say that the place can not be salvaged.. I had to go for plan B instead.

Could you expand on that? I reclaimed Treatyseed in a throwaway save some weeks ago and it worked well enough.

Quote from: Bralbaard on September 19, 2021, 03:47:44 pm

I'm not attached to the place at all. feel free to improve on it. I did not get much done.

Thanks. I wasn't planning to improve on it, I had a plan that may or may not work. Nothing that can corrupt the place or anything, but it might not survive in the historical sense.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on September 20, 2021, 05:38:12 pm

Quote from: Lurker Z on September 20, 2021, 02:49:26 pm

Quote from: Bralbaard on September 19, 2021, 03:47:44 pm

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

 let's just say that the place can not be salvaged.. I had to go for plan B instead.

Could you expand on that? I reclaimed Treatyseed in a throwaway save some weeks ago and it worked well enough.

I'll send you a PM, posting here would give away serious spoilers for those interested in visiting.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Unraveller on September 21, 2021, 07:40:27 am

Aye, aye, I should be able to complete my turn tonight or tomorrow! Or another day more.

Edit: So far, things look grim! Both in and out of game haha! My laptop isn't exactly the most robust, chugging along. Still, it'll get done.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on September 22, 2021, 10:08:56 am

There's no hurry, you have a whole week after you get the game to do your turn.

If you finish earlier than that, you can use the rest of the time to make a fortress (if you want, you can just give the game with the adventure or do a fortress too).

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Unraveller on September 24, 2021, 02:18:53 am

Henceforth is the collected logs of a young man. The tome is bound in thick, robust leather, the pages long since waterlogged. The text can be somewhat discordant, written on a variety of different materials, assorted cavern dyes remain brilliant and vibrant in their ink even to this day. It seems that the many dates written throughout the journal have been written in later on, or replaced existing texts. . .

On the surface inscribed is the name; Galka Linarad or Galka 'Kinddrummed'

Limestone 16, 802
    32u Native Gold
    48u Tetrahedrite


Limestone 19, 802
    12u Native Gold
    9u Tetrahedrite

        A collection of flames illuminate the deep. The gleaming mail of the Armored Group is blinding, we cannot help but turn away.
The captain collects our haul, saddling their cart and oxen with the ore. They can see the look upon our faces, how our wide eyes differ from theirs.
He gathers us, or rather the foreman, Bekdil does. As always, the captain assures us that our hard work and toil is the foundation for the glorious Realm of Silver.
His speech is full of passion, not one of us can wait to see what our labor has built.
       
        I could not help but ask the man, perhaps for the twentieth time, what the Realm was like. Just to see him kneel to one knee and speak, 'It is like no other,
not one single mote of this darkness even so much as touches the land. . .' I cannot wait to see his kind face again, says he'll bring me another book, in a tenday, as Bekdil always says.


Limestone 22, 802
    59u Native Gold

        Ah! I must ask how they keep the light from burning out there![/b]


Limestone 25, 802
    31u Native Gold
    45u Tetrahedrite
    8u Galena


Limestone 28, 802
    65u Native Gold
    12u Galena

        They've brought a new face with them this time; they're a strange fellow I think. Smaller than any of us, covered in hair. But they're loud and fun.
The captain bears the most serious look I've seen about him as he converses with the short man, they stare at the walls long enough for more than a few torches to burn through.
I make sure to ask the bearded one my question, can you believe that he merely laughed? 'Ye mean the sun, boyo?' He bellowed with a chuckle, sure enough for all the Deferent Abyss to hear him.
They laughed all the same.

        But. . . He added something more. 'Shame ye'll never see it huh lad?' And that was all, he patted me on the back and the Armored Group decreed we'd move on to another vein of gold.


Sandstone 2, 802
    It takes some time for us to get set up again. This part of the cave is much, much tighter. Bekdil said they'd need me more than ever. Of course, I'd oblige,
but I used the opportunity to ask her what the 'Sun' was like. She was stunned, like it was a ridiculous question. 'You've seen it before when you were very young.' She said.
'You aren't missing a thing.' The way she spoke, she only made me more curious. . .


Sandstone 8, 802
    30u Native Gold
    128u Native Silver

        Silver. . . Shining, beautiful silver. My arms are tired.


Sandstone 27, 802
    I nearly forgot you existed, no I thought I'd lost you even. I'll do better to keep up writing in you, at least you won't turn away from me.


Timber 3, 802
    O' Sun so bright, ashine,
    Alight mine Silver Realm sublime,
    Osmos pluck me from this pit,
    New life wish I commit.


Timber 15, 802
    I can't take it. They keep sending me into deeper, tighter holes. The men keep joking that I won't crawl back out. Maybe next time I won't.


Timber 18, 802
    The Armored Group, not even all of us together could get past them.


Timber 22, 802 -- (( Day adventure began ))
    Bekdil Irumtokri, Bekdil Wavetwist. . . I finally spoke up about how I felt, that we should we all demand to be let out, she didn't take my grievances the right way.
Oh Bekdil. Bekdil. We raised our voices, echoes through the caverns beneath a shimmering trove of native silver. All I wanted was to bathe my eyes in the sun before I die. And now. Now. . .

    ( The writing trails off. When it picks up again, the script is marginally different, just enough so to suggest it was written later on that night. )

    She drew her knife, I know she didn't plan to use it, she only wanted the best for us, us forgotten few cast into these squalid halls. My greed, this lust, for that foolish dream.
I stepped forward to call her bluff, we struggled, I found my fingers tight around her carving blade's grip, the silver gleamed and danced against the torchlight, a crimson flow ran from her neck.
I gave one final look to the others, some returned with rage, others indifferent, some couldn't even muster to turn their heads and look. I bolted off into the endless dark.

    Oh Bekdil.

    Forgive me. I will pray forevermore that Omsos guides your spirit away from this place.


Timber 22, 802 -- Supplemental

    ( From here on, the penmanship is significantly worse than before. )

    Something snarled in the darkness. It knew that I was coming, disturbing its rest. A massive white bear was upon me, it tore my right index finger off with its bared fangs.
I drove Bekdil's knife into its head again and again before it crashed me against the stones. Before it stopped moving, it tore into my right leg. I think. . . I'll sleep here.


Timber 23, 802
    I cannot move my leg, I've never felt such pain. I'll rest here a while longer, maybe the dead bear's den will keep away any other deep creature's hoping to feast on me. At least I won't go hungry.


Timber 25, 802
    Somehow, I mustered the strength to drag my body further into the darkness. For what felt as an eternity I crawled and I crawled, in the far distance I swore that I could see light.
Thinking that it was the Deferent Abyss, I quickened my pace, but as the air grew dry and hot with each of my fingernails scraping into the fungal growths, I knew it was for naught.
I'd come upon a pool of magma. The warmth put me to sleep in an instant.


Timber 26, 802
    I wanted to rest longer, thinking maybe another cycle or two would be enough to get me back on my feet, but I'm still crumpling under the slightest pressure. I moved on, inching forward,
grabbing vermin and flora as I go to fill my rumbling stomach. As I write this now, I look down from the crest of the deepest pit imaginable. No light that I can muster from burning the bear fat can so much as grace the bottom.

    Maybe I should throw myself in. At least then Bekdil would not wander alone.


Timber 28, 802
    The sound of rushing water, it is both a good and bad sign. As I wave my torch above it, all manner of wriggling parasite ducks and hides. My mouth is parched, having been sated only by blood.
I quickly tear off my ragged shirt, using it as a filter to refill my waterskins, and so the water is good. Yet all the same, it is the only way forward, forward toward. . . Toward the Sun. I hope.

    I will cast myself into the murk when I muster the will.


Timber 28, 802 -- Supplemental
    Emerged from watery passages, with the intentions of turning in for a little while, drying out my toes against a flame. However, whence I rose my eyes from the infested drink,
several pairs more of voided slits are there to greet me. Their white scales gleamed against my dim bear-fat torch, each and all of them serpents in the shape of men.
Long have the miners of the Deferent Abyss spun tales of the serpent-folk as boogeymen, who'd swallow you whole soon as they'd look at you.
   
    I gave the first words and to my surprise they returned a greeting in kind. Glad for it, lest their darts and blowguns be trained my way. . . Six of them.
Some deep, inner part of me was saved in this moment, some part that believed all hope had died alongside Bekdil. Bekdil. I tell them of my plight, I tell them of the Sun, my journey to see it.
But they know nothing of such things, nothing beyond their little tribe. Not so unlike me. For hours I agonized over the thought of staying with them, living out the rest of my life as some disfigured pet to the beast kin.
But. . . But that would be an insult to Bekdil's spirit. I must continue, she is the only thing that keeps my muscles strong, pulling me forward.


Moonstone 3, 802 
    The beasts of the dark do not even seem to give heed to me anymore, the crocodiles, the giant toads, the bears, they merely allow my passage.
Perhaps I have become like they now, accepted into their fold, another creature shambling blindly into the infinite black. Perhaps I am even more pitiful a prey than wriggling earthworms on the fungal floors.
Or perhaps a guardian watches over me, delighting in my well-deserved suffering.

    Endless waterlogged passages, endless damp and cold, all of has left my leg festering. I will never walk again. But I haven't the heart to hack away the dead weight either.


Moonstone 7, 802
    I take only that which I need, nothing more. Omsos the Aquamarine of Earth, they are her sacred beasts, she imparts upon me images ever constant, images of Bekdil.
It is the labor she gives me to carve that image into my mind. I pick away with the old Mason's silver knife, where once tools and equipment lay, now this pack is full to burst of carven idols.
May this be my apology, my legacy. They will see the light cast over the Silver Realm as I. They must. . . Even if I wear my flesh down to the bone. They must see the light.

---

---

Here's a little taste of what's going on in the adventure thus far. Endless cavern wanderings. A young miner dragging themselves through the dark, acclimating to life as little more than a beast.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Imic on September 24, 2021, 09:26:57 am

I'd like to request a place on the turn list again. I'm loving the story so far Unraveller, you have me hooked.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Unraveller on September 24, 2021, 10:41:39 am

Thanks Imic! I'm glad. I scrawled that stuff out hastily without terribly too much thought last night. Glad it resonated somehow. Tangentially, Galka has become a many times over legendary swimmer in these caves, Superhuman Endurance and Toughness came quick. This is first time I've ever had an adventurer that spent all their time below. No fast travel in sight. Ever time I feel I stumble upon a way out, my hopes are dashed, just as Galka. Haha.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on September 24, 2021, 07:04:42 pm

Didn't read the whole story, but your best bet is to run into some underway passages. Some should be able to get you to the surface. I don't know how many player fortresses connected to the underground, then made doors for tired adventurers, but good luck on your adventure.

My fortress Eskôn (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Eskôn) has lots of entrances and exits to the underground, but there's the problem that some underground regions might not be connected to the rest.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Unraveller on September 24, 2021, 08:57:19 pm

Moonstone 10, 802
    This slight body of mine endures, it has grown strong. My flesh thick and undaunted by the sharpness of the earth. My muscles bringing me forth with ease.
My mind unperiled by that which shambles in the deep, for it is I who have become that very thing. I do not even bother drawing that silver blade to fell the beasts of this dark land,
nor do I bother whittling together torches to find my way. The sounds, the dripping of water, the barest movement of slick fur against rock and fungi. The feelings, the nigh imperceptible rush of damp,
thick air betraying the safety of each passage. I am a beast. I am a monster. I am no longer man.

    I fear that without you, without these bindings, without Osmos to focus my thoughts, without the image of my penitence to carve in each bone, in each flat stone. Without these things,
I would surely succomb to these primal urges. This desire to abandon all else for fangs and claws and the stoic embrace of the deep. There are cycles that I feel I am lost,
lost to the search so completely that I do not even feel a single thought come across my mind, that I wriggle through caverns, through tunnels, into deeper pits, submerged 'neathe flooded passages, all merely for the sake of it.

Moonstone 13, 802
    I must see it. I must see the Realm of Silver. The light, Bekdil. I must. I must.

Moonstone 16, 802
    (The following few entries are scrabbled discordantly.)

    I look away.
        All this time and I look away.
    Osmos punishes me.
            My eyes sear shut, occluded and pained.
    Osmos punishes me.
                    This warmth burns hotter than magma.
            It's unbearable.
    Bekdil punishes me.
        She punishes me.

Moonstone 17, 802
    I cannot go beyond. Forgive me.

Moonstone 18, 802
    She comes to me without end. No matter how far I retreat into the comfort below. Her blood spurting unceasingly.

Moonstone 20, 802
    This is not a life worth living.

Moonstone 20, 802 -- Supplemental
    O' Sun, O' Osmos, Aquamarine of the earth, O' Bekdil, take me now. I cast this body into the light. May your judgment be its final act. . .

Moonstone 20, 802 -- Supplemental
    Even now in these lids that demand to be closed can feel their gaze upon them. It is a flagellent pain. It is one I ask upon myself. My life is spared, my journey does not find its end.
It took more strength of will than ever I could imagine, propping myself against a stone, I rose both hands to these eyes. And to them these fingers. Opened.

    I saw. . .

    (https://i.imgur.com/z5v7xyt.png)

    (https://i.imgur.com/ky8GHaR.png)

    Beauty.

    For only a flash, and no more lest they never again be opened. An endless sea of white dust blinded me so, surrounded either way by spires of rock taller than any cavern's ceiling.
I sat there for a time, forgetting the bestial lust within me, forgetting the callousness of the world below. And now, now I must show Bekdil the world that her life's work had wrought, the Realm of Silver.

Moonstone 20, 802 -- Supplemental
    The air here was ever more frigid than the deepest caverns below, one gust blew through my tattered clothing and chilled me deep to the bone. But this air, I've never tasted anything so refreshing.
Even with my eyes firmly shut again, I decided to continue, to use my intuition and drag myself forth. Across the long stretches of endless white sand, infinitely easier than jagged rocks and constant parasites.
To my surprise, eventually, I began to hear the sound of rushing water, I drew closer and closer to the source until my body was half-submerged in the icy shallows. It stung my heart to its core, that coldness,
that coldness mixed with the warmth beaming down from on high. I lowered my mouth and drank my fill. Already I'd tasted something better than the air. I decided quickly that I must set my eyes upon it, I must retain this image forever.
Again I tore open my sight to immeasurable pain, and immeasurable gratitude as well.

    (https://i.imgur.com/oytx3E7.png)

    Yet I kept on, moving ahead, for in that brief moment the overwrought distance revealed a strange vision to me. A pull that I could not explain. Before long, my hand was against what I thought to be a tree.
But it was oh so much more.

    (https://i.imgur.com/0PKLxZy.png)

    Devoid of any and all but the comforting dark, here I sit and write. But I cannot contain my excitement! I'll rest here for a little while longer and continue on. What wonders await me?

    (https://i.imgur.com/fy509O0.png)

Moonstone 26, 802 -- Supplemental
    Twas oh so many. Just a few inching moments beyond the little wooden cave was an immense masoned statue, it bore a glorious image indeed, I had to look, how could I not? Though I cannot say of whom.
Their figure reminds me of the short man that the Armored Group's captain had brought to survey the Deferent Abyss.

    (https://i.imgur.com/sVOPgZJ.png)

    (https://i.imgur.com/yl9v4yG.png)

    I will gladly sacrifice my eyes for the sights laid bare before them, three other wooded caves stand tall crossways about the place. I was able to bear the full weight of my decayed vision within them.
None empty as before. The first bore seemingly countless rows of vibrant thrones and tables too, each and all crafted with such care, such decorum. Never before had I been able to admire such work that reveled beyond the mundanity of pragmatism.

    (https://i.imgur.com/PU9PWvb.png)

    The next was a greater sight even still. It was no coffin of wood, but rather a monolith of stone. Every block perfectly put in place by masters of their crafts, each one depicting a story far beyond the likes of me to recall.
Within? The floors refracted the light above in exquisite rays of azure and cobalt, this was a memorial hall no doubt. Statues lined the walls, some of the women as before, many others just the same, little squat men and women.
The figurines feel heavier in my pack. I will not forget this karmic debt, it is yet unpaid.

    (https://i.imgur.com/wYd0Bgx.png)
    (https://i.imgur.com/nk3tKU4.png)

    The last of the constructions was perhaps the most grand. Never in my life had I felt beddings so sublime. The cloth and wood hugged my body tight as I cast myself upon them, for which I lay now writing this.
So many rows of fine beds, I wonder if the ruler of all the land lived in such luxury. The surface is indescribable truly. It's a silly thing, you whom read this, do you laugh at me now for my amazement in such novelties?
I will rest here for some time. Time enough to acclimate my eyes, time enough to carve.

    (https://i.imgur.com/hSieY4J.png)

---

---

So, originally I did not want to end Galka's journey about the abysm to end so soon and without much more incident. But eventually I came to realize that there isn't terribly a whole lot more to talk about when it came to it. I definitely wanted to include more drama, especially toward the discovery of the surface, but ultimately much of that would be fabricated. Sure, it wasn't so dynamic an ascent, fraught with danger, but it's so much more than it reads, at least toward the young man. Imagine their perspective best as you can. Aside from that, endless wanderings in those caves aren't exactly the most. . . Fun so to speak. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed it deeply for all the time it gave me to think, but it took many, many hours IRL to actually find a location that led up into the surface. Essentially my thought was to try for every cave until I found a connection. Had this last one not worked out, Galka would have been bound for Deepvaulted. Which I feared deeply, that nearly century's old place. Who knows what horrors still lurk there, even after descents from those the likes of Lonleythrall.

Spoiler: Map of the general path Galka took beneath the earth. (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/klPnxZl.png)

I know it doesn't look like much, but believe me, it took a month in game to actually get from the north to south there!

EDIT Part of the post got cut off. Fixed it.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Unraveller on September 26, 2021, 01:59:21 am

Moonstone 24, 802
    A lumbering figure, standing no less than twice my size. I watched it through strained eyes as the Sun fell deep in the sky, rendering the land more softly to my sunken sight.
The tusked creature loomed about the shrine for a while too long, with great snorts it took in my scent more likely than not. It was a troll, and not the first I'd ever seen.
But in those times I'd stood shoulder to shoulder with a score of other miners, picks slung over our shoulders. Here and now it was just myself, and it.
A streak of the days below came back to me, my head calmed itself, await for the moment to pass. Until the beast took a handful of my carvings, that I'd left to sit before the sacred place.
It blew a single chortling breath upon them and crushed the bone figures of Bekdil underhand.

    In that moment, I saw nothing but rage.

    I could not blame the troll for its actions, nor was my heart so heavy for what I'd done in return to it. And yet still, I set its bones down where it stood, now in the shape of a memorial to the beast's life,
just as well I wrap myself in its furs, for chill is terrible here. My carvings have taken on the likeness of Bekdil ever-greater day by day, moment by moment, and still, my heart aches.
I will do this labour given to me with all the strength I can muster.

Opal 3, 802
    My eyes have begun to open once more, even under threat of the blistering Sun. The endless flatlands of white sand are still difficult yet to look upon, but in time I will adjust. I must.
On this day, earlier, my stores of meat from deep below had begun to dry up. I needed new food. And so of course I set out to hunt, but these great open plains were not my choice grounds.
The wild beasts whom root around in the flora amongst them can see me long before I approach, even with my body so close to the ground. Rather, I wriggled my way into the rivers,
there I could move faster than any man on foot. In no time I had dove forth, snapping the neck of a creature not unlike the cavern crocodiles below, but I was not privy to my spoils just yet. . .

    The first face I'd seen aside from Bekdil's for what felt as a lifetime appeared to me.

    (https://i.imgur.com/puAjyUY.png)

    I climbed out of the river, but I could not find my words at first. They were choaked within my throat. Yet. . . The squat man did not give me the chance to speak up. Without pause,
he charges forward at me, smashing his knuckles into my face, sending me reeling back into the river. I clambered up the other side, my voice cracked through.

    (https://i.imgur.com/jOHmiIU.png)

    I chose to flee, it seemed they were not so eager to leap into the water. I swam down river quite a ways, yet I myself had no intentions of leaving behind my penitent idols,
the thought hadn't even crossed my mind at that moment. They did not relent however, the man and another alongside them tracked me down, I imagine it was none too difficult given the distinct trail I'd left behind.
The pair had caught me out amidst the sand. No matter how adept I'd become at dragging myself forth, they bore the strength of legs that I had not.

    (https://i.imgur.com/pO2OHjU.png)
    (https://i.imgur.com/eELBlMC.png)

    No amount of words would reason with the little men. They pressed on. And so. . . They underestimated this deep dweller. As the light dwindled, I had carven figures for they, to add beside the troll.
This fate is cruel. It has changed me. Even as I gaze at my image reflected in the clear waters, I realize, I will never return to being that hopeful young miner. I can only imagine that they mistook me for a wild beast.
They had seen through this guise of flesh.

Opal 4, 802
    I did not merely sleep off those disdainful feelings. I took them and put them into my craft, molded them, another row of idols looked back at me with the innocent face of the person whom cared for me most.
I counted them then, each and every one. Rows upon rows upon rows of work; the first labour given to me. Six-hundred-sixty faces of Bekdil Wavetwist looked back at me,
I could make out the clear distinction between those I'd carved below the earth and the most recent. And though they filled the room to its absolute heights, I felt no closer to forgiving myself, or for her forgiveness.

    I cast out all but the absolute essentials within my pack, and for the next few hours I stuffed every last figurine in or strapped around the thing. When at last I threaded my arms through the leather sack fit to burst,
and forced myself forward, its immense weight came down upon me with a shattering heave. A great thump echoed through these lands, my back nearly buckling under it.
Had Osmos not tested me, not hardened my body for so long within the depths, then I surely could not have moved it an inch. Such was merely another labour handed down to me.
Should true salvation be my goal, should I truly regret the act that I committed, then this pack will become lighter than air, and I shall see it to Omon Obin. The Realm of Silver.

Opal 4, 802 -- Supplemental
    It was not long, dragging this weight with me alongside the flowing water that I happened upon another short figure. I was wary, readying myself for conflict. Yet, as I inched closer I realized.
This man was dead, their arm, a leg scattered about. Their flesh was paler than the white sands, I suspect they've been dead for a long, long time. Untouched by rot for the unbearable cold.

    (https://i.imgur.com/qtuTPD6.png)

    I cannot help but feel deflated at the sight. Fallen to the beasts of the waters where I had lived. This man was no different than the other two that had beset upon me, kinsman perhaps.
In that moment I had hoped that he would have seen reason unlike the others. But in my mind's eye, I see him drawing his blade much like the rest. But such a fate did not occur.
I gathered the small man's body, and the pieces, just the same I hefted him over my back and slowly crawled back toward the shrine. In the Deferent Abyss, it was not uncommon to inter fallen miners,
death was all around us in those days. We would take the fungiwood and fashion boxes for lack of better words, and seal the dead within, then bury that box deep inside the earth for an eternal rest.
I will do the same for this lonely one. May he be with his gods and his people once more.

    (https://i.imgur.com/xwIV2rl.png)

    As I was moving his body into the casket, something clattered out of a pouch. It was a little die like that ones that the older miners would cast.
It rolled, it rolled and it rolled until it stopped upon a narrow crescent much like the Sun that took over when the bright one fell. Instantly a strange feeling washed over me,
the weight of my pack had lightened ever so slightly. That odd die, I took it along with me, I hope that the spirit of the fallen man will not damn me for such an act. . .

    (https://i.imgur.com/COm22RU.png)

    Tomorrow my journey truly begins.

---

---

OOC: I hadn't realized until I dug a little deeper. The curiosity got to me, a dead dwarf out here? Well it turned out that the cave that Galka managed to climb himself out of was Blowechoes the Scars of Coal. A site owned by the Vessel of Life, which if you paid attention to Cog's appearance, you'd note is part of the Walled Dye! Turns out just seven dwarves lived in the cave, though I didn't see any until later on. The two most definitely attacked Galka on sight, which I found strange, but more curious. That isn't the best part though. Turns out that the dead dwarf is none other than Logen Belabras, or Logen Greyseer, one of the very early adventurers! Played by Imic, in 714 he was eaten up by an alligator and left amidst the frigid cold, undecomposed. Now he rests entombed in Lengthgear. I really enjoy this part of the Museum games.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Unraveller on September 26, 2021, 11:07:39 am

Opal 5, 802
    An early start today, I took one last look upon the comfortable confines of the shrine that I've come to know as my home for a goodly while. It is a quiet place, serene,
had I not this desire to see the Realm of Silver, to see all that our work in the Deferent Abyss has helped to support, then I may have just stayed here. Happy to ply my carvings until I grew old.
A place like this, it alleviates the impure thoughts within me, it focuses this mind back to humanity for which in the last month or more I sorely lacked. Should we see Omon Obin in all its glory,
then I think I will come back and settle down here.

    I set myself and the heavy burden I carry out again beside the river, as I write this now, another structure is set on the horizon, it glistened a bright cyan under the middling light above.
Such beauty. The building looms over a tiny collection of what I assume to be homes.

    (https://i.imgur.com/PmyNzdq.png)

Opal 5, 802 -- Supplemental
    Such cruelty, this fate. Such cruelty. I ask Osmos, Aquamarine of the Earth. I ask Etu Lovelycherished, and Loli Fairclearing as well; have I not paid my karmic due? No. What a ridiculous question.
I had brought myself up to the cliffside where the microline structure sat, surely the seat of power in this place. I lay outside the double doors of the place, I could hear movement within.
Truth be told it wracked my nerves ever so slightly. In that moment I could only think of the short folk who met their sad end at my hands. I swallowed those trepidations, and had opened the door.

    (https://i.imgur.com/9qwebci.png)

    What I had seen then, a pair of figures, human I thought. And another, a body slumped upon the ground bloodied and dessicated. A rush of air came over me, the stink of death and decay had filled my nostrils with
a stench so putrid that I retched and recoiled. The sound I made, or maybe it was my mere presence, caused the two to snap toward me. It was then I realized they were something else, I had no words, nor did they.
Their faces were palour, and bore an expression most hollow, with an ethereal haste they darted forth against me, the shock had left me stunned. A leg connected with my body, kicking me back out into the light,
and so they followed, bringing their reeking scent. Nothing could have halted their advance, no sacred words, no hopeful promises, they'd only the look of dead things on their still moving visages.

    I drew the silver carving knife that had put an end to Bekdil Wavetwist, for I could not escape.

    They do not tire. They do not succomb to pain. They twist their limbs in fashions beyond the purview of mortal men. Have they wills of their own? Or are they creatures possessed solely by malice?
I drove the silver edge into their bodies again and again, countless times as I pushed myself quickly off the ground with the great strength afforded to me to evade their onslaughts.
They did not cease their vile movements until every last drop of blood was spilled out onto the earth. They looked oh so very much human.

    (https://i.imgur.com/bbwRldB.png)

    (https://i.imgur.com/19oppq1.png)

    As I rest now here, I crawled into the microline building and whisper a short prayer to the man whom had fallen to them earlier. A man whom I so desperately wish could hear my words, to share a laugh,
one that after so long I yearned for. It did not come. In the decayed interior I came upon a gleaming knife of bronze metal, I took it up as my prize. Looking over the blade that Bekdil had left for me,
it was tarnished and gnarled from the battle, I could not afford it any more damage.

    (https://i.imgur.com/lAkY9iE.png)

    After a little longer yet I'll look out over the buildings below. I pray it is not the same within.

Opal 5, 802 -- Supplemental
    I sit now in the square of the little hamlet, 'Sizzleoils' spoke a sign outside. To a horror that had not registered in that moment, the symbol of Omon Obin blazed beside it.
This was the Realm of Silver that the captain of the Armored Group had so fervently spoke about. This was the Realm of Silver that I dreamt of seeing. This was the Realm of Silver that Bekdil died for,
surely I see now the makings of why the subject oft' sealed her and the older miners' lips. The homes here are empty husks of fallen, rotted wood. I imagine it was those creatures that drove them all out.
No bodies, just emptiness.

    (https://i.imgur.com/hj0W64c.png)

    I know for certain my ancestral homeland sprawls greater than just here. I must continue on, for Bekdil's sake. For my sake.

Opal 5, 802 -- Supplemental
    Gearedseige, the sister to Sizzleoils, its sight is much the same to my dismay. My spirit sinks deep into my stomach as I pick through the wreckages no sign of anyone ever having lived here save the disheveled buildings.
With a heavy heart I will continue upward, to the hall overlooking this place. But not without my knife ready.

    It was inevitable.

(https://i.imgur.com/Thm2VJm.png)

    I can barely so much as breathe. My lungs sting at each sigh, my bones radiate pain. I had opened the place like Sizzleoils before it; another of the hollow monsters there stood over another saddened corpse.
This was unlike the two before it; clad in orange armour, wielding in one limp arm a massive maul. I steeled what will I could muster despite the day's trials, hoping that I could pierce its hide to bleed it dry.
But no such luck would come. We battled out into the decayed field, my pace unable to keep up with its onslaught proper, it could punish any and all mistakes I made with deadly force, and to it I felt my sting was no worse than a mosquito.
The light had fallen in the sky during our clash, I caught myself briefly on thick brush, long enough for the hollow one to smash my left arm with its hammer, rendering it useless.

    Thereafter I cannot recall so clearly. Whence my wounds had grown dire, a primal part of me took over. The same side that had seen me through the tribulations below the earth.
I morphed into that very same beast who bite the throats out of cave bears without a second thought.

    (https://i.imgur.com/5rS8OnX.png)

    I am exhausted. I will rest here.

Opal 6, 802
    On the horizon I see it, a massive collection of buildings, from here they look to be intact. A sign I had passed earlier named this place 'Partnerdaub', a true gem of civilization.
But I was wary, and yet I strove forward, the weight of my pack growing heavier and heavier still.

Opal 6, 802 -- Supplemental
    Beautiful. Magnificent.

    It has been a true lifetime since I laid eyes upon my own kind, people. Living, breathing, laughing people inhabit this place. They are not overcome by some palid curse that leaves them little more than malefic husks, no.
There is so much vibrance here, from market squares of those selling every type of good imaginable to places of worship. I am in awe. Truly, honestly. And though I bore the strange looks of passersby for my shambling
through the streets wearing a bag overloaded by countless idols all carved of bone, all with the very same face, still I was fulfilled. In truth I could not manage to eek out a conversation before I sat down to write.
I made attempts, few, yes, the first thoughts on my mind were for Sizzleoils and Gearedseige, I asked for what I could but it seemed each and every man and woman dismissed me, pointed me toward the castle and sent me on my way.

    So be it.

    From what I understood, The Sloppy League ruled here, though no one could divulge the leader. Regardless it seemed the folk here were very quite busy with their lives and had no time for the disfigured cave dweller
crawling in their city raving about monsters. I do not blame them, I will seek out the lord here at once. But for now. . . For now I'll take a moment's respite, sitting at a quiet shrine overlooking Partnerdaub.
I suddenly recalled the twenty-sided dice that had been left to me by the old, old short one. A mountain; I can't help but smile.

    (https://i.imgur.com/VUesIJG.png)

Opal 6, 802 -- Supplemental

    (https://i.imgur.com/8ZJnq6J.png)

    Good fortune indeed. Good fortune. 'Tis surely my only salvation here. Now I write from the outskirts of Partnerdaub, my hands tremble, fear and rage intertwined. I went to see the lord, yes.
As the populace suggested I do. At that time I ignored their shifty eyes and strange glances, filing such thoughts away as merely the oddness of my personage. But I should have seen through it,
should have seen that something was amiss. I moved forward through the great gates of the citadel, there was awe, yes. But I have no mind to write about it. Imagine the surprise upon my face when I see. . .

    (https://i.imgur.com/dW2xdW1.png)

    A sea of congealed blood flood neathe their boots, a score of them, the same haunting looks on their drained faces as they all snap toward me, as if they could sense the my simple livingness.
I scrambled away fast as I could, the weight of my many figurines becoming ever more apparent, even though the travels had strengthened my muscles so great. As fortune would have it then,
it seemed the weight of their arms and armour, grey or silvery, kept them from giving proper chase. I had been able to find myself corridors and halls from which to squirrel my body into, picking up momentum as I broke out into a mad dash,
or climb I suppose. Between here and there I crossed two rivers until at last I felt no lingering sense of dread.

    The people of Partnerdaub, I am convinced that they feed these horrid, these twisted humans. For what dark purpose I cannot say. Such musings are beyond the comprehension of a simple miner.
I will find no succor here. Even though Omon Obin appears glorious to my deprived eyes, it is beginning to look like a false glory. The roads lead onward.

Opal 7, 802
    Corpses line the streets of every village I come through, the further north I travel, the worse overrun these places become. These Blighted Thralls ransack the living without purpose, merely fulfilling some innate need to destroy.
There is a part of me that resonates. I choose not to avoid any of these places, not one. Whether they be abandoned and ruined, or in the midst of chaos and bloodshed. I must see all of Omon Obin with my eyes,
lest when one of these monsters inevitably strikes me down, I wish to look upon Bekdil once more and beg forgiveness.

    (https://i.imgur.com/Tg0L24k.png)

Opal 8, 802
    I am no hero, I slink, I crept along the earth through each hamlet, watching as the few meager remnants of my people are torn apart or worse, transfigured into yet more monsters.
Today I have witnessed the very source of the Blighted creatures birth. I laid low in the tall grasses, watching as a hammerman tore out of a home with one of the hollow figures on their trails.
He did not fare well, not nearly as I had been fortunate enough to when accosted by the beasts.

    (https://i.imgur.com/Veb6jkP.png)

    The transformation was instantaneous. There mere sinking of its teeth into the man's flesh seemed to drive all the life away from him. It was sapped and dispersed into the air never to be seen again.
A disease. It is a disease of madness and of hunger. This Blight, the 'Obin Blight'. It has swept across the Realm of Silver callously, choosing the very same moment that my fate has been tasked with escaping the Deferent Abyss.
Such is karmic retribution. No longer do I condemn the people of Partnerdaub, they keep their Blighted kin locked away in the castle, feeding them strangers in hopes to pacify them. Maybe in hopes to one day cure their ails.

    (https://i.imgur.com/3J9npn8.png)

    They did not cease their battle. Continuing to hack away at one another until all the blood had been drained. The very next moment the victor had spotted me, intending to do the same. I had no choice but to slit its throat handily.

    (https://i.imgur.com/2A1mU0k.png)

    This place, Stabbedechoes was probably the worst of the disease I'd seen. The few survivors either bar themselves in their huts or make desperate attempts to flee only to be bitten and overcome with the desire to consume.
I keep a vigilant eye now, even as I write this, sitting below a statue of Mucka, the Great Horned Owl diety governing the wind, sky, stars, and darkness. The former three spheres wholly new to me, but the last. . . Not so.
She watches over me even in this festering place. Enough so that I may rest.

Opal 9, 802
    Picking through the rubble of yet another empty hamlet, thankfully none of the Blighted ones to be seen, I come across something that I sorely missed. I hadn't realized it until my eyes laid upon it.
A magnificent pickaxe, its blade sharp as ever, gleaming a dull silver. The sudden glee, no, the nostalgia that I felt when I hefted the thing over a shoulder with my one good arm, it was something I cannot describe.
I could not stop myself from thinking back on the Deferent Abyss, the miners going on with their lives, fulfilled by their work. Dangerous, yes. But full of camaraderie, time flows by quicker than one realizes.
I imagine they're still down below, picking away at golds and silvers and metals more to feed into Omon Obin, untouched by the Blight. But now, seeing the state of things I wonder where all our effort has gone, all these years.

    Only to be torn apart.

    I feel a pained fury welling up within me, I nearly break the tip of my dulled quill. So much toil, so much suffering, all with thoughts to a better tomorrow for the people above. I wish I'd been more of a coward,
never having the gall to talk back to Bekdil. At least then I wouldn't be subject to this horror. At least then we could all continue with our sing-song labour, and a meaningless death could have been avoided.
Such thoughts. They show me that I am still weak. The Aquamarine of Earth continues to test me, to strengthen me. Am I chosen for some great purpose? No. I am merely a penitent, broken man. . .

Opal 10, 802

    (https://i.imgur.com/QJwhjgo.png)

    Scarletbronze, a town that rivals that of Partnerdaub. No overwhelming sense of awe or majesty is afforded to me this time, not even as I see living folk here or there. They are decided more scarce in this place,
at least across the roads, many of them holed up in their homes, quarantined from the oncoming disease. The people here do not put on any guises, there is a distinct fear in their eyes. When looking upon me,
one or two no doubt assume at once that I'm an infected ghoul come to spread my progeny. But there is a spark of life in me yet. I can make no conversation with these folk, no, I drag myself straight to the castle here with purpose,
casting my immense backpack off in the street.

    (https://i.imgur.com/5UTXHz7.png)

    I breathe deeply. Blood is spattered about. I know what I will find.

    (https://i.imgur.com/KRjurl4.png)

    The Blighted Thralls poured out of the keep with haste toward me, sensing my life. Each and every one of them garbed and armored like the soldiers they were before. I assume the disease began with the nobles,
maybe some divine curse for their exploitation of poor, humble folk like the miners of the Deferent Abyss. Serves them right, I feel no pause raising my iron pick, nor letting it fall.

    (https://i.imgur.com/Pl1wwrP.png)
   
    Unable to easily gore their heads, I elected to sweep the legs out from 'neathe them, bringing the hollow figures down to my level that I may end their sad torment. As I swung for one of the beast's legs,
it lurched forward, mouth agape. That moment, there was no time, I twisted away as fast as I could. Just enough to escape a similar fate.

    (https://i.imgur.com/70RdAAK.png)

    (https://i.imgur.com/q87FjGx.png)

    With ease, like crushing rock for ore, blood gushed out of the viscera where the monsters' heads once were. I poured every last bit of my strength into each blow, crashing through armour a tearing them apart.
Their lumbering movements were no match for the alacrity of my body, built by the labours of Osmos. Yet still strikes found their mark, breaking the bones of my already deadened limbs. So be it. I have no need for them, begone fear. . !

    (https://i.imgur.com/VBe0cSN.png)

    When at last it was done, I surveyed my work. All the men who once called themselves the leaders of Scarletbronze, overtaken by disease and transformed into monsters -- they lay still in castle keep.
I brought myself out from the castle, onto the streets to collect my bag. A face or two crept out of their doors to see me, a shambling man, bearing great wounds, trailing crimson abaft. I called to one, "Where lies the capital of these lands?"

    ". . . Entrancegrape, the east." One croaks.

    And then another, "You will find the law-giver of Omon Obin there, Sutar Taxedpuzzle."

    I head east. My journey, my labour, still incomplete.

---

---

OOC: Had Galka Linarad not spent so much time swimming and wrestling cave monsters through the entirety of Timber, I doubt he'd have the physical prowess to deal with any of this. These Blighted Thralls are no joke! Hope you folks are enjoying this one, it's been a long time since I've played Dwarf Fortress. As it happens, I'm almost done reading everything up to the present. Here's to another century?!

Hope there's still enthusiasm for this, since I've quite a bit!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Quantum Drop on September 26, 2021, 01:48:43 pm

Excellent story, Unraveller; this has definitely gotten me hooked! Can't wait to see how this develops.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Unraveller on September 27, 2021, 02:26:59 pm

Finishing up my fortress and I'll send out the final post for this one tonight! Having a lot of fun. It's been ages, last time I participated in the Museum was the second incarnation. Though I always feel it was overshadowed by the legendary first. And of course now the ascendant third. Haha. I really do hope we keep on going for a while yet.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Unraveller on September 27, 2021, 10:37:08 pm

Opal 11, 802
    (https://i.imgur.com/4ayUWF8.png)

    A chance encounter nearly had me striking up a proper conversation, though my words were quite rusty, as I happened upon a traveler, Cobar, while the both of us entered the hamlet of Wordsscald.
Regretably, I could not so much as ask the man what his business was on the road, any such notions were ruined as a farmer, mad with the Obin Blight, burst from their hovel and nigh instantly dug their
ivories deep into Cobar's shoulder. Within seconds he too was a slavering, hollowed out shell of his former self. I had no choice but to put the both of them down.

    (https://i.imgur.com/uK7KOYD.png)

    Every home here in Wordsscald is rife with the same sights, one or two of the Blighted Thralls looming endlessly over a corpse as I batter the door. Couples I suspect, that have succombed to the disease
and are filled with an overwhelming urge to slay their own kin, or kith, or otherwise. The closer I draw toward this Entrancegrape, the tighter my grip on this pick becomes, though I do not truly know what
my aim is when I arrive -- I must see this Sutar Taxedpuzzle. Lord of all Omon Obin

    Without a moment's rest I drew myself from door to door, creaking each and every one open and without fail the same scene would play out. An innocent soul corrupted by the blight would streak forth wordlessly,
desiring nothing more than to bare its teeth into my body, and to them I would cast down the iron pick. I made no sudden movements, never, I didn't have the luxury of missteps or rash action, mine was a patient,
smoldering fury. Even so, things appeared grim more often than not.

    (https://i.imgur.com/PzbRzPF.png)

    I awaited the day that I would become like they, or perhaps in this wanton killing, I already have.

    A sight darted past me in the late hours of the night, a figure who's gait was not so horrific. Chased by a pair of the Blighted Thralls, the armored pikeman crashed through another wooden door to make his final stand.
And he would be joined. He was cornered, to the gods he said his prayers, raising his weapon for battle. Abaft, I arrived, splitting into the head of one of the thralls just as he had cloven the other one asunder.
We were quiet then for a moment more, looking on at one another. He had said then, breaking the quiet, "Who the hell're you s'posed to be? Urist McClaus?" The joke was lost on me at the time, completely,
referring to the overstuffed pack weighing me down.

    (https://i.imgur.com/i2zLR8i.png)

    Dur was the one to continue speaking, he seemed to have a knack for it that I did not. "It sure is nice to see a friendly face. I take it you ain't here for a vacation." Those were the words that flowed out of his mouth
as he rested the pike upon himself. Before I could respond he added quite straightfowardly, "So, ya gonna help me clear this ol' place out fer me wife, or ya just gonna stan -- er, sit there?" How could I refuse?
The man simply had a way with words. Together the two of us charged out into the streets, drumming up as much noise as we possibly could with abandon, the living who dwelled hear, I imagine could only see us as
insanity-driven, mad, no concept of self-perserverance whatsoever. They were likely correct.

    Side by side, strangers though we were, the night wheeled by as wave after wave of the infected townsfolk shuddered forth. Between my pick, and his pike, we must have put down thirty of the sad men, women,
and children who could not control their violent urges. Dur grew tired, his swipes, his pace, it had all slowed. I did what I could, but it is no surprise that sudden action is not my forte. A bronze knife had plunged itself
by way of the thralls, piercing his lungs. A mortal wound. As he doubled over, I ended the beast rightly. Thereafter, I shuffled him gently to unsullied house. There, the pikeman, the stranger Dur. There he took his last
few breaths. Some delirium must have overtaken him in those final moments.

    (https://i.imgur.com/FFLtRvN.png)

    He called out a name that meant nothing to me, they must have been one of his old friend that we'd slain together. No, that we put to proper rest together. I could say nothing even so, the accusation shocked me for
oh so many reasons that you might understand if you'd read along. And just like me, Dur turned inward, he held upon my shoulder.

    (https://i.imgur.com/YD3Ijq0.png)

    Aye. Aye. . . "You did the right thing." I affirmed it, I believed it. I still believe it. At last, he spoke of his wife, Strospi, and their unborn child too. Think he'll name it Galka. The fool. . .

    (https://i.imgur.com/cPhLicu.png)
    (https://i.imgur.com/8dMxp5m.png)

    This is a life worth living. He breathed his last, hero to Wordsscald. I merely came along. Though I'd only known the man for a handful of hours, it was a dire blow to my heart. But his spirit will go on, and have no
trouble with judgement passed down by the gods. My pack is as heavy as ever. I remained here, with him for a time, carving an idol for the man as I had done so many before.
 
    (https://i.imgur.com/5rnbsXY.png)
 
Opal 13, 802
    Flaxplays, how quiet this hamlet. I knew the sound, that eerie lack of sound. No beasts flying overhead, no insects chirping midst the grasses. No sounds of bustle within, neither from man nor its corrupted counterpart.
It could only mean that the latter of the won out here, that no clean-blooded folk remain. My first glance down the main thoroughfare confirmed such suspicion. Deep crimson X marks were hastily dyed onto each and every door,
demarking the entire village under quarantine. It does not sway my resolve, this desire, this need to see all that Omon Obin is, to see what it will be. Yes, yes I do despise the state of my people. I despise the thought of my good
friends, the people who were and always shall be my family, the thought of their century's long history of mining to be squandered. But as of now, I still do not know who is to blame, if anyone is to blame.

    That night, one of the many doors I opened -- As ever, I raised my pick, ready to strike at the first hollow face it came across. A shape made itself known within, and so I let it fall. They let out a howl, or more a yelp, and
I barely managed to halt my blow in time. A young boy, maybe half my age or younger still, clad in ill-fitting armour clanked forth, taking hold of an iron blade just as tall as he, and lowering it my way, no doubt thinking I was
to be yet another thrall with a massive growth of cancerous flesh ready to do him in. I shouted, something along the lines of, "Fool! Don't stay in a place like this!"

    (https://i.imgur.com/xxA61e0.png)

    What if the realm's army had marched through in hopes to cleanse the infected, abandon towns, with flames? Let alone putting yourself among the blighted ones. He couldn't muster a response, raising the oversized guard
on his helmet to see me proper. I told him to sit tight right where he was and slammed the door shut. The commotion I made had drawn the attention of those that dwelled there. . .

    (https://i.imgur.com/1Zvgias.png)

    Turot, his name was, I learned it so as I wiped the corrupted blood from my pick. He was the last survivor of the Obin Blight here in Flaxplays, couldn't leave it, didn't know where else to go he said. He did not grieve for
the loss of his people, no tears were in his eyes, only a desire to survive. The boy was admirable, he reminded me of the same boy who cast himself into the darkness below the earth. I took pity on him.

    Together the two of us put Flaxplays behind. Finding a goodly hill to rest upon just as the Sun crested the horizon.[/i]

Opal 15, 802
    When we awoke, eating on the rations I'd kept, Turot's head was awash with questions for me, always more questions. To list a few;
    'Where'ya from?'
    'What did you do there?'
    'Why did you leave?'
    'What's with all the figures?'
    'What's wrong with your legs?'

    It was difficult to answer some of which he wanted to know, but I did not feel a need to hide such things from him. I spoke my all that had occurred, I spoke of the regretful death of Bekdil Wavetwist,
I spoke of the long days spent in those caves, I spoke of carving each and every last one of these six-hundred-sixty figures as my penitence, and driving myself onward up to here as another part of the forgiveness
I sought. Can you imagine what he said? No judgments, no hate, just simply, 'Why don't you just pray, and tell her that you're sorry?' He could not have realized how his good-natured words had shocked me so,
had made me recall the feelings that welled up within after I'd cast that die the first day I'd come across it.

    Even so, Turot did not linger on the topic, next from his mouth was this, 'So, you're heading to The Museum right?' The Museum? I pressed it, returned the question. And so we stayed encamped until the next day,
he recanted many things through the voice of his mother. Of this Boltspumpkin, of the Museum it held, filled to the brim with stories and objects from countless legendary heroes in the last hundred years. I was enraptured,
I'd never heard such stories save the few that the Captain would regale us in those mines. He looked on at me with such awe, pegging me as the same breed who'd slay ancient foes of man, who'd sojourn on epic quests,
and who'd return with storied songs. But I was no hero, and Boltspumpkin was not my destination.

    (https://i.imgur.com/M4tjdrN.png)

    'First we must get you somewhere safe.' I said.

    'I'll come with! Ya seem. . . Lonely.' He replied.

    Turot is an frenetic boy, but he puts a smile to my face. For the first time since I've begun this craft, I gently carved a momento of him to keep.

Opal 16, 802
    Following his guide, we arrive in Weatherponder. To our good fortunes, the place is devoid of any and all blight so far as I can tell. It was a good change. The people here are wary of strangers to an extent, this I can understand.
And yet even so Turot manages to hold good conversation here and there. I decide that I must speak with the leadership here, in hopes to better understand the situation, maybe they can shed light on this disease, seeing as their
people are unaffected. Turot manages to set us up with an audience, many abbots of the local order seem to rule here, thankfully, I am a devout man.

Opal 18, 802
    What is wrong with me? Turot passes me strange glances from the camp. I submerge my head 'neathe the river, guzzling, guzzling. Yet I cannot slake my thirst. This dryness in my mouth. I must truly be accursed.
Is this another labour handed down to me from on high? Have I not done enough to show my regret? I detest it.

    Let me recall the prior night's events. . .

    (https://i.imgur.com/7qyhu5G.png)

    When, that night we stood before the Permanency of Chains, the main hall there in Weatherponder, I could feel something amiss in the air. I demanded that Turot stay back to his dismay, then released my bag,
he would watch over Bekdil. I did not so easily forget what I'd seen, and what I'd done in Partnerdaub and Scarletbronze. After a few steps more, the clamor I heard from on burst out into an absolute cacophony of battle.
Greenskinned little men, twisted and gnarled for who I have only heard storied as goblins rush in, out, and around the hall, chased away and killed by armoured men. Crimson flowed free against a backdrop of frigid snow,
painting that white canvas so fatally. This was not my fight. I laid low, I could do nothing but watch.

    (https://i.imgur.com/YY3Z7uy.png)

    In the chaos, in the clamour, I'd spotted something. It was a sight I could not explain so easily. As the green folk died in the snow, I looked inward, a number a fat abbots within garbed in white looked on as their guards
dealt mortal blows, all of which bearing a sense of dread, or fright on their faces, perhaps it was an attack? But one of them, a pale figure, thin, they could not hold back the wicked smile on their face as they watched the
slaughter. And I could not take my eyes off her, drawn to that gaze, that flesh stretched gauntly over high cheekbones. The shadow of the abbey hid her well behind the others, but my eyes were well adapted to the dark,
a dark that I could tell this woman used herself.

    As the fighting neared its close, she rose both arms and whispered black words. Before anyone had realized it, a body shambled to life within, the spitting image of those Blighted Thralls I'd cut a swath through to get her.
I could not hold back, bursting from the snow I did proclaim --

    (https://i.imgur.com/AhaOeDn.png)

    The look of surprise on all the abbots' faces at the sight of a man quickly crawling toward them, pickaxe in hand was one thing, but it did not even come close to the shock that was apparent within that woman's eyes.
She recoiled back into the hall as I charged forth, it was only then that the clergymen realized the hust within their midst, their soldiers running far off to chase down goblin kind. With one mighty swing I'd lain low the Thrall,
and readied myself for the pallid abbot who hid away. I called to her, and she called back -- Uja Hoodbathed her name, and I, Galka Kinddrummed had ruined her plan. I imagine the goblins were a distraction, a scapegoat
as well for her to propagate and blame the Obin Blight on.

    It was no matter, I wasn't thinking of such at the time. My mind was overcome with fury. Not a fury for my plight, and my frustrations, but rather for the people I have come to know over my journey, and for my desiccated
homeland. I think to Dur, and to Turot the most, and how this blight destroyed that which they held dear. In my rage, I made mistakes. Uja surged forward toward me, spitting venom in her words, her speed was unmatched by any
beast I'd ever seen before. With unearthly power, she drove her bronzed dagger through my one good arm, the pain causing me to drop my only weapon. However, she gave up her only advantage. I had tensed all the muscles in
my strengthed arm, keeping the blade lodged firmly in the wound. And in that moment too, I took her down by the throat squeezing as hard as I could.

    (https://i.imgur.com/cz9ZTBr.png)

    But no amount of force could seem to suck the life out of her, nor did it keep the words in her mouth, 'I curse you! I curse you! I curse you! She repeated again and again, clawing at me with her dagger-like nails, casting my
blood all over the abbey. That old Galka, the one who slunk through slick caverns and preyed on blind beasts in the deep and the dark came forth.

    (https://i.imgur.com/gdK4eDv.png)

    I tore into her neck with the only weapon left to me, her blood like a vile ichor singing my tongue.

    (https://i.imgur.com/elHDWsM.png)

    I rent her to pieces in gruesome, primal fashion. Putting an end to who I thought to be the progenitor of the Obin Blight. The clegy folk did not utter a word to me thence as I slunk out of the hall, I would not wait for their
guard to return to see me put to the sword. I crawled back toward Turot who waited anxiously. He came over to my side to lift me upon his shoulder, I had lost too much blood, and soon after, consciousness.

    And so now, here I am, by the river. Fearing that I bear an even darker disease. . .

Opal 20, 802
    Two days later we stood before the castle of Entrancegrape, within, supposedly, was the lord of all Omon Obin. The Law-giver to the people of the Realm of Silver. In truth, even then I did not know what I had precisely come for.
I suppose in that moment it was comeuppance. For the Deferent Abyss, for Bekdil, for all the people of the 'glorious' Realm of Silver. Turot begged me to let him join me, but I could not, I could not bear to see him under duress,
not if within those walls was a cabal of ghoulish and hateful monsters like that of Uja Hoodbathed. Again, he was set to watch over Bekdil and wait for my return.

    'If I should not, live well.'

    It was all I could manage at that time, my thoughts so clouded.

    (https://i.imgur.com/mfKdxiX.png)

    I opened the gate. And within. . .

    (https://i.imgur.com/ioxV1jo.png)

    Blight. I was sickened in that moment. For the armoured beast, so lacking any thoughts, any soul, any humanity, with a drive only to consume the flesh of the living, that very thrall, suffused with blight did not even seem to
realize my presence. It did not look my way even as I approached. I slew it where it stood, so as to not be drowned by that realization. Thereafter I was standing before the lord, Sutar Taxedpuzzle, no more thralls in sight.
I bit my tongue at the words I wished to speak then, he was of course, my king.

    (https://i.imgur.com/Q11o8uP.png)
    (https://i.imgur.com/JZCEEgk.png)

    He would not budge, he would not even so much as confirm the existence of the Obin Blight. Even when I dragged the disease ridden corpse to his doorstep. No, that is when something upon his expression changed.
I demanded he do right by his people, and he responded in kind.

    (https://i.imgur.com/bDjXa9j.png)
    (https://i.imgur.com/Yja6viT.png)

    With a snap of his finger, descending from the heights of the central keep was another monster, this one looked to be a true foe.

    (https://i.imgur.com/fufb0I6.png)

    Sutar sicked their blighted hound upon me without a thought, without a care in the world. His aloof actions. . . They pained the core of my being. They pained the person that I'd become after the many labours given to me,
after my sorrowful journey. I danced out of the path of the beast's weapon;

    (https://i.imgur.com/dmMmx98.png)

    It fell upon its master's head with a sick crunch. Killing the corrupt law-giver instantly. I suppose you could say this too was karmic retribution. . . There is nothing more to speak of the incident at Entrancegrape.

    I emerged, feeling no more victorious for all that had come. I could only hope that my actions have polished the realm's sheen. Tarnished still as it is. I have seen all that Omon Obin has to offer, I have completed this trial,
and I am better for it. I grow weary. Perhaps it is time that I stop living in the past, and look ahead.

   

---

    Galka Kinddrummed closes shut his thickly bound journal for the last time, the same book that has survived all of his tribulations. "Come on then boy." He begins, a world-weariness in his rasping voice.

    "Where to next?" Turot asked. Helping the begrudging crippled man secure his heavy pack.

    "The day is young. And you've still a dream to fufil, no?" Galka's lips pursed into a bit of grin, he couldn't hold it back.

    "You don't mean. . ?!"

    "I do."

   

---

    One month later they say a well-traveled man with arms like tree-trunks lumbered into the castle of Boltspumpkin without taking a single step, a leather backpack filled to the brim and overstuffed with carvings, a young boy riding on top, half-awake. A new item, or. . . Items were left in a quiet little corner in the heights of the eponymous Museum. A collection of sixhundred-sixty well-carven figurines, each bearing the visage of a human woman, Bekdil Wavetwist. A testament to the penitence of their little-known creator. Beneath the submission, a little plaque read simply, 'Do not hold on for too long.'

    Just as soon as they came, the two were gone again.

   

---

    Some two years later, The Walled Dye had completed a grand new construction, The Silent Tower. It was a place of somber worship and study, a place to lead a quiet, comfortable life. It was an attempt by the dwarves to begin their first great library, to put a pen to tapestry of history, to proclaim loudly that the Walled Dye lives, and will live on. Monuments to the heroes of the last century whom joined with the group to raise it up from the ashes there stands. They say you might see that man's face again there, overlooking from the top of the tower, plying their masterful trade. Every now and then passing a stern look over the southern kingdom of man.

   

---

   

---

    OFFICIAL SUBMISSION -- 660 Bone figurines of Bekdil Wavetwist

    OOC: So! That was all quite a grand time. I still have so much to say about the turn so I'll just start. I never truly intended for Galka to become a Vampire, it definitely wasn't in the plan. A strong part of me wanted him to grow old and die peacefully. I did not realize at the time that Uja was a Vampire either until I did some digging. For a good while I had honestly thought them to be another thrall or other intelligent undead, though they did seem to raise another Blighted Thrall, I don't understand how it could have appeared suddenly inside otherwise. It wasn't until I properly killed her that I noticed it. Coupling that with the tearing out of her throat and the happenstance of Galka being thirsty at the time, I almost couldn't refuse that confluence. So, for now we have a very introspective grand master bonecarver who'll live their eternity for now in the Walled Dyes newest site. Should I ever get to play him again, I'll likely explore that curse more indepth, didn't do much with it this time as it only happened at the very end of his adventure.

    Speaking of which, Urdim Eshom, The Tower of Silence, is an attempt to build a grand library. Though I don't have the patience to wait many, many, many years for my dwarves to create an extensive catalog, only so much they can write and copy in two years. Even so, I hope it will give a neat, quiet place for future adventurers to visit should they be scholarly minded, or even for new adventurers to begin their career there, cloistered away in the mountains! Perhaps even aiding the Walled Dye in building a historically significant collection of books? There's a TON of writing material for one to work with should they chose to! The main library is one z-level down should you be interested. While the other side, the tower, is basically just a meta memorial to the first 64 adventurers up to Galka. Nothing crazily special mind you.

    There seemed to be a main topic of interest amongst the dwarves;

    (https://i.imgur.com/nFy1cYQ.png)

    Perhaps after making up with the Walled Dye folk that attacked him at Blowechoes, Galka expounded much upon the existence of this Obin Blight'.

    Instead of droning on too long, here's the save! -- SAVE HERE (https://dffd.bay12games.com/file.php?id=15684)
Please go ahead and add me on for another turn!

    Hope you folks enjoyed as much as I did.

---

---

Spoiler: Also rescued that amulet artefact for Lurker! (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/7sjwpY5.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/hZ3fZ1g.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/aJcEHiu.png)

Spoiler: Also these two fun things and a suggestion for a future player (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/vvBHo9t.png)
A kea stole my artifact gold short sword, haha.

(https://i.imgur.com/4ZPccYy.png)
Scary message right here. Turns out they did absolutely nothing but party. Didn't even murder any dwarves. Cool.

(https://i.imgur.com/hLpMpGp.png)
I didn't make mention of it as I couldn't easily fit it in. But in a completely abandoned human town, I came across two kobolds squatting inside a house. Turns out one of them wants to become a legendary warrior! What would you guys think about someone possessing her and making that happen? I'd be down for that! Maybe could usher in a return for Kobolds?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on September 28, 2021, 03:58:54 am

What a great turn! I really like your writing style.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Unraveller on September 28, 2021, 12:08:38 pm

I'm glad to hear it! This was the first time I'd ever tried to do something from a mostly first person/past perspective. You might notice there's quite a few times I slipped up in tense. I had trouble keeping things as if they were being narrated correctly. Still awesome to hear you say that.

It's all going to Eric Blank next! Good luck. There should still be hundreds of those damn Blighted Thralls infesting Omon Obin. I wasn't ultra thorough.

Unrelated.

Quote from: nogoodnames on November 11, 2020, 10:19:43 pm

From the desk of Leto Searchpraise, Senior Apprentice to the Historian’s Guild
20th Sandstone, 873

Soon enough we will need to form a proper Historian's Guild here in Orid Xem should we wish for the timeline to remain intact! Maybe The Silent Tower wouldn't be too bad a place to start it? But even otherwise I'd love to see something akin to it. Slowly having true academia come to Orid Xem. I may just have to play a scholar when my next turn comes.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on September 28, 2021, 01:45:55 pm

Good story, The golden sword artifact stolen by the Kea is very interesting and could play into what i have planned. But it was a very interesting read, looking forward to seeing what comes next.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Unraveller on September 28, 2021, 04:28:51 pm

Sorry for flooding the thread with random stuff, but I decided to investigate a little deeper into what I've been calling the 'Obin Blight', the ghoulish contagion that forms Blighted Thralls opposed to all life. . . So, if you'll humor me.

---

---

Spoiler: On the Obin Blight (click to show/hide)

From the desk of 'Old' Momuz Turnpage, Senior Researcher of the Historian’s Guild
15th Obsidian, 871

---

-- Genesis: The 'Obin Blight' --
When one ponders the question; 'What disease bore effects more dire to the race of Man, more specifically, to the kin of Omon Obin?' There are almost exclusively two answers:

Firstly, the question evokes -- The Silver Plague, an illness generally considered to have taken root somewhere between Felsite and Hematite in the year 703, during the end of the Third Age of Myth. In short, the disease attacks the lungs of its most unfortunate victims, corroding the respiratory tract with thick necrotic pustules and sores until either they suffocate upon their own blood or all of their lungs have dissolved away. The Silver Plague is generally considered to have in those short years alone, cause the death of approximately twenty-five to thirty thousand humans, and many more to date, making it by far the deadliest disease of Orid Xem. In fact, remnants of the Plague exist to this day, should you wish to learn more, I suggest my companion work; Genesis: The Silver Plague.

And Secondly, there are those, myself included, who believe the 'Orid Blight' to be the more devastating of the two. This contagion completely alters the humors, the mind of its host until the time of their death. Through the mere bite of one host, it near-instantly transforms humble, average men into hulking beasts who bear no fear, no empathy, no pain, no need for food or drink. And replaced that all with a sole desire for consumption. It is something of a disputed fact, but I vouge for the idea that it does not destroy the original mind, merely locking it away eternally, making the infected all the more tragic. Through observation we have determined that those infected with the Obin Blight do not age as normal folk do, it is as of yet unknown whether or not it grants the host immortality, but conjecture points positively toward that fact. But hark, reader! Do not seek out this plight, you will never again be yourself, forever called a, 'Blighted Thrall'. Even should it grant life eternal yet, it is a false life, marred by hunger, by hatred, by malice. There is no cure to the blight, save the destruction of your brain, or to be drained of blood. Regardless, I am no expert on the effects themselves, seek out works by my colleague, Kubuk Gravefinder should you wish to study the blight more in-depth.

There is still no true number to the death-toll of the Obin Blight, but take one look upon the state of the Realm of Silver, Omon Obin, and you will see the earth-shaking effect its existence has had on the state of all Orid Xem. Yes, that in of itself is why I consider it to be a more important topic of study; while the Silver Plague was and still is secluded only to the people of Omon Obin, the Obin Blight is as widespread as fruitflies. Men, Dwarves, Elves, Goblins, it matters not. One bite is all it takes for any creature to be transfigured into a Blighted Thrall, and to then go on and pass it themselves. In-fact, the blight itself did not even begin in Omon Obin, henceforth I will weave you the tale of its origin.

---

In a time before time was recorded, the dwarf Oddom Girdergrove was born to the Walled Dye, yes, that Oddom Girdergrove. There are countless tomes in our library that tell the story of the dark lord that she became, so I shall not indulge of it in this one. Know simply this; Shedimostar, 'Shadowbury' -- It was a bronze slab generally considered to have been forged by the deity of death and darkness, Tithleth, whom imbued upon it all the secrets of life and death. Oddom seized it in the year 47, and learned these most vile secrets. From there, in the year 81, Oddom Girdergrove created the dark tower of Heroicgem, where oh so much evil was wrought upon Orid Xem. That same year, another dwarf came to live and study 'neathe her; Cerol Basinbolt the Pleated.

Zefon Minedarmor was born to the Walled Dye. Much, if not all of her early life is shrouded in a veil of mystery. But, it is considered that at some point in the earliest years of history she gave into dark powers alongside Oddom and Cerol, the likes considered 'Necromancy' in colloquial terms. Zefon herself is not terribly integral to this story, you may also know her as 'The Equivalence of Throwing', her unlife extended well into the Age of Heroes. But that is another tale. More important is the student she took on, whom we have greater records of: Thranan Echohail, sometimes referred to as The Rapidity of Helms, a human, was born in the year 234, to the Creamy Confederacy. For some time she held an honorable position as Lady of the Perfect Councils who oversaw the hamlet of Petdens.

Thranan fought in countless battles for her realm, against the Scholarly Manors. The very same group who founded Heroicgem. Those great wars against the dark lords of old brought ruination and chaos in their wake, armies of the dead fielded against the north. The Walled Dye nearly fell into oblivion during that time, alongside the Creamy Confederacy. Thranan was seduced by the powers that her foes wielded, she became obsessed by her own mortality. And in the year 333, nearing the end of her long life, she fled to that vile tower, and began an apprenticeship under the dwarf Zefon Minedarmor. In the year 345, the ghoulish strain of this Obin Blight that we know to this day took hold. During the conquest of Orbsnarled, once a town in The Nations of Honoring, Thranan weaved her dark magicks for the first time, putting a curse upon the Goblin Child, Zolak Wretchedmaligned. As well as several other inhabitants during the battle. And with that, Thranan falls out of this story.

Unfortunately, in our research, we have not been able to piece together the story of Zolak from that point all the way up until 797. It is unknown whether or not that poor child passed on the disease in the centuries between then, but I can only imagine the answer must be that they did. Regardless, Zolak bit into the flesh of one Hannibal Valleyball 'the Fortunate Depth of Tresses', transforming the capybara surgeon into a Blighted Thrall, whom in their own right was already an acolyte of the dark powers. It's argued whether or not Hannibal sought out the blight to be put upon themself, or whether it was an accident of fate. But it was here that the spread began. The strain quickly passed on between a good handful of hosts, more notably than any others being Shethbah Pagetribe, who in of themselves is an uninteresting subject, but rather whom they passed the blight upon -- Kosoth Salvesank, the Kindled Worshipper of Sitting. A 'super spreader'.

Little is known about what the dwarf Kosoth was like before his infection. What is known, however, is the part that he played in bringing the blight across the known world. Countless beings were 'gifted' the disease on that year of 797. At that time their rampage throughout Omon Obin found the human realm torn apart by madness and decay. Even now it is a shadow, a husk of what it once was. Having only clung to life thanks to 'the Crusades' of the 9th century.

Strangely, Kosoth was not wholly afflicted with the same urges as his blighted kin. Perhaps some twisted shard of his warped mind remained, pushed on by an unknown and maligned force who sought to reap its judgment across Orid Xem. It was as if purposely, Kosoth spread the illness, not out of merely a desire to consume, but only to propagate that vile curse. It is thought that the human diety Gopet, the Putrid Cyst, is responsible. Acting on a retributive grudge that some mortal foolishly trespassed, but such is beyond the conjecture of Historians.

In closing; The Obin Blight is a divine disease, originating with mortal meddling of the secrets of life and death in the first century, a true disaster having only been brought to the light in the waning years of the eighth. Know this dear reader; should it be through Omon Obin that you intend to travel; carry a goodly axe, and aim for the head.

-- Momuz Turnpage, 871

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on September 28, 2021, 04:34:00 pm

I only had time to skim it, but I loved the story, and the ending... truly that Dwarf Fortress bitter flavor. I made a wiki page for Galka (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Galka_Linarad), very bare-bones and I assumed some things, so feel free to edit it if you think there's more to add.

Regarding Uja (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Uja_Kusutbepa), her whole life since the adventurers made their presence was a bitter irony: from the Law-Giver to a (relatively) peaceful and safe civilization, she was infested with vampirism by an adventurer, exposed by another, then hunted down until she was eventually killed by yet another, who didn't even know who she was. She even held out from killing anyone in her entire life despite her curse, but that doesn't help you in a death world.

My character (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Lurker_Onecbehal) thanks you for ending his grudge with Uja and for the care with his artifact (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Ligircaspa_Osmahegesh) (that if you don't know/remember, he saved from Omon Obin's capital from the vile things happening there - and apparently, not a moment too soon).

I like your lore, don't worry about posting it, (player-made) lore is the lifeblood of Museum worlds.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Unraveller on September 28, 2021, 04:44:42 pm

Bare-bones? You've practically told the whole story! Haha. I imagine his arc regarding the csrvings/Bekdil/his submission to the museum wouldn't make it to a historical wiki of sorts given the very unspoken and personal nature of that part of his journey.

I really dig what you wrote down. Having a whole wiki dedicated to these things is pretty neat!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on September 28, 2021, 04:53:04 pm

Nah, add as much as you like. There's no notability or anything and as much as we can add, the better. I'm in no great measure to describe Galka, especially since, as I said, I didn't read his entire story start-end.

I'm glad I got the broad strokes right though.

---

Holy... there was some serious fighting in Señamatem (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Señamatem). I take back what I said about Lurker, he's probably rolling in his (shallow) grave.

(https://i.imgur.com/qcfm2dE.png)

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Unraveller on September 28, 2021, 06:03:27 pm

(https://i.imgur.com/lVU9iki.png)

Quite a number of attempted insurrections occurred during Galka's journey. All within Omon Orid. All of which I think were led by groups of Blighted Thralls and undead, or otherwise against them. All of these locations were filled to the brim with the infected.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Eric Blank on September 28, 2021, 10:06:20 pm

I didn't expect my turn to come up so soon, but it's probably the best timing I can get with work and all anyway! I'll try to download the save tonight but will probably start tomorrow.

I really. Really enjoyed the read, unraveller!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Unraveller on September 29, 2021, 04:08:10 pm

Quote from: kesperan on September 28, 2021, 03:58:54 am

What a great turn! I really like your writing style.

Quote from: AvolitionBrit on September 28, 2021, 01:45:55 pm

Good story, The golden sword artifact stolen by the Kea is very interesting and could play into what i have planned. But it was a very interesting read, looking forward to seeing what comes next.

Quote from: Eric Blank on September 28, 2021, 10:06:20 pm

I really. Really enjoyed the read, unraveller!

Hey, thanks you folks, really. It's super encouraging to hear that, especially as anxious I was about some of the parts. I know no one here's judgmental about these kinds of things, bit I still wanted to present something that I felt was worth reading haha. There were definitely sections that could have been much better, but I was impatient and have a difficult time focusing on writing usually. Just glad it came out alright.

Definitely looking forward to what's coming next to Orid Xem.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Imic on September 29, 2021, 04:55:51 pm

I adored the story, once I started reading the first of your last two updates, I couldn't stop reading until I was done. I remember someone said that despite the world being often framed in-story as post apocalyptic, things weren't actually all that bad.

Well, uh... if they weren't so bad back then, they're definitely that bad now. We have overseen one eigth of this world's history, and by god, we have turned it into mush between the lot of us. I always look forward to seeing what happens next in this buggered up world we've created, all the things that go horribly wrong, and all the points of light and hope in that endless darkness.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Eric Blank on September 29, 2021, 05:12:39 pm

I did manage to download the save after cutting out several times, hopefully no data corruption problems there. I'll start tonight after I get off work.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Unraveller on October 01, 2021, 02:40:24 pm

Loss of a true legend right here. Hats off fellows.

(https://i.imgur.com/uCtJHam.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/x10mbXG.png)

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Quantum Drop on October 01, 2021, 06:35:43 pm

Ketas Indigovaulted looked up from his book at the low groan from Kosoth. The dwarf had passed out soon after the bite, some element of his biology reacting violently to the infection burning through his blood. Even with his freshly-enhanced strength, it had been quite the effort to drag him upstairs, contending with his awkwardly-slumped gait and the dead weight of his body and armour. There had, thankfully, been something of a makeshift table up there already, rendering it easier for him to remove the dwarf’s armour and observe the changes rushing through him.

Much of the initial blistering had subsided and the bite itself had sealed over completely with scar tissue and skin, though a few yellowish blisters bulged here and there amidst a reddened section of skin. Though his body displayed little in the way of further increased muscular growth, the dwarf would now be far harder to wound; out of curiosity, he had pushed the edge of his axe firmly into the bare skin of Kosoth’s arm, only to see that the blade had done little more than bruise the skin.

The dwarf stirred slightly, and then much more violently. His eyes snapped open, teeth bared in an expression of sudden murderous fury as he sat bolt upright. One hand flashed out to seize Ketas by the throat and mouth, fingers curling into a tight grip, then slackened as swiftly as it had begun. Recognition sparked in the dwarf’s eyes, and his hand fell back against the wood of the table.

Ketas turned about in his seat, seizing a small cup from a table to his right. He pressed it to Kosoth’s lips, letting the murky liquid within slosh slightly about as the dwarf’s face screwed up in some instinctual distaste, teeth pressing against one another to try and stop the foul concoction from entering his mouth.

“Drink this,” Ketas growled, pressing the cup slightly harder against Kosoth’s tightly-clenched teeth. The cup creaked gently under his grip, forcing him to loosen his hold slightly – he was not quite used to his newly-gained physical power, as the shattered flinders of ceramic off in the corner could attest to. “It will help.”

There was an instant of hesitation, the dwarf’s brain ticking over as it processed his words, before his jaw unclenched. Ketas wasted no time in pouring the entirety of the medicine down his ally’s throat, stepping back slightly as the ghoul coughed furiously; he knew from bitter experience that it burned like molten magma going down, though the effects that the Sacred Flax had described made it well worth it. It would require regular administration, with probable compensation for whatever effects his new physiology might have, but the result would – assuming all went well – be a nigh-unstoppable tool to further the goals of the true Abyssal Cult.

 “Get up and get armoured. We’re going northwards.”

---

The two adventurers would travel for days, first through the fields and erratically-sloped hillocks of The Oracular Hill, and then through the densely-packed trees and broad, lush grasslands of The Jungle of Harvesters. Though their afflictions rendered them tireless and neither showed any sign of complaint at the length of their travels, it was slow going – at Ketas’ urging, the two were travelling by night alone, to avoid wandering traders and the packs of animals roaming the region.

Where the trees and wild animals failed to impede their progress, the hamlets and forts that made their home in The Couple-Steppes of Pondering and the forest took their place; on the rare occasions that the two were left with no choice but to travel through them, carnage was always the result.

The townspeople of the region, if nothing else, were bold, Ketas could not help but muse. It took courage – more courage, perhaps, than intelligence – to try and fight the living dead with no more than ornamental knives and the occasional proper weapon. None of them had so much as scratched either man’s flesh, let alone their armour, admittedly, but he supposed it was the effort that counted.

About the only good thing about the travel was the opportunities it provided them. Several of the plants critical to Kosoth’s ‘medicine’ were in great supply in the fields, allowing him to gather more than enough for the rest of their travels. Furthermore, the wandering packs and groupings of predatory wild animals had all proven useful for keeping their skills sharp in their long trek across from Inchtwisted, on the occasions they deigned to try and take them.

Ketas pushed those thoughts out of his mind. The two were almost at their destination – from his perch high in the trees, he could see the vague shape of jutting finger of smoothed stone, arising from the depression in the hills around him. There had been rumours, for a long time, of a ruined dwarven fortress lying in the far north-west of the world; though it had been many decades since the rumours began, he was confident that the ruins would not have been plundered of what he sought.

The approach would be difficult, nonetheless. Vast, indistinct shapes moved around the fortress and its borders, occasionally pausing to perch atop the hills or to quarrel with one another. The air carried with it the scent of rot and brimstone, even at such a distance. It was hardly difficult to tell that the fortress’s fall had been a violent, even diabolical one. With no option but to move down the slopes, they would have to be wary indeed lest they bring unlooked-for attention upon them.

The dwarf and the human advanced toward their goal with as light a foot as was possible, almost clinging to the shadows of the trees and crawling across the dirt where there was no such cover. More than once they were forced to freeze in place as one of the gargantuan creatures came too close for comfort, and one of them – a towering blob of rapidly-shifting ash and cinders, half-warm to the touch – they were forced to slay upon it discovering the two, sending ash scattering across the grasses before them.

Little sooner than they had struck down the ashen blob, a loud cry split the night. From high above, unnatural hatred blazing in its eyes, one of the gargantuan creatures swooped towards the two, wickedly-sharp talons flashing and a strange, smoky gas belching from its beak. Kosoth’s mace sounded heavily upon the kinglet-like beast’s head, followed by a strike to the neck from Ketas’ massive axe, showering the two in vile-tasting blood and hard little chunks of bone.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/DuzsOAp.png)

The demon made no delay in replying, one massive, taloned foot curling into a fist-like ball before it dived towards Ketas. The human made to move, recognising the danger, but his unnatural condition slowed him as much as it sustained and enhanced him. Ketas managed two steps before the foot filled his vision, striking with enough force to send him sailing backwards through the air, accompanied by a sickly, wet snap as his spine and head turned to an unnatural angle.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/QGMFjnb.png)

In moments, the husk regained his feet and rushed full-force against the beast. The two men fought in silence, neither uttering so much as a grunt of pain even as the beast crushed Ketas’ arm into a ruin between its beak, or as the force of its blocked blows sent them staggering and flying about the clearing; the demon more than compensated with its shrieks and cawing cries, accompanied by the crash of splintering wood as the three blundered about the forest.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/Vyr76KX.png)

(https://i.imgur.com/CVFEFMH.png)

The demon put up a magnificent fight, and more than once, it crossed the minds of the two that even their preternatural resilience might fail against the savagery and aggression of the bird-like fiend. It kicked and clawed at the two undead adventurers, hurled them through the air like rag-dolls when they blocked or were struck; it took to the skies, cawing for aid from its brethren, before its damaged wings failed it and sent it crashing back down to earth. Yet it was foredoomed, and it went down with Ketas slashing furiously at its head and torso with the blind savagery of an enraged berserker, bleeding from a thousand cuts and lacerations across its massive frame.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/zBUHXEQ.png)

(https://i.imgur.com/21vfT23.png)

No sooner than it lay dead, however, the two were thrust into a second confrontation – the avian fiend’s twin had heard the commotion, and though it had arrived too late to aid its ally, it was more than willing to settle for revenge. For a second time, the forest filled with the shrieks and caws of the kinglet monster, the snap of shattering bone and the scent of hot, fresh blood. Its massive beak crushed Ketas’ hand into a ruin of flesh and bone, shaking the husk about like a child’s toy as the man sought to regain his axe and strike back. Luck, more than anything, allowed the two victory, as one of the spikes of Kosoth’s morningstar tore deep into the head of the demon and felled the evil creature.

Ketas idly looked down toward the demon’s corpse. He had heard only tales of the monsters, before today. Their strength, it would seem, had been grossly exaggerated, if a simple surgeon with an axe could slay them.

There were, thankfully, no further interruptions to their approach. The field around the tower was thick with debris – rusting iron and steel tools and bars lay in all directions, accompanied by rotting food and the occasional piece of dwarven viscera. Dozens of barrels and bins were strewn about here and there, broken open or otherwise left to spill their content across the dirt.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/P8PzDH2.png)

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/i4a2mf1.png)

Ketas paused in his tracks and stowed his axe, lightless eyes scanning across the smooth stone of the tower for hand-holds in the rock. Kosoth busied himself with picking through the debris for anything of use, pausing every now and then to secrete something of particular value away in his backpack. A steel axe and helm, untouched by decay despite the years, a number of shields forged of various metals – and a single pair of blocky steel greaves, forged and studded with the once-lost metal.

Newly armed and armoured, the duo swiftly made their way inside the tower, and then into the fortress itself.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/p7g1qJI.png?1)

Kosoth could not help but note that its architecture was rather strange – the vast, empty rooms and corridors of unsmoothed stone stood beside crowded workshops and statue-line meeting halls, the forging area clogged with stone and detritus, the veins of ore-rich rock riddling the walls; all of it stood in stark contrast to the fortress he had lived much of his life in, and to the brief few years he had spent in Ironwards. Master Ketas was behaving oddly, searching through the bins and wreckage with an almost-possessed fervour; for a few seconds, Kosoth wondered what might be driving him to such fervent actions, before dismissing the thought as irrelevant, trailing after the human as he went stalking through the silent halls.

Passing into one of the few rooms yet unexplored, Ketas beheld a rather curious sight: the floor of the room seemed to simply drop off into some kind of carefully-carved pit, bordered by a quartet of statues and smooth pillars. Peering over the edge revealed little more than ink-black darkness and the occasional shadowy mass of what might have been a body, or a statue; proceeding down the ramps revealed a dozen tarnished, ancient chains, still secured to the ground by heavy metal pegs -  it seemed as though this had been some kind of prison, though whatever it had once contained here had certainly long since fled.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/dcxDIgv.png)

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/mlplKXV.png)

If it had indeed been a prison at all. The presence of a further series of holes in such a precise pattern, arranged in such a manner to imply an artist’s work, suggested it to be something else entirely – perhaps some kind of strange temple, as the heathen religions so common to the fringes of the world favoured. It was a suspicion that only grew as he proceeded down the stairs beyond, hollow eyes roaming across the smooth stone walls in search of some engraving that might provide further evidence for whatever this construction’s purpose was; much of its construction and layout seemed to imply nothing short of it being some grand architectural fancy as opposed to a functional temple, going by the lack of even the most basic adornments and the great, empty rooms of smoothed, blank stone.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/NaQ4b2e.png)

The stairs before them continued to drive ever deeper into the earth below, running ruler-straight into the depths of the fortress. Vast, demonic corpses clogged the stairwell and barred the way ahead, bone and rotting flesh crunching underfoot as they entered the very deepest reaches of the fortress. With the cause of the fortress’s fate clear, and no way to access the supernatural ore that lay beyond, the two were left with no choice but to turn back.

---

The ashen ground stretched far across the plains, radiating out from the deep depression in the land ahead. Other ashes, carried on the wind, swirled around Ketas’ ankles and settled upon his travelling cloak as he and Kosoth walked closer to the shallow pit in the lands ahead of them.

Ketas had heard rumours of this place among the acolytes of The Abyssal Cult, spoken so long ago that it felt like a lifetime. A charcoal pit in the corruption-soaked regions of north-eastern Orid Xem; a place where the grasses and dirt rendered lifeless by wildfires created by the powerful demon lord said to dwell within. If it could be convinced to serve them –

Their approach was halted in its tracks by a thunderous roar, and a tongue of fire broad as a dwarf was long. A massive, four-horned head mounted atop a long, swaying neck arose from the blackness of the pit, weak sunlight glinting off the massive steel helm that guarded the demon’s head. Its eyes locked onto the pair of them, and though he knew it to be no more than some trick of the mind, Ketas could swear that he saw its features light up with some semblance of murderous intelligence.

Its massive jaws yawned open, and words issued forth.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/ocP3hj0.png)

Little in the way of further words were needed. The two undead sprinted across the field toward their target, shields raised to block the worst of the fire. The metal swiftly heated to a dull, glowing red under the fire of the demon, searing the skin of Ketas’ arm. The beast whipped its armoured head towards him as he drew closer, teeth meeting the empty air above his head with a hollow snap. The answering swing of his axe, Goden Ashro, sent teeth flying in all directions as the steel struck hard against the demon’s mouth.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/XSGMXHO.png)

The demon roared in fury at the wound, kicking at Kosoth with a leg thick as a tree-trunk as the dwarf closed in to strike. It missed by a matter of inches, providing an opening for Ketas to drive his axe into the exposed neck of the massive demon; foul-smelling blood poured from the cut, spraying in all directions as it pulled away from him. Despite the blow he had dealt it, it barely seemed to acknowledge him in favour of sending another earth-shaking kick towards Kosoth, forcing the ghoulish dwarf to spin out of the way as the hulking demon lashed out in all directions with its head and legs alike.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/sjuETDN.png)

Ketas was just a second too slow. One of the charcoal brute’s massive legs slammed full-force against his lower arm, sending him spinning through the air like a rag doll; it was pure luck and unnatural resilience that prevented the arm from being torn away entirely, instead crumpling into a ruin of torn flesh and broken bone. The human skidded backwards across the ground for several meters, kicking up a smoky cloud of ashes that settled into a grimy patina on his robes. Kosoth’s reaction was immediate – letting out as close to a cry of fury as the ghoulish dwarf could muster, he rushed forward and struck hard with his mace against the massive demon’s helmed head from behind. The morningstar rebounded from the metal with a harsh clang, accompanied by the snap of breaking bone as the spikes of the weapon tore into what little flesh was exposed.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/QackaHC.png)

Once again, the demon reacted with impressive speed, massive legs kicking out with incredible force and horns rushing toward him. Kosoth managed to raise his shield against the first blow, the force bending the metal to a horrendous degree and sending him staggering backwards from the weight of the impact. It did nothing against the second strike that thundered into his arm. Kosoth went sailing backwards as Ketas made to close the distance, the splintered wreckage of his upper arm spraying pus and blood about as he skidded along the dirt.

Ketas’ eyes narrowed to slits as Kosoth retreated. Both of them were wounded, albeit not fatally, while the demon lord seemed almost completely unphased by the cuts and broken bones it had sustained. 
As the monster whipped its great head towards him once again, he shifted his weight into a side-step; its jaws clipped the air above his head with an outraged, wet-sounding snap. A stream of fire singed the edges of his robes as he ran past the demon and onto its flank, jumping onto the exposed side of its skinless form, fingers scrabbling to find hand-holds in the creature’s exposed bones and heated, lined muscle.

The creature seemed to recognise what he was doing; it bucked and thrashed furiously, bending its neck to an angle no natural creature should have been able to reach, trying to swat him off its back with horn and head alike. As its head drew close for another strike, face splitting into a diabolical leer of murderous intention, Ketas threw his entire body into a wild slash with his steel battle-axe, aiming for the hulking demon’s face.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/mVGFHPw.png)

The demon shrieked in rage as the blow connected. Clear, vile fluid poured down the curving blade of Goden Ashro as the axe cut across both of the charcoal brute’s eyes. Its newly-blinded head flailed back and forth, shaking Ketas from its back to land heavily on the ground below. The demon’s skinless head twitched this way and that, seemingly adjusting to the loss of its eyes with incredible speed – it had only been seconds since the wound was sustained, yet already it was angling its head towards Kosoth, sucking in air to fuel another immense blast of flames.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/kk8luHn.png)

Scrambling back to his feet, Ketas rushed to deliver another strike against the demon’s trailing leg, letting the steel of Goden Ashro bite deep enough to touch bone. The leg gave a single, terrible spasm as the nerves within were severed, leaving the demon stagging as Kosoth’s morningstar tore another series of bloody furrows into its opposite. The great demon was weakening, now, as blood loss began to take its toll; its strikes grew slower and more ponderous, while Kosoth and Ketas darted in and out of its range, tearing fresh gashes into the legs of the gigantic brute with every blow. One blow even severed a foot entirely, sending the giant crashing to the ashen soil amidst another gout of ichor.

At last, the inevitable occurred. The demon slowed almost to a halt; its massive legs bent, then buckled entirely, folding beneath its collapsing body as the giant half-gracefully fell to the ground, armour letting out a hollow booming noise as its head and chest struck hard against the ground. A few sparks and embers flew from its throat as it loosed one final, defiant roar. And then it was all over, the beast’s eyes flickering one last time and then going dark as the last remnants of life drained free of its body.

---

Outside of a tiny hamlet, hidden by the trees, two men stood waiting under a bruised, blackened sky. At first, one might wonder what they were doing out here, standing silent and still atop a hill on such a dark, rainy night. As one drew closer, one might notice the strange charms that adorned their clothing and armour, and the unnatural light pulsing from within their hollow, dark eyes. The reason for their strange action would become terribly clear, for what few moments the finder had left among the living, and then be lost once again.

Amidst smears of ash and the ritually-scattered bones, Ketas sat cross-legged, deep in a meditative trance. Not a single muscle or hair so much as moved; even the unnatural glow of his hollow eyes had faded to dim embers within the shadows of his hood, so deep into his communion with the gods was he.

Ketas did not speak, but he felt words leave him, nonetheless.

“What would you have me do?”

There was no reply. The scrutiny of the Lord of All was upon him, beating down like the rain around him. The judgement of his god was almost palpable; it was as though a single, vast eye had fixed him in place with its gaze, picking him apart down to the bone and inspecting every single part for any sign of failure or disrespect.

He did not dare to move so much as a muscle. Were he to fail this silent test, there could be only one answer. The animating force of his body would be withdrawn faster than he could comprehend. He had seen it in the past – failed acolytes that had petitioned to join the ranks of the faithful, black lies upon their tongue and treachery in their hearts. In the instant of their induction, the Lord of All had showed them all the price of such lies; their skeletons still lay within their alcoves, a warning to all that might try to trick a god.

“Listen to my words.”

The voice of the Lord of All was almost blinding in its intensity, searing away every other thought and doubt.

“You ask of me what I wish you to do. Have you learned so little?”

Ketas reeled under the force of his Lord’s disapproval.

“I… I have become distracted, my Lord. I allowed material vices to weaken me.”

“No. You have grown strong, by these actions. It is why I chose you. It is why I choose you now.”

“My- my Lord?”

“You are a surgeon.” The word was akin to a mark of approval. Ketas almost trembled. It was a profession that ran counter to the very nature of the Lord of All – to receive such praise was unheard of. “You have always known of my actions. Of my tools. Of my creed. You already know what you must do.”

“Yes.” Ketas felt something strange well within his chest. It was a cold, gripping feeling; it robbed him of any thought beyond itself, and wound its strangling fingers around his throat. It was fear. He was being called to do the Lord’s work, and he was afraid of failure. “You wish me to spread your gifts.”

“The Lady of Life works to thwart me at every turn. Her thieves work to steal what is rightfully mine from my domain. They must be punished. I leave this task in your hands, my loyal servant. You have the tool to execute this sacred duty at hand – use it well. Go, now, and do my will.” 

Ketas stood enraptured. Before such purity of purpose, he had no doubts. It was already a certainty – there was nothing to do now but to bring it about. It was the will of his god, spoken from His mouth, that he spread the gift lurking within his partner’s body to these mortals. The half-remembered fear was chased away by the light of His will.

“I shall not fail, my Lord!” Ketas cried aloud as much as he thought, undead voice as close to life as it had ever been.

The Lord of All’s gaze turned away from him. No longer pinned in place by the incredible might of his god’s scrutiny, the path before him was as clear as day.

There was a gentle creak of leather and metal as Kosoth turned his head towards Ketas. The gift was reacting with the concoction used to keep him under control; though his skills with a weapon were as sharp as ever, his ability to speak and act independently decayed by the day – only when presented with new prey, and the opportunity to spread his curse, did he seem to display some facsimile of life again, chasing after the living with all the rabid aggression of a mad dog.

No matter. He would have fulfilled his purpose soon enough.

Ketas arose to his feet, allowing the bone charms and ash to fall and flake away from his form. The lights of the hamlet’s mead hall shone weakly in the distance, accompanied by the glow he had come to associate with the living’s blood – tiny, warm smears of blood-red light, slumped upon the floor, or upright and facing others. Dozens of them.

Beneath his leather hood, the remnants of Ketas’ pallid lips pulled into a malevolent grin.

---

Later histories would record that the first settlement to truly fall to the Obin Blight was the tiny hamlet of Platewheats, which lay within the slopes where The Dunes of Glistening met The Oracular Hill. Kosoth Salvesank the Kindled Worshipper of Sitting crept into the hamlet under cover of night and ran amok amidst the wooden huts and houses, spreading his poison to all that lived and striking down those that offered any sign of resistance. By morning’s light, every human who had once populated the hamlet was dead, or reduced to blood-crazed ghouls wandering the streets in a dark facsimile of life.

In the eyes of some the attack was an experiment of sorts – a hypothesis borne out by the death, rather than infection, of several of the hamlet’s citizens, and the tremendous gap in time between the later ravages of the plague upon the north-west and this initial stroke. To others, it was merely an isolated incident born of the need to travel through the closely-packed settlements of the north.

Far to the south, weeks on from this first blow, there would come the attacks that earned the plague its name. Each night, beginning with the hamlet of Itnibudzu, a settlement would come under attack in the dead of night. On the rare occasions that one lived long enough to speak of what had happened, the tale was always the same – a dwarf clad in armour stained with old blood would come creeping in the night to open the doors of each house and infect the sleepers within with the disease running through his body, and to raise those long ago slain by violence or simple age as mindless thralls to its will.

As the tales began to spread, it became rare for a door to be left un-barricaded at night, and rarer still for a town to lack armed guards willing to patrol the streets each night with whatever they had at hand. It made little difference. Soon, there were reports of Blighted Thralls clad in armour and wielding weapons wandering the empty shells of former hamlets, bearing the signs of the New Disease’s sores and blisters upon their flesh and mindlessly seeking to destroy the living; freshly-attacked hamlets were found with their houses’ doors broken into kindling and the inhabitants turned or dragged off to be devoured elsewhere.

The infection began to spread north soon after Omon Obin was struck – whole towns became depopulated of the living within nights or even hours, leaving only the living dead in their wake. Yet for all of Kosoth’s efforts to spread his infection to all that lived, survivors began to appear, more and more frequently; refugees who had fled when his attacks began and guardsmen who had managed to escape the horde of living dead trailing behind them when it became clear that to stand would be to die.

Below, excerpted from the notes of Admonitions Against the Abyssal Cult by Scaglia Pagetributes, is one such survivor's testimony.
 
“I thought something was off from the start. The bandits don’t come this far out – not enough loot or blood for those greedy bastards to bother. Well, we went to take a look at it. It was a dwarf. Slumped ‘gainst a tree, dead as I’d ever seen. He was armoured, and armoured well: well-forged iron, decorated with bone and metal charms – even steel, by the gods, steel. When I got a closer look…” (Here, a shudder wracked his frame, and the man pulled his furs slightly tighter around himself.) “He looked sick, but not in any way I’ve ever seen. There was more open sores and blisters than there was a face – lips looked like they’d rotten off under the beard. Mudi didn’t care. ‘Dead men don’t bite,’ said he, as he went to pry th’ steel from that carcass. ‘Nor does gold stink!’”

[The soldier took a deep, shuddering breath, and continued:]

“It hit us so fast. It turned on its heels and shot straight at us like a loosed arrow. Bit Mudi right through the throat, deep enough to touch bone. It – he… it was so fast. One moment he was on the ground, choking, clutching at his throat, and the next he was upright and trying to tear us apart. Kikrost, Vispol, Kiros – those of us it didn’t bite it broke with its morningstar.”

[Here, he fell silent for a few moments, and I spoke the following before he resumed].

“I’m… sorry to hear that, sir.”

“I don’t know why it left me alone. It- it kicked me in the chest, sent me onto my back – broke my ribs with that single stroke - then stopped.” A shiver ran through his body. “It… it seemed like it – like it –”

[The soldier cut himself off, shuddering violently as a haunted look came over his pallid face. He paused a moment to take a long, deep draught from the flask he wore at his side. Once the soldier had recomposed himself, he continued where he had left off.]

“There was another of them. It was like one of them old monsters, the kind you’d hear about from survivors o’ Nêcikalnis’ worst battles. Neck and arm twisted around ‘til the bones tore out through the skin, scars from head to toe, wounds everywhere – face looked like someone’d taken a forge-hot knife to it. We thought it was another o’ them living corpses you find out in the Tundra. I saw him give a little motion of his hand, and they got back up and started walking. Kikrost. Vispol. Kiros.  They all stood back up like nothing’d happened to them. Filed off into the dark toward the hamlet, docile as a pack o’ tame dogs. I could hear screaming, a’fore I passed out.

“I don’t know what the hell they were. I don’t know why they let me live, not with what they did to everyone else. But I do know one thing – they’re still out there, and I dread the day those monsters come crawling out into the light again.”

(Across two pages, near the end of the notes Scaglia Pagetributes appears to have drawn an impression of the two villains, seemingly based on the testimony of other surviving eye-witnesses and second-hand descriptions.)

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/pFJNRWZ.png)

Left: Kosoth Salvesank the Kindled Worshipper of Sitting. Right: Ketas Indigovaulted the Kind.

OOC: I probably should’ve written and posted this a long while ago, but (as usual) IRL and a general lack of motivation got in the way.

My official submission(s) are the one-tonne steel helmet (and steel breastplate) of Handbane the Legendary Slayer of Bugs. I will admit, with the benefit of hindsight, I should've boosted Handbane's skills before actually fighting her - I didn't know she was actually weaker than most non-unique demons in most combat skills, making my defeat of her feel a little hollow. As always, credit for the art in this post goes to Outcast Games and its artists; I tend to base my Museum characters off of them both gameplay and writing-wise to various extents, and for that I cannot salute them enough.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Unraveller on October 01, 2021, 07:21:06 pm

Oh man QD, that was an excellent read. The cadence your writing has takes very well to this perfectly. . . Sinister(?) Vibe that really sells the story you've been going with. And of course I really dig how you ended up tying lore back into what we wrote afterwards, reading this into Galka's adventure is a pretty perfect shift.

I cannot wait to see how the Blight continues to shape the future of Orid Xem here on. Or whether it'll be purged quickly. I'm hoping not. Haha.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Quantum Drop on October 02, 2021, 06:43:31 am

Quote from: Unraveller on October 01, 2021, 07:21:06 pm

Oh man QD, that was an excellent read. The cadence your writing has takes very well to this perfectly. . . Sinister(?) Vibe that really sells the story you've been going with. And of course I really dig how you ended up tying lore back into what we wrote afterwards, reading this into Galka's adventure is a pretty perfect shift.

I cannot wait to see how the Blight continues to shape the future of Orid Xem here on. Or whether it'll be purged quickly. I'm hoping not. Haha.

Good to hear. I was aiming for it come off with that kind of tone, but wasn't certain how well I pulled it off; I feel I could've done a few bits better, but I guess it came out okay overall.

It's certainly going to be interesting to see the Blight's effects on the world over time; I wonder if the Blighted Thralls are going to start actively moving around at some point, or if they're just going to keep to their hamlets and act as landmines for anyone unlucky enough to run across them.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on October 02, 2021, 11:32:36 am

Frankly, with all due respect to QD, I hate the plague. The vampires and the werecreatures were one thing - rather mundane - but the blighted buggers might just end the world. Definitely, if an unwary fort is attacked/"visited" by one of these things, it'll be a massacre.

I've seen at least one of these things infect another sapient in legends viewer, but I'm not sure if they did it between turns or while the part of the map was actively engaged by an adventurer.

I love QD's posts, but Ketas and Kosoth can get falcon punched/sparta kicked into Armok's infinite hells for all I care. I've never liked unwavering paragons, but I liked Lonelythrall (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Metuganra_Pewtha) a lot more than these mad things.

Quote from: Imic on September 29, 2021, 04:55:51 pm

I remember someone said that despite the world being often framed in-story as post apocalyptic, things weren't actually all that bad.

Well, uh... if they weren't so bad back then, they're definitely that bad now.

I was the one that said the world isn't exactly post-apocalyptic, but I've publicly renounced that idea way before the blight. Even Omon Obin, which wasn't hit by anything worse than megabeasts in 7 centuries, is pretty much deserted. It's somewhat disturbing walking along these deserted or small towns while nightmares lurk in the dark.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on October 02, 2021, 03:29:11 pm

Yeah, the undeath plague needs to be culled

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Quantum Drop on October 02, 2021, 03:48:20 pm

To be entirely honest, I really did go a little overboard on the BT infections. Come my next turn I'll probably send a few raids out in fort mode and do some population control as an adventurer, so we aren't having nascent forts and adventurers being killed in the metaphorical cradle.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on October 02, 2021, 04:04:59 pm

I think it makes for interesting story potential but the world is in flux right now. Will be interesting to see if the hordes on plague can truly be contained

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Unraveller on October 02, 2021, 04:14:59 pm

I don't mind it either. Some of that good old !!FUN!! We covet so.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on October 02, 2021, 04:19:29 pm

I am a bit rusty in adventure mode. I have been trying a few adventurers in the last save game that was posted. This world is pretty apocalyptic now!

Made a human outsider in Scarletbronze.

First turn: strangled by a “frail merchant weremammoth” - not frail at all.
Second attempt: made it to the keep, killed by Blighted Thralls.
Third attempt: neck broken by a “human criminal fell one.”

So… any thoughts if I made an Elephant Man adventurer?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Unraveller on October 02, 2021, 04:27:59 pm

Barring 'We don't go to Omon Obin' anymore? I don't mind burly animal men. To me the Museum is about telling a neat story, not necessarily how 'skilled' you are at adventure mode.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on October 02, 2021, 04:39:55 pm

Omon Obin is going into (quarantine) lockdown...

I don't know if to laugh hysterically at that thought or be saddened by it.

As has been said, the world is now surely in flux, so we shall see the outcome. It'd be ironic if all the bugs and clowns didn't get it and a plain syndrome did. Though I feel I too exaggerated in my previous assessment, I doubt the whole world, let alone a single civilization is going to go down to a single plague.

But, who knows. We certainly are treading new ground here.

Quote from: Quantum Drop on October 02, 2021, 03:48:20 pm

To be entirely honest, I really did go a little overboard on the BT infections. Come my next turn I'll probably send a few raids out in fort mode and do some population control as an adventurer, so we aren't having nascent forts and adventurers being killed in the metaphorical cradle.

[lighthearted joke]
Turn after QD: WHY IS ADILATIR AT WAR WITH THE REST OF THE WORLD?!?! AND WHY ARE HALF OF ORID XEM SETTLEMENTS ON FIRE???
[/joke]

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Quantum Drop on October 02, 2021, 05:35:52 pm

Quote from: kesperan on October 02, 2021, 04:19:29 pm

I am a bit rusty in adventure mode. I have been trying a few adventurers in the last save game that was posted. This world is pretty apocalyptic now!

Made a human outsider in Scarletbronze.

First turn: strangled by a “frail merchant weremammoth” - not frail at all.
Second attempt: made it to the keep, killed by Blighted Thralls.
Third attempt: neck broken by a “human criminal fell one.”

So… any thoughts if I made an Elephant Man adventurer?

I think an Elephant Man would be a pretty cool adventurer, considering the relative lack of more exotic (i.e.: intelligent wilderness creature) adventurers so far. Might have some problems getting armour if you don't want to use advfort, though, which could prove a pain in the arse if you run into a thrall/werebeast while not wanting to get turned.

Also oh god why'd you go to Scarletbronze. Sometimes-undead weremammoths that can paralyse you then stamp you into mush are not fun to deal with.

Quote from: Lurker Z on October 02, 2021, 04:39:55 pm

[lighthearted joke]
Turn after QD: WHY IS ADILATIR AT WAR WITH THE REST OF THE WORLD?!?! AND WHY ARE HALF OF ORID XEM SETTLEMENTS ON FIRE???
[/joke]

Don't tempt me. :P

Somewhat more seriously, IIRC there's a good few thralls in the north-east (High Confederacies) lands and since going BT doesn't erase your membership of a civ, taking them out by fort mode alone would indeed put Adilatir at war with Omon Obin and THC (also possibly The Creamy Confederacy - can't remember if they're already at war with us or no). That'd leave us at war with just over half of Orid Xem's total civilizations (discounting ourselves, our friends in The Staff of Kissing, The Armoured Confederacy for being dead in all but name, and The Squeezing Fords because elves are pansies).

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Imic on October 02, 2021, 08:43:28 pm

Personally, the deeper this world descends into apocalypse, the larger and more manic my grin. At the end of the day, life or death, success or failure, the Museum is a story made of stories, and every story needs a little drama. If this happens to be a story with a big drama as it were, I have no problem with that.

But your mileage may vary, I'm the guy who built an evil labyrinth and killed every living soul within just to see what what kinds of stories would come out of it, twice, so when it comes to my opinions on the level of apocalypse in Orid Xem, I am not to be trusted.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: ChaosPotato on October 02, 2021, 10:29:24 pm

Okay, uuuuhhhh
just asking this so I don't have to when I get the save:
How do I load outside saves? Dwarf Fortress isn't loading anything I put in the save folder, only saves I actually generated myself.

edit: reinstalling fixed it, false alarm

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Eric Blank on October 05, 2021, 11:22:05 pm

Im uploading the save now, because tomorrow is going to be a busy day for me. There was a moderate amount of both adventuring and fortressing done, trying to write up my adventures now, but it may take a while.

Here we go:

https://dffd.bay12games.com/file.php?id=15695

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Quantum Drop on October 06, 2021, 09:49:07 am

Okay, I've got the save, but I noticed a small problem. Dwarves have vanished from the playable races menu in adventure mode.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/Zpm49d0.png)

Since that throws a wrench in what I had planned story-wise for my turn, I'm going to have to ask for a day or two before my week of time starts counting down, so I can hastily re-plan and maybe try to figure out why this has happened (because, y'know, pretty sure this isn't meant to happen).

EDIT: Having looked back, this seems to have been going on for at least one turn. They're absent from adv mode's playable races list in turn 54's save, but are present in turn 53 or earlier. Going to legends-dive with the current save and try out a few things to see if they have any effect.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: ChaosPotato on October 06, 2021, 11:20:19 am

Quote from: Quantum Drop on October 06, 2021, 09:49:07 am

Okay, I've got the save, but I noticed a small problem. Dwarves have vanished from the playable races menu in adventure mode.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/Zpm49d0.png)

Since that throws a wrench in what I had planned story-wise for my turn, I'm going to have to ask for a day or two before my week of time starts counting down, so I can hastily re-plan and maybe try to figure out why this has happened.

EDIT: Having looked back, this seems to have been going on for at least one turn. They're absent from adv mode's playable races list in turn 54's save, but are present in turn 53 or earlier. Going to legends-dive with the current save and try out a few things to see if they have any effect.

If all else fails, you can download adventurer-freedom (DFHack script) to force the game to let you play as anything (which... probably includes dwarves).
Just ask if it counts as legal DFHack usage first, since that's... y'know, a rule that exists.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Unraveller on October 06, 2021, 12:06:06 pm

That's really strange. It's not as if the Qalled Dye has suddenly died out? I'll do some legends digging as well.

I do hope we see your story Eric!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Quantum Drop on October 06, 2021, 12:08:05 pm

Nothing new on what might have caused the dwarves go go AWOL from the advmode menu but holy crap, Braalbard's first adventurer is now the King of The Walled Dye!

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/navU2vt.png)

Looks like Bembul finally bit it from old age. Hell of a step up in the world, I guess.

Quote from: ChaosPotato on October 06, 2021, 11:20:19 am

If all else fails, you can download adventurer-freedom (DFHack script) to force the game to let you play as anything (which... probably includes dwarves).

IIRC didn't that particular script stop getting updated somewhere along the line? Last time I saw it only worked for 43.05.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Unraveller on October 06, 2021, 01:16:29 pm

A new king!

The Walled Dye is now overseen by a risen corpse! How fitting for the future of Orid Xem.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on October 06, 2021, 02:36:29 pm

Quote from: ChaosPotato on October 02, 2021, 10:29:24 pm

edit: reinstalling fixed it, false alarm

I was going to say, it was probably from your side. I don't usually make these kinds of direct, unbased claims, but generally, if more than one person could always use the save, then the one who can't has something wrong set-up with their own. Glad a reset helped.

Quote from: Quantum Drop on October 06, 2021, 09:49:07 am

Having looked back, this seems to have been going on for at least one turn. They're absent from adv mode's playable races list in turn 54's save, but are present in turn 53 or earlier.

Well thank Armok for that, because I didn't check at the end of my turn XD

Hope it can be fixed, I wouldn't want us to skip Galka's turn, it was too epic and too epically done.

Quote from: Quantum Drop on October 06, 2021, 12:08:05 pm

Nothing new on what might have caused the dwarves go go AWOL from the advmode menu but holy crap, Braalbard's first adventurer is now the King of The Walled Dye!

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/navU2vt.png)

Looks like Bembul finally bit it from old age. Hell of a step up in the world, I guess.

(http://www.emoticonr.com/design/yahoo/not-worthy.gif)(http://www.emoticonr.com/design/yahoo/not-worthy.gif)(http://www.emoticonr.com/design/yahoo/not-worthy.gif)(http://www.emoticonr.com/design/yahoo/not-worthy.gif)(http://www.emoticonr.com/design/yahoo/not-worthy.gif)(http://www.emoticonr.com/design/yahoo/not-worthy.gif)(http://www.emoticonr.com/design/yahoo/not-worthy.gif)(http://www.emoticonr.com/design/yahoo/not-worthy.gif)(http://www.emoticonr.com/design/yahoo/not-worthy.gif)(http://www.emoticonr.com/design/yahoo/not-worthy.gif)(http://www.emoticonr.com/design/yahoo/not-worthy.gif)(http://www.emoticonr.com/design/yahoo/not-worthy.gif)(http://www.emoticonr.com/design/yahoo/not-worthy.gif)(http://www.emoticonr.com/design/yahoo/not-worthy.gif)(http://www.emoticonr.com/design/yahoo/not-worthy.gif)(http://www.emoticonr.com/design/yahoo/not-worthy.gif)(http://www.emoticonr.com/design/yahoo/not-worthy.gif)

All hail King Bralbaard! All hail King Bralbaard! ALL HAIL KING BRALBAAAAAAAAAAAAARD!

(http://www.emoticonr.com/design/yahoo/not-worthy.gif)(http://www.emoticonr.com/design/yahoo/not-worthy.gif)(http://www.emoticonr.com/design/yahoo/not-worthy.gif)(http://www.emoticonr.com/design/yahoo/not-worthy.gif)(http://www.emoticonr.com/design/yahoo/not-worthy.gif)(http://www.emoticonr.com/design/yahoo/not-worthy.gif)(http://www.emoticonr.com/design/yahoo/not-worthy.gif)(http://www.emoticonr.com/design/yahoo/not-worthy.gif)(http://www.emoticonr.com/design/yahoo/not-worthy.gif)(http://www.emoticonr.com/design/yahoo/not-worthy.gif)(http://www.emoticonr.com/design/yahoo/not-worthy.gif)(http://www.emoticonr.com/design/yahoo/not-worthy.gif)(http://www.emoticonr.com/design/yahoo/not-worthy.gif)(http://www.emoticonr.com/design/yahoo/not-worthy.gif)(http://www.emoticonr.com/design/yahoo/not-worthy.gif)(http://www.emoticonr.com/design/yahoo/not-worthy.gif)(http://www.emoticonr.com/design/yahoo/not-worthy.gif)

Truly the King Adilatír needs and deserves!

Crowning music (how do I embed?) https://www.youtube.com/embed/ykpDQhWlrBQ

---

Is this going to shake things up! I can just imagine people will be trying to reach the King cap on their forts just to get the King visiting (and probably kill all their dwarves in a fit of undeath or dying in epic battle, but who wouldn't want that, right?!)

---

Now let us wait until Lonelythrall (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Metuganra_Pewtha) becomes Law-Giver of The Creamy Confederacy and inherits a dying civ and all those wars... OHHHHHH MAAAAAAAAAAN!

---

I was planning to fill in the red links starting with the adventurers of the Museum and the creatures/places they interacted with, so this is giving me a much-needed incentive to do so.

---

Spoiler: Congratulatory letter to Bralbaard (click to show/hide)

To His Majesty Bralbaard Nilthatlosh Åm (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Bralbaard_Nilthatlosh)
Bralbaard Hammerfishes the Yawning
King of Adilatír
First of His Name
He Who Rules from Ilrallenod
Founder of the Greatest Museum in Orid Xem
Blessed of Armok
Our Immortal Leader

Your humble servant wishes to congratulate you on your ascension to the Throne of our great civilization. May the blessing of the Gods and of Armok himself guide Your rule in wisdom and may we benefit from Your guiding hand for the rest of the world's existence.

Though I cannot claim its creation, I submit the anthem of a nation from a distant realm as fitting for your ascension. May that it be of use to you and resound Your greatness to this world and beyond.

https://www.youtube.com/embed/ykpDQhWlrBQ

You have made history, Your Grace! The world rejoices as it has seldom before! ALL HAIL KING BRALBAARD!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on October 06, 2021, 02:40:58 pm

All hail King Bralbaard!

And since he is a resurrected immortal intelligent undead, he could be king for a while...

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on October 06, 2021, 04:09:17 pm

All hail King Braalbard! The last in the bloodline. The twice lived king. Some say he watches over all dwarves as they pass into the afterlife.

Edit: Wierd how Dwarfs have become unplayable. I know kobolds are in this world but are any living kobolds still kicking around?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on October 06, 2021, 04:24:31 pm

Definitely still living kobolds. You can check in Legends Viewer by filtering by race. At least one of them is a kinslayer that killed at least 2 of his race.

Just checked, 4 named living kobolds. If you want to play kobold, you could use unretire-anyone (https://docs.dfhack.org/en/stable/docs/_auto/base.html#unretire-anyone) to do so.

Having 4 immortal necromancer named kobolds might be fun.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on October 06, 2021, 04:31:59 pm

Quote from: Lurker Z on October 06, 2021, 04:24:31 pm

Definitely still living kobolds. You can check in Legends Viewer by filtering by race. At least one of them is a kinslayer that killed at least 2 of his race.

Just checked, 4 named living kobolds. If you want to play kobold, you could use unretire-anyone (https://docs.dfhack.org/en/stable/docs/_auto/base.html#unretire-anyone) to do so.

Having 4 immortal necromancer named kobolds might be fun.

True, il download the latest save and give it a look.

Was thinking of being one of the last kobolds in existence. Grand high necromancer vampire kobold. Ahaha.

The kinslayer kobold could be good potential for a little adventure.  A path of vengeance

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on October 06, 2021, 04:37:22 pm

Found your kinslayer (mind, I use the term loosely, but killing your own kind when there are so few of them must count, right?) kobold, Chrilishubin Siegeblock from Srastrirus. Enjoy!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on October 06, 2021, 04:55:36 pm

Quote from: kesperan on October 06, 2021, 02:40:58 pm

All hail King Braalbard!

Wait WHAT?? :o I think I should not complain, but why do I inherit the kingdom right when it is all completely on fire and collapsing in on itself?
Oh well.. looks like I got work to do during my next turn  :D

Also..

It's Bralbaard, not Braalbard you peasants!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on October 06, 2021, 05:06:40 pm

Quote from: Bralbaard on October 06, 2021, 04:55:36 pm

Quote from: kesperan on October 06, 2021, 02:40:58 pm

All hail King Braalbard!

Wait WHAT?? :o I think I should not complain, but why do I inherit the kingdom right when it is all completely on fire and collapsing in on itself?
Oh well.. looks like I got work to do during my next turn  :D

Also..

It's Bralbaard, not Braalbard you peasants!

Someone's grouchy today...

Quote

It's Bralbaard, not Braalbard you peasants!

Tomatoes, tomatos...

I'm not sure how good of idea it'll be for Bralbaard to run around in adventure mode, beyond the fact that he could die, the game might kick him out of any position and he'll have to start trying climbing back from Baron and hope the new monarch doesn't have any kids...

Quote from: Bralbaard on October 06, 2021, 04:55:36 pm

I think I should not complain, but why do I inherit the kingdom right when it is all completely on fire and collapsing in on itself?

Could you expand on that? I see it as the complete opposite, Adilatír has been described in this topic as on the ascendancy, definitely the number of sites continue rising, adventurers conquer in its glorious name, an overseer spent 10 years making a big honking capital (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Torishiton_Ineth_Lam) for it, void dwarves keep appearing out of the woodworks to populate the less-so sites and so on.

Where's the collapse? Where's the fire?

---

How do you like my (semi-anonymous) letter? I plan to write one from Kikrost (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Kikrost_%C3%93rnomal) as well.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Eric Blank on October 06, 2021, 05:08:07 pm

All hail the king!

My adventurer became baron, and then high chancellor of some group too. Not sure how.

And I have no idea what happened to dwarves. The walled dye does still exist, and so does the staff of kissing. My fort I retired with 67 or so dwarves in it, no major hurdles there.

I've still got the in-between save from after I stopped my adventurer and before unretiring the fort. Ill check when I get home if that's bugged too.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on October 06, 2021, 05:11:43 pm

The more I look, the less I see a problem with it. As long as unretire-anyone works, we can take non-noble dwarves from Legends Mode/Viewer.

I'm kinda sad that there are no dwarves in human/goblin/elven civs, at least none that I could find. Gobs appear to only kidnap their own kind for some reason. Anyone know if this is a bug only related to the save or to the game version itself?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on October 06, 2021, 05:25:52 pm

Quote from: Lurker Z on October 06, 2021, 05:06:40 pm

By the way, how do you like my (semi-anonymous) letter? I plan to write one from Kikrost (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Kikrost_%C3%93rnomal) as well.

That was awesome! certainly a proper welcome to the throne. I read that and went "no way", then got the save and booted up DF. I'm still amazed at the way this game manages to throw new unexpected stuff at you.

I'll also try to investigate what is up with the save. It's.. interesting how the game has decided it's fine to have playable demons, but not dwarves. I say we should continue regardless of this issue, it's fine for people to use DFhack to play dwarves.

Quote

Quote from: Bralbaard on October 06, 2021, 04:55:36 pm

I think I should not complain, but why do I inherit the kingdom right when it is all completely on fire and collapsing in on itself?

Could you expand on that? I see it as the complete opposite, Adilatír has been described in this topic as on the ascendancy, definitely the number of sites continue rising, adventurers conquer in its glorious name, an overseer spent 10 years making a big honking capital (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Torishiton_Ineth_Lam) for it, void dwarves keep appearing out of the woodworks to populate the less-so sites and so on.

Where's the collapse? Where's the fire?

Just roleplaying a grumpy ungrateful monarch :-)
But it was not entirely based on nothing.. after my last turn I had that unsuccesful reclaim  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8314162#msg8314162)of Treatyseed in an alternate reality and the monarchy and the rest of the kingdom sure came crashing down on fire in that, and there were quite a few posts on the last few pages about dwarfs no longer being playable and ghouls and undead destroying the other sites..

Anyhow I sure enjoy that the world is turning slightly more chaotic and dangerous right now. Also if you look at all the fortresses have been build.. I think there are very few games that have tested DF so thoroughly.. and it just keeps going.
 

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Luckyowl on October 06, 2021, 06:00:02 pm

I am in.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on October 06, 2021, 07:53:24 pm

Is it possible that the inability to create a new Dwarf adventurer is linked to the new kind of the only Dwarven civilisation being an adventurer?

This could be annoying...

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Unraveller on October 06, 2021, 09:29:27 pm

Don't think so? Since it seems the problem persisted in saves before Bralbaard was king.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Eric Blank on October 06, 2021, 11:50:08 pm

I can confirm that the dwarf option is missing from the save from just after retiring my adventurer, so before I reclaimed Sealsabres. The bug must have occurred during my adventures then. Legends mode at that point lists bralbaard as lord of the Lucid Urns, not king of the Walled Dyes, so his reign began during Sealsabres' reclamation.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on October 07, 2021, 02:56:12 am

Guess the dwarfless bug is here to stay then.

In the interests of science, I tried a bit of casual regicide but killing King Bralbaard doesn’t change the option to play as a dwarf. (Interestingly he is an intelligent undead but can’t use his magic powers as he is missing one hand…)

Also, I can confirm that the unretire-anyone DF Hack script does work, so that could have interesting uses.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Quantum Drop on October 07, 2021, 04:36:21 am

In that case I'll probably start later tonight through the use of unretire-anyone. Going to try and get a relatively blank slate of a dwarf, though I might have to use assign-skills to avoid certain unfair advantages in the early game.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on October 08, 2021, 06:59:35 pm

If we added [OUTSIDER_CONTROLLABLE] to dwarf raws, dwarven outsiders should be available for adventure mode.

They’d not start as members of any civilisation but it would be less likely to break the game than unretiring historical figures?

I think it’s my turn after QD so I’m just thinking about options…

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: ChaosPotato on October 08, 2021, 07:12:40 pm

Quote from: ChaosPotato on October 06, 2021, 11:20:19 am

Quote from: Quantum Drop on October 06, 2021, 09:49:07 am

Okay, I've got the save, but I noticed a small problem. Dwarves have vanished from the playable races menu in adventure mode.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/Zpm49d0.png)

Since that throws a wrench in what I had planned story-wise for my turn, I'm going to have to ask for a day or two before my week of time starts counting down, so I can hastily re-plan and maybe try to figure out why this has happened.

EDIT: Having looked back, this seems to have been going on for at least one turn. They're absent from adv mode's playable races list in turn 54's save, but are present in turn 53 or earlier. Going to legends-dive with the current save and try out a few things to see if they have any effect.

If all else fails, you can download adventurer-freedom (DFHack script) to force the game to let you play as anything (which... probably includes dwarves).
Just ask if it counts as legal DFHack usage first, since that's... y'know, a rule that exists.

quoted because it's 2 pages before this one and people are talking about
ways to be a dwarf

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on October 08, 2021, 08:41:00 pm

Quote from: kesperan on October 08, 2021, 06:59:35 pm

If we added [OUTSIDER_CONTROLLABLE] to dwarf raws, dwarven outsiders should be available for adventure mode.

They’d not start as members of any civilisation but it would be less likely to break the game than unretiring historical figures?

I think it’s my turn after QD so I’m just thinking about options…

Good suggestion, if QD's willing to do that, I have no problem with it.

Is there any indication that unretiring historical figures breaks the game? I've done it several times in throw-away saves and nothing bad happened. I think it's even worse when we unretire our adventurers, as I proved in Lurker (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Lurker_Onecbehal)'s last turn, since he was a Lord and most retired adventurers become nobles of a civ or another. That's why I suggested unretiring non-noble creatures. The turn I unretired my Lurker character and tried to enter the mead hall, I was blocked by a pop-up saying I became Lord without being able to get out of the menu or do anything about it than crash the game from Task Manager.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Eric Blank on October 09, 2021, 01:15:01 am

Ive never heard of such an issue before, but no other game has had 56 turns that almost all go through an adventurer and a fortress across a century of time and all manner of nonsense, either, so if there's any way unretiring adventurers CAN screw up, this is as likely a place as any for it to be noticed for the first time.

I would suggest reporting the issue on the mantis and using the turn 55 end and turn 56 end saves as a before and after, maybe Toady can figure out how it happened (oh, and maybe also why Charcoal Brutes became an option, too? That was pretty weird.)

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on October 09, 2021, 01:48:00 am

I think turn 54 is the last one with dwarves as an option. They were gone at the start of your turn, I think. Anyhow the suggested fix is a good one. Would that also work for kobolds? Some people were interested in playing them..

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Imic on October 09, 2021, 04:50:34 am

All the peoples of the world except Dwarves pretty much are undergoing total societal collapse, while the Dwarves are actively rebuilding things, reclaiming old things  and growing in numbers. As long as people keep building Fortresses, Dwarves are probably going to remain the people in the best (read: only) real position of strength, or at least the possibility of growing stronger.

Personally, I'd advise adding Dwarven outsiders, although it might be interesting for someone to take on an established historical figure, and see what happens...

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on October 09, 2021, 05:55:22 am

Quote from: Imic on October 09, 2021, 04:50:34 am

All the peoples of the world except Dwarves pretty much are undergoing total societal collapse

Whatever gave you this idea? The 8th century was chocked-full of reclaiming, especially by the elves, but also Adilatír outside of player influence. Yes, there hasn't been a non-Monastery non-Fort settlement creation since the start of the 3rd century (the castle Cusithxetan (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Cusithxetan) was the last built in 205), which is very weird. Omon Obin would have been fine in its isolation if not for those pesky (insane) adventurers, but even so, rapidly-changing Law-Givers isn't as bad in an AI-controlled civ as it is IRL. Other human civs still have plenty of sites to their name, and void characters (i.e. computer generated dwarves/humans/etc.) keep populating those places, so nothing short of a war by the goblins (which seem pretty skittish in this world despite having for over a century more pop in a single civ than all other civs combined) or adventurer game-breaking shenanigan can send all these societies into "total societal collapse".

The closest that was to happening was in the 4th century, when the civs of the world were on the brink of collapse and ganged on Oddom's Mishthemdeduk (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Mishthemdeduk).

What's most worrying is the elven race. I haven't seen a void elf popping up since a time before time. Ribiromimi (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Ribiromimi) society may survive, on account of all the goblins, but the elven race is slowly but inexorably heading towards extinction.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: ChaosPotato on October 09, 2021, 09:22:22 pm

I just realized (by reading the wiki) that elves worship a force called Cacame in Orid Xem.
HMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on October 10, 2021, 02:03:34 pm

Yeah, I noticed that at first, but it's not that big of a deal. There are 25 creatures with the Cacame name just in Orid Xem.

I think this is a common name that most people didn't notice until the Cacame was popularized. Orid Xem itself has a roc, a dingo, a few goblins and even a human apparently unrelated to the elven civ named Cacame.

Glad someone else noticed enough to comment on it, and from the wiki no less.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on October 10, 2021, 02:39:33 pm

Its a conspiracy theory, the elves are in cahoots with the goblins and the roc

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on October 10, 2021, 03:49:25 pm

The goblins make sense, most of them are from the elven civilization. You know, the elven civ who unashamadely has 500 elves and 5000 goblins. I should research more thoroughly and see where all these goblins decided to join Ribiromimi (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Ribiromimi). They also have necromancer experiments as citizens, but that makes a little more sense as they were probably left behind when Mishthemdeduk / The Scholarly Manors / Oddom's necromancer group abandoned most of its holdings.

The roc and dingo thing makes sense too, since it appears elven names and animal names overlap. Or the elves could have named the roc, who knows.

---

Uh... What the hell, elves?

Spoiler: Abductions (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/hv7u0Or.png)

This isn't a random group, this is the Capital's ruling group. Since when do elven civs just randomly abduct creatures for whatever reason?

---

So I've narrowed it at the lowest year to The Stable Sect (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Uyanenaletí) where a goblin joined in the year 203. I propose the hypothesis that goblins infiltrated through religious groups, abductions and invasions (elves tend to love imprisoning goblins instead of killing them for some reason). Why the elves would go out of their way to integrate the vile creatures I have no idea. Maybe to use as immortal cannon fodder?

---

So here's a good question. Why is the opposite not true? Why are there no elf citizens (that I can find) in other civilizations? Why are there no dwarf citizens either?

Do humans and goblins have special tags that let them join any civilization or is it just a weird coincidence specifically to this world?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on October 10, 2021, 06:19:07 pm

So, um, I think I fixed the adventurer race selection bug (kind of) by using the Outsider token...

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/Zq1qg6r.png)

Playable kobolds!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on October 10, 2021, 06:20:50 pm

Quote from: Lurker Z on October 10, 2021, 03:49:25 pm

Why are there no elf citizens (that I can find) in other civilizations?

At character selection, you can choose an Elf from Mong Uthros, a human civ. They will have human naming conventions. So I would assume there must be a population of elves within that human civ?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Unraveller on October 10, 2021, 07:37:49 pm

Could it be? Can the 50ish Kobolds left in Orid Xem make a come back?!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on October 11, 2021, 09:38:52 am

Quote from: kesperan on October 10, 2021, 06:20:50 pm

At character selection, you can choose an Elf from Mong Uthros, a human civ. They will have human naming conventions. So I would assume there must be a population of elves within that human civ?

It might be that if even one creature of a race joins a civ, that civ will have that race playable. Might explain why Charcoal Brutes are playable.

I've been thinking more of tracking down when goblins became a thing to Ribiromimi and a way to do that would be from wars. Legends Viewer displays all the types of creatures in a battle and everyone that existed in the town will be displayed. It's excellent for population census, though erratic depending on the time and place of battles.

Quote from: Unraveller on October 10, 2021, 07:37:49 pm

Could it be? Can the 50ish Kobolds left in Orid Xem make a come back?!

Aaah, good point, there are only 4 named living kobolds, but there may be more "unnamed"/undiscovered in the world (that hopefully the next adventurers won't kill like it happened before).

Bringing races back from extinction sounds awesome. Can't wait to see how these new developments influence the future.

Legends Viewer says there are 40 existing kobolds at this time.

---

Update on the hunt for when goblins joined Ribiromimi:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

In the 1st century wars, there were no goblin attackers with the elves. In all Oddom's steamrolling through their lands between 280s-330s, there were no goblins. In a 336 battle however, the number of goblin fighters was half that of elves. So it seems they didn't trickle through from multiple source, but ran screaming from the undead in a veritable horde of their own and the elves took them in, seeing the undead as the greater threat.

---

Further update: War for their capital Vacirayali (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Vacirayali): 330s battle, no goblins in the capital. Year 345, Ribiromimi takes back capital with 1700 humans (!!!), 800 elves and 300 goblins, no unnamed dwarves. That seems to confirm the above theory.

Orid Xem gives you something new every day!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Eric Blank on October 13, 2021, 04:32:00 pm

I have basically finished my write-up, its been a struggle though. I'll post it tonight once I find my imgur password and can upload the few pics I took.

Here we go!

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Life and Reality in the Time of My Ancestors
by Suril Copperscarred "the Bloated," Baron of the Even Councils
authored in 805

   Some 465 years ago, in the year 340, the human Dark One, Ad Beltbutters of Heroicgem, was raised from the dead by a necromancer and then abducted the human Ebe Authoredamaze in Planegifts, and performed depraved experiments on them. Ad abducted two more people, Adith Dearsave and Lecit Sculptedclubs and transformed them likewise. The result was the race known as the Hands of Planegifts. They are slightly larger than a dwarf and slightly smaller than a man, with a thin cylindrical torso not unlike that of a serpent, narrow hips and shoulders, a snake-like face, clawed hands and feet, two useless bat-like wings, all covered in jagged, overlapping black scales. Stories passed down through generations through this race show the Hands of Planegifts at the time held incredible loyalty to their masters, their onslaught against the mortal world unwavering for two centuries, before dissention in the ranks finally created splinter groups that fled to various wildernesses, human hamlets and elven forest retreats. With the eventual defeat of the necromancers these populations would technically become free. However, many Hands of Planegifts felt deeply guilty for the destruction they caused, and since the sixth century aided the repair and resettlement of the human and elven settlements in the northern peninsulas. They planted crops, even in uninhabited hamlets, tended livestock, maintained houses, and built their own societies. In the seventh century, their numbers grew to an estimated three billion, outnumbering mortals by a thousand to one at least. The reality is, the Hands of Planegifts do not need to eat, drink or sleep. They do not grow old, or weaken with age. Simply, the urge to reproduce led to a population explosion at the beginning of the Age of Heroes that went entirely unchecked for decades.
   
   Eventually, it became obvious the Hands were doing far more harm than good, between banditry and lawless violence. By the millions, they fled the land. North, south, east, west, across the seas and mountains, to perhaps form their own realms in distant lands. Those that remained suffered genocidal attacks, as they were all believed to be outlaws. Even those who lived peacefully in hamlets were targeted. Now, in the beginning of the eighth century the violence finally winds to a close, with the majority of fighting occurring around outlaw and wild Hand of Planegifts populations.
   
   I was born in the Nations of Honoring in 604, and hid during the cleansing of my people, and though I must admit I do not agree with every tradition or every decision humans make, I was always partial to the "civilized" way of life. Only a few months ago I struck out on my own journey, not to seek revenge or adventure, but for answers to questions that plagued me and every one of my kind. You see, we never quite valued life the way mortals do, our time on this world being theoretically infinite did not detract from the fact that it was often brief and brutal. Hands of Planegifts do not often believe their own life or the lives of others particularly valuable, leaving the dead to rot in the sun, or taking no interest in defending each other. Unlike mortals, we were created to value servitude to a master, and be willing to die for their needs. The question has always been; what is the value of life? The meaning? The purpose? Apart from the act of having been created, or born, and in the absence of someone to dedicate our labors to, what is the purpose of continuing the race of the Hands of Planegifts? Like mortals we of course feel some instinctual urge to reproduce, but not necessarily any emotional attachment to one another, or desire to live or give life, or fear of death or loss of others.
   
   So my journey began, from the castle of Wheatbrands where I served as a craftsman. I said my goodbyes and took with me only my carving and boning knives, clothing and a backpack. In the deserted hamlet nearby I borrowed a finely crafted and decorated bronze battle axe, a weapon I was familiar with both from felling trees and cutting wood into useable sections and defending the castle alongside its guards. There in the fields I met a Hand of Planegifts named Galm, who sowed the crops and tended the fields despite being alone in the hamlet otherwise. Galm had done so for decades, but didnt have any particular reason to. He had no family, no masters, no friends, sometimes didnt see another soul for over a year. Sometimes farmers from other villages would come by and take some food, leave a trinket in the mead hall in "exchange" despite Galm offering produce for free. He was, as he put it, staying occupied despite having no purpose. A few hours walk from there I encountered a grizzly scene in the wilderness. A "wild" Hand was attempting to fend off a Freak of Twilight. I did attempt to intervene, but the Hand's throat was ripped out before I could fell the beast, who then turned on me. This was, in fact, the first living thing I'd killed that wasnt a simple animal.
   
   (https://i.imgur.com/HPmpsV3.png)
   
   But it would not be the last. Not long after I encountered a human outlaw in the woods, who threatened to kill and rob me. These sorts were not at all uncommon in the Nations of Honoring. "Outlaw" leaders are just as common now as official lords of the land, if not more so. On my journeys I was accosted many times by them. Often they would allow me to leave unhindered.
   
   I sought the priests of the land, first. From hamlet to hamlet I walked, searching for priests, monks, or wisement who had some new perspective on life for the unnaturally living. "You do not belong in this world, it is better off without you" was one sentiment, "all things have a place in the makers' plans, you must simply wait" was another, though far less common. Many more would suggest finding some work to do, that developing skills and plying trades was worth enough to live on its own. But such occupation could not be given a reason fitting the perspective of a race that depends on none of these crafts. Hands of Planegifts do not need to eat, drink, or sleep. We do not require shelter, the beasts of the wild rarely harass us. Our children grow so fast and are birthed so easily they and their mothers have little need of protected surroundings or special consideration at all.
   
   I grew tired of monks and prophets soon and thought perhaps one of those who understands the process of our creation may know more; I sought a necromancer. But alas I could not find one in the Nations of Honoring, nor did the elves or goblins harbor any that we knew of. But then I heard a rumor from another traveller that a group of almost exclusively Hands of Planegifts had gone to reclaim an elven retreat far to the north. So I set off on a rather roundabout journey to reach them. I went north-east towards the sea, and along the way I encountered a battle between two different night creatures;
   
   (https://i.imgur.com/535WKhe.png)
   
   Eventually one lay dead and the other, crippled, crawled towards me. After fumbling for a while I finally killed the creature, and continued my journey towards the sea. Near the coast I encountered a camp. Upon investigation, it was totally deserted except for a single yak carrying empty trade bins. Who abandoned this animal out here and what happened to them I could not say.
   
   (https://i.imgur.com/Kteddhs.png)
   
   Not far from there I encountered a bizarre structure by the sea shore. It was like a pyramid composed of cut wooden logs, four small campfires blazed outside the entryway. Inside I found a coffin, flanked by two store rooms each with a cabinet and a table. Upstairs was a workshop for carving wooden furniture. A single book on one of the tables provided no knowledge of this place. However, when I exited the structure, I soon came face to face with an undead giant albatross. The corpse was hovering not far off the ground, seemingly ignoring me completely. So I hacked off its head. I rummaged around the area some more, looking for clues. There were no signs of any mortal living here. Not food or water or sleeping arrangements. But then, lying on the forest floor, I found a large slab. On it was the title "Uklasut" and below that the subtitle "The Secrets of Life and Death." The contents I would not have the space to transcribe here, and as an immortal myself I can make no use of them. Unfortunately the secrets of life and death are not synonymous with the why of life and death. Necromancers raise servants to carry out their tasks and protect them, not to answer such questions.
   
   It occured to me then that this artifact had once been housed in the famed Museum at Boltspumpkin, and had been at one point stolen by the insane lion tamarin man Raki Umberclan the Bulbous, who was reportedly dead and then raised from the dead at his own self-dedicated temple. Which would mean this bizarre structure was the fabled Monkeycurse. But the slab was eventually returned to the museum according to rumor, so how did it end up here again? There were no clues to enlighten me further, as any left behind had been swallowed up by the jungle. I felt the slab too heavy to carry safely, as a Hand of Planegifts I must jump across rivers for we are unable to swim, so I left it there, in the casket inside the temple.
   
   (https://i.imgur.com/YVdPSoV.png)
   
   I continued, from the temple, west-north-west across the interior of the peninsula, in the shadows of the cursed mountains there, where I found a cave along their northern flank. The area was littered with the occasional trinket of little to moderate value, but uninhabited. Whatever beast this cave belonged to was nowhere to be found. The forest retreat of Fillembrace was only a days travel further west. There, I did find the Hands of Planegifts who came to reclaim the site, and a single elven merchant who accompanied them. From those I spoke to, the retreat was important largely as a place for the living to dwell. The merchant had come along to supposedly fulfill the need to establish trade between the settlement and Posthill, the nearest major market. They were troubled, however, by a gang of outlaws from a nearby forest retreat, Rackripe. The gang was composed mostly of elves and goblins, and had been quite successful in plundering the surrounding region, preying on the vulnerable peoples. I made it my personal objective to clear out the gang before moving on. However, I did not realize the full scope of the task I was setting out on.

   As it would turn out, the parties sent by the cheiftain to coerce goods from the surrounding retreats were so successful because of both their numbers and the equipment they had succeeded in acquirring. Not only elven armor, but various metal armors including steel and even several pieces of golden armor. I struck at their vulnerable flanks, decapitating archers where I could, but the fighting ended with drawn-out brawls where my only advantage came from crippling opponents, and the fact that almost all of their weapons were made of wood, unlike their armor which dulled and nearly destroyed my bronze axe. After slaying two dozen of their number, I was forced to retreat south, back into the Nations of Honoring to seek new equipment and allies to help fight. Two persons, Ozo Blowglossed and Oce Kinbites agreed to accompany me on what was sure to be a simple slaughtering of brigands. Indeed, they stood no match against us, and when they finally ceased to send troupes out to attack, we strode into Rackripe itself and slughtered the last of them. It was there Oce would become lost, although I believe he survived I feel he did not have the stomach for killing so openly, even though such deadly events were commonplace in the Nations of Honoring. When the deed was done, I and Ozo bid our farewells to the people of fillembrace and returned south. We learned far more of death and killing than of life in this endeavor. You see, though most do not know why they should live, if they have a desire to kill, they usually have some justification for it. In this case, Ozo and Oce followed me into battle for glory and the spoils of war; I claimed a nearly-complete set of golden armor for a prize and a steel helmet and mail suit. Oce escaped with his life, and Ozo made off with new iron and bronze armor. I sought out battle to defend people I felt needed defending, and they indeed asked for this help and were grateful for it. The bandits on the other hand killed those that would not surrender their possessions, they killed beause they stole from the relutant common man. The question I wish they could answer is, why? In a world so full of ruins, where one could make a living any number of ways without being troubled by lords and law enforcers, why resort to theft and violence?
   
   Much the same question could be posed to the night creatures, the twilight freaks and howling freaks and various other night trolls. However, they may have not only an instinctual desire to kill, but a need to fulfill; These beings cannot reproduce on their own, and require kidnapping and transforming mortals to provide them mates. Such predatory behavior can be understood, but not condoned, especially with the accompanying violence and hostility they present towards all they encounter. Upon returning to the Nations of Honoring Ozo and I encountered many such night creatures stalking the wilderness, roads and the edges of towns. We succeeded in killing three, before Ozo's spine was smashed by one of the beasts, whereupon he suffocated.
   
   Having exhausted my options in the Nations of Honoring and elven lands, I proceeded south around the seas to the lands of the High Confederacies. Goblins controlled the coast in between, and the only safe passage is through a dwarven fort crossing a strait across the peaceful seas. However, I took the long route and met no goblin patrols, though many could be seen in the distance. Dwarven fortresses at the foot of the mountains make the earliest stops along this route, but still lie two days travel away from the nearest hamlet of the Nations of Honoring. The first "human" hamlet, Peekedstill, is actually inhabited by dwarves from the Walled Dyes. The dwarven fortresses here are the safest means to travel southwards unmolested, but arent all connected to human road networks.
   
   One of these fortresses, Emeraldcrown, is a marvel to behold. Built by the dwarves recently, it is built on the peak of a volcano of green glass, accessed by a long series of ramps and a gold-an-glass paved road connecting to a pre-existing roadway. The fort at the top of the volcano is splendid indeed and glows inside and out with the fire of the lava below. The trade depot hangs suspended over the chasm, surrounded by a ring of green glass towers, connected on the north to the entryway, to the west to a keep where the guard is stationed, and to the south to a dormitory and dining hall structure. Over the trade entrance ramps is a library built of green glass, a temple above that, and finally the mayor's office suites. The library was sparsely populated with copies of some older tomes regarding necromancer towers and other sites, and a handful of dwarves at the site claim to be scholars. They focus more on the history of the world and of practical applications of engineering, not on philosophy. One commented that the greatest purpose in life is to master an artform, and produce a great work worthy of legend, and no beast, no matter how unnatural their origins, should be denied this glory. The dwarves have a habit of such, producing bizarre items impervious to the ravages of time and torment. Legendary weapons, furniture, trinkets. Crowns. The fortress of Emeraldcrown was apparently meant to safeguard one such relic, Galleyhazy, made of green glass, statues of which surrounded adorned the halls and roadside throughout the ite. It was stolen at some point in the last fifty years. Below the mountain peaks there lay forges, and an enormous gallery of glass works. This was also surrounded by dormitories, dining areas, work shops, and farms.
   
   The human town of Divedact was the next stop on my journey. There I met the lady of the town, one Artha Peacefulsong, an adventurer settled down to lead her people here. She was a necromancer, actually. She wasnt much for conversation or philosophy unfortunately. She was a worshipper of one Loli Fairclearing, a god of Peace of the Realms of Silver. She would not elaborate on where she learned the secrets of life and death, but the secrets she knew were not identical to those that I had read. Namely the animation of a corpse to the will of the necromancer was performed by a different mechanism, and their own soul was not bound to the undead directly, thus a corpse under her control could not be directed non-verbally by thought in the way a corpse raised by Raki the Mad could. A soul resurrected would also be bound by a different seal granting them different capabilities. She was not aware of how a race such as the Hands of Planegifts could be created, so such soulcraft was a mystery to either of us.
   
   Loli taught that life was brought forth to bring vibrance to the mortal plane, in image of the world of the gods where many things also "live." All gods had some hand in the creation and shaping of various living things, and offered guidance to the living in their realms of expertise, such as creating and maintaining peace, in Loli's case. But the living lived, because the gods ordained to give them life. Why? Because the mortal realm was barren and desolate and slow to change without it. What purpose did allowing mortals to raise the dead have? None, but perhaps for the amusement of the gods that offered such powers. Perhaps to spread further death, disease, chaos, into the mortal world, entrapping more mortal souls for their power. Why would gods of death give mortals the power to create new life? They maybe didn't. The Hands of Planegifts may not be new life, but repurposing of life the gods already gave. Our unnatural, unliving aspects could be described as perversions through such warlocks of natural, divine intent, introducing aspects of other things into the living-framework of a human, from which we were derived. A chimera of human and animal components, however useless some may be such as our wings, which superficially resemble those of a bat.
   
   Arthas supposed that the same purposes given to mortals still applied to unnatural experiments. But our path would be difficult, as seen by our population explosion, stemming from our desire to reproduce like a natural animal and our young growing to full size and becoming sexually mature themselves within hours of birth. Three billion souls is simply too much for such a area as we inhabit. Those that left it to seek fortunes elsewhere? Perhaps they will discover a purpose of their own.
   
   I soon left divedact to seek out the wisdom of others. It was in the hamlet of Sprayoils that I encountered the most troubling of all mortal afflictions. There in the mead hall I found a group of goblins tearing each other apart. When half of them were dead, the others stopped and loomed over their corpses. I tried speaking to them, but they would not respond.
   
   (https://i.imgur.com/VniLIcU.png)
   
   I soon saw they were completely mindless, as like one undead, though they still apparently bled and breathed. In this mindless state, the violence they inflicted upon the still living was insatiable, unyielding. I destroyed them all. I could find no others in the village proper, it was abandoned. (they were blighted thralls) After that encounter I chose to search some of the dwarven forts for librarie or scholars. It was an fruitless attempt, and both times I found shrines to deities and rolled the dice, I was cursed with bad luck. It was then I entered a town deserted, with a library in ruins empty of books, with the floors and roof caved in across most of it and nothing but a few sets of tables and chairs hanging on ledges attached to supporting columns. In the keep, however, a worse sight awaited me; the occupants of the keep fled from it as I approached, and inside I found an undead kestrel. Not a large bird by any means, but this one made for a truly deadly opponent. It had apparently killed several, as evidenced by the ravaged bodies strewn about the floor. The lords fleeing the keep were right to do so, as it took several hours work to finally put the creature down. It shrugged off blows so effectively as to be invulnerable. I had become so exhausted by the fight at many points that I nearly passed out. Eventually the two lords that had fled the keep returned, and I learned that the only surviving library nearby would be at the Museum at Boltspumpkin. Although it was said to be more of a library of trophies collected by adventurers and their journals than of scholarly content. Still, it was the best remaining option.
   
   The trek south was largely uneventful. Most hamlets nearby are uninhabited. The castle of Boltspumpkin is itself ordinary, and reminded me at first glance of home, in Wheatbrands. Inside is the expected courtyard and keep. The keep, then, is where the Museum has been established. Here adventurers from all over the world deposit their offerings; gory piles of human skulls, hard-won dwarven artifacts, ancient tomes, bags of rocks. On the second floor, on the third pedestal from the left wall, I left a submission of my own; the nearly-complete set of gold armor I had taken from the bandits of Rackripe, the bronze axe I used to fell them, Ozo's whip and shield, and a gold goblet.
   
   (https://i.imgur.com/XV5mLGs.png)
   
   During my visit, I met not only the museum staff, but several adventurers who reside there, including the legendary Lonelythrall the Hideous. He, like many Hands of Planegifts, dedicated his life to a particular cause. He was chosen by Armok, a god I am unfamiliar with, to act as Armok's avatar in this world. He slew night creatures, great beasts, demons, undead, countless goblins, even angels. On the orders of a god, because that is his purpose in life. Others here felt the same about their lifes' work, the killing of great monsters and other evils. Despite what their younger years offered them, defending the realm from monsters and seeking glory and justice for the weak was their destiny, and destiny was the stuff of life.
   
   I could not stay for long in the Museum, as I then got a letter from a messenger that caught up to me. At last, it appeared, our good lord of Wheatbrands had passed away. I had been called home to discuss the matter of his inheritence. On my way north, I stopped briefly in the keep of the abandoned town of Diptramples where I met on Nom the Cheese, a gorlak from the Walled Dyes. His final words on life were that one should try a bit of everything, even the most bizarre and unusual.
   
   The trip home was uneventful, but I did travel quickly. And finally, from here in Wheatbrands, I can begin my own ruminations on life.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on October 14, 2021, 04:54:25 am

Great story Eric. I’ve never heard of elves with gold armour before!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Quantum Drop on October 15, 2021, 04:06:06 pm

Save is up: https://dffd.bay12games.com/file.php?id=15702

My submission(s) is/are seventy-eight demon carcasses, stacked into a pile on a birchen pedestal in the left corner of the Museum’s upper floor. There should also be a new camp on the map, though you might have to do something unusual to actually get to it. As usual, I would like to be signed up for another turn.

The raws have been updated to make both dwarves and kobolds playable as outsiders; it will be interesting to see how people run with this over the next few turns (and how [UTTERANCES] might interact with the civilized races).

In the interest of full disclosure: Irthu and company were briefly brought out of retirement to kill a bunch of demons wandering around Ironwards and its surrounding map tiles. I will admit to being loathe to do this due to the “death [or retirement] of your adventurer is the end” rule, but Ironwards was extremely difficult to approach or leave without being forced into an ambush against them and all of the demons ambushing were pretty much unbeatable¹, which could have caused severe problems for future adventurers.

With that out of the way: good luck with your turn, Kesperan! I’m looking forward to seeing what you come out with for this turn.

^1: As in, “Literally all my past adventurers (except Irthu and company) working together in a party got TPK’d by them. Four times.” It wasn’t even the fun kind of death - just unavoidable web or fireball-spam followed by them getting their heads kicked into mulch by a single demon as they sat there paralysed, without ever landing a single hit.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: TheFlame52 on October 15, 2021, 05:13:03 pm

The museum is just a giant pile of bones and corpses.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Eric Blank on October 15, 2021, 06:04:47 pm

Basically, yes. It's also got a bunch of books strewn about the place because of that damn monkey!

On the subject of kobolds, you can add can_speak as well and then they can actually talk. Keeping utterances they'll just have utterance derived first names, but that does let you speak and have last names and titles. I briefly considered making a kobold adventurer at the start of my turn, too.

Also, I encountered those demons around Ironworks too while retracing my steps (not in my actual adventure)

Oh hey, I remember in the first museum there was a kobold swordswoman in the basement of a keep people butchered and abused multiple times because of that bug that caused the game to re-generate the same individual from seed over and over again to fill non-historical figure positions. Imagine her hellish existence, like something out of Dark Souls. Go reclaim her soul again, get stabbed again. Forever.


Which reminds me, while I was trawling legends mode, right around the entry for lonelythrall, i found some animals that had been in a player fort, and died of old age two different times each, no entries about them being resurrected or raised as zombies, just dying of old age twice years apart. I don't know how thats technically possible in the game, but it happened.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on October 15, 2021, 08:51:30 pm

Quote from: Eric Blank on October 15, 2021, 06:04:47 pm

Oh hey, I remember in the first museum there was a kobold swordswoman in the basement of a keep people butchered and abused multiple times because of that bug that caused the game to re-generate the same individual from seed over and over again to fill non-historical figure positions. Imagine her hellish existence, like something out of Dark Souls. Go reclaim her soul again, get stabbed again. Forever.

The Abyss watcher Kobold

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on October 15, 2021, 09:36:15 pm

Quote from: Eric Blank on October 15, 2021, 06:04:47 pm

Which reminds me, while I was trawling legends mode, right around the entry for lonelythrall, i found some animals that had been in a player fort, and died of old age two different times each, no entries about them being resurrected or raised as zombies, just dying of old age twice years apart. I don't know how thats technically possible in the game, but it happened.

It's also true for civilized characters. I remember there was even a King (though I forgot of where) that suffered this. My suspicion is that this happened when Bralbaard reset the chunks where the bugged/corrupted fortress sites were.

Edit: Found him, Etur Tinöthmeng (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Etur Tinöthmeng), 27th monarch of Adilatir, Bëmbul's predecessor.

(https://i.imgur.com/VAzVe7M.png)

Quote from: Quantum Drop on October 15, 2021, 04:06:06 pm

I’m looking forward to seeing what you come out with for this turn.

And I'm looking forward to your turn's story.

Quote from: TheFlame52 on October 15, 2021, 05:13:03 pm

The museum is just a giant pile of bones and corpses.

Not just. It does contain some nice historical artifact weapons and jewelry.

I'd make a wiki article about all the named items/artifact the Museum contains, but I feel that'd be a lot of work and I'm not feeling up to it. I think the work Bralbaard put into the main page submission post serves well as the important highlights in the Museum. Worst than anything else, it'd have to be constantly updated. I barely update the adventurer (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/List_of_adventurers_who_traveled_towards_The_Museum) and player fortress (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/List_of_fortresses_built_for_the_Museum_succession) lists every 10 turns or so.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on October 15, 2021, 09:42:42 pm

Quote from: Quantum Drop on October 15, 2021, 04:06:06 pm

I will admit to being loathe to do this due to the “death [or retirement] of your adventurer is the end” rule

I don't remember such a rule.

The first page thread says

Quote from: Bralbaard on March 10, 2020, 01:56:10 pm

adventurers that survive can be retired at the museum or elsewhere.

It doesn't says they must. In fact, further down it says

Quote from: Bralbaard on March 10, 2020, 01:56:10 pm

-Do not kill retired adventurers on purpose. Sometimes accidents can't be avoided, but people may wish those adventurers if they play a second turn.

Now, it's kinda vague, but I always interpreted it as "people may wish to unretire those adventurers to play as them again". Bralbaard, confirm or deny, please and thank you.

Edit: Sorry for double-post. I was sure I was editing the first post.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on October 16, 2021, 02:24:26 am

Quote from: Lurker Z on October 15, 2021, 09:42:42 pm

Quote from: Quantum Drop on October 15, 2021, 04:06:06 pm

I will admit to being loathe to do this due to the “death [or retirement] of your adventurer is the end” rule

I don't remember such a rule.

The first page thread says

Quote from: Bralbaard on March 10, 2020, 01:56:10 pm

adventurers that survive can be retired at the museum or elsewhere.

It doesn't says they must. In fact, further down it says

Quote from: Bralbaard on March 10, 2020, 01:56:10 pm

-Do not kill retired adventurers on purpose. Sometimes accidents can't be avoided, but people may wish those adventurers if they play a second turn.

Now, it's kinda vague, but I always interpreted it as "people may wish to unretire those adventurers to play as them again". Bralbaard, confirm or deny, please and thank you.

Edit: Sorry for double-post. I was sure I was editing the first post.

It's fine to retire your adventurer and continue playing him during your next turn. What QD probably means is that he used a party of other/old adventurers to clear out a part of the map/savescum while he was actually playing with a new, fresh adventurer. That is certainly iffy, and to be avoided in the future, but we'll continue with the current save.
There is nothing wrong with having some dangerous and challenging areas on the map that can not be beaten by a starting adventurer, I can add some warnings to site descriptions, if needed.

I'm away from the computer for a few days, I'll update the museum submissions and maps later. Awesome set of gold armor, by the way. I did not know that was possible.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on October 16, 2021, 04:22:40 am

I’ve got the save and will try to make a start today.

Wish me luck!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Quantum Drop on October 16, 2021, 05:01:54 am

Quote from: Bralbaard on October 16, 2021, 02:24:26 am

What QD probably means is that he used a party of other/old adventurers to clear out a part of the map/savescum while he was actually playing with a new, fresh adventurer. That is certainly iffy, and to be avoided in the future, but we'll continue with the current save.

That's pretty much it, yeah. Since I was posting late and was probably tired, for clarity: after I retired the adventurer from this turn, I unretired some of my older ones to deal with part of the map, since those demons were capable of essentially one-shotting non-undead endgame adventurers. In hindsight I probably should've cleared that with the thread first... :-[

(I do have a save where I didn't hit that area with Irthu, but Kesperan appears to have the save now so I guess that's something of a moot point.)

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on October 16, 2021, 06:07:42 am

Quote from: kesperan on October 16, 2021, 04:22:40 am

I’ve got the save and will try to make a start today.

Wish me luck!

Best of luck to you

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on October 16, 2021, 06:16:52 am

Bralbaard's obviously the final authority in the matter, but I'm ok with it. The fact that some grizzled veterans briefly return from retirement to deal with existential threats to any travelers is a good tale. Also creatures that can one-shot anyone is beyond "general danger" and veers off into game-breaking.

Quote from: kesperan on October 16, 2021, 04:22:40 am

I’ve got the save and will try to make a start today.

Wish me luck!

Looking forward to your turn!

---

Speaking of clearing in the thread, is it ok to found a new fortress after adventure mode, but also to take control of one that I had already founded in previous turns, and to do this in the same week? And is it ok to use my adventurer (if he's still alive) or a member of the fortress (after the adventure turn ended) to move things between the two or to try to set something up? There were indications where it was not outright stated, but implied such were done before.

Edited for attempted improved clarity.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on October 16, 2021, 09:44:28 am

That is all fine.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on October 16, 2021, 11:29:17 am

Quote from: Bralbaard on October 16, 2021, 09:44:28 am

That is all fine.

Awesome, thanks!

---

I've been doing some adventure mode testing, I haven't yet encountered any instability, at least between Cog (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Cog_Omristducim)'s tower and Kosothducim (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Kosothducim). There's obvious some lag around the surroundings of the player-made fortresses, but for now nothing worse (though I played as a night creature, so I might have been spared invisible untargetable undead).

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on October 19, 2021, 07:35:52 am

Adventure concluded!

Starting work on a fort tonight.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on October 19, 2021, 01:43:48 pm

Quote from: kesperan on October 19, 2021, 07:35:52 am

Adventure concluded!

Starting work on a fort tonight.

Really looking forward to seeing what your adventurer did.

Additionally is there any modifications that people use, it like make scroll and quires (adventurecraft) or is that not allowed?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Eric Blank on October 19, 2021, 01:54:13 pm

You wouldn't be able to modify an existing game without causing errors, usually. I do use an adventure craft-like mod in my worlds to make vanilla items. I'm not sure where I copied the original reactions from anymore, or if they technically still exist, I guess by this point it's kinda my own creation. I remember I didn't like the excessive tools and component crafting so I went straight to raw resources + edged item = final product.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on October 19, 2021, 01:57:06 pm

Yeah i didnt want to do mess around with it too much and i know adventurecraft makes lots of changes that could mess up the world. Will just vanilla it

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on October 20, 2021, 01:46:59 pm

I've updated a number of posts.  I'm not sure if the turn list is up to date. Tell me if I missed anything.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on October 20, 2021, 02:28:19 pm

Turn list appears to be in order

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on October 20, 2021, 02:53:47 pm

I don't see QD on the list. Maybe PM them if they want a turn?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on October 21, 2021, 10:15:15 am

I’m playing currently.

My fort is not complete but I’m out of town until Sunday and I won’t have access. Does anyone object if I take an extra day or two?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on October 21, 2021, 01:16:47 pm

Being honest with my turn so close and if unchanged would fall into a very easy time for me to just dwarf fortress in one hand and gin in the other. So ideally I would prefer the normal time but I am biased so someone else should say what they think. But im sorry to hear that you haven't been able to complete your fort. I know how frustrating that can be.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on October 21, 2021, 02:43:54 pm

I’ll get it uploaded as soon as I can on Sunday then. Don’t want to leave you waiting.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on October 21, 2021, 02:53:28 pm

Honestly no pressure to do so. Life is life so don't go out of your way to upload it if its not an ideal time for you. I only said that it would be good for me as I had the first few days of my turn off as I have holiday I am using up. Honestly if you want to finish your fort I can wait just said it would be best to see what others thought.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on October 23, 2021, 12:07:05 pm

You both have points and you should resolve it among yourselves.

I have an opinion, but I don't want to tip the balance or interfere, and anyway it's a personal and possibly biased opinion (not in favor of a person, but of a concept).

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on October 23, 2021, 12:36:37 pm

By the sounds of his last post I should get the world relatively soon.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on October 24, 2021, 09:50:51 pm

Turn 58 complete.

The save file is here. (https://dffd.bay12games.com/file.php?id=15715)

Full write up will follow in due course.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on October 24, 2021, 09:58:30 pm

Cheers. Will download this now and get started in the morning.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on October 25, 2021, 07:09:24 am

Sorry about the delay!

Please sign me up for another turn.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on October 25, 2021, 07:16:13 am

It appears dwarves and kobolds are off the menu again.

Update - Appears to have reset the outsider tag for some reason. Added it and its working for me.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Imic on October 25, 2021, 03:36:22 pm

Imma request my name be removed form the turn list cause my parents are down with COVID so it is unlikely I will have the time to play a turn on account of me working as acting parental figure for my brother for the next while, with many if not most of the parental responsibilities associated included in the package.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on October 25, 2021, 03:58:26 pm

Quote from: AvolitionBrit on October 25, 2021, 07:16:13 am

It appears dwarves and kobolds are off the menu again.

Update - Appears to have reset the outsider tag for some reason. Added it and its working for me.

Yeah the edited raws reset if you change the graphics pack. Should be easy enough to slip them back in.

Kind of disappointed you can’t play as an angel though. I conquered and occupied Coverashes and got a Baron of Coverashes noble, but don’t seem to be able to play as they. Oh well.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on October 25, 2021, 04:35:40 pm

Quote from: Imic on October 25, 2021, 03:36:22 pm

Imma request my name be removed form the turn list cause my parents are down with COVID so it is unlikely I will have the time to play a turn on account of me working as acting parental figure for my brother for the next while, with many if not most of the parental responsibilities associated included in the package.

Im Sorry to hear that. I hope they get better.

Quote

Yeah the edited raws reset if you change the graphics pack. Should be easy enough to slip them back in.

Kind of disappointed you can’t play as an angel though. I conquered and occupied Coverashes and got a Baron of Coverashes noble, but don’t seem to be able to play as they. Oh well.

Ah i see. Interesting, the world is certainly strange.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on October 26, 2021, 06:16:26 am

Quote from: Imic on October 25, 2021, 03:36:22 pm

Imma request my name be removed form the turn list cause my parents are down with COVID so it is unlikely I will have the time to play a turn on account of me working as acting parental figure for my brother for the next while, with many if not most of the parental responsibilities associated included in the package.

Good wishes and health all around, hope you all make it through ok.

---

Legends Viewer's borked for me for this save. Anyone want to test if it works for them or to give it a shot at fixing it? It crashes when trying to load Events.

I ran it through both 0.47.05-r04 and 0.47.05-r05.

---

Legends Browser works on it.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on October 26, 2021, 06:24:51 am

Quote

---

Legends Viewer's borked for me for this save. Anyone want to test if it works for them or to give it a shot at fixing it? It crashes when trying to load Events.

I ran it through both 0.47.05-r04 and 0.47.05-r05.

---

Legends Browser works on it.

Glad i wasn't the only one. Just saved my adventure so il see if it fixed itself if not il find some fix.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on October 26, 2021, 07:35:47 am

Quote from: Imic on October 25, 2021, 03:36:22 pm

Imma request my name be removed form the turn list cause my parents are down with COVID so it is unlikely I will have the time to play a turn on account of me working as acting parental figure for my brother for the next while, with many if not most of the parental responsibilities associated included in the package.

Best wishes for you and your family Imic.
Let me know if you want to rejoin at a later date. 

Quote from: Lurker Z on October 26, 2021, 06:16:26 am

Legends Viewer's borked for me for this save.

I don't use LV myself, but I remember people mentioning it broke down in a previous save game as well, so it may not be related to the last save?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on October 26, 2021, 07:49:16 am

I remember QD trying to raid some settlements, discovering LV no longer worked on the aftermath and reverting and retrying until the actions didn't compromise LV.

I'm not blaming anyone, it's obvious it's inevitable that LV breaks down at some point, considering it has done that in the past. I just wish we can find a way to un-bork it when it happens.

Maybe removing those outsider modification before the save helps? I don't know, just throwing ideas out there.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on October 26, 2021, 08:11:16 am

Posted to the Legends Viewer thread to see if there is any fixes or a way to find this event with a missing reference. From my understanding of the error, its an object involved in an event which the game cannot find any reference to.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Quantum Drop on October 26, 2021, 10:04:39 am

Quote from: Lurker Z on October 26, 2021, 07:49:16 am

I remember QD trying to raid some settlements, discovering LV no longer worked on the aftermath and reverting and retrying until the actions didn't compromise LV.

I'm not blaming anyone, it's obvious it's inevitable that LV breaks down at some point, considering it has done that in the past. I just wish we can find a way to un-bork it when it happens.

Maybe removing those outsider modification before the save helps? I don't know, just throwing ideas out there.

I'm pretty sure it is the vault that's causing the issue - the error it displayed appears to be (nearly?) identical to those from the file where Ironwards conquered Coveredashes. From memory, raiding and razing the same site don't seem to cause the issue with LV crashing, and I doubt that the outsider tags affect object/event references, so I would wager that the problem is specific to the vault being conquered. For now, going by your post, we can get away with using Legends Browser until a fix is found.

(Also, I would like to sign up for another turn.)

Quote from: Imic on October 25, 2021, 03:36:22 pm

Imma request my name be removed form the turn list cause my parents are down with COVID so it is unlikely I will have the time to play a turn on account of me working as acting parental figure for my brother for the next while, with many if not most of the parental responsibilities associated included in the package.

I'm sorry to hear that, Imic. Best wishes to you and your family; I hope you all make it through okay.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Imic on October 26, 2021, 02:25:12 pm

Thank you all for the kind words. I'll be back soon, I hope.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on October 26, 2021, 03:38:29 pm

Yeah, it looks like I have broken Legends Viewer by conquering the vault of Coverashes in fort mode.

I am sorry - I didn't know that would happen and I am not sure how to fix it.

I tried restarting adventure mode, grabbing the unclaimed artifact slab (which I am assuming is the object LV cannot find) and then saving again. Did not help.

Sorry!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Quantum Drop on October 26, 2021, 03:49:46 pm

Ah, it's no big problem - we can still use Legends Browser to get around that, after all.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on October 26, 2021, 06:15:43 pm

Exactly

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on October 26, 2021, 06:26:00 pm

Well, maybe the creater of LV can look at the save and fix it. Oh well.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on October 29, 2021, 08:53:56 am

"Moldath I", Turn 58.

27th Galena 807

There was a thick ozone tang in the air, and an unworldly humming, and then the air shimmered, greasy with magic.

With an audible pop, a creature manifested out of reality, stumbling on to the cold cavern floor. The creature was short, stocky and muscled and had a long flowing beard. And it was entirely naked apart from a steel chain linking its hands.

Moldath Mournsaints had a strange feeling. Partly, because prior to a moment ago, he had not existed. In his newly formed mind, he could not shake the belief that he was in fact, an amulet of strange and unknown power. An amulet from another realm, another reality, and one which had a strange power of teleporting when least expected. The steel chain in his hands... this was... the amulet chain? Perhaps. But now in the flesh and blood grasp of a very naked, and increasingly cold, dwarf.

As his eyes adjusted to the darkness, he found himself in a cave of sorts. And next to him were two other creatures. Moldath did not know if these creatures had travelled through the dimensional planes like he had or were native to this new land. 

A very small bat fluttered over to him and settled on his shoulder. Its eyes glowed with intense malevolence, but otherwise he seemed entirely friendly and snuggled into Moldath for heat. Moldath instinctively spoke the bats name.... “Dishmab!”

The other presence was considerably larger. A gigantic lion regarded him passively, yet allowed itself to be petted.

What a strange morning for Moldath Mournsaints. He uncurled the +steel whip+ and set out toward the light winking in the distance. 

At the entrance of the cave, Blowechoes the Scars of Coal, is a single goblin.

“I need your clothes, your boots and your *troll fur thong*” rasped Moldath as the goblin was whipped to death.

Donning the goblin’s still warm leathers, Moldath leaves the cave and surveys the surroundings. Hopping on the back of the enormous lion, and with Dishmab the bat on his head, he heads out north, to the squat building he can spy on the horizon.

Arriving at the abandoned monastery of Lengthgear, he finds a small waterskin and a dented bronze helmet. He heads of west through the mountains, passing through tribes of chatty kea men and falcon men. Setting a camp fire, he sleeps for the first time in the mountains, the stars shining above him.

(OOC)

1. Readers of the first Museum may remember the magic amulet Mournsaints the Fire-Ruler of Rewards, and its propensity to teleport around randomly. Given my outsider dwarf starts with no relationships to this world, I employed this hackish literary device.

2. Yes. I started out completely naked bar a steel whip and a Giant Lion mount. And a bat.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on October 29, 2021, 03:40:28 pm

The different realities are starting to merge.. Dishmab has made it into our realm, are the end times truly upon us?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on October 29, 2021, 06:59:30 pm

What an entrance into the world

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on October 30, 2021, 10:06:19 am

"Moldath I", Part II, Turn 58

28th Galena 807

I wake in the night, startled by a low growl. A giant wolverine! It leaps towards me and instinctively I bring up the steel whip, striking in the skull and tearing its brain. I resume my journey and spot a lone Yeti... it too feels the sting of my whip. 

Kea corpses dot the barren rocky tundra and the sun is high in the sky as I arrive at the fort I was heading for - Deepvaulted.

Yet more corpses are strewn around the trade depot.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/9l7NAge.png)

A sip from an ashen barrel of dwarven wine lights a fire in my belly before I set off, searching the compound.

A human corpse has bronze armour too large for me, but I take his copper shield. Further into the deeps of the fortress are more dead humans, and some hematite veins expertly mined by skilled dwarven hands.

A masons workshop floor, eerily quiet. No dwarves to be seen. Dishmab is perched on my head. He doesn't like it here.

The central shaft delves deep and I find some dwarf skeletons. No decent equipment as yet, but some clothing to replace the goblin rags I currently wear. I equip a goose leather mitten and am alarmed to find it is coated in some foul forgotten beast ichor...

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/nbiAyio.png)

Even more worrying is a cat corpse which appears bathed in unnatural flames... doused in sleet demon gore. What happened in this gods-forsaken mine?

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/ZWMmX0t.png)

A few steps more is the corpse of the forgotten beast Shedim Lidodoggez Ngotol Zanor (Shedim Wastedholes the Ghost of Hearts), felled by unknown hands.

The cavern opens out to a roughly hewn room, covered in what can only be the webs of a giant cave spider. Some bewildered peregrine falcon men shamble around in the detritus, strewn with dead elves, dead dwarves, and a copper battle axe which I strap to my back.

I push forward down a rough-hewn passage into an expansive cavern. Blue twinkling adamantine lies on the floor surrounded by ashes, but not a forge in sight. The god-metal! The dwarves here must have awakened some primordial evil...

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/R8JZfki.png)

I retrace my steps and leave this place before the beings who immolated the cat return...

I snatch a barrel of dwarven beer for the road and head north east. After trekking until nights fall, I get smashed on beer and fall asleep in the mountains.

29th Galena 807

After a fine dwarven breakfast of beer and giant wolverine steaks, I continue my journey away from Deepvaulted to my next destination - I spot a fortress on the horizon.

It occurs to me I haven't seen the lion since I delved into Deepvaulted, but Dishmab is still snuggled in my bronze helm.

I arrive at The Tower of Silence by mid-morning - It seems to be carved into the side of a cliff above the great caldera of a volcano. 

The narrow winding path on the cliff-face gives way to some smoothed walls, and I almost run into a dwarf. He looks rather shifty.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/q4qH6X5.png)

I accuse him of being a night creature which he denies, then I chop him up with my axe. I don’t manage to take him down and he runs screaming into the fort. Despite my searching he is nowhere to be found...

I climb the stairs and find myself in a library with a scholar going about his business. Finally, some armour on the floor! It is not steel, but it is better than my now worn goblin filth, and I find a bronze axe better than my copper.

At the top of the tower is a lanky human swordsman, Turot Twinklepointed.

He carries an enormous two-handed sword once owned by Galka Kindrummed the Tiled Periwinkle of Healing...

I discover a huge expansive library and spend many hours reading there. This is most impressive... grand hallway stretches into the distance, shelves lined with books.

On my way out I bump into Galka Kindrummed himself! He is rather bruised and missing an ear. I don't like the look of his sharp teeth so bid him good day.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/LpSj9Gy.png)

Lying on the stairs is a masterful artefact gold short sword. Just lying there. Morularban Bal. The Pages-Cradle of Tones. I slip it in my pack when nobody is looking. After leaving the Tower, I head north.

2nd Limestone 807

The fort I arrive at early the next morning is garrisoned by humans of the Realm of Silver, the symbol of two sloth men embossed on their armour. There is no treasure for me here, nor enemies to slay.

4th Limestone 807

I continue my travels north, through abandoned monasteries and further human forts uneventfully. But when I enter Partnerdaub the human town, all hell breaks loose.

Shambling brain-hungry blighted thralls spill from the keep, their eyes glowing with ravenous hunger.

Scattered pouches of Omin Obin coins litter the floor... I am in Omin Obin and have stumbled into some kind of zombie plague!

After some tough battles I clear the keep, my dented bronze axe caked with thrall filth.

The cowering Justicar Sporro Padomarbok, one of the few untainted nobles in this hell hole hails me as Moldath Mournsaints the Ardent!

I scour the keep for loot after dispatching the last of the thralls. I find some meat at the entrance of the keep that some previous adventurer has left behind, stow it in my new *cat leather backpack* and head out, after retriveing The Peace of Day, a perfect pink garnet.

At the abbey of Crowdnotched I pray at the temple of Dunem Webbedshadows, and am granted a giant cougar as a pet! I climb on its back and head northwards once again.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/Y0W2XpQ.png)

A short while away I am ambushed by an Overlord, Kalan Trailedrank. The giant cougar mauls him and I cleave his skull.

6th Limestone 807

I head north west and stay the night at Enterframed, a human hamlet. It is deserted.

On the outskirts we chance upon a fat clear brute... an enormous demon. A huge mongoose with lidless eyes and fire. Its scarred body suggests it is no stranger to combat and I realise I am no match for this beast and its unnatural flames, and urge my cougar to retrace his steps westward lest the brute see us. For some reason, the brute stands unmoving. It seems not to have noticed me or doesn’t regard my presence as a threat. In any case I manage to scramble away before it changes its mind. 

What terrible world is this when the hellspawn stalk the lands...

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/s7wECWX.png)

No sooner have I scrambled away from the enormous demon then I find myself in trouble once more. We are ambushed by a shadow creature!

Murksable the Shady is huge and muscular. A one-eyed humanoid with a long curly tail. This large monster is a formidable foe for a dwarf with only a bronze axe, but as fate would have it my friend the giant cougar distracts it long enough for me to cleave its devilish skull with my axe, and it is struck down.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/8AF0884.png)

We continue north and chance upon the creatures’ lair, but the wooden hatch cover appears to be locked.

To the north, on the outskirts of the human town Speechrags, the local lady runs wailing towards us crying for help. She seems to think I am an enemy - perhaps since I slaughtered the blighted thralls that made a mockery of her nobility?

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/j6PqdXU.png)

I agree to a cease in hostilities and head into the town. It becomes clear the Omin Obin plague is rife here too, as corpses litter the streets. A miner zombie rushes towards as and lodges its pick into my cougar mounts body, causing it to yelp in pain and spray hot gouts of blood.

In the resulting tussle, the poor cougar is slaughtered. I avenge my mount by slaying the miner, but more thralls pour out of a nearby building.

Whispering a prayer to Armok, I am saved by a timely battle trance.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/BdfF3PK.png)

I stumble into the next room and I am immediately shot by a marksman blighted thrall.

A steel arrow slams into my chest and another to my leg, chipping the bone! Grimacing through the pain, and resisting the urge to faint, I scramble the shirt distance to the foul bowman and decapitate it.

Blood pours from my wounds, and it is difficult to breathe...

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/3hS9dP9.png)

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: TheFlame52 on October 30, 2021, 11:51:00 am

Just a flesh wound.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on October 30, 2021, 12:14:06 pm

Quote from: TheFlame52 on October 30, 2021, 11:51:00 am

Just a flesh wound.

I was insanely lucky there. Chipped bone normally leads to unconsciousness...

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on October 30, 2021, 06:20:15 pm

"Moldath I", Part III, Turn 58.

7th Limestone 807

I have had enough of Omin Obin and its zombie plague. The steel arrows wedged in my thigh bone and ribs I do not dare dislodge for fear of bleeding, so they stay embedded in my flesh as a warning to avoid this infested place.

The travel westward is uneventful, apart from a short-lived black bear ambush, which should provide some variety to my meals. I head northwest skirting the enormous mountain range to my east and hug the foothills as I continue my journey.

8th Limestone 807

The Murk of Bursting is a cave home to some sort of human group. They have little information on the surrounding lands, and even less to trade.

9th Limestone 807

I continue skirting the western reaches of the mountain range and press on northwards once more. I chance upon a strange shrine or temple with many scattered coins and gems... and huge fearsome birds. This is a roc lair!

I silently sneak into the lair and startle the small group of Rocs there. I slash with my bronze axe but it is not strong enough to rend their necks. The wounds are not deep to lop of wings or heads and only scratch and tear at their enourmous feathered hides, rending the skin as feathers and blood spray.

Bleeding and panicking the rocs fly away! I manage to chase after one and strike its wing, causing it to crash to the ground. Slashing it repeatedly in the throat seems to weaken it before finally it bleeds to death.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/4hU5WYJ.png)

I feast on Roc heart, and carve some fine roc bone jewellry. I search the shrine and find coins from many civilisations but no useful weapons or armour.

Slowly the other rocs begin to circle around and I face them once more. Five I count in total, less the skinny runt that I butchered. A particularly huge, fat roc appears - Calovi Rifanithe! This terrible beast has feasted on dwarves and humans alike for a thousand years, growing fat on the corpses of its many victims. Its great scarred and corpulent body seems almost too enormous to take flight!

I set about it with an iron boning knife, puncturing its wings and body. It too crashes to the earth and I leap upon it in a frenzy. The fight lasts what seems like hours. My meagre bronze axe and iron knife are mere crude blunt tools to a beast as colossal as this majestic and terrifying beast. Time and time again I block its thick talons and fearsome beak with my tattered shield.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/JO4q8I6.png)

Eventually, it faints from exhaustion, and I tear its throat with my axe. I butcher its corpse and take its enormous skull as a trophy. Exhausted and trembling with exertion, I collapse to the ground wet with the fountain of roc blood.

10th Limestone 807

A day of rest. I spend time relaxing, swimming in a nearby pond to wash my gore-caked armour. I practice some bone crafts on the hundreds of roc bones I have made by butchering the great foes. Three rocs met their ends, and the remaining two fled. I head north along the mountain range, spotting a small fort in the distance. It is a long journey, and the sun is setting as I approach the fort. I spend another night under the stars.

11th Limestone 807

This far north of the southern frozen wastes, water does not freeze overnight. It is a welcome change that I do not have to thaw my waterskin!

I arrive at Mosshill the Mines of Iron, to find it mostly deserted. Chopped wood still lies untouched for nearly 100 years, and an abandoned trade depot has no treasures to loot. 

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/jV51s0O.png)

Inside a short passage is evidence of iron smelting - hematite ore, charcoal and iron bars. The dwarves of this mine presumably worked the forges - perhaps some usable armour was to be found?

I do find a meagre selection of equipment, including a well-crafted iron axe, which I will use to replace my bronze one looted from the Temple of Silence, now damaged and bent from forcing it again and again against the thick skull of Calovi Morningwhisper the Windy Beans. Pushing forward into the fort I find expertly mined hematite veins and thick veins of marble. The dwarves here had everything they needed to craft Steel! Sadly it appears the dwarves here abandoned the fort in a hurry, and there is no steel to be found.

I leave Mosshill and head northwest yet again. After dispatching yet another ambushing bear, I make camp for the night.

12th Limestone 807

Despite the relative warmth this far north, the weather can still play cruel tricks. I am caught in a blizzard and visibility is poor. Thick snow and choking fog cloud my vision as I press on. In the distance I can make out a tall jutting structure, some kind of tower or keep.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/TINJnLA.png)

It is late in the day as I arrive at the outskirts of some encampment. There is a tall central tower and smaller buildings surround it. It is a necromancers tower!

The smaller buildings teem with strange creatures... Minkot's Neasts - large scaly octopods. Small Soldier's of Night with their tiny armour and weapons. Cog's Beasts - horrifying spider-yaks designed by Cog Wildnesswork. The creatures seem happy to ignore me and chatter to themselves constantly. Either they do not notice me, or merely consider me irrelevant. The smaller structures each have hoards of treasure, no doubt collected over many years of plunder.

It takes more than a full day to scout all the smaller towers, however I am granted a great boon. A thorough exploration grants a full set of steel armour of varying quality, and a steel axe!

13th Limestone 807

Finally venturing into the imposing main structure I spot a curious sight. A headless dwarf necromancer saunters around absent mindedly clutching a scroll.

I draw my axe to strike it and it vanishes into thin air, before reappearing and punching my hip. Crying in pain I fall to the ground and slash it in the body, and it collapses into a ragged pile. This must be some kind of Hollow Hunter... capable of vanishing at will. 

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/WQs2e5D.png)

I butcher her corpse and stash her cervical vertebrae - this is the bone of Cog Wildnesswork, beheaded by some heroic adventurer and brought back to life as a headless haunt. The hundreds of experiments remain oblivious but I think it is time I made myself scarce. Time slows down in this snowy tundra. I press north for what feels like days, and stumble upon a fort. Duskhome. Bizarrely, there is nothing here. A few bewildered peasants and humans scrabble around looking confused. I press on.

A short distance eastward lies Championvault. It seems deserted apart from a goblin invader in tattered clothes, who quickly loses her head. I find a one-armed panicked goblin prisoner, who I put out of their misery. I admire the impressive mug collection and help myself to some dwarven rum.

16th Limestone 807

The venture east is monotonous. Many human hamlets and monasteries lie abandoned and in ruin. 

I walk the plains until stumbling into a bandit camp. A goblin chieftess assails me, and after a tough battle is struck down. I clear out the camp but find no worthwhile loot.

17th Limestone 807 

I head north towards some human towns in the distance. In the monastery of Entrygrave there is a shine to Rogon the Umber, venerated by the religion The Just Denomination.

I roll the worn twelve-sided dice and I am granted ... large adamantine mittens.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/9ByUzw2.png)

Not a weapon, or anything I can wear. This human god has granted me clothing fit for a human, but they are useless to the deepfolk. Rogon the Umber is trolling me...

I am enraged. Rogon's voice boomed “DO NOT TEMPT FATE!” and yet it was too late - the blood in my veins boiled!

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/ja26a97.png)

The next tiny hamlet over, Senserites, seemed to harbor a goblin and her human friends. As I execute the human guards the goblin Sacred Lens flees. My vampire body no longer tires and I quickly run her down. The bandits of Pricerings share a similar fate. Heading east I find a fort that has been visited before - goblin corpses strew the keep.

19th Limestone 807

Continuing east, I approach the Dark Fortress of Crushcurse.

The red thirst builds. I can hear panic and shouts below the keep. The goblin town is infested with the blighted thralls! I suspect that some necromancer has loosed the plague on these goblins, much like the pitied humans of Omin Obin. It is time to cleanse this town.

The thralls are joined by dwarf skeletons in rampaging through the dark fortress. They seem to have been raised by Kosoth Salvesank, a necromancer. Wading through goblins and corpses alike I finally climb the central spire. The slade throne is empty...

20th Limestone 807

I leave Crushcurse drenched in goblin and blighted thrall gore and head north east. Stokerbushels the castle is deserted and I head north, encroaching on goblin territory of The Knowing Deceiver. I am almost immediately ambushed by a goblin spearman blighted thrall. He is heavily armoured and wields a silver spear and is harder to kill than his compatriots in Crushcurse.

A short while a goblin military patrol heading south stumbles into me and is slaughtered. Suddenly I am ambushed by a great group of military blighted thralls in iron armour. Is this entire civilisation affected by the curse?

I feel THIRSTY and a martial trance takes over! Waves of goblins, thralls and soldiers alike are scythed down.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/eAnoHWy.png)

21st Limestone 807

I travel north through the night to the ancient necromancer tower of Patternedbegun.

The zombies there ignore me as I search the tombs. I find no trace of any necromancers, but a great number of scrolls and tomes. I find a dusty cobwebbed book named “Demise Questioned”, and read from it the secrets of life and death. I can now raise Gaunt Zombies.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/wZB6rlr.png)

To the north lies Orbsmortals, a town, overrun by the walking dead. I spot a goblin Dark One and slay it.

In a small building cower two necromancers, man and wife. They have turned this village into a necromantic haven, having travelled here from Patternedbegun to the south. They babble about an aluminum harp or somesuch, as I harvest their lives.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/BSgWfIZ.png)

I clear out the entire village but sadly find no artefacts or loot to speak of. 

22nd Limestone 807

Travelling westward through the outskirts of the goblin lands I pass through Horrortar, a Dark Fortress. It is virtually deserted, and the lands are scattered with butchered goblins. I presume whichever creature did this did not wish the goblins to return from the dead.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/frXUkg9.png)

South of the pits is a huge goblin refugee camp, presumably displaced from Horrortar. I make quick work of them then head south west.

I trek for a long period and reach the outskirts of Ironwards the Strifeful Hollows, when I am abushed by a demonic being! A marmot brute, beware its webs! I may be stronger now than when I encountered the last demon but webs would make short work of any warrior. Again, discretion is the better part of valour and I withdraw.

23rd Limestone 807

I arrive at Strifeful Hollows and find a great lake of magma, within it the mangled corpses of demons. An obese militia captain brandishes a masterwork adamantine axe... perhaps there are more fine weapons inside? 

The fort is impressive and filled to the brim with iron armour and weapons, but I find little steel. I bump into many militia commanders, one missing a hand. Demon bone crafts abound - this fort has an impressive military.

Finally, next to the prone form of a depressed merchant, I find what I am looking for. An adamantine axe! It is still smeared by dwarf blood and light blue devil gore, which I happily drink.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/2WslWpH.png)

The depressed merchant chokes on miasma and I am aware of a stench emanating from me. My body is starting to rot... some kind of demon or forgotten beast extract must be putrefying my flesh! I do not seem to mind it though. A mortal might not cope quite so well.

Delving deeper I start to find some demon corpses, and a massive contraption filled with menacing spikes designed to mince the demons. A curious sensation... my unbeating heart is rotting. 

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/jgSG2uR.png)

Travelling onwards through narrow passages, I arrive at the hot depths of hell itself. I notice the demons are Weasel Demons spraying webs, constantly battling with what appears to be undead beast skin. The skin cannot be harmed and nor can it land a blow on the demons. I know better than to attack a web-slinging demon and retrace my steps.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/3uJDSsf.png)

I nope out of there quickly, closing the bridge as I leave. Leaving the fort I head south east, and end up in Dimptramples. I meet an impressively rotund gorlak necromancer there who introduces himself as Nom the Cheese.

I greet him warmly. He tells me of the famous museum of Boltspumpkin lies a short distance away, and I decide to check it out!

24th Limestone 807

I arrive at the museum and marvel at the artefacts therein. 

I submit my offering – the trophies of the ancient Calovi Morningwhisker the Windy Beans:

• The skull of Calovi
• A waterskin of frozen roc blood
• roc egg from the shrine of Calovi
• prepared roc heart

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/fQLP5hw.png)

I also place three scrolls with the secrets of life and death looted from Patternedbegun – all of these grant the power to animate corpses and raise Gaunt Zombies. 

I also place my divine adamantine mittens (which are too large for a dwarf) - perhaps some of Rogon’s human folk would get some use from them?

I also place the cervical vertebrae of the infamous necromancer leader Cog Wildnesswork, leader of the tower of Glazedriven.

I also place a selection of weapons from Ironwards the Strifeful Hollows for any adventures in need, and my own back teeth, knocked out by a goblin blighted thrall in the lands around Horrortar. 

25th Limestone 807

Leaving the museum, I press on northwards. I soon pass through the abandoned tower of Farmpuzzling and strip its library of books, before arriving at my final destination. The erstwhile capital of the Walled Dye, Crownhall the City of Stone. 

It is breathtakingly beautiful and the throne room is fit for a king indeed. The residents eye me suspiciously – I must seem quite terrifying. My flesh and even my eyes have rotted away due to the ghastly syndrome coursing through my undead veins. Two steel arrows jut from my walking corpse. I lug a great satchel of books and scrolls to the library of Crownhall and retire here for a while. 

I suspect it will not be long before the residents here will force me to leave...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

OOC:

So, I am not sure when I picked up the rotting malady. I had squelched through a few forgotten beasts and dead demons in my travel but only noticed when I checked my health screen in Ironwards that my entire body was rotten. Brain, heart, eyeballs... everything. Nice.

Player Forts explored:

• The Tower of Silence
• Ironwards the Strifeful Hollows
• The Tower of Silence
• Deepvaulted the Tower of Stars
• Championvault
• Mosshill the Mines of Iron
• Duskhome

I tried to find Summerwanes the aluminum artefact Tarem. Legends Mode identified it was owned by the necromancer Lar Peradrarses in Orbsmortals, but he did not have it in his inventory when I killed him and the whole town had no loot.

I have made a fort to the western mountain range near the vault of Coverashes called Ashcinders the Molten Scar. 

The Scar of Ashes were dedicated to opposing the dwarven death god Udir – The Black – and defeating the Warriors of Udir who infested the vault nearby.

There is a volcano there which lies above a flat plain leading to a steep cliff. The dwarves there had few enemies, and made many fine weapons and armour. A number of hillocks have sprung up around Ashcinders too.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on October 31, 2021, 03:14:27 pm

Quote from: kesperan on October 30, 2021, 06:20:15 pm

I have made a fort to the western mountain range near the vault of Coverashes called Ashcinders the Molten Scar. 

The Scar of Ashes were dedicated to opposing the dwarven death god Udir – The Black – and defeating the Warriors of Udir who infested the vault nearby.

There is a volcano there which lies above a flat plain leading to a steep cliff. The dwarves there had few enemies, and made many fine weapons and armour. A number of hillocks have sprung up around Ashcinders too.

A few hillocks? It looks like half a new civilisation has emerged into existence:
(https://i.imgur.com/Zfzo2QS.gif)
That is certainly interesting. I think up untill now only one or two hillocks were founded over the entire course of the game.

I've updated the lists and maps.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on October 31, 2021, 04:58:02 pm

Legends Viewer says 3 hillocks until Kesperan's turn, one in 748, one in 773 and one in 779.

I'm surprised you eyeballed it so well, I hadn't been paying attention to hillocks at all, hells I thought NPC construction stopped altogether since the end of the 7th century.

---

Brit, how's your turn going?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on October 31, 2021, 05:32:07 pm

Quote from: Lurker Z on October 31, 2021, 04:58:02 pm

Brit, how's your turn going?

Its going well, just finishing the last few hours I have with the world. Its been interesting, looking forward to sharing my tale.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on October 31, 2021, 09:44:43 pm

https://dffd.bay12games.com/file.php?id=15723

World is up, posts to come.

Good luck with the world Lurker Z

Little update,
Poking in on legends browser. Trying to find information on a figure for the last part of my post was gonna use them as a final letter. But it turns out Kesperan's Moldath Mournsaints has been in my fort under the name Avuz Walkgolds. Very interesting

Will post later today but gonna have to make some changes. Also put me down for another turn please.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on November 01, 2021, 07:37:02 am

Got the save, got the time, hopefully got the inspiration, I do need some luck to pull it off.

I hope someone razes or unlinks that vault or something, I miss Legends Viewer. Legends Browser is OK, but hard to get used to. The lack of adventurer list is also a small annoyance.

I've encountered another limitation of Legends Browser: no exact date of death/events except that vague "early spring/summer/etc".

I've spoiled myself and noticed in Brit's turn

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

vampire kobolds, oh my. Also more goblin culling, though unfortunately The Creamy Confederacy has no shortage of them to take back the rulership. I suppose Dothanest (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Dothanest) will continue to be a bloodbath.

---

Edit:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Noooooooo, you killed Nirmek (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Nirmek_Balusen)! Whhyyyyyyy! Poor soul...

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on November 01, 2021, 08:02:41 am

Well good news, the newest version of legends viewer has had that bug fixed so rejoice. Just saw the reply as I go on my lunchbreak for my new job I started today.

Going to post my story today so you can understand the madness of my turn and also talk about some odd bugs and strange occurances that happened.

In response to you spoiler
 

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Yeah, didn't realise it was him, just saw a dragon and started blasting. Only when I got close did I realise what I had done. He will live on. Subjected my friend to my panic when I realised what I had done.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on November 01, 2021, 08:24:20 am

Quote from: AvolitionBrit on November 01, 2021, 08:02:41 am

Well good news, the newest version of legends viewer has had that bug fixed so rejoice. Just saw the reply as I go on my lunchbreak for my new job I started today.

Going to post my story today so you can understand the madness of my turn and also talk about some odd bugs and strange occurances that happened.

Holy moly, this is the best present I got for my turn! Thanks for letting me know, I wouldn't have noticed until the next version of LNP was out.

Quote from: AvolitionBrit on November 01, 2021, 08:02:41 am

In response to you spoiler

Well, it can be forgiven then. I suppose seeing something like that can scare people into doing... unfortunate things. He'll always live on in our memories (and in the world's history).

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on November 01, 2021, 08:26:14 am

Quote

Well, it can be forgiven then. I suppose seeing something like that can scare people into doing... unfortunate things. He'll always live on in our memories (and in the world's history).

And one more way

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on November 01, 2021, 11:14:54 am

Quote from: AvolitionBrit on October 31, 2021, 09:44:43 pm

But it turns out Kesperan's Moldath Mournsaints has been in my fort under the name Avuz Walkgolds. Very interesting.

Ooh! Was his flesh rotting and spraying miasma everywhere when he arrived?

I imagine as a vampire he assumed an identity. The rotten flesh and steel arrows embedded in him might have given him away though.

What did you end up doing with him? I was planning to retire him in my own fort to let my chief medical dwarf have a go at him.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on November 01, 2021, 11:32:18 am

Aaaah snap, he's ravaging Brit's fort, that's what he's doing.

Well, good luck getting him to your fort, but he's probably going to be summoned sooner or later to Treatyseed as a baron.

I haven't read your story, but I saw he put down Cog (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Cog_Omristducim), possibly for good. More than just out of curiosity, what did Moldath do with the body? It might be relevant to my run (well, definitely is); I was planning this before I realized Cog had been taken out (again).

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on November 01, 2021, 11:40:43 am

Quote

What did you end up doing with him? I was planning to retire him in my own fort to let my chief medical dwarf have a go at him.

When he came I was fascinated, i thought he might of been a player but no player names matched. Got him to work as a scholar as I wanted to make a grand library and hopefully get some chronicles going to shed some light on history.

Then I got the classic drained of blood message. Eventually figured out it was him. Made him his own quarters and his own library and locked the door on him for many years.

Later on after I returned to find the fort had a new chunk of merchant population I decided to let him return to society. Scroll writing seemed to stop after a while and when I retired and unretired it returned for a bit. I think you only authored one scroll.

Also yes he was and still rots. He doesn't stink but has soap baths and rotten tissue excised. I think he also came during a migrant wave that had ghouls in it too. Wierd.

He also became an apprentice of one of my other scholars. Must of been a good master as he has alot of apprentices. Can't think of the name to hand will check when I'm home.

Edit - Also put me in for another turn

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on November 01, 2021, 03:22:31 pm

Pilled in the countless journals stored in boltspumpkin, you come across a leather bound tome. The front reads:

Walled Dye Land Survey Log

AVO - A Price Paid

As you go to open the book, multiple pages from the front have been removed roughly. You go to read the first page....

Early Summer of 810 - We came across a kobold, today whilst surveying for new fortress sites. Bless him seems like he hasn't eaten in a while. I chuck him some meat much to the shagrin of Mafol who told me “don’t encourage the skulking vermin”. In other news Goden has been talking to some locals to gather more information about various sites. Got some geographic documents for Athel and  Solon to mull over as well as a damaged weathered copy of a book Time Spent with the Moon and tides. Wonder why he grabbed that waste of parchment

Mid Summer of 810 - Still can’t find a site. It has to be perfect, they say. No undead should be able to access it. We have been spending time by the beach watching the waves. Athel is obsessed and says that we need to watch them. Been like this for a while: stop at a beach, watch for a few  days and move slightly away repeatedly. I want to forge again, I haven't forged anything but this golden hammer which I'm not allowed to do?. Don’t waste gold for a silver job they say. Meanwhile they use the gold on statues and trinkets. Been showing Avo (my little friend) how to use it. It's been hilarious watching him struggle to wield the thing.

Late Summer of 810 - Its been another month wasted watching coastlines, Athel is driving the rest of us mad. He insists there is a secret way to cross great bodies of water. What's worse is Solon is sticking up for him. I just want to forge, not waste my time mulling about. The forge is my brush and a fort will be my canvas to forge brilliance. Instead of worrying about that the others are giving me crap for training Avo with a hammer and a gold one at that. Tell me Skulking Vermin will steal your hammer and leave you for dead in the night. They don’t see that the kobold is a last hope for his species. A rare sight is a kobold these days, i'm gonna try and give him everything he needs to thrive.

Early Autumn of 810 - I have given up trying to argue with the others but they have given me an ultimatum to leave Avo or be left. I had taught him enough about communication. He was still a novice reader but he was certainly a smart kobold. Tonight I'm gonna lead avo to a local ruin, leave him some food, my hammer and this journal. One day I hope you read this and understand why I left you there. It's safer than most places and is a good place to hide from those undead scourge. If you ever hear of a fortress called Ancient knowledge or something similar head to it. You will be safe there and I can forge you some nice armor.

You are Avo Abaena. Avo Lastone. The kobolds hope

As you turn the page, several more Pages have been removed

I am Avo Abanea, a kobold wanderer. I got this leather journal from Zefon Whippedchanted several years ago. I use it as a journal to document my thoughts and utilise this as a method for communicating with other intelligent life as us kobolds are incapable of speech. I am friendly, please don’t hurt me.

Attribute and stats

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/DwghARe.png)

Appearance

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/bRrl7YJ.png)

13 of Granite 813 - My journey has lead me to Nestlelenses, a hamlet in the steppe of Ticks. A fitting name for a vacant place. The place has been leached of many people not that I could say or do anything with them. No bodies around suggests the population has left and moved away. Nothing of note here, I see a fort east of here. Maybe they might have some intel on kobolds or some scrap gear lying around as i am nude with nothing but a dagger and a gold hammer to my name.

The fort was certainly full of life, a bunch of fighters of various types. Seems like they were using the fort as a resting point to talk to each other. They mostly joked and complemented each other's gear. With one human's particular fascination with an iron boot “making the outfit”. Although i did find some intrigue and history buried in senseless chitter chatter. After a while i hear that a group of outlaws nearby in a cave in the  steppe of ticks has been causing problems. Explains Nestlelenses missing population. I listen more and hear of a creature of the night also tormenting the area. I guess this area is more dangerous than I thought. Might want to train up before i head into the wilderness towards the local camps i have heard about. I heard that “skulking vermin” are there. Which is a codeword for kobolds. Not sure which group of kobolds they are. I have already ruled out any kobolds of the Jrobolojlunker civilization who died out long ago. My travels have confirmed their death. Looks like it's time for some exercise as I have put on weight during my travels. Hunting some local beasts will provide some training and a good source of food with my rations exhausted. Heading towards a castle by the name of Ilidpalath “cleardiamonds”. It will be a good place to look for spare abandoned gear as its bitterly cold and nude kobold just means easier target.

It got too late, ended up sleeping in the admired jungle, it proved to possibly be a mistake as I spotted some dingos approaching me. I ran, running through the night, encountered another group of them, ran away before they spotted me. I made it to Ilidapalath, it appears to just be me and a sleeping baron. A few books and scrolls in this place worth a read. Interesting material about human society with a hint of spite in the writing. All by the same author too. I snuck into the basement and i find an obese high justiciar sleeping. Upstairs I find a chamberlain also sleeping. Not a surprise since it is the middle of the night. I head outside and sleep the remainder of the night to avoid an awkward encounter in the morning.


14 of Granite 813 - Headed to the nearby hamlet of Licouse, another abandoned hamlet. Gonna get a drink from the local river and hunt for some food. God it's cold, the river has frozen over. Might need to heat up some snow. See there is a local government building south west of the hamlet. Maybe someone there might have some information on kobolds or what's going on in the area.

Outside the building, I'm hearing something going on inside. Sounds aggressive. I heard someone screaming.

They tore them apart and were heading toward me. I ran, I'm in Itnibudzu now, the hamlet next door. It doesn't look good. I found someone's corpse just outside a doorway. Not to mention I'm dehydrated. I need some water. I'll check them well if not. Cooked snow it is. Well-cooked snow and just as I was about to check out a local shrine, they emerged from the building more of those things. I ran to the local government, all that is here is a local lord and sacred vegetation. This place is extremely dangerous and tainted by those twisted abominations. Looks like I'm gonna head to the camp, if there is any chance of me saving my race i need to go to that camp and try to save people as it's not safe.

Whilst resting here, I see a flyer in the pockets of the dead hammerman. It was faded and worn in areas but it talks about a museum in boldspumkin. Consulting my map, it's to the north west of here. Could prove useful to gathering information on my people. Maybe another kobold has been there, maybe someone on their travels has found a kobold lair. I shall see. I see they have a bunch of abandoned old gear. Crossbow and a bow. Decided that I'll do some practice shooting to train my aim. Might improve my reactions.

Decided to head to another hamlet government building to the north. Agowumu. Inside, a fat water buffalo cow. It looks like dinner.

It put up a good fight but it showed me how in combat I wasn't as skilled as I thought. Took me forever to kill it but once it was enraged it gave me a chance to improve my reaction times and dodging. As even the cow managed to land a hit on me. Well it made for some good food and a good little rest. Just letting my mind wander as I carve the bones. Found  a few more bolts to practice with and seeing as nobody is home it's a good safe place to sleep in.


15 of Granite 813 - My training paid off, I destroyed a kea today after spending most of it looking for non melted snow to drink.

16 of Granite 813 - Made it to the rumored Kobold camp and it's true I see one of my kind, an angry kobold wrestler running towards me. I hid and it seemed they all charged towards each other, someone shooting arrows into another. It's a real mess. Gonna sneak to the centre of camp to find any any kobold knowledge

Arrows were flying past me, it was real chaos. Managed to grab a cave spider silk loincloth, common kobold attire. Finally I have something to wear but it proves that i'm not alone. But at a cost, they were savages, tearing each other apart over a pile of trinkets.

Some good news is a backpack. Now I won't have to carry a bag in my hand. However, I got hit pretty badly. My leg, i cannot walk on it. I managed to sneak away but i need to get out of here

Managed to get away and my leg is feeling better. I can walk on it. From the distance I see another camp. I'm gonna sneak towards it

I see massive green eyes scanning the area. It appears a green-eyed white dragon is keeping an eye out.
He hasn't noticed me, no sign of kobolds but this dragon is dangerous. If it is lurking in this area I could pose a threat to my people fleeing the area. Maybe that's why the kobolds were fighting, the dragon invaded and took over the site, the kobolds left and tried to join the other group but they didn’t want them there. Why else would a dragon be at a camp?

 It's only a matter of time before he sees me. I need to take action.

I did it, that beast wont torment anyone in the area. I ran out of arrows and snuck up behind it. Gave him a beating he got a good bite on me and one of my arms isn't as responsive as before. I guess its the price to pay for glory.

With this I have named my hammer, Ogomongong Ospum Os. She is the hammer of my people's hope. Additionally found a mica bound codex called the mysteries of Probing, interesting it details a surgical method for probing and is masterful. I must bring this knowledge to civilization. Carrying all this meat sure is heavy but this should provide me enough resources to pass the tundra of heroes. Boltspumpkin is the only remaining lead to civilized kobolds. I am ready to cross the tundra of heroes. I feel the power of the dragon coursing through my blood as I consume his heart. 

17 of Granite 813 - I'm on my way through the tundra of heroes, it's slow due to all this dragon but I'm tough and it will be another labour I shall make for my people. With every part of this dragon I consume I feel his strength flow through me. Maybe I'm a dragon or becoming one. Hahahaha

Strangely, I see a camp out in the distance and it's abandoned. Campfires still lit too. Strange.

18 of Granite 813 - Its cold out here but it will never quell the my flaming blood. No need for layers. Im a third of the way through. There is a camp I'm gonna pass here called Passesduces, I don't know anything else besides its existence. I hope they are friendlier than the last camp i ran into.

Well so much for that camp, just a pile of gear. Nothing of note. Almost out of the tundra of heroes

19 of Granite 813 - Out of the tundra of heroes, I tried to explore the local area but I was caught in a landslide. It knocked me out and I just came to.

Arrived in the town of Owbacuro and another wasteland, abandoned shops and homes alive. Suddenly I hear some noise from a leather store. I enter and find a goblin, headless and still alive. I got lost in this town and as I began to settle down another one of those undead goblins attacked me. Punching me. I gave it a good old swing with my hammer and i hear the shattering of its spine as it collapsed to the floor lifeless.
(https://i.imgur.com/REu6ObK.png)

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Quick sketch by my talented friend Chol_Art as i talked about dwarf fortress and my adventurer - https://twitter.com/art_chol

20 of Granite 813 - Slept in the town, heading towards the castle, another undead gobin ambushed me, nasty shit destroyed my lower right arm, easily beat it down but still this place is full of danger. What happened to this place? Will the museum still be intact

Sun rose as I made it into the keep and looked abandoned but full of tomes and scrolls. Will give them all a good read. Just got to move the corpses off some of these scrolls. A few masterpieces here, grabbing all of them. Exploring the other floors, mostly empty but I just heard a noise. I'm not alone. Dropping my bag and checking it out.

False alarm, another living resident. The goblin swordsman Zom Dreadfuldabbled introduced himself to me and without prompt gave me information of outlaws in the The Steppe of Ticks. Makes sense of what is happening with those humans fighting each other. Rival outlaw gangs?

Nothing of note left inside, bit of a maze. Another undead ambushed me but one strike and it was down for the count. Onwards to boltspumpkin

21 of Granite 813 - Woke up and had a great swim. So refreshing.

Got carried away swimming but im one day away from boltspumpkin

22 of Granite 813 - Made it to that adventure rest stop and walked on through to the museum where I submitted the piercing green eyes of that dragon. What a mighty achievement for the kobold race, slaying a dangerous dragon, not only that probably one of the last ones in existence if not the last one. I tried to learn more about the dragon from the various journals of other adventurers but nothing. Left the books I collected here just as a bonus. So many books here happen to read a few. Very interesting.

As I walk out I look over my shoulder, see no one around and just reach my head into a barrel. Grabbing a frozen red chunk. They won’t miss it besides it's for the betterment and preservation of my race. As it melts in my hands I lap it up. I no longer crave food. I no longer age, I am stronger, I am the future of the kobolds. I am the kobold dragon. I am the kobold king

12 of Slate 813 - After a long rest, I'm unable to walk.
Dam crazy farmer. I need to save my people, that camp was chaotic, that bowman attacked our kind indiscriminately and even contributed to my leg injury. So I am going to return to Fralabachomer and take control but first I need to head back to the museum. Gonna leave this journal so other kobolds that come here can join me in rebuilding our species. Additionally another two submissions to the museum could help me figure out my next step.

Found them, the divination dice, this the staff distracted upstairs its given me a chance to “examine them”.

Dice were no help, useless things. Mere trinkets of the gods some cursed me. As for the scrolls of necromancy, useless with me being a hand down I am unable to gesture. I don’t think I'm ready to return to Fralabachomer. I need time, need to learn more, find more and rest my wounds. I might be stronger but what am I going to do to crawl through the tundra of heroes?

Tucked at the back of the journal is a letter stamped with the walled dye insignia

To the museum staff of boltspumpkin,

 I am sending this letter from Ancientknoledge with the goal of conveying a message and bookmarking the end of a journey for a particular benefactor and donor of your aforementioned museum. Rest assured that Avo is alive albeit with loss of function in his other hand now and thus removing his ability to grasp anything let alone write a letter. Poor thing drags himself around with one good foot. Through a long series of pointing to drawings, objects and words, as well as a light bit of record gathering. Here is what to my best ability he was up to recently..

Seemingly hiding out in a cave perhaps one controlled by our civilization he went on a pilgrimage to get healed as well as find the surveying team of our current fortress whom appear to have some historical connection. It seemed all was well having consumed all the meat of a great winged beast he mostly roamed the wilds. Pointing to several locations such as the adventurous steppes,  the dutiful forests and the lake of whispers. Afterwards he seemed to have found a rough idea of where to look. From his pointing to the words journal and map. Leads me to indicate he found some form of old survey map of an area. This was just confirmed as he nodded to me. Travelling north towards the island of moistening he traveled to the various scattered forts in the area, seemingly hiding from undead residence. Further supporting his are multiple scrolls, books and codex he brought to our library here with some referring to the nearby locations. Additionally he seemed to point to the word crab a lot throughout my research, with him making an additional motion with his leg. Perhaps some knowledge or also noting the declining population of crabs in the peaceful waters. Regardless it appears he was fine until he reached the camp of Srastrirus. Where he met other kobolds, a female one by the name of chrilishubin Siegeblock who attacked him on sight. The two fought with the result being the death of her. Not long after it appears an old swordkobold by the name slokokodraber severed his good hands nerves.  He  was allowed to rest there for his wound to heal for two weeks as slokokodraber relayed to Avo the tragedy of the Bloboshayker a nomadic group who in a time before documented history broke away from an existing kobold civilization to form a camp. However due to multiple factors their population declined, not helped by killings at the site. Chrilishubin Seigeblock appears to be responsible for two such killings. It's something that Avo indicates he had experienced with other kobolds in the past as well as the two old kobolds relayed. I theories its due to declining numbers, reputation and a collapse of kobold society that has resulted into the devolution of kobolds socially with some returning to savagery. It is a theory that Avo appears to agree with as he points to a scar on his leg for what appears to be an arrow or bolt maybe. Additionally he learned of another recent kobold death in the camp, the kobold Tlaylder. He died almost a year before Avo came.But then he came back alive, spoke of a kobold monster, dark pacts and gifts that came at a cost. Chrilshubin Seigeblock took the premonition seriously and prepared. The day of his arrival Tlaylder dropped dead with no signs of foul play.

 Towards the end of the two weeks the old kobold man banished him for being a kin killer as well as a killer of his society. He said it was normally death for a kobold who killed other kobolds but under the circumstances and due to his current state and his current age it seemed the right punishment. The last thing he was told was that he was allowed to return in 18 years, by then the site would be empty, unless he became a vampire or a necromancer, the old kobold joked.

Upon arriving here he has become somewhat of an interest to the fortress with my apprentice Avuz Walkgolds pointing him out to me. Most in the fortress view him as a pet. He has the old baroness quarters due to us no longer having a baroness and to keep him around. He has taken particular interest in the bodies that are megabeasts outside it. I watched as he even ate pieces of each which was particularly amusing for me watching him consume some of the vomit that consisted of Tohwot Squashedknives the Violent. Ironic considering the title scholars have referred to Avo as. Oh but the best was watching him consume a shard of glass that was once made up .I think he believes by consuming them he will gain their power and spirit. More humorous than anything.With this at an end I inform you of Avo’s wishes to put this letter at the back of the old journal he left at the museum. Additionally to any kobolds, he wishes that you will do better than him and to bring forth a new kobold civilization. Also attached to this letter you will find the medical writeup of Avo as requested by Chief Medical Dwarf Bembul Zulbanagscal who wanted to share his information on kobold physiology and asks for any medical information you have back.

In closing I hope that we may open communications further to collate and further develop our academic research over time. I will always be able to be reached and trust me I have all the time in the world for correspondence. After all, we rise and fall together.

With regards
Minkot Humidclasps Head Dwarven Scholar

Medical record :

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/hXrutfO.png)

Avo Pet? :

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/TV8tZMT.png)

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on November 01, 2021, 04:16:20 pm

Quote from: Lurker Z on November 01, 2021, 11:32:18 am

More than just out of curiosity, what did Moldath do with the body? It might be relevant to my run (well, definitely is); I was planning this before I realized Cog had been taken out (again).

Sadly, I am pretty certain that I butchered Cog. Her cervical vertebrae is now in the Museum.

Quote from: AvolitionBrit on November 01, 2021, 11:40:43 am

Also yes he was and still rots. He doesn't stink but has soap baths and rotten tissue excised.

That is pretty cool. I tried retiring him in my fort and loading it up again. He spawned as "Dwarf Ranger Necromancer" stinking the whole place up. Immediately went to the hospital, spent about a month getting flesh excised and all his limbs splinted, then got locked in the jail for killing some poor engraver.

Interesting that he became a scholar. I think he was up to Professional Reader by the time I retired him just from reading necromancer tower books in Adventure Mode.

I guess that means he has also lost his steel armour, adamantine axe and *roc bone crafts* which is a bit of a shame. I hope he is still alive when it rolls around to my turn again.

And finally - great news that LV works again! Clever of you to think of posting in the LV thread.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: ChaosPotato on November 01, 2021, 06:26:31 pm

Can you move my turn one week forward? There is something important I have to do on November 9th.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on November 01, 2021, 08:19:05 pm

Quote from: kesperan on November 01, 2021, 04:16:20 pm

Sadly, I am pretty certain that I butchered Cog. Her cervical vertebrae is now in the Museum.

No worries, it ties into the narrative interestingly, just unexpectedly. Thanks for the info.

---

Interesting start, Brit. Looking forward if there's more.

---

Quote from: Quantum Drop on October 26, 2021, 10:04:39 am

(Also, I would like to sign up for another turn.)

Reminder for Bralbaard.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on November 01, 2021, 08:29:55 pm

Well just added the final piece as you commented

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on November 02, 2021, 02:33:51 am

Great story about the struggles of the kobold race, and one kobold in particular  :) 

The Kobolds have dropped from a population of 40 to 38. I hope the little guys can recover in the future.
Goblins are doing well. Dwarves have been in a slow decline the last 40 years.

(https://i.imgur.com/cVoGaR6.gif)

I've moved chaospotato one week down and I've added Quantum Drop. I had missed that earlier.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on November 02, 2021, 05:55:20 am

Thanks, hoping Avo is still around for my next turn. Interesting time that my turn falls on. Perhaps a Christmas miracle for the kobolds.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on November 02, 2021, 07:20:44 am

Great story Brit. Must have been hard as a kobold with no armour.

I did some research into Moldath's adventures. He migrated to your fort in 818, and was subjected to extensive surgery. He had his rotten flesh flayed off by an amateur surgeon weaponsmith, which seems to have driven him insane and turned him into a sadist.

He then was beaten and imprisoned for murdering one of your dwarves. Beaten so badly in 823 he got a compound rib fracture and torn left lung, which again was repaired by your medical team. Sadly, imprisonment didn't do anything to his vampiric urges and he killed a total of 12 of your dwarves over the years.

I think I have found why he was a terrible scholar. His eyes have completely rotted away, and he is now totally blind. He still managed to author two works... (He also has a constant *MORTAL WOUND* as his left lung is torn apart...)

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/V9ZNbRv.png)

TL;DR - my adventurer is now a blind sadist.

Now, what am I to do with a blind vampire? I assumed necros and vampires get [extravision] but apparently only intelligent undead do, and maybe husks? I can't think of a way to heal his eyes. He can't become a werebeast. He can't pray to shrines anymore because he is one of the cursed undead. Guess I will have to figure out a way to husk/ghoul him... any suggestions?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on November 02, 2021, 08:22:36 am

Honestly it was a nightmare. A farmer woke up and stabbed me in the leg with a carving leg. Instantly lost function. He finally got armour as when I retired him at my fort and came back I saw he was wearing armour.

Yeah I did convict you but they were struggling to get you so I just locked you away. I like to think Moldath is writing braille scrolls. You have one hope. It's what I tried to do. The 20 sided divination die have a chance to heal wounds. I got cursed as I kept rolling different 20 sided die for the same god. I think it's why I became linked to another vampiric bloodline and messed up the charts. I wonder if come my turn Avo will get some treatment

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on November 02, 2021, 08:26:57 am

Yeah, that was one of the things I hoped for but I found this on the Wiki:

Quote

Any creature cursed by the gods in such a way will be unable to benefit from any deity's dice again in the future.

Pretty sure that means Moldath can't - he was cursed by Rogon the Umber to become a vampire.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on November 02, 2021, 08:41:48 am

I think it resets if you die and get raised. Was planning to get Moldath to kill me but no hands so no dice rolls

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: tonnot98 on November 02, 2021, 10:22:44 pm

Quote from: kesperan on November 02, 2021, 07:20:44 am

Guess I will have to figure out a way to husk/ghoul him... any suggestions?

Homesafe The Shrine of Guarding on the northernmost island is full of mist-husks.

Also, add me to the turn list, I'm rarin' to have another go at this!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Quantum Drop on November 03, 2021, 03:34:17 am

Quote from: kesperan on November 02, 2021, 07:20:44 am

Now, what am I to do with a blind vampire? I assumed necros and vampires get [extravision] but apparently only intelligent undead do, and maybe husks? I can't think of a way to heal his eyes. He can't become a werebeast. He can't pray to shrines anymore because he is one of the cursed undead. Guess I will have to figure out a way to husk/ghoul him... any suggestions?

The Museum has a bag of husking dust stashed away on the top floor, in one of the corners, if you want to go down the get-husked-fast route (throw some dust onto a tile, strip everything off, crawl through it); as tonnot98 said, Homesafe also has the same kind of husking weather and maybe some dust piles lying around (IIRC it looks like red sand, so be careful when looking around).

Ghouling him (via Blighted Thrall) is sadly going to be impossible, since the infection requires you not to be a vamp, werebeast, or raised undead (though Necromancers are cool with them).

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on November 03, 2021, 04:05:36 am

This is good info - thanks.

If I could figure out a way to kill him without mangling him I could conceivable have another adventurer raise him as a Gaunt Zombie or whatever.

I suppose I have a month to figure out a plan :D

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on November 03, 2021, 06:12:59 am

Quote from: kesperan on November 03, 2021, 04:05:36 am

This is good info - thanks.

If I could figure out a way to kill him without mangling him I could conceivable have another adventurer raise him as a Gaunt Zombie or whatever.

I suppose I have a month to figure out a plan :D

Well, Monkeycurse is currently vacant. That worked quite well the last time around (Raki starved to death, btw, that worked well for preserving the corpse). It might take some time before someone comes by to raise you though.
 
I've added Tonnot98 to the turn list.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Quantum Drop on November 03, 2021, 07:59:10 am

Quote from: kesperan on November 03, 2021, 04:05:36 am

This is good info - thanks.

If I could figure out a way to kill him without mangling him I could conceivable have another adventurer raise him as a Gaunt Zombie or whatever.

I suppose I have a month to figure out a plan :D

FWIW, I know a two ways of doing so. Presuming you want to do this before turning him into a husk (IIRC IntUndead can still become husks, though I'll have to double-check in the world's raw file):

• Go to or build a site like Monkeycurse, then give into starvation. Hope that someone decides to come around and resurrect your blind vampiric sadist (note: the corpse may become a skeleton over time, but this doesn't seem to have any real impact on gameplay or resurrection). You might need to find new gear afterwards; I'm not sure whether or not the armour, weapons, etc. will scatter about the site or just vanish if you give in to starvation.
• Start out as a new adventurer and unretire the blind guy as part of a party with this adventurer. Find a necroslab with the IntUndead secret you want. EDIT: Make sure to take off any armour and/or clothing your adventurer has on before the next step, so it doesn't interfere by absorbing any blows. Using tactics mode, scratch (quick attack would probably be best) your vampire's throat until a major artery is opened, then talk with him and ask to cease fighting; tab-swap to him and have him agree. Wait for him to bleed out, then switch to your necromancer companion and rezz him as an IntUndead.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on November 03, 2021, 09:58:02 am

I think option two sounds more reliable.

So if anyone gets a blind sadist scholar migrate to their fort in the next few turns, banish him or lock him up…

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on November 03, 2021, 10:28:05 am

So I did some testing. Sad news. You are still blocked by the dice even after being resurrected.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on November 03, 2021, 11:38:45 am

Quote from: AvolitionBrit on November 03, 2021, 10:28:05 am

So I did some testing. Sad news. You are still blocked by the dice even after being resurrected.

Yeah I thought that might be the case. If you’ve been cursed by a god, no more freebies.

I didn’t know that giving in to starvation preserves your corpse. That’s good info too.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on November 06, 2021, 02:07:49 pm

Lurker, how's your turn going?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on November 06, 2021, 08:05:49 pm

Uhhh, turned out I've had a busy week. Not much progress than nominally claiming Palacework as an adventurer. I'll probably just kamikaze into another goblin pack just to keep the game going, then see what I can do with a fortress and my plans in a single day. Ah well.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on November 07, 2021, 10:17:04 pm

https://dffd.bay12games.com/file.php?id=15732

Well, here's the save. I almost wanted to scrape everything and just skip my turn, but I think Bomrek deserved his chance at adventuring, even if it didn't end well (no goblins).

Could I ask people NOT to pick up the body if they find him? Thanks. I have a first part of the story written, I'll try to post the next few days.

Ah, and put me in for another turn, I guess. Hopefully it'll be better next time.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on November 08, 2021, 02:51:28 am

Quote from: Lurker Z on November 07, 2021, 10:17:04 pm

https://dffd.bay12games.com/file.php?id=15732

Well, here's the save. I almost wanted to scrape everything and just skip my turn, but I think Bomrek deserved his chance at adventuring, even if it didn't end well (no goblins).

Could I ask people NOT to pick up the body if they find him? Thanks. I have a first part of the story written, I'll try to post the next few days.

Ah, and put me in for another turn, I guess. Hopefully it'll be better next time.

OK, I've got the save. I've also updated the map with Newworld and Ancientknowledge.
I have a busy week coming up, but I'll try to get some play time in..

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on November 08, 2021, 10:22:41 am

Part 1

---

They call me many things. They call me Bomrek Otadonul. They call me Handmirrored, though I know not why. Perhaps it was our... creator's naming conventions, though from what we could rummage from her papers, it seems this is the naming conventions of this world, Orid Xem. But I digress. They call me soldier of night or Soldier of Night, depending on the scribe. They call me night creature. They call me necromancer experiment. They call me a small scaly humanoid with thin wings of stretched skin, charcoal blocky close-set scales. They call me outcast.
But recently, me and others have found a name for our situation. I don't know exactly when, for time runs differently for a night creature born centuries ago, but it did happen.
I call myself free.
Certainly, we know why we were created. For our dark mistress, Cog Omristducim (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Cog_Omristducim), to call upon us when she needs us. It seems that didn't work when the adventurer [Moldath Mournsaints] came for her headless body, for she had already been grievously injured by another of those adventurers, Th4dwarfy1 (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Th4dwarfy1_Sodelakmesh). It is even possible that our tower was ransacked by yet more of them. How would we know? We are "outcasts", thrown outside the walls to never come other than for the good of our creator, now ended and butchered herself, as some of my brethren observed with their own eyes.
But the coming of the adventurers has revealed something else to us as well. They were both dwarves, you see. And after rummaging through Cog's writings, I came to a startling conclusion.
I may be a dwarf too.
We are not of one mind here. Some of us have gained memories that we never had and feel part of The Matched Hame. Others feel part of The Creamy Confederacy. Since we were created here, we can only speculate if we are our old bodies changed by Cog, or new bodies inhabited by ancient souls of these civilizations.
Regardless, I was chosen to head into the surroundings, map them and claim what I can and what I will. A very open suggestion. It also includes that I may make contact with other dwarven civilizations, for we know they exist, in our efforts of rebuilding our civilization.
I hope they chose well. I am the 499th recorded named "Soldier of Night", while Urdim was the 500th, but was passed over for unknown reasons. If I fail, it is up to her and others to take up the mantle. It does not diminish the look of scorn in her eyes as she watches me go.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on November 08, 2021, 11:33:47 am

Sorry for butchering your master, Bomrek.

As an aside is there a way to work out what size necromancer experiments are for gear purposes?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on November 08, 2021, 12:04:28 pm

Part 2
I walk through the desolated lands, as expected. I find a fort, with bones and trinkets thrown around. Ominous. I take one trinket and see the name Èrith Whippedumbral (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Èrith_Bomrekgósmer) on it. Is it a famous person? There's a whole stack of them, but I have no means to carry it but my arm. It's fine, I move on.

I see the crumbled sites of my former people. I'm both gladdened to lay eyes on them and saddened, but I move on.

I finally arrive at Palacework (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Kosothducim). It is both beautiful and sad. It's like the place I lived all my life, as if it was carved out of reality itself. Because I can fly, I arrive at the roof first. Plain, but large construction. I find a body and it finally has armor. A shield, no weapons. I might as well take it.

I come into the deserted halls. An inn, tavern and a trade depot await me. The depot was probably looted, but when I try to take the weapons, they feel heavy in my hand, like they're saying I'd desecrate my homeland further. I am saddened once more, so I take the only way I find: down. There's not much there, but there is a shrine. I roll the dye.
(https://i.imgur.com/eJ7J2A7.png)
Odkish (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Odkish_%C3%82tridr%C3%A2luk) have mercy.
I go deeper, but I find nothing down there. I'm feeling more and more tired. This is strange. I've been flying much, but still...
I decide to come back up, rest my bones. The trudge is traitorous on these slopes, but I have wings. I finally arrive up. I look at the inn in wonder, I go through the chests of musical instruments. How beautiful must it have been before Cog tore everything up.
I can almost hear the music, dance with my people. This is so beautiful...
I sit on the cold ground, not caring. My kind has little problems with the elements or the necessities of the living. I rest, listening, imagining, remembering.
My eyes close as I write this and...

FIN

---

Quote from: kesperan on November 08, 2021, 11:33:47 am

Sorry for butchering your master, Bomrek.

As an aside is there a way to work out what size necromancer experiments are for gear purposes?

Bomrek's pretty happy about that, actually. He's free now. He was going to just run away if Cog's headless body kept ruling the place, since he was an outcast anyway.

---

On another note, the Dwarf Fortress Legends Wiki has reached 500 articles! I pushed this with some of the forgotten beasts slayed at Zustashmisttar Koshosh Nekut (Ancientknowledge the Library of Secrets), you should check that place out, at least 9 (NINE) forgotten beasts met their end there. It's crazy what happened in those played years there.

Anyway, I'm pretty glad how far the wiki has gone, even if compared to the material we have the articles are a drop in an ocean. We have as many or more articles than some regularly edited wikis on mainstream fiction, though that's understandable since they don't have the potential material we do. It's still pretty nice to see it rising and others creating articles. I hope it's an useful resource, as limited as it may be right now.

---

On yet another note, I checked my first fortress Eskôn (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Eskôn) and I'm a little worried. Even before I started my turn, I tried to reclaim and the game crashed. The next time it let me reclaim even if I changed no settings. It did this again after I ended my turn (crashed reclaim, then successful reclaim). Does anyone know of this bug or have they ever encountered it reclaiming their forts, and should we be worried?

Also I'm left with 9 dwarves. Yikes. At least Kikrost (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Kikrost_%C3%93rnomal) stayed.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Quantum Drop on November 08, 2021, 12:15:21 pm

Quote from: kesperan on November 08, 2021, 11:33:47 am

Sorry for butchering your master, Bomrek.

As an aside is there a way to work out what size necromancer experiments are for gear purposes?

Turn on decompressed saves in the init files, muck around in game a little¹, then save and check in the savegame's folder. If the world.dat file is now world.sav (or if it's experienced a large - as in, about 6-7 times the previous size - increase in file size), open it and ctrl+f the name of the experiment in question. Once that's done, search "body_size"; this should show you the size of the experiment's body.

IIRC, creatures can wear clothing and armour that's about ~1/7 larger or smaller than their size in the raws, so I'd advise trying to wear dwarf-sized gear as a SoN (52,000 body_size), and human-sized as a HoP (65,000). Tileddoctrine's Fists (84,000) seem too big for any of the baseline species' armour (made a TD adventurer, looked at a human abbot, and all his gear was listed as 'small'), so you'd have to either use whatever you picked up during chargen, use advfort to make your own at whatever forge you can find, or make a stash of TD-sized armour in a fortress on a turn before you use an experiment as an adventurer.

¹: Assuming you're running a completely fresh file (no active adventurer or fort), opening in adv/fort mode then aborting after the usual 14-day timeskip does not cause it to update the save file to a .sav. Making an adventurer or fort then starving/retiring/abandoning, on the other hand, does cause the file to update appropriately.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on November 08, 2021, 12:37:48 pm

Quote from: kesperan on November 08, 2021, 11:33:47 am

As an aside is there a way to work out what size necromancer experiments are for gear purposes?

Or you could do trial and error. Look in Legends Viewer on what kind of night creature you want to play, select it from race, click one of the names that shows up, then do a throw-away game save,

Code: [Select]

unretire-anyone and type the name of the creature, play as it and see its inventory. Soldiers of Night are declared "small", but the clothes they wear have nothing "small" like goblins, so probably dwarf size is OK. I haven't tested weapons, but I assume they can wield anything.

Of course, not all night creatures or demons or other relatively unique creatures have living historical figures for you to hijack. It depends on your luck.

---

Regarding my reclaiming, I forgot about the first time, but the second time it didn't crash I set

Code: [Select]

set-timeskip-duration -years 0 (truly, the most wonderful command to have come out in the last years in DFHack). I'm not sure if skipping the 2 weeks helps with reclaiming.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on November 08, 2021, 12:59:09 pm

OK, so using QD's method we can calculate the size of the necromancer experiements available to adventurers. And with this knowledge, fort mode players can craft armour to fit those players (i.e. at the forge using the (d)etails command you can set the size of an armour crafting job to "sized for a Serpent Man" or some such...)

Soldier of Night = 52000 urists = roughly same size as a Serpent Man at 50000 urists
Hand of Planegifts = 65000 urists - same size as a Cougar man, and sweet spot between Dwarf/Goblin/Elf and Human - HoP adventurers should in theory be able to wear armour crafted by any of the core races.
Tileddoctrine's Fist = 84000 urists = roughly same size as a Warthog Man at 85000 urists.

With regards to weapons, anything bigger than 77500 urists can use a two-handed weapon in a single grasp. And even a little Soldier of Night should be able to use every one-handed weapon in a single grasp.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on November 08, 2021, 02:19:51 pm

Quote from: Lurker Z on November 08, 2021, 12:04:28 pm

On another note, the Dwarf Fortress Legends Wiki has reached 500 articles! I pushed this with some of the forgotten beasts slayed at Zustashmisttar Koshosh Nekut (Ancientknowledge the Library of Secrets), you should check that place out, at least 9 (NINE) forgotten beasts met their end there. It's crazy what happened in those played years there.

Oh i was playing the world on my second monitor most of that week i had it. The forgotten beasts, three of them had webs and was utterly painful. I did display all mega and semi corpses i could as a little museum and perhaps someone's future evil plan. Especially with Ancientknowledge having the most walled dyed dwarves currently.

Here is what was on display.(Updated and corrected)

Forgotten Beasts - 12

Cethutha - Displayed
Rine - Displayed
Rulush Forthwhirls the intense louse - Displayed
Tohwot Squashedknives the Violent - Displayed Vomit
Acmot Oarstarves - Partialy displayed - drank his water
Lomifo Shiptumors - Displayed
Lothena Echorulers the godly  - Display Shards of glass
Dethe Mokeywave  - Displayed
Ilu Lakesseer the ruthless - Displayed
Thol Tombsurns the umbra of Buryings - Displayed
Solon Loyalecho the bottom of nights - Displayed
Isa Hollowecho - Displayed

Cyclops - 4

Threthrus Brassleaps the Greatest
Rab Mossyears the Copper
Haleskies the Special
Fedi Puceumber the Radiant

Ettin - 2

Spishab Rapidgold the Tenacity of Saffron
Ez Matchedbreaches  the Fortuitous Silks

Roc - 1
Prairievalley the Sculpted


Not sure how up to date my notes were so i might be missing ones
- Updated to show all of them

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on November 14, 2021, 12:04:20 pm

Some lore.

---

To His Royal Majesty Bralbaard Nilthatlosh Åm,
From His loyal servant Kikrost Órnomal (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Kikrost_Órnomal), Expedition Leader of Tosid Doren and Ruler of Eskôn

Firstly, allow me to congratulate Your Majesty on His Ascension to the Throne of our most ancient, loved and precious Adilatír.
Forgive this servant's tardiness for sending this letter, but matters of the colony have taken up much of my time.

In the beginning, we were happy. More than happy, truly. We had come simply for a grand pedestal discovered by the blessed human Lurker Onecbehal (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Lurker_Onecbehal), however we found great resources deep in the rock. We did not dig deep enough to be reckless, as some of our more foolish kin. Even the environment was nonthreatening and thus we thrived. There were mishap, but only three dwarves died under my watch, and this was an Artifact Matter, thus sadly could not be helped.

We had found lizard people deep in the cave, but instead of slaying or caging them as barbarians, we taught them our ways, integrated them into our society and thus they were happy. There were setback of course, the poor lizards do not live as long as us, thus we mourn our lost brothers.
But as time passed, resources dwindled and silent discontent swam in our fortress' air. We traded with Omon Obin to increase our wealth and sold them wood, for the stone of the land is deserving only to us, its kin. We built a good library and hosted famous dwarves (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Sigun_Gakizurvad). We celebrated well the entering in a new century and our records show the first dwarf to be born in an Adilatír fortress was born in Eskôn.

Even the negatives were salvageable... until the Overseer left. Praise he be, the second coming of Lurker he must be, yet when he left to other lands, many of the dwarves started leaving with him. From 30 able-bodied sapients, I am now left with 9, including me. Our animals are dead, felled by old age and infertility. Our lizard people, though not hostile, have left for their caves to reasons they would not explain.

And so, instead of stories of great works and battles, we are forced to ask aid instead. We beg You, Our Great Ruler, bring life back to Eskôn. Send those willing to live in comfort and greatness as long as they work for it. Thank you for Your ever understanding and assistance.

---

Not sure if it's been mentioned, but Arcturus (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Arcturus_Enmucuthroz) died in 812 in his camp from old age. RIP Apocalypse Bear (until some adventurer disturbs your eternal sleep, of course).

---

So, looks like my lore is wrong. I checked and the lizard people (which are actually reptile people) remained civilized and left to an AI-generated hillock. I was confused because when I reclaimed, all my reptile people were gone and there were hostile reptile people in the caves. It looks like the game took the civilized reptile people to that hillock, then checked Eskôn, saw it had no reptile people and generated some more.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: TheFlame52 on November 14, 2021, 03:48:40 pm

How did you civilize reptile people?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on November 14, 2021, 04:07:19 pm

How quick the short life span undone all of the lizard people's progress. Slowly reverting to savagery. Yeah there is some interesting stuff going on in the world. Also chances are once more forgotten beast are killed (we got 200+) we are going get an age of three forgotten beast which is cool.

Also Bralbaard how's your turn going?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on November 14, 2021, 05:17:49 pm

That might explain, Lurker, why one of the many small hillocks which sprung up around Ashcinders has a reptile man Mayor...

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on November 14, 2021, 05:43:00 pm

Quote from: AvolitionBrit on November 14, 2021, 04:07:19 pm

Also Bralbaard how's your turn going?

I've not had much time to play, hope to make up for that this evening, I'll upload the save game tomorrow.
As to how it's going... ehm.. can't say it's going well for everybody. Here's the start:

------------

The royal court of the Walled Dye is in disarray.  King Bralbaard went missing several weeks ago, and there is no hint as to where he went.

The nobles of Treatyseed have wasted no time searching for the king. Instead they spend all their energy backstabing each other in an attempt to claim the crown for themselves. Reports are coming in that a full blown loyalty cascade has the captial in it's grip, with dozens, if not hundreds of dead. Some say that this wild frenzy is not natural but fueled by an unholy syndrome. Black collumns of smoke rise from the ruined capital, while the temple and trade depot are drenched in blood.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/09xWd0g.gif)

(https://i.imgur.com/icKEAD6.gif)

Where is king Bralbaard, now that his empire needs him most?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on November 14, 2021, 08:09:30 pm

Sorry to hear about your turn but dam this is a dark day for the walled dye. The sudden disappearance of king Barlbaard has lead to a power vacuum. Scholars of the walled dye desperately comb through ancient text to find a successior due to a lack of her or inheritors. Meanwhile the nobility argue, fabricate claims and fight eachother.

I see it as this

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

 https://youtu.be/dZ8wy7WSs7g 

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on November 15, 2021, 01:54:32 am

Quote from: kesperan on November 14, 2021, 05:17:49 pm

That might explain, Lurker, why one of the many small hillocks which sprung up around Ashcinders has a reptile man Mayor...

Yes, that hillock got most of them, including my one named lizard woman who one-shot a berserker dwarf... twice. It's why I love my lizard people, they're strong.

Quote from: TheFlame52 on November 14, 2021, 03:48:40 pm

How did you civilize reptile people?

Code: [Select]

tweak makeown
There are some issues with that, in that you can't assign tasks so they'll mostly just be hauling, and they'll be unnamed. For the first problem, if you retire and unretire, they'll start petitioning for full citizenship after you load the save, but it's kinda buggy and after an in-game year or so, they'll revert to haulers or such, and then start petitioning again.

To get them a name, they have to kill a named creature. I imagine an entrepreneuring Overseer can think of a few ideas in that regard...

Quote from: AvolitionBrit on November 14, 2021, 04:07:19 pm

Also chances are once more forgotten beast are killed (we got 200+) we are going get an age of three forgotten beast which is cool.

There are some leftover mythical creatures left... I think. There's one roc left alive, and oh my, Calovi (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Calovi_Rifanithe) got killed. That's interesting.

Quote from: Bralbaard on November 14, 2021, 05:43:00 pm

I've not had much time to play, hope to make up for that this evening, I'll upload the save game tomorrow.
As to how it's going... ehm.. can't say it's going well for everybody.

Wow, you magnificent bastard, you actually did it. I told you playing as Bralbaard is going to make things... weird, but I didn't expect quite this. Is this in adventure mode or fortress mode?

It's an interesting comeback, since the first time Bralbaard got to the capital, a (less disastrous) fight broke out.

Also, Kikrost's letter is very "auspicious" arriving in that context. I don't think he'll get an answer in the next decade or two, if his letter survived the massacre at all...

On the other hand, he can move some new plans in motions now.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on November 15, 2021, 02:21:08 am

Quote from: Lurker Z on November 15, 2021, 01:54:32 am

Is this in adventure mode or fortress mode?

I've only played adventure mode, but the top screen shot is from legends and taken after my adventure. Nothing to do with me playing as the king as far as I can tell, it's just that all the nobles have turned into undead that are massacring eachother. Have had some other interesting encounters as well.

Edit: the save game can be found  here  (https://dffd.bay12games.com/file.php?id=15744)

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on November 15, 2021, 04:32:04 am

This is weird, on Bralbaard's page says former noble, i.e. King, but there's no new King of Adilatír. As I suspected, since you didn't make or unretire a fortress, we'll need to wait for the end of next turn to see where the dust settles.

Just a heads-up, I did write my adventurer's story, as short as it was.

part 1 (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8327497#msg8327497), part 2 (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8327537#msg8327537)

So, you

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

got a cat, killed some goblins, visited Arcturus' site and retired in Thoramunosh.

Pretty OK for a King on the run from the legions of zombies.

Nom the Cheese and Moldath became Barons, not sure of other adventurers.

Haven't noticed before, but right now Adilatír has more humans than dwarves. It's not that bad, since each player that makes a fort gets about 14 new void dwarves, and dwarves do make babies or, as I noticed some time before, void dwarves appear out of nowhere/"the wilderness" to settle in random forts or even camps, but still.

What is also interesting is that Omon Obin has no dwarf in its composition, not Mong Uthros or I suspect any other non-dwarf civilization.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on November 15, 2021, 04:44:26 am

Quote from: Lurker Z on November 15, 2021, 04:32:04 am

Just a heads-up, I did write my adventurer's story, as short as it was.

part 1 (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8327497#msg8327497), part 2 (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8327537#msg8327537)

I've added the links to your story.

Quote from: Lurker Z on November 15, 2021, 04:32:04 am

This is weird, on Bralbaard's page says former noble. i.e. King, but there's no new King of Adilatír. As I suspected, since you didn't make or unretire a fortress, we'll need to wait for the end of new turn to see where the dust settles.

That might refer to an earlier noble position I held. I was a baron before, but when I died to that demon in my second adventure I lost the title.
I then became king after I was resurrected.
As to what has happened during my adventure: I'll do a write up soon, won't spoil anything now.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on November 15, 2021, 04:52:50 am

Quote from: Bralbaard on November 15, 2021, 04:44:26 am

That might refer to an earlier noble position I held. I was a baron before, but when I died to that demon in my second adventure I lost the title.
I then became king after I was resurrected.
As to what has happened during my adventure: I'll do a write up soon, won't spoil anything now.

No, no, it's the 805-825 position that has it listed as "former". You'll either get officially booted or reinstated on the next turn.

Quote from: Bralbaard on November 15, 2021, 04:44:26 am

As to what has happened during my adventure: I'll do a write up soon, won't spoil anything now.

Looking forward to it, that's why I put my discoveries in a spoiler tag.

---

I figured where a bulk of the humans are coming from. Fikodnish, "Glazedtraded", a hillocks founded in 811, has 92 humans and 1 water buffalo. (That's either one unlucky buffalo or one lucky buffalo human owner).

Also greet Sanreb "Curlsilence" Amemeshom (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Sanreb_Amemeshom), the first human Duchess of Adilatír (who ascended from Mayor of Fikodnish).

---

Short list of Adilatír settlements with many humans:
* Mabkor 100 (originally a human town)
* Avuztaron 98
* Fikodnish 92
* Imdomas 58
* Sodelthabost 57
* Sillibash 53

It's definitely Fikodnish that pushed the humans over the dwarves (as well as likely the Treatyseed massacre, though joyfully a few goblins were put down too). Maybe the humans are those abstract refugees running around nameless until encountered.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on November 15, 2021, 07:48:31 am

Well certainly worrying is kobold numbers, looks like they aren't long for this world, down from 38 in the last count down to 20. As I discovered many are very old and are all in death age range. At this rate kobolds won't make it till the first millennium. Sad times for the species.

Looking at the ages looks like my punisher Slokokodraber is getting on in years and could die anytime from now til 842.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on November 15, 2021, 10:16:33 am

Quote from: AvolitionBrit on November 15, 2021, 07:48:31 am

Well certainly worrying is kobold numbers, looks like they aren't long for this world, down from 38 in the last count down to 20. As I discovered many are very old and are all in death age range. At this rate kobolds won't make it till the first millennium. Sad times for the species.

Looking at the ages looks like my punisher Slokokodraber is getting on in years and could die anytime from now til 842.

The world_history.txt file still seems to count 38?
Just had a silly idea, if the situation gets really dire for the kobolds we could hand out a free kobold companions to each adventurer that wants one. Just make sure you check your pockets everytime you wake up from sleep.
That might be a bit too silly and artificial though. Maybe the numbers will go up anyhow now that they are playable.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on November 15, 2021, 11:20:33 am

Quote from: Bralbaard on November 15, 2021, 10:16:33 am

Quote from: AvolitionBrit on November 15, 2021, 07:48:31 am

Well certainly worrying is kobold numbers, looks like they aren't long for this world, down from 38 in the last count down to 20. As I discovered many are very old and are all in death age range. At this rate kobolds won't make it till the first millennium. Sad times for the species.

Looking at the ages looks like my punisher Slokokodraber is getting on in years and could die anytime from now til 842.

The world_history.txt file still seems to count 38?
Just had a silly idea, if the situation gets really dire for the kobolds we could hand out a free kobold companions to each adventurer that wants one. Just make sure you check your pockets everytime you wake up from sleep.
That might be a bit too silly and artificial though. Maybe the numbers will go up anyhow now that they are playable.

My bad, legendsviewer had it at 20 but still i think its dire for them. Mainly from testing, its due to camps not allowing kobold reproduction. Did some testing with ancientknowledge after my turn ended and i made a female kobold and a male kobold did a little tweaking but only got unfertilized kobold eggs so I reckon if a cave is reclaimed on behalf of the kobolds, settled and let time passed it would creature a new kobold empire. But that's just a theory ahaha. If my turn is to remain the same slot, I will try and make a Christmas kobold miracle. For now I look on as the crazy kobold guy. Digging through legends to see if anything else has happened of interest.

EDIT:
So this is interesting the human civilisation of The Armored Confederacy is now officially run just by 15 goblins with Ecsha Fleshychurches the Guild Representative dying of old age. A interesting human seemed to climb through the ranks of The Armored Confederacy and watched as everyone was replaced with goblins. To think he was originally a Sewer Commissioner in the goblin run Creamy Confederacy (another human civ). Became a Chief Executioner, Chief doctor, High Butler, Royal Chamberlain, Chief Treasurer and his final position of guild Representative for The Armored Confederacy

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on November 15, 2021, 12:41:21 pm

Quote from: AvolitionBrit on November 15, 2021, 11:20:33 am

So this is interesting the human civilisation of The Armored Confederacy is now officially run just by 15 goblins with Ecsha Fleshychurches the Guild Representative dying of old age. A interesting human seemed to climb through the ranks of The Armored Confederacy and watched as everyone was replaced with goblins. To think he was originally a Sewer Commissioner in the goblin run Creamy Confederacy (another human civ). Became a Chief Executioner, Chief doctor, High Butler, Royal Chamberlain, Chief Treasurer and his final position of guild Representative for The Armored Confederacy

Yeah, the goblins are seeping into human and dwarven rulership roles like puss in a wound. I'm kinda OK with the necromancer experiments doing so, but the goblin have the slight problem of openly being part of and being called back to take positions in goblin civilizations, goblin civilizations that are at war with the human/dwarven civilizations they're infiltrating. There were some goblins that fought and died against their own gob civs, but that was a matter of circumstances, being stuck in the sieged settlements and presumably being conscripted and the attackers giving no quarter. They're even infiltrating in Omon Obin through religion, which they haven't managed to do in 8 centuries.

Regarding kobold companion, that looks like a recipe to instant tragedy. Kobolds are relatively weak and they'll get ganked at the first ambush. Even if you go to the trouble of making them a vampire, I don't know how much will change. I don't recommend necromancer since you'd have to become some sort of undead to survive their freak-out resurrections and as far as I know, necros aren't given any skills/extra strength. There's also the issue that most of us already have adventurers, so the trickle will be small indeed.

Maybe we can lore it up that they live in the caves, hidden from the world and one or two will come to the surface from time to time as adventurers or companions. Since we have the option to create kobolds regardless of their status in the world.

AvolitionBrit, I created a list of all the named kobolds here (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Orid_Xem_kobolds) if it helps you with anything.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on November 15, 2021, 12:58:26 pm

Yeah they infect the world for sure. I did a little.digging and yeah the walled dye I think had a religious order that had a demon under a different Identity and multiple goblin necromancers that have been extremely active in their worship of a god of jewels (commuting and cannot recall the name). They have even been active in recent years. Will update when I detail more

Thanks for the kobolds page. I have a plan on my turn for a return of sorts for the kobolds that might revive their civ. Yeah kobolds are extremely weak, a carving knife disabled Avos leg in a single hit. Also df views kobolds as pets so there's that.

Edit
So my next turn is gonna be very fun :)

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/ZUnflmJ.jpg)

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: ChaosPotato on November 15, 2021, 01:32:58 pm

(https://i.imgur.com/iWiRIsp.png)
(post-vampirism, because I forgot to take a picture at the start)

11th of Galena, 825
Something is wrong. A strange corruption is present in this land, erasing entire towns from existence as if they were never there in the first place.
Gor, Duskhome, both gone. No one knows where else it will take, and more importantly, no one knows what it is.
I intend to figure this out.

I have learned of a slab of divine knowledge. I think that, if I read this slab at one of the corrupted areas, I might gain some form of insight into what this corruption is.

Bikdá protect me.

16th of Galena, 825
I found no slab in Boltspumpkin, only... various bizarre objects that seem unrelated to whatever is going on.

Among them were 2 barrels of vampire blood. I took a single sip; it feels wrong, but without it I will likely not be able to get to the next possible location, and after all, what are a few bitten necks compared to ignorance of something that is erasing reality?

18th of Galena, 825
Investigated a ruined tower. No slab to be found. I hoped I wouldn't have to do this, but it's time to make the journey to Monkeycurse. With my newfound undeath, I no longer tire and I won't need to bring food or water, but it's still far away and the wilds between here and Monkeycurse are still dangerous.

Still, it must be done. I will get to the bottom of this.

21st of Galena, 825
Swam across the ocean to reach a sadly-only-partial land bridge. I should've drowned. I'm still here.

I then realized that there was a proper bridge I could've used the whole time. Well, too late now.

23rd of Galena, 825
I reached Monkeycurse. The slab wasn't there. A skull totem appeared on a pedestal, then disappeared the following day. Whatever is behind the erasure of Gor and Duskhome is taunting me.

Twinkledcreek is the next possible location. Thankfully, it's relatively nearby.

26th of Galena, 825
I finally found the slab. Well, a slab. Hopefully it's the right one.
(https://i.imgur.com/chqKQSm.png)

OOC: yeah uuuuhhhh I suck at writing so this is the best I could do
it will get better I swear

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on November 15, 2021, 01:45:30 pm

Pretty nice. Worthy goal. I liked the adventurer's pragmatism,

Quote from: ChaosPotato on November 15, 2021, 01:32:58 pm

after all, what are a few bitten necks compared to ignorance of something that is erasing reality?

Indeed.

Wonder what you'll find. I have some fun (!!fun!!) ideas.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

If I remember correctly, some of them had demons in them before they were deleted, but the demons remained in the character sheets/positioning/whatever, so they remained on TOP of the map. There are possibly dwarves looking aimlessly on top of the barren land, or they left to other forts since there's no longer a "site" there.

Who knows. I found the quirks after the disappearance very interesting indeed.

Just noticed, this is your first turn ever in this thread, right? Congratulations! Hope you have the time for the epic you're hoping for. I remember the first time I finally managed to play in a Museum thread, I felt very good.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on November 15, 2021, 02:15:23 pm

I like it, very blunt and honest diary of a someone unable to ignore the sudden disappearance of sites and the strangeness of the world.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on November 15, 2021, 03:21:27 pm

Quote from: AvolitionBrit on November 15, 2021, 12:58:26 pm

the walled dye I think had a religious order that had a demon under a different Identity

Do you mean Shoveth?

Quote from: AvolitionBrit on November 15, 2021, 12:58:26 pm

multiple goblin necromancers that have been extremely active in their worship of a god of jewels (commuting and cannot recall the name). They have even been active in recent years.

You mean Avuz Thukkan (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Avuz_Thukkan) / The Mine of Ambers, the goddess of balance, wealth and jewels, and her religion Evost Dèg (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Evost_Dèg) / The Sect of Evenness? Don't worry about them, as far as I know, they're not evil. They did attract a few goblins and have the distinction of being worshiped by a demon ruler of a goblin civilization (Shoveth Nåzomgenlath Sar (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Shoveth_N%C3%A5zomgenlath_Sar)), but that's mostly the demon's fault, because Shoveth is weird. He worships Gods, he joins their religious groups, he participated in competitions in civilizations he was actively warring, he's not brought to Orid Xem by a slab/god, he appears 100 years after the world was created, he has no spire.

It's the Gods of death and those that bound demons to Orid Xem (vaults) that we should be worried about.

By the way, as far as I know there are no natural goblin "necromancers", the only ones are the adventurer ones. The rest are actually the ones affected by the Omon blight which Legends Viewer calls necromancers.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on November 15, 2021, 03:45:28 pm

Yeah I confused the two as the Flaxen Coven is a group also worshipping the Mine of Ambers who go around destroying other religious sites. Both of these religious orders have a current member of leadership from the curious horror Kutsmob - The master of beasts (The sect of Eveness) and Nako Sprypoison - The Keeper of the seal (The Flaxen Coven) so i would personally keep an eye with these sneaky goblins.

Also Shoveth was such a dude, kinda wished he was alive. He just was wrestling and racing walled dye dwarfs whilst also in a war with the walled dye. Think he won the most competitions in the world. He really loved his wrestling. Such a double life he lead, to the walled dye he was the wrestler and runner Githu Actionmassive the Bold with this athlete buddies, the tamer of Cave crocodile, Giant Olm and cave crawlers.

Until The Curious Horror returned, then he was the leader of The Curious horror. Who was struck down by a name lost to time.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on November 15, 2021, 06:00:19 pm

Quote from: Lurker Z on November 15, 2021, 01:54:32 am

There are some leftover mythical creatures left... I think. There's one roc left alive, and oh my, Calovi (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Calovi_Rifanithe) got killed. That's interesting.

Yes, Moldath killed Calovi at her shrine, and her skull is now on exhibition at the Museum.

Interested to hear that Moldath the Blind Sadist is now a Baron...

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on November 15, 2021, 07:30:41 pm

Quote from: kesperan on November 15, 2021, 06:00:19 pm

Yes, Moldath killed Calovi at her shrine, and her skull is now on exhibition at the Museum.

Interested to hear that Moldath the Blind Sadist is now a Baron...

Congrats on your ascension into the upper echelon of The Walled Dye

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: ChaosPotato on November 16, 2021, 12:00:57 pm

27th of Galena, 825
I'm back on the mainland. Actually used the bridge this time.
Let's hope I can make it to Duskhome.

4th of Limestone, 825
I've crossed the mountains. Duskhome is within reach.

5th of Limestone, 825
I'm here. There is no town, just emptiness, but there are still people here, somehow. I'm not sure if they were the ones here before it got erased, or if they're from elsewhere.

I won't read the slab yet. I have to see what happened in Gor, too. Then it'll be time.

8th of Limestone, 825
Gor is even more empty than Duskhome. There is no one left.
(https://i.imgur.com/aMKDnVJ.png)
I was attacked by SOMETHING. A massive, quadrupedal thing composed of ash. It seemed not entirely solid, as if it wasn't meant to be here. It's a good thing I can't get tired anymore.
(https://i.imgur.com/8sNq4Mn.png)
I'm going to read the slab in the morning. I hope this is really what I was looking for.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on November 16, 2021, 04:49:22 pm

Quote from: ChaosPotato on November 16, 2021, 12:00:57 pm

Actually used the bridge this time.

Can we get a print screen of which bridge you're refering to? You don't have to go back with the adventurer or anything, use the map in Legends Mode or a throw-away pre-created new fortress or Legends Viewer.

Quote from: ChaosPotato on November 16, 2021, 12:00:57 pm

I was attacked by SOMETHING. A massive, quadrupedal thing composed of ash. It seemed not entirely solid, as if it wasn't meant to be here. It's a good thing I can't get tired anymore.
(https://i.imgur.com/8sNq4Mn.png)

I told you so.

Quote from: Lurker Z on November 15, 2021, 01:45:30 pm

Wonder what you'll find. I have some fun (!!fun!!) ideas.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

If I remember correctly, some of them had demons in them before they were deleted, but the demons remained in the character sheets/positioning/whatever, so they remained on TOP of the map. There are possibly dwarves looking aimlessly on top of the barren land, or they left to other forts since there's no longer a "site" there.

Also, since we're on the subject, probably super-spoilery, so click on your own risk, but my own compedium of Orid Xem demons (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Orid_Xem_demons) taken from various sources. Enjoy the horror! (In hindsight, I should have posted this on Halloween, but it's a good time as any).

Edit: Yep, that's a

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

demon,

translated name Thiefpuzzles the Wicked for who wants to look him up in Legends Viewer. Enjoy.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on November 16, 2021, 05:40:44 pm

Quote from: Lurker Z on November 16, 2021, 04:49:22 pm

Quote from: ChaosPotato on November 16, 2021, 12:00:57 pm

Actually used the bridge this time.

Can we get a print screen of which bridge you're refering to? You don't have to go back with the adventurer or anything, use the map in Legends Mode or a throw-away pre-created new fortress or Legends Viewer.

Based on the description and circumstances it must be Razorbridge?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: ChaosPotato on November 16, 2021, 06:12:56 pm

Quote

I told you so.

Quote

I told you so.

oldoo

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on November 16, 2021, 06:14:08 pm

Quote from: ChaosPotato on November 16, 2021, 06:12:56 pm

Quote

I told you so.

Quote

I told you so.

oldoo

Yeah, I noticed I bolded mostly the o-s, but I couldn't be bothered to do it more random. :)

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: ChaosPotato on November 16, 2021, 06:14:36 pm

Quote from: Bralbaard on November 16, 2021, 05:40:44 pm

Quote from: Lurker Z on November 16, 2021, 04:49:22 pm

Quote from: ChaosPotato on November 16, 2021, 12:00:57 pm

Actually used the bridge this time.

Can we get a print screen of which bridge you're refering to? You don't have to go back with the adventurer or anything, use the map in Legends Mode or a throw-away pre-created new fortress or Legends Viewer.

Based on the description and circumstances it must be Razorbridge?

Looked at the map and yeah it was Razorbridge.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: ChaosPotato on November 16, 2021, 06:15:23 pm

Quote from: Lurker Z on November 16, 2021, 06:14:08 pm

Quote from: ChaosPotato on November 16, 2021, 06:12:56 pm

Quote

I told you so.

Quote

I told you so.

oldoo

Yeah, I noticed I bolded mostly the o-s, but I couldn't be bothered to do it more random. :)

I wasn't bolding things randomly. ;)

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on November 17, 2021, 05:34:04 am

Quote from: Lurker Z on November 16, 2021, 04:49:22 pm

Also, since we're on the subject, probably super-spoilery, so click on your own risk, but my own compedium of Orid Xem demons (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Orid_Xem_demons) taken from various sources. Enjoy the horror! (In hindsight, I should have posted this on Halloween, but it's a good time as any).

This is quite interesting. I think it explains why the Blind Sadist, Moldath, is rotting.

I encountered a masterwork adamantine battle axe in a stairwell in IronWards which was coated in dwarf blood and light blue devil gore, which I drank.

It seems from your list of demons that light blue devils have deadly blood… oops.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on November 17, 2021, 05:56:51 am

Quote from: kesperan on November 17, 2021, 05:34:04 am

Quote from: Lurker Z on November 16, 2021, 04:49:22 pm

Also, since we're on the subject, probably super-spoilery, so click on your own risk, but my own compedium of Orid Xem demons (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Orid_Xem_demons) taken from various sources. Enjoy the horror! (In hindsight, I should have posted this on Halloween, but it's a good time as any).

This is quite interesting. I think it explains why the Blind Sadist, Moldath, is rotting.

I encountered a masterwork adamantine battle axe in a stairwell in IronWards which was coated in dwarf blood and light blue devil gore, which I drank.

That certainly does, with my medical dwarfs running around trying to discover this mysterious illness has befallen you.

Urist Mcnoname "Must of been something he ate". Followed by an eyeroll from the head doctor.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Quantum Drop on November 17, 2021, 06:16:44 am

Quote from: kesperan on November 17, 2021, 05:34:04 am

This is quite interesting. I think it explains why the Blind Sadist, Moldath, is rotting.

I encountered a masterwork adamantine battle axe in a stairwell in IronWards which was coated in dwarf blood and light blue devil gore, which I drank.

It seems from your list of demons that light blue devils have deadly blood… oops.

I'm not too sure that the blood-drinking is the cause of that - LBD blood only seems to cause blisters and unconsciousness, rather than outright necrosis (unless the blisters being left untreated for a while causes it to progress to necrosis?).

Quote from: ChaosPotato on November 16, 2021, 06:15:23 pm

I wasn't bolding things randomly. ;)

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

The Worm? Well, that's not at all ominous...

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on November 17, 2021, 07:42:56 am

Quote from: Quantum Drop on November 17, 2021, 06:16:44 am

I'm not too sure that the blood-drinking is the cause of that - LBD blood only seems to cause blisters and unconsciousness, rather than outright necrosis (unless the blisters being left untreated for a while causes it to progress to necrosis?).

Hmm I don't know how the game mechanics work exactly but syndromes appear to be somewhat dose or body size dependant? Ingestion may be a worst case exposure, and licking may be even worse?

A well known example  (https://www.pcgamer.com/how-cats-get-drunk-in-dwarf-fortress-and-why-its-creators-havent-figured-out-time-travel-yet/) of that is that cats were dying of alcohol poisoning a few versions back, because they were licking it of their paws when cleaning themselves.
Moldath has basically done the same thing here.
Licking poorly identified substances from the floor or other objects is a dangerous habit from a health perspective. Even when it tastes good.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on November 17, 2021, 08:36:00 am

I guess I’ll never know for sure.

Some of the intelligent undead types have a “rot” magic ability which could also explain it - I ran into a few of them hunting necromancers.

Moldath is basically covered in scar tissue now - the medical dwarfs at Ancientknowledge chopped off all of his flesh they could find, but his internal organs and bones are still rotten.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on November 17, 2021, 10:58:26 am

Well, I'm glad the page could answer some questions (or give rise to 10 more, that's good too).

Could it be an evil biome effect? Some have blood that falls like rain and does things to the affected.

I recommend a resource:

Code: [Select]

gui/gm-editorYou need only type the text into DF Hack while positioned over the character you wish to inspect. (It works both in Fortress Mode and Adventure Mode.) If you can figure out your way in the labyrinth that is this very stuffy page, maybe you can find details on the syndrome you're looking for.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on November 17, 2021, 01:03:10 pm

It's the undead, the necromancer books Moldath brought to the museum create undead with the ability to rot. So chances are it was that. The evil biome revives, in a recent test of claiming abandoned forts I was doing. the evil biome just revived a yak I fought on a roof

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: ChaosPotato on November 17, 2021, 04:06:27 pm

8th of Limestone, 825
It started raining blood today. Maybe it's a sign that I shouldn't do this, but I can't go back now.

It's time to read the slab, and finally figure out what's going on.

10th of Limestone, 825
I have seen it. Something - no, NOTHING - is out there. It does not exist and yet it is still here. A Worm coiled around the heart of the world, antithetical to the very concept of existence.

I submit a depiction of what I saw to the museum in Boltspumpkin.
(https://i.imgur.com/Cpi5Lck.png)
We are but motes of dust.

0th of Limestone, 0
THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM

OOC: no, I won't explain anything, because I don't have an explanation, I just want to confuse people
interpret this however you want

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on November 17, 2021, 04:24:44 pm

Quote from: ChaosPotato on November 17, 2021, 04:06:27 pm

THE WORM x 161

OK, that is certainly one of the more creepy museum submissions... So much for thinking all those citizens in Gor and Duskhome ended up in a better place.

Are you building a fortress/worm pit now?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: ChaosPotato on November 17, 2021, 04:49:49 pm

Quote from: Bralbaard on November 17, 2021, 04:24:44 pm

Quote from: ChaosPotato on November 17, 2021, 04:06:27 pm

THE WORM x 161

OK, that is certainly one of the more creepy museum submissions... So much for thinking all those citizens in Gor and Duskhome ended up in a better place.

Are you building a fortress/worm pit now?

I don't
know how to play fortress mode
so no.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on November 17, 2021, 05:43:18 pm

Quote from: ChaosPotato on November 17, 2021, 04:49:49 pm

I don't
know how to play fortress mode
so no.

In this particular thread? It's no big deal, just make a fortress and dedicate it to what you like. The point of the fortresses is for other people to visit and wonder. It also makes wonderful drama when some of a fortress' items are nicked, especially by NPCs.

You can of course choose not to make a fortress, the faster our turn comes I guess.

Anyway, loved the story, nice eldritch vibes. Is it the end or are there more adventures?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: nogoodnames on November 17, 2021, 05:44:28 pm

I'd like to sign up for another turn.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: ChaosPotato on November 17, 2021, 07:50:23 pm

Quote from: Lurker Z on November 17, 2021, 05:43:18 pm

Quote from: ChaosPotato on November 17, 2021, 04:49:49 pm

I don't
know how to play fortress mode
so no.

In this particular thread? It's no big deal, just make a fortress and dedicate it to what you like. The point of the fortresses is for other people to visit and wonder. It also makes wonderful drama when some of a fortress' items are nicked, especially by NPCs.

You can of course choose not to make a fortress, the faster our turn comes I guess.

Anyway, loved the story, nice eldritch vibes. Is it the end or are there more adventures?

I don't mean I'm not good at fortress mode, I mean I don't know the basic mechanics of fortress mode.

Also, uuuuhhhh
it's the end of me playing this turn, but I'll probably sign up for a new one once I come up with another idea for what to do with that turn.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on November 17, 2021, 07:58:51 pm

Oh...k...? Just remember to retire somewhere if your adventurer survives (preferably not a goblin fort, players tend to raid those and we accidentally lost an adventure to such a raid) and to upload the game before your week is done.

Or you could starve him in the wilderness if it works for your roleplay. Your call.

Ah, that reminds me, what happened with that demon in the end? The story cuts from the encounter with the demon (who for some reason didn't slaughter the adventurer) to reading the slab.

Quote from: ChaosPotato on November 17, 2021, 07:50:23 pm

Also, uuuuhhhh
it's the end of me playing this turn, but I'll probably sign up for a new one once I come up with another idea for what to do with that turn.

Try reading the adventurers' posts if you haven't yet. There are MANY, MANY plots in this world and if you can't find yours, you can take inspiration or join the cause of one of the adventurer that's lived in the over a century of played world.

Me, I have open plots with Omon Obin (from where I had an adventurer), a greedy dwarf with an obsession for a clear diamond pedestal, trying to resurrect the fallen civilization Dalzatèzum  (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Dalzatèzum) by using the loophole in which a necromancer created night creature from said civilization which nominally are part of it even if it's not playable, a fortress in the center of the world and a fortress in the elven heartlands. Or you could just be a random animal man trying to find their place in the world. Or any other thousand things. I hope inspiration finds you.

PS the last people on the list calculate their turn will be around Christmas, so you might want to ask a turn as soon as you finish, because it takes over a month to get a new turn for the most recent who desire it.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: ChaosPotato on November 17, 2021, 10:12:46 pm

Quote

Oh...k...? Just remember to retire somewhere if your adventurer survives (preferably not a goblin fort, players tend to raid those and we accidentally lost an adventure to such a raid) and to upload the game before your week is done.

Or you could starve him in the wilderness if it works for your roleplay. Your call.

I retired Ezif in Glazedriven because
y'know
it's a necromancer tower
reading a slab makes you a necromancer
and also it's relatively close to the places that got erased. I originally wanted to retire IN Gor, but it gave me the starve option instead.

Quote

Ah, that reminds me, what happened with that demon in the end? The story cuts from the encounter with the demon (who for some reason didn't slaughter the adventurer) to reading the slab.

I literally just
ran away
which worked somehow.

Hence "It's a good thing I can't get tired anymore." (y'know, because vampire)

here's the save since you told me to upload it: https://dffd.bay12games.com/file.php?id=15749

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on November 18, 2021, 02:22:07 am

Thanks for the save game, I'll pass it on to unraveler. Meanwhile I'll try and finish the story for my adventure over the next day:

------------------------

Report on 825 state visit by his royal highness Bralbaard Hammerfishes the Yawning.

Over the last few decades I have been unable to spend much time on my original profession, that of historian. As you may have heard I have been crowned king of the Walled Dye. This is a great honour, but the job is fundamentally incompatible with that of a historian. As a king you are supposed to make history, not write it, and questions about integrity and ethics should be raised when the jobs are combined. I will therefore only write notes on my actions as a king, and will leave it up to the historians of the current and future ages to interpret them and give them a proper place in history.

This report is about a journey I made in the year 825, a time that turned out to be an important turning point for both my reign, and my empire. The official reason for setting out was to bring an official state visit to the empire of the Staff of Kissing, and their king Tobul Tomeschance. It is unfortunate, to say the least, that there has never been an official meeting between the last two dwarven houses of the realm. In general questions should be asked about why the rulers of this world do not meet more often to discuss the problems that our world faces.

For some reason none of the other nobles, or even common peasants were willing to join me on my journey. At the time I ascribed this to cave adaptation or general apathy. I found out months later that they all wanted to stay behind to overthrow my rule and claim the crown  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8329250#msg8329250)the moment I left the capital. That however is a story I will not dive into in this report.

While on the road I was painfully reminded of the state of my body, or should I say corpse.
There was not much left of me: I was covered in scars and burn marks from head to toe and my head was a disfigured mess without ears or teeth. but worst of all I had to miss my right arm.  I know powerful spells, but can not cast them as a result. This might be for the best, with such power comes corruption.  I never trained or grinded skills but I had seen enough combat to defend myself on my lonely journey, this being my fourth adventure. 

(https://i.imgur.com/TBgNiu1.gif)
 
I set course for Stockadeoutrage. According to intelligence king Tobul would reside there. First however I briefly stopped by in Newworld for a royal inspection of this fortress that was founded only months ago.  There was not much to see yet besides a hastily dug stairwell with several very large bedrooms. The locals were friendly and showed proper respect during my visit.
The next day I passed through the human town of Pricerings to view the famous “bridge between bridges”, certainly one of the stranger architectural designs in our world.

(https://i.imgur.com/o4Qx1da.gif)

I remember arriving in Stockadeoutrage several days later. King Tobul Tomeschance was nowhere to be found and the dwarves there were unwilling to reveal where he was. Dwarves in other fortresses from the Staff of Kissing, like Healerlashes, were similarly unhelpful in setting up a meeting with their king. This is a clear insult and an obvious signal that they want no relationship between our houses. Well then, let it be clear that we will guard the riches in our mountains from their miners. A bitter disappointment but we will live with it.

Despite the setback I decided not to give up on diplomacy.  I decided to continue my royal world tour. Next on the list was the elven queen. Meetings between elves and dwarves have often ended in misunderstanding and disaster, and many would claim that any further attempts would be wasted on the arrogant pointy ears. As the king however one has to try to look beyond prejudice and look at what can be gained through cooperation. In the past both the dwarves and elves were nearly crushed under the undead hordes, by working together such a fate could be avoided in the future.

You may wonder why I had the idea that the elven queen Vafice Lutecover would be willing to listen to a dwarf. Vafice had been born in a time before time and for all I knew she could be a thousand years old. Why would she listen to any youngsters from outside her forests? The reason I saw hope was because despite the odds we had a lot in common.
Like me, Vafice had been murdered and had been raised against her will as an undead. The exact same curse was used on both of us, the curse of the dark one. Then, in a similar twist to my own life, her people had put her on the throne. 

Yes, despite their own objections, the dead rule the world these days.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on November 18, 2021, 03:51:26 am

Love the creepy factor Chaos, the worm

Interesting story Bralbarrd, such an insight to the struggles of nobility. Look forward to more.

Its odd but the last thing King Tobul Tomeschance has done is put a claim on Mishthemtokthat "The Scholarly Scorn" the legendary zinc figurine of Vabok Glazeddoors, one of the prior kings of the walled dye and one of the shortest lived kings at that. Perhaps he is envy's the success and growth of the walled dye with even an unnoteworthy king being immortalised in a glorious artifact.

An interesting artifact with many seeking to possess it themselves. Including a recent plot by a to steal it from Sealsabres which was thwarted by the blind sadist himself. Since then no one dares to claim the artifact or seek the wrath of The Ardent one himself.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on November 18, 2021, 05:25:44 am

In the absence of the king, no one knew who should run. A struggle ensued as a power vacuum left by King Bralbaard had nobles fighting for the throne. However the throne has been claimed by someone new


Hail Queen Olon Gearedkeepers. New ruler of The Walled Dye

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on November 18, 2021, 06:41:54 am

OOC: I have to note that during my travels I was blissfully unaware of this attempt at the crown, so I will just continue as such:

------------

On my journey to the far north, I met many different characters like Rekthor Lulledhames the Fuchsia Color of Rooms, a demon slayer from Shadecavern the Deep Chasm. And Nom the Cheese, a gorlak that had started a small museum in the keep of Diptramples. This was the same keep where I was nearly murdered by two goblin bowmen one-hundred-and-twenty-five years ago. It is strange how some of these memories haunt you for a life time, whereas I struggle to recall large parts of my journey to the elven lands during this adventure.

Nom's museum:
(https://i.imgur.com/LQJaCqQ.gif)

I know that I shared my journey with many different travellers, most of them goblin adventurers. But there was a cat too. I fear I struggle to recall their names.  Somehow, none of them lasted long. The woods were full of wolves and bandits, and though I am by now capable of fending of these attacks by slowly taking these enemies down, I always found my companions dead after these battles.

There was one ambush however that also almost ended me. While traveling I somehow found myself trapped by the most unlikely bandit gang. It consisted of a muscular honey badger, two goblins and a demon expedition leader known as Letha Whisperedheaven. This was not any demon. No. This was a charcoal brute, a huge towering sauropod with four horns that breathes large collumns of fire. The exact same type of demon that murdered me in the keep of Incenseorder in 712. That previous demon had ripped of my shield arm, which made the job for his colleague in the here and now a lot easier because I had no way to block the dragon fire.
A sharp phantom pain shot through my missing limbs as if all the old wounds had been ripped open, I had to get away! Luckily the demon turned on it’s companions first. Collumns of dragonfire tore through the air, incinerating everything in it’s path. Somehow, I managed to get away through the black smoke. The screaming told me that the goblins and honey badger were not as lucky.

I finally made it to Vacirayali where, according to the museum journals by Raki, the mothertree grows and the elves originated. I had expected to see the elven queen there. The queen who carried the same undead curse as me, and who was marked by a similar history.

I soon found that I was at the wrong place. Certainly, the mother tree was there, untouched. It’s massive branches heavy with feathertree eggs, eggs from which, according to legends the first elves hatched, and later, that abomination, Raki. But there were no elves here now, the forest retreat was mostly empty. The reason was obvious. Deep trenches had been cut across the landscape and dark goblin towers watched over the silent forest. The goblin towers were abandoned now, but they must have been witness to violent events from long ago.

In the end I did find an elf in the top of the mother tree and I learned that the elven court could no longer be found here. The queen could instead be found on the other side of the great channels, possibly in Trammeledjudges
I had almost made the decision to leave, but was confused, as Trammeledjudges should be a human town. But before I could leave the elf handed me a gift, a book from the library that can be found in the top of the mother tree. He urged me to read it, and I did. I found a spot high in the mother tree between the soft down feathers, and I read.
While reading I fell in a trance. It was like queen Vafice had somehow reached over the ocean through this book. Somehow between the pages, I felt we could share the burden of our curse, despite the distance.  When I turned the last page I was a different dwarf. It was clear. I had to return home to govern, the book I took with me, it would make a fitting museum piece.

In pursuit of goverment, the elven book:
(https://i.imgur.com/AlVkrla.gif)

Before returning to the museum, I had one more visit to make, to Northcamp. According to the journals at the museum this was the place where Arcturus Cinderfang, the black bear man, retired after his rampage through elven lands. I found his hideout at the very northernmost tip of the continent: A small wooden shack in the midst of a dense forest. When I approached I was met by the most terrible and threatening roar. Alarmed I took several steps back: A massive black bear man lept from the shack. He wore armor and gear crafted from the hides of his victims, and drew two mighty artefact weapons. Arcturus gazed at me with eyes that could pierce slade, and let out another deafening roar. There was no doubt who would win this battle.

Then suddenly Arcturus collapsed.

(https://i.imgur.com/fAwvrAj.gif)

I ran to the shack, only to find a skeleton. Arcturus must have been dead for decades before I got here, but then what did I just witness? How was this possible?

(https://i.imgur.com/7PIjQF0.gif)

It was clear that a strange magic haunted this place. Arcturus possessions where here, but then again they were not. I could see his gear, but could not interact with it. His corpse though was physical, and I decided to take it with me to Herograves, to make sure that the black bear man could finally find rest.


-----

OOC: One more part to write.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on November 18, 2021, 06:59:16 am

The plot thickens, i saw the old bear had croaked twice and wondered what had happened. Looking forward to your third part and how you will Bralbaard interpret it all. Such an interesting read

Atleast Bralbaard will get his old historian job back, free from the burden of leadership. Dwarven leadership is a bewitching gumbo

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on November 18, 2021, 11:39:16 am

Quote from: Bralbaard on November 18, 2021, 02:22:07 am

First however I briefly stopped by in Newworld for a royal inspection of this fortress that was founded only months ago.  There was not much to see yet besides a hastily dug stairwell with several very large bedrooms. The locals were friendly and showed proper respect during my visit.

Argh, I failed hard to impressed. It was not much built and a rough start, lots of alligators attacking left and right. It might take a few decades or more until I made the place worthy as the center of the world.

Quote from: Bralbaard on November 18, 2021, 06:41:54 am

(https://i.imgur.com/7PIjQF0.gif)

That multiple deaths bug strikes again! I thought it was just for the corrupted places, but it looks like it's happening all over the land. Weird!

Quote from: AvolitionBrit on November 18, 2021, 05:25:44 am

Hail Queen Olon Gearedkeepers. New ruler of The Walled Dye

That's Queen Olon Olonzuden (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Olon_Olonzuden), peasant.

Quote from: Bralbaard on November 18, 2021, 06:41:54 am

I know that I shared my journey with many different travellers, most of them goblin adventurers. But there was a cat too. I fear I struggle to recall their names.

Cat's name was Cog "Ironpath" Datannimar. The goblins, eh, who cares? Good for canon fodder, I guess. They'll have their names immortalized in Bralbaard's article (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Bralbaard_Nilthatlosh) for the only reason to be fortunate enough to be chosen by the Immortal King as His companions.

Quote from: Bralbaard on November 18, 2021, 06:41:54 am

The woods were full of wolves and bandits [...]

Actually, (a literal) dingo ate your cat. Your memory's real bad, old man.

Quote from: Bralbaard on November 18, 2021, 02:22:07 am

Newworld [...] very large bedrooms

That's my MO, 11 x 11 rooms for various stuff, put beds in them, assign who I like, the others can sleep in the common dormitory.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on November 18, 2021, 11:51:47 am

Quote from: Lurker Z on November 18, 2021, 11:39:16 am

Quote from: Bralbaard on November 18, 2021, 02:22:07 am

First however I briefly stopped by in Newworld for a royal inspection of this fortress that was founded only months ago.  There was not much to see yet besides a hastily dug stairwell with several very large bedrooms. The locals were friendly and showed proper respect during my visit.

Argh, I failed hard to impressed. It was not much built and a rough start, lots of alligators attacking left and right. It might take a few decades or more until I made the place fitting as the center of the world.

The king was too harsh in his assesment! He only quickly stopped by while on the move to Stockadeoutrage. For the limited time spend in dwarf months the fortress was certainly looking better than the fortresses I create in the same time. Those are usually just a hole in the soft dirt with some haphazard storage piles.
Also, I should add that I did not yet read your letter from Clearmasters when I started my adventure so I did not visit the site! I am looking forward to doing that in the future.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on November 18, 2021, 11:58:44 am

Thank you for the kind and Kingly words, Your Majesty, but I know what I built. The Overseer's only accomplishment with Newword is the tomb just above the lava flow and actually reaching semi-molten rock, then branching into the caves and promptly dooring them. But don't worry, I have plans.

On the other hand, while Clearmasters might stagnate, as it is now it's much more advanced than Newworld. It has some roads built, at least whoever arrives actually finds stone roads, walls and doors when they get close to it. But while Clearmasters is mostly exhausted in resources (at least I feel so compared to what I found in the beginning), it's meant more to be Kikrost's and Lurker's appanage for storytelling. I want to make the center of the world epic.

Also take note I updated my previous post several times, so you might want to reread it.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on November 18, 2021, 12:42:13 pm

Quote from: Lurker Z on November 18, 2021, 11:39:16 am

Quote from: Bralbaard on November 18, 2021, 06:41:54 am

I know that I shared my journey with many different travellers, most of them goblin adventurers. But there was a cat too. I fear I struggle to recall their names.

Cat's name was Cog "Ironpath" Datannimar. The goblins, eh, who cares? Good for canon fodder, I guess. They'll have their names immortalized in Bralbaard's article (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Bralbaard_Nilthatlosh) for the only reason to be fortunate enough to be chosen by the Immortal King as His companions.

Quote from: Bralbaard on November 18, 2021, 06:41:54 am

The woods were full of wolves and bandits [...]

Actually, (a literal) dingo ate your cat. Your memory's real bad, old man.

Actually it is worse and I am a really bad pet owner.
I adopted the cat (or did it adopt me?) when it bumped it's head against me in some random town.
It then took me over a week to notice the cat was gone.
I actually thought the thing had wandered off, chasing mice or something.

Dingoes and wolves are all the same, nasty dog-like hairy things. I vaguely remember killing a named one, I thought it ate one of the goblins.

Quote from: Lurker Z on November 18, 2021, 11:58:44 am

Thank you for the kind and Kingly words, Your Majesty, but I know what I built. The Overseer's only accomplishment with Newword is the tomb just above the lava flow and actually reaching semi-molten rock, then branching into the caves and promptly dooring them. But don't worry, I have plans.

I might actually have missed half the fortress then, I do not remember seeing a tomb, magma or caverns. I thought the stairwell stopped earlier than that. Looking forward to those plans...

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on November 18, 2021, 01:37:12 pm

OOC: Here's the final part:

------------------
I travelled south to the museum, unaware that I was to receive yet another life changing experience. I stopped at a monastery to roll the dice expecting nothing in particular, but then suddenly I felt my body shrink and change.

(https://i.imgur.com/PbT1Jmr.gif)

I had somehow been turned into a small rodent, a naked mole dog. The experience was profoundly strange. My small paws were useless as tools, and I was unable to speak, but.. but..
I COULD CHANNEL MAGIC.
No longer was I hampered by my missing shield arm.
Using my small rodent paws, I could weave patterns that created a thick ominous fog. I could conjure magic that would throw the strongest foes away from me with an unstoppable force.
I was a small rodent, but I was also death itself. Raw unstoppable power coursed through my veins. 

(https://i.imgur.com/gWn1jK7.jpg)

What I experienced over the next few days is difficult to describe. I had originally been transformed into a small rodent, but soon I felt my body change once more. I was a dwarf again, but whole. No missing limbs, and able to cast terrible spells. The lure of even greater power beckoned me. I had visions of Ceshseduja, the slab that I carried out of the museum 125 years ago because I wanted to destroy it. The powers that came with my resurrection were still limited, but the road to learn necromancy was now open. Everything was possible.
For a week I pondered my path forward.  Though I was a dwarf again, I felt strange, as if I was still part rodent. Indeed, deep animal instincts urged me to take action. Ruling would be so much easier as a necromancer. With such power at my disposal, certainly none would object to my just rule? There could be no doubt that the dwarves of the Staff of Kissing would have to bow to the rule of the Walled Dye. The dwarven race would finally be united and that would only be the start..   

But then I thought of the elven book, and the words of the queen that reached me from beyond those pages. What does it mean to govern, and what unethical sacrifices do we make in pursuit of such power? It was then that I banished the dark thoughts from my mind. Like Vafice, I had been brought back from death to life, but we should not pull the rest of the world down into this unnatural state. Life is worth fighting for, even if I myself will never again be truly part of it.

The dark cloud that had enveloped me dissipated.
I found myself lying on the grass in my old broken body. My powers taken away from me. My arm was gone again, my head was the disfigured mangled mess it had been since my resurrection.
Had all of this just been another strange vision? I knew better than that.

The last part of my journey was without incident. I gave the remains of Arcturus a decent burial in Herograves, hoping that would prevent him from rising again. I put a unicorn horn trophy that I found in his shack with him in his grave.
The book was entrusted to the museum. Let it be a warning, or guidance, to others that seek the power of government.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/AlVkrla.gif)

That concludes the summary of my journey in the summer of 825. For context I should note that I only learned about the uprising in Treatyseed when I arrived at the museum. The impact it would have on the monarchy, and on my reign were not yet known, but it presented a difficult problem: Should I reclaim the crown, governing over a city filled with undead nobles fighting for power? That would make me an undead ruler governing an empire of unliving abominations like Oddom Girdergrove and her army of the dead had been. Unless I could control them.. or would that make no difference?

I decided I had to reread the elven book one more time.

----------------------------

OOC: Ok that was interesting. I thought I was permanently healed after I turned back into a dwarf (that happened after the first time I travelled). There were some weird things with my stats though, so I decided to wait out the full week it should have taken to wear off the transformation. And then I was broken again. It does make for a better story though.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on November 18, 2021, 04:53:48 pm

Quote from: AvolitionBrit on November 18, 2021, 03:51:26 am

An interesting artifact with many seeking to possess it themselves. Including a recent plot by a to steal it from Sealsabres which was thwarted by the blind sadist himself. Since then no one dares to claim the artifact or seek the wrath of The Ardent one himself.

What on Orid Xem is the Blind Sadist doing in Sealsabres? I hope he is still alive when my next turn comes along... I have plans.

Great story Bralbaard - I am confused at how you were deposed as king while still alive. That's a new one on me.

Seems that is quite hard to find Vafice the Elf Queen. She last pops up in Legend's Mode as being in the keep of Trammeledjudges but that site has no listed elf inhabitants. I am not sure if she even exists in-game any more...

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on November 18, 2021, 05:19:20 pm

Quote from: kesperan on November 18, 2021, 04:53:48 pm

What on Orid Xem is the Blind Sadist doing in Sealsabres? I hope he is still alive when my next turn comes along... I have plans.

You/We'll have to delve deep into Legends Mode/Viewer to discover that, after a cursory glance I have no idea. Or ask Brit what he's talking about.

Quote from: Bralbaard on November 18, 2021, 12:42:13 pm

I might actually have missed half the fortress then, I do not remember seeing a tomb, magma or caverns. I thought the stairwell stopped earlier than that. Looking forward to those plans...

Technically, this is completely true... but "half" of the fortress was just winding downwards staircase. I actually hit semi-molten without hitting anything else, caves, magma, anything.

As for the magma you didn't see, I didn't feel I had time to branchmine to the caves, so I just

Code: [Select]

reveal-allput some straight corridors to open up the caves, then

Code: [Select]

unreveal-allI also used the opportunity to find a relatively "flat"/diggable place where I wouldn't run into anything to make a tomb. It's at the bottom, doored off, to the extreme north-east. So the magma doesn't show (unless the caves I opened leads to it).

Ah, you also missed the (thankfully slow-dripping) aquafier that's been literally muddying the whole fortress. I'll have to do something about that one too...

---

Interesting sub-plot with Vafice (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Vafice_Falethefama). Just out of curiosity, did you know of her affliction from Legends Mode or the wiki?

Quote from: Bralbaard on November 18, 2021, 01:37:12 pm

(https://i.imgur.com/gWn1jK7.jpg)

This... this took a turn towards the bizarre, and was so unexpected, yet wholesome, yet it was well integrated into the overall plotline. I loved it.

---

Wow, that got dark towards the end. If that was the point, the corruptive energies of undeath are trying to nudge the good King towards Oddom and Cog's (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Cog_Omristducim) paths.

Keep strong, My Liege. There are examples of Orid Xem necromancers and night creatures (possibly undead too) who stayed by their moral fiber and compass, at least as much as they could.

Quote from: kesperan on November 18, 2021, 04:53:48 pm

I am confused at how you were deposed as king while still alive. That's a new one on me.

I strongly suspected taking over a noble will lose their titles. I was right. Again! The way I stayed Lord with Lurker (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Lurker_Onecbehal) was to return half-way to the Mead Hall and be proclaimed as such in Adventure Mode.

There are other ways to be deposed as Lord/Monarch, by being kidnapped (there's a King of Adilatír who suffered that fate, can't have as King someone who can't exercise their role), by being discovered as vampire (not sure if necro) like Uja (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Uja_Kusutbepa), by being killed, even if you are then resurrected, everyone knows you die and everybody forgets your former position. Not really sure how Nirmek (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Nirmek_Balusen) lost his position in 699, I suspect the game finally wised up to the fact that cave dragons shouldn't be ruling anything, it's a shame really, if the game overlooked him one more year 3 months (he'd been Lord for decades 8 years), who knows if he'd eventually become a monarch by now...

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on November 18, 2021, 05:29:38 pm

Quote from: Lurker Z on November 18, 2021, 05:19:20 pm

Interesting sub-plot with Vafice (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Vafice_Falethefama). Just out of curiosity, did you know of her affliction from Legends Mode or the wiki?

I actually used "unretire-anyone" on a backup save to see where she was hiding out after I failed to find her in Vacirayali or legends, and saw she was cursed.
Unretire-anyone turns out to be a poor predictor of her actual location, sadly. It puts her in a random elven forest retreat each time. She's probably wandering the wilds, or leading some elven army in the middle of nowhere.

But I must say I've been browsing the wiki quite a lot the last few days. It's a great resource.

Quote from: Lurker Z on November 18, 2021, 05:19:20 pm

There are other ways to be deposed as Lord/Monarch, by being kidnapped (there's a King of Adilatír who suffered that fate, can't have as King someone who can't exercise their role), by being discovered as vampire (not sure if necro) like Uja, by being killed, even if you are then resurrected, everyone knows you die and everybody forgets your former position. Not really sure how Nirmek lost his position in 699, I suspect the game finally wised up to the fact that cave dragons shouldn't be ruling anything, it's a shame really, if the game overlooked him one more year (he'd been Lord for decades), who knows if he'd eventually become a monarch by now...

Becoming a necromancer certainly gets you deposed.
Of topic rambling:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

In the local game I'm playing the first king of the dwarven empire founded a necromancer tower nearby and was deposed. This has been quite interesting for roleplay purposes. I settled right under his tower but he actually never attacked my fortress, nor did any other necromancers; possibly because his tower still held some allegiance to our empire.The humans in that world have a similar interesting situation. Quite a few of their old monarchs are still around, raised as mummies. 

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on November 18, 2021, 06:02:36 pm

Quote from: Bralbaard on November 18, 2021, 01:37:12 pm

OOC: Ok that was interesting. I thought I was permanently healed after I turned back into a dwarf (that happened after the first time I travelled). There were some weird things with my stats though, so I decided to wait out the full week it should have taken to wear off the transformation. And then I was broken again. It does make for a better story though.

Yeah I thought that would heal your body but I guess its only werebeast transformations or healing from the gods. Good thing you got that path open

Quote from: Lurker Z on November 18, 2021, 05:19:20 pm

Quote from: kesperan on November 18, 2021, 04:53:48 pm

What on Orid Xem is the Blind Sadist doing in Sealsabres? I hope he is still alive when my next turn comes along... I have plans.

You/We'll have to delve deep into Legends Mode/Viewer to discover that, after a cursory glance I have no idea. Or ask Brit what he's talking about.

So its something DF legends shows but not the legends viewer but from the year of 793, the goblin Stozu Devilsorrow was influencing  the goblin Dostngosp Dirgehated to steal the scholarly scorn on his behalf. This was years of planning with it stopping in 804 with the goblin Dostngosp Dirgehated enacting his multi year plan to acquire the artifact. That is until 807, when Moldath Mournsaints the Ardent cut Stozu down with his steel battleaxe. With this he unknowing not only saved the scholarly scorn but brought down the criminal mastermind Stozu who plots are a web that hasn't been fully mapped out yet.

His most recent history

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/IT4NhES.jpg)

Also  im curious if the forgotten beast Zulen Smeareddour is still kicking around poisonuttered. From what i hear he asks alot of questions.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/BNzQQ9t.jpg)

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on November 24, 2021, 12:19:14 pm

How’re you getting on, Unraveller?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on November 25, 2021, 02:08:41 am

No response from Unraveller. We'll move on.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Quantum Drop on November 25, 2021, 02:57:37 am

I'm going to request that I’m bumped down in the turn list.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on November 25, 2021, 03:37:48 am

Quote from: Quantum Drop on November 25, 2021, 02:57:37 am

I'm going to request that I’m bumped down in the turn list.

No problem. By how much?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Quantum Drop on November 25, 2021, 04:49:05 am

Quote from: Bralbaard on November 25, 2021, 03:37:48 am

Quote from: Quantum Drop on November 25, 2021, 02:57:37 am

I'm going to request that I’m bumped down in the turn list.

No problem. By how much?

About 4-5 places; I'm going to be busy for the next few weeks, at least.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Unraveller on November 26, 2021, 03:20:48 pm

Dang. Somehow the game lapsed my mind completely. I'll have to ask you folks to forgive me for holding things up again! Though I will ask to be bumped to the bottom of the list, I'll keep a better eye on things.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on November 27, 2021, 03:35:31 pm

Quote from: Unraveller on November 26, 2021, 03:20:48 pm

Dang. Somehow the game lapsed my mind completely. I'll have to ask you folks to forgive me for holding things up again! Though I will ask to be bumped to the bottom of the list, I'll keep a better eye on things.

No worries, hope you are doing well.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on November 28, 2021, 01:52:10 pm

Quote from: Unraveller on November 26, 2021, 03:20:48 pm

Dang. Somehow the game lapsed my mind completely. I'll have to ask you folks to forgive me for holding things up again! Though I will ask to be bumped to the bottom of the list, I'll keep a better eye on things.

No problem, I'll update the list.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on November 28, 2021, 04:59:08 pm

Now who is this interesting madman (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Etru_Coslagulgud)? I was first going to call him an absolute madman, but his actions barely rate compared to even the more interesting NPCs in Orid Xem.

But still, what might be his story? A random monk, asked to take the smallest position above member in a religious group with a holy city, killing 2 goblins - one infected with the Omon blight - and 3 humans, then going back to his meditation and living the rest of his zen-like then dying of old age? More interesting and what attracted my attention is that he got a title out of that. I've seen adventurer companions have up to twice his kills and never getting titles. What's more interesting, he isn't listed as a companion, his actions didn't brand him an enemy of anyone and he knew Lurker (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Lurker_Onecbehal) (though I sure didn't know him and I never took companions). I suspect an adventurer's presence triggered whatever this was. Yes, I suspected it was during Galka (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Galka_Linarad)'s run and it indeed fits his culling of the blight to the day. Regardless, fun things keep happening in the world.

In other news, I updated the Adventurer of the Museum (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Adventurer_of_the_Museum) page with some lore so it wouldn't be so empty.

---

Since I posted, there's something that's been bugging me. What ever happened to the second Museum world (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Teyo_Ametha)? I get what happened with Mudungudon, it was riddled with bugs and nearly broken, the world had been dying for over two centuries and wherever an adventurer would go, mortals would fall of old age like flies around them before they could even open their mouths.

But Teyo Ametha even works in the current version. I think I read about plans to play it in parallel with Orid Xem, or do I misremember?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on November 28, 2021, 06:04:18 pm

The second museum was far more buggy than the original even after a few turns, if I remember correctly. We started it too early after the release of a major DF version, it had many, many crashes. Also, the world was high savagery with lots of megabeasts and very large evil areas: Civilisations were very small as a result and the world was mostly wilderness. It was just less interesting compared to museum I and III.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on November 28, 2021, 06:58:06 pm

Interesting story, honestly outside of the adventurers of the museum. Some of the NPCs can be very interesting. Wonder what caused him to snap, maybe a voice from his god. Purge the blight and any that stood in the way.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on November 29, 2021, 09:52:40 am

Quote from: AvolitionBrit on November 28, 2021, 06:58:06 pm

Interesting story, honestly outside of the adventurers of the museum. Some of the NPCs can be very interesting. Wonder what caused him to snap, maybe a voice from his god. Purge the blight and any that stood in the way.

The technical explanation is that he was dragged into the "Insurrection" started by Uja. Also found another infected that isn't described as "necromancer" in the kill list. So it was probably a mess of killing in there. But the one described as "necromancer" comes from Hannibal? A real mess.

But from an outside view, it is indeed eerie. Let's see how many miracles he got away with:
* he survived fighting 5 creatures, presumably in adventure mode, where wounds stack
* he survived without being infected
* he wasn't declared an enemy of any group
* he received a title, something that Kings and other otherwise powerful beings don't receive

That definitely sounds like divine intervention however you look at it.

---

Found a poor werebeast magnet that finally got bit.

(https://i.imgur.com/n8ia53q.png)

She was attacked by 6 werebeasts before she was finally turned. And this is before some adventurers started propagating the curse. Strange as this is, this isn't the first time I've seen a creature being attacked multiple times until they were infected. The last surviving prince of the Ikar Abowba dynasty, Urwa Nihdesana (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Urwa_Nihdesana), was attacked multiple times by werebeasts until he was turned. If I didn't know better, I'd think the game AI had a plan, but the RNG kept failing to turn its planned creatures and it kept trying. Again, eerie.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on November 29, 2021, 11:03:55 am

Honestly its crazy. I hadn't looked at him myself but must certainly of been a holy act.

As for Ibon, the year of 691 wasn't her year.

Here is one i come across. Zamnuth Rhymedstaves - A male plump helmet man born in 375. He was a dancer for two years in confusedship before joining and eventually becoming a high color of the flaxen coven. Years later for unknown reasons he murdered a goblin memeber of the falxen coven. In the final year of his life he was corrupted by another goblin only to drop dead that same year. He was then entombed in The Crypts of Iron and had Akrultinoth Limul Neth "Tinequal the Gold of Balance" a golden beryl gem made by a fellow plump helmet mal Wele Twiglances in order to sanctify Zamnuth by preserving a part of the body. Years later during a persecution,the Goblin Ngokang Badurns the lyrical Flies claimed the legendary gem for herself. The goblin met her end years later to Iden Bloodinked the mire of cites. Iden seemingly not noticing the gem left it only for it to be sorted the Knowledgepalms as a curiousity in The letter of Fruit, a mead hall hundreds of years old.

(https://i.imgur.com/jbsRoUF.png)

 
The story gets more interesting when you look at Wele Twiglances, he too went on to die of old age, got his own crypt (the Constructive Crypts) and had a goblin create an artifact ("Degnubam" Eventeal - a legendary ramie cloak) in order to sancity him by preserving a part of the body. It was also confiscated and claimed by a goblin. It also found its way into Knowledgepalms.

(https://i.imgur.com/DkiENyh.png)

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on November 30, 2021, 11:51:08 am

Well that's interesting I suppose. I see Fedemesme, / Knowledgepalms only has 6 artifacts to its name, so it's not that much of a library/artifact hording site. I found one in the elven lands though, not sure if it was mentioned anywhere in-story.

Speaking of plump helmet men, I always had a curiosity for them. I looked up in Legends Mode and there are 7 named PHMs, all part of civilizations or in the case of one, of groups. They're strangely split between human, goblin and dwarf civs, too.

Not sure if I ever intend to do it, but would it bug people if I spawned unnamed PHMs through commands in fortress mode or if I wanted them, I would need to hope I got lucky, as I did with the reptile people?

---

I was writing a page for Kasat Thorangosp (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Kasat_Thorangosp) because I noticed her immortality slab was the one used by adventurers in Monkeycurse / Taksmongopex to become necromancers. The first thing I see she's killed in 89 and I figure she'll have a 3-5 line article just because she's a chosen necromancer.

4600+ words later, whew. Did she get around (https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ReallyGetsAround). In fact, that's the only thing she was successful at, loving, marrying and divorcing. And getting an immortality slab from a God, that's something. And surviving a rampaging troll and 6 battles. But for a necromancer, she was an abject failure. She didn't raise any undead (despite having a lot of battles to take corpses from), she kept prowling around the place she was exposed and expelled from and paid the price. She had no apprentice. She made an enemy that probably got her killed. You can't win The Game of Thrones just by seducing, flattering and offering immortality to future enemies. At least other failed necromancers died to dragons or other megabeasts, even death by troll wouldn't be as shameful.

---

So, it's been a while, may I ask whose turn is it and if they confirmed taking it?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on November 30, 2021, 12:00:46 pm

Its luckyowl currently, their turn should be down tomorrow and then Kesperan will start. Interesting about the slab, im thinking of contributing some articles to the wiki to help flesh it out as a resource. As you have done amazingly so far with it.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on November 30, 2021, 04:24:28 pm

I’m not sure if Luckyowl has started his turn.

Uklasut, or Frothbone, is an important part of Moldath the Blind Sadist’s plans, assuming Luckyowl hasn’t done something with it…

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on November 30, 2021, 04:51:12 pm

Quote from: kesperan on November 30, 2021, 04:24:28 pm

I’m not sure if Luckyowl has started his turn.

Uklasut, or Frothbone, is an important part of Moldath the Blind Sadist’s plans, assuming Luckyowl hasn’t done something with it…

Sure thing, I'm just chronicling events. I found Uklasut (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Uklasut) to be an important part of the world, so I made it an article (it was just a redirect to Ala, since I found most slabs and even artifacts aren't worth articles unless they go through many hands or they're used to kill many creatures or they're a reason for war (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Gukilkonad)... generally if they're special to the world in some way). I'd only like to ask people in the game to stop destroying them since they're getting more rare in the world and presumably harder to find.

I'm going to play mostly around Eskôn, Iroram and possibly Thillecit, though if someone reclaims Kosothducim, prepare for a (role-play) war.

Quote from: AvolitionBrit on November 30, 2021, 12:00:46 pm

im thinking of contributing some articles to the wiki to help flesh it out as a resource. As you have done amazingly so far with it.

Thanks. You're welcomed to contribute whatever you see fit, and don't worry about formatting, just write as you would write a story post and I'll put links and categories and such. I'd only request that you be careful in putting wiki links or categories to pages that don't exist - if you're not sure you're doing that right, better not do that at all. I'm sure I can copy-edit a wall of text if it comes to that.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on November 30, 2021, 05:15:26 pm

No response from Luckyowl, so we will move on.

I have constructed a small fortress in my personal save game and I might as well upload it, as that is the only thing I did. That way the downtime is not a complete loss.
The save game can be found here.  (https://dffd.bay12games.com/file.php?id=15758)

The new fortress, Thiefguild, can be found very close to the museum, and is included in the small cutout on the map:

(https://i.imgur.com/qLak5CX.gif)
-----------
A bit of background:

Rumor has it that a small bandit gang has established a secret hideout below the local tavern in Diptramples.
They prey on the rich gem market of the town. It is said that the bandits are hoping to employ kobolds in their ranks, they have even crafted full sets of kobold sized armor to lure the rare creatures.

 

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on November 30, 2021, 05:17:46 pm

Quote from: kesperan on November 30, 2021, 04:24:28 pm

I’m not sure if Luckyowl has started his turn.

Uklasut, or Frothbone, is an important part of Moldath the Blind Sadist’s plans, assuming Luckyowl hasn’t done something with it…

I think we need to start a habbit of making posts announcing that we are starting our turn. So we don't wait a week to see if someone is or isnt playing.

Edit: Interesting Bralbaard will have to give this a gander

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on November 30, 2021, 05:33:55 pm

Quote from: AvolitionBrit on November 30, 2021, 05:17:46 pm

I think we need to start a habbit of making posts announcing that we are starting our turn. So we don't wait a week to see if someone is or isnt playing.

I did announce whenever I got the message and was ready, but Bralbaard is the organizer and he skips people anyway if the 3 days are up, so it won't change much.

Quote from: AvolitionBrit on November 30, 2021, 05:17:46 pm

Interesting Bralbaard will have to give this a gander

I never did take a look at others' forts unless I needed the name of a creature living there or something, I felt it was spoilery. Not saying for others not to, only that was my take on it. On the other hand, I never did got to visit the forts, so...

I should at least take a look at the Mudungudon ones...

Quote from: Lurker Z on November 30, 2021, 11:51:08 am

Not sure if I ever intend to do it, but would it bug people if I spawned unnamed PHMs through commands in fortress mode or if I wanted them, I would need to hope I got lucky, as I did with the reptile people?

Bump for visibility.

Ah, this reminds me. From my (granted, unique) experience with the reptile people respawning when the old ones have left (or presumably died), I can assume different places of a Dwarf Fortress map have specific types of creatures that spawn in caves (and maybe some don't at all)? I'll also note I was playing with Invasion off, so apparently underground... tribes - because I can't call them civs with a straight face - don't count as invaders (mind, neither do some of the more scary underground monsters bar forgotten beasts).

I must amend, considering BOTH times I played that fort, i.e. when the reptile people respawned, I was playing with Invasion off.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on November 30, 2021, 05:49:49 pm

So apparently the new king queen is dead. Died peacefully in his her sleep after ruling for only a few months. A true shame for him her to die after putting al that effort into claiming the crown from it's rightful owner.
 
(Don't look at me, I swear I had nothing to do with it)

Quote from: Lurker Z on November 30, 2021, 11:51:08 am

Speaking of plump helmet men, I always had a curiosity for them. I looked up in Legends Mode and there are 7 named PHMs, all part of civilizations or in the case of one, of groups. They're strangely split between human, goblin and dwarf civs, too.

Not sure if I ever intend to do it, but would it bug people if I spawned unnamed PHMs through commands in fortress mode or if I wanted them, I would need to hope I got lucky, as I did with the reptile people?

I have no strong opinion on this. What do others think?

Edit: got the monarch's gender wrong.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on November 30, 2021, 05:54:56 pm

I thought it was a new Queen, not King?

Anyway - thanks for the heads up about it being my turn.

I will download the save tonight and hopefully make a start soon.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on November 30, 2021, 05:57:16 pm

Quote

Bump for visibility.

Ah, this reminds me. From my (granted, unique) experience with the reptile people respawning when the old ones have left (or presumably died), I can assume different places of a Dwarf Fortress map have specific types of creatures that spawn in caves (and maybe some don't at all)? 

I played fortress mod with invasions on. If memory recalls i had constant flow of underground creatures, both hostile and non-hostile alike.

Quote from: Bralbaard on November 30, 2021, 05:49:49 pm

So apparently the new king is dead. Died peacefully in his sleep after ruling for only a few months. A true shame for him to die after putting al that effort into claiming the crown from it's rightful owner.
 
(Don't look at me, I swear I had nothing to do with it


I have no strong opinion on this. What do others think?

Olon died of old age dam. What a short boring reign. But looks like we have another queen.

Ral Budmanors, she seems like a more active and interesting queen.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on November 30, 2021, 06:02:41 pm

Quote from: kesperan on November 30, 2021, 05:54:56 pm

I thought it was a new Queen, not King?

Ah, my bad she was the queen.
Legendsviewer gives her gender, but then proceeds to call her king in the next sentence.  :o

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on November 30, 2021, 07:22:55 pm

Quote from: kesperan on November 30, 2021, 05:54:56 pm

I thought it was a new Queen, not King?

Anyway - thanks for the heads up about it being my turn.

I will download the save tonight and hopefully make a start soon.

Considering your last run, I'm looking forward to it.

Quote from: AvolitionBrit on November 30, 2021, 05:57:16 pm

I played fortress mod with invasions on. If memory recalls i had constant flow of underground creatures, both hostile and non-hostile alike.

I'm pretty sure both tribes were hostile. Also, you get Jabberers, Giant Cave Spiders, Trolls, Troglodytes, Blind Cave Ogres etc. with Invasion off.

Quote from: AvolitionBrit on November 30, 2021, 05:57:16 pm

Olon died of old age dam. What a short boring reign. But looks like we have another queen.

Ral Budmanors, she seems like a more active and interesting queen.

I haven't downloaded the save yet so I have no strong opinions about this. Anyone after Bralbaard was bound to be boring (or maybe not, it's a shame Sigun (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Sigun_Gakizurvad), the guy who birthed the first dwarf of the 9th century didn't get it or someone as awesome).

...you know, the more I think about it, the more the selection of rulers seems kind of random and arbitrary. I mean, yes, Bralbaard deserved it if only because he lived for a long time and had a title, and in that category fall goblin rulers, as much as I am loathe to admit it. But what about the void creatures that immediately rise to thrones from the middle of nowhere? They should at least come from creatures with titles or from rulers of populated settlements.

Quote from: Bralbaard on November 30, 2021, 05:49:49 pm

So apparently the new queen is dead. Died peacefully in her sleep after ruling for only a few months. A true shame for her to die after putting al that effort into claiming the crown from it's rightful owner.
 
(Don't look at me, I swear I had nothing to do with it)

You were warned that if you played your adventurer, you may lose your position. I think it'll take some time for you to rise back through the succession line or if the game will even consider your character valid for any Adilatír position anymore. As last time, I'm just guessing and I hope I'm wrong. (Also a bit upset that Kikrost didn't become baron with all the openings available. And not many adventurers, either. Did they run out of stock or something?)

It'd be interesting to see if a character can become King in two different terms, I don't think I've ever seen it in a game before.

Also godsdamnit, I haven't even made an article for Bralbaard's successor, let alone this new one XD.

---

Ah, I remembered my question. It was for Bralbaard especially, but anyone can give feedback: can you take a look at my Adventurer of the Museum (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Adventurer_of_the_Museum) article and tell me if I'm doing the lore right? So far I've just bashed ideas that seem like common sense to me, but I'd like feedback if they fit people's worldview for Orid Xem or not.

Quote from: Bralbaard on November 30, 2021, 05:49:49 pm

I have no strong opinion on this. What do others think?

Thanks for looking into it.

---

Edit: On the one hand, Queen Ral at least fought in some battles and is a legendary armorsmith. On the other hand, she rose from Expedition Leader of a Hillocks and she barely has 2 kills. How is this fair? What do the counts say about this, let alone the barons?

It's probably because there were no opening, but Bralbaard hasn't been called to be even a baron. Well, we'll see when a position opens up if he's back in the line.

---

There are now more abstract elves according to Legends Viewer than there were in the year 700 despite heavy losses incurred in 708 to goblins, to Arcturus and recently to Suril and that I see no elves born from the 700s onwards. They must be literally growing on trees to multiply asexually like that.

---

I just found out Dothanest (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Dothanest) is relatively close to the center of Orid Xem, directly to the west of it in fact. I didn't put it together until now, since if you look at the Legends Viewer map it's slightly off-set to the west. But yeah, now I can see it.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on December 01, 2021, 02:25:29 am

Quote from: Lurker Z on November 30, 2021, 07:22:55 pm

Ah, I remembered my question. It was for Bralbaard especially, but anyone can give feedback: can you take a look at my Adventurer of the Museum (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Adventurer_of_the_Museum) article and tell me if I'm doing the lore right? So far I've just bashed ideas that seem like common sense to me, but I'd like feedback if they fit people's worldview for Orid Xem or not.

Well, I started my latest adventure with the following quote:

Quote from: Bralbaard on November 18, 2021, 02:22:07 am

Report on 825 state visit by his royal highness Bralbaard Hammerfishes the Yawning.

Over the last few decades I have been unable to spend much time on my original profession, that of historian. As you may have heard I have been crowned king of the Walled Dye. This is a great honour, but the job is fundamentally incompatible with that of a historian. As a king you are supposed to make history, not write it, and questions about integrity and ethics should be raised when the jobs are combined. I will therefore only write notes on my actions as a king, and will leave it up to the historians of the current and future ages to interpret them and give them a proper place in history.

So I'm fine with there being some differences in interpretation between my own write ups and official history. In fact any differences now automatically fit with the lore  :P

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on December 01, 2021, 06:34:13 am

Quote from: Bralbaard on December 01, 2021, 02:25:29 am

I'm fine with there being some differences in interpretation between my own write ups and official history. In fact any differences now automatically fit with the lore  :P

I don't mean for this to come out harshly, but that's going to end up in a mess.

I'm still trying to find a way to reconcile your official story ("coup? hidden undead conspirators? escape & disappearance from the capital? What are you talking about? I was just making my official rounds around the Kingdom, what do you mean I've been deposed?!" with the first reaction that came after seeing the massacre at the capital and Bralbaard being ousted. Ah well, I'll try to add all POVs and possibilities where possible.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on December 01, 2021, 07:15:52 am

I think the current summary on Bralbaard is fine.
It is important to note that my first post of the latest adventure was written from another perspective than the later four, which were from Bralbaard's perspective.

From a gameplay perspective, what happened was this.
I loaded Bralbaard's character with the intention to leave peacefully on an adventure. I started out on the roof of the fortress, so I could just jump off, and walk away. I used that story for what I wrote from Bralbaard's perspective, leaving out the information that I started on the roof, but starting from the assumption that he was unaware of the problems.

As a player however I fully knew what was going on. "L"ooking at the lower levels revealed lots of exclamation marks "!!" and combat reports about undead and nobles murdering each other occasionally came through. On top of that we already knew that this would happen when loading Treatyseed.
So as a player I ran away as fast as possible to limit the collateral damage.
I made a copy of my save game and used it to check legends. This was to see what the damage was to the fortress and possibly to other player characters. It was bad, but I guess acceptable.
I made the first post about my adventure about the infighting in the fortress and the fact that Bralbaard had gone missing, based on this information. Again this was not from Bralbaard's perspective. I did actually took some screenshots in legends mode and later of the inside from the fortress in that other save game to illustrate the battle.
I roleplayed the following posts based on Bralbaard knowing nothing about the unfolding disaster, and wrote that from his perspective.

Note that I did not actually believe I would be deposed during my adventure, even though you warned me specifically.  ::) So any references to a coup were just a loose interpretation of the infighting in Treatyseed.

Edit: Lots of edits for clarity.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on December 01, 2021, 07:35:21 am

That's very interesting. Yes, multiple POVs. Or we're all schizos. One of those, definitely :P

Hey, since you're around, can I have an idea on how to interpret first adventurer Bralbaard's recommendation/order that creatures "too strong" such as demons can't become adventurers of the Museum in an in-world explanation? It's been bugging me for weeks now. I can explain the charcoal brute with "well they're demons" and "they killed me", but not "if you're too strong to die to a goblin/kobold horde, you can't be an AotM".

By the way, I found the second charcoal brute that attacked you (though I have no idea why he'd attack his King), Letha Whisperedheaven.

Quote

Relationships
1. the dwarf Bralbaard Hammerfishes the Yawning (Visual), Trust (-50)

That sounds about right.

And do I have your permission to discuss your first attempt at reclaiming

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Treatyseed

now that the results are not a spoiler anymore? Or do you have anything more to write about it than what you PM'd me?

Quote from: Lurker Z on December 01, 2021, 07:35:21 am

That's very interesting. Yes, multiple POVs. Or we're all schizos. One of those, definitely :P

Speaking of, I was thinking when we make divergent saves, as there have been cases, we might refer to them as Dragon Breaks (https://en.uesp.net/wiki/Lore:Dragon_Break), but I wasn't sure before contacting you about it. Honestly, I found it the best and simplest explanation for why saves and character creation act the way they do in video games.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on December 01, 2021, 07:42:25 am

Quote from: Lurker Z on December 01, 2021, 07:35:21 am

That's very interesting. Yes, multiple POVs. Or we're all schizos. One of those, definitely :P

Hey, since you're around, can I have an idea on how to interpret first adventurer Bralbaard's recommendation/order that creatures "too strong" such as demons can't become adventurers of the Museum in an in-world explanation? It's been bugging me for weeks now. I can explain the charcoal brute with "well they're demons" and "they killed me", but not "if you're too strong to die to a goblin/kobold horde, you can't be an AotM".

That's just a game rule, as those demons are obviously overpowered. The rules are kind of meta, so there should be no reason to attribute them to in-game characters. Did I try to explain this from an in game perspective? I don't fully remember. 

Quote from: Lurker Z on December 01, 2021, 07:35:21 am

And do I have your permission to discuss your first attempt at reclaiming
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
now that the results are not a spoiler anymore? Or do you have anything more to write about it than what you PM'd me?

I'm not sure if we should confuse everything by putting in those alternative timelines. There should be no specific need in this instance anyhow, since we know from later adventures. 

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on December 01, 2021, 08:41:42 am

Well, I'll try to weld something on the wiki at least, I like the idea of alternate timelines even if things get complicated.

---

I found my first creature with a cedilla (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cedilla) in its name (a gray fiend demon, but the page isn't updated with the information yet). On the note of names, does anyone notice and is bothered by the fact that demons have naming conventions more similar to elves than anything else? Do demons and forgotten beasts count as "nature"? Or what is the reason, then?

Yes, I know they're not in cahoots because demons and demon-backed civs have been killing elves without a care since the forging of the worlds, but it's strange none-the-less.

---

Witness a complete NPC demon-on-named-cave-monster battle without (as far as I know) the presence of an adventurer in the area. I'll never get enough of this living world update.

(https://i.imgur.com/sPEtfTj.png)

(Yes, that's the demon with the cedilla, Lethathicaçe.)

Also, I found a Sasquatch who died of old age, but I don't have the print at this time. I originally thought creatures like trolls were immortal, but after using this method (https://dwarffortresswiki.org/index.php/DF2014:Immortality#DFHack) (that I developed and posted there myself) to see the death age, I was surprised to see trolls don't have the -1 and instead are set to live to around 500 years. Looks like the same is for other creatures that you'd think should be immortal.

---

Quote from: AvolitionBrit on November 18, 2021, 06:02:36 pm

Also  im curious if the forgotten beast Zulen Smeareddour is still kicking around poisonuttered. From what i hear he asks alot of questions.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/BNzQQ9t.jpg)

Ah, Brit, sorry I didn't mention it at the time, I LOVED that talking ("talking") bugged/feature forgotten beast. Awesome discovery!

Quote from: Bralbaard on December 01, 2021, 07:42:25 am

That's just a game rule, as those demons are obviously overpowered. The rules are kind of meta, so there should be no reason to attribute them to in-game characters. Did I try to explain this from an in game perspective? I don't fully remember.

I don't remember any discussion about it, nor could I imagine there was a reason for it to come up. People in-story could just ignore why demigods, demons, dragons or forgotten beasts aren't roaming the world swiping valuables, crushing thousands of populations in a few days and bringing the valuables to a town in the middle of nowhere... since they have their mind full of necromancers, vampires and were-cthulhu doing those things anyway. I could just ignore it too I guess, but I wrote bits in several articles and I don't quite remember where or if I should remove them. But considering I'm trying to integrate game rules in-story, I figure someone beside me is going to ask the same question eventually. Maybe.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on December 01, 2021, 10:16:10 am

Quote from: Lurker Z on December 01, 2021, 08:41:42 am

Well, I'll try to weld something on the wiki at least, I like the idea of alternate timelines even if things get complicated.

Witness a complete NPC demon-on-named-cave-monster battle without (as far as I know) the presence of an adventurer in the area. I'll never get enough of this living world update.

(Yes, that's the demon with the cedilla, Lethathicaçe.)

Ah, Brit, sorry I didn't mention it at the time, I LOVED that talking ("talking") bugged/feature forgotten beast. Awesome discovery!

Ah yeah the demon, after getting lots of webbed beasts. I just sealed the cavern layers off. Did return when the webbed beasts got killed as my ranged squad would fight the beast 1v1. Always displayed their corpses though. Unless they melt. I would just watch that fiend. Good for culling the cavern layers.

Yeah I'm really curious about the talking forgotten beast, promise I won't kill this one. I will have to try and keep  Zulen Smeareddour locked up. Would be pretty interesting if he was just friendly and became a citizen of the walled dye. Looking at Poisionuttered they aren't living there so I assume after two years of getting information from people they left. I wonder who they was getting that information for.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Vivalas on December 01, 2021, 08:06:18 pm

I've been reading through random stories on here and this is simply awesome, please put me down if signups are open!

Also: is it frowned upon to explore a little on the current save while waiting? Obviously nothing silly like leaking metaknowledge into my runthrough-- I plan on exploring a bit far away from where I want to take a crack at this, I just want to see the world a bit, this universe is simply awesome.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: tonnot98 on December 01, 2021, 10:06:29 pm

Quote from: Vivalas on December 01, 2021, 08:06:18 pm

I've been reading through random stories on here and this is simply awesome, please put me down if signups are open!

Also: is it frowned upon to explore a little on the current save while waiting? Obviously nothing silly like leaking metaknowledge into my runthrough-- I plan on exploring a bit far away from where I want to take a crack at this, I just want to see the world a bit, this universe is simply awesome.

nah, we've had a few OOC and alternate universe explorers now, mostly to explore the saves that got erased

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on December 02, 2021, 02:31:11 am

Quote from: Vivalas on December 01, 2021, 08:06:18 pm

I've been reading through random stories on here and this is simply awesome, please put me down if signups are open!

Also: is it frowned upon to explore a little on the current save while waiting? Obviously nothing silly like leaking metaknowledge into my runthrough-- I plan on exploring a bit far away from where I want to take a crack at this, I just want to see the world a bit, this universe is simply awesome.

I'll add you to the list. Feel free to explore in your personal save game, posting on the forum topic is only for official adventures though, unless otherwise indicated.
A number of players have developed an interest in legends browsing, so we have quite some posts with background information on the world these days, which is fine as well, as long as it doesn't spoil player fortresses, or impacts the game too much.

Speaking about the "unless otherwise indicated" in the text above.. It's probably time to awaken the historians guild. We've got quite a few of adventurers that never wrote down their stories, and since people are busy with legends anyhow we could start going through them one by one?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on December 02, 2021, 09:57:57 am

Quote from: tonnot98 on December 01, 2021, 10:06:29 pm

we've had a few OOC and alternate universe explorers now, mostly to explore the saves that got erased

Hey, tonnot, great to see you're lurking around.

A little nitpick for those who didn't read the relevant parts or didn't get it: if we're talking about Gor and Tathbom, they don't take place in alternate universes, exactly. People visiting them after they got erased does, yes, but the two forts' turns remain in the save files forever. It's the sites that were erased from a later in-game saves through technical adjustments because going near them would crash the game, but the inhabitants of those two sites remain in the canon game. This is the reason tonnot encountered

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

demons

where the sites used to be, because everyone in the two sites survived (unless outright killed in-game) even though where the sites used to be is a pristine land.

Quote from: Bralbaard on December 02, 2021, 02:31:11 am

Speaking about the "unless otherwise indicated" in the text above.. It's probably time to awaken the historians guild. We've got quite a few of adventurers that never wrote down their stories, and since people are busy with legends anyhow we could start going through them one by one?

I'll need a refresher about what that's all about, I can barely vaguely remember that the Historians Guild existed as a roleplay faction, let alone what we're supposed to do in it.

Maybe add it in a spoiler tag on the main page? I CTRL+F'd "historians" and found nothing.

Quote from: Bralbaard on December 02, 2021, 02:31:11 am

A number of players have developed an interest in legends browsing, so we have quite some posts with background information on the world these days, which is fine as well, as long as it doesn't spoil player fortresses, or impacts the game too much.

I'll point out my own habits on posting what I find on Legends Browsing. Generally, I'll post anything about anyone from before the beginning of the 8th century (when the Museum was founded) if it doesn't impact current events. I'm more careful on what I post after the 8th century and if it wasn't mentioned in the thread, I post it under spoiler tags if I'm not sure if it counts as a spoiler or not.

Keep in mind the wiki I'm "curator" of as Bralbaard has described, has no policy to protect from spoilers so browse it at your own risk.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on December 02, 2021, 10:29:59 am

Quote from: Lurker Z on December 02, 2021, 09:57:57 am

Quote from: Bralbaard on December 02, 2021, 02:31:11 am

Speaking about the "unless otherwise indicated" in the text above.. It's probably time to awaken the historians guild. We've got quite a few of adventurers that never wrote down their stories, and since people are busy with legends anyhow we could start going through them one by one?

I'll need a refresher about what that's all about, I can barely vaguely remember that the Historians Guild existed as a roleplay faction, let alone what we're supposed to do in it.

Maybe add it in a spoiler tag on the main page? I CTRL+F'd "historians" and found nothing.

These were the rules the last time around, I've edited them slightly because it specifically referred to Cathar's turn at the time, I'd suggest we'd start with ionmatrix (turn 24) because nothing is written about that yet.
If people agree I could set a two week deadline and we could get started?

Rules for the historians guild

We have a number of finished adventures for which the stories have not been written down yet, and for which it is unlikely that this will happen. We had a solution for this in the first museum game: The Historians Guild!
In the current desperate times I'm calling for this guild to come back together.

So what will happen?
Everybody who wants can dive into legends mode, to write your version of the story of the selected adventurer. We might end up with many conflicting versions, but that would be part of the fun. His adventurer might even have survived somewhere, or might have deposited something at the museum.

rules (taken from the original museum game):
1) This is only about telling the history of the selected adventurer's turn, so don't dash of on your own adventures, and post about those, you'll have to wait for your own turn to do that. (you can however search through the museums stacks to see if anything was deposited there, if needed) Try to restrict yourself to legends mode for as much as possible.
2) Everybody can join, you don't have to be on the turn list.
3) No uploading of save games, this will run simultaneously with the main game.
4) You can submit your story/analysis until up to two weeks from this post, it can take any form, art, stories, be creative.

If the player who were investigating decides to return, he can post his official version, and we'll laugh about everything we got wrong.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Quantum Drop on December 02, 2021, 10:31:13 am

Quote from: Lurker Z on December 02, 2021, 09:57:57 am

I'll need a refresher about what that's all about, I can barely vaguely remember that the Historians Guild existed as a roleplay faction, let alone what we're supposed to do in it.

Maybe add it in a spoiler tag on the main page? I CTRL+F'd "historians" and found nothing.

Since Bralbaard's the one who came up with the idea, I'll quote him from earlier in the thread:

Quote from: Bralbaard on September 17, 2020, 09:13:54 am

Okay,

So we have a number of finished adventures for which the stories have not been written down yet, and for which it is unlikely that this will happen.
We had a solution for this in the first museum game: The Historians Guild!
In the current desperate times I'm calling for this guild to come back together.

For now this is only about the second part of Cathar's turn  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8147203#msg8147203)because he has already clearly indicated that he will not be able (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8172318#msg8172318) to finish the story himself. In the future it might be used on other missing stories as well, the first post in the topic mentions which stories are still in the process of being written.

So what will happen?
Everybody who wants can dive into legends mode, to write your version of the story of Cathar's adventurer. We might end up with many conflicting versions, but that would be part of the fun. His adventurer might even have survived somewhere, or might have deposited something at the museum. Note that the fist part of the adventure has already been written down  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8146802#msg8146802) by Cathar. (the writing and art is excellent)

rules (taken from the original museum game):
1) This is only about telling the history of Cathar's turn, so don't dash of on your own adventures, and post about those, you'll have to wait for your own turn to do that. (you can however search through the museums stacks to see if anything was deposited there, if needed) Try to restrict yourself to legends mode for as much as possible.
2) Everybody can join, you don't have to be on the turn list.
3) No uploading of save games, this will run simultaneously with the main game.
4) It can take any form, art, stories, be creative.

The TL;DR of it is that if you want to participate in the Historians Guild, you can dig back through Legends Mode and try to reconstruct (typically from an in-universe PoV) what happened during turns where the player never posted the story behind their character's adventures for whatever reason (such as Nogoodnames' (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8194791#msg8194791) writeup of Cathar's turn in this game, or these (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=104399.msg4469618#msg4469618) writups (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=104399.msg4480956#msg4480956) of (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=104399.msg5228899#msg5228899) various (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=104399.msg5231398#msg5231398) unfinished (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=104399.msg4857502#msg4857502) stories).

EDIT: Whoops, ninja'd by the boss himself.

EDIT2: Unrelated, but something looks to have gone funny with one of your early images (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8107135#msg8107135), Bralbaard.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on December 02, 2021, 10:39:08 am

Quote from: Quantum Drop on December 02, 2021, 10:31:13 am

EDIT2: Unrelated, but something looks to have gone funny with one of your early images (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8107135#msg8107135), Bralbaard.

Believe it or not, it is actually related. (To Ionmatrix turn that is). I uploaded the images in my first posts to some obscure chinese site by their request because of this Chinese fire wall thing. All those links however appear to be breaking down one by one over the last few weeks. I've been replacing broken links and I'll try and see if I still have an image for this one later today.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on December 02, 2021, 10:48:53 am

Quote from: Bralbaard on December 02, 2021, 10:29:59 am

-snip-
If the player who were investigating decides to return, he can post his official version, and we'll laugh about everything we got wrong.

Sounds like a mess, unless I see some good reasons in the future to change my mind, I'm likely not to participate.

Have fun to all who do.

---

The enslavement bug/feature strikes again.

(He's a giant dingo by the way. Not a giant dingo man, just a giant dingo.)

Spoiler: Click to expand image (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/0hzpwl1.png)

(Insert "he became what he swore to destroy" jokes here.)

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on December 02, 2021, 04:53:59 pm

Quote from: Lurker Z on December 02, 2021, 10:48:53 am

The enslavement bug/feature strikes again.

(He's a giant dingo by the way. Not a giant dingo man, just a giant dingo.)

Spoiler: Click to expand image (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/0hzpwl1.png)

(Insert "he became what he swore to destroy" jokes here.)

Sentient Giant dingo, these humans sure know how to imbue creatures with sentience.

Edit: I raise your Giant dingo beast hunter and give you Troglodyte priest.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/NvnJATQ.jpg)

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on December 02, 2021, 09:40:26 pm

I noticed a few of them, also a few troll priests. The "fun" part is what I call "semi-civilized" creatures, creatures that just aren't supposed to be civilized, settle down in a town, get scooped up in a religion, are all nice with the neighbors... then go on a rampage (they're not dark creatures, werebeasts, vamps, necros, etc). Then they move to another town, stay low a few years, are all nice with the neighbors... then go on another rampage. Repeat until they die.

The religions don't kick them out, they might even advance them, presumably because they become historical figures with more events, and thus "more important".

Strangely enough, "enslaved" creatures always become fully civilized and never rampage again.

---

Another thing I've noticed, regarding Puc (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Puc_Emsiemim) and Nirmek (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Nirmek_Balusen), is that they start in sewers/catacombs immediately after they start roaming a general region. This seems to be a prerequisite for being enslaved and then civilized, because I've seen no creature that went around fighting/rampaging and then get civilized. On the other hand, I only have a sample of 2 right now.

Quote from: AvolitionBrit on December 02, 2021, 04:53:59 pm

Sentient Giant dingo, these humans sure know how to imbue creatures with sentience.

A little nitpick, but sentient is most life on Earth, starting with plants. The actual word for civilized is sapience (I blame Star Wars for popularizing the misunderstanding).

Another thing regarding Puc (actual spoiler, though it's easily seen in Legends Viewer) is that

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Raki raised him as undead, so now he's a zombie giant dingo beast slayer.
I'll see what I can do with him in my turn if I get the chance.

Raki sure left some nice stuff behind even with that werebitmammoth plague he spread.

I've been wondering actually, how does a giant dingo worship two gods? Does he just howl at the moon and is acknowledged?

---

I just saw that Hannibal avenged Lurker Onecbehal. I didn't notice until now.

---

I found myself randomly browsing giant bats, thinking I'll hit the jackpot with a civilized one. Unfortunately, I found none. However, there seem to have been "failed" enslavement opportunities, with some giant bats starting directly in sewers and thus being eligible to enslavement/civilizing if that settlement had been conquered.

On another note, it's amazing that after almost a century and a half of in-game playthrough and almost 2 years of out-of-game playthrough, we're just starting to scratch the surface on what amazing creatures exist in the history of the world (it probably helps that Bralbaard isn't using Legends Viewer; Legends Mode is way too limited, compounded with the hidden history and these gems are hidden from his eyes). Hells, this might be true for Mudungudon as well, though there it's even worse because Legends Viewer really is as occluded as Legends Mode, so there are countless gems we'll never know about that took place there.

---

I haven't asked because I thought I could do it by myself, but how do you successfully claim an existing settlement in adventure mode? I didn't find much documentation on the matter, but I've seen in Legends adventurers successfully doing it several time. Do you have to say it to the old Lord/Lady's face, then challenge them? And what of settlements without inhabitants?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: fatcat__25 on December 02, 2021, 11:52:19 pm

A notification for everyone here: I finally got around to nominating this thread to the hall of legends. Keep up the crazy findings and epic stories!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on December 04, 2021, 10:00:24 am

Quote from: fatcat__25 on December 02, 2021, 11:52:19 pm

A notification for everyone here: I finally got around to nominating this thread to the hall of legends. Keep up the crazy findings and epic stories!

Thanks for the nomination, voted, we need 4 more votes if the nominator's vote isn't counted.

Page on 31st Queen Ral (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Ral_Enshaldeduk) is up, looks like she is fairly interesting even if not as much as some of her contemporaries. I haven't checked with that immortality trick (https://dwarffortresswiki.org/index.php/DF2014:Immortality#DFHack), but considering she's not 100 years old yet, she may yet have 50 years of rulership in her.

How is Tobul (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Tobul_Melbiltenshed) still alive? He's pushing 150, he's definitely the most ancient of the mortal monarchs. I've been expecting him to fall over dead for decades now.

It'd have been tragically comical if Bralbaard reached him only to remind the game that his time was overdue and Tobul died in the middle of their greeting.

kesperan, how's the game progressing?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on December 04, 2021, 11:45:21 am

I’m making progress. I’d say my adventure is 65% complete.

I might not make a new fortress, or perhaps reclaim my old one.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on December 04, 2021, 11:47:09 am

Quote from: kesperan on December 04, 2021, 11:45:21 am

I’m making progress. I’d say my adventure is 65% complete.

I might not make a new fortress, or perhaps reclaim my old one.

Glad to hear it, really looking forward to seeing what you have been up to.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on December 06, 2021, 06:58:06 pm

I have completed my adventure and I have unretired Ashcinders to try something. Unfortunately, I only have 12 dwarfs and in two years I have had no caravans and no migrants.

Any suggestions?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on December 06, 2021, 08:04:46 pm

Code: [Select]

migrants-now
Or the hard way, retire again, possess some low-rank historical dwarves from other sites and get them to yours.

It's strange that you had no migrants, Ashcinders is from Adilatír, not from the less populated civ.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on December 06, 2021, 08:57:11 pm

Migrants-now did not work, but then I got an organic migrant wave.

I also sent a messenger to the forts around me asking for workers.... two reptile men have turned up eager for work! This should be interesting.

Hope to have the turn finished up by tomorrow!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on December 07, 2021, 04:42:02 am

Quote from: kesperan on December 06, 2021, 08:57:11 pm

Migrants-now did not work, but then I got an organic migrant wave.

I also sent a messenger to the forts around me asking for workers.... two reptile men have turned up eager for work! This should be interesting.

Hope to have the turn finished up by tomorrow!

Oh nice, will be interesting for sure

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Quantum Drop on December 07, 2021, 05:11:28 am

Quote from: kesperan on December 06, 2021, 08:57:11 pm

Migrants-now did not work, but then I got an organic migrant wave.

I also sent a messenger to the forts around me asking for workers.... two reptile men have turned up eager for work! This should be interesting.

Hope to have the turn finished up by tomorrow!

IIRC migrants-now only works after you get a 'natural' migrant wave, so that might explain why it didn't work. Going to being interesting to see what you've done!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on December 07, 2021, 10:56:41 am

Quote from: kesperan on December 06, 2021, 08:57:11 pm

Migrants-now did not work, but then I got an organic migrant wave.

If it was in the span of a few in-game days after using the command, migrants-now probably worked. The command doesn't auto-teleport dwarves on your map and it makes it look like a natural wave.

Quote from: kesperan on December 06, 2021, 08:57:11 pm

I also sent a messenger to the forts around me asking for workers.... two reptile men have turned up eager for work! This should be interesting.

My preciousesssssssss. They're definitely originally from my fort, since I don't think Adilatír had reptile people in its roster before I "civilized" them.

Quote from: kesperan on December 06, 2021, 08:57:11 pm

Hope to have the turn finished up by tomorrow!

Looking forward to your story and to see what changed in the world!

Quote from: Quantum Drop on December 07, 2021, 05:11:28 am

IIRC migrants-now only works after you get a 'natural' migrant wave, so that might explain why it didn't work. Going to being interesting to see what you've done!

It was a reclaimed formerly-retired fort though, so it's arguable what the command considers the "first" wave.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on December 07, 2021, 11:13:53 pm

Yes, it is after 0400 in the morning local time and I really should be in bed, but here is the save.

It has been a wild week. I'll get started on my write up as soon as possible.

https://dffd.bay12games.com/file.php?id=15771

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on December 07, 2021, 11:43:24 pm

Ral dead.

The Omon blight, the gift that keeps on giving (us dead nobles) XD

Not much time for a larger post, looking forward to the reactions to the world update.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on December 08, 2021, 02:16:38 am

Ah I see, well I've got it downloaded at home and will start when I get back from work.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on December 08, 2021, 03:08:16 am

Quote from: Lurker Z on December 07, 2021, 11:43:24 pm

Ral dead.

The Omon blight, the gift that keeps on giving (us dead nobles) XD

Not much time for a larger post, looking forward to the reactions to the world update.

Kesperan seems to have been (at least indirectly) involved in some of the interesting events, so I'll refrain from posting right now. Looking forward to the stories.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on December 08, 2021, 04:12:26 am

It will take me a while to properly write up my story.

I don’t mind a bit of speculation from data mining legends mode in the interim. Moldath has been on quite the tour and met some interesting people…

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on December 08, 2021, 05:30:39 am

Quote from: kesperan on December 08, 2021, 04:12:26 am

It will take me a while to properly write up my story.

I don’t mind a bit of speculation from data mining legends mode in the interim. Moldath has been on quite the tour and met some interesting people…

Certainly looks like it, I have a quick question 

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Is  Zulen Smeareddour in your fort? Or is this another forgotten beast?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on December 08, 2021, 11:36:00 am

Not sure to be honest. A blob made of water with webs turned up in the third cavern layer towards the end of my save, it didn’t get into the fort. Might have been them?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on December 08, 2021, 11:40:54 am

Ah i think its just forgotten beasts, as for some reason they show up under outcasts. According to legends we have four forgotten beast outcasts in the walled dye.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on December 08, 2021, 08:11:51 pm

Interesting things with the new Queen, Tulon (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Tulon_Uleng%C3%A8zum). She was one of the original expedition that founded Eskôn and was Kikrost's lover for a time. Then I removed her out of the Hammarer position that the game automatically gave her because I didn't want any unfortunate accidents and she left a few years later. She married someone named Feb who became Baron in 825, but died just before Tulon became Queen.

What a tangled web this game weaves.

I see my turn is going to be in 2 weeks, gods I hope tonnot can do his turn so I'll have time for mine.

Quote from: AvolitionBrit on December 08, 2021, 05:30:39 am

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Is  Zulen Smeareddour in your fort? Or is this another forgotten beast?

You can always reclaim kesperan's fort and check for yourself. Legends Viewer says it is alive, at least.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on December 11, 2021, 02:41:43 pm

"Moldath II", Prologue, Turn 63

The Book of Moldath

The last twenty years had not been kind to Moldath Mournsaints the Ardent.

At some point in his adventures, he had contracted an unknown affliction – Moldath could not be sure if it came from the pestilent blood of a demon in Ironwards, or had he been cursed by some magic? He remembered fighting some strange deathly creatures with glowing eyes and spells on their lips but he needed more knowledge... for knowledge is power, and this burning desire was now what drove him. 

He had retired for a while in Crownhall, the gleaming fortress built as a seat for the kings of The Walled Dye. Days bled to months, spending his hours reading from their library alongside the many books he had himself looted and brought there. 

He spent four years in Crownhall, learning everything he could about this world of Orid Xem. He learned of the history of The Walled Dye, and of the great wars with Oddom Girdergrove and her Scholarly Manors. He learned too of the full terrible nature of the powers of undeath – necromancers gifted the secrets of life and death from the Gods of this realm could raise powerful lieutenants and these so-called “intelligent undead” were capable of wielding great magics. He himself had learned how to raise a form of these wights, and yet the powers they wielded eluded him 

Some were Dark Ones, others Gaunt Corpses or Cold Slayers. Those known as Hollow Stalkers could vanish from sight, slaughtering their terrified enemies with impunity! The ability to twist and rot the flesh of their enemies was rumoured to be within the power of Dark Ones. Others still could throw objects around with force of their thoughts. The strongest among them, Moldath learned, were those known as Fell Ones, the cursed progeny of the human god of blight, balance and death - Ala. These beings could not only use telekinesis and raise unnatural fogs, but could also parlayse their enemies with a gesture – a most fearsome power indeed. He learned as much as he could about Ala, and the secrets He had imparted. He learned of the tablet Uklasut... Frothbone... and the story of the crazed monkey Raki who had stolen this prized ancient artifact from the people of the Mong Uthros. Many thought Frothbone lost, but Moldath knew better. 

Soon enough, the nobles of Crownhall grew nervous around Moldath and the festering stench that emanated from his increasingly deteriorating rotten flesh. The foul curse had only worsened over the years. His lungs now ceased to function, and his eyesight was failing. He had outstayed his welcome amongst his kin and left before arousing further suspicion.

He learned of a new settlement that had sprung up in the foothills surrounding a new and prosperous fort, Ashcinders, far away from the lands of goblins and the prying eyes of dwarvish nobility. 

Whippedpaint was not to his liking. A small hillock clawed from the dirt. He did not like the way the others looked at him. There was nothing to read, and precious little else to do but toil in the fields and that was certainly not Moldath’s style. When the messenger from Treatyseed came by looking to round up able-bodied dwarves to head to a newly founded fortress-library on a secluded island to the far north, it sounded like a good proposition. More books meant more knowledge, and this excited Moldath. 

He arrived at Ancientknowledge in the autumn of 818, some seven years after leaving Crownhall. The dwarves there knew him as Avuz Walkgolds, a simple scholar in search of knowledge, but one who had some skills as a warrior and ranger. They were horrified at his rotten form and milk-white eyes, fearing he had been maimed by some forgotten beast. 

Moldath wailed in anger and fear as they strapped him to a makeshift table, and their amateur surgeons stripped the flesh from his body in festering chunks. The torture changed and embittered him. Why should one such as he obey the laws of these cattle? Moldath’s cruelty burned as his sight faded. And so it came to be that the rulers of Ancientknowledge began to fear the night as dwarves were found, drained of blood by the Blind Sadist. 

Eventually, Moldath was captured and his deception uncovered. He was beaten to within an inch of his life and endured another night at the hands of the tortuter-surgeon, having his ribs sewn back together. The surgeons had managed to excise most of his outer flesh and yet the rot still boiled within and the stench escaped from every cut and tear in his weakened flesh.

He was imprisoned for many months, until his clothes decayed from his body, in a deep dark mausoleum. They gave no wine or blood, but parchment and quire, and he composed two books of his own in spite of his blindness. The tone was vicious and cruel. 

Moldath swore revenge on these heathens who would beat him and chain him in the deep, and fully a dozen were slaughtered over the six years he spent in the fortress-library, his sight failed but his powers undimmed. The dwarves feared him but could not kill him and so it transpired that he was banished under the guise of making him a Baron of the Walled Dye! 

Cast out in tattered clothes, his only possession a dented copper bow, Moldath began to walk the wilds of the north of Orid Xem, formulating his plan. He would return here one day and take the books that he had authored, and the lives of any who would stand in the way of his search for knowledge and power. He knew that first he had to find the tablet Uklasut, and a useful idiot to be his pawn. 

In the lands of Mong Uthros he would find both. A religion, the Coven of Frothing, venerated both Ala and Frothbone itself and Moldath would use this knowledge to gain the power he needed to restore his sight, and rid him of his frail body. Vengeance would be his.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on December 11, 2021, 03:58:46 pm

Wow, This is a great interpretation of Moldaths years before your turn. Look forward to seeing more.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Quantum Drop on December 11, 2021, 05:13:42 pm

This is really good so far, Kesperan; I like how you're covering the gap between Moldath's initial and current adventures. Really looking forward to seeing more.

As an aside, I found out while legends-diving that being a Blighted Thrall does not prevent a living histfig from marrying the ghoul and producing a living child. That's got to be a hell of an awkward relationship...

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on December 11, 2021, 06:07:34 pm

"Moldath II", Part 1, Turn 63

The Tale of Kajeth of Distinctclashed

Kajeth Fatecrypyts was a simple man, of simple means. He was born of the Mong Uthros, the Nations of Honoring and had lived in Distinctclashed all his short life. The lands of Mong Uthros bled into the forests of the Ribiromini and washed against the coasts of the northern ocean. His clothes were stitched from the hides of sharks and the beasts that were hunted on the coast. 

He had few possessions, but what he did have was the pitted bronze sword of his late uncle, and an unshakeable belief in Ala, the God of Balance, the God of Blight, the God of Death. 

Kajeth knew little of other faiths but he knew that within the Mong Uthros things were a little different. In other cultures, the guardians of the God-given truths threw up great towers and tombs and sequestered away from the people, like shepherd and their sheep. Ala was not like this – Death and Balance come to all kin alike, and when Frothbone was granted to the venerated Lady Kasat Boltscuffles nearly eight centuries ago, it was in the town of Drillshrine, to the west, where the government still sits.

While Kasat also founded a tower of her own, Mysterydressed, it was small and meek and the holy slab was not hidden away in some tower, but among the people. Kasat herself was killed in scuffles with the elves, and the slab was kept by the people as a symbol of Ala.

This all changed of course with the rise of the damned Scholarly Manors. Oddom Girdergrove and her lackeys sent spies and thieves across the land, hoarding artefacts such as our sacred Frothbone and for a while it was lost. The necromancers and their creed stored the slab in Tunneledaction and it was sought from afar by Kajeth’s sect, the Coven of Frothing.

Many years before Kajeth was born, a stranger passed through these parts and changed the path of the Coven of Frothing forever. Frothbone was stolen from Tunneledaction, not by some religious crusade or act of war, but by a lion tamarin man, by the name of Raki Umberclan. Thereafter it was seemingly lost and the Nations of Honoring were subject to a new threat... each moon that rose was met with the howling and gibbering of monstrous mammoth-beasts. 

To some these were far-fetched tales, but to Kajeth they were a daily reminder of what had been lost. Ala had forsaken them and left them with this curse. His grandparents, Jathbe and Lide, had fallen victim to the monkey’s bite, and on the eve of each full moon it was Kajeth’s grim task to bind them with chains of silver, iron and copper, and barricade them in their stout hut. 

But his faith, like a shield, had remained undented. He knew one day a hero would reclaim Frothbone and restore it to the Coven of Frothing, and through the will of Ala, cure the weremammoth curse and drive it from Mong Uthros. And, quietly, Kajeth hoped that hero would be him. 

He was of slight build with long lank hair. He was not a strong warrior but he was equipped with a bulwark of faith that would surely see him through any obstacle. He wrote letters weekly to the Holy Raunch of the Coven of Frothing, Lubbe Cleardrank, in Releaseteachers where the Coven had their temple, beseeching them for help to launch a crusade to reclaim Frothbone. He told Lubbe that he knew where to begin. The place the locals called Monkeycurse, said to be the camp where Raki Umberclan sacrificed himself in an unholy ritual, fifty years ago. 

And one day, he was sure, Lubbe had answered his letters and his prayers. The day he met Rirdest Blackvaults the Scholar of Froth – the prophet of Ala!

Kajeth had never seen a dwarf before. It was short, like the elves who had sometimes settled in Mong Uthros, but far stockier. This one in particular was wrapped in ragged cloths, and leant on a copper bow like a strange walking stick. But what Kajeth found most strange was that this particular dwarf was enveloped by a cloud of miasma, which seeped from many open wounds in its pale, scarred body. The dwarf’s eye-sockets were empty and black and yet it stood before him, seeing him somehow. How, Kajeth thought, could this dwarf be anything other than the avatar of blight, the prophet of Ala?

Rirdest filled Kajeth’s mind with great truths, secrets and prophecies, and told him he too was touched by Ala, and bestowed upon him the name Kajeth Fatecrypts the Unholy Balance of Froth. He would, Rirdest proclaimed, be a prophet of Ala too; the avatar of balance. But first, Rirdest had a mission for him. Something important, and something that would prove his worthiness of Ala. Drunk with religious fervour, Kajeth prostated himself before the dwarf and agreed to follow him, to the ends of Orid Xem if need be. 

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Eric Blank on December 11, 2021, 06:07:40 pm

Wait, the ghoul curse doesn't add the sterile tag? That sounds like a bug report.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on December 11, 2021, 07:58:43 pm

Well that 2nd part really ties into what im up to.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on December 12, 2021, 12:09:29 am

Quote from: Eric Blank on December 11, 2021, 06:07:40 pm

Wait, the ghoul curse doesn't add the sterile tag? That sounds like a bug report.

Don't be silly, that sounds like a feature. There's nothing to report here, citizens, be on your way and rejoice at the good fortunes of the Gods bestowed upon us lowly mortals!

More seriously, the worst bug related to this must be the explosive breeding of invading necro experiments on the map. I hope that gets fixed if it hasn't already.

---

As for Moldath and Kajeth, religious pressure, oh my. Lurker was with Bikda, Kajeth is with Ala (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Ala). It's interesting to point out Ala is probably the most influential God in Orid Xem, maybe only rivaled by Avuz Thukkan (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Avuz_Thukkan), one of the three Gods I actually found that have holy cities. Ala is also worshiped by elves in mass, who are steadily moving from their forest spirit to the god of death and blight. Armok must be laughing up a storm of blood at that.

There's something I noticed of Moldath, he killed Zefon Avuztosid (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Zefon_Avuztosid), frak it, I had plans for her. I'll have to travel to Monkeycurse to read that slab (and maybe resurrect some of the dead there, if I'm not killed myself).

I have to admit though, in my subjective opinion, Moldath is coming the closest to rival Lonelythrall (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Metuganra_Pewtha) in "the most awesome adventurer of the Museum" department (Avo and Galka Linarad (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Galka_Linarad) might be on that list, too).

---

I've been looking at Eskôn, it looks like someone is listening to that letter of Kikrost's, if only in spirit, as it's starting to have void dwarves settlers in the last years. Maybe our great King Bralbaard sent word here and there that Eskôn really needs more able-bodies dwarves (and reptiles. Reptiles are good too)?

---

Is the Shelter of Adventurers working right again? Did anyone try to get there after I encountered those problems in 770?

---

I was going to make an article on Orid Xem religions. There are 1266 existing religions. The last one was created in 699, so apparently religions don't spawn anymore after World Activation. It's going to take some time to complete such a task...

I thought it'd be nice to see which religion has Holy Cities, which deity has the most religions, which settlement has the most religions started and such.

---

Bralbaard, replace "Heavenheaters the fair peace" with Heavenheathers the Fair Peace (I was wondering why I couldn't find it, then I found the typo).

---

Quote from: Lurker Z on December 02, 2021, 09:40:26 pm

[...] How do you successfully claim an existing settlement in adventure mode? I didn't find much documentation on the matter, but I've seen in Legends adventurers successfully doing it several time. Do you have to say it to the old Lord/Lady's face, then challenge them? And what of settlements without inhabitants?

Bumped for an answer.

I tried to claim Palacework with Bomrek last time, and it appears to have worked, except I couldn't retire there and had to starve. Anyone know what the issue was?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on December 15, 2021, 08:31:44 am

As you walk around the museum, you suddenly notice a new submission with a small plaque reading "Putting Goblin Knowledge to go use - Ongoing Submission". As you look to see this submission, all you see is a very bloody copy of the book Common Sense Goblins.

More soon to follow

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on December 15, 2021, 11:25:12 am

Here you go - https://dffd.bay12games.com/file.php?id=15787

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Quantum Drop on December 15, 2021, 01:02:34 pm

Quote from: AvolitionBrit on December 15, 2021, 11:25:12 am

Here you go - https://dffd.bay12games.com/file.php?id=15787

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Holy shit, I think that's the highest number of notable kills in any of the Museum games so far (definitely in this one; beat Urus' decades-long record by 1250 kills). I really do have to tip my hat to your goblin-massacring skills, Avo!

After finding that out, I can't wait to read about what happened in your turn!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on December 15, 2021, 01:49:44 pm

Quote from: Quantum Drop on December 15, 2021, 01:02:34 pm

Quote from: AvolitionBrit on December 15, 2021, 11:25:12 am

Here you go - https://dffd.bay12games.com/file.php?id=15787

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Holy shit, I think that's the highest number of notable kills in any of the Museum games so far (definitely in this one; beat Urus' decades-long record by 1250 kills). I really do have to tip my hat to your goblin-massacring skills, Avo!

After finding that out, I can't wait to read about what happened in your turn!

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

The blight took alot more

I didn't get to do as much as i wanted due to being in the office this week and then going for a date yesterday. But i managed to get some stuff done.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on December 15, 2021, 02:35:16 pm

Explanation

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

So this will be an incharacter question and answer for this week so any questions for Avolition Holyblood the Autumnal Kingdoms feel free to ask away

As you enter the museum you see a bark scorpion man, bearing many scars and missing a hand. He looks you up and down. Then approaches

Hello, the names Avolition Holyblood the Autumnal Kingdoms as well as boldspumpkins new guard for the museum. I have been around the world of Orid Xem and i know some of the dangers and plagues that blight this world. The main one being the goblins.

The goblins are responsible for the disappearence of my people and many of the worlds problems, sure their demonic masters are gone but the wounds left in this world are infected and seeping with death and destruction. Demons walk the land, the undead lose themselves and the great blight. So i was it my goal to push the goblins back, cull their numbers and give Orid Xem a chance of healing. I can answer anything you want to know about my travels, lots of interesting stories and dangers. Feel free to ask away but i think its important to tell you of Ala. If the name rings a bell it should.

Ala is the human god of death, blight and balance. He and his followers are responsible for the blight in Orid Xem, i have seen the horrors and powers first hand. I heard during my travels of a religious group of elves called The Frothy Sect, a group hundreds of years old dedicated to worshiping Ala. I hear that once a normal practicing religion was corrupted and twisted by the goblins who numbered 5,000 plus. I blew it off as exaggeration on the storytellers behalf. So i made my way to Canyonpains, the monastery. I thought i would only have to deal with atmost 20 goblins.

I was wrong....

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/HDPnhY9.png)

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/RupG4Jw.png)

In my vision i felt the presence of thousands of goblins, they were up to something, i tried to near one of the buildings and felt myself slow down. Time was wrong, the ground shaked and the walls of the building distorted. Every step i took to open the door took longer and longer. Minutes became hours, hours became days, days became weeks and weeks became months. I eventually made it to the door and thats when i saw, lots of goblins and elfs all cramped into this small building, wrestling eachover, over blood and corpse. It was sickening. They all greated my in unison and continued chanting their dark ritual.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/MozobGW.png)

I raised my sword and begun to cut into them, with each goblin death i felt myself get quicker and quicker. The goblins crocked smiles of pleasure turned to faces of panic. Something was wrong. The air hissed and crackled with arcane energy, elves and goblins rushed me and attacked me until i was out of the door way. Then the pulse came, a great burst of light shot out, i was sent flying for miles, i was unhurt having managed to land on my feet but the sheer energy and power that explosion haunted me. I needed to get stronger, quicker and smarter. Months later i did try to return but there was a barrier, it prevented me into getting in there but i could see that their were only a handful of them left. What happened to them, im not sure. I don't know what this means for the future of Orid Xem.

I will be around, making sure the museum is safe and secure. So feel free to ask me any questions about my adventures. I have plenty of stories.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on December 15, 2021, 04:05:12 pm

Ah, canyonpains.. I did not post about it, but Bralbaard passed through that site on his last adventure. The lag was truly unbearable with each step taking absolute ages. I don't now what dark magic Avolition Holyblood used to clear the site out, but the world is certainly a better place now.

spoiler:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Also I see that your turn took a deadly toll on not just the goblins but also on most other races, but there is a notable exception..

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on December 15, 2021, 04:22:21 pm

Quote from: Bralbaard on December 15, 2021, 04:05:12 pm

Ah, canyonpains.. I did not post about it, but Bralbaard passed through that site on his last adventure. The lag was truly unbearable with each step taking absolute ages. I don't now what dark magic Avolition Holyblood used to clear the site out, but the world is certainly a better place now.

spoiler:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Also I see that your turn took a deadly toll on not just the goblins but also on most other races, but there is a notable exception..

Explanation

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

So lots of them had armor and it was talking roughly a minute per an attack, i decided to leave, master the hammer and spead up the process of clearing the site. When i returned to the site, all the units were gone so at the next retire i exported legends and saw the massive population drop. Additionally the site crashed me any time after this i tried to enter it so it might need to be one to keep an eye on

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on December 15, 2021, 05:34:39 pm

"Moldath II", Part II, Turn 63

Frothbone

It takes little encouragement from Rirdest for young Kajeth to agree to set off to reclaim Frothbone for the Coven of Frothing.

Kajeth gathers his simple belongings and his uncle’s bronze scimitar, stowing them in his great white shark leather backpack, and follows the rotting Prophet.

They set off north at Rirdest’s behest. The blind seer is slow and careful and is guided by the younger man. On the outskirts of town, arrive at the monastery of Tireparches, dedicated to Ala.

This monastery is well known to Kajeth, and although it is of the Faith of Lice, not the coven of frothing, he considers it a holt place dedicated to his God. The monastery has many statues of Ala, depicted as a rotting male human, embracing his followers.

A short distance from the temple, next to one statue is a cold, ancient die of twenty sides, motionless atop a stone pedestal. Kajeth has never had the courage to test his faith in Ala but Rirdest cries that one such as he, so devout, should fear no ill will from their majestic God.

Inscribed upon the stone die are many runes, which represent tenets of the faith of Ala. Kajeth recognises Death, Mucus, Mange, Equality, Starvation, Puke... facets of balance, of blight and of death.

At Rirdest's urging, the young preacher proves his unshaken faith in Ala and rolls the icosahedral die.

The inscribed sigil reads EQUALITY - Ala in his guise as God of Balance. How fitting, cackles Rirdest, for the future Prophet of Balance. Kajeth falls to his knees in wonder, and a voice within his head whispers Ropecrafts... with a shimmer, a scimitar of blue metal appears before the statue... praise Ala!

Kajeth takes the weapon, marvelling at how light it feels in his grasp. No toolmarks on its hilt, the blade sparkling in the air. It is unnaturally sharp and sings as it dances in his hands. “Godenrigoth” murmurs Rirdest, mouthing in the dwarven tongue the name spoken to Kajeth by his God. A fine blade indeed.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/B9GzC3u.png)

It is not far north that the two travellers find their intended destination, a humble camp nestled on the north east of the Mong Uthros territory. Crabs scuttle to and fro as the waves wash upon the beach.

A foreboding squad wooden ziggurat is seemingly abandoned. Inside are roughly hewn wooden furniture, but no sign of Uklasut or indeed the strange monkey Raki Umberclan.

Searching the site carefully at the urging of Rirdest, Kajeth finds a grotesque human bone totem and at last, tumbling on the shores of the beach, Uklasut - Frothbone!

The bronze slab is incredibly heavy, and Kajeth struggles to haul it to the pyramid. He reads the words of Ala and is filled with terrible knowledge.

The sadistic dwarf grins at his deception. This useful idiot has served his purpose indeed. Casting off his robes, Rirdest stands naked atop the wooden shrine, bellowing in manic laughter. Kajeth’s face is one of confusion and terror, but he is changed from the young man who longed to be a prophet. He was now a necromancer, and the knowledge inside him whispered and corrupted his once pure heart. 

Rirdest now asks a favour of his companion – strike him down and use the knowledge he has gained, and raise him as a Fell One, in the name of Ala! 

Kajeth’s blackened heart yet quickens as he considers the request. He must accede that the Prophet has shown him the true will of Ala and, even though he feels his will faltering, he acknowledges the dwarf’s macabre wish with a solemn nod.

As night falls, Kajeth tears the throat of his prophet; gouts of rotten blood spray over the monkey's temple, and Rirdest falls to his knees. Soon, his body is still... Trembling, Kajeth gestures, and the prophet's corpse shudders and rises, a Fell One.

A laugh from his torn throat echoes around the small room - "I am Moldath Mournsaints the Ardent!"

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/iYX8K8P.png)

Kajeth realises he has been tricked and played like a fool. Drawing the adamantine scimitar, he lunges at the dwarf.

But Moldath Mournsaints is no frail prophet. With one hand, the dwarf grabs Godenrigoth and disarms the young human, and sees the fear well in his eyes.

Hefting Uklasut in his left hand, Moldath strides towards the cowering human.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/sGVGuga.png)

Moldath can see again through rotten eyes, and feels reborn in death. 

He draws his tattered rags around him and sets off once more...

---

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

OOC: The assumed identity thing seemed like a good narrative tool, but since Moldath and Kajeth were party members, Kajeth seemed to know instantly Moldath's real name...
Also, that little ball of thread next to Moldath is the cave spider sillk suture holding his ribs together, which apparently fell out of his body when he died. I love DF.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on December 15, 2021, 06:05:32 pm

"Moldath II", Part III, Turn 63

8th Galena 826

I feel different. I am now a Fell One, wielder of terrible magic. My years of exile and chastisement are over. I set off west, free of the prophets false name and now bearing Godenrigoth and Uklasut. Although I feel no guilt or pain at killing the stupid human, I will endeavour to complete his misguided quest, and return the slab to its “rightful” owner. 

A short distance away, I am ambushed by wolves, and get to practice my swordcraft. I spend a night in the hospitality of the humans of Spongypriest, a castle, but leave at dawn lest I outstay my welcome.

I chance upon a small bandit camp and the frail leader goblin does not see me as I silently choke her throat, and drain her foul blood. It feels like months since I had fresh blood and I am interested to find that my undead body still thirsts.

I travel the wildnerness for days, searching for the hamlet Releaseteachers, where Kajeth told methe Coven of Frothing are based.

11th Galena 826

Eventually, I arrive at Releaseteachers. A few humans live here, and to the north east, is the mead hall.

I open the doors and greet the lady, Lubbe Iliddirlu, keeper of the mead hall The Dangerous Blocks, and previously Holy Raunch of the Coven of Frothing. She is now the Lady of this town and a devout follower of Ala. 

I gift the slab to the lady and she is overcome with joy, and makes me a hearthperson.

She requests that I slay a night creature terrorising the town from a lair to the north, and I head out at once. I stop at the fort of Faintscuffed, and the soldiers there tell me where to find the night creature, in its lair of Shadyumbral.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/0sXqUXK.png)

I find the hatch covering the lair and creep inside. 

I spot the beast, a bleak freak, with stretched wings. It moves with uneven jerking motions. I make quick work of it with my scimitar and carve out its skull as a trophy to show Lubbe. In its den are the bones of an elf, and I make myself a nice elf bone ring.

13th Galena 826

I return to Releaseteachers and put the skull of the bleak freak Ura Sablefated the Shadows of Oblivion on display there. Lubbe grins nervously at me.

I leave and head west... I need to find a dwarven settlement for armour and clothes to replace my simple rags. The towns and castles here have only outsized human gear

Perhaps I should return to that cursed island where I was tortured and chained, to see if they have any armour I could steal. It would also be nice to claim back the scrolls I authored there... the only good memories I have of Ancientknowledge.

Late in the afternoon, I arrive at the shore of the Worshipful Jungle, and across the sea I can make out the island where I was imprisoned for so long...

I begin my long swim.

14th Galena 826

I make landfall as dawn breaks, startling a crab.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/KZ7AE63.png)

I arrive at the fort from the north, and scout the area. It all feels so different now my vision is restored.

A short while later I spot two pristine steel arrows in a neat pile. The arrows are not dwarven craft, and  look suspiciously like the steel arrows that were embedded in my body when I arrived at this prison. I take these mementoes of my past life and stow them in the great white shark leather backpack I borrowed from Kajeth. He certainly didn’t need it any more.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/aZ7x4NG.png)

The island is densely forested, and crossbow bolts are scattered around. I chance upon an outdoor farm plot growing grape vines of all things... how undwarven!

Past the farm lies the entrance to the fort, and the trade depot is packed with seeds of various fruits and an unusual number of statues depicting a small violent kobold. 

I press on through the fort and enter the library, and greet the scholars there. Some seem to recognise me, but eye me nervously. If they are perturbed by my new deathly form and sense of purpose, they do their best to not let on. I scan their faces, searching for any flicker of fear. Blind as I was, I cannot be sure which of these cowards was responsible for chaining me or beating me, and I resist the urge to slaughter them all. Above all, Dwarves are my kin, and I try to cool my burning rage. 

In the bookcases there, I spot "Life with the Wind", a beaver parchment scroll written by myself! I stow it in my pack.

Further into the fort I spot the Countess Aban Ochredrill, who seems to be reading "Mysteries of the Year", an emu parchment scroll, again written by myself when I was incarcerated here.

Wanting to avoid violence, I trade her a masterwork slate earring that I looted from a fort decades ago for the tome, which she is glad to accept.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/Q2ghUIi.png)

I spend a while reading in the library before chancing upon an artefact steel spear, just lying on the floor unguarded. Dancetorch the Past Uncertainty was wielded by a foul ettin, who lost his life in this fort. 

I slip the spear into my pack. Sadly, despite a thorough search, no dwarven armour is to be found.

I leave the fort and search the small island - and immediately I run into a huge draltha, Kawegistri, Wardedwarned! I stealthily dispatch it and butcher its gigantic corpse. I craft some draltha bone trinkets.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/jYsLsw4.png)

As I make ready to leave the island on the south beach a terrible creature emerges from the sea!

Glumsmoulders the grey fiend! An enormous scaly bison, beware its noxious secretions! It seems to be coated in some blood of a forgotten beast as it storms on to the beach.

With a flick of my wrist, the huge beast stops in its tracks, paralysed by death magic, and a single swift slash of my holy scimitar separates its demonic head from its shoulders.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/9FpjBhh.png)

Off to the west lies the mainland, and in the far distance I think I can spot a fortress, Relicward. Perhaps I will have better luck getting armour there?

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/Xtifjbw.png)

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: tonnot98 on December 15, 2021, 06:09:40 pm

My turn next? How exhilarating! I'll be able to pick up the turn tomorrow and play pretty much all week, assuming I don't die to a howling freak on day one.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on December 15, 2021, 06:33:55 pm

Very interesting to see what the blind sadist was up to. Interesting to see Ala playing an important role of late.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on December 15, 2021, 07:01:14 pm

Quote from: AvolitionBrit on December 15, 2021, 06:33:55 pm

Very interesting to see what the blind sadist was up to. Interesting to see Ala playing an important role of late.

Before your turn, The Squeezing Fords had: 563 Elves, 5054 Goblins.
After your turn, The Squeezing Fords have: 292 Elves, 0 Goblins.

Population of Canyonplains (monastery owned by The Squeezing Fords)  before you massacred it: 1 Elf, 5046 Goblins.

It seems by wiping out that monastery you singlehandedly performed an ethnic cleansing and restored the only elf civ to its previous pureblood status. Along with killing half the remaining elves on the planet.

Ala would be proud.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on December 16, 2021, 11:35:51 am

Ok, I'm still wondering about the deluge of posts after a 4 day drought, haven't read them all, just the highlights, then zig-zagging through Legends Viewer and keep finding weird things...

(https://i.imgur.com/xTiGgG3.png)

Ok, I didn't know that was a thing, let me just-

(https://i.imgur.com/zkhVwlh.png)

Wait, what? I don't remember even making a smelter, let alone destroying this...

(https://i.imgur.com/HMCsmNL.png)

Also I didn't know I had a gneiss scepter called The Immortal Cat? Gneiss, I guess...

(https://i.imgur.com/iBwxqKI.png)

Now this is just bizarre. But why is the settlement listed as abandoned? Surely it must be because even named animals aren't listed as citizens of a settlement? Maybe the brave bird died in glorious battle?

(https://i.imgur.com/O7e8BQY.png)

.
.
.

You had one job. One job, bird. What is wrong with you?!

Edit: Upon looking through Legends, I may be responsible for the game thinking he's sapient. I'm not sure if to regret it or rejoice for bringing something wonderful in the world. Also

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

he may very well be immortal until killed.

So are all the pets that passed through my fort.

No regrets.

His owner just earned an article (Medtob Kubukothil (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Medtob_Kubukothil)).

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on December 16, 2021, 01:02:21 pm

Ah, Bomrek.

When I reclaimed Ashcinders and I was struggling to attract new dwarves, I sent messengers to all the hillocks around me asking for new recruits.

Young Bomrek answered the call. Except when he arrived, it was quickly apparent that he was in fact a Guinea fowl and not a dwarf.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on December 16, 2021, 01:09:00 pm

The year is 78390 almost all record of civilazation is gone, those that remain are few and spread across the war torn land, undead fester and swarm on any life in sight. No one really knows what was in the past, all that is know to have survived those times are the great feathered ones, ancient creatures that have walked the lands for thousands of years.

One of them

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/2tOxAhg.jpg)

Edit - Oh so there are two Bomreks who are both immortal pet birds

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on December 16, 2021, 02:34:28 pm

Quote from: kesperan on December 16, 2021, 01:02:21 pm

Young Bomrek answered the call. Except when he arrived, it was quickly apparent that he was in fact a Guinea fowl and not a dwarf.

That post made me laugh for a minute. Then I re-read it and laughed another minute. Well done. I can almost imagine the look on your face: "Hello there, brave Bomrek! Welcome to... uh... you're not a dwarf... question mark?"

That's not the only "sapient" animal that arrived at your place, though they were probably overwhelmed by the "true" arrivals.

Spoiler: Not a spoiler, large image (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/O3F2JD1.png)

Oh Gods, what have I done?

Quote from: AvolitionBrit on December 16, 2021, 01:09:00 pm

The year is 78390 almost all record of civilazation is gone, those that remain are few and spread across the war torn land, undead fester and swarm on any life in sight. No one really knows what was in the past, all that is know to have survived those times are the great feathered ones, ancient creatures that have walked the lands for thousands of years.

One of them

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/2tOxAhg.jpg)

Edit - Oh so there are two Bomreks who are both immortal pet birds

I have to wonder what Bralbaard as our appointed Game Master equivalent is thinking right now, between the undead plague that hits Ilrallenod every time an adventurer gets close to the capital (starting with his own character) and the immortal animals that are running around the world founding settlements, if he's laughing his belly off or crying rivers of blood for what the world has become. I hope it's the former, to be honest.

---

I keep looking and it appears The Most Sin is turning into quite the Matriarchy, with 3 out of 3 female Masters after the demon lord's death.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Quantum Drop on December 16, 2021, 04:25:54 pm

Spoiler: potential mild spoilers (click to show/hide)

Huh, looks like the latest walking genocide to hit Orid Xem also took out Ashro Scufflegrowls the Slick Bends of Ivy and Bolan Quickpainted the Good Uncle (past adventurers, both turned into IntUndead). Wonder what the story behind that is?

---

Quote from: Lurker Z on December 16, 2021, 02:34:28 pm

That's not the only "sapient" animal that arrived at your place, though they were probably overwhelmed by the "true" arrivals.

Spoiler: Not a spoiler, large image (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/O3F2JD1.png)

Oh Gods, what have I done?

Something wonderful. :P

More seriously, though, the fact that immortal birbs are suddenly showing up to found settlements and may survive longer than most adventurers comes off as side-splittingly hilarious to me. Only in DF could this sort of thing happen.

---

Quote from: Lurker Z on December 16, 2021, 02:34:28 pm

I keep looking and it appears The Most Sin is turning into quite the Matriarchy, with 3 out of 3 female Masters after the demon lord's death.

It is pretty interesting, yeah; in addition to their last three masters, their current leadership is all female (barring two male members, both recently appointed). Amusingly enough, one of the two is also a Blighted Thrall spawned from Kosoth's rampage, which has got to make for some hilariously awkward leadership meetings.

EDIT: In other news of rulerships, the Realm of Silver was once ruled by a kobold, of all things, during the early years of Orid Xem.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: tonnot98 on December 16, 2021, 05:29:20 pm

I gotta say, unretire-anyone can make for some interesting adventurers. Who's ready for granny Urist?

2 Opal, 831

I am Urist Ironhale, a lowly merchant of the newly founded hillocks of Granitehoods in the hinterlands of Emeraldcrown. This journal marks the beginning of my journey. Our expedition leader had been given a mission from the king, Tobul Tomeschance, to investigate the various fortresses and dwellings of our neighbors in The Walled Dye. When discussing with the hillocks about who should go, I volunteered. My husband had died peacefully a few months ago, and I've been restless ever since. I've not much tying me here any more, and I figure going out and seeing the world would be a rather relaxing endeavor. The townsfolk have given me their condolences and well wishes, but now I only wish to leave. I've been given a writ of acquisition to take to Emeraldcrown and gather some supplies for the journey. I do hope the weather finds me well!

I made my way to the fortress, but it doesn't seem like they've gotten migrants in a while. Many of the original architects that built this wonderful place had either emigrated or died of old age. It feels like that might be my fate soon after my adventures conclude, I spent 142 years alive, and it doesn't feel like I've got many left. I met with the commander Asen of the supposedly fearless Jaguar warriors, though there's no longer any people for him to command. I showed him my writ and he led me to the stocks, providing me with food, alcohol, a bone helmet and even one of the Jaguar's own obsidian swords! I thank him profusely for the honor, and ask where I should go first. He suggested I head south, Crownhall has been attracting many migrants and many other fortresses lie that way. Though he warned that I should find some merchants and dress more warmly before I decide to trek through the Tundra of Heroes.

I decided to stay the rest of the day at the fortress, chatting with the folk that live there, reading the literature, indulging in some of the food that they had, and even learned how to operate the furnaces and used some of their over-abundance of gold to make myself a pretty earring. Of course, I pray to Duthnur the Cradled, god of fortresses while I'm here. I could think of no better shrine to his name than the glory that is Emeraldcrown.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on December 16, 2021, 05:37:14 pm

Quote from: Quantum Drop on December 16, 2021, 04:25:54 pm

Spoiler: potential mild spoilers (click to show/hide)

Huh, looks like the latest walking genocide to hit Orid Xem also took out Ashro Scufflegrowls the Slick Bends of Ivy and Bolan Quickpainted the Good Uncle (past

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

This will be my incharcter response

Ah so you wonder what happened to those two well. Not my own work but during my travels i did encounter these two former adventurers. Made me realise that undeath isn't stable and that some come back incomplete whilst others seem to slowly lose themselves. A prime example to me was Moldath whom i meet at his new place, seemed to display some truely distrubing items. When i went to talk to them, they stood silent and unspeaking. He didnt move a muscle, just stood still the entire time i was there. But oh yeah those two whilst not the adventurers i made the mistake with, i did put an end to them. I didnt realise it was Ashro until further research but it was during the harsh winter of 829. This was after my exploits at Herograves, i thought it was a great way to help the world. Bring back the adventurers of old to fight the horrors of this world.

I didn't realise i was creating them.

Ashro approached me in feral state, i assumed he was just another undead, it wasn't until i encountered Lurker that i realised maybe they aren't all there. I mean they didn't look exactly the best. I recall Arcturus' neck dripped with puss. He wasn't skeletal as described. But thats not what you want to hear about.

I put Ashro and Lurker down during that winter, they were feral and lost who they were. 

The snail man i recognised, his silhouette in the late afternoon. During another winter. I was confused at first as he had been dead for years. He approached slowly as we crossed paths, he jerked to face me. His blank stare flickered into that of clarity. He looked around, confused before he shakely grasped his head. Rotted sludge dripped from his eyes and he attacked me. I put him down too. Picked him up and carried him back to Herograves. The good uncle needed rest, its part of the reason im guarding the museum now. I worry that any moment a undead might lose themselves and attack fellow adventurers. I don't know what Arcturus or Pictham are up to or if they are still or even themselves.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on December 16, 2021, 07:02:30 pm

You came to my house and stole my nice goblin hair crown, you gosh-darned varmint.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on December 16, 2021, 08:27:53 pm

Quote from: kesperan on December 16, 2021, 07:02:30 pm

You came to my house and stole my nice goblin hair crown, you gosh-darned varmint.

Oh yeah, borrowed that. Before i saw you upstairs. Will return it before the blind sadist wrath befalls me. On that note. Sign me up for another turn pls

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on December 17, 2021, 01:12:40 pm

Quote from: Quantum Drop on December 16, 2021, 04:25:54 pm

In other news of rulerships, the Realm of Silver was once ruled by a kobold, of all things, during the early years of Orid Xem.

Well, yes, Edu (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Edu_Kemusthothil) has an article since March. He also appointed 2 kobold cabinet members. What led to his rise also led to his downfall, that is rampant rampaging megabeasts during the 1st century (where many megabeasts had 4 destroyed settlements to their name. Each. In the 1st century alone).

Quote from: Quantum Drop on December 16, 2021, 04:25:54 pm

Spoiler: potential mild spoilers (click to show/hide)

Huh, looks like the latest walking genocide to hit Orid Xem also took out Ashro Scufflegrowls the Slick Bends of Ivy and Bolan Quickpainted the Good Uncle (past adventurers, both turned into IntUndead). Wonder what the story behind that is?

Hmm, Elderssins, Zurzolak, it rings bells. If you look at it in Legends Viewer, it has 90 named deaths for a relatively history-less place and the most history happened after the founding of the Museum. There was an insurrection in 706 and another in 754. It seems whenever an adventurer passes through, insurrections happen.

Quote from: Quantum Drop on December 16, 2021, 04:25:54 pm

Amusingly enough, one of the two is also a Blighted Thrall spawned from Kosoth's rampage, which has got to make for some hilariously awkward leadership meetings.

My headcanon on the blight is that it can lay dormant for decades or maybe centuries until surfacing. Certainly, blighted individuals travel without tipping off (or infecting) anyone until they run into an adventurer. The blight lay dormant in Treatyseed for literal decades until Bralbaard triggered it by going near the place. An important question is if the blight makes unloaded characters immortal or if they just die of old age, and if the latter, if their bodies can still infect other creatures when an adventurer stumbles in the general vicinity.

---

I do feel the need to explain my actions regarding immortal animals (and dwarves, but that might come later). My initial idea was to make my fortress' dwarves immortal, if only to track which of them survived the world. I suspected dwarves would leave my fortress from time to time and arrive at others' fortresses and I wondered that if the game lasts for another century or two, there would be overseers who would suspect the immortal dwarves of being night creatures and the misguided actions they'd take to find out. It was then that I would have admitted to my actions. What I had not expected was how many and how fast the dwarves would leave my fort. Also, many of them did not survive the... tender caresses of other overseers. Though I might try to "remedy" that...

This extended to pets for a much more innocent reason: I just didn't want the dwarves to have negative thought when I, so naively, believed that they'd take their pets with them.

In-character, it was a prelude to showing Kikrost was doing necro-adjacent experiments without actually being a necro. I have a bit of a storyline lined up for him and the overseer of Newworld.

Interestingly enough, with the dwarves I made immortal more or less dying in droves, they won't affect population that much (which is still abysmal compared to goblins and even humans), so I'm comfortable in continuing this, if the people have no objections.

The -1 birth date is a Legends Viewer bug, since I'm certain the pets have a date of birth listed in vanilla DF, so don't mind that.

Spoiler: Off-topic (click to show/hide)

Auto-correct replacing necro with negro. Keep it classy, AC.

Quote from: AvolitionBrit on December 16, 2021, 05:37:14 pm

it wasn't until i encountered Lurker that i realised maybe they aren't all there

Wait whaaaaaaaaaaaaat?!?! This is news to me. I was brought to Herograves and raised as undead?! I was planning to assault Thillecit, cleanse it of all goblin (and possibly all life) and reclaim the body. Kikrost would have been apoplectic in not finding it. This might just change some things. Thanks for the heads-up.

Quote from: AvolitionBrit on December 16, 2021, 05:37:14 pm

its part of the reason im guarding the museum now. I worry that any moment a undead might lose themselves and attack fellow adventurers

This reminds of the joke about the gravekeeper clobbering a zombie over the head and putting him back into the grave with the parting words: "We might joke and laugh, but no leaving the premises."

Quote from: kesperan on December 15, 2021, 06:05:32 pm

I leave the fort and search the small island - and immediately I run into a huge draltha, Kawegistri, Wardedwarned! I stealthily dispatch it and butcher its gigantic corpse. I craft some draltha bone trinkets.

What a sad fate for a forgotten beast slayer (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Kawegistri).

Loved the rest of the story, now it makes sense why the adventurer in your save got killed... by a former adventurer.

Quote from: Quantum Drop on December 16, 2021, 04:25:54 pm

More seriously, though, the fact that immortal birbs are suddenly showing up to found settlements and may survive longer than most adventurers comes off as side-splittingly hilarious to me. Only in DF could this sort of thing happen.

In a living world, it's not that broken. The next time that settlement is sieged, the goose/rooster/wonder-pig/w/e will be on the battlements fighting 1 vs. 1 against creature well above their weight class in all meanings of the term. Also, even with a benevolent overseer, they might just die of lack of grazing, an enemy or just wondering around where they shouldn't.

The real risk I see in this is they'll keep breeding, if that wonder-pig is any example, and will fill the historical figures list with unnamed animals, clogging the world more and more.

Though I look forward to the first former pet-turned noble/Lord/Baron happening. Now that would be both epic and hilarious. And more power to it that it can barely be considered modded, since it's just using inbuilt DFhack commands.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on December 17, 2021, 05:28:19 pm

I totally forgot to ask for a new turn for myself too.

Add me to the list, Former-King Bralbaard!

(I hope to get rest of my story up before Christmas - still have pages of notes and 20+ pictures to go through...)

Also... intriguing start Tonnot98!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on December 18, 2021, 01:55:59 pm

Quote from: Lurker Z on December 16, 2021, 02:34:28 pm

I have to wonder what Bralbaard as our appointed Game Master equivalent is thinking right now, between the undead plague that hits Ilrallenod every time an adventurer gets close to the capital (starting with his own character) and the immortal animals that are running around the world founding settlements, if he's laughing his belly off or crying rivers of blood for what the world has become. I hope it's the former, to be honest.

It's perfectly balanced.  I think the world needed a happy tale about immortal sentient pets, to balance out all the undead plagues you mention.
I still think we need to be a bit carefull with dfhack scripts, even though the unexpected side effects for this one have turned out to be mostly harmless and entertaining.   

I'll update the turn list, I'm happy we have a good group of active players here. I'm looking forward to whatever surprises this world will cough up next. 

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on December 18, 2021, 02:44:04 pm

You have to admit, this was unexpected. And I saw and still see no way this could break the game. I may be wrong, but it felt pretty harmless to me (though I'd have yoke on my face if the game crashed when one of those immortal creatures visited a settlement... glad that didn't happen).

Another reason I thought that was harmless is because I didn't completely invent that trick from nothing. I took a look at immortal creatures (elves, goblins, vampires etc.) and they have the exact characteristics I gave the dwaves and pets. So from what I knew, it shouldn't have gone wrong (I obviously didn't expect the unnamed breeding spam though).

But I'm glad I could lighten people's day, though not how I was expecting. Let's see how many survive this plague, night creature, goblin and war ridden world. Better to have a shot at immortality than dying of old age, at least.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Maloy on December 18, 2021, 05:32:12 pm

I'd be interested in trying this out finally!
(presuming my turn would start at least by January, December is a no-go for me)

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on December 18, 2021, 05:47:22 pm

Quote from: Maloy on December 18, 2021, 05:32:12 pm

I'd be interested in trying this out finally!
(presuming my turn would start at least by January, December is a no-go for me)

You should be good, considering it would take 7 of the eight people ahead of you to delay or cancel to make your turn in December. Welcome to the Museum

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: TheFlame52 on December 18, 2021, 08:41:56 pm

The thing is, the unnamed breeding spam happens anyway. If a dwarf talks to an animal, there's a chance it becomes a historical figure. Children of historical figures are historical figures themselves. Only extinguishing the family line can stop unnamed pigs from filling legends mode.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Eric Blank on December 18, 2021, 11:26:24 pm

You mean we shouldn't be having chats with random cows?

Fortress mode also produces extra historical animals.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on December 19, 2021, 05:36:58 am

Well, in Ashcinders we have more grizzly bears than dwarves.

I discovered that I could request them from the Pet tab of the Omin Obin caravan. And they breed quickly.

Grizzly bear bone crafts are nice earners, they can be war trained, and who wouldn’t want a nice bath with some grizzly bear soap?.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: TheFlame52 on December 19, 2021, 01:26:16 pm

Quote from: kesperan on December 19, 2021, 05:36:58 am

Well, in Ashcinders we have more grizzly bears than dwarves.

I discovered that I could request them from the Pet tab of the Omin Obin caravan. And they breed quickly.

Grizzly bear bone crafts are nice earners, they can be war trained, and who wouldn’t want a nice bath with some grizzly bear soap?.

How did that happen? If you look at Omon Obin's animal training tab, what are grizzly bears listed as?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on December 19, 2021, 01:30:00 pm

When running ancient knowledge, it was a nightmare. All the barons and counts that live their are constantly making demands.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Eric Blank on December 19, 2021, 05:44:00 pm

Human civs in recent versions occasionally domesticate wild animals that inhabit their surroundings. Nowhere near to the effect of elves, but it's not at all uncommon to find all the local bird species and vermin, plus things like bears, foxes, coyotes, deer and elk and so on in their list to order, if they have a noble you can place orders from.

Grizzly bears are a cool find. Last private game I played I got black bears and wolves.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on December 20, 2021, 04:11:51 am

Quote from: Maloy on December 18, 2021, 05:32:12 pm

I'd be interested in trying this out finally!
(presuming my turn would start at least by January, December is a no-go for me)

You're added to the list. With an average of about one week per turn you should be fine.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on December 20, 2021, 08:53:33 am

Quote from: Eric Blank on December 19, 2021, 05:44:00 pm

Grizzly bears are a cool find. Last private game I played I got black bears and wolves.

Omon Obin humans had grizzlies and black bears. Grizzlies only take 1 year to reach maturity, and they have a x3 pet modifier. I bought out whole caravans with *grizzly bear bone figurines*.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: tonnot98 on December 20, 2021, 10:50:12 am

(https://imgur.com/pqhO7OC.png)
Making a fortress now, I'll be done with the save by Thursday...

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on December 20, 2021, 03:29:50 pm

Quote from: tonnot98 on December 20, 2021, 10:50:12 am

(https://imgur.com/pqhO7OC.png)
Making a fortress now, I'll be done with the save by Thursday...

Oof, another soul lost to the cold

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: BluarianKnight on December 20, 2021, 04:39:57 pm

Sign me up for another turn.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on December 20, 2021, 05:20:23 pm

"Moldath II", Part IV, Turn 63

15th Galena 826

It is night fall when I arrive on the outskirts of Relicward and a cool breeze blows from the east. I spot a square low-walled keep squatting over a small brook. There is no obvious way in, although I eventually find an mpassable drawbridge.

Scattered far and wide are fantastic crafts of every kind, and I quickly find some well-made steel armour. And wine! Beer! Alcohol touches my dead lips for the first time in years and I feel some semblance of life again. I help myself to a barrel of rum.

Having found no other means to enter, I slip into the brook and swim under the walls, before making my way down the central stairway. Inside are great rooms and crafting halls but not a single living soul. I find what disturbingly appears to be a shrine to Dreamypuzzled the Tenebrous Obscurity, the demon.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/28vWr6I.png)

Delving yet deeper I see a few demon corpses, with a thick layer of dust. These creatures have been dead for decades but their presence might explain why this place has been abandoned to ruin. Finally I chance upon the admantine shaft the the hellspawn must have escaped from. Claw marks and demon filth are all I find there. I do not find a single living dwarf.

Now armoured in fine steel, I retrace my steps back to the entrance and head back towards the island of Moistening, and Ancientknowledge.

16th Galena 826

After a long swim, I arrive back on the shore of the Luxurious Swamp, and follow the coastline south east.

A short while later, I stumble into a goblin bandit camp, and the leader is wearing some finely crafted gear, including a masterwork bronze shield.

I relieve him of it.

17th Galena 826 

The journey south east continues, interrupted by occasional bandits. Soon I arrive at Atticmuffins, erstwhile capital of Mong Uthros.

I have heard rumours that this place has been infiltrated by the goblins of the Most Sin... I sneak into the keep and see many goblins, and even a monstrous troll claiming the pretence of being members of the human nobility... I slay them all, taking care not to kill the humans who rightfully own these lands.

I make my way to Drillshrine, and slay as many goblins as I can find.

Hopefully, removing the cancer of goblinhood from the proud Mong Uthros will help restore some honour to this place. Wiping the goblin filth from my sword, I head westward to Shiptrails, a rumoured dwarven fort. I am suddenly ambushed by howling freaks! Shedim Tunneldust the Night of Dusk and Spos Tombburial the Shady both fall to my sword.

18th Galena 826

I arrive at Shiptrails just after dawn. It seems to be a small, compact fort and the first faces I see are elf merchants.

I do find a militia commander, and some fresh corpses, who remain not very chatty despite being raised as fell ones. I find little treasure or conflict here, and move on.

19th Galena 826 

To the east, the tiny tower of Mysterydressed is empty and there are no books to read. This is where Frothbone should have come, had its owner not been so incompetent.

I head north. In Trammeledjudges there is a small keep, with a few books but little else. I spot a sparkling blue star sapphire tome entitled “Mastering the Elf”, and cannot resist pocketing it.

No foes are to be found here but on the outskirts of town is what appears to be an elven camp! Could these be displaced refugees? More likely, a warband from the Ribiromini come to sack Trammeledjudges! I investigate and within the hemp tents find a ringleader and his Hand of Planegifts retinue - all have strange titles; members of the queen's government? Military commanders? If they are here, then perhaps the Dark Queen could be here too. 

I know from my time studying in the libraries of Crownhall and Ancientknowledge that the queen of the elves is a Dark One, raised into undeath by Thranan Echohails, a disciple of the evil necromancer Oddom Girdergroves. None can surely know her true allegiance, but many heroes have tried to end her life. King Bralbaard himself set off on a mission to seek diplomacy with the Dark Queen but could not find her... 

Suddenly, emerging from a tent a short distance to the north, I spot pale skinned elf of regal bearing - Queen Vafice Lutecover!

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/1nrNpUh.png)

She is thin yet muscular and possessed of glowing unnatural eyes. I know at once she is like me – a wight. Dark Ones are spellcasters; I must be wary. 

I leap at the dead queen with my scimitar raised. Suddenly I am thrown from my feet as she gestures with her bony hands. She has powerful magic indeed. I am launched through the air like a rag doll and land with a thud, my steel armour sparking on the cold earth.

Her Planegift retinue descend upon me as I scramble to defend myself - scaled beasts with wings and claws who have allied themselves with the Dark Queen. Vafice is not the only undead sorcerer - I too know magic, and paralyse her with a gesture.

Amazingly, she quickly shrugs off my spell and sends my flying once more. We trade blows in close combat, neither tiring or backing off. 

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/dplcRho.png)

With a final arc, Godenrigoth slams into her head, lodging deep and cleaving her ancient skull asunder. I discern the faintest look of surprise as the eldritch forces which animate her dissipate. She falls to the ground like a puppet bereft of strings, the necromantic energy sustaining her broken by my blade. 

I take her mangled skull as a trophy, it will be a fitting counterpoint to the star sapphire book Mastering the Elf and, as I grin to myself, would make a wonderful Museum submission!

The progeny of Thranan Echohails lies defeated, but what of the necromancer himself? From what I know, there are still some of Oddom Girdergroves apprentices abroad in these parts, even if they have denounced their membership of the Scholarly Manors. 

I decide to investigate a few of the towns nearby rumoured to have harboured these necromancers in the past.

21st Galena 826

I arrive at Orbsnarled, to the south, at dusk.

The keep is oddly quiet, with no souls in sight. I search the town for clues and find, in a shrine to the east, the entrance to a complex maze of tombs under the city. Ancient skeletons line the walls of this sewer, and I spot the corpses of some strange beasts as well. 

A tall human woman gasps in surprise as I swing a door open in his face. She appears gaunt and ageless. Thranan Echohails the Rapidity of Helms. Despite her great age and power, she is no match for my skill or the sharpness of Godenrigoth. Thranan was a devout worshipper of Rogon the Umber, who cursed me as a vampire and I take satisfaction in harvesting her skull.

A short distance later I find cowering in the dark an ancient and dishevelled dwarf. Cerol Basinbolt the Pleated! This necromancer was Oddom Girdergrove's only apprentice, and for nearly eight hundred years had terrorised the civilisations of Orid Xem. As the last of his foul blood gurgles in his ruined throat he whispers of Zefon, his own apprentice, cowering in a hovel to the south. Zefon it seems was the master of Thranan, each passing on the knowledge of Oddom Girdergrove to the other. 

There is one more necromancer in the lineage of Oddom and Zefon is her name. I find her lair eventually near the outskirts of Filledfastened. Despite my torture she will not give me any information.

I take her skull too as a trophy, and surely now the lineage of the Scholarly Manors is over.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/E3u517Y.png)

22nd Galena 826

I head westwards towards the narrow peninsula at the base of the Quick Steppes, towards the fabled bridge of Razorbridge. The bridge itself is most impressive, and within no time I am in the Jungle of Dents.

To the south lies the vast expanse of human and dwarven civilisation I remember from my previous journeys. My first stop is the allegedly abandonded tower of Passionspirals.

As I approach the tower, there are many creatures on the march, and I stumble into an enormous troll recruit, and a strange black-winged creature spitting globs of magma... what madness is this?

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/JTOrJTx.png)

The tower complex is large and sprawling but seems devoid of intelligent life. 

More magma crabs are wandering the low structures and inside the main tower are some mangled crundle corpses, but no sign of any necromancers. I spend a day reading, but learn no new secrets.

I am accosted by a giant cave crocodile as I leave, and practice bone crafts on its corpse.

23rd Galena 826

In Ghoulcreek, I meet Ketas Indigovaulted. He is not interested in chatting. Within the camp is an iron sarcophagus, containing the mangled partial skeleton of Kosoth Salvesank. This ghoul, under the direction of the necromancer Ketas, is responsible for infecting the nobility of Treatyseed and the court of Omon Obin with what is now known as the Omon Blight.

The body of Kosoth is too damaged to raise into unlife.

I resist the urge to attack Ketas, respecting the rule of King Bralbaard that other adventurers of the museum are to be unmolested.

I head towards Ghoulspray, a dark pit, and slay some goblins to vent my frustration.

24th Galena 826

I continue through goblin territory, finding many encampments with soldiers, and occasional blighted thralls. They all fall to my blade.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/SiaKmhb.png)

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/sJXd0Eg.png)

The Dark Fortress Horrornut appears before me, teaming with goblins. I sneak through the fortress towards the spire, finding many goblins, trolls and beakdogs, who are quickly slaughtered.

I fight my way through waves of goblins as I ascend the tower, and in the great throne room sits the goblin leader, Olngo Crestwraiths the Everlasting Loves, lady of The Comedic Wickedness – the sect of the Knowing Deceiver who rule Horrornut and the thousands of goblins who reside within its dark walls. 

She immediately panics and tries to run, but I am too fast. I grasp her evil throat and strangle her, before feasting on her blood.

The foul goblin regains consciousness but refuses to yield. Despite losing her tongue, nose, hands, ears, to the Blind Sadist’s torture she still blazes defiance.

Finally, I strangle her to death and raise her as a mindless zombie, whereupon she is set upon by her own troll retinue. I take her masterwork goblin hair crown, and bestow the name Crestwraith the Death of Rulers upon it, and leave the tower awash with blood.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/Bw7UlSy.png)

Fighting my way out is relentless... waves of goblins and trolls pour into the spire to avenge their fallen lady, and I am caked in the gore of scores of greenskin filth.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/jhMxjIL.png)

Leaving the trenches of Horrornut awash with goblin gore, I head west to the small fort I can see nearby; what hardy dwarves struck the earth in the shadow of this Dark Fortress?

Lashjade is built on a towering mesa above a confluence of three rivers, with sheer cliffs joined by precarious bridges. At the entrance to the fort, I meet the hammerer Dobar, who cries out that the armies of Egu Craftlenses march upon Lashjade. 

I try to tell him that the demon lord was vanquished years ago, but he runs off in a panic.

The manager Vucar is also convinced that the demon is on the march, after insulting the smell of my rotten flesh. I leave Lashedjade and its babbling fools and continue my journey south west.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/PxJwW93.png)

25th Galena 826 

While travelling in the wilderness I come across a most curious sight. A headless dwarf gaunt zombie wandering aimlessly through the forest.

He is unsurprisingly unable to converse with me. He does not seem hostile, and so I let him continue his wandering unmolested.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/MjOT3Xy.png)

A short travel to the south and I arrive at a spectacular fort off the main road, which appears to be constructed of green glass, the whole structure hanging precariously over a bubbling volcano. Emeraldcrown!

The architecture is truly astonishing. On a gantry above the volcano is a series of cages - no doubt the dwarves here fed the volcano a steady diet of goblinflesh.

The well-appointed tavern is furnished with green glass tables and chairs, and a well-stocked cellar, to which I help myself. My undead body no longer requires nourishment, but it still craves the warmth of dwarven alcohol!

Strangely, there are a number of human mercenaries here, and even a goblin. I find some masterwork red woolen socks, but little evidence of monsters to slay. I continue my journey.

I soon arrive at Shieldflares, a dwarven fortress full of humans.

26th Galena 826

To the south lies Shotgleeful, an old fort which appears at first glance to be abandoned.

On entering, however, I spot some tracks which suggest I am not alone here... Delving further, I find thick webbing strands all over the hallways. This beast is a webspinner.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/XvQVT9Y.png)

Soon I hear it lumbering towards me down the stairs! Thol Zebermuz Merrang, a huge one-eyed therapod. Beware its webs! There appear to be webbed cage traps around the stairwell; if the beast steps on one, it will be trapped.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/AfqRQp4.png)

It does not yet seem to spot me, and I unsheath my sword. With a flick of my wrist it is paralysed, and a single sword stroke beheads it.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/5pKaev7.png)

I carve a masterwork forgotten beast bone ring to commemorate my first kill of a primordial beast of the deeps.

I explore the remainder of the fort and find no other living souls. In the cavern layers deep in the heart of the fort are a number of scattered weapons and armour, and one item catches my eye.

Ringedwires, a thin bright metal prong - surely a divine weapon. I have never seen such a strange implement, it is truly tiny and must be quite useless in combat. The metal is warm to touch and glows with a strange luster; this is truly a unique find.

I leave Shotgleeful and head south east, across the vast mountain range. 

27th Galena 826

The trek over the mountain is uneventful, and I arrive at Craftblow. This curious dwarf fortress in the foothills has a road which leads directly to goblin territory, the dark pit of Hexwaxed.

Within its depths I am accosted by serpent people, their blowdarts patter off my masterwork steel armour. I travel along the road to Hexwaxed and am accosted by dingoes. I use a cave crocodile bone figurine to kill them.

Hexwaxed is brimming with goblin soldiers. I thin their ranks. One poor goblin gets my adamantine scimitar lodged in the ragged remnants of his scrotum.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/LgY5qGn.png)

I take a rather fetching gremlin leather cloak and head west, to the infamous tower Heroicgem, and at first it appears deserted.

Inside I find the corpse of Oddom Girdergrove and a huge number of artefact weapons, for some reason mostly crossbows, that she gathered over her centuries of unlife. I take a masterful steel warhammer.

As I turn to leave, a human appears. It is Pobe Cooktempted, human master Dark One, current leader of the Scholarly Manors.

Like Vafice Lutecover, he is a dark one who knows telekinetic magic. I battle him in the tower, standing over the corpse of his master.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/0VXZK3w.png)

We both blast each other with our dark spells, but he is no match for the razor edge of Godenrigoth, and he falls. 

I leave the skulls of Zefon, Cerol and Thranan there as a reminder of the terrible reign of the Scholarly Manors, and leave Heroicgem.

28th Galena 826

To the south west are a few abandoned human hamlets, and then I chance upon the castle Wispygroups, which is well garrisoned.

Within the keep I find a scroll entitled "Commentary on Immortality" - I am unsure how this item arrived here, but by reading it I learn how to raise Dark Ones. It was written by a necromancer I have never heard of, Gel Moistnessesteems and I suspect it originated in Heroicgem.

I continue towards the mountain range, where Treatyseed lies, capital of the Walled Dye. I bump into a dwarf gaunt zombie, Solon Sculpturebells. He is covered in the blood of several creatures, including Goden Charmkey the Gates of Mightiness, a known necromancer.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/KFa4NrA.png)

I assume that Solon has killed Goden and thus done the Walled Dye a great favour. Solon is not interested in chatting, and seems in a hurry to be somewhere else.

I arrive at Treatyseed at nightfall to sounds of battle. The Baron of Copperluck is being torn to shreds by blighted thralls!

A terrified Sacred Evenness tries to escape, as no less than 9 blighted thralls roam the trade depot. I draw Godenrigoth and prepare to perform my civic duty.

I spot the corpse of the legendary vampire Asmel Minepass to the north west of the fort entrance, responsible for many of the vampires of this world.

I must cleanse Treatyseed of the Blight brought here by Kosoth Salvesank. I head into the fort and see a strange sight - ant men and women, fighting thralls of their own kind. A queen ant woman spearman blighted thrall is struck down and surrounded by a great deal of blood, human blood.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/ARD651X.png)

This human is either a thrall himself, or a brave hero. Their tracks lead south. I do not find the human easily, and venture further. 

More clashes between ant men and blighted thralls ensue, and more than once, the ant people are twisted into blighted thralls themselves.

I lose count of how many fall to my sword, but in the end, every thrall in Treatyseed is vanquished. I do hope the capital can recover.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: TheFlame52 on December 20, 2021, 08:36:32 pm

Pour one out for the many heroic ant people who fell defending the living from the dead.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on December 21, 2021, 02:58:27 am

So queen Vafice Lutecover is dead.. so much for diplomacy with the elves. But with that book already in your possession I understand that this needed to be done.   

It's good to see that some of the unexplored fortresses have finally been visited. Shiptrails for example was build way back in 719, but none had visited the place. Did you experience any crashes? I was unable to get near the site during my adventure.

I'll update the turn list.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Quantum Drop on December 21, 2021, 06:59:04 am

Quote from: Bralbaard on December 21, 2021, 02:58:27 am

So queen Vafice Lutecover is dead.. so much for diplomacy with the elves. But with that book already in your possession I understand that this needed to be done.   

It's good to see that some of the unexplored fortresses have finally been visited. Shiptrails for example was build way back in 719, but none had visited the place. Did you experience any crashes? I was unable to get near the site during my adventure.

I'll update the turn list.

Quick note: I did briefly visit Shiptrails back in 754 (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8222820;topicseen#msg8222820) as Urus (though that turn was pretty forgettable). Furthermore, after a quick look the site seems to be accessible in the turn 64 (year 831) save, with no crashes or FPS issues observed. Anyone else able to confirm?

Also, great work on cleaning up Treatyseed, Kesperan! I'm really loving the story behind this turn!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on December 21, 2021, 09:39:58 am

Quote from: Quantum Drop on December 21, 2021, 06:59:04 am

Quick note: I did briefly visit Shiptrails back in 754 (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8222820;topicseen#msg8222820) as Urus (though that turn was pretty forgettable). Furthermore, after a quick look the site seems to be accessible in the turn 64 (year 831) save, with no crashes or FPS issues observed. Anyone else able to confirm?

Also, great work on cleaning up Treatyseed, Kesperan! I'm really loving the story behind this turn!

Thanks for the correction, the information on who visited the different sites is likely to be incomplete in more cases. I'll update this, at least.

About the crash:
It crashed for me when I approached Shiptrails from the direction of Razorbridge using fast travel, even before I got to the site itself. It happened no matter how many times I tried, even when I approached from different directions, on different days. It was a problem with the general region around Shiptrails. I strongly suspect that I was being ambushed by something the game could not handle, possibly because the ambushing force was too large. I had similar problems near Ghoulcreek. It was an immediate crash, without an error log.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Quantum Drop on December 21, 2021, 10:10:22 am

Quote from: Bralbaard on December 21, 2021, 09:39:58 am

About the crash:
It crashed for me when I approached Shiptrails from the direction of Razorbridge using fast travel, even before I got to the site itself. It happened no matter how many times I tried, even when I approached from different directions, on different days. It was a problem with the general region around Shiptrails. I strongly suspect that I was being ambushed by something the game could not handle, possibly because the ambushing force was too large, I had similar problems near Ghoulcreek.

Huh, that might explain why I didn't crash the first time - I came in from the north, rather than from Razorbridge, and didn't run into any of the asterisks wandering about. That said, I did a couple more tests in the meantime and was able to approach Shiptrails from Razorbridge without crashing on multiple occasions, though I did encounter a few dwarf fell ones roaming around the map as single-person army groups. I'm going to tentatively concur on ambushes being the cause of the crash - maybe you ran into one of those intelligent skins Yarlig mentioned having problems with (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8301380#msg8301380)?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on December 21, 2021, 10:15:26 am

Quote from: Quantum Drop on December 21, 2021, 10:10:22 am

I'm going to tentatively concur on ambushes being the cause of the crash - maybe you ran into one of those intelligent skins Yarlig mentioned having problems with (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8301380#msg8301380)?

That looks very much like the same problem, the affected area likely extends a bit to the north as well, and as I mentioned there are similar problems near Ghoulcreek, or the area directly towards the south of that place.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on December 21, 2021, 12:51:54 pm

I didn’t have any crashes near Shiptrails or Ghoulcreek. The only crash I did have was when approaching one of the vaults.

The roaming fell ones could well be deceased residents of Shiptrails that Moldath resurrected.

As for Treatyseed, I’m not sure if I made much difference in the end. I looked in legends viewer after my turn and I’m pretty sure some more blighted thralls migrated back after I left.

The Omon Blight is a tricky cancer to cure!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on December 21, 2021, 06:09:08 pm

Yeah i did want to visit the vault and crashed.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on December 22, 2021, 06:06:13 pm

"Moldath II", Part V, Turn 63

1st Limestone 826

I travel south warily through the vast goblin lands, which are mostly deserted. A few lone greenskins put up little resistance.
Passing through the deserted dark pits I find myself at a small camp, with a bridge over the river and tall wooden building. Many dead and butchered animals are nearby, but I cannot see the camps owners anywhere.
I find a number of scientific journals written by the scholar Desli Wanedhummed the Beautiful Intricacies. One in particular is named My Thoughts on Sleep, and pertains to the secrets of life and death. I can now raise Gaunt Corpses.
After reading the library, I head upstairs, to find many neat but unused bedrooms. I bump into Atir Frecklescoured, a human merchant.
He confirms that Desli Wanedhummed runs Jackaldens the Distant Hearth, but cannot tell me of her whereabouts. He seems to be the innkeeper here. I thank him for his hospitality, and bid him good day.

2nd Limestone 826

I head east from Jackaldens and it is not long before I come across a strange sight. A dwarven baron, camping out in the wilderness near the goblin pits of Insighthexes. Meng Lustrouswheels is his name.
He claims to be a refugee fleeing from great danger, and used to be the Captain of the Guard of The Boats of Evisceration. 

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/cP3pHNc.png)

I know this group - they are the government of Ironwards the Strifeful Hollows - what could have happened there to make Meng want to leave?
Meng does not seem to want my help to guide him to safety, and nor can he tell me much about what has happened at Ironwards. I decide to head west and find out.
Not far from Ironwards I am ambushed by a horrifying marmot brute. It  is spattered with dog blood.
It sprays great gouts of webbing at me and I am suddenly trapped. The beast lunges at my helpless form and scratches my head, tearing my rotten spine.
Had I been a mere mortal, I would have been instantly struck down. But I am not. I flick my hands and the enormous marmot is paralysed.
I struggle against the webs, and suddenly break free, in time to cleave the foul demons head from its shoulders.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/g3HBoqP.png)

I carve its heart from its unnatural body, and craft a masterwork demon bone ring to commemorate my victory. Helldungeons the marmot brute has been slain.
There are more demons prowling around this fort. I sneak through the forest and try to catch them unawares - their webs are most deadly and a stray claw from one of these enormous beasts could easily cleave my skull.
The next to fall is Dungeonfated the weasel demon, another web-sprayer. Rumoredsearches the iguana demon has no webs to protect itself, and its boiling noxious fumes are no challenge to me.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/LH5XzqE.png)

The last of these roaming beasts to fall is Sinmenaces, another weasel demon.

3rd Limestone 826

The charred ground littered with decaying goblin corpses indicates I have arrived once more at Ironwards, some 19 years since last I visited. I cross the lava moat and search for any sign of trouble.
I talk to the mayor, and the militia commanders, and they offer no new clues. No beasts stalk the halls, and they can't offer me an answer as to why Meng felt the need to flee.
I descend the path to Hell I took before and slay a few stray demons. There is no threat here. The champion of the fort patrols the hell outpost and grins when I ask him about trouble. It seems that Meng does not possess the same fortitude as his brethren here.
I leave the fort and head east, when i stumble into a conflict between two gray fiends - enormous scaly bisons - a clear brute, and a broad-nosed marksdwarf.
Sadly, the dwarf has no hope of defeating two of these beasts and by the time I catch up, he is already dead - but so is one of the beasts! Athel Alliedposts died a heroic death, and I reward their bravery with a second life as a Fell One. 

It seems the demons have turned on each other.
Examining the corpses, the weasel demon Uraatac (Diedhates) was killed by the gray fiend Pimanothra (Lurchbeguiles). The clear brute Apifiuthimi (Jackalpoisons) was killed by the Gray fiend Eyucathetifi (Depressedfreeze).
These demons are covered in the blood and gore of yet more demons.
Over the hill come crashing yet more fell demons - Gukilenir (Waddlemuddle) the gray fiend and Pimanothra (Lurchbeguiles).
The elite wrestler smashes my upper arm into pulp, but I shrug off the blow. This creature is not phased by my paralysis spell and recovers almost instantly. The battle is brief yet ferocious.
Soon Drabfungus, Lurchbeguile, Waddlemuddle, Depressedfreeze and Coldseduced the gray fiends are slaughtered. 

4th Limestone 826

I head eastwards and arrive at a castle, Spicetrails. It appears to be abandoned, and so I claim it for myself, and leave some of my treasure and assorted artifacts here.
I explore the nearby area - I must be close to the Museum of Boltspumpkin now. In the monastery of Pokedtongs I meet a goblin who claims to be a prophet! Bosa Bandtick claims to have no master and serve no group, and he has resided at the tomb for hundreds of years since a pilgrimage in 181.
He claims never to have heard of Egu Craftlenses the Key of Trading, the zebra fiend ruler of The Most Sin. He could be a member of the Knowing Deceiver, and yet I decide to spare his life and move on.
I pass through a tomb, Ironshakes, and a small fort Healerlashes.
I arrive at the town Diptramples and speak with my old friend Nom the Cheese, who has taken over the keep here and decorated it with the spoils of his adventures. He tells me proudly that he is now the Baron of Stakelessons.
Just then, a chief medical dwarf Tomul Quillhall arrives. How curious. And then a militia commander, and a sherrif. 
They tell me a bandit camp rules this place but why are there so many dwarves here? It would seem they have set up camp in the town... for what purpose?
I find a small stockpile of tiny armour. How strange. I decide to leave this place, as there are no monsters to defeat.

5th Limestone 826 

I arrive at the castle of Boltspumpkin at dusk.
I leave my submission on a chert pedestal on the east wall - a kakapo leather backpack containing Mastering The Elf, a star sapphire codex, and the mangled skull of the Elf Dark One Queen Vafice Lutecover.
I leave the museum at nightfall and continue south.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/1MaweH9.png)

9th Limestone 826

I travel south for many days, and it is mostly uneventful. I pass through the town of Pricerings, but the inhabitants of the keep have been slaughtered.
It is snowing constantly, and bitterly cold here in the middle of the world. It appears that I have arrived at the Tundra of Heroes.
The featureless landscape is blanketed in a thick layer of snow. I am ambushed by a pack of starving wolves, and I almost feel sorry for them as I snuff out their lives.
On the horizon to the east is a goblin Dark Fortress. I head towards it and see a vast plain covered in the corpses of men and humans - a battle must have taken place here in the past, the corpses frozen in death.
Pressing on I find the fortress, Stealmountain, could this be the capital of the Knowing Deceiver? Within the central spire I find the “governer” Ngom Vicebrother, who claims to be a merchant.
I strike the filthy goblin down regardless. I search the fortress but can find nobody who claims to be a leader.
On the outskirts of town I find a camped army, and within their ranks are many blighted thralls. I cut them down – the fewer stinking ghouls roaming about, the better. 
I lose count of the number of goblin soldiers pouring out of Stealmountain; the armies of the Knowing Deceiver are on the march. I chase their terrified screams through the tundra until their mangled corpses are still.

11th Limestone 826

I arrive at a dwarven fort - Stockadeoutrage. It seems to be carved from an enormous jutting spike of rock soaring skyward.
A muscular scholar tells me that the Just Sabre rules Stockadeoutrage, and that it is the seat of Kikrost Lashdrilled - a baron - and Tobul Tomeschance, the king of The Staff of Kissing.
Despite searching the compact fort, I find evidence of neither.
Some human and goblin mercenaries are all I can identify.  Finally, as I leave the fort, I spot someone, in the snow, hauling a gabbro codex. He has a regal disposition.
I speak with him a while, and he confirms that he is indeed King Tobul. I gift him Dancetorch the Past Uncertainty, the legendary steel spear I took from Ancientknowledge.
He seems very pleased, crying tears of joy! I take my leave of the king, and continue my journey.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/7PbSjQ9.png)

I reach the abandoned tower of Combineinsight. There are still a great many books and scrolls here, amongst the scattered corpses. I read "Loss: Before and After" and learn how to raise Hollow Zombies.
The slab, if there ever was one, must have been looted long ago. I continue south east.
The fort of Dyezeal is easy to miss - an unguarded stairway downwards from the barren snowy wastes.
Wooden logs and equipment are scattered wide, and no sign of any dwarf can be found, living or dead. The poor souls who founded this place could not have lasted long.

12th Limestone 826

In Tattooedflank to the south I am accosted by a human Hollow Hunter. On seeing me he vanishes in thin air and rains punches upon me.
I can see him as a vague red mist through my vampiric sense but I cannot strike at him.
Using my own magic I propel him away and paralyse him, before throwing my steel arrows at his hidden form. I am unsure how long he can stay invisible, if it is permanent then I have no hope of slaying him.
Eventually, I get a lucky shot... but at great loss. The human has torn off my nose and left ear!

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/AGl3g6S.png)

I head into the town proper and approach the inn, and encounter another hollow hunter. I behead him before he manages to use his magic.
Within the inn, The Spirit of Growers, is a curious sight - a weremoose prophet! It flees in terror at my bloodied form, and I set about it. It drops its human nail trophies as its head falls from its shoulders.

13th Limestone 826

Clearmasters is a short distance westward. This strange fort seems to be built around a monastery, and lizard people reside within its walls. I explore it but find no beasts to slay. I continue my journey southwards.

16th Limestone 826

I arrive at the abandoned Vault of Coverashes. The dwarves of Ashcinders conquered this place, but rumours of riches still within its walls persist. I find many items looted by Erith Whippedumbral, some well-crafted armour and a variety of artefacts.
I take the weapons, and the adamantine mug. I leave the questionable thong collection behind.
I find also, the upper arm of Glloyd... the mighty warrior who delved into this vault. Finally, I find Buriedhate, the legendary slab.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/bRuglRo.png)

But the most important treasure I leave this fiendish maze with, is a backpack bulging with blistered metal equipment, far too large for dwarf nor man. It is but a short trek to Ashcinders the Molten Scar, where I leave my pile of blistered metal by the forge fires...
I begin the long trek home, to the abandoned castle I clamed, Spicetrails.


Forts Explored:

1. Ancientknowledge
2. Relicward
3. Shiptrails
4. Razorbridge
5. Ghoulcreek
6. Lashjade
7. Emeraldcrown
8. Shotgleeful
9. Jackaldens
10. Ironwards
11. Healerlashes
12. Stockadeoutrage
13. Dyezeal
14. Clearmasters
15. Ashcinders

Moldath Mournsaints the Ardent, Blind Sadist Swordmaster.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/QGPgMso.png)

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: tonnot98 on December 23, 2021, 05:24:14 pm

Sorry I'm uploading it so late in the day, I had to do some finishing touches. Had fun with the naming scheme and made a glacier fortress named "Free The Eggs." I also rejuvenated a particular dwarf that's been traveling between fortresses for the last century or so. He ate his eggs. I've noticed that there seem to be quite a few dwarfs that have had some exhilarating stories to tell in fortress mode while people have been doing their own thing in adventurer mode.

Anyway, I don't know if this was mentioned earlier, but some fortress dwarfs have been showing up with minor injuries from other player fortresses, and won't do anything at all unless they're taken to a hospital, even starving and dehydrating themselves. So get a hospital/water source set up early if you're looking to make a fortress.
https://dffd.bay12games.com/file.php?id=15795

Good luck, Lurker! Should we give some amnesty for not starting right away? It is the holidays after all.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on December 23, 2021, 06:05:46 pm

Shame that Urist Ironhale didn't get to do much. But im glad that there were eggs for these trying times in Orid Xem.

Well this is certainly interesting.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/6e8r1oR.png)

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on December 23, 2021, 06:31:29 pm

Congratulations on your promotion Avolition!

Your extensive experience mangling goblins certainly qualifies you for your new job as chief doctor!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on December 23, 2021, 06:38:14 pm

Quote from: kesperan on December 23, 2021, 06:31:29 pm

Congratulations on your promotion Avolition!

Your extensive experience mangling goblins certainly qualifies you for your new job as chief doctor!

Thank you, perhaps Moldath would like to come and get a check up.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: tonnot98 on December 23, 2021, 08:21:33 pm

Quote from: AvolitionBrit on December 23, 2021, 06:05:46 pm

Shame that Urist Ironhale didn't get to do much. But im glad that there were eggs for these trying times in Orid Xem.

Well this is certainly interesting.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/6e8r1oR.png)

Quite a shame, I was going to use a cartography mission as an excuse to visit the fortresses that hadn't been explored yet. Oh well, had all week to make a fortress instead.

There's an artifact statue of your scorpion man as well. Seems like he got pretty popular.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on December 23, 2021, 09:23:29 pm

Just peeped to see what the statue was of. Well Crafted one i assume. Yeah i think that the amount of events just increased the odds of a statue dedicated to me. Nice to see the moment i became a vampire immortalised in statue form in a tundra fortress.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on December 24, 2021, 02:44:37 am

Congrats avolition! May your rule lasts longer than mine.

Quote from: tonnot98 on December 23, 2021, 05:24:14 pm

Good luck, Lurker! Should we give some amnesty for not starting right away? It is the holidays after all.

It's fine with me if the week officially starts after the christmas weekend. and before I forget, enjoy the holidays everyone.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on December 24, 2021, 03:33:49 am

Quote from: kesperan on December 20, 2021, 05:20:23 pm

I head into the fort and see a strange sight - ant men and women, fighting thralls of their own kind. A queen ant woman spearman blighted thrall is struck down and surrounded by a great deal of blood, human blood.

Sadly, none of them received names. The more recent named ones are from before the Time of Adventurers (8th century).

Quote from: kesperan on December 20, 2021, 05:20:23 pm

This human is either a thrall himself, or a brave hero.

A thrall, sadly. You killed him yourself.

Quote from: kesperan on December 20, 2021, 05:20:23 pm

I bump into a dwarf gaunt zombie, Solon Sculpturebells. He is covered in the blood of several creatures, including Goden Charmkey the Gates of Mightiness, a known necromancer.

That's one weird dwarf, actually. Legends Viewer says she's undead, but doesn't say how. Goden was actually her grandmother. Goden killed her several times and several times from the dead until she actually killed Goden. This appears to have happened during Bralbaard's first run.

Quote from: Bralbaard on December 21, 2021, 02:58:27 am

So queen Vafice Lutecover is dead.. so much for diplomacy with the elves. But with that book already in your possession I understand that this needed to be done.

I knew about Vafice weeks before this post, since I had been checking sapients of interest at the end of each turn. Same with Zefon.

Quote from: kesperan on December 22, 2021, 06:06:13 pm

I find a number of scientific journals written by the scholar Desli Wanedhummed the Beautiful Intricacies. One in particular is named My Thoughts on Sleep, and pertains to the secrets of life and death. I can now raise Gaunt Corpses.

It appears that scholars, adventurers or otherwise, can now write tomes that give other adventurers immortality AND abilities. This is a game-changer.

Interesting demon-on-demon-on-sadist fight there.

Quote from: kesperan on December 22, 2021, 06:06:13 pm

Clearmasters is a short distance westward. This strange fort seems to be built around a monastery, and lizard people reside within its walls. I explore it but find no beasts to slay. I continue my journey southwards.

It's built where a monastery used to exist. I left the original buildings up though. It seems you visited after Bomrek's run, so it's a shame you didn't notice the crystal glass wall or the items behind them, which is the true reason/attraction of the place, the diamond pedestal with artifacts on it. I'll try to replace one of the walls with clear glass so it can be more visible.

Did you have lag problems there? You don't mention going down the stairway, which goes all the way down to the lava. There are some cave renovations going on there and also that wild reptile tribe, which I'll try to co-opt into the fort.

Quote from: AvolitionBrit on December 23, 2021, 06:05:46 pm

Well this is certainly interesting.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/6e8r1oR.png)

Congrats, Avolition. I don't have that much praise here because I don't know much about Stalconpesor, but considering you ended their goblin rulers problem, you deserve to take your rightful place there. Let's hope then for more Kings and Queen rising from the ranks of our fair deadly and sometimes undead (and undying) adventurers!

Heads-up: think carefully if you ever want to unretire your adventurer, you might lose your position. Even if Stalconpesor is a rump-state, it's still an official state with a lot of history. Unless you want to try your luck at rising as the Law-Giver of some greater civilization, of course.

Quote from: AvolitionBrit on December 23, 2021, 09:23:29 pm

Just peeped to see what the statue was of. Well Crafted one i assume. Yeah i think that the amount of events just increased the odds of a statue dedicated to me. Nice to see the moment i became a vampire immortalised in statue form in a tundra fortress.

I'm planning to have at least a statue chamber for adventurers in Newworld, maybe some for all the gods of Orid Xem and some for the Kings and Queens of each civ.

On the note of randomly-generated statues, there were some I found of Erith in some monasteries abandoned centuries ago.

Quote from: tonnot98 on December 23, 2021, 05:24:14 pm

Good luck, Lurker! Should we give some amnesty for not starting right away? It is the holidays after all.

Quote from: Bralbaard on December 24, 2021, 02:44:37 am

It's fine with me if the week officially starts after the christmas weekend. and before I forget, enjoy the holidays everyone.

Thanks for the kind words! I think the three days leeway is fair in any circumstances. Anyway, I'll be taking my turn now, I'll try to give it up by Friday or Saturday.

Happy Holidays for everyone!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on December 24, 2021, 07:33:24 am

I think thats fair, happy holidays Lurker. Looking forward to seeing what you do.

Happy Holidays all.

Who knows maybe for Christmas this museum game might get into the hall of legends.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on December 24, 2021, 07:49:47 am

Quote from: Lurker Z on December 24, 2021, 03:33:49 am

Quote from: kesperan on December 20, 2021, 05:20:23 pm

I bump into a dwarf gaunt zombie, Solon Sculpturebells. He is covered in the blood of several creatures, including Goden Charmkey the Gates of Mightiness, a known necromancer.

That's one weird dwarf, actually. Legends Viewer says she's undead, but doesn't say how. Goden was actually her grandmother. Goden killed her several times and several times from the dead until she actually killed Goden. This appears to have happened during Bralbaard's first run.

I actually posted about Goden being killed at the time.

Quote from: Bralbaard on March 16, 2020, 02:12:52 am

Dozens of goblin corpses are piled up in the hallways.
The only dead dwarf that I find was a necromancer that must have fought on the side of the enemy. I can identify him by the book that he has clutched in his dead hands:
(https://pic8.co/sh/kLmItf.gif)

(https://pic8.co/sh/UA2BdI.gif)

If I remember correctly he actually used that book to clobber his enemies to death multiple times (including Solon I guess), only to make the mistake to raise them from death after which the process would begin all over. This was all in the middle of a large battle with goblin invaders.
Anyhow the very first turn of this succession game clearly shows that Treatyseed was a death trap with constant civil war and fighting from the very beginning, long before the Thralls became a problem..

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on December 24, 2021, 08:38:04 am

Some updates/"sneak previews" (not sure how much of this will enter the story):

---

I hate civilization. The forts are just so laggy. I get why Moldath or Bralbaard didn't slog through tens of z-levels of stairs now.

---

0 FPS at Usligistra. Literally 1 tile per minute. What the hells are those measly 146 goblins doing there? I had a decent run in Thillecit with tens of creatures roaming around me on the map.

I couldn't resist, I used reveal-all to see what those goblins were up to. Not much, apparently.

Spoiler: image (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/ZrpvUec.png)

---

Meanwhile in Boltspumpkin...

Spoiler: image (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/rEsqV4U.png)

The only thing I'll return to them is fire and blood!

Speaking of, does anyone know Ishen's story? Is it one of us?

---

Someone borked the map icons, they look weird like Mudungudon's do. Anyone have any idea why that is?

---

Well, now that my "on the record" quest is over, it's time to start my main/storyline quest.

Quote from: Bralbaard on December 24, 2021, 07:49:47 am

I actually posted about Goden being killed at the time.

If I remember correctly he actually used that book to clobber his enemies to death multiple times (including Solon I guess), only to make the mistake to raise them from death after which the process would begin all over. This was all in the middle of a large battle with goblin invaders.

Emphasized by myself. Solon is a she and so is Goden, the necromancer, her grandmother.

Quote from: Bralbaard on December 24, 2021, 07:49:47 am

Anyhow the very first turn of this succession game clearly shows that Treatyseed was a death trap with constant civil war and fighting from the very beginning, long before the Thralls became a problem..

Eh that was a small scuffle/skirmish compared to the 825 and 826 massacres where the leadership was decapitated. The thralls were nasty.

---

The Shelter of Adventurers appears to still be borked. I've barely come close and I'm down to 5 FPS and practically 1 tile per half a minute. Not as bad as Usligistra, but I'm not even close to the gates.

Spoiler: image (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/eIGnfXT.png)

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on December 24, 2021, 08:56:53 am

Quote from: Lurker Z on December 24, 2021, 08:38:04 am

Some updates/"sneak previews" (not sure how much of this will enter the story):

---

I hate civilization. The forts are just so laggy. I get why Moldath or Bralbaard didn't slog through tens of z-levels of stairs now.

---

0 FPS at Usligistra. Literally 1 tile per minute. What the hells are those measly 146 goblins doing there? I had a decent run in Thillecit with tens of creatures roaming around me on the map.

I couldn't resist, I used reveal-all to see what those goblins were up to. Not much, apparently.

Spoiler: image (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/ZrpvUec.png)

---

Honestly goblins just fill out the place. When i went to Gicayeme they were just all pilled in on top of eachover and it took ages for one move to process. The goblins just move to an area, reproduce quick and are immortal so they just snowball the population on the site. Player forts are mixed bags.

As for Lady Ishes Shovelscribes the Ugly. She has killed five people, become a lady of the creamy confederacy fifty three years late and then settled The Shelter of Adventures. For some reason it doesn't list that this was a traveling companion of Glloyd Ancientborn the Round

Quote from: Glloyd on August 19, 2020, 09:17:53 pm

Despite my intentions, as I was walking away from the bodies, I heard a noise coming from inside the abandoned fortress. Surely it wouldn’t hurt to take a peek? And I am glad I did, for when I ducked inside the towering entranceway to the fortress, I found one of Cog’s deranged experiments, shuffling about. As I approached it, it looked up at me and spoke out, greeting me, and telling me its name was Ishes Sebidola. The creature seemed lost and scared, so I took pity on it, and asked it to join me on my journey. It eagerly accepted my offer, and fell in line behind me.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/35aD8bY.png)

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on December 24, 2021, 09:35:22 am

Holy f-, a hollow hunter killed me near Palacework. Well, one week of fortressing it is.

Quote from: AvolitionBrit on December 24, 2021, 08:56:53 am

Honestly goblins just fill out the place. When i went to Gicayeme they were just all pilled in on top of eachover and it took ages for one move to process. The goblins just move to an area, reproduce quick and are immortal so they just snowball the population on the site. Player forts are mixed bags.

As for Lady Ishes Shovelscribes the Ugly. She has killed five people, become a lady of the creamy confederacy fifty three years late and then settled The Shelter of Adventures. For some reason it doesn't list that this was a traveling companion of Glloyd Ancientborn the Round

Thanks for the info, nice find. It's fitting then that such a creature becomes Lady of the Shelter of Adventurers (and it appears she's also a diplomat for Boltspumpkin, at least role-playing wise).

And the Ugly and the Hideous... this game almost tugs at my heart-strings with its naming conventions of what turn out to be our heroes.

---

Spoiler: Before and after image of the modified/possibly corrupted map (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/XTAxZT3.png)

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on December 24, 2021, 10:23:03 am

The map has been changing colours since atleast turn 58 probably before. I honestly thought it was changing depending on the season but looking at its certainly interesting. A blight holds these lands

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on December 24, 2021, 10:43:16 am

Quote from: Lurker Z on December 24, 2021, 03:33:49 am

Quote from: kesperan on December 22, 2021, 06:06:13 pm

Clearmasters is a short distance westward. This strange fort seems to be built around a monastery, and lizard people reside within its walls. I explore it but find no beasts to slay. I continue my journey southwards.

It's built where a monastery used to exist. I left the original buildings up though. It seems you visited after Bomrek's run, so it's a shame you didn't notice the crystal glass wall or the items behind them, which is the true reason/attraction of the place, the diamond pedestal with artifacts on it. I'll try to replace one of the walls with clear glass so it can be more visible.

Did you have lag problems there? You don't mention going down the stairway, which goes all the way down to the lava. There are some cave renovations going on there and also that wild reptile tribe, which I'll try to co-opt into the fort.

I mean no disrespect to Clearmasters. At that stage in my turn I wasn't looking for treasure but more baddies to kill. I can't remember if I went down all the way to the magma sea or not.
I don't remember lag there. The player made camps are almost impossible for me to enter though - Herograves and the Shelter are no-go.

Quote from: Lurker Z on December 24, 2021, 03:33:49 am

I'm planning to have at least a statue chamber for adventurers in Newworld, maybe some for all the gods of Orid Xem and some for the Kings and Queens of each civ.

Within Ashcinders is a statue room which has statues of all adventurers (as of 829) who hail from The Walled Dye, and below, a regal chamber with electrum statues of every monarch of The Walled Dye. Might even find one of Bralbaard...

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on December 24, 2021, 11:01:41 am

Quote from: Lurker Z on December 24, 2021, 09:35:22 am

Holy f-, a hollow hunter killed me near Palacework. Well, one week of fortressing it is.

That is unfortunate. Second adventurer in a row that came to an untimely end..

Quote from: AvolitionBrit on December 24, 2021, 10:23:03 am

The map has been changing colours since atleast turn 58 probably before. I honestly thought it was changing depending on the season but looking at its certainly interesting. A blight holds these lands

Map colors definitely change according to the season but in this case it looks somewhat weird..
also other in game/ascii characters also appear to be randomized to strange symbols when playing in ascii. Looks like someone used a tile set and did not revert it before posting the save game, but that might not fully show in your game because you are also using a tileset.. Anyhow, this should be fixable.

Quote from: kesperan on December 24, 2021, 10:43:16 am

I don't remember lag there. The player made camps are almost impossible for me to enter though - Herograves and the Shelter are no-go.

Herograves and the shelter work fine for me (in the current save game at least. )

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on December 24, 2021, 12:31:01 pm

I think the ones who can turn invisible seem to be called Hollow Hunters or Hollow Stalkers.

They are a nightmare to kill since you cannot target them while they are invisible. I had to basically keep throwing arrows at one until I got a lucky shot. Bastard scratched my ear and nose off.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on December 24, 2021, 09:54:59 pm

What upsets me most is that he killed me mid-running. It doesn't seem to have been a one-hit kill, since there were at least 2 instances of hitting enter. At the time, I kept hitting enter to realize I was slayed and didn't even take a print. If I hadn't been running (but how could I know something like that was around?), I might have been able to do something. Even if the situation was dire, I could have just flown away.

By the way, interestingly, while Bomrek was wearing what appeared to be "medium" clothes, maybe fitting of a dwarf, my current character, his same race mind you, was wearing "small".

---

Unrelated, I met Avolition in Boltspumpkin. Apparently, being the King/Law-Giver of a rump state means you live in exile until you get more settlements. I'm somewhat sad that I didn't meet Bralbaard or the goblin outlaw "curator" (and they're still considered outlaws), but I didn't search hard either.

Quote from: Bralbaard on December 24, 2021, 11:01:41 am

Herograves and the shelter work fine for me (in the current save game at least. )

I have no idea how. It took me between 15 and 30 minutes just to get out of that place's range (see my picture in the above posts).

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on December 24, 2021, 10:23:07 pm

Quote from: Lurker Z on December 24, 2021, 09:54:59 pm

What upsets me most is that he killed me mid-running. It doesn't seem to have been a one-hit kill, since there were at least 2 instances of hitting enter. At the time, I kept hitting enter to realize I was slayed and didn't even take a print. If I hadn't been running (but how could I know something like that was around?), I might have been able to do something. Even if the situation was dire, I could have just flown away.

By the way, interestingly, while Bomrek was wearing what appeared to be "medium" clothes, maybe fitting of a dwarf, my current character, his same race mind you, was wearing "small".

---

Unrelated, I met Avolition in Boltspumpkin. Apparently, being the King/Law-Giver of a rump state means you live in exile until you get more settlements. I'm somewhat sad that I didn't meet Bralbaard or the goblin outlaw "curator" (and they're still considered outlaws), but I didn't search hard either.

I have no idea how. It took me between 15 and 30 minutes just to get out of that place's range (see my picture in the above posts).

Those Hollow creatures should awful to face.

Ah interesting, will she has the world changes before my next turn. A comback for this human civilization.

I did meet Bralbaard, not much of a speaker. He was just hanging out ontop of the walls towers. Its a shame risen npcs can't interact outside of controling them directly. I wonder what the two remaining risen Adventurers are up to. Especially Arcturus.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on December 24, 2021, 10:30:09 pm

Quote from: kesperan on December 24, 2021, 10:43:16 am

I mean no disrespect to Clearmasters. At that stage in my turn I wasn't looking for treasure but more baddies to kill. I can't remember if I went down all the way to the magma sea or not.
I don't remember lag there. The player made camps are almost impossible for me to enter though - Herograves and the Shelter are no-go.

And I meant no disrespect to Moldath :) It makes sense of the scattered info he has, especially in a world where people still tell you to kill Calovi, Ol' Featherbrain (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Ol_A%C3%B1uhode_Kalsi) or that they're attacked by Egu though. Information travels slow in Dwarf Fortress worlds.

Quote from: kesperan on December 24, 2021, 10:43:16 am

Within Ashcinders is a statue room which has statues of all adventurers (as of 829) who hail from The Walled Dye, and below, a regal chamber with electrum statues of every monarch of The Walled Dye. Might even find one of Bralbaard...

That sounds great, but after those two forts (and in hindsight, the egg was actually manageable compared to the goblin fort), I've lost my interest in exploring forts outside of Fortress Mode reclaim. The lag literally takes between 30 minutes and 1 hour real-time and that's when I was lucky enough for them not to crash outright.

Quote from: AvolitionBrit on December 24, 2021, 10:23:07 pm

Ah interesting, will she has the world changes before my next turn. A comback for this human civilization.

Frankly, I don't subscribe to this notion in the real world, but in this case be the change you want to be in the world. Your civ is not going to get back up by itself. You'll have to help it along. I think if the AI sees a civ has only one settlement, it'll never send expeditions to reclaim more, let alone start wars and actually win them. I think Adilatír was built as much by players conquering sites in adventure mode as it was by the fortresses built (ok, so more by the latter, but still; there was some interesting adventurer-based expansion too).

---

Quote from: Lurker Z on December 24, 2021, 08:38:04 am

Meanwhile in Boltspumpkin...

Spoiler: image (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/rEsqV4U.png)

Remember this? Meanwhile, in Legends Viewer...

Spoiler: image (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/xhAlBdx.png)

The year was around 830 when I went adventuring, right? Just checking...

---

I made an interesting, macabre discovery. It's related to the elves and I'm not sure how much of a spoiler it is.

Spoiler: possible spoiler (click to show/hide)

All elves created in a time before time are dead, according to Legends Viewer.

I discovered this after I planned to take over Aweme and guide her to Iroram, found out she was dead, shrugged and thought "Who cares, I'll just get her corpse", then discovered that her corpse is probably in HFS, so I searched for another older than dirt candidate.

As for the humans, Ulet Budoostsi is

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

the last human created in a time before time,

the last living chosen necromancer from the dawn of time (there are two more given slabs in the 7th century) and now under Iroram's protection. I'll try to seal her in a chamber before I give the save so she doesn't wander the world again and gets herself killed.

I haven't checked for goblins and dwarves yet, but I don't have time right now. I'll edit tomorrow if anything interesting turns up.

---

In other news, Eskôn is a mess. The only useful dwarf is Kikrost, a legendary miner, I'm pretty sure our woodcutter ran off with Eskôn's only axe and more than half the 9 remaining dwarves are purple useless nobles or some-such. I even have a consort who flaunts their status for some reason. The good mason is gone too. The layout is also not that great, now that I'm looking back on it, and to top everything off, I discovered that I probably could have toppled that pedestal in adventure mode and brought it to the center of the world. Ugggh. At least it makes for good roleplay, Lurker wouldn't have a place to worship him if the stars didn't align for me to find/settle that place, so it has a place in my heart, I suppose. So I'll play it to give it some pop (migrants-now indeed did not work), then see what the ravages of nonattendance do to Iroram while I'm doing this.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on December 26, 2021, 08:38:08 pm

Quote from: Lurker Z on December 24, 2021, 10:30:09 pm

In other news, Eskôn is a mess. The only useful dwarf is Kikrost, a legendary miner, I'm pretty sure our woodcutter ran off with Eskôn's only axe and more than half the 9 remaining dwarves are purple useless nobles or some-such. I even have a consort who flaunts their status for some reason. The good mason is gone too. The layout is also not that great, now that I'm looking back on it, and to top everything off, I discovered that I probably could have toppled that pedestal in adventure mode and brought it to the center of the world. Ugggh. At least it makes for good roleplay, Lurker wouldn't have a place to worship him if the stars didn't align for me to find/settle that place, so it has a place in my heart, I suppose. So I'll play it to give it some pop (migrants-now indeed did not work), then see what the ravages of nonattendance do to Iroram while I'm doing this.

The migrants do not come in the first year or so, but they do eventually come. I had the same issue with my reclaim. Started with <10 useless dwarfs.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on December 29, 2021, 08:24:23 am

I had migrants exactly 6 months after I reclaimed Eskôn, and another wave about a month later. (Roleplay wise) maybe the consort helped? Or the fact the Queen is Kikrost's lover?

Also, ooooooh snap (for kesperan's attention especially)

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/3kW7UX4.png)

Fellar's thirsty, look at the dates of those actions. I saw he was labeled as a necromancer and looked like he went through hell and back (I think I fixed both issues... oops?) but I didn't make the connection at all. And those two didn't show up on his in-game kill-list, I checked. First two crimes in Eskôn ever. Now to see about sealing him somewhere. Should I keep him or unseal him once I retire?

After I healed him he was all but flying around the fortress, 2 or 3 times faster than the average dwarf. I don't know how that's even possible, I figured someone modded some superdorf in fortress mode. I guess sealing him in a room with Kikrost so they can share idea(l)s is not such a good idea after all...

Spoiler: More images (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/hHuZNuX.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/namyafW.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/xdf4EGx.png)

---

3 more in-game months and I'm retiring and going back to Iroram. Eskôn is not nearly "complete", but it's got 70 dwarves which should last it for a while. The caves are mostly sealed with doors, the stockpiles are full of statues of Lurker and Moldath if anyone wants to drag something like that, metals and non-native stone is littering the place. Ah, I have to bring in the reptiles, too. Yes, it sounds like a thriving fortress, all things considered.

---

I checked on Legends Viewer the idea from the previous post. There are still a few goblins from a time before time in Orid Xem. No dwarves. Bralbaard is now exactly the 10th the 12th oldest living (for a definition of such) dwarf in Orid Xem.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on December 29, 2021, 05:34:32 pm

Quote from: Lurker Z on December 29, 2021, 08:24:23 am

Also, ooooooh snap (for kesperan's attention especially)

Fellar's thirsty, look at the dates of those actions. I saw he was labeled as a necromancer and looked like he went through hell and back (I think I fixed both issues... oops?) but I didn't make the connection at all. And those two didn't show up on his in-game kill-list, I checked. First two crimes in Eskôn ever. Now to see about sealing him somewhere. Should I keep him or unseal him once I retire?

After I healed him he was all but flying around the fortress, 2 or 3 times faster than the average dwarf. I don't know how that's even possible, I figured someone modded some superdorf in fortress mode. I guess sealing him in a room with Kikrost so they can share idea(l)s is not such a good idea after all...

Moldath you sneaky git. I retired him in a Adalatir camp and he immediately went to live in the abandoned castle that I claimed for him during my turn. I assumed that meant he wouldn't go off on any more adventures. I am not sure why he seems to do this when, to my knowledge, none of the other player-characters have.

In terms of his speed, he normally sprints at 3.500 or thereabouts, as he has superdwarven agility and never tires.

At least he had the good graces to drain a noble for you.

When you say you have fixed both those issues - did you use DFHack to heal him? Did he lose all his scars and grow his ear and nose back? I dabbled with this on a copy of my save, and no matter how I healed him, the rot would always slowly come back...

You can keep him chained up / sealed indefinately if you want. When you retire the fortress, he will still be playable in adventure mode. I think.

Edit: Just noticed you gave him a nickel silver chain. That's a nice touch!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on December 29, 2021, 05:52:51 pm

Quote from: kesperan on December 29, 2021, 05:34:32 pm

Just noticed you gave him a nickel silver chain. That's a nice touch!

I made it especially for him, though I don't remember if it's before or after he killed that noble. I was content to let him read until I retired in the library, but then he just had to go and drain that noble. I resurrected Asen (so he didn't actually "kill" Asen and he could "testify"), made him sheriff for the irony of it and he dragged his "killer" into that dank blood thorn-infested cave himself. I saw it fitting.

The making of the chain was freaky, I had a dwarf assigned for it, then he went and got possessed in the middle of making it. So I made another metalcrafting workshop, assigned someone else to make it. The possessed dwarf ended making a silver splint around the same time the chain was made by my backup dwarf. And I had a caravan at about that time too. Was a very busy time of the year.

I have a whole idea of Kikrost (the expedition leader), being obsessed with immortality without the trappings of necromancing or vampirism (it's in his fortress that started the immortal animals campaign), would try to get as much information from someone who's both a vampire and necro. It'd also explain why he barely got 3 years for killing 3 dwarves, Kikrost must have pulled strings to be lenient on him.

Edit: Asen seems to be a male, actually. And a war veteran and/or hero. I'm even more glad for my actions now. His wife's a countess and a ticking time bomb blighted thrall in the capital. That's not good.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on December 29, 2021, 07:36:24 pm

I have just realised that if Moldath has migrated to your fort, he will have AGAIN lost all of his steel and adamantine armour and his masterwork bone crafts. And probably Godenrigoth as well. Hmm. This is most vexing. Anyone have any suggestions on how I get him to STAY PUT and stop going off on adventures to player forts?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Glloyd on December 29, 2021, 10:48:56 pm

Quote from: Lurker Z on December 24, 2021, 09:35:22 am

Quote from: AvolitionBrit on December 24, 2021, 08:56:53 am

As for Lady Ishes Shovelscribes the Ugly. She has killed five people, become a lady of the creamy confederacy fifty three years late and then settled The Shelter of Adventures. For some reason it doesn't list that this was a traveling companion of Glloyd Ancientborn the Round

Thanks for the info, nice find. It's fitting then that such a creature becomes Lady of the Shelter of Adventurers (and it appears she's also a diplomat for Boltspumpkin, at least role-playing wise).

And the Ugly and the Hideous... this game almost tugs at my heart-strings with its naming conventions of what turn out to be our heroes.

I just realized I never posted the end of my last turn, which I'll endeavour to do when I'm back home. I gave her my title as the lord of the Shelter of Adventurers at the end of my last turn. I originally found her in an abandoned worldgen fort and she was my companion for most of my first turn, back in 726/727. She's just been hanging out at the Shelter since then.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on December 30, 2021, 12:31:50 am

Moldath sure loves his forts. I guess it's a blessing and a curse. He is always moving to the active fort and generating history but I can see that being vexing. As for stopping this, Try joining a different civ or worse case scenario, just go kill the walled dye ahaha. I think it's a quirk of being a dwarven vampire and Moldath spotting migrants and just wanting to instantly blend in.

Looking forward to seeing what else has happened in your turn Lurker

Also nice to see we will get an ending to your story. It's interesting as she mostly just hides in a tower at boltspumpkin.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on December 30, 2021, 03:18:31 pm

OOC: Disclaimer: The following character's views do not reflect mine, the author's. I mention this because Lurker's personality mostly aligned with me (I wanted all goblins dead, I wanted Thillecit back into Omon Obin hands, I wanted Omon Obin to be great again etc.) I'll try to play Urdim completely in character here.

---

Urdim "Fishringed" Tatloshathel seethed. This was not new to her. Urdim had hated much of her life. She's hated Cog for daring to consider herself her master. She hated the adventurers that, true, set her free, but then ransacked her "mistress"' tower. She'd then had the unpleasent surprise to start hating her own people when they feared her, feared her status. The 500th named Soldier of Night. She hated them when they choose that oaf Bomrek to make the journey in the name of their civilization with only a goofy smile on his face and nothing but the clothes on his back.

She didn't... hate Bomrek, exactly. She couldn't fault him for trying to leave into the world. And it wasn't like he took her birthright by his own choice. Yes, Urdim seethed even as he left, but not at him, but at the fools around him. They couldn't get the 1000th of them, because his loyalties were to Quogubpesor and even if that place wasn't ruled by goblins and a war-torn place besides.

The worst thing was, besides Bomrek taking her rightful place, besides even him getting killed along the way - though she never wished that fate upon him - was that after he left, her visions changed. She had been gifted, perhaps even before gaining her freedom, and saw what they used to be and what they must do. Yet, things had changed now. Perhaps they were meant to change, perhaps not. But she had seen herself taking the reigns of her true ancestral home, Kosothducim. She had seen the build of Iroram, but not under the banner of the ascendant Adilatír, but of Dalzatèzum. The center of the world was hers, it was her idea, yet her own kin had feared she'd gain power over them, become the new Cog. Shortsighted fools! Now her birthright - both of them - were outside her reach. But she'd change that, soon, their approval or not.

They'd rejoiced when she'd described Bomrek planting the flag of The Banner of Liberty on Kosothducim soil. Yet, no news had come since she'd seen him lie down and just... stop. Did the fool get drunk in that filthy tavern and... what? Could her kind even get drunk?

But then some new, strange news came. Some fool dwarves had decided to build a fortress near them, not strong Adilatír, but the other ones. That, however, presented an opportunity. An opportunity indeed. She'd leave whether her kin accepted it or not, she'd take her trusty copper short sword, bronze shield and her bronze breastplate with the symbol of Dalzatèzum in tanzanite.

And as she left, one thought flew through her seething mind: they better pray they had the bins and bags she saw in her vision, or she'd bring that place into the ground!

---

OOC: I had this written when I first got the game. There's not much to tell of the adventure. After my horrendous approach to Usligistra, I just avoided civilization altogether and brought the copy of a book to Boltspumpkin, it signifies the Soldiers of Night's understanding that they're reincarnated souls of dwarves.

My submission (it amazingly stayed where I dropped it, on the south-west corner of the first floor of the Museum) is The Dwarves for Everyone (copy). Unfortunately, Urdim couldn't read, so the contents might not be what she thinks they are...

The biggest thing I'm proud of (besides reaching the museum with an offering) is killing a polar bear 1 vs. 1 in the wilds. I also killed a goblin who was wandering around Iroram. The map says there are a few more "stars" around the fortress, but I didn't want to risk my adventurer at that time.

I was planning to get Bomrek to Iroram to get resurrected by my resident necro, but that's how it ended.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on December 31, 2021, 07:41:12 am

Shame about your short adventures again Lurker. These re-incarnated dwarves can't catch a break. Sounds like you are about ready to upload the save?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on December 31, 2021, 08:16:02 am

In a few hours. I haven't done all I've wanted to accomplish.

A major problem were crashes in fortress mode. I had two crashes with r5, then searched for LNP update, found the r6, then had 2 crashes with it.

I still have some tidying up to do, to wall off the creatures that I don't want running out of my fort (I've read somewhere, I think in this thread even, that if you don't give creatures any physical way to leave a closed room, they won't leave while off-map). Maybe that's how you can lock up Moldath. Maybe even in adventure mode, just go in a room with only one entrance, then either

Code: [Select]

paint shape wall or

Code: [Select]

liquids o around the entrance. And yes, I checked on your suspicion, Moldath is indeed missing all his artifacts. He's got the rest of his bling on, though.

For Bralbaard, Urdim is the first to have visited the Free the Eggs fortress.

---

Next time I'm playing, I'll steal some legendaries from other forts, Armok knows I've raised enough of them just to run away in the world. Raising skills is so annoying, slow and gives low quality items. I won't be able to do that "hall of adventurer statues" idea this turn, at the very least.

---

Good news and sad news for Omon Obin.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Good news, there's a new Law-Giver and he's of the old blood. Really old (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/House_Jalisac-Atektiquo). All the way back to the 1st century. Bad news, he has the blight.

---

Good news (for me), it's not my fault animals marry each other, they've been doing it for decades before I even got a turn.

Spoiler: image (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/nfKSwW1.png)

That's a relief. I might only be responsible for animals settling by their own (and even that might have happened before).

Speaking of, it's Clearmasters that was the originator of the immortal pets (also has an artifact named The Immortal Cat, fitting, I made the connection much later), my headcannon is that Rovod the Expedition Leader of Iroram learned the secret of giving immortality without the associated curses from correspondence with Kikrost (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Kikrost Órnomal).

---

Save's up: https://dffd.bay12games.com/file.php?id=15802

Submission: The Dwarves for Everyone (copy) by Urdim Tatloshathel, 500th Soldier of Night, prophetess of Dalzatèzum reborn.

Player forts visited: Eshim Acob / "Free the Eggs".

Happy New Year, everybody!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: nogoodnames on December 31, 2021, 12:16:25 pm

Guess it's my turn then. Let me just download the save and... it's 2.5 GB now?! Jeez, I hope there's not some kind of exponential growth going on.

I probably don't have time this week for anything too fancy, but I'll do my best.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Quantum Drop on December 31, 2021, 12:18:15 pm

Noticed something weird in the newest save when exported to LegendsViewer - the top of the Adventurers list has suddenly been filled out by four apparent NPCs (https://i.imgur.com/EmkNdnq.png), displacing the actual player characters. Anyone else seeing this?

Also: good luck with your turn, NGN, and a happy new year to everyone in the thread!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on December 31, 2021, 12:27:00 pm

Yeah, I took them over to take them to Iroram, I hope it's not a problem? I wanted some elves and the last necromancer and visitors weren't coming as much as I'd have liked. The troll and the elf-turned-Cthulhu would have probably been killed in the wild, so I took pity on them and trekked them there too. I want a multi-species fort, the more ancient and unique, the better. I'm planning to eventually

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

breach hell in Iroram in fortress mode, see which creatures are nice to have (not bile-made creatures, certainly) and seal some of them up for some super-exhibit wing I'm hoping to someday make.

Maybe possess some current named demons and trek them to Iroram, too, but with there being infinite demons in hell, that feels lazy at the moment. Also I can be a lot more picky if I open the entirety of hell for myself instead of just taking whoever was lucky enough to make a kill and get a name.

---

Quote from: nogoodnames on December 31, 2021, 12:16:25 pm

Guess it's my turn then. Let me just download the save and... it's 2.5 GB now?! Jeez, I hope there's not some kind of exponential growth going on.

I probably don't have time this week for anything too fancy, but I'll do my best.

Glad you were on to see it's your turn, good luck NGN!

I'm looking now at some of the save archives, turn 52 to 54 spiked from 183 megas to 239, turn 57 went down to 195, turn 58 was 269 and it stabilized around there, with my turn 66 being 276. No idea what's causing this.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Quantum Drop on December 31, 2021, 12:39:04 pm

Quote from: Lurker Z on December 31, 2021, 12:27:00 pm

Yeah, I took them over to take them to Iroram, I hope it's not a problem? I wanted some elves and the last necromancer and visitors weren't coming as much as I'd have liked. The troll and the elf-turned-Cthulhu would have probably been killed in the wild, so I took pity on them and trekked them there too. I want a multi-species fort, the more ancient and unique, the better.

Don't think that'll be a problem, was just wondering why they'd suddenly shown up in LV. That fort does sound like a pretty good idea, ngl.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on December 31, 2021, 03:47:06 pm

I think we need to be careful to stick to the ethos of the game and the rules that Bralbaard defined.

There has been quite a lot of DFHackery in recent turns with UnretireAnyone, people retiring and unretring multiple forts, multiple adventurers per turn... we don't want anything to screw up the world too much.

One of the rules was that we shouldn't attack/kill fellow adventurers intentionally; does that include the NPCs that we have "taken over" using UnretireAnyone?

The core of the game is that you create your adventurer, grab something for the Museum, then create a fort. Let's not lose sight of that.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on December 31, 2021, 04:08:41 pm

I think it only applies to adventurers of the Museum and Museum personnel as defined by Bralbaard. That list in Legends Mode is more or less meaningless except for us to find adventurers faster.

I'd like that people won't kill my refugees, but I can't force them to do it. And as the past shows, resurrected adventurers tend to attack living adventurers, resulting in their redeath XD as my own Lurker Onecbehal had happen to him. Nobody makes a case out of these things if it's not intentional, especially that there may be people that join that don't know off-hand the rest of the adventurers (as the case was, Moldath was lucky that I'm not necro-kill-happy or vamp-kill-happy if he appeared as killing those people, but someone might have arranged an "accident" without knowing he's adventurer, the kind where the body doesn't survive, and that's part of the game.)

From what I remember, Bralbaard did ok us doing adventurer stuff after we finished our main adventurer quest one way or another, but I don't want to put words in his mouth. The way I see it, moving people and items to our forts through adventurer mode is just a continuation of improving our forts for future visitations. I completely concede that this is my personal view and may not reflect our game-master's take on things.

Sure, the appearance of random NPCs in Legends Viewer might scare at first view, but as long as there are no other consequences, we should see it as just a cosmetic bug.

The big problem is probably modding, because that replaces files back and forth and mistakes/corruption/other things might happen. But dfhack is generally a stable, well-tested and well-maintained tool.

Again, this is just my own opinion and I'm open to restrictions if it is proven some dfhack actions hurt the save.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on December 31, 2021, 04:08:57 pm

Quote from: Lurker Z on December 31, 2021, 08:16:02 am

And yes, I checked on your suspicion, Moldath is indeed missing all his artifacts. He's got the rest of his bling on, though.

How strange. I loaded up adventure mode on your turn 66 save, and could select "Moldath Mournsaints from Eskon" - he spawned at your trade depot, still in his hidden identity, but with all of his armour and equipment intact. Which is a bonus! Just have to hope he can look after them for the next 50+ years until my turn comes round again...

I totally get where you are coming from Lurker.

If Moldath ends up in someone elses fort in the next few turns before I can come up with a solution, the player in question should be able to recognise him by the fact that he is:
1. A necromancer vampire
2. A fell one
3. Has no nose or left ear and continually rots

It should be easy enough to then contain him somehow (nickel silver chains are his personal favourite) or, alternatively, banish him from the fort. I would prefer that he wasn't killed as I still have some plans for him...

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on December 31, 2021, 05:38:03 pm

I don't go out of my way to kill adventurers but some like our good uncle snail were instantly hostile and try to fight you. The undead adventurers make it hard to sneak off from them too. Did make up for it by bringing some back.

Forgotten beasts increasing might be that there are more in generation that are just being discovered or i recall somewhere that forgetten beasts can continue to generate (this is likely untrue but i recall hearing it before)

From my understanding the adventurers for the museum are the main priority and that outside of that, you can use your week to explore the world, work on a fort and pass the time. I do admit that i will retire my adventurer pick up the fort for a bit, let time pass and resume my adventure. If that is against the rules, i can stop doing that.

Well if i see Moldath, i will try to banish him. If not lock him away. I just have a feeling that you banish him and then next wave of dwarves and simular looking chap will turn up requesting entry

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on December 31, 2021, 05:38:53 pm

Quote from: nogoodnames on December 31, 2021, 12:16:25 pm

Guess it's my turn then. Let me just download the save and... it's 2.5 GB now?! Jeez, I hope there's not some kind of exponential growth going on.

I probably don't have time this week for anything too fancy, but I'll do my best.

On the off-chance that you haven't already started your turn NoGoodNames, I have uploaded a tweaked version of the save - the only difference being I have moved my adventurer Moldath from his captivity in Clearmasters to a nearby human town.

If you have already started, feel free to ignore this!

https://dffd.bay12games.com/file.php?id=15803

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on December 31, 2021, 07:11:45 pm

Quote from: kesperan on December 31, 2021, 04:08:57 pm

If Moldath ends up in someone elses fort in the next few turns before I can come up with a solution, the player in question should be able to recognise him by the fact that he is:
1. A necromancer vampire
2. A fell one
3. Has no nose or left ear and continually rots

That's nice and all you posting here these, but the next few turns will be 10+ pages after, which not everyone new will see (or remember if they just skim the thread).

My suggestion stands, lock him up in a room, wall off all the ways in or out.

As for keeping his gear, there must be some shenanigans going on. It might be that for all appearances, as it seems now, Fortress Mode and Adventurer Mode are completely different games that happen to share the same .exe, the same tilesets and the same worlds. I know I checked the instance right before I retired Eskon and he had no artifacts on him, so the game must remember characters that come to fortresses in one way and probably keeps the memory of the adventurer as different data. Nothing else makes sense.

Somewhat off-topic for this conversation, but relevant to the thread, is something I think I mentioned before. I had an instance where a blighted thrall came from Omon Obin as a Guild Representative with the caravan. I healed him with DFHack, all was well, he left off the map, then returned next year... once again blighted. I healed him again. I should probably check if he's still infected, alive or if he died a thrall.

Another instance is that I gave Urwa Nihdesana (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Urwa_Nihdesana) immortality through DFHack while in adventure mode, yet he died of old age none-the-less. On the other hand, the game remembers the immortality I give to creatures that go between fortresses.

My point is that the game remembers things weirdly.

Out of curiosity, is Moldath still rotting or did my miracle heal stick? And is he still missing body parts? I used

Code: [Select]

full-heal -rso everything should have been healed.

Quote from: AvolitionBrit on December 31, 2021, 05:38:03 pm

From my understanding the adventurers for the museum are the main priority and that outside of that, you can use your week to explore the world, work on a fort and pass the time. I do admit that i will retire my adventurer pick up the fort for a bit, let time pass and resume my adventure. If that is against the rules, i can stop doing that.

The way I see it, the risk's completely on you, as if you completed your quest and you continue, you risk losing your adventurer, so the risk-reward is on you.

Quote from: AvolitionBrit on December 31, 2021, 05:38:03 pm

Forgotten beasts increasing might be that there are more in generation that are just being discovered or i recall somewhere that forgetten beasts can continue to generate (this is likely untrue but i recall hearing it before)

No forgotten beast has generated since World Activation, that I can tell you for certain. Despite its limitations and occasional mix-ups, Legends Viewer shows creatures in the order of generation and the last one is shown to be created in 166 ATBT (though it's known to retcon newly created creatures). But I'm pretty sure if we compare the number with the number in the 1st save, there's no change.

Edit: There are two new entries, but they're just resurrected named body-parts of a dead FB.

As a side note, I don't think we need to worry about no longer having forgotten beasts (unless they're locked in a fortress or other with no way out), there are still

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

199

living forgotten beasts in the world. That means in almost a century and a half barely

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

20%

of them were killed. That's in some ways both a large and a small number, but it probably means we're not going to finish them off for as long as the game keeps being played unless someone really wants to force the issue.

The other megabeasts are steadily going extinct, however.

Quote from: AvolitionBrit on December 31, 2021, 05:38:03 pm

Well if i see Moldath, i will try to banish him. If not lock him away. I just have a feeling that you banish him and then next wave of dwarves and simular looking chap will turn up requesting entry

Again, personal preference, but I've avoided raids (which seem to have been done successfully and with no stated problems in this save so far) and exiles like the plague, because of the horror stories I hear the bugs cause.

Read the wiki article on emigration (https://dwarffortresswiki.org/index.php/DF2014:Emigration), it outright states

Quote

This feature has one or more outstanding bugs.

and

Quote

Dwarves who are expelled may return; this is a known bug which will be fixed in future versions.

Also that section on the DFHack method is probably outdated, I've had a 10+ comment conversation (https://github.com/DFHack/dfhack/issues/1784) on their GitHub and they were "threatening" to remove the option if the problem wasn't resolved. The issue was, the unhappy dwarves stayed as visitors, eating and drinking you out of house of home while not doing anything else and, more importantly, not leaving. As far as I know, not game-crashing or anything, but still, something that might have forced you to retire to fix the bug (and I'm not sure it can be fixed just by retiring and reclaiming).

Therefore, note to the thread's readers, be careful with these actions unless you're certain there won't be long-term consequences.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on December 31, 2021, 07:27:27 pm

Happy new year all.

Dfhack fullheal is personaly something i wouldnt do. Kinda opens another can of worms. If i recall it also removes undead and vamperism from dwarves.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on December 31, 2021, 07:30:09 pm

Quote from: AvolitionBrit on December 31, 2021, 07:27:27 pm

Happy new year all.

Dfhack fullheal is personaly something i wouldnt do. Kinda opens another can of worms. If i recall it also removes undead and vamperism from dwarves.

Definitely not vampirism. Most definitely not vampirism. Moldath went on his drinking spree after I full-healed him.

QD mentioned some pages in the past that full-heal doesn't remove a creature's title of necromancer, but removes the abilities they gained from what they used to become a necro (also probably doesn't remove immortality).

Regarding undead, it makes mummies living again (which is awesome), but those resurrected like some of our adventurers are can't be made into living again, sadly.

---

Ah, and add me for another turn, Bralbaard, thanks.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on December 31, 2021, 08:11:04 pm

When I loaded up your save file, and selected Moldath, he was almost exactly as I left him. He has some different clothes, but his inventory is otherwise untouched.

Same armour, had his artifact sword, all his bone crafts, and the same injuries, scars, missing body parts and rot. I have no idea how it happened.

I have uploaded a save game I made after I retired him in a nearby human town - feel free to check it out.

And... Happy New Year you deranged animals!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: nogoodnames on December 31, 2021, 11:49:09 pm

Quote from: kesperan on December 31, 2021, 05:38:53 pm

On the off-chance that you haven't already started your turn NoGoodNames, I have uploaded a tweaked version of the save - the only difference being I have moved my adventurer Moldath from his captivity in Clearmasters to a nearby human town.

I did start already, sorry.

I had to replace the raw folder with a previous version because the one in the save had leftover graphics junk and was missing our edits (making Dwarves and Kobolds outsider playable). There shouldn't be any problems, but I'll be keeping watch. Did someone edit the [NOT_BUTCHERABLE] tag to [BUTCHERABLE] in the reptile raws? The errorlog is complaining about that because it's not a real tag.

As for the use of dfhack, I think it should be limited to non-cheaty functions and fixing game breaking bugs. In fort mode maybe it can be a bit looser as long as it doesn't leak back to adventure mode, but I'd prefer keeping it to a minimum. Using full-heal and making things immortal is crossing the line in my opinion.

...and happy new year (in 10 minutes for me)!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: nogoodnames on January 01, 2022, 03:38:05 am

Greetings and welcome, gentle reader! I am Rovod Lisidrovod, a gorlak from the cave known as Ivyhells the Hopeful Shadow. For a long time, I was alone there, but just under twenty years ago, a group of dwarves arrived. They called themselves “The Pointy Rocks” and said they were settling the cave as part of their kingdom! They taught me to read and write and told me many stories of the world outside our cave. Tales of great beasts, empires reborn and above all, the noble pursuit of knowledge!

(https://i.imgur.com/8cJWBKw.png)

Now I finally feel ready to add my own words to that great endeavour! Most entrancing of the dwarves’ stories were the ones they told of the many wonderous animals that fill this world. Tantalizingly diverse yet often vague and fragmented. I shall journey out and document them fully! Their appearance, their behaviour, and of course, their taste! I am after all, a cook by trade! This journal shall serve as a living record of my findings. Perhaps one day I will be able to edit it down and send a copy to the great museum to the north that I hear so much of.

As I prepare to depart, I spy some naked mole dogs who have made their way to the surface. I hunt a couple for meat. These cave creatures are common to me, but perhaps the rest of the world could use an introduction.

Spoiler: Of the Naked Mole-Dog (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/Bcgvfmj.png)

A most intriguing beast. It lives in deep burrows with many dozens of its brethren. Its mighty jaws and claws can even dig through some soft stone. The teeth grow endlessly and make for excellent tools.

It is said that each burrow has a single matriarch that all the others live in service to. They are not aggressive but can be quite tough to kill if they become a nuisance. They feel no pain from even the most grievous wounds.

Though some find their wrinkled skin to be ugly, it is quite soft to the touch and produces a fine and supple leather. The best meat can be found on the mole-dog’s haunches. It makes for a fine meal when glazed with sweet wine and served with plump helmets.

Before leaving, I speak with our local Administrator, Sigun Boardseal. He is a well-travelled dwarf of many talents. A strong warrior and a legendary craftsdwarf. He tells me of a few locations I can check out nearby. He stops me before I go and hands me one of his old trophies, a knot of hair from an enormous beast that dwelled in the depths of the world. Perhaps if I am lucky, I too can encounter such a creature!

I arrive at an ancient shrine Sigun pointed out to me. Local legend says it is the home to a mighty god of living metal. I approach cautiously. I crest the hill and find a stunningly beautiful statue of a strange man-beast surrounded by old coins.

(https://i.imgur.com/dpRbEMy.png)

Is this the god of this place? I had hoped it would be more lively. Regardless, I make a respectful offering. One should always respect the local culture.

I continue to the next landmark, a dwarven fortress known as Mosshill the Mines of Iron. A dwarf official greets me as I approach. I inquire about local monsters, and she tells me of an ettin that makes its home nearby but can’t tell me where exactly. She quickly angers at as I continue to question her, and I decide to see if anyone inside can help me. I find the entrance to the fort, but the corpse left to rot outside and the rows of traps are not exactly encouraging.

(https://i.imgur.com/oKkOqY3.png)

I cross through and reach what seems to be a forge area. True to its name, the fort appears to be dedicated to mining and processing iron. The few dwarves that live here clearly have a spartan existence. Though I suppose it’s better than a cave. I find one dwarf slumped over dead at his desk. Maybe I should leave.

On my way out, I help myself to a few of their supplies to cook some delicious rations. I let them keep most of the stew as payment.

(https://i.imgur.com/y48xkAv.png)

Not far from the fort, I spy something unusual. Campfires and tents arranged outside. I approach and spot a dwarf who seems to be in charge. His helm bears the twin trees of the Staff of Kissing. However, he runs past me without a word, apparently on some business.

I go to investigate the tent, but suddenly the dwarf is back, punching at me in a rage! I nimbly dodge his blows and pull out my trusty whip. A sharp lash to his leg sends the dwarf to the ground. I offer the dwarf an end to the fight and he says he accepts, but immediately attacks again when I turn my back!

(https://i.imgur.com/sYE9MgH.png)

I try to escape, but even crawling on the ground the dwarf can keep pace with me. Damn these short legs! I am ashamed to admit it, but I had to kill the poor bastard. My whip shattered his skull with a sickening crack. I thought the others in the camp might try to fight me as well, but once their leader was dead, they just stood and stared at me as I backed away.

Just what was that all about? Already this journey is turning out to be more than I signed up for.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on January 01, 2022, 07:02:34 am

Interesting start. At least you survived your first encounter. Dang, why was that dwarf attacking you? Good thing for the whip, too.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on January 01, 2022, 08:22:35 am

Quote from: nogoodnames on January 01, 2022, 03:38:05 am

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/8cJWBKw.png)

Awesome gorlak art Nogoodnames!
Best wishes for everyone for the new year and for your gorlak in particular.

About DFhack use. I agree with the sentiments to keep dfhack use limited.
The rules actually used to state that dfhack was for circumventing crashes and bugs only, but some time ago we relaxed the rules to allow use of advfort crafting. I'll more clearly state in the rules that it should remain limited in other cases.

This is not only because of concerns for unintended effects of dfhack scripts, but also because excessive tampering may break immersion. 

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on January 01, 2022, 08:43:41 am

Quote from: nogoodnames on December 31, 2021, 11:49:09 pm

I did start already, sorry.

No problem at all.

I see you met Sigun Boardseal the Competitive Failure, and his Pointy Rocks. These were the crack commandos from Ashcinders who conquered the vault of Coverashes; slew the last remaining angel and the animated corpse of Erith and eventually got bored and conquered the cave your Gorlak originated in.

He is an interesting character and well travelled as you say - he has lived in Sealsabres, Ironwards, Clearmasters and Ashcinders, and is a legendary wood crafter and legendary stone crafter. The artifact wooden crown he made was stolen and given to the necromancer Cog Wildnessworks, who was later slain by adventurers - Cog's animated corpse was butchered by Moldath and his neck bone is in the Museum. Sigun's wife was killed by a weremammoth but his son still lives in Ashcinders.

Good luck on your adventures, Rovod!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on January 01, 2022, 08:51:14 am

Quote from: Bralbaard on January 01, 2022, 08:22:35 am

This is not only because of concerns for unintended effects of dfhack scripts, but also because excessive tampering may break immersion.

Fair.

Though really, with in-game built magic flying around and mysterious circumstances that are sometimes even unrelated to adventurers, weird thing are the norm of the day. (Example: animals became sapient and able to hold a noble position since World Generation.)

For me, all the adventurers rising as undead breaks my suspense of disbelief. And it's an honest game mechanic. I'm not saying I dislike it, I'm just saying everyone's lines are different.

Role-playing, I've just chucked immortality to miracles and the fact that Kikrost and Rovod have been communicating, and so some, if not all, the creatures passing through their fortress have it.

Quote from: Lurker Z on December 31, 2021, 07:30:09 pm

Ah, and add me for another turn, Bralbaard, thanks.

Bump for visibility.

Quote from: kesperan on January 01, 2022, 08:43:41 am

Sigun Boardseal the Competitive Failure
-snip-

Fellow might deserve an article. Too bad he only has such a small family.

Spoiler: Off-topic views (click to show/hide)

I think the current version where dwarves (and probably sapients) have to be married to produce offspring is too limiting. They do that out of wedlock in world-gen, I think. I hope there'll be an update where two dwarves can just get together and have offspring. Or even two dwarves of the same gender, hey, demons exist and Gods directly influence the world through miracles, what's same-sex reproduction to Armok?

Also I see he didn't just visit Clearmasters, he became its member.

Ahaha.

AHAHAHAHAHA!

Some might guess why I'm laughing. I can't say for certainty, but it may be that

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

he can't die until he's killed.

Kikrost might be angry, people running away with his gifts, ungrateful sods.

Edit: Huh, he already has an article (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Sigun_Gakizurvad). I think he was discussed some pages before.

For me, he's notable for - as far as I know - being the father of the first dwarven child of the 9th century in my very own fort. I was initially going to redirect him to a dynasty page, but realized he's deserving of an article.

More edit: I finally found the post (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8329159#msg8329159) I mentioned him in, it was pretty low-key that it seems few or none noticed or clicked.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: tonnot98 on January 01, 2022, 03:37:49 pm

Oh yeah, add me for another turn as well, please!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on January 01, 2022, 07:01:05 pm

Turn list and the map have been updated.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: nogoodnames on January 02, 2022, 10:31:20 am

I must admit, the senseless slaughter of the day before had me shaken, but I quickly set that feeling aside and focused on the journey ahead. Another day passed as I made my way south along the Bearded Horns. I was hoping to find the nest of one of the mighty birds of prey that live in high peaks, the rocs. My efforts were rewarded when I caught sight of a telltale glint.

I feared that this nest might have been raided long ago by monster hunters. Still, I crept up to it cautiously. Imagine my delight when I caught sight of a proud living roc! Thankfully he wasn’t looking my way. Such a beast could swallow me in one bite!

(https://i.imgur.com/41y8jp5.png)

Carefully making my way over to nest, I took note of the scene. The remains of two other rocs were still scattered about the area, and I saw now that the living one had scars from some past battle. Curiously, it seemed that the hunter had carved up the bones of one roc into many different crafts only to leave them strewn around the nest. Perhaps its vengeful mate had returned and eaten him before he could leave with his trophies.

Picking through the nest, I grabbed a roc’s gizzard stone, a carved piece of glass and a single roc egg. I left the rest undisturbed. Best not to leave too much evidence of my intrusion.

Spoiler: Of the Roc (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/RnPf2i2.png)

Greatest if the winged beasts, the roc rules the skies with unparalleled grace and might. One may fly a thousand leagues in a day and their wings have been said to blot out the sun.

The roc’s eyesight is unmatched in all the animal kingdom. It can track even small prey from many leagues away. Rocs of breeding age take advantage of this by decorating their nests with shiny objects to attract potential mates. This behaviour has led to many unfortunate incidents where a randy roc caught sight of some poor jeweler’s wares.

Roc eggs are curiously small and light for the size of the creature and, indeed, the offspring they produce. How an egg that weighs less than a kilo hatches a chick four times the size of a dwarf has never been properly explained. Roc feathers are often collected by peasants in mountain villages. They are tied into charms that are said to scare off evil spirits.

Leaving the mountains behind, I headed southwest. After swimming across a great river, I reached a cluster of dwarven hillocks. I explored the nearest. Most of the burrows were being used for underground farming, but I found a few dwarves in the civic mound. I spent a few moments swapping stories about dragon kings and such.

[(https://i.imgur.com/XvtZ39B.png)

Unfortunately, the dwarves were not much help tracking down more beasts. They did point me in the direction of a larger fortress, “Ashcinders the Molten Scar.” The name is certainly ominous, but if these simple settlers all go there to trade, how dangerous could it be?

On my way to Ashcinders, wolves ambushed me near nightfall. They were tenacious, but quickly fell to my whip. I stopped by another hillocks to find someplace safe to rest. Strangely enough, this one was filled with humans aside from the dwarven mayor. I met a macewoman called Reloth who offered to join me. She seems competent enough, and I could use the company.

Finally, after trekking through a dense thicket of trees, we arrived at Ashcinders. The entrance makes an imposing first impression, with the treeline suddenly ending and smoothed walls of stone rising up.

We walked around the perimeter first and ran into an eye-catching structure made of bricks of green glass. It had steel doors flanked by two statues made of an odd, blistered metal I have never seen before. One was the symbol of the Walled Dye while the other depicted a dwarf slaying an elf. I entered the building and found the trappings of a small tavern. To my shock, instead of any dwarves inside, I found a reptile woman.

(https://i.imgur.com/fFl4Py2.png)

The reptile woman claimed to be a tavern keeper, but that she didn’t work in this specific tavern. Very curious. She did share an interesting ghost story with me though. A dwarf whose spirit remains tethered here out of desire for an artifact he once wielded.

(https://i.imgur.com/NJwIZ0i.png)

The next floor of the glass building was filled to the brim with bins of steel weapons and armour, all of it masterful in quality. Why put this armory here? Were visitors intended to take from it. Is the fort’s materiel wealth so great that they can flaunt it like this?

If that floor impressed me, the next left me in utter awe. Again it was filled with bins, but instead of steel they held equipment made of the same blistered metal as the statues and… adamantine! The mythical blue metal! Light as a feather yet sharp as a razor and strong as the bones of the mountain! On pedestals around the room were named artifacts made of the same materials.

(https://i.imgur.com/Bok0GQw.png)

I tested a blistered shield and found it sturdy yet far lighter than my copper one. Well, if they left these bins out here, surely they intended visitors to avail themselves of the equipment? I took the shield, as well as a morningstar for Reloth. Just a pity the armour is sized for dwarves. I could use a lighter set.

I must confess, I may have indulged in a bit too much rum before leaving the tavern. The rest of my visit is a bit of a blur.

We went further south and found a field full of ash. The titular scar perhaps?

(https://i.imgur.com/Qw2S1K4.png)

Following the ash trail up the mountain, we found a small gatehouse and some kind of penned in area where animals were grazing. The gate turned out to be a secondary entrance to the fort. We descended into it.

Inside we ran into some dwarves, showing that the place was in fact not populated solely by lizard people. There were also a number of tame grizzly bears wandering around.

Back at the entrance proper, there were rows of statues representing the Walled Dye blueberry bush as well as the fort’s own symbol. Some interesting iconography there.

(https://i.imgur.com/tyoioIl.png)

We went deeper and deeper down the main stairway until we arrived at the burning heart of the fort. Here, magma was channeled to fuel many smelters and forges.

(https://i.imgur.com/k74X7VS.png)

Returning upward, we found ourselves in some sort of memorial hall. To the north there were catacombs with far more coffins than should have been needed. The seemed to be mostly empty so the dwarves must have just been preparing for the future.

To the east we entered a room full of statues. I recognized them! Each one depicted a different adventurer who had contributed to the grand museum of Boltspumpkin! The center statues showed the start of the museum by Bralbaard and his eventual ascension to king.

(https://i.imgur.com/CrIJ6n2.png)

To the south was another grand room filled with various artifacts. A mosaic of a dwarven face decorated the floor. Beyond that, there was another door that opened into a narrow hallway. I tried to continue through it, but a shooting pain in my arm pierced through my drunken stupor.

(https://i.imgur.com/fqhS4WT.png)

After that incident, I must have decided to return to the surface. I don’t remember much more beyond blurred moments and a growing feeling of nausea. We camped nearby, and I awoke with the worst hangover I’ve ever had. Let me tell you, headaches are far worse when your entire body is a head! My arm still hurts too, but I think the journey here was worth it. Seeing the museum contributors here so honoured has strengthened my desire to join them.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on January 02, 2022, 11:43:16 am

Quote from: nogoodnames on January 02, 2022, 10:31:20 am

Imagine my delight when I caught sight of a proud living roc! Thankfully he wasn’t looking my way. Such a beast could swallow me in one bite!

Congratulation to bearing witness to the last living roc in the world! I wonder if its kin's hunter(s) left it alive for that purpose.

Quote from: nogoodnames on January 02, 2022, 10:31:20 am

To my shock, instead of any dwarves inside, I found a reptile woman.

(https://i.imgur.com/NJwIZ0i.png)

My precious, there you are! That's my first named reptile woman from Clearmasters, named in the common tongue Wildpaddled. She got her name by one-shotting a berserking dwarf without a scratch. Twice. I since got another named reptile woman, had her kill a goblin visitor. She received the name Silverycolored. Hope this one stays in my fort.

Spoiler: One way to get a named creature (click to show/hide)

Make a new squad. If the unnamed creature can't lead the squad, put a dwarf to lead it, then add the unnamed creature to the squad. Lock the dwarf in a room. Have a named target in view, preferably easy to kill (probably not a creature already loyal to your fortress to not create a loyalty cascade). Try to isolate the target so it won't run away from its grisly fate. Station the squad with the unnamed creature next to the target. Wall off all avenues of escape. Have the squad kill the creature (if the dwarf leading the squad is locked in a room, he can't leave to steal the kill). Enjoy your newly named creature.

Interesting to see others' fortresses from the eyes of an adventurer.

Good luck on your continued quest!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on January 03, 2022, 06:52:39 pm

Quote from: nogoodnames on January 02, 2022, 10:31:20 am

Curiously, it seemed that the hunter had carved up the bones of one roc into many different crafts only to leave them strewn around the nest. Perhaps its vengeful mate had returned and eaten him before he could leave with his trophies.

Ah yes, some of those bone crafts are no doubt Moldaths, when he was first learning. I left behind the poor quality ones. He is now quite *Talented* and has a number of masterworks!

Quote from: nogoodnames on January 02, 2022, 10:31:20 am

They did point me in the direction of a larger fortress, “Ashcinders the Molten Scar.” The name is certainly ominous, but if these simple settlers all go there to trade, how dangerous could it be?

Yay! You visited my fort. I am glad you found it interesting, if small.

Quote from: nogoodnames on January 02, 2022, 10:31:20 am

We walked around the perimeter first and ran into an eye-catching structure made of bricks of green glass. It had steel doors flanked by two statues made of an odd, blistered metal I have never seen before. One was the symbol of the Walled Dye while the other depicted a dwarf slaying an elf. I entered the building and found the trappings of a small tavern. To my shock, instead of any dwarves inside, I found a reptile woman.

The tavern, The Glorius Adventure, was made in honor of Moldath bringing the blistered metal items; he hauled every bit of armour, weapon and shield from Coverashes to the forges as none of it would fit any adventurer (I tried with larger body types like grizzly bear men, and it was too small, so I reckon it must be sized for 100-110000 sized units). The statue is of Moldath slaying the Dark One Queen Vafice Lutecover.

And despite her protestations the reptile woman is indeed the tavern keeper. She started off as an armourer but all the armour she made was sized for reptile people and too small for dwarfs.

Quote from: nogoodnames on January 02, 2022, 10:31:20 am

Why put this armory here? Were visitors intended to take from it. Is the fort’s materiel wealth so great that they can flaunt it like this?

If that floor impressed me, the next left me in utter awe. Again it was filled with bins, but instead of steel they held equipment made of the same blistered metal as the statues and… adamantine! The mythical blue metal! Light as a feather yet sharp as a razor and strong as the bones of the mountain! On pedestals around the room were named artifacts made of the same materials.

Of course, this bounty of blistered metal is for all adventurers of the Museum. There should even be some stuff sized for humans... I didn't have the foresight to make some gorlak-sized, though...

Quote from: nogoodnames on January 02, 2022, 10:31:20 am

Back at the entrance proper, there were rows of statues representing the Walled Dye blueberry bush as well as the fort’s own symbol. Some interesting iconography there.

The image of the Scar of Ashes signifies the fort's purpose - to conquer Coverashes, drive out the forces of The Black, Udir, the death God of the fallen civilisation The Page of Tiredness, and harvest the riches within.

Quote from: nogoodnames on January 02, 2022, 10:31:20 am

To the south was another grand room filled with various artifacts. A mosaic of a dwarven face decorated the floor. Beyond that, there was another door that opened into a narrow hallway. I tried to continue through it, but a shooting pain in my arm pierced through my drunken stupor.

I am sorry my meagre trap hallway dissuaded you from finding Ashcinders greatest treasure...

I am glad you did find some equipment you could use. Good luck on the remainder of your adventures!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on January 04, 2022, 04:21:02 am

Great story on the exploration of Ashcinders!
The map has some truly great and complex fortresses, and it's great to see an adventuring journal that takes the time to describe a fortress and does justice to all the work that people put into their construction.
Also stuff like this helps me write out the short descriptions for the fortresses below the world map.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on January 04, 2022, 03:26:59 pm

Apparently we made it into the hall of legends!
 
Free drinks for everyone!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Quantum Drop on January 04, 2022, 04:06:21 pm

Quote from: Bralbaard on January 04, 2022, 03:26:59 pm

Apparently we made it into the hall of legends!
 
Free drinks for everyone!

(https://i.imgur.com/MSHMgiB.gif)

Thanks to everyone who voted us into the HoL!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on January 04, 2022, 04:09:37 pm

Cheers!

Quote from: Immortal-D on January 04, 2022, 02:09:11 pm

Setting a new record for speed voting

I was honestly surprised we didn't get it day 1, we had about 6 or 7 votes since just then. Well, it's good it was in the bag, the thread deserves it.

---

Since I'm posting, might as well update what I've been up to lately with the wiki: got the page up for the first family of dwarves that graced Fortress mode (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/House_Uzolkeskal-Vab%C3%B4kurem), which might contain the first baby born in Fortress Mode as well. Phew, almost 5k typed characters for 5 dwarves. Considering a redirect takes about 700-800 typed characters just for the categories (example (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Ilral_Uzolkeskal?redirect=no)), that makes almost 5k for the redirects as well. It was almost as much work as for Zemel's dynasty (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/House_of_Zemel_Gethdazsug), but I did that for a period of several days while I did this one in a single day.

The family is interesting for having 2 barons, one who somehow survived both massacres of 825 and 826 (which is that dwarf I suspect to be the first one to be born in a player fortress) and a currently still living Mayor. Not only do they have an in with nobility, the Mayor married a dwarf originally from The Staff civilization (though she converted to Adilatír when she arrived at the same place as him, so he had no reason not to, I suppose).

The sad part is none of the 3 children have any offspring themselves and they're getting close to dying of old age.

I knew I felt something strange about it and I didn't know what, but now I do: they feel like the Hawke family from Dragon Age. Father died in the prologue, left with a mother, two sons and a sister, the son dies to the blight... wow... It's almost the same, except with 2 sons instead of a single one.

---

I've also discovered another creature way back in the old thread (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=104399.2415) attacked 6 times by werebeasts until the 7th finally turned it. I think this is either a bug or there must be some weird explanation, like there being only a few historical figures in a city or the AI taking the same character from the characters pool for some reason. Now I'm curious enough to consider tracking the werebeasts and seeing which of them took more than one try to be turned.

---

Updated list of fortresses (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/List_of_fortresses_built_for_the_Museum_succession), it's just a wall of red links right now, but it's up to date. Last one added so far is Eshim Acob / "Free the Eggs".

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on January 04, 2022, 04:38:57 pm

Great stuff! would not be suprised if the museum game wiki site will make it into the Hall of Legends on it's own one day.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on January 04, 2022, 11:41:11 pm

Il raise a glass to the museum being imortalised in the hall of legends

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on January 05, 2022, 08:57:19 am

Great news, I will raise a mug of *dwarven ale* to our success!

I've noticed the Museum is becoming a library - the last four submissions have been books. I wonder what our gorlak friend will submit?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: nogoodnames on January 06, 2022, 11:32:04 pm

Leaving Ashcinders and heading northeast, we once again crossed the great river and found ourselves amidst the cluster of hillocks that the fort protected. We stopped by a couple to rest and gather information. I was in for quite the pleasant surprise in Vigorbronze.

Inside the civic mound we were greeted by a battle-hardened dwarf mayor. Beside her, she had two of the most charming beasts I have ever seen! She called them “voracious cave crawlers” and told me how they were taken from the deep caverns and trained. She was surprisingly open to my request to take one as a pet. For the last of my soup rations, she gave me one of the crawlers as well as a fascinating book to keep me occupied on the long road ahead. Apparently, it’s hard to find good food out here on the frontier!

I name my new cave crawler Tishisshis. He is a bit too slow to be a useful mount, but I’m sure he’ll be quite fearsome in combat.

Spoiler: Of the Voracious Cave Crawler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/1375NhB.png)


A mighty beast found in the very deepest parts of the world. It is a slow but relentless hunter, efficiently devouring anything in its path.

The “feet” of the cave crawler are finely attuned to vibrations and in the absence of eyes allow the creature to detect any disturbance nearby. They are so sensitive that they may pick out their prey’s heart beating from sixty paces away. Perhaps surprisingly, crawlers are incredibly loyal and affectionate creatures once won over. They can distinguish the heartbeats of people they and even respond to emotions. As guard animals, they will fight to the death in defense of their owners.

Cave crawlers constantly secrete a thin, waxy substance from their underside. Dwarves are known to rub it in their beards to keep them healthy and supple. It is highly prized by them for these beneficial properties.

After days of travel, we reached the great river known as the Purged Loot which marks the borders of the Realm of Silver, largest of the human kingdoms. We crossed at night when the river froze over and headed for the nearby hamlet of Speechrags.

I entered the mead hall of Speechrags. Inside was a human woman, naked and scarred, with a wild look in her eyes. She screeched something like, “They’ve gotten in!” and charged at me! She ignored my attempts to communicate, and her attacks were easily dodged. Reloth and Tishisshis swiftly put an end to the madwoman before I could get anything else out of her.

(https://i.imgur.com/wwhJ6HY.png)

We burned the body and left to investigate the peasant homes. A figure in the distance caught my eye, but as we approached it revealed a grotesque visage. The man looked to be a hunter and was mangled so thoroughly that I wondered how he could still walk. His nose was missing, leaving nothing but a gaping hole in his face beneath his dead, sightless eyes. Yet he did see us, somehow, and sprinted toward me with alarming speed. I brought up my whip, but the thing shrugged off bone-breaking blows as if they were nothing! I shattered its skull, but even with its brains spilling out, it came at me again! Tishisshis finally managed to end the creature by chomping its head clean off.

(https://i.imgur.com/yAmmksU.png)

We continued towards the houses and were greeted by a scene of bloody chaos. Slick trails of gore spilled out of once-idyllic homes, and bodies littered the ground. In the distance, another human…-? tore away at an unconscious opponent. I backed away, but Reloth stood, transfixed by the scene.
“The Omon Blight.” She said, with a shudder. “I thought it was a myth.”
Eventually I was able to snap her out of it and we left that cursed place.

(https://i.imgur.com/MdJblcM.png)

Heading north, the next hamlet we encountered was completely abandoned. No signs of struggle. The one after that, we found two old bodies, but no living residents. By then it was nightfall, but we braved camping in the wilderness rather than stay there.

The next day, we reached a castle with a large garrison of soldiers. We were happy to see some friendly faces. The soldiers were welcoming, if a bit grim. Unfortunately, they had done their best to avoid the blight and knew little more than us. All they could say was that it had suddenly swept through the kingdom, turning everyone it infected into bloodthirsty monsters. A single bite from the infected was enough to spread the disease, they said. All but the most cautious attempts to cull the blighted thralls would only bolster their numbers. And so, they stopped trying, cut themselves off from the outside world, and hoped to wait it out.

(https://i.imgur.com/D1rgAZx.png)

We continued onward. The castle dwellers may not be hopeful, but of they managed to hold off the infected there could be other survivors. We risked checking the hall in the next hamlet. Sadly, we were disappointed. Just more blighted thralls!

(https://i.imgur.com/nZWOYlj.png)

The thralls looked up from their colourful meal of troll viscera and charged us. I was able to shatter one’s foot and force it to the ground, but again my whip failed to land a killing blow. Tishisshis proved his worth again by biting of the head of the downed thrall. The other one proved more challenging, but we held fast. Eventually it succumbed to the many wounds inflicted upon it.

It seems the fiends can be slain through decapitation or thorough exsanguination. I may need to pick up an edged weapon if all these lands are so blighted. I also noted that the two thralls were, if not cooperative, at least non-aggressive with one another. A large group of them would be quite deadly indeed. I’m just glad the troll did not get up to join them. I’d rather not find out what such a brute could do with the unnatural strength bestowed by the blight.

On our way out of town, we ran into another maddened, naked survivor. He was standing catatonic out in the middle of a field. He did not respond when I called out to him but screamed and ran away as soon as we crossed his vision. Even if the blight has not claimed everyone, finding survivors in such a sorry state is almost more disheartening than finding none at all. I fear for these lands and what we may find beyond them.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on January 07, 2022, 03:11:43 pm

Oh snap! That went from idyllic adventuring to zombie apocalypse really fast! I really hope it's not as bad as you're making it out. Though there is that

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

blighted Law-Giver of Omon Obin to worry about...

I once again wonder if blighted thralls can die of old age. I sure hope so, otherwise every marriage or ascension to a noble position is a potential blight bomb.

Quote from: nogoodnames on January 06, 2022, 11:32:04 pm

I also noted that the two thralls were, if not cooperative, at least non-aggressive with one another.

Yeeeeees, about that... From my observations in Legends Viewer,

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

blighted thralls not only do not attack each other OR undead, but if there are enough of them, they start "insurrections". Now, that's bad on its own, but all the undead around them join in and start killing. This is especially bad since this includes hidden undead, such as intelligent undead, vampires and necromancers. So if some thralls decided to stage a coup, you might have to fight even worse oponents than just plague "victims".

Quote from: nogoodnames on January 06, 2022, 11:32:04 pm

Spoiler: Image Of a Voracious Cave Crawler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/1375NhB.png)

Nice story and interesting visual depiction of a cave crawler, I rarely do manage to picture non-humanoids from just text.

You're almost making me regret not visiting civilization. But then I remember it takes me between half an hour to an hour to get in and out of an inhabited site's general vicinity and it kinda sours it for me.

Did you encounter any bugs/crashes or the kind of lag I'm encountering? Bralbaard says the sites I go to run smoothly for him, which I find strange.

PS Something weird happened in a test reclaim, it was the year 842 so I checked, but all my progress on Clearmasters disappeared (but the dwarves that came in that time were still there and Moldath was free). I really hope that's a weird fluke and that my progress isn't lost. It wouldn't be the end of the world, but it'd still be annoying.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on January 08, 2022, 07:33:11 pm

Quote from: Lurker Z on January 07, 2022, 03:11:43 pm

PS Something weird happened in a test reclaim, it was the year 842 so I checked, but all my progress on Clearmasters disappeared (but the dwarves that came in that time were still there and Moldath was free). I really hope that's a weird fluke and that my progress isn't lost. It wouldn't be the end of the world, but it'd still be annoying.

This might explain why, when I loaded up your save, Moldath was still his usual mangled self and still had all his equipment. Sounds like an odd bug.

How are you getting on with your turn, NGN?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on January 08, 2022, 07:35:36 pm

Yeah hope your turn is going well Nogoodnames. Looking forward to seeing what else has happened during your turn.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: nogoodnames on January 08, 2022, 09:05:52 pm

I got hit with some other obligations, but I'll have the save up tomorrow.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on January 09, 2022, 01:59:21 pm

Quote from: kesperan on January 08, 2022, 07:33:11 pm

Quote from: Lurker Z on January 07, 2022, 03:11:43 pm

PS Something weird happened in a test reclaim, it was the year 842 so I checked, but all my progress on Clearmasters disappeared (but the dwarves that came in that time were still there and Moldath was free). I really hope that's a weird fluke and that my progress isn't lost. It wouldn't be the end of the world, but it'd still be annoying.

This might explain why, when I loaded up your save, Moldath was still his usual mangled self and still had all his equipment. Sounds like an odd bug.

How are you getting on with your turn, NGN?

I tried looking at the save files for clues. Lurker's save appears to have an old copy of the site file for Clearmasters, or at least it tells me that site_1614 was last edited/changed in november.
The dates further suggest that Newworld was edited/changed recently, so the experiments on Moldath likely did take place. This suggests that he just happens to be affected with a particularly persistent curse.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on January 09, 2022, 02:07:46 pm

There's no way I could have 50+ dwarves in the site if I didn't work on Clearmasters at all. Also I suspect the history of the dwarves remain in Legends Viewer, as well as the times I unretired and retired.

Well, I suppose I'm not that upset, I was mostly just burning time to get the dwarves Kikrost needed for his storyline, though losing the walkways and walls will be upseting. I just hope the modifications to Newworld took, as that's going to be my main fortress from now on.

I'll upload the Clearmasters save before I retired, hopefully I still have it, maybe someone can weld the modified site between turns or something.

Ah also my second named reptile girl must be there, so there's that that's not lost, at least.

Ok, I'm looking through Legends Mode, Moldath is seen arriving, but not killing anyone (?????????????) or being imprisoned (?????????????). I'm going to suspect Moldath from being a real boy and casting some dark magic on my save to get away with his crimes XD Which seems a little excessive, I was nice to him. The previous Legends Viewer extract (that I shift+deleted in favor of a more recent one, sadly) said he was condemned to his time + 50 (??? I'm not sure if correct number) hammerstrokes, but I never outfitted my sherriff with a hammer or put anyone in the position of hammerer, so as far as I know, he never got them. Does a dwarf get the hammers AFTER the jail time or before?

Nevermind, his crimes and imprisonment appear on the group page (The Armors of Diamond).

Checked on artifacts, they're not bugged and still exist, at least as far as Legends Viewer is concerned.

Here's the 842 good Clearmasters save: https://dffd.bay12games.com/file.php?id=15812

---

Looking forward to the latest save to see the changes to the world. Did you have time for fortress building, nogoodnames?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on January 09, 2022, 03:11:29 pm

Thank's for that half-turn save game. We've had weird save game corruption earlier and that time we could fix the worst of it by copying certain site files over between save games.
Back then we could not save Gor and Duskhome, but we did save half a dozen other sites from being lost.
It's probably worth trying some fixes when Nogoodnames turns in his save game.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on January 09, 2022, 03:59:11 pm

I can apparently retire the fortress from Lurker's half-way save game, and copy the resulting site file to his final save, and upon loading it does not crash.
There is however an interesting "part of the cavern collapses" message, so I am not entirely sure if everything will survive as intended. Some changes to the fortress since the earlier version are visible. Apparently it works well enough.

The same approach should work for Nogoodname's save, unless he visited the site in the meantime, which I think he did not?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on January 09, 2022, 04:09:25 pm

From what I understand, Gor and Duskhome were corrupted rather than replaced by default by a blank slate, and that's why the site data had to be reverted to that before they were built, so that when adventurers made their way there, they'd find empty fields but the game wouldn't crash.

Thanks for the attempt, Bralbaard, hopefully it works on NGN's save. As I said, it wouldn't have been a huge loss, but at least now we know the bug exists.

As for the cavern collapses... uh... that's probably on me. I worked with cave ins off, but that shouldn't have any consequences unless an adventurer arives there with cave ins on, in which case... who knows. Hopefully nothing too bad happens, I don't have any magma projects or anything and my water projects are all underground.

Quote from: Bralbaard on January 09, 2022, 03:59:11 pm

The same approach should work for Nogoodname's save, unless he visited the site in the meantime, which I think he did not?

It would probably matter only if he took things off the map. As we've established, creatures were in no way affected, apparently.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on January 09, 2022, 05:19:01 pm

Actually in the case of Gor and Duskhome we were dealing with a situation were six or seven site files were completely missing from the save game structure. If someone visited those sites there simply would be no site, but all the characters would be there as they are stored elsewhere. This could be fixed by just copying the missing site files from an earlier save. The problem was that someone had visited Gor and Duskhome in the meantime, causing the game to create new files for those sites out of thin air (obviously with no fortress there). Those files could not be replaced, as it caused crashes. The other sites that had not been visited were repaired succesfully.
That's why I voiced some concern about Clearmasters being visited in the meantime. But there may be no cause or concern, it looks like it has not been visited, there was quite a bit of chatter about Clearmasters on the last few pages, but Nogoodnames never mentioned the site.

(disclaimer: I know absolutely nothing about coding or programming, so the terminology and other stuff I'm describing will likely make no sense.  I'm just happy that sometimes semi-randomly copying files over will fix things.)

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: nogoodnames on January 09, 2022, 11:47:17 pm

Save: https://dffd.bay12games.com/file.php?id=15814

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on January 10, 2022, 03:25:52 am

The fix is downloadable here.  (https://dffd.bay12games.com/file.php?id=15815)

Copy the extracted file into the turn's save folder, overwriting the file that is there.
This way the lost progress on the Clearmasters site should be restored.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on January 10, 2022, 04:40:05 am

Here is the save with the clearmasters fix: https://dffd.bay12games.com/file.php?id=15816

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on January 10, 2022, 11:18:37 am

Thanks for all the effort put in! It looks like it works. There is just one strange thing:

Spoiler: image (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/QPapXYA.png)

I don't remember having wounded dwarves in the fort at that time. Maybe all the healing disappeared? Moldath is very free and very a mess again. Judging from the scars, the heal was completely ignored.

My theories on why it happened:
* I used autosave, that is to say I retired directly after an autosave. I have no idea how that could revert a site or not remember it, especially since it's the site that is retired, but it may be possible this was the problem.
* Maybe something in the "current" folder remained cached and crosswired with the good save? Again, I see no reason why this could happen, but there it is.

Another thing is the inconsistency in fortress members: the game remembers they existed, their deeds etc. but forgets they were healed. Also my artifacts don't appear in the L menu, only Moldath's. I'm returning to the theory that Moldath went Deadpool on my save. XD

The best news as far as I'm concerned:
* My named reptile woman is still there
* The diamond pedestal is still there
* There is now a clear glass wall that shows the pedestal, so visitors may admire the reason the site was founded right in the center of the map
Some more good news:
* The roads and walls are there
* My modification on the cave actually un-mudified them, so that's great.

---

I looked through Legends Viewer for new events, none that I can see. Apparently NGN didn't have time for a fortress, a shame.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on January 10, 2022, 11:41:58 am

So, yeah. I loaded up Moldath in Clearmasters. There was an immediate cave in on the surface, and multiple animals died of old age. He still has all his scars and rot, and his artifact sword.

I took the liberty of moving Moldath to Stockadeoutrage and retired him there. If I am lucky that will mean he will now join The Staff of Kissing and so won't turn up at Walled Dye forts, kill all your dwarves and terrify your chief medical officer.

Modified save for QD's turn here:

https://dffd.bay12games.com/file.php?id=15817

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on January 10, 2022, 11:50:43 am

I let the game play with cave-ins and the cave-ins weren't on the surface.

Well, this is an interesting save, QD is probably blinking at all the links and wondering which one to use (hint: yours).

Another... interesting... thing...
(https://i.imgur.com/pGwp6oz.png)
It's not even named. It's not even named. Or immortal. What is even happening in this world anymore?

Edit: Nevermind, I guess? I let the game play, and the Ram went back to normal. But that was weird while it lasted.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on January 10, 2022, 11:53:23 am

That will be for the best, as it will just be years of removing tissue from Moldath, cleaning him with soap only for the process to repeat forever. Used of the soap in my fort until i sealed him away. Its interesting that he would just keep sneaking into fortresses. I wonder what his motivations are or does a migrant wave come across this poor suffering dwarf who is barely alive and insistantly drag him into the nearest fortress for treatment.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on January 10, 2022, 11:57:22 am

Barely alive *snorts* You forgot the part where he runs 3-4 times faster than the fastest dwarf and sucks dry of blood 3 dwarves in less than a month. Barely alive, he says...

The guy might not be the Blight incarnated, but if he's that thirsty, he might decimate a fort in the roman meaning, then decimate it in the modern one. XD And if he kills enough people others care about, he might just cause a fort-ending tantrum spiral. That's why I bloody imprisoned him, I was going to seal him off if he was in Newworld and I played for longer than his sentence lasted.

Quote from: kesperan on January 10, 2022, 11:41:58 am

I took the liberty of moving Moldath to Stockadeoutrage and retired him there. If I am lucky that will mean he will now join The Staff of Kissing and so won't turn up at Walled Dye forts, kill all your dwarves and terrify your chief medical officer.

After what he did to my save, I'd be willing to bet you good internets that won't stick. Our Armok-"blessed" friend is thirsty. But, we'll see.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on January 10, 2022, 12:01:57 pm

Well in apperance, he did have a habbit of standing still for months at a time. He even stayed in a temple for a few years for his "god". The only reason i found he was a vampire was the moment i disbanded the temple he went on a feeding spree.

I wonder if this will be his last fort infiltration or will he continue his sneaky behavior.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on January 10, 2022, 12:05:30 pm

Quote from: AvolitionBrit on January 10, 2022, 12:01:57 pm

Well in apperance, he did have a habbit of standing still for months at a time. He even stayed in a temple for a few years for his "god". The only reason i found he was a vampire was the moment i disbanded the temple he went on a feeding spree.

That is odd. He doesn't have a God. He was created as an outsider. I suppose he pretends to worship Ala, a human deity. He's a sneaky wee bugger; he now has three assumed identities.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on January 10, 2022, 12:07:27 pm

Quote from: kesperan on January 10, 2022, 12:05:30 pm

Quote from: AvolitionBrit on January 10, 2022, 12:01:57 pm

Well in apperance, he did have a habbit of standing still for months at a time. He even stayed in a temple for a few years for his "god". The only reason i found he was a vampire was the moment i disbanded the temple he went on a feeding spree.

That is odd. He doesn't have a God. He was created as an outsider. I suppose he pretends to worship Ala, a human deity. He's a sneaky wee bugger; he now has three assumed identities.

Yeah, If i recall his allias had a god. So i guess to blend in he tried to pretend to worship his claimed god. (Checked no listed god, but he did spend an awful long time in the temple dedicated to Onget Earthbronze. Might have just been admiring the artifact i put on display.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on January 10, 2022, 01:35:48 pm

QD can't play this week and requested to be bumped down three places. That means it is my turn now.

Quote from: kesperan on January 10, 2022, 11:41:58 am

Modified save for QD's turn here:

https://dffd.bay12games.com/file.php?id=15817

I'll take that, thank you!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Quantum Drop on January 10, 2022, 01:54:15 pm

Yeah, apologies about that. Good luck with your turn, Bralbaard!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on January 10, 2022, 03:11:02 pm

Nice one Bralbaard. Look forward to your story!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on January 10, 2022, 03:36:21 pm

I too am curious at the continued exploits of Bralbaard Nilthatlosh, first adventurer of the Museum and its co-founder, former Baron deposed King of Adilatír, but possibly most important survivor (in a way) since almost one and a half century of turmoil in one of Armok's realms. Will he achieve greater heights, just sight-see or will his story continue for this turn in Boltspumpkin while a new adventurer takes the mantle?

I'm curious if this living world continues long enough for battles to be fought over Boltspumpkin. It's definitely the place of much wealth and many artifact coveted across the world. It'd be amusing to see Ngokang (the goblin "curator") forced to take up the mantle as the head defender of the site, and to prove his mettle or die in glorious battle for his accumulated wealth. It's already kinda funny that everyone you ask names Ngokang a criminal, yet even before Bralbaard ascended, nobody in Adilatír raised a finger against him; moreover, many of the people who settled in Boltspumpkin were called as Barons, at least indirectly giving Ngokang some authority/credibility.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on January 11, 2022, 02:37:09 am

I will not be playing as Bralbaard this turn, but may pick him up again during a later playthrough.

Quote from: Lurker Z on January 10, 2022, 03:36:21 pm

It'd be amusing to see Ngokang (the goblin "curator") forced to take up the mantle as the head defender of the site, and to prove his mettle or die in glorious battle for his accumulated wealth. It's already kinda funny that everyone you ask names Ngokang a criminal, yet even before Bralbaard ascended, nobody in Adilatír raised a finger against him; moreover, many of the people who settled in Boltspumpkin were called as Barons, at least indirectly giving Ngokang some authority/credibility.

He actually freely admits being a bandit leader in conversation, but his cover identity as a slave seems to work well enough for authorities to not take notice. That and the fact that he is the ruler of a museum with the deadliest adventurers in existence, not an organisation you want to mess with.

Here's some information on him from the first adventure:

Quote from: Bralbaard on March 10, 2020, 03:52:43 pm

There are only three of us here, myself and two goblins.
First of all, there's the goblin monk Theb Hearthsnarl. He worships Uquud the Bones of Drool, and that is about as much as you want to know about him. The more interesting character is the other goblin, the "slave" that is living here with us, Ngokang Strangecurses.
I’ve lived with these goblins long enough to know this whole slave thing is just a cover identity. In thruth, Ngokang is a bandit and ringleader, who is hiding out here in this castle to escape justice.

(https://imgur.com/4Spcql3.gif)

His cover identity as a slave is interesting, and I've been wondering what his history is. I have not checked it in legends mode, as it would be more fun to find out through other means. Some future adventurer could "free" him and go on a quest to explore his history. There's a risk he would not survive, but the time might be right to explore some of these side stories.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on January 11, 2022, 02:38:03 am

double post. oops.

Might post something interesting here later..

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on January 11, 2022, 04:46:23 am

Quote from: Bralbaard on January 11, 2022, 02:37:09 am

His cover identity as a slave is interesting, and I've been wondering what his history is. I have not checked it in legends mode, as it would be more fun to find out through other means. Some future adventurer could "free" him and go on a quest to explore his history. There's a risk he would not survive, but the time might be right to explore some of these side stories.

So about that:

Extracts from the Journal of Holyblood.

2nd of Granite 830:

I was at the museum examining some of the exhibits. Lirstal Sinsot Atol is incredible and an amazing piece of dwarven smithing, i was surprised it wasn't an offical submission. Just amongst on the many treasures left here by adventurers. Curious i struck up conversation with Ngokang Strangecurses, for a goblin he was an interesting fellow. His father was a infected thrall and lived to be 811 years old. We continued our chats about the world, strange goings on and the sort. I was surprised he seemed to agree with me on multiple things but still challenged a few of my other beliefs. I asked him about the slave thing and he dropped it instantly. It was his excuse, i enquired further. Seems he had encountered alot in the world and wished to explore it but he felt like he couldn't do it alone and asked me to free him. I rolled my eyes and this part and announced that i would free him. So we are traveling together now.

4th of Granite 830:

Just resting in Skirtoracle, Mr Strangecurses  has certainly been enjoying himself. We have mostly been taking it easy, traveling a free days and resting. Offered to teach him some skills in combat
 but he refused. He said he will wait here whilst inquire about a job

17th of Opal 830:

Sometimes im reminded of why goblins are the worse, its getting late and we see a cave. What appears to be a friendly goblin scholar waving at us. As we approach, she revealed a bow and began firing at us. I charged towards her and bashed her head in with a book. Headed in and wow its an ancient kobold cave. We rested there whilst this broken excuse for a kobold was doing whatever he needed to do here. Him and his eggs.

4th of Obsidian 830:

Ngokang noticed a figure in the distance, said it was a musuem adventurer. Lurker. I was amazed that he was here in swordgleamed, this far south but it had been a year since i raised him. I said to Ngokang that i would head over and see how he was doing. He lunged at me, i tried to reason with him as his dented body continued to strike at me. He is feral like the others. Was there any of lurker left in him. I dispatched him. But when i turned around Ngokang was scared, he ran. I wanted to explain the misunderstanding to him but it was too late. Too late

17th of Hematite:

I have decided to take up Ngokangs mantle in honor of him. Its sad that our journey ended in such tragedy and to think all this for a goblin. Well no one seems to question it. Just got to put on a tough exterior and hold the fort down until he returns. If he returns, who knows maybe he is off having his own journey. Maybe fighting an actual minotaur instead of those stories he used to make up about his past.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on January 11, 2022, 05:33:06 am

So this happened during your last adventure, and Ngokang is no longer in the museum? Interesting.
I wonder what will become of him.

(I've linked the story from the turn list with the rest of your entries)

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on January 11, 2022, 05:41:18 am

Yeah, he isn't at the museum. I too am curious what will become of him. The posts i did for Holyblood are a bit of a mess the way i did it so i think il keep it simple for the next person or people. Cheers for linking it.

Hope your turn is going well.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on January 11, 2022, 11:25:33 am

Quote from: AvolitionBrit on January 11, 2022, 04:46:23 am

4th of Obsidian 830:

Ngokang noticed a figure in the distance, said it was a musuem adventurer. Lurker. I was amazed that he was here in swordgleamed, this far south but it had been a year since i raised him. I said to Ngokang that i would head over and see how he was doing. He lunged at me, i tried to reason with him as his dented body continued to strike at me. He is feral like the others. Was there any of lurker left in him. I dispatched him. But when i turned around Ngokang was scared, he ran. I wanted to explain the misunderstanding to him but it was too late. Too late

...well that was unexpected.

Slightly related, anyone care to resurrect my character again if possible? XD

For my next turn, if Lurker won't be resurrected, I'm planning to make a human from Clearmasters, get a bit of a clean start from my other adventurers, go back to the root of Lurker exploring Omon Obin, righting wrongs, killing goblins and hopefully advance through the ranks. Or maybe from Señamatem, Lurker's birthplace. But running with an undead Lurker Onecbehal would also be interesting, just exploring everything that changed from his time (it's been almost half a century since his first death) would probably fill at least a few entries.

Quote from: AvolitionBrit on January 11, 2022, 04:46:23 am

So about that

So about that...

Spoiler: image (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/QRQgzay.png)

It seems Legends Viewer doesn't think it's a cover. I'll have to check older LV saves to see if he had a false identity, but it doesn't seem like it. If I could find his true name in vanilla DF, it means that's his true name. I don't know how he remained a slave AND a bandit leader, but the ways of world generation are strange as always.

He also wants my artifact glass bucket? Oh-kaaaay... In fact, it's the first claim he ever made. Clearmasters gets all the interest apparently.

Looking further in Legends Viewer (and why haven't I done this before?), it gets stranger and stranger. It seems he was

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

abducted?!?!?! by a branch of Aba (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Aba_Dapenkasp)'s necro group, herself a chosen necromancer slayed by Lonelythrall, then enslaved in a conquest by Quogubpesor.

All of this make him more trustworthy somehow, as he lost the membership of The Most Sin.

Quote from: AvolitionBrit on January 11, 2022, 04:46:23 am

His father was a necromancer and lived to be 811 years old.

No, his father was a

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

thrall infected by Kosoth himself

Quote from: AvolitionBrit on January 11, 2022, 05:41:18 am

Yeah, he isn't at the museum.

He's still the ringleader of the group that rules Boltspumpkin, so he should be there, right? Or return there by this time.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on January 11, 2022, 11:57:43 am

Ah my mistake. I corrected that but yeah he has an interesting family.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

His mother is still around and kicking. As well as his mother. Shame about his half sister. A wild one his brother

I personally think this is good for Nogkang. Who knows he might meet someone. I think he is still in clearmasters but hasn't settled. He isn't in boltspumpkin thats for sure.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on January 11, 2022, 11:59:01 am

Quote from: Lurker Z on January 11, 2022, 11:25:33 am

...well that was unexpected.

Slightly related, anyone care to resurrect my character again if possible? XD

For my next turn, if Lurker won't be resurrected, I'm planning to make a human from Clearmasters, get a bit of a clean start from my other adventurers, go back to the root of Lurker exploring Omon Obin, righting wrongs, killing goblins and hopefully advance through the ranks. Or maybe from Señamatem, Lurker's birthplace. But running with an undead Lurker Onecbehal would also be interesting, just exploring everything that changed from his time (it's been almost half a century since his first death) would probably fill at least a few entries.

I've added the demand for resurrection to the missions section. I have no necromancy in mind for my current character, so you will have to tempt another adventurer. 

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on January 11, 2022, 12:10:38 pm

If no one revives you again Lurker i will do it. Just need to remember which one i brought you back as and il do a different one. Give you another cool power ahaha. Also run away.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on January 11, 2022, 04:36:33 pm

My name is Yufluggus and I am a kobold.

I can write. Words are fun, but I can not speak them, my throat just makes the wrong noises!
So I try to talk by writing, but most people can not read. It is very difficult.

A few days ago I met a human who can read, and he told me interesting things!
He said that kobolds are very rare creatures, and that there are only a few of us.
So few that we belong in a museum.
I did not know what a museum was, so I wrote a question in the sand.
The human said that museums store valuable things like gems and artifacts.

(https://i.imgur.com/0rA4Q3S.jpg)

Now I have decided I want to go to the museum to become a submission.
I like valuable things!
And if kobolds belong in a museum then there may be more kobolds there.
Then I will no longer be a lonely kobold. Maybe we can even lay an egg!

I will not travel alone. My friends will come along with me.
There’s four of us. Fnirf, Osmos, Fit, and myself of course. 

Osmos is a cave blob. He follows me everywhere and he eats everything!
Fnirf is a wambler. he is cute and fluffy, and the smartest of our troop.
Fit is a gremlin. She likes pulling levers.

(https://i.imgur.com/v0NFF1R.gif)

Also, did I mention that Fit can talk! The rest of us can’t. Fit will do all the talking!
And she talks a lot. She likes telling jokes.

(https://i.imgur.com/PO5pDEc.jpg)

Today we will leave on an adventure!

OOC: don't worry about the fluffy wambler. according to it's raws it is immune to certain syndromes, and I'm sure cave blob slime will be fine as well.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on January 11, 2022, 05:05:37 pm

Equal parts adorable and terrifying. I love it.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on January 11, 2022, 05:16:02 pm

I love it, the curiosity of the kobold is very well done.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on January 11, 2022, 05:16:35 pm

Woo! I had a hunch that Bralbaard Nilthatlosh might not be used here, any particular reason? Do you want him to just rest in Boltspumpkin a little more or did the kobold fever catch your fancy?

I love the story, it's minimalistic yet so very in character and so very early Bralbaard too. Same with the images, they might not be high art, but they fit the story great.

Quote from: Bralbaard on January 11, 2022, 11:59:01 am

I've added the demand for resurrection to the missions section. I have no necromancy in mind for my current character, so you will have to tempt another adventurer.

Quote from: AvolitionBrit on January 11, 2022, 12:10:38 pm

If no one revives you again Lurker i will do it. Just need to remember which one i brought you back as and il do a different one. Give you another cool power ahaha. Also run away.

Thanks for the support! I hope Avolition or whoever you decide to use makes it and has great adventures on the way.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on January 11, 2022, 05:31:36 pm

It's sometimes more fun to play as a new character, with a world that is still dangerous and terrifying.

All my companions are actually pets. You have a lot of interesting options as an outsider. and I just could not resist building a character with some weird pets.
For those interested: there are options to start a gremlin apocalypse,  since they only cost one urist per gremlin. I could have bought 255 of those.  With the right setup (3 peasant party) you could probably start with a thousand gremlins if you min-max it. On the other hand, scrolling through hundreds of pages of gremlin humor would likely be a bit too much, one gremlin sometimes is, actually.

(https://i.imgur.com/uvCn3KJ.gif)

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on January 11, 2022, 06:08:27 pm

So in theory seven hundred and sixty five gremlins, liturally a plague of surface gremlins as they live up to 1000 years. Not to mention gremlin reproduction. A true blight. Just walks into the musuem infested with hundreds of joke tellers.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on January 12, 2022, 01:32:44 am

More if you sell your clothes and weapons...

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on January 12, 2022, 02:22:58 am

Ahahahaha. Would be good for populating empty hamlets

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on January 12, 2022, 10:28:33 am

Quote from: AvolitionBrit on January 11, 2022, 06:08:27 pm

So in theory seven hundred and sixty five gremlins, liturally a plague of surface gremlins as they live up to 1000 years. Not to mention gremlin reproduction. A true blight. Just walks into the musuem infested with hundreds of joke tellers.

Considering the state of Orid Xem, that sounds more like a massacre waiting to happen. That someone can theoretically live for eternity doesn't mean they can't get killed easily enough. Just ask goblins, elves, demons, necromancers, vampires, megabeasts, undead and Kikrost...

Though it'd be an interesting (thought) experiment to start with over 1000 gremlins or other such creatures and see how many survive the first decade, half a century, century etc. Do they marry and multiply? Do they fade out? What of the Gremlin Father/Mother who sold the clothes off their backs (to... the... Gods... presumably?...) so they can bring more gremlins to the world?

I've got too many irons in the fire to take up the task myself, so good luck if anyone tries/manages.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on January 12, 2022, 10:58:16 am

Well obviously I was just talking about them in a vacuum but yeah of course someone would very quickly massacre them. It is a very interesting experiment and I welcome any mad person willing to forgo it.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on January 12, 2022, 10:59:06 am

If nobody beats me to it I might do it for my next turn. Time passes quickly in the museum game and the game setup would be quite suitable for running an experiment like this..

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on January 12, 2022, 11:16:13 am

Could be fun to see a group of adventurers guiding a goblin civilization to a promise land

Edit: Interesting pets that you could acquire if you had the points. Rocs, hydras, dragons and sea serpents.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on January 12, 2022, 06:05:19 pm

And I'm building a fortress. I'll leave it up to you to guess if I achieved my goals early, or met an untimely end.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on January 12, 2022, 06:18:57 pm

Quote from: AvolitionBrit on January 12, 2022, 11:16:13 am

Could be fun to see a group of adventurers guiding a goblin civilization to a promise land

Edit: Interesting pets that you could acquire if you had the points. Rocs, hydras, dragons and sea serpents.

Wait, we can bring back extinct races?!?!?! This would truly be an abomination and a spit in World Generation, Armok, the Gods and history's face at such blatant disregard to the common rules of existence.

I WANT THIS!!!

Quote from: Bralbaard on January 12, 2022, 06:05:19 pm

And I'm building a fortress. I'll leave it up to you to guess if I achieved my goals early, or met an untimely end.

I hope you have time to spend a few good in-game years, I want to see how history beyond (or even for) the adventurers goes forward.

I had a plan, but I've scrapped it for now, on using

Code: [Select]

set-timeskip-durationto let the world progress without intervention from the Turn 1 save for at least a century and to see the differences without the adventurers' presence. I've scrapped it because it takes too much time, 2-3 frames per in-game day. But I might do it someday when I have time or when I want to let the computer work for this all night.

Still, it's much faster than actually making a 100 year fortress and much less interventionist too.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Glloyd on January 12, 2022, 06:41:21 pm

Quote from: AvolitionBrit on January 12, 2022, 11:16:13 am

Edit: Interesting pets that you could acquire if you had the points. Rocs, hydras, dragons and sea serpents.

Avoiding this kind of stuff should be added to the rules alongside not starting as a demon.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on January 12, 2022, 06:44:49 pm

Quote from: Glloyd on January 12, 2022, 06:41:21 pm

Quote from: AvolitionBrit on January 12, 2022, 11:16:13 am

Edit: Interesting pets that you could acquire if you had the points. Rocs, hydras, dragons and sea serpents.

Avoiding this kind of stuff should be added to the rules alongside not starting as a demon.

I agree that they shouldn't be used in adventuring. But bringing them to a fort so they can breed and bring the species back to life? Why not?

I feel the world is a lot lesser without these species existing in at least one place

Spoiler: spoiler tag to protect those who want to explore the megabeasts of the world in their own time (click to show/hide)

(hydras died in a time before time, there is only one remaining living roc, the last dragon was killed all the way in the 700s).

I'm not sure about the sea serpents (can they live on land?), but I personally would love to see a fortress corralling all these mythical creatures. Maybe one of them becomes sapient and starts roaming the world and becoming a noble and things become even more interesting.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on January 12, 2022, 07:01:48 pm

Its liturally impossible to get them due to point cost. Most are 500+, with 1 hero you can get around 280ish if i recall. So someone would have to cheat to do it. Just a curious little thing i noticed when looking at outsiders and their pets. Whilst it would be unfair to cheat in that way im curious how it would handle a new dragon, like would people start worshiping it for x and y. Will it be friendly to everyone due to it being a pet. Might do some testing with it in a copy of the world just to see how it behaves. Would be funny if it just instantly turned hostile and killed your adventurer

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on January 12, 2022, 07:05:12 pm

Quote from: AvolitionBrit on January 12, 2022, 07:01:48 pm

Would be funny if it just instantly turned hostile and killed your adventurer

It probably wouldn't be in the options if it would do that, but then again DF is still in development.

Reminder though that a demon nominally a noble of Adilatír attacked Bralbaard on sight (maybe it accidentally breathed fire in his direction?), despite being from the same civilization (making abstract the fact that he was its King). So obviously non-civilized creatures that ascend to some measure of nobility/sapience/civilization are bugged in ways we have just started scratching the surface.

Also reminder that Nirmek (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Nirmek_Balusen) was kicked out of his noble position for unknown reasons, but for what I assume that the game couldn't handle a non-civilized creature being a noble.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on January 12, 2022, 09:19:54 pm

Quote from: Bralbaard on January 12, 2022, 06:05:19 pm

And I'm building a fortress. I'll leave it up to you to guess if I achieved my goals early, or met an untimely end.

I do hope that your fort prospers unmolested by thirsty rotting blind sadists and their ilk.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: WonderPsycho on January 13, 2022, 03:03:32 am

holy shit i did not expect this community game to be still active and alive while i was gone and very busy in the past, nice to see it's still going

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: WonderPsycho on January 16, 2022, 01:17:29 pm

I wonder how bralbaard is doing on their current turn rn, I can't wait to see of what he will write next about what's been happening in his current turn rn when he is done with his current turn and stuff

Note:i have been recently active on my Bay12 forums profile for a while been keeping a eye on this succession game to see what will happen next and to make sure i won't miss my turn this time

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on January 16, 2022, 04:12:46 pm

Our journey has started but it is difficult!
We have to travel very far to the north.
I tried to sneak into a human town to take some food, but they only have vegetables! How can they eat these things?
And the humans have all gone mad too. Fnirf says it’s the Omon blight. They were killing eachother!
It is a good thing kobolds can hide well.
We tried to explore the sewers and catacombs below the city, but there were only skeletons and no loot.
Fnirf was anxious and told me this city was Scarletbronze and that it was very dangerous.
We left because Fnirf is a fluffy wambler and they are smart.

(https://i.imgur.com/stPfCTN.gif)

Next the most amazing thing happened!
We tried to sneak into a camp, and we found that it was full of kobolds!
But they all ran away. They must have been afraid of Osmos and Fit.
For kobolds it is always smart to run away from strange things. I run away a lot myself.
But this made me sad.

(https://i.imgur.com/mvVwg8q.gif)

They ran everywhere!

(https://i.imgur.com/Rittp8n.gif)

But I found many things in the camp.
Clothing that fits me!
And a map with dwarven fortresses! Kobolds always try to take things from dwarves.
They have the best things to take! But they always get very, very, angry.
Dwarves are big and nasty and very dangerous.
So the kobolds run away very fast, most of the time.

Now we have a map with fortresses we can sneak into.
And run away from if discovered. I am a real kobold adventurer now!

Next there was a very long way to walk
We walked north for a day, and another day, and then it got very cold.
There were no trees anymore, just snow.
The first fortress on the map is not far away!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on January 16, 2022, 05:33:08 pm

Fnirf calls this place Dyezeal.
The tundra is a terrible place and very cold so we quickly go inside!
There are no angry dwarves here, just lots of wild animals.
There is a stairs into a cave deep below the ground but nothing shiny.
The sneaky dwarves are hiding their treasures somewhere else!

We search for a long time.
I find a secret entrance away from the main entrance. Kobolds are good at finding secrets!

(https://i.imgur.com/ZKV2d4c.gif)

There is a river under the Ice here!
I swim in the river but it is very cold and long.
And then the river runs into a dead end, and there is no treasure.
I am very cold and wet now. And I hate dwarves.

(https://i.imgur.com/6eAFEpj.gif)

The next day was much worse. The tundra is so cold and then..
Then wolves came, and we had to fight!
But the wolves, they killed Osmos and Fit!
I survived because I can fight well, and Fnirf survived because wamblers are smart.
I liked Osmos and Fit. I hate wolves and dwarves.

(https://i.imgur.com/5msBMkb.gif)

Fnirf and I walked a lot more, or I walked and Fnirf sat on my head because he is smart.
Then we got to the next place, it was still cold.

Sealsabres it is called.
I crawled to the fortress but there were many dwarves and huge monsters!
Fnirf says they are voracious cave crawlers. He wrote it for me because it is a difficult word.
Then a dwarf spotted me!
I wanted to run away like kobolds always do, but then...

Then I was having so much luck!
Suddenly all the monsters and dwarves died!
For some reason Fnirf and I did not die, which is good!

(https://i.imgur.com/IX1mlzM.gif)

We went into the fortress, and it really was my lucky day. it had a trap corridor!
Trap corridors are fun!  Humans and Dwarves are slow and clumsy and they get hurt.
But kobolds are too fast, and wamblers too!

(https://i.imgur.com/GV75y8e.jpg)

All the nasty dwarves and monsters in the fortress were also dead. It was strange.
But the treasures were still there, I was so lucky!
Inside there was a very large temple with many gods.
It was very high, with many floors!

(https://i.imgur.com/yDGGYr8.gif)

All the gods had golden statues! I like the statue of lumnum the most!

(https://i.imgur.com/MJ770uh.gif)

Fnirf says I should not topple statues in temples, so I'll look for other treasures first.
There are more traps down here, which is fun.
And there are levers. Fit liked pulling levers a lot, like all Gremlins.
But kobolds do not like pulling levers. It wakes up the dwarves.
But I will pull this lever. I want to go deeper in the fortress!

(https://i.imgur.com/pi5G6VB.gif)

-----
OOC: Crushed by a drawbridge. At least Fnirf the fluffy wambler survived (judging by the small dot on the drawbridge).
He always was the smartest.

Edit: save uploaded!

https://dffd.bay12games.com/file.php?id=15821

There is a new fortress: Waterdeeps. It can be found at the source of the Purged Loot, the greatest river on the continent.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: WonderPsycho on January 16, 2022, 06:10:30 pm

and right as to what i said earlier Bralbaard has posted and finished their turn, a nice tale of a little kobold and his companions while also encountering a little of The Obin Blight/Omon Blight outbreak, nice writing bralbaard

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: WonderPsycho on January 16, 2022, 06:19:58 pm

Quote from: WonderPsycho on January 16, 2022, 06:10:30 pm

and right as to what i said earlier Bralbaard has posted and finished their turn, a nice tale of a little kobold and his companions while also encountering a little of the The Obin Blight/Omon Blight outbreak, nice writing bralbaard

also very unfortunate but pretty funny that our little kobold friend bralbaard was controlling was crushed by a draw bridge by using a lever he did not know would do

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on January 16, 2022, 06:28:58 pm

Oh dear, a kobold got stuck in the garbage disposal. Poor Yufluggus.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on January 16, 2022, 06:55:25 pm

What a sad end to innocent kobold, he was taken from us too soon. Great job Bralbaard, downloading this turn to see how to world is doing.

Also it seems like the Blight death curse struck you again. It must be horrifing watching people rapidly age and collapsing on the ground.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on January 16, 2022, 07:00:52 pm

Looking through the legends; the Staff of Kissing now count Moldath as one of their own, and they have a new Queen after King Tobul Tomeschance finally died of old age.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on January 16, 2022, 07:02:36 pm

would be interesting to see if Moldath becomes a baron or even king of the staff of kissing. But still glad to hear your not being moved around to fortresses this turn. Hope moldath stays put for you.

Edit : Just seen the population numbers, looks like the goblins have bounced back from Avolitions rampage.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: WonderPsycho on January 17, 2022, 12:53:34 am

I still have a feeling that this apocalypse of The Omon Blight/Obin Blight/Orid Blight etc, is gonna cause age change in the world of Orid Xem's history soon, considering so far the blight has been spreading and causing chaos in The Realm of Silver and The Walled Dye

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on January 17, 2022, 08:11:30 am

I really thought that lever would open up another part of the fortress :D. I had pulled several others before that did open up new areas.
Also the delay in activation was large enough for me to loiter about a bit, enter the room and get smashed, with a surprised look on my face.

I did enjoy myself though.
In any case, I never made a clear note about who constructed Sealsabres. I think it was Eric Blank? It is an impressive fortress.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Unraveller on January 17, 2022, 02:41:42 pm

Great stuff as always everyone. This time I actually managed not to miss my turn. Haha. Still have no idea what I want to play next after all this time, but I'll come up with something. Gonna get started tomorrow or the day after!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: WonderPsycho on January 17, 2022, 03:16:53 pm

Quote from: Unraveller on January 17, 2022, 02:41:42 pm

Great stuff as always everyone. This time I actually managed not to miss my turn. Haha. Still have no idea what I want to play next after all this time, but I'll come up with something. Gonna get started tomorrow or the day after!

great news

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on January 17, 2022, 05:27:43 pm

Quote from: Bralbaard on January 16, 2022, 04:12:46 pm

Next the most amazing thing happened!
We tried to sneak into a camp, and we found that it was full of kobolds!
But they all ran away. They must have been afraid of Osmos and Fit.
For kobolds it is always smart to run away from strange things. I run away a lot myself.
But this made me sad.

Sad, but fitting. "It's in our nature, so I can understand that, but it makes me sad too." At least they didn't outright ambush/attack him as it happened to a lot of adventurers. This reminds me of that epic necromancer adventurer death in the Museum I who had a pack of over 70 undead and he was killed by an ambush of over 100 kobolds, all the while crying (in the viking style) "I am invincible!"

Quote from: Bralbaard on January 16, 2022, 04:12:46 pm

Now we have a map with fortresses we can sneak into.
And run away from if discovered. I am a real kobold adventurer now!

That sounds indeed like how a kobold would describe "adventures".

Quote from: Bralbaard on January 16, 2022, 05:33:08 pm

I liked Osmos and Fit. I hate wolves and dwarves.

...my cold, dead heart. I-i-is it b-b-beating? Whyyyyyy?

Quote from: Bralbaard on January 16, 2022, 05:33:08 pm

Then I was having so much luck!
Suddenly all the monsters and dwarves died!
For some reason Fnirf and I did not die, which is good!

(https://i.imgur.com/IX1mlzM.gif)

Ah yes, the death curse of adventurers (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/The_Death_Curse_of_Adventurers), hitting even in a living world. Ironically, I think Bralbaard is the first one to have (accidentally) chronicled a case in the Museum I thread when some thug or another died "of old age" right before him mid-talk.

Quote from: AvolitionBrit on January 16, 2022, 06:55:25 pm

Also it seems like the Blight death curse struck you again. It must be horrifing watching people rapidly age and collapsing on the ground.

It looks like you beat me to that observation. Nice.

Quote from: kesperan on January 16, 2022, 07:00:52 pm

Looking through the legends; the Staff of Kissing now count Moldath as one of their own, and they have a new Queen after King Tobul Tomeschance finally died of old age.

This might count as spoiler regarding vampires outside world generation, but regarding Moldath from all my observations (at least on Uja (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Uja_Kusutbepa)), it appears that

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

vampires don't drink the blood of sapients outside fortress more or direct interactions with player-controlled adventurers

Quote from: WonderPsycho on January 17, 2022, 12:53:34 am

I still have a feeling that this apocalypse of The Omon Blight/Obin Blight/Orid Blight etc, is gonna cause age change in the world of Orid Xem's history soon, considering so far the blight has been spreading and causing chaos in The Realm of Silver and The Walled Dye

That'd be awesome. By the way, I've finally created a page for the Omon blight (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Omon_blight) a few days ago. Note it might contain spoilers.

Quote from: Unraveller on January 17, 2022, 02:41:42 pm

Great stuff as always everyone. This time I actually managed not to miss my turn. Haha. Still have no idea what I want to play next after all this time, but I'll come up with something. Gonna get started tomorrow or the day after!

Good luck with your turn, Unraveller!

Quote from: kesperan on January 16, 2022, 07:00:52 pm

Looking through the legends; the Staff of Kissing now count Moldath as one of their own, and they have a new Queen after King Tobul Tomeschance finally died of old age.

I'm torn about this. On the one hand, I've waited for Tobul's (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Tobul_Melbiltenshed) death for a couple of turns now. On the other, as far as I know, he's the only mortal that still ruled a civilization since World Activation, almost a century and a half ago. He's only rivaled in recent times by Bëmbul Ginetadil (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Bëmbul _Ginetadil), Bralbaard's predecessor.

Speaking of Nomal Alis (The Staff of Kissing), it looks like population-wise it's dying. Adilatír for better or worse incorporated those humans, so now it has over 1500 total population, but Nomal Alis is heading towards extinction.

Now that I think about it, does anyone think we'll have human Adilatír settlers? Ah, I think we won't for the simple reason that they appear to be abstract population. They're just numbers and aren't "real" people until an adventurer talks to them. Speaking of, that's an interesting in-world quirk for adventurers too. How could I describe in-world the fact that someone is not "real" until an adventurer talks to them?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on January 17, 2022, 05:58:50 pm

Conceivably we can bolster the Staff of Kissing by making new player forts. Their Mountainhome is a player fort. You'd get two hard coded migrant waves before starting to get dwarves from other sites, but then you'd run the risk of a suspiciously familiar rotting fellow turning up...

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on January 17, 2022, 06:07:40 pm

Quote from: kesperan on January 17, 2022, 05:58:50 pm

Conceivably we can bolster the Staff of Kissing by making new player forts. Their Mountainhome is a player fort. You'd get two hard coded migrant waves before starting to get dwarves from other sites, but then you'd run the risk of a suspiciously familiar rotting fellow turning up...

It'd still be a win, 2-3 deaths until you find who's responsible (maybe fewer if you recognize him on sight), wall him off and you still have the 10 extra dwarves, plus whatever children you can arrange in the matrimony engineering.

The only problem would be if our friend goes insane from the isolation. I wonder if an insane creature regains their sanity if taken over by a player in adventure mode. He's immortal so it's not like he's going to die if he stops drinking and eating.

Another interesting quasi-bug is that, because he theoretically but not by the definition of the game left Adilatír, Moldath is now a permanent member of Tosid Doren (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Tosid_Doren).

The problem (for me, at least) is that most of us have our irons in the fires of Adilatír (and in my case, possibly Omon Obin too). I'm curious if anyone takes up the mantle to restore Nomal Alis to greatness.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: WonderPsycho on January 17, 2022, 06:16:46 pm

Quote from: Lurker Z on January 17, 2022, 05:27:43 pm

That'd be awesome. By the way, I've finally created a page for the Omon blight (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Omon_blight) a few days ago. Note it might contain spoilers.

already know of the Omon Blight page and quite aware of the spoilers and what they are, thank you very much, i don't mind spoilers at all tbh but yeah, another thing i should know that because of this whole Omon Blight pandemic currently happening in Orid Xem, it gave me a idea of what i will be doing with my adventurer when my turn is here, won't reveal it tho

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Unraveller on January 19, 2022, 12:45:12 pm

Somehow I always pick the most tedious things to do in the Museum. Like escape caverns or cross oceans, haha. As an aside, my game is running significantly worse since my last turn ~55. Might not be terribly long now until this becomes unplayable on my potato PC unfortunately.

As for this turn, nothing stupendous to report yet, I'll have a lot more time on Thursday for some more.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on January 19, 2022, 01:48:25 pm

Sorry to hear that its getting harder to run for you. Looking forward to seeing your turn.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: WonderPsycho on January 19, 2022, 03:27:57 pm

Quote from: Unraveller on January 19, 2022, 12:45:12 pm

Somehow I always pick the most tedious things to do in the Museum. Like escape caverns or cross oceans, haha. As an aside, my game is running significantly worse since my last turn ~55. Might not be terribly long now until this becomes unplayable on my potato PC unfortunately.

As for this turn, nothing stupendous to report yet, I'll have a lot more time on Thursday for some more.

very sorry to hear that too, I hope to see your turn soon as well

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: WonderPsycho on January 21, 2022, 03:29:49 pm

hope unravaller's turn comes out soon

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on January 21, 2022, 05:19:21 pm

Im sure we will hear from him soon.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Unraveller on January 22, 2022, 11:14:17 pm

Just about done, will likely send the save before I get the story written up. 'Fraid I didn't have nearly as much time as I would have liked so the scale was hardly quite as epic of an adventure as it could have been. But ah well. Perhaps next time!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: WonderPsycho on January 23, 2022, 01:42:09 am

Quote from: Unraveller on January 22, 2022, 11:14:17 pm

Just about done, will likely send the save before I get the story written up. 'Fraid I didn't have nearly as much time as I would have liked so the scale was hardly quite as epic of an adventure as it could have been. But ah well. Perhaps next time!

it's ok, atleast you did your turn and i am sure i will enjoy reading what happens in your turn and stuff

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on January 25, 2022, 02:29:59 am

Quote from: Unraveller on January 22, 2022, 11:14:17 pm

Just about done, will likely send the save before I get the story written up. 'Fraid I didn't have nearly as much time as I would have liked so the scale was hardly quite as epic of an adventure as it could have been. But ah well. Perhaps next time!

Most people write down their stories after uploading, so that is completely fine. Could you upload the save game so that we can keep the turn list moving? I'm looking forward to reading about your adventures!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: nogoodnames on January 26, 2022, 12:23:17 am

Speaking of, I'll try to get the final part of my turn up this week. Also sign me up for another!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Unraveller on January 26, 2022, 04:57:55 pm

Sorry about the delay, I had some urgent business the last couple days, I will absolutely upload the save tonight!

EDIT: SAVE FILE HERE (https://dffd.bay12games.com/file.php?id=15831)

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: TheFlame52 on January 26, 2022, 07:59:19 pm

Quote from: Unraveller on January 26, 2022, 04:57:55 pm

Sorry about the delay, I had some urgent business the last couple days, I will absolutely uplaod the dave tonight!

thank you i cannot wait to see the dave

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on January 26, 2022, 08:43:10 pm

We demand you uplaod the Dave naow!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on January 26, 2022, 08:47:57 pm

Bring us the Dave

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Unraveller on January 26, 2022, 08:58:08 pm

Curse mobile posting. . .

Alrighty, the save's here! I'll get my story up within the next week.
https://dffd.bay12games.com/file.php?id=15831

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on January 28, 2022, 05:36:51 pm

I could have been first to do the Dave joke if I wasn't such a lurker. Ah well.

Looking forward to the story, Unraveller.

In other observations, I've been looking through the history of Omon Obin, it reminds me how huge it is, they've had centuries to develop in peace while the rest of the civilizations were off fighting, dying and being conscripted into Oddom's undead army. With their super-developed religions but otherwise relatively sparse political environment and civil wars, they remind me a little of the Alliance in Warcraft before the orcs (in this care goblins) came in. Such a shame there are no orcs in the game. Does anyone know why they aren't a race in the game and if Toady ever plans to add them? I know (and suspect) there are mod(ification)s out there to add them, but probably only to a new world.

---

I found this interesting (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=160691.0) discussion. I don't want to derail the thread, but maybe if there's a Museum IV, orcs could be modded in to make things more interesting?

---

I'm not sure how many noticed this, but as they are, Dwarf Fortress World Generation events happen from week to week. Events either happen on Galena 1 (01-01) or every 7 days (0x-08, 0x-15 and 0x-22). It's especially jarring when you see after World Activation that events happen in other than those days (such as, say, 0x-09, 0x-13 or such).

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on January 29, 2022, 07:08:45 am

Yeah I was curious why there has not been a modded museum.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on January 29, 2022, 07:50:42 am

It's probably doable, but we have to be careful to make it self-contained in the save. A lot of the hardships would fall on Bralbaard when initially generating it. There'd also be issues with updates where the modded content might break the game.

From what I remember reading, technically the Museums were modded as some of the world maps were hand-made or at least hand-edited.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on January 29, 2022, 08:39:50 am

I used a utility (perfectworldDF) for map generation, and also edited several other files to guide the process a bit. (I limited the spam of useless hillocks and goblin pits, and limited the number of civs for some races. I also made goblins build roads). Other than that it is unmodded.

This world setup was very much aimed at having dwarves near extinction after generation. I was surprised the Walled Dye did as well as it did. The other dwarven civs died very quickly.

About (future) use of mods: People have very different opinions on the kinds of mods they like, and vanilla is fine actually. As lurker said there's also the issue of stability and updates. But I would be interested in seeing other adventure games that use a different approach. Feel free to use whatever you want from the game setup and rules.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: WonderPsycho on January 30, 2022, 06:50:50 pm

Just a reminder for bralbaard. Cause I feel they missed said message from nogoodnames, but uh, nogoodnames asked to be put back on the turn list

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on January 31, 2022, 02:35:53 am

Thanks for the reminder!
Also, Vivalas indicated they won't be able to play. QD is up next!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Quantum Drop on January 31, 2022, 02:07:21 pm

Got the save. Will post more later, when I've gotten something done.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on February 07, 2022, 03:43:40 am

Any update Quantum Drop?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Quantum Drop on February 07, 2022, 07:12:48 am

Quote from: AvolitionBrit on February 07, 2022, 03:43:40 am

Any update Quantum Drop?

Save will be up by tonight; tried to do so last night, but there was a server error halfway through and it was late at night. Sorry about the delay.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on February 07, 2022, 07:22:30 am

No worries, looking forward to see what you have done.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Quantum Drop on February 07, 2022, 12:54:49 pm

The save is up: https://dffd.bay12games.com/file.php?id=15839

The story should be posted within the week; though there is no new submission to the Museum, there *is* a new fortress to add to the map - Frostwall the Last Bastion. (I wasn't able to finish it properly, but I'm satisfied with what I've done there.) As usual, I would like to be signed up for another turn.

Good luck with your turn, AvolitionBrit!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on February 07, 2022, 01:50:29 pm

Thanks for the save. Look forward to seeing your writeup Quantum Drop

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on February 07, 2022, 03:33:00 pm

Map and turn list have been updated!

Some parts of the map are getting quite crowded.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on February 07, 2022, 04:44:55 pm

Which locations?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on February 07, 2022, 05:35:29 pm

Quote from: AvolitionBrit on February 07, 2022, 04:44:55 pm

Which locations?

The area around the new fortress :-), I had to rearange text and lines from other sites to keep it all readable.
It's no problem, I have it all in photoshop in layers, so editing is easy enough.

Keep the new sites coming! 

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: WonderPsycho on February 07, 2022, 07:45:45 pm

Quote from: Bralbaard on February 07, 2022, 05:35:29 pm

Quote from: AvolitionBrit on February 07, 2022, 04:44:55 pm

Which locations?

The area around the new fortress :-), I had to rearange text and lines from other sites to keep it all readable.
It's no problem, I have it all in photoshop in layers, so editing is easy enough.

Keep the new sites coming!

nice

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on February 07, 2022, 07:50:07 pm

That's why I blew up the map to twice or more its size when I made it for the capitals and such.

By the way, I'm not sure I'll ever update it again unless there are some truly epic locations or civilizations move capitals for some reason. For the same reason as Bralbaard I suppose, it turns out there are probably such things as "insignificant" locations after a while. Plus, the Legends Viewer map shows all locations, though somewhat clunky. On the other hand, I might discover some very important locations and edit the map then.

Quote from: Bralbaard on January 29, 2022, 08:39:50 am

I used a utility (perfectworldDF) for map generation, and also edited several other files to guide the process a bit. (I limited the spam of useless hillocks and goblin pits, and limited the number of civs for some races. I also made goblins build roads). Other than that it is unmodded.

I call that modded. Completely unmodded means to me that it can be regened simply with the parameters in the save file, which is not so at the moment. There's nothing wrong with something being modded, I just feel like pointing that's why I consider the game modded.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on February 07, 2022, 08:10:52 pm

So I had a quick adventure mode. Probably post it before my turn is up. Also noticed one of your images on the first posts broke

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on February 07, 2022, 08:15:29 pm

That didn’t last long. Are you making a new fort?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on February 07, 2022, 08:21:19 pm

I think that will be the plan.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on February 08, 2022, 02:52:07 am

Quote from: Lurker Z on February 07, 2022, 07:50:07 pm

Quote from: Bralbaard on January 29, 2022, 08:39:50 am

I used a utility (perfectworldDF) for map generation, and also edited several other files to guide the process a bit. (I limited the spam of useless hillocks and goblin pits, and limited the number of civs for some races. I also made goblins build roads). Other than that it is unmodded.

I call that modded. Completely unmodded means to me that it can be regened simply with the parameters in the save file, which is not so at the moment. There's nothing wrong with something being modded, I just feel like pointing that's why I consider the game modded.

PerfectworldDF is not modding in my opinion, but I admit that the other changes are. They should have no influence on gameplay, only world gen.  I considered replacing the changed files with vanilla after generating, but I'm not sure if I did.  Anyhow the gameplay should be a vanilla experience.
PerfectworldDF stores all information in the world_gen.txt file, it does not generate the map itself but just gives DF (modded or not) the correct input. You can extract the parameters that were used from any save game by going into legends and exporting map/gen info by pressing "p". The information is in "save-world_gen_param.txt"

Quote from: AvolitionBrit on February 07, 2022, 08:10:52 pm

Also noticed one of your images on the first posts broke

Again?  :( I initially had the files at a different hosting site at the request of one of the Chinese players because Imgur is blocked there. I thought I moved everything over to Imgur after stuff started to randomly break, but apparently I did not. Will fix it later.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Eric Blank on February 09, 2022, 05:41:12 pm

I would like to be added to the list again, if I may

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on February 09, 2022, 05:56:59 pm

Turn list updated!
Also the broken images have fixed themselves without any intervention. I probably should move them over anyhow.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on February 12, 2022, 05:12:13 am

Since Brit hasn't posted yet (thanks again for all the trouble you went to find my chars and sorry for the bother), might as well post a few thing I've found while lurking so I won't steal his thunder when he posts his adventures/the save.

---

Well, we've arrived here as well.

(https://i.imgur.com/5tj4ygp.png)

---

The last living roc now has his own article (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Ngomstu_Stasnostrobnod). I'm very curious what will happen to him. Will he find his end in a fortress, to the hands of an adventurer or will an overseer imprison him in the dark forever? Who knows.

---

Looks like I'm on a roll today. I found where Mong Uthros' people went. 5000 of them at least. This is also where the current Elven queen Futace Rofailare (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Futace_Rofailare) holed up for over 300 years.

(https://i.imgur.com/lmmqrHE.png)

---

Ah. I found something... I dare say probably as groundbreaking as vaults.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/wya3noC.png)

Ketas and Kosoth weren't the first.

Did anyone else know about this until now?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on February 12, 2022, 10:21:13 am

Do NOT visit Twinklingprison. Its a regular sized castle with >5000 humans chilling out in it. You can imagine what that does to your FPS. I visited it when Moldath was exploring Mong Uthros and it took at least 30 mins to escape and offload the site.

Pretty sure necromancers are supposed to be able to create ghouls, like old Thranan here.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on February 12, 2022, 01:22:10 pm

Extracts from the unpublish book "The hollow Hunter beastiary by Tosace Skunkbegun"

Extract 1 - foreword

"Whilst i had only just begun to document wildlife, i had not intended to cover this monster. This book was originally going to cover the plump helmet men. Having reached Frostwall the last bastion, a cold and foggy place I seeked out the couple of plump helmets, Vutok and Oddom. A lovely couple who asked me to help bring plump helmet artifacts towards the musuem. Having our path made through the mountains of palaceworks, we saw carnage. Corpses littered the land. Inside i rolled a divination dice for good luck on our travels, this saved me from the horrific fate"

Extract 2

"The creature cannot be seen but isn't intangible. When i shoot a wooden arrow in the rough direction of it, it made contact with something. It has powerful weaponry, teeth, claws or both. I watched in horror as it tore into two armored plump helmet in pieces within a seconds. It was like the wind was fighting them "

Extract 3

"As for its diet, it appears to be able to go for long periods of time without food, the barren mountains couldn't sustain something that large. I deicieded on the name Hollow hunter for them as their could be others out their. They are empty and stalk the mountains"

Extract 4

"If it wasn't for those brave plump helmets i would likely not be hear today. So in their honor i collected Tineequal the gold of balance and wrapped it in eventeal. Two plump helmet artifacts honored for two brave plump helmets are now on display in the museum. I leave this book here in hopes of warning newbie adventurers away from the mountains that suround palaceworks and hollow hunters that stalk the land."

Extract 5

"The beastiary will be updated once i return to the north, i am hopping an elf will know more about them."

No communication has been recieved from Tosace Skunkbegun, the penguin woman in over five years. Assumed dead

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on February 12, 2022, 01:38:54 pm

Nice story, is there more of it? Looking forward if so, also for the save.

Poor animal people, they're really underwhelmed for these post-apocalyptic lands. Well, except massive ones like bear (wo)men and elephant wo(men), but still. I suppose I can see the advantage of companions, i.e. canon fodder, Bralbaard was always in the habit of using them to great extent, but I'm not too keen on what complications they could bring (also could forget to follow or such).

Yeah, Palacework being a death trap is all on Cog (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Cog_Omristducim). She brought back most, if not all, the hollow hunters stalking that place. The invisibility bug is just the icing (albeit a thorny one) on the cake. Glad you survived to make your way to the Museum. Ironic that you've be stalking Palacework even before we talked about Bomrek.

Did you manage to make a fort?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on February 12, 2022, 01:56:18 pm

No more, short and simple sadly.

Animal people are fun, bark scorpions are my favourite but yeah smaller ones do get destroyed. Something i learned with the invisibilty is if you have a ranged compainon they can shoot at the invisible target. Was controlling the plumphelmets and see wooden arrows fund against the hollow hunter.

Its is and yeah it was a little conicidence that. Small world

Yeah, im playing it currently was going well then weremammoth diesease arrived and is spreading again.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on February 13, 2022, 09:29:58 am

Well this is interesting, Bralbaard has turned up in my fort.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on February 13, 2022, 10:05:09 am

First fort he ever visited/joined as an NPC, right?. That's a good question actually, is he just visiting or joining?

---

Since I'm posting, I updated Okgush Irka (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Okgush_Irka/345), the article on the most bloody conflict (and possibly the most decisive against Oddom) in Orid Xem. I did feel I put more effort than usual when I was editing in Word, turns out I just made it the article with the most word count (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Special:LongPages) on the wiki. There's still a LOT to discover from those times, but I keep finding interesting things. For example, the fact that most of the fighters refugeed in either Boltspumpkin/Thoramunosh itself (I wonder if Bralbaard knew this when he built the Museum), Istrakathroc or other castles. A lot of the refugees in Istrakathroc lived life in hedonism after that insane battle, in contrast those in Thoramunosh got the hell named Malladang (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Malladang). Most of the survivors who fled to Boltspumpkin were slaughtered the next year by Malladang. The more I read about Malladang, the more the rabid beasts they were. A lot of those who survived that purge were killed in other wars/slaughters Malladang started. Interestingly, a disproportionate number of the survivors (mostly goblin and some elves) were killed by Iden Nazushlikot‏‎ (sort by Date of Death, everyone who died in 749 are Iden's kills, I think). I doubt he targeted them, but it's an eerie coincidence regardless.

What's also interesting is that Naquuv Ukordopod's line gets lost around there. Naquuv was the second Law-Giver of Mong Uthros who had 13 children and most of them kept the line going, all the way to that fateful battle, going as far as having some undead from her line fighting for the enemy, too. But then, they fall into obscurity, which is especially weird with all the retired veterans in Istrakathroc taking lovers left and right. I think the line would have survived a lot better with unculled creatures.

Of course, these are all the unculled historical figures. I really want to be able to regen the world without culling historical figures someday.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on February 13, 2022, 11:00:51 am

He was part of a migrant wave which has me wondering if something happened at boltspumpkin but no news on the worldmap.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on February 13, 2022, 11:11:07 am

It'd be funny if Avolition came in a migrant wave to a fortress.

Overseer: Well, it says here you're a King, but... uh... you're not our King. What do you mean you want to help build our fortress?

A few days later, bloodless bodies start showing up.

Overseer: Godsdammit, that vamp better not kill that King and get us another war, we're barely hanging on population-wise as it is...

Some days later, he finally gets an eye witness.

Overseer: Who was around the dead body before it started cooling? Godsdammit, of course the "good King" would be the vampire. Of course. Why not? *sigh*

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on February 13, 2022, 11:13:32 am

Avolition is at my fort. Did go under a different identity so i can do different jobs as appose to just being a person walking around.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on February 14, 2022, 06:50:23 pm

Raise one for our fallen Dwarven King Bralbaard and Museum founder
He fell the day after i retired the fort. During the Angry Onslaught of Monsters, as part of the ongoing Roaster war waged by the Knowing deceiver. If it wasn't for his defensive stratagy, the walled dye would of lost for sure.

New fort in the South "Falsetower the citadel of Worlds" Zoku has been cagged there and is on display in our lovely WIP tower. Lurker i did a quick final check, still cannot find the body of Lurker.

Avoid  Streammartyred, the units outside can crash. Ive culled units where i could.

Here is the save : https://dffd.bay12games.com/file.php?id=15843

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Quantum Drop on February 14, 2022, 07:06:32 pm

From the desk of Scaglia Pagetributes, Junior Apprentice to the Historian’s Guild, 22^nd Hematite 8—

It would seem that I happen to be in luck!

Apprentice Pastlight has recently fallen rather ill – badly-prepared fish, as I understand – and in “the absence of anyone more competent”, his assignment has been transferred to me!

The assignment, on the face of it, is a fairly standard one – I cannot claim to have heard of this “Vafice” the masters wish me to investigate before today. Still, I suppose it does not matter all that much, in the end. This is a chance to prove myself, and I won’t let it pass me by!

Vafice is something of a folk-tale in the wooded lands of the far north. A cautionary fable against wild adventuring and recklessness, or so I understand it. Ah, but here – here I come to the crux of the issue. No written version of her tale is known to have survived, beyond second-hand accounts tainted by the insufferable moralism of the writers. The guild wants the truth uncovered, or at least as close to it as possible.

With what I have to go on, I think I have a rough outline of the path she took…

Spoiler: Shoddy map edit (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/7AldzFB.png)

I can rule out any field-work, from the very start! That path leads to the far south – across the Tundra of Heroes, and even to the Realm of Silver. I’ve no desire to risk my hide travelling that far. But the Museum of Boltspumpkin – aye, that is far more accessible, and a place that the Guild knows of old. They’ve helped us dozens of times to date on esoteric or “lost” histories, just like this one. Even without that, it’s a common stopover for wanderers and adventurers alike.

I set out at dawn’s first light!

25^th Hematite, 8--

I arrived at the Museum of Boltspumpkin a few hours before dusk. The air here is far colder than I expected – how do these people put up with such chills, in summer of all seasons?
No matter. My task awaits!

I made certain to greet the curators before I began my search through the stacks. No exhibits bear the name of any “Vafice”, not even the miscellaneous bits of equipment or the detritus of past visitors. None of the journals of past adventurers displayed beside the exhibits or upon the creaking shelves bear that name, either. I asked the staff of the Museum, who know nigh upon every adventurer to have walked the world of Orid Xem, only for them profess they do not know of her beyond the folk-tales. Not entirely unsurprising, though I cannot deny that these are hardly promising signs...

No. The Guild wants this story uncovered for a reason, whatever it may be, and I'll make it so! It seems I will have to dig deeper to find the truth behind this...

27^th Malachite, 8--

Useless!

I’ve spent the past month digging through every shelf, pile, drawer, and chest in this castle, and I still haven’t found a damned thing of any substance! All I have found so far are crumbs – tantalising ones, aye, but crumbs nonetheless. Most of them come from those northern folk stories that the few elven travellers tell, and the occasional reference to the name in old economic and judicial records.

I can’t return empty-handed. Not now. Not after I’ve come so damned far!

One last look through the records. There’s got to be something I’ve missed, something I’ve overlooked…

9^th Galena, 8--

Kas and Ura take me if I lie, I’ve done it!

I was searching through the deep piles of journals and esoteric tomes when one caught on my foot; it sent much of one pile scattering across the floor. I set to trying to re-sort them immediately, of course, when one caught my eye – a simple stone-bound volume, battered by travel, bearing the name of my quarry in crudely-carved letters!

I can hardly describe my excitement as I scrambled to find a free table and almost flung open the book. The pages were cockled and stained in a dozen places, but it did nothing to dampen my enthusiasm.

Beneath, I have done my best to transcribe the contents of the journal…

---

18 Sandstone, 845

Recent issues have come to a head.

Perhaps I was wrong to deny the druidess so violently when she came to me with her demands. But I cannot care any longer. I am what I am, and they can call me what they will.
I was born to a dancer in a wandering performance troupe; I scarcely remember even that, for I was still a young girl when the troupe’s crippling debts and ill-conceived deals saw me parted from them by force (may the Nightwalkers gnaw their bones forevermore). My father, I know almost nothing of. Mother used to say I had his height and build, and that he once travelled with us, but never anything more than that.

For years, I dwelled in the guildhalls and trade-houses of The Creamy Confederacy, the ‘apprentice’ of a powerful noble. (In truth, no more than a glorified slave – a symbol of wealth and status to my self-proclaimed master). My desire for freedom grew with each day, as did my master’s age. When he was found bludgeoned to a paste in his counting-house, there was only one figure upon which the suspicion could fall.

(They were wrong; that I could not claim that one life is a regret I still bear.)

The wretched bastard died, and I expected to follow suit – an elven slave remains a slave, and for a slave to strike their master means death in the human realms. Instead, I found myself traded away again, this time to the frozen south. The Realm of Silver’s mines inhale flesh, exhale ore and minerals… and as I would soon find, they are hardly picky as to who the overseers send into the darkness below. For a dozen decades, I worked in the deep mines of The Realm of Silver, breaking rock and sifting through the slag-heaps for any stone of value. Though my kind was not made for manual labour, I grew used to it soon enough, though I would never match the fearsome efficiency of the rare dwarven slave-miners. It is down there that I learned how to fight, how to scavenge from scraps, how to read and speak the basics of the human and even the dwarven tongue.

Decades ago, in the year of 7__, the mine fell to ruin. We had all noticed changes in the guard: every week there were fewer, and the ones that remained would twitch at the slightest provocation, strung tighter than a bowstring. Rumours, whispered in the dark, spoke of a terrible disaster afflicting The Realm of Silver – a plague that spread like wildfire and killed like the beasts of the Great Anguish’s era. Eventually, they ceased to come at all – and many of us wasted no time in seizing our freedom.

Enough of myself.

The elves are dying. We have been dying ever since the Great Anguish fell upon Orid Xem centuries ago; the rampage of the Fanged Destroyer and the spreading darkness of the recent years have whittled them down even further.

A few hundred of us throughout my kind’s ancestral lands; the rest, long-dead or vanished. Foreign creatures and adventurers from the distant southern realms come and go into the settlements with impunity, taking what they wish, doing as they desire. The elven capital stands dead and empty.

We are dying. But that does not mean that we cannot burn bright before the end.

When a small band of travellers passed through this forest, I spoke with them; my supposed kin spurned them for some offence against their customs, but I suffered no such qualms. They spoke of the Obin Blight and the Prophetess of Dalzatèzum, the Crowned Gravedigger and a Kobold who slew a great wyrm of the tundra. They spoke great tales of heroism and travel, of a dwarf condemned to neither live nor die and of a many-armed warrior said to have slain armies of murderous goblins with words alone.

But above all else, they spoke of a castle where peculiar artefacts and tales of great heroism were displayed and cherished. And in that moment, I saw what the others cannot. This is an opportunity for us – a chance to carve a tale of the elven race into memory, such that it will never be forgotten!

The druidess and her acolytes disagreed. Mere hours after I returned to the grove, she sought me out to demand I remain here and “fulfil my duties to our nation” as an elf, or be punished. Things swiftly escalated, and before long, it was clear to us both that no agreement would be reached. (I maintain breaking her arm when she called me a “half-breed bastard” was a reasonable action.)

I left without looking back.

20 Sandstone, 845

Cresting a small hill, I caught sight of buildings in the far distance.

Upon closer examination, the township was long-abandoned: the wind whistled between the ribs of decaying roof-beams and what few buildings still stood were marked with the signs of rot. Not a living soul stirred.

I moved on.

21 Sandstone, 845

A few miles south and to the east, I found Archquakes. It was an old fortress, but a prosperous one – many a traveller had given high praise to the mugs crafted and sold there. Now it is no more than a gutted ruin, the fields before it carpeted with the dead, a few shambling around in a grotesque half-life.

The inside of the fortress was little better. It stank of death, both old and new. Brutish trolls lumbered here and there amidst the halls, their matted fur stained with long-dried blood. Whatever dwarves had once lived here were long-gone; the contents of the fortress’s stores and workshops lay scattered in all directions.

I moved on in haste.

23 Sandstone, 845
The snow-clad peaks rise above me. The spine of The Perfect Horns is a rugged and dangerous mountain range, one that few have crossed in the past.

It will not be an easy climb – the sides are sheer indeed, to say nothing of the creatures said to lurk ‘midst the highest peaks. Worse things are said to lurk to the south-west, where the ancestral lands of the dwarves lie in ruin and ash. Yet… there are said to be items of fame and legend amidst the ruins – long-lost artefacts, and treasures from before the Great Anguish.

The risk, I think, will be well worth it.

28 Sandstone, 845

Gods’ teeth and damnation!

Coming down from the mountains was a mistake. Those clouds on the horizon heralded the beginnings of a full-fledged storm. High winds and pouring hail forced me to find shelter – a set of small, squad pyramids, almost buried beneath massive drifts of snow. It seemed abandoned, at first glance. I wasted no time in making for the nearest of the structures, seeking shelter from the storm.
 

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/OgAWudS.png?1)

In moments, the folly of my actions became clear. Figures lumbered from the pyramids, bursting out from beneath the snowdrifts and lurching forward with awkward, twisted gaits. I initially, foolishly, hoped that they were at least unwilling to fight – and then I saw the burning red lights of their hollow eyes, the broken bones and the frost-bitten limbs.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/PM7hcIw.png?1)
(https://i.imgur.com/PM7hcIw.png?1)
(https://i.imgur.com/6VoEb7S.png)

The first blow crushed the throat of one creature. The second and third reduced the skull to splinters. Others tore limbs away cleanly, or sent scraps of old flesh flying through the air. Yet despite this grievous damage, they continued to close in, forming a stinking press of rotting flesh around me.

These lumbering remnants were not strong – lurching and brittle-boned from the freezing cold - but terribly tenacious. Many times, I was knocked to the ground as the walking corpses used their dead weight to as a weapon, driving me to one knee in the dirt. It was a battle that would rage throughout the night and into the early hours of the morning; one that I did not escape from unscathed.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/5yuCk3o.png?1)
(https://i.imgur.com/7OtBbns.png?1)

A few makeshift bandages, made at the cost of my cloak, managed to stem the worst of the bleeding, thank Cacame. My arm is still numb, though able to hold a weapon. And my arms and armour are still intact – the dwarves of old forged these to endure.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/bXP9nJn.png?1)
(https://i.imgur.com/omSjxzw.png?1)

The rest of the place was blessedly clear of the walking dead – or at least, any that could cause me harm. For in the brooding spire at the centre of this place, one of its long-dead occupants still dwelled: a mutilated, headless revenant, still driven by some dark magic or final impulse. The headless thing lumbered past me, blindly feeling the walls around it with its outstretched hand.

Whatever evil it had once done it the past, it was now no more than another sad, harmless remnant. I left it to its wanderings, and continued my journey south.

2 Timber, 845

The Tundra of Heroes lies ahead of me – a desolate, bitter plain of snow and ice, populated only by savage beasts and roaming creatures of the night. It has been the death of many a traveller and valiant hero in the past, yet it is an obstacle I must overcome, for in my way it lies.

May Kas Bannershocked guide me.

---

12^th Galena, 8--

Of all the infernal-!

The record ends here. The remaining leaves are blank, or spotted with long-dried blood, in what I can only assume to be an indication of its luckless owner’s fate. So close to uncovering the full story of this “Vafice”, and then this!

I can’t give up, though. I won’t. I’ve been waiting for this opportunity too long to turn back because of a shoddy record, of all things!

23^rd Galena, 8--

I have spent the past two weeks digging through the stacks of books in this Museum, asking every traveller and passer-by from adventurers to traders to wandering peddlers, all to see if they have so much as a single scrap of knowledge about my quarry.

And finally – finally – I might just have it.

A small party of travellers from Omon Obin recently visited the Museum. They brought with them news from that dark, plague-ridden land; much of it was inconsequential to this tale, and so I shall not bore you by reciting it. One fragment of conversation stuck out to me in particular – a tale of a towering brute of an elf, clad in heavy armour and carrying a great silver flail, slaying citizens of the realm who had succumbed to the foulness of the Obin Blight!

Reticent and impatient to continue their travels though they were, I managed to accost them late last night. Though initially unwilling to speak, the promise of much of my dwindling coin pouch and several drinks soon loosened their tongues – and from them, I might just have managed to uncover the truth behind Vafice Wispcrypt’s fate!

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/KmE1L1D.png?1)

It seems that Vafice crossed the Tundra of Heroes, as the original tales indicated. Curiously, she seemed to shun the towns and monasteries that bordered the Tundra, instead choosing to venture toward the hamlet of Whippedgleams. Vafice would speak with the “Overlord” of this place, one Cani Breechesmighty; whatever passed between them, sadly, remains lost to history.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/84l404t.png?1)
(https://i.imgur.com/NX1e1Xj.png?1)
(https://i.imgur.com/yvlpPUK.png?1)
(https://i.imgur.com/DErURWi.png?1)

Having spoken with the self-styled Overlord of Whippedgleams, it seems that she moved further into the Realm of Silver – perhaps seeking a foe whose defeat would be worthy of song. At the hamlet of Speechrags, Vafice fought to the death against Blight-stricken citizens, slaying several of them in a series of vicious one-on-one duels. The elf would receive little welcome here – the hamlet was all but deserted in the aftermath of their battle, the remaining citizens barricaded behind strong doors or roaming the fields with the other Thralls.

From there, she turned away to the hamlet of Toothsneaks, and met the end of many a would-be hero against the living dead that have so threatened the Realm in recent years!
The hamlet itself is far too south for me to investigate; I will leave it to someone more suitable than I to found whatever remains of this misfortunate adventurer. With this tale, I should just be able to finish my investigation!

All that remains is to finish writing this up…

---

13th Timber, 8--

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/CmIBwCl.png)

Vafice hit the ground, chest heaving as she tried to force breath into her lungs. The thrall had come out from one of the houses like a runaway wagon, ramming into her chest shoulder-first, knocking the air from her lungs. It didn’t give her a chance to breathe, swinging a massive, crude copper mallet directly down onto her leg.

She had enough time to shout a denial before it impacted, her voice cutting off into a yelp of pain – her leg didn’t feel broken, but when she tried to rise, it crumpled beneath her, pitching her back to the mud.

Gritting her teeth against the pain, Vafice retaliated. A series of vicious blows from her flail shattered bone and sent tainted blood spraying, the final one almost completely collapsing the creature’s torso. It staggered back several steps, almost drunkenly, then collapsed to the bloodied ground with a low groaning of breath.

The breath hissed between her teeth as she tried to bring herself upright. Pain was throbbing up both her legs, now, hard and red. Trying to move them brought fresh spikes of pain, but she refused to give in.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/HWZGHPu.png)

Another thrall – a lumbering, boil-covered brute, drooling thick strands of saliva from a shattered jaw – lumbered out from the open door of another house.  It wore the tattered, bloodied robes of a priest, overlaid with an eclectic mixture of stained copper and iron armour. The thrall’s milky eyes roamed over the field listlessly, before settling on the fallen elf, still struggling to rise.

Vafice’s breath caught in her throat as feral intelligence sparked in its eyes. It reached to its side, drawing an iron axe from a sheathe, and rushed forward with deceptive speed. The fallen elf struggled to rise –

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/HWZGHPu.png?1)
(https://i.imgur.com/ZLNaUwS.png?1)

Too late. The axe’s head passed between the gap in the plates of the armour, through fabric and flesh alike, and cut most of the way through her leg. The weight of her body and armour did the rest.
Vafice, for all her will, could not keep herself from screaming as her leg was severed completely. Blood was pouring from the wound, hot and red; it seemed to excite the thrall even further, the air filling with its snarls and baying cries as it pressed the attack, mouth slavering and eyes ablaze. Claws raked against her breastplate, seeking the gaps in the iron and steel; its axe swung in clumsy arcs toward her. Blows rebounded from her shields, jarring the bones of her arms.

She could feel her strength beginning to ebb. Each blow came slower. Every block left her staggering. Every dodge took more and more effort. Her armour seemed to grow heavier by the second.

Vafice missed a block.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/70v8huL.png?1)

Vafice bit down on her tongue hard enough to draw blood as the axe struck home. Hot blood poured down the skin of her arm, now hanging limply at her side. The thrall renewed its attacks at the sight of the blood, driving the axe down further – bone shattered, muscle tore, and in a single, horrible motion, the thrall cut her arm away from her body completely.

Blood jetted from the ruined stump of her arm. Vafice locked up in shock and pain, eyes wide, staring at the ruin of her limb. The thrall made a low choking sound, almost like malevolent laughter, before rushing forward to finish the job.

Vafice took a last, desperate chance. She swung with all her remaining might, sending Foracovema singing toward its head in a lethal arc. The world seemed to slow for a long, long moment as the head of the flail drew close – and then, at the very last moment, the thrall raised its right arm.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/xwbxyN7.png)

The flail-head rebounded from the iron with a sharp bang of metal-on metal. The thrall roared as muscle tore and bone bruised. And its axe came singing through the air, right down onto and through the exposed flesh of Vafice’s right upper leg.

The last vestiges of strength bled from her body. Vafice was dimly aware of Foracovema falling from her blood-slicked hand. The world was dissolving into a mess of red and pain; only the face of the thrall came through clearly, its burning eyes, its snarling, fanged mouth.

She tried to spit, to snarl, to speak one last time, give one last cry of defiance against the monsters that had infested her homeland. She couldn’t. Her mouth was full of blood and she couldn’t even breathe.

Spoiler: The End (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/8ZBxIw5.png?2)

---

Hmm… a little dramatic, perhaps, but what is history without a little embellishment? Yes, I feel the Guild will be pleased by this indeed!

---

Now, with that little tale done...

Quote from: AvolitionBrit on February 14, 2022, 06:50:23 pm

Raise one for our fallen Dwarven King Bralbaard and Museum founder
He fell the day after i retired the fort. During the Angry Onslaught of Monsters, as part of the ongoing Roaster war waged by the Knowing deceiver. If it wasn't for his defensive stratagy, the walled dye would of lost for sure.

The King is dead. Long live the King.

(Well, at least until someone buries or resurrects him. Again.)

EDIT: Speaking of Historians Guilds and resurrections - Pictham Contestlaboured has risen from the ranks of the dead at Herograves as a Dark One.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on February 14, 2022, 07:20:04 pm

Great story QD, I was curious what you had done. Glad to see the Historians guild are still active.

Also sign me up for another turn.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on February 14, 2022, 08:06:53 pm

Looks like it might be my turn. I’m honestly not going to have any time this week. Can I be bumped down one turn? I’m not going to have any free time until next Tuesday.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on February 14, 2022, 08:44:12 pm

Regarding King Bralbaard, what a (second) death! Fighting in pure NPC mode to defend the new home he himself selected out of his free will even beyond that of the control of the player. Fighting side by side with another monarch, one undead and feelingless yet still caring enough about his race, the other a bloodsucker, yet both united against the vile goblin horde! This is some high fantasy epicness right here.

Amusingly, I still have the "present" save name as "ALL HAIL" from when Bralbaard was made King (I shift-delete the old content and copy-paste new content when new saves get upload) and the anthem (https://www.youtube.com/embed/ykpDQhWlrBQ) I dedicated to him back then still open in my browser tab. Bralbaard's ascension seems both like yesterday and lifetimes ago.

Also, you sure bred some fearsome cows, Avolition! Too bad they didn't get names from that.

(https://i.imgur.com/JR5LjDm.png)

---

Looks like I had the general idea about Vafice (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Vafice_Rirililòmifo) when I made the article. Indeed, looks like either Vafice kept it secret or it was lost that she learned necromancy (or maybe she didn't realize it?)

A little nitpick is that I'm surprised Vafice isn't a more known name, considering the elven Dark Queen (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Vafice_Falethefama) that shares the name sought after by King Bralbaard and slayed by Moldath. I'd expect Scaglia to get bogged into records of the Dark Queen before finding those of the (relatively) humble adventurer.

I looked up Scaglia's last name in Legends Viewer expecting to find nothing, there's a thrall named Shethbah Pagetribe, probably no relation to your chronicler, but interesting coincidence.

Quote from: Quantum Drop on February 14, 2022, 07:06:32 pm

(Well, at least until someone buries or resurrects him. Again.)

I've been unironically thinking of adding a section about how adventurers have a higher likelyhood of coming back to life at least as far as Orid Xem is concerned in the Adventurer of the Museum (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Adventurer_of_the_Museum) page. I'm actually OK with this since, besides the fact that their "Overseer" (do we have a better name for the controller of a character in adventure mode?) can use them again, they can go on to their own adventures, like Bralbaard and Moldath did.

The part of me that is amused by the theories about DF starting to develop sapience thinks that they're two of the people who are making headway into becoming real people, while the rest are lagging behind in a sort of semi-sapience fugue state. Great stuff.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on February 14, 2022, 08:52:03 pm

Yeah, nothing happened in Boltspumpkin so Bralbaard just became semi npc like Moldath before the fix and decided he wanted to be part of a fort, interesting to see if non-dwarves will do this. Also will be interesting if a staff of kissing fort attracts Moldath. Bralbaard survived serveral weremammoth attacks, one weremoose attack, multiple goblin sieges (some undead) and an ettin. As soon as i retired it. The NPC war kills him off.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: TheFlame52 on February 14, 2022, 08:59:31 pm

I'm curious whether dying in NPC battle actually produces a corpse, or if his body and therefore life is lost forever.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on February 14, 2022, 09:13:45 pm

That's easy to find out, just reclaim the fort and try to find the corpse. I don't have time right now to check though.

Avolition, it looks like it's Sethurdim Mestthos Oram's overseer's fault that the battle happened (original name Okutu Olngö). The Roasted War (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Uspenaslez) had died down since 798, yet Avolition the Vampire decided to take "an enthusiastic walk" into a Dark Pits in the name of Adilatír and the goblins retaliated. It probably makes the story even better, regarding dwarven hubris and what might led to them having such a small population (though really, that was between Oddom and Malladang).

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Unraveller on February 14, 2022, 10:06:59 pm

So. . . The Blight yet lingers even now. Perhaps Galka Linarad, having spent decades in quiet meditation, will return to Omon Obin to finish the fight.

I'd like to be placed back on the list.

As an aside, does anyone else have issues loading up the save in Legends Viewer? With the Museum world since maybe about turn 50ish, it only seems to actually load about 10% of the time in my viewer, the other 90% of the time I receive a runtime error. Sad because I really enjoy browsing it through that medium compared to the native kegends mode.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on February 14, 2022, 11:41:01 pm

Did you upgrade to LNP 0.47.05-r06? Because it always loads for me since the update. Alternately, if you don't play with LNP, just download that version for the Legends Viewer alone.

Welcome back to the turn list. May the olden adventurers (un)live forevermore!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Unraveller on February 15, 2022, 12:59:23 am

No use of any packs to speak of, and just as well I've the latest versions of DF and the Legends Viewer, it just acts strangely. Perhaps fur to my potato PC, or perhaps some other dependancy yhat went funky. It's not a huge issue either way, just takes tons of reloading to get it working.

I have a few ambitions in mind for when my turn comes around, on one hand I'd love to inhabit Galka again, for he was truly a legendary warrior despite his humble beginnings and lack of legs! Haha. Part of me wishes to use him to cut a swath with that pickaxe of his and 'end' the Omon Blight in the Realm of Silver. But at the same time it almost seems like a waste to do such a thing, there's still room for the Blight to grow into a true global calamity. Not to mention it's just a fun literary device to use.

Another side of me wishes to devise another antagonizing force to torture Orid Xem even further yet. And stoke the fires of adventure even more of course. Hard times lead to strong men, no? Tempting either way. Very much looking forward to my next turn after my very disappointing last one that I couldn't manage to focus/spend enough time on.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on February 15, 2022, 03:00:17 am

I've updated the turn list and send Maloy a message.
I see I've died again.  I expect it to be permanent this time, but sometimes the current DF version seems to handle off-screen deaths strangely. (like arcturus coming back to life when I visited his site, only to die of old age again. I think one of the other kings died twice as well). We'll see.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Unraveller on February 15, 2022, 03:29:02 am

In strange aeons, they say, even death may die. If it didn't stop old King Bralbaard the first time. . . Or the second, who's to say a third lapse of consciousness will?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on February 15, 2022, 04:18:42 am

Quote from: Lurker Z on February 14, 2022, 09:13:45 pm

That's easy to find out, just reclaim the fort and try to find the corpse. I don't have time right now to check though.

Avolition, it looks like it's Sethurdim Mestthos Oram's overseer's fault that the battle happened (original name Okutu Olngö). The Roasted War (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Uspenaslez) had died down since 798, yet Avolition the Vampire decided to take "an enthusiastic walk" into a Dark Pits in the name of Adilatír and the goblins retaliated. It probably makes the story even better, regarding dwarven hubris and what might led to them having such a small population (though really, that was between Oddom and Malladang).

Well here is the thing about that, Two things in fact. Firstly reclaiming my fort. No one is dead Bralbaard lives, despite his death occuring in legends, head over to my fort in adventure mode just now, first undead dwarf i walk into. Its Bralbaard in some wierd ghost state. He lives I guess the goblins were just spreading fake propaganda of killing an old king.

As for Avolitions little stroll, well i want to do some stuff with Avolition next turn so was just setting stuff up, plus keeps the world interesting and i wanted to see if i could get a Knowing Deceiever diplomat to arrive.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on February 15, 2022, 04:35:18 am

The rumours of my death have been greatly exaggerated, again.

I wonder if this has ever been submitted as a bug report?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on February 15, 2022, 04:47:40 am

Quote from: Bralbaard on February 15, 2022, 04:35:18 am

The rumours of my death have been greatly exaggerated, again.

I wonder if this has ever been submitted as a bug report?

No idea, but i couldn't interact with him so it sounds like a certain black bear man. Especially as he can't be played either

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Unraveller on February 15, 2022, 04:59:30 am

As an azide, I was wondering. Do you folks suppose we should establish the Historians' Guild in a physical location proper? I do think it'd be a neat detail to keep with some of the tales we've weaved on the side.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on February 15, 2022, 09:19:29 am

Apparently the bug was reported before, but I've added a note:

 link  (https://www.bay12games.com/dwarves/mantisbt/view.php?id=9648)

About Arcturus being unplayable: He died again right away when I met him, so I think he is properly dead now? or did someone raise him from death after that? I must admit I'm losing track of the dead/undead/living status of characters, including myself.

Edit: That is fine unraveller, we can never have too many sites.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on February 15, 2022, 09:43:44 am

Seems like an old bug.

I did raise the bear man, which made him playable again (just checked) seems he is chilling in an abandoned house in obeybreads. Bralbaard is in a wierd limbo of being kinda alive but also not alive.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Quantum Drop on February 15, 2022, 09:52:36 am

Yeah, Bralbaard seems... weird. LegendsViewer and Legends Mode both say he's dead, and adventure mode excludes him from the list of retired but playable adventurers, yet he's definitely alive in fortress Mode (shows on the citizens list for the new fort and was performing a hauling task when I last checked) and maybe adventure mode (going by AB's words; will try and find him myself to be certain). Here's hoping he doesn't just vanish the moment he goes offf-site.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on February 15, 2022, 09:59:42 am

He is on site, you can see and look at him but no interaction, he is the dark one surgeon as there are a few undead and it might take a bit to look at each one. Just tried to expel Bralbaard to see if it would make him playable again. It does not.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on February 15, 2022, 10:20:56 am

I think he is dead currently, and that is what legendsviewer etc. confirm. Due to the bug he is only resurrected when avolitions fortress is loaded, either in adventure mode or after a reclaim. If nobody does that he will just remain dead/inactive.  I would not be surprised if he is playable again when the adventurer or fortress that was used to revive him is retired again. Or did someone check that already?

Anyhow, I had no real plans to play him again, so it would be fine if he remains in this state. 

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: diogo_alt_tab on February 15, 2022, 10:38:23 am

I've finished reading up on the original museum thread a while ago, and am currently roughly halfway through this one. Just amazing! Can I get queued up for a turn?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on February 15, 2022, 10:40:31 am

Sure!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on February 15, 2022, 10:51:22 am

Removed double post.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on February 15, 2022, 10:55:54 am

This sounds similar to the... weird effect I had when healing the Guild Representative Amsir Kupestruslot of the blight. Twice I was successful and twice after he left the fort, he came back with the Blight.

I suspect if someone unretires then retires Bralbaard's site (Sethurdim Mestthos Oram if he's still there), Bralbaard becomes a real, "un"living character again.

---

Speaking of the Historians' Guild, I was thinking of making them a page, if only because there are completely fictional names that are tied to this Guild and I wanted to gather them.

Also bump for visibility:

Quote from: Lurker Z on February 14, 2022, 08:44:12 pm

Also, you sure bred some fearsome cows, Avolition! Too bad they didn't get names from that.

(https://i.imgur.com/JR5LjDm.png)

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on February 15, 2022, 11:02:37 am

Quote from: Lurker Z on February 15, 2022, 10:55:54 am

Also bump for visibility:

Quote from: Lurker Z on February 14, 2022, 08:44:12 pm

Also, you sure bred some fearsome cows, Avolition! Too bad they didn't get names from that.

(https://i.imgur.com/JR5LjDm.png)

Yeah all the animals did some part in the war

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on February 15, 2022, 11:05:33 am

Ah, the sad thing is by the time you reclaim, they'll die of old age.

Ah well, it's up to Kikrost and Rovod to keep the immortal animals going.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Unraveller on February 15, 2022, 11:11:30 am

Quote from: Lurker Z on February 15, 2022, 10:55:54 am

This sounds similar to the... weird effect I had when healing the Guild Representative Amsir Kupestruslot of the blight. Twice I was successful and twice after he left the fort, he came back with the Blight.

I must have missed this incredible nugget! How could the blight have been cured?! By what secret magicks?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on February 15, 2022, 11:32:17 am

Quote from: Unraveller on February 15, 2022, 11:11:30 am

Quote from: Lurker Z on February 15, 2022, 10:55:54 am

This sounds similar to the... weird effect I had when healing the Guild Representative Amsir Kupestruslot of the blight. Twice I was successful and twice after he left the fort, he came back with the Blight.

I must have missed this incredible nugget! How could the blight have been cured?! By what secret magicks?

DFhack?

Also, I can't make Bralbaard playable by unretiring and retiring the site.

Quote from: Lurker Z on February 15, 2022, 11:05:33 am

Ah, the sad thing is by the time you reclaim, they'll die of old age.

Ah well, it's up to Kikrost and Rovod to keep the immortal animals going.

Some animals are immortal by default, like horses. Weird but true.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Unraveller on February 15, 2022, 11:56:51 am

Quote from: Bralbaard on February 15, 2022, 11:32:17 am

DFhack?

Oh. . . How anticlimactic.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on February 15, 2022, 12:17:13 pm

Quote from: Bralbaard on February 15, 2022, 11:32:17 am

Some animals are immortal by default, like horses. Weird but true.

I have no idea why you think that, Legends Mode is full of horses who died of old age (and one who has a secret for resurrection for whatever reason)

Code: [Select]

Notchedbusts
Was a male horse born in 838 and died in 849 (Old Age).
Caste: Male
Active Interactions: SECRET_RES_POWER_98_1
Related Artifacts
◾The Rocs For Everyone a legendary graphite book (stolen, currently in possession)
Related Historical Figures
◾the human Reloth Jadetugs, Pet Owner


Quote from: Bralbaard on February 15, 2022, 11:32:17 am

Quote from: Unraveller on February 15, 2022, 11:11:30 am

I must have missed this incredible nugget! How could the blight have been cured?! By what secret magicks?

DFhack?

Yes. I used this technique (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=173245.msg7932576#msg7932576). Unfortunately, when a character leaves the map, apparently the changed imposed on them are forgotten. Maybe it would have stuck have I saved or retired with him there. Maybe I'll experiment next time, bring a blight victim to my fort, put them in lockdown, then see if curing and saving and retiring with them on the map will stick the cure.

Quote from: Unraveller on February 15, 2022, 11:56:51 am

Quote from: Bralbaard on February 15, 2022, 11:32:17 am

DFhack?

Oh. . . How anticlimactic.

There's no known non-DFHack way to cure a Blight victim, so... I tried my best. Too bad it failed.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on February 15, 2022, 12:20:18 pm

Quote from: Lurker Z on February 15, 2022, 12:17:13 pm

Quote from: Bralbaard on February 15, 2022, 11:32:17 am

Some animals are immortal by default, like horses. Weird but true.

I have no idea why you think that, Legends Mode is full of horses who died of old age (and one who has a secret for resurrection for whatever reason)

The immortal horse thing was apparently fixed long ago but I seem to remember people claiming they were immortal more recently. Anyhow, here's a very old wikipage with immortal horses:
https://dwarffortresswiki.org/index.php/40d:Horse


edit: wait what? Did you just say we have a necromancer-horse?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on February 15, 2022, 12:28:03 pm

I have no idea, I quoted what Legends Viewer says.

And creatures who have secret_res aren't necessarily necros, they could have been rezzed by a necro or maybe affected by an evil biome or some such. I'm pretty sure some creatures just naturally rez in Neutral biomes for no particular reason (bug maybe?). Still weird though.

Edit: Could also be a ghoul/blighted thrall, thralls are called "necromancers" by Legends Viewer.

---

Updated King Bralbaard article, the Titles section (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Bralbaard_Nilthatlosh#See_also) is probably the largest on the wiki and of any I've ever seen until now.

---

I'm curious how we haven't talked yet on why King Bralbaard lost his title once he left the capital, yet King Avolition left the place he ascended in and remains King. I suspect it's because Adilatír had a capital recognized by the game (even if the game also says the capital is abandoned) while Stalconpesor doesn't and so Avolition isn't tied to it.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Unraveller on February 15, 2022, 12:33:43 pm

Side note, do we actually have a reanimating biome anywhere in the world? I may wish to form my next fortress therein.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Quantum Drop on February 15, 2022, 01:00:33 pm

Quote from: Lurker Z on February 15, 2022, 12:28:03 pm

I have no idea, I quoted what Legends Viewer says.

And creatures who have secret_res aren't necessarily necros, they could have been rezzed by a necro or maybe affected by an evil biome or some such. I'm pretty sure some creatures just naturally rez in Neutral biomes for no particular reason (bug maybe?). Still weird though.

Edit: Could also be a ghoul/blighted thrall, thralls are called "necromancers" by Legends Viewer.

Having dived into the .sav: SECRET_RES_POWER_98_1 seems to refer to the Gaunt Zombie's ability to cause necrosis in most tissues (isn't that the same thing Moldath had?), so my guess is that the horse got hit with it for some reason and then was offloaded before it could wear off (hence why it eventually carked it from old age).

Spoiler: Code for context (click to show/hide)

[INTERACTION:SECRET_RES_POWER_98_1]
 [GENERATED]
 [I_TARGET:A:CREATURE]
  [IT_LOCATION:CONTEXT_CREATURE]
  [IT_MANUAL_INPUT:victim]
 [I_EFFECT:ADD_SYNDROME]
  [IE_TARGET:A]
  [IE_IMMEDIATE]
  [SYNDROME]
    [SYN_CONCENTRATION_ADDED:1000:0]
    [CE_NECROSIS:SEV:500:PROB:100:START:0:PEAK:0:END:3:VASCULAR_ONLY:BP:BY_CATEGORY:ALL:ALL:RESISTABLE]

Quote from: Unraveller on February 15, 2022, 12:33:43 pm

Side note, do we actually have a reanimating biome anywhere in the world?

On the subject of reanimating biomes, according to DFHack's embark assistant we have two - one in the Hill of Bogs (grey area near The Charcoal Pit/that spawl of gobbo pits near the Tundra of Heroes), another (reddish-grey) up near the Dark Fortresses of Poisonuttered and Dreadyouth. They don't cover the entirety of their respective areas, though.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Maloy on February 15, 2022, 01:45:10 pm

I am beginning my turn! I'm excited to jump in

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on February 15, 2022, 01:50:56 pm

Best of luck Maloy, remember to save frequently

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Quantum Drop on February 15, 2022, 01:54:18 pm

Good luck with your turn, Maloy! And definitely make backups, just in case.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on February 15, 2022, 02:32:21 pm

I also gave a warning to save often in the personal message. I think we've been clear enough :P.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Maloy on February 15, 2022, 02:56:39 pm

I gotta say what I'm loving about this is all the environmental storytelling from just having had so many different players on this world.

I've already found a lot of neat stuff that I know relates to previous runs people had and it's cool
normal adventure mode worlds don't have the opportunity to do that to the player

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Unraveller on February 15, 2022, 03:15:04 pm

It really is something special isn't it? I recall very early on in my first turn here, as Galka Linarad (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Galka_Linarad), after crawling my way out of the deep earth, beside a river I had stumbled upon a dwarf corpse. The curiosity got the better of me and I investigated, learning that it belonged to one of the first adventurers of the Museum. One of Imic's. I recall entombed him at the nearby shrine. It was a small moment, but such things add so much for me.

I have a deep desire to see this game last a 1000 years of adventuring. Though I fear DF will not be able to handle it.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on February 15, 2022, 03:24:07 pm

Yeah, i recall with my first turn with Holyblood followong someone elses trail towards the elven lands, which each site having these bone carvings. Honestly i want to see the world atleast kill all the forgotten beasts and get to an age of three powers.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Glloyd on February 15, 2022, 08:33:18 pm

Yeah, on my first turn I accidentally stumbled across the corpse of Eric Blank, along with his living companions. On a later turn I necromancer'ed someone's adventurer alive without even realising that it was an adventurer. It's funny the things you can run into, and both those were less than a hundred years in. I'm sure there's stuff all over now.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on February 16, 2022, 04:17:01 am

Quote from: Unraveller on February 15, 2022, 12:33:43 pm

Side note, do we actually have a reanimating biome anywhere in the world? I may wish to form my next fortress therein.

The island to the north, where Homesafe the Shrine of Guarding is located, allegedly has thralling mist clouds. So that could be !!FUN!! for a challenge.

Quote from: Quantum Drop on February 15, 2022, 01:00:33 pm

Having dived into the .sav: SECRET_RES_POWER_98_1 seems to refer to the Gaunt Zombie's ability to cause necrosis in most tissues (isn't that the same thing Moldath had?), so my guess is that the horse got hit with it for some reason and then was offloaded before it could wear off (hence why it eventually carked it from old age).

Spoiler: Code for context (click to show/hide)

[INTERACTION:SECRET_RES_POWER_98_1]
 [GENERATED]
 [I_TARGET:A:CREATURE]
  [IT_LOCATION:CONTEXT_CREATURE]
  [IT_MANUAL_INPUT:victim]
 [I_EFFECT:ADD_SYNDROME]
  [IE_TARGET:A]
  [IE_IMMEDIATE]
  [SYNDROME]
    [SYN_CONCENTRATION_ADDED:1000:0]
    [CE_NECROSIS:SEV:500:PROB:100:START:0:PEAK:0:END:3:VASCULAR_ONLY:BP:BY_CATEGORY:ALL:ALL:RESISTABLE]

That is one of the possible causes for Moldath's Curse. I haven't been able to pin it down at all, despite using various DFHack commands. I first noticed it after drinking demon blood from an adamantine axe in Ironwards so assumed that was the cause. I am not sure if Moldath had encountered any Gaunt Zombies by that point, but its a reasonable suggestion.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on February 16, 2022, 05:42:48 am

I believe it does, I had a similar experience with an undead at my newest fort. He was perpetually bleeding, rotting and needing surgery. Its how I got legendary +5 surgeon and was a good method for training medical skills, it was the same with Moldath but he was able to move and had brief moments of not rotting.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: WonderPsycho on February 16, 2022, 05:01:03 pm

eyyy been a while since i been on bay 12 and stuff still active, again making sure i don't miss my turn again, sorry for not being that active much been playing some space station 13 ever since i became a mentor for a ss13 server that recently came out and i really enjoy but yeah

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on February 17, 2022, 02:13:39 pm

Regarding Legends Viewer, I've encountered a problem myself. I've found through Google how to fix it, maybe this helps you, Unraveller (and anyone else who might have LV crashes):

Code: [Select]

To delete temporary files:

    In the search box on the taskbar, type disk cleanup, and select Disk Cleanup from the list of results.
    Select the drive you want to clean up, and then select OK.
    Under Files to delete, select the file types to get rid of. To get a description of the file type, select it.
    Select OK.
You have to be sure to select Temporary Files and ONLY that (there are some other things in these, you need to unselect them), then press OK on the bottom left.

It might be placebo, but I think LV is now also running a lot, LOT faster for me (but it could be that I manually deleted the files in its own cache too in \LNP\utilities\Legends Viewer\temp).

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Maloy on February 17, 2022, 03:54:11 pm

I decided to play a wolf man as they are able to wear things sized for dwarves. Seemed like a reliable choice considering the number of dwarven settlements in the world.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Entry One
For as far back as I can remember I have been in this town. I always dreamed of being a famous singer, but er...well. I'm not very talented. But the people around here never gave me a chance! Anytime I opened my mouth it was always a joke about howling! Well, one day I will change their minds. Like anyone in this tumultuous times I've learned combat and I'll have you know that I am what the great blademasters of the land call "Competent" with my copper sword. High praise for sure.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/qdHSynA.png)

So where do I start?

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/DRe3GE6.png)

Oh no. I have to get out of here! But...I don't like these people, but I can't just leave them to die! My faithful dog friend Zon and I decide to go around town trying to persuade others to come with us to...somewhere.
They all tell me no. Come to think of it I noticed that this town, which is very well populated compared to most, is made up entirely of merchants.
My pleading falls on deaf ears, and one man tells me of another human who is trying to save us named Shebi Airage. When I asked him to know more he said he didn't know who I was talking about...I hate this place

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/t9f1odq.png)

I decide to head to the castle to take my plea to the mayor or at least learn if there was a plan in place! There were only a couple of town guards and none of them had armor or weapons and so I definitely had no desire for a heroic last stand!

As I crept around to the main building I found a dead man...Fresh....ish? No sign of decay as far as I could tell, but I'm a musician not a doctor.
I walk inside and in the middle of the castle is the corpse of the largest creature I've ever seen in my whole entire life! Just lying there in the middle of the floor covered in ooze.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/43Jn0i4.png)

So...that's why the town wasn't doing anything. The merchants were trusting that someone would do something and those that would are dead, but what happened here? In front of the beast lay treasure. I picked up a masterwork bone crown and put it on
Amongst the treasure I found an ear

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/9To390u.png)

Who's ear was this?
as I looked upon it in my mind I saw flashes of glory. Of different adventurers fighting great beasts or claiming great treasures and bringing it to some...place? A museum. THE Museum!
I shook myself out of it and looked around, but not before packing the ear into my bag. Who knows maybe someone will want it and it can't hurt me.
I looked upon my plain village clothing, my cotton mask and headveil and then the armor lying there. I had no skill with armor and it would slow me down, but I would stand far better chance out in the dangerous wilds with armor then trusting my ability to flee.

Wait, I was going to leave? Yes...to the museum? I found my hand subconsciously drawn to my bag. That's right! The most safe place in the world for me was that museum. I could find patronage there, but I needed to bring them a tribute....

I left with new dwarven armor, a dwarven steel shortsword and bronze warhammer on my back. I tried to perform for more townsfolk to see if my beautiful voice would persuade them all, but none of them took me seriously or wanted to have anything to do with me.
I decided to try my luck with the gods

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/DbvC5z6.png)

OH

Was it the ear? Did I anger the gods by taking someone's ear and armor? I quickly reached into the bag to throw it and all my new gear to the ground, but suddenly felt calm...no no that would be ridiculous why would an ear matter? I need to bring tribute to the museum!

On my way out I noticed that all the statues in town depict different people screaming or begging the gods to show mercy as they are cursed to wander the lands as vampires. Very morbid.



From there I and Zon set forth into the wilds heading south-southwest... problem being that I ran out of food!
I've been stalking through the woods on foot for a long time now and I've run into no creatures. I might just be a city wolf, but I'm pretty sure nature isn't supposed to be this...quiet?
I run into a couple packs of ravens and I even tried my luck killing one, but turns out they weren't edible(butcherable).

I ran out of food today and I'm hungry. Me and Zon keep wandering the woods heading south looking for any creature in the forest. There's nothing but kestrels and ravens. My stomach growls and I pet Zon for support.

How will I ever find tribute for the Museum if I can't even find a meal?!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on February 17, 2022, 04:24:49 pm

If you didn’t already know, that ear was torn from Bralbaard by a demon in the year 712, so it’s been lying there for about 145 years. It might be a bit mouldy…

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Maloy on February 17, 2022, 04:26:26 pm

Quote from: kesperan on February 17, 2022, 04:24:49 pm

If you didn’t ready know, that ear was torn from Bralbaard by a demon in the year 712, so it’s been lying there for about 145 years. It might be a bit mouldy…

Oh I didn't know the year, but I pieced it together! Weirdly none of the corpses are showing signs of decay.
If charcoal brutes could be resurrected from the dead someone could re-release a terrible evil on the world! Not that I just admitted to thinking about that.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Unraveller on February 17, 2022, 04:39:32 pm

Clearly the dark magicks of Urus preserved the later-king's ear in a type of stasis. Beware wolf man! You know not what you hold!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on February 17, 2022, 04:48:52 pm

The eternal ear, always listening. Great write up Maloy. Interested to see if there is more or if the wolf man ends here

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Maloy on February 18, 2022, 05:44:43 pm

Quote from: Unraveller on February 17, 2022, 04:39:32 pm

Clearly the dark magicks of Urus preserved the later-king's ear in a type of stasis. Beware wolf man! You know not what you hold!

The ear Chose Me!

Quote from: AvolitionBrit on February 17, 2022, 04:48:52 pm

The eternal ear, always listening. Great write up Maloy. Interested to see if there is more or if the wolf man ends here

Thank you! I'm hoping he makes it too!

Also quick thing I said I picked up a bronze warhammer but I just misremembered as I typed it was an axe. Little fix for those who already read it

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I began my next day starving with only my faithful canine companion Zon for support.
I found a fort and hoped to find food. It was filled with humans, but no food here. I think there must be a regional famine that I wasn't made aware of.

I had heard about some sort of plague in the area, maybe it was killing all the animals off? Either way all I found was a book.


Maybe this could be tribute? The ear expressed dissatisfaction with it though.
I wandered west into the wasteland. a barren and dead land seemed a good place to starve to death. I stopped at a river on the way, but lo and behold!

On the other side of the river was a snapping turtle! It began to "Run" at the sight of me. I'm no good swimmer on the best of days and the fast flowing river might just drown me, but I simply had no choice!

I jumped as far as I could across and landed in and swam/floundered with all speed to the end! By the time I crawled onto land again the turtle had almost reached a pond some distance away and I ran as if possessed!
I stabbed the turtle's leg with my sword and hurt it, but it managed to launch itself into the pond.

Truly a battle of life and death for me as this was my last chance to eat before starvation I plunged in after it! I swung again and again unskillfully with my axe as I tried not to inhale water

finally, I beheaded it. I quickly grabbed the whole carcass, now spouting blood into the pond, and hauled it onto shore and caught my breath.
I had lived! I killed what could have been one of the only animals left in this land, but I would survive!
In all honesty I've always been squeamish about blood and especially about eating organs, but in this moment I didn't care and took every bit of the turtle with me.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/X0lHvUl.png)

I decided to carve its bones. Despite Zon's constant optimism and the assurances of the Ear I felt very confident I wouldn't survive this journey and so I left marks so that I might be remembered

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/LMxOafw.png)

Figurines of me!  I left one in the area I killed the turtle in and set off!

Further south I ran into what  looked like a makeshift camp. I decided to try my luck and get nearer. Hopefully if they were bandits they would not see me.
As I drew near I found the only thing I've found since I began this journey: Death.
The entire site was filled with skeletons of men. Tatters of clothing still clinging to them, but surrounded by bags and chests of goods.
I searched through and found the largest treasure in my life! Thousands upon thousands of coins and human sized armors and weapons.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/U8raCuM.png)

I took all the gold coins I could carry and left the rest, many thousands still, in the bags for others. I didn't necessarily earn this money and couldn't carry it all so it seemed fair to leave it for future scavengers. Either way I could comfortably trade for what was needed now. Or perhaps this would make a good...tribute?

The Ear said the treasure would be acceptable tribute, but I had not earned it myself. Bummer. On top of the hill was another corpse, but not so old. It was still fresh and freshly pulped. Maybe someone fought here over the treasure? Perhaps some magic kept this man from wasting away, maybe he was this band's leader?  Either way I thanked him for the spare change and left him a sculpture of myself before departing.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/QRKuaVg.png)

I settled in for the day in a mirthful forest. Similarly empty other than the ravens which seemed to follow me. It was serene and a good place to sit and think.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/o4OxWO2.png)

I was feeling quite miserable. My town was likely torched by now and this museum seemed so far away. In fact, I had no clue where I was going. I was a novice reader at best and I struggled with maps. All I've found on the whole journey was death and confusion.
Zon comforted me by reminding me of our successes so far.
Surely by now some of these items I have acquired would make fitting tribute? The Ear grumbled in reply, but I decided to ignore him. I still had plenty of time to find something on the way!
If I could find my way....

----------------------------------------
I'm for real lost lol
Adventure mode map is a struggle for me. I've got one last part to write up and wolf man is done, but so far I'm at the castle of Peakbees trying to just hurry up and get there!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Unraveller on February 18, 2022, 06:18:07 pm

All things considered there's something I find really cozy about your current turn Maloy. And I can't even begin to describe how much I thoroughly enjoy the fact that your Wolf Man has a loyal pet doggo. Also the leaving of figurines around is really nice touch, as we mentioned before I LOVE finding the leftovers of other players' presences.

---

I don't mean to take any spotlight away from your turn Maloy, but I finally managed to sit down and write up my very brief adventure just earlier. One that I couldn't devote anywhere near enough of the time I should have to, and so I allowed it to fall into ruin. . . Regardless I hope something good came from it. Here it is, the Tale of Amala Camelaisa;

---

(https://i.imgur.com/JPD3gcV.png)

Ye, o ye, whom dwell 'midst Lålthocit,
'Neathe the shadows of Mucka's kin,
Ye, o ye, whom stalk Besmonal,
'Neathe shadow of mountains tall,
Ye, o, ye, 'midst Porebwimad mired,
Young stray of purpose tired,

(https://i.imgur.com/JXCIRS5.png)

Bereft of home, bereft of kin,
You whom say, 'an orphan 'midst this din',
Know that you spit lies, you spit slander,
Yea, a lesson is learnt from thine candor
What is family whenst blood runs dry?
'Tis a feeling that hearts do tie.

For she, the bounteous ocean her great mother,
The sheltering mountains her honored father,
For without pause they provide, they protect,
And all they ask is thine respect,
Yet it is her dear elder sister she holds closest to her chest,
A giant, great-horned owl of feathered breast.

Knows she as Mucka by her name,
Unknown to her a god of man, the very same,   
Deigned was she in those times forgotten,
Beyond the isle, her memories rotten.
So they go to reclaim what's been lost,
Ungsmabungmo abaft, but just so -- a great cost.

Mucka's feathered wings beat and glide,
Shading the ocean 'neath their stride,
A day passes, or two perhaps,
Familiar sea breeze rushing past,
The beast of burden is slow to tire,
But now even she's of smoldering fire.

Just then as luck would have the orphan cries,
"Mucka! Land ahead, don't falter now you need only fly!"
So fly she did and land as well,
Upon dark shores where sea did swell,
This land appeared no different than her island home,
Yet with endless paths for which to roam.

A sight stood out to the girl -- a house, a wooden spike!
Could within dwell vibrant life?
She gathered her courage and wrangled her steed.
Ghoulcreek, the Raven of Whips, a hall of mead.
But whence she round the corner her heart did flutter,
A blighted monster returned her gaze with a mutter.

(https://i.imgur.com/puuPmMv.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/ILCjWpw.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/8CPNhxW.png)

Upon the grass and at her side,
A gleaming morningstar had caught her eye,
At unnatural speed the dead dwarf lunged,
And so she rolled, her body plunged,
In the young girl's hands the artifact rose,
To defend her body from mortal blows.

(https://i.imgur.com/YWP36Bj.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/tQWeEzi.png)

The weapon had grown weary and betrayed its master,
The ghoul spat a curse and redoubled faster,
Grace of gods were with the girl thence,
Her body intact and nary rent,
Had Mucka not swept her up and taken flight,
She would have surely fallen to the blight

The giant owl fled with haste,
The orphan's head spun with soured taste,
Could all the beings of Orid Xem,
Be as bile and sickly phlegm?
She couldn't say as she held Okirramtak tight,
Then in the distance rose another sight.

A spire of stone and trenched pits,
Built by those of devious wit,
At her heed Mucka set upon the top,
With what stood before her, that heart did stop,
Okirramtak shuddered within her hands,
It washed away her unselfish plans.

(https://i.imgur.com/0utZj8N.png)

With one step forth she rose the hammer,
The green men cowered, their words did stammer,
Her malice grew with a rain of strikes,
Bloody and violent, retribution of the likes,
Pain flooded her head of forgotten days,
These evil goblin slavers, they would pay!

(https://i.imgur.com/Cw1y6t1.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/NOB0XuT.png)

None were spared upon the tower's height,
Mucka circled in abject fright,
But the possessed girl was nary done,
A wicked smile, she was having fun,
Another spire, another field,
Deep within the earthen weald

(https://i.imgur.com/4tdaKNA.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/CVV8uZ7.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/NqjGoJv.png)

When all was said and finished,
A field of bone, of gore, a sinful grimace,
She clattered to her knees amidst the death,
All her will exhausted and drawn of breath,
Only then had she come to,
Mucka's body 'midst the stew.

(https://i.imgur.com/mRmYcbO.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/FHETXHM.png)

She shook her sister's feathered down,
Stained of crimson, her tears did drown,
She cursed this world of mercy bereft,
How she wished they'd never left,
So the girl could do not but weep,
Lay midst the scene, in her sorrow steep.

Even still she could not discard that vile mace,
For now its bloodlust was just aslake,
Mucka rode she as she did her
She swam for days, for weeks ablur
They say the oceans rose from her eternal tears,
Engulfing her in mortal fears.

Entombed dear Mucka upon Lålthocit,
And then she leapt, this life did quit,
'Twas the tale of Amala Camelaisa,
No hero, no villain, no shining messiah.
What lesson you ask, from this we can learn?
There are none, this world -- Orid Xem I spurn.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on February 18, 2022, 07:48:00 pm

Dude, that was haunting.

Love the different styles in people's turns. It makes my simple diary entries look rather bland... poor Mucka and poor Amala.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Quantum Drop on February 18, 2022, 09:16:59 pm

Beautifully done, Unraveller. Beautifully done.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Unraveller on February 19, 2022, 11:19:44 am

Quote from: kesperan on February 18, 2022, 07:48:00 pm

Love the different styles in people's turns. It makes my simple diary entries look rather bland... poor Mucka and poor Amala.

Don't say that! Moldath has been absolutely awesome to follow as of late. Even if you don't even up continuing his tale, I don't find anything bland about your stories.

Quote from: Quantum Drop on February 18, 2022, 09:16:59 pm

Beautifully done, Unraveller. Beautifully done.

This is pretty stellar as feedback. Thanks a ton QD. For real. Especially given as I was a little leery on whether or not I should have actually posted it as prose.

---

Totally unrelated, but I kiiiiiiiindaaa wanna see the Omon Blight spread even harder. (Even if only because I have a arc in mind to write and hope it's not solved by my turn.)

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on February 19, 2022, 11:24:27 am

Great story, Unraveller!

Nice use of a deity not technically associated with elves. Hells, poor Amala doesn't know the half of it, most of her kin turned their eyes from the nature spirits and now worship Ala, god of death and are kin in more ways than one with the goblins. The current elven Queen is an Ala worshiper first, Cacame second. The current elven crown-princess is an exclusive worshiper of Ala.

Nevermind, I thought Amala was an elf for some reason.

By the way, did you try that method (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8353165#msg8353165) of hopefully repairing Legends Viewer?

---

And now for the wolf-man of the hour, love his adventures. The Ear Chose You indeed (though I'm not sure how happy you should be about it, since it's sourly whispering things into your ears). I think it'd make a great Museum submission just by itself. Just that it's century and a half old ear is impressive, but that it's Bralbaard's, the Museum's founder, as well as the King of the most successful dwarven civilization, makes it more than worthy. Add to that that it was lost in battle against a demon and that demon can breathe fire, makes it almost a divine blessing that it wasn't burned to a crisp at the time of Bralbaard's death.

The only problem is that it may rot or not properly load out with a site. I had this problem with teeth, Lurker Onecbehal became an avid collector of teeth found in his wanderings, you see, but most of them just disappeared when the site he left them unloaded.

Now I wonder if there's a record in the memory's game of Bralbaard losing his ear. There should be, which means it could end up on carvings, statues and artifacts. That would be awesome.

Quote from: Maloy on February 17, 2022, 03:54:11 pm

On my way out I noticed that all the statues in town depict different people screaming or begging the gods to show mercy as they are cursed to wander the lands as vampires. Very morbid.

At least that's thematically appropriate. I ran into statues in settlements abandoned for centuries of adventurers of the Museum (which was founded in the 700), even if no-one living should have been around there. I can think of very few in-world explanations for that: either ghosts did it, the undead roaming around there (unlikely), the Gods are remaking the statues to their will and whim (more probably) or there's some reality-changing effect in the world (which works both as an out-world explanation and in-world as there have been many weird happenings in Orid Xem, even before the founding of the Museum).

By the way, for those who don't know, Mukca (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Mukca/Orid_Xem_God) is an actual deity in the Omon Obin pantheon and the only non-human one.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Unraveller on February 19, 2022, 01:28:25 pm

Quote from: Lurker Z on February 19, 2022, 11:24:27 am

Great story, Unraveller!

Nice use of a deity not technically associated with elves. Hells, poor Amala doesn't know the half of it, most of her kin turned their eyes from the nature spirits and now worship Ala, god of death and are kin in more ways than one with the goblins. The current elven Queen is an Ala worshiper first, Cacame second. The current elven crown-princess is an exclusive worshiper of Ala.

Nevermind, I thought Amala was an elf for some reason.

By the way, did you try that method (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8353165#msg8353165) of hopefully repairing Legends Viewer?

I believe I actually intended to make her an elf to begin with, and just chose human on instinct. We really don't have a lot of elves or even exploration into the goings on of elven society much at all. Maybe Arcturus was the last one (I remember) being relevant from around those parts?

And sadly no, your method didn't seem to help me. I think it just comes down to me having an ancient machine and the legends files from the Museum are significantly larger than anything else I've played.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on February 19, 2022, 01:32:18 pm

Sad to hear that. Hope you get a new one soon.

---

Amala was insane, and so are you, Unraveller! I'm on night 4 trying to get the Mayor of Stukossazir, Kogsak Datanrir to that island so I can get its true name and I think the trip might take more than a week.

---

Yeah, just checked, I'm half way there. I could have more easily just created a fort, retired it and then possessed a dwarf from there, but I wanted to use a historical character to do it.

Spoiler: Image, Day 4, Half way there (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/34N7nc2.png)

I think the "You flounder in the water" messages every other tile are slowing me down. Also, I only now noticed the wonders of the number 7 on the keypad to get me diagonally. Ah well, I'm getting there, slowly but surely.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Unraveller on February 19, 2022, 01:42:19 pm

I don't suggest you waste terribly too much time on it Lurker. You'll be quite disappointed by the metric amount of nothing that I've left behind. Hahaa! But since you're going there in this alternative world, tell me if you can find Okirramtak in Quietdens, I attempted to place the morningstar into a coffin under Amala's home there, but it vanished when I did so. And on a further return, so did the staircase down into the coffin room, used to be accessible from her bedroom, seemed that Adv-fort didn't save the tunnel I'd dug down into, wonder if it saved anything else. . .

As for the swim. . . Yeah, it was painful,  especially because I could move only a few tiles before the game would freeze for about a minute each time. Due to hauling Mucka as well, Amala's speed was something like 0.2 or so. Essentially causing MANY days to pass on the journey, nearly starved and dehydrated to death heading there.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on February 19, 2022, 02:00:18 pm

LAND HO! Merciful Uzol and Onget below... Let's see what I'll find there. By the way, my speed is 0.530, I died 3 or 4 times just on the sholes of the fortress (before I learned that you swim AFTER you go up, not through the bottom of the ocean, perpetually drowning) and lost all of Kogsak's gear. And I'm having that lag you mentioned, but it only takes 10 seconds for me. Still a pain though.

Spoiler: Image, Day 5, LAND HO! (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/SJZ5bTY.png)
Kogsak's Landing
(https://i.imgur.com/82rdCT1.png)
The names
(https://i.imgur.com/0Ive8jR.png)

Ah, you... already wrote the names in the ballad. I could have just asked you. This is awkward.

I found nothing but crabs, porcupine, wombats and a red panda boar.

I'm following the eastern coast, I'm here now.

Spoiler: Image (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/oSmjoZJ.png)

---

Kogsak's journal:

Something comes over me. I know not what. I think it is the solitude here, me and only one fellow dwarf remaining. We have been abandoned by the world. I plunge myself off the bridge of my home, Stukossazir. I swim frantically towards the open ocean, though I know not how, nevermind why. I think I die a few times, I must have, for my clothes are missing, close to the shores of the land. I swim bare for days and nights. As the fourth night comes, I feel forlon and I have the sense I am only half-way there. I despair, yet my limbs refuse to stop. I have felt hunger and thirst these last days, yet by a miracle almost as soon as they appear, they leave, as if I slept for a good night on good dwarven beds (the only good thing wood is for except wheelbarrels, bins and burning, but I digress). I worship Uzol and Onget, gods of minerals, metals, fire and volcanoes, so I know not the meaning behind them guiding me in this vast ocean.

Day 5 comes and finally I sense land. It's so far away yet close enough to touch sometimes. I go and go and night comes and lose track of it. No! I must follow the general direction, I must be land-bound! I must!

I find the Island, this is what I was sent to do! It's night, but I don't care. I follow the southern coast, hoping to find something. Dawn comes, yet I do not. I have this strange urge to go north, so I do. I know there are three camps, I know I will find what I am looking for in one of them. I finally find a wooden house, I enter it and find some murder weapons. In a small room, I find a body. I wave my hands above it and say some mumbo-jumbo and the body disappears. I'm not even surprised anymore.

I look at the weapons. I see beyond the mere physical.

Spoiler: Image (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/9w2qtpS.png)

There are some nick-nacks around, the poor lasses' belongings. Obviously an adventurer, I have eye for those ones. A large copper dagger covered in crab blood. A pick and a casket. Some tables and chairs.

Spoiler: Image (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/hP338NK.png)

But they're not what I'm searching for. I go outside, looking frantically, and finally, there it is!

Spoiler: Images (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/BoCHl5E.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/okzmJoC.png)

I take it in my hands. It feels wonderful! It is... it is... iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiizzzzzzzzzzzzzz...



I wake up. I forgot how to swim, yet the waves wash around my ears. I'm back home. What was that?! I must write this. It must have been the Gods' will! It must have... right?

---

This (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Amala_Camelaisa) is what I spent all that time looking up the names. It's not much, but enjoy, Unraveller. And RIP Amala (until you get turned into an unfeeling undead by the next passer-by, of course).

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Unraveller on February 19, 2022, 02:41:33 pm

_{Ah, that's what you were after. . .}

Well, no time like the present, can Okirramtak still be found?

---

EDIT: Ah good! I was worried the artefact would have been lost forever! Glad DF decided to scatter it rather than leave it in the container I designated for it. Not that it really matters I suppose. Surely no one else is going to make the utterly tedious journey to the Ultimate Island and the Intricate Horns of Vanishment, right. . ?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on February 19, 2022, 08:56:41 pm

Amala did her party in the war against the goblins

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Maloy on February 19, 2022, 09:19:31 pm

Some good writings here!
On my end cozy is what I was going for!
I think on my first turn it'd be strange to have an epic adventure to compete with these greats, and so maybe the humble beginnings of a wolf man haunted by an omniscient ear?

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

After sitting on a hillside for awhile with Zon I took a second look at my maps.
It hit me all of a sudden. My regional map looked different than the map I had of the world, and so I was wandering around a small circle that looked the same on the world map as my regional map, but was too far north

With that Zon and I set south!

On my journey I ran into another snapping turtle as well as more kestrels and ravens. I was able to gather more meat for the rest of the journey


The next day while climbing a steep hill was strange though.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/JnWfMTJ.png)

I felt...uneasy. Like something was very very wrong and I found my instincts slowing me down to a crawl.
Zon and I quietly creeped up the hill seeing nothing to indicate what might be near, if anything.

I heard stories in the tavern back home of forests filled with undead, demons, goblin marauders and more. So far my trip had been quiet, but this could be the threat, and I am no warrior.

We manage to safely clear the area and continue south uninterrupted, but I'm curious if I ran into anything or if I'm just starting to get nerves being isolated so long.

The rest of my journey took about two days, but I spent the next afternoon at a brook with Zon. We stood right where the brook began to drop off and turn into a proper river. I waded in and used the opportunity to practice my vocals, but... I really doubt I'll make it as a singer even if the museum will take me in.
Zon disagrees and jumps in the brook and rolls on his back between my legs. I scratch his belly since he's a good boy.
We spend most of the afternoon there.


The next day I made it over the last hill just as the sun was beginning to set behind me coloring the countryside below orange and violet.
I could see the Museum now! and other places beyond it!
We had made it! I was tired and thirsty and the sun had set by the time we got inside the castle grounds, but we had made it!

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/6jsqwIn.png)

But it was quiet...empty. I was stumbling around in the dark and I wondered where everyone was? If the museum was made up of great heroes and adventurers I supposed it made sense for few to be hear.

In the distance I heard loud stomping as if someone was sprinting while wearing maracas on their feet! Knowing caution to have worked so far I creeped along in its direction, only for it to turn around and bolt towards me: A goblin! A monk to be more specific!
I introduced myself and then asked him about the site.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/EGkR9mA.png)

Outlaws? How can this place be ruled by outlaws? Was it overtaken? I looked inside the "Museum" corpses and body parts littered the ground and many of its treasures were scattered all over in disarray. It looked like a battleground rife to pilfering by these "outlaws"

Zon and I continued inwards and I heard more conversation. One of the most muscular goblins I've ever seen in my life had passing conversation with a "baron". Each floor was also in equal states of disarray. Someone had left coins here in the past it seems so it might not be inappropriate tribute despite the Ear's opinion.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/nInYI1q.png)

Yeah, well I've never heard of a museum run by outlaws so I guess we're even.


I went back to the entrance and found an open pedestal and considered it. I held the ear out and looked at it longingly. Zon was very insistent that I put the ear on the pedestal. That I be done with it and it's "influence" over me.

I stared at the ear for a long long time. I felt the noises of the world around me drown out as it spoke to me. I saw Zon barking frantically although I could not hear it.

No. No. the Ear had chosen me. I was its Master now. It could not stay in a outlaw den when it was so safe with me. It was mine. My precious.
I put the ear back into my bag and Zon howled.

 Instead I reached for the crown. Whoever wore this at the battle with that monster left behind a masterpiece crown. A historical marker for the ages and a acceptable diversion from my true prize that sang from within my bag.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/GwkjyBm.png)

It has come to me, the Ear. All those who follow in my bloodline shall be bound to its fate, for I shall risk no hurt to the Ear. It is precious to me, though I buy it with a great pain.

The Ear tells me that we shall remain in Boltspumpkin for a time until it can lead me to greater glory. It tells me that I don't need protection anymore, but I do need to wait and listen for awhile longer


-----------------------------------------------------------
I hope the crown is acceptable. It is a masterpiece and was found with the ear! I could also unload the treasure I found which also has historical significance or the mediocre book

Me and Zon:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m_-qJKKz_Go&ab_channel=RHB01

If all that is cool I'll quietly finish up my turn with some quick fort shenanigans and turn it in on time!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Unraveller on February 19, 2022, 10:19:00 pm

Quote from: Maloy on February 19, 2022, 09:19:31 pm

>I scratch his bellye, because he's a good boy

This is what I live for. In all honesty it's nice to see a story that wasn't overly dour as many of ours have come to be of late (for good reason to be fair.) Though who knows how things will change for Maloy, as he begins to covet this century old ear. . .

All things considered, its owner Bralbaard Hammerfishes is a benign fellow, despite the dark magicks that animate them, perhaps all the nasty undeath juju was absorbed into the ear? Haha.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on February 20, 2022, 12:04:20 pm

Quote from: Unraveller on February 19, 2022, 10:19:00 pm

All things considered, its owner Bralbaard Hammerfishes is a benign fellow, despite the dark magicks that animate them, perhaps all the nasty undeath juju was absorbed into the ear? Haha.

Quick reminder that the ear not only belongs to a dwarf recently killed after its parting from its master, but also stayed in the same room with the corpse of a foul demon for almost a century and a half. It looks like the foul energies of the demon suffused it, embued it with power... and likely something much, much more sinister. I wonder if this storyline will result in Pis (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Pis_Ethbaoxut)' return to the land of the living. I've never seen an undead demon before (plenty of forgotten beasts though).

Quote from: Maloy on February 19, 2022, 09:19:31 pm

Some good writings here!
On my end cozy is what I was going for!
I think on my first turn it'd be strange to have an epic adventure to compete with these greats, and so maybe the humble beginnings of a wolf man haunted by an omniscient ear?

The only problem with "competing with the greats" is if someone tries too hard. But just having a light-hearted adventure and becoming a Supreme Being in the process isn't a problem at all. Look at Galka Linarad (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Galka_Linarad), he started as a slave in a mine and became a great blighted thrall killer out of necessity, succeeding what an adventurer (my own) hasn't with two tries (killing a vampire (former) Law-Giver) and became (by accident?) a vampire himself.

Regardless, enjoy all the successes you can get in this world, for many don't get to see their dreams or their roads take them on twisted paths they never expected.

I'm glad you reached the Museum. I suppose you have the right to keep the Ear, it's yours by right of salvage. Maybe name it so you're sure it won't rot? Or give it a nickname or whatever the game allows you to do with it?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Maloy on February 22, 2022, 02:56:59 pm

So I made a very very tiny fort in the middle of a wasteland
filled it with custom statue pieces, traps, and before retiring I released a forgotten beast I had trapped in the caverns so potential fun to explore

There is an artifact steel morningstar and a crown there if anyone wants to go to the trouble though!

Here is the save with my turn completed!

https://dffd.bay12games.com/file.php?id=15848

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on February 22, 2022, 04:15:39 pm

Nice, will be interesting to see when someone goes to explore that site.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on February 22, 2022, 04:49:06 pm

Nice!

It's good to hear that my ear is doing fine, while the rest of my body is somewhere in this strange state between life and death.
I've updated the map, and other posts, let me know if I missed anything.
Do you want another turn Maloy?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Unraveller on February 22, 2022, 08:29:27 pm

Good luck Kasperan! Excited to see whether you'll unretire someone or start a new adventure.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on February 23, 2022, 04:04:24 am

I’ll download the save and get started tonight.

This will be Moldath’s third adventure. His goals include:

Learn as many secrets as possible.
Visit all player forts he has yet to visit.
Amass so much knowledge he becomes a Legendary reader.
Kill bucketloads of goblins and demons (and maybe some elves…).

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Maloy on February 23, 2022, 07:49:57 am

Quote from: Bralbaard on February 22, 2022, 04:49:06 pm

Do you want another turn Maloy?

Yes, please! Real life took up more of my time than I wanted it to on my turn so I still got things I'd love to do!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on February 23, 2022, 07:54:53 am

Quote from: kesperan on February 23, 2022, 04:04:24 am

I’ll download the save and get started tonight.

This will be Moldath’s third adventure. His goals include:

Learn as many secrets as possible.
Visit all player forts he has yet to visit.
Amass so much knowledge he becomes a Legendary reader.
Kill bucketloads of goblins and demons (and maybe some elves…).

The Sadist Scholar. Look forward to seeing what you do.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Unraveller on February 23, 2022, 12:33:26 pm

Moldath rides again! Looking to eclipse the insane murder spree of Avolition Holyblood?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on February 23, 2022, 04:08:32 pm

Quote from: Unraveller on February 23, 2022, 12:33:26 pm

Moldath rides again! Looking to eclipse the insane murder spree of Avolition Holyblood?

Avolition Holyblood is gonna truly live up to his name next turn >:)

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Unraveller on February 23, 2022, 05:35:40 pm

We may have different definitions of the word holy.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on February 24, 2022, 07:17:25 am

I am not sure even Moldath could slaughter that many goblins... but he will try his best!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on February 24, 2022, 07:17:13 pm

It just crashed, and I lost three hours worth of adventuring...

Save often peeps!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on February 25, 2022, 01:15:54 pm

I remember the first time I played with Lurker, I went to the Museum, saved, left for my submission, went to The Shelter of Adventurers and got stuck there by lag.

It's a good thing I had the save made there, otherwise I might have lost all progress. The problem (at least for me) isn't that it crashes often, it's that the more time you play, the most chances are it'll find a bug and crash.

Ah, since I don't remember mentioning it before, my forts in Orid Xem crashed a lot more often than... in any other game, really. I've read that TWBT might be responsible, and I already have a love-hate relationship with it, but Gods damned, I like seeing what's happening from half a dozen levels above the action...

Edit: I found we had a Trope Page (https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/LetsPlay/TheMuseum). It's covering... stuff. Yeah, stuff. Most of it is accurate, though I'm not sure about some of those things. It has my nickname for Arcturus, which is cool. I'll try to import it to DFLegends when I have time, I'm not great (or interested) at editing TV Tropes and I heard they have some restrictive policies, so it's not for me. The tropes page could use a lot of added tropes, for those in the known.

Hope you have even better adventures, kesperan!

---

I've added an attempt at in-universe explanation for Legends Mode, LV and LB (Orid Xem (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Orid_Xem#Historical_sources)). I've also added ALL the names of the known participants in Okgush Irka (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Okgush_Irka/345), the bloodiest war (and an important one historically too) in Orid Xem, bumping it up to 50,000 characters, definitely the longest page for a lasting time.

I've also grouped Bralbaard's tenure (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Bralbaard_Nilthatlosh#See_also) as an "active adventurer" under the title "Field worker for the Museum", though I'm open for suggestions of a better title.

I've also made the interesting but probably useless observation that Pis (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Pis_Ethbaoxut) was generated two people after Kom, QD's first char. This begs the question on why the game thought a demon needed to be generated then and there and if Kom encountered it (though I doubt it). For reference, Bralbaard's horse (of which I had completely forgotten about, I wish LV had a pets category, they have a war buddy category for frak sake) was generated right after Bralbaard, so it's something like that.

I've also made the much more interesting discovery that in the last 150ish years there were generated almost as many creatures are in 8 centuries combined (I'm counting 1 to 7th, plus a time before time). Probably all those purged historical figures in World Generation explain the initial low numbers.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on February 25, 2022, 05:33:31 pm

Quote from: Lurker Z on February 25, 2022, 01:15:54 pm

Edit: I found we had a Trope Page (https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/LetsPlay/TheMuseum). It's covering... stuff. Yeah, stuff. Most of it is accurate, though I'm not sure about some of those things. It has my nickname for Arcturus, which is cool. I'll try to import it to DFLegends when I have time, I'm not great (or interested) at editing TV Tropes and I heard they have some restrictive policies, so it's not for me. The tropes page could use a lot of added tropes, for those in the known.

Did you make this? It's nice. It mentions some of my characters from the first Museum - Dishmab and Kosoth... I feel famous!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on February 25, 2022, 05:44:36 pm

Quote from: kesperan on February 25, 2022, 05:33:31 pm

Did you make this? It's nice. It mentions some of my characters from the first Museum - Dishmab and Kosoth... I feel famous!

No, I didn't. I don't even have an account there. It's full of drama, it and the wikia/fandom spin-off Tropedia (https://tropedia.fandom.com/wiki/Tropedia) (link (https://tropedia.fandom.com/wiki/Message_Wall:GethN7?threadId=4400000000000041493#4400000000000085857) ← warning: drama), that's why I'm importing it to DF Legends Wiki. Also most of the names are in English ("common"), you wouldn't catch me (un)dead using them if I have the original names.

Kudos to whoever made it, but I'm not going there to edit.

---

Looks like Tropedia changed their admin, hope it's less drama-ry, I'm still weary of getting tangled up in all their drama though.

---

Edit: I imported the Orid Xem (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Orid_Xem/Tropes) tropes, eh it looks decent enough.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on February 26, 2022, 06:13:46 am

Quote from: Lurker Z on February 25, 2022, 01:15:54 pm

I've also grouped Bralbaard's tenure (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Bralbaard_Nilthatlosh#See_also) as an "active adventurer" under the title "Field worker for the Museum", though I'm open for suggestions of a better title.

I think actually that technically, at this point in time, Bralbaard is dead. We know he will magically reappear when someone visits Falsetower, but that has not happened yet in our current timeline. There are just some "prophecies" from people checking the save game in alternative timelines.

Quote from: Lurker Z on February 25, 2022, 01:15:54 pm

I've also made the interesting but probably useless observation that Pis (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Pis_Ethbaoxut) was generated two people after Kom, QD's first char. This begs the question on why the game thought a demon needed to be generated then and there and if Kom encountered it (though I doubt it). For reference, Bralbaard's horse (of which I had completely forgotten about, I wish LV had a pets category, they have a war buddy category for frak sake) was generated right after Bralbaard, so it's something like that.

I've also made the much more interesting discovery that in the last 150ish years there were generated almost as many creatures are in 8 centuries combined (I'm counting 1 to 7th, plus a time before time). Probably all those purged historical figures in World Generation explain the initial low numbers.

About my horse,  Mestthos Lovermachines: I'm pretty sure that I bought him during character generation, so that would be quite different from whatever caused Pis to appear.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on March 01, 2022, 05:59:38 pm

(https://i.imgur.com/FVF2Xgg.png)

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Eric Blank on March 01, 2022, 08:49:12 pm

We've finally killed, what, 90% of the beasts and night creatures then?

Thats a lot of murder

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on March 01, 2022, 09:13:22 pm

Quote from: Eric Blank on March 01, 2022, 08:49:12 pm

Thats a lot of murder

Moldath is a... murder specialist.

Trying to bash out a quick fort but it won't be spectacular - can build on it next time around.

Save game will be up tomorrow night.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Quantum Drop on March 02, 2022, 03:45:34 am

Quote from: Eric Blank on March 01, 2022, 08:49:12 pm

We've finally killed, what, 90% of the beasts and night creatures then?

That would cause an Age of Fairy Tales (or Twilight); Golden Age means all the megabeasts are dead but a load of fantasy creatures are still about (half the world's population or more, iirc).

Looking forward to the story of how the Age of Heroes ended for good!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on March 02, 2022, 11:52:30 am

The wiki (https://dwarffortresswiki.org/index.php/v0.34:Calendar) says the following about the golden age:

The Golden Age
Less than 50% of all civilized creatures are mundane, but there is no single majority.
The Golden Age was a time when various civilized races peopled the world.

That means we skipped a few ages, Kesperan must have been very busy.. I also wonder how far we are from an age of the goblin.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on March 02, 2022, 12:14:52 pm

Jesus, im curious to what moldath has been up to and how he got all those forgotten beasts. If the goblins growth continues yeah we could see an age of goblins but i believe the human population stops the goblins having the pop majourity. If this keeps up to age of fairy tales and twilight are possible as well. This could be rather interesting. Additionally curious to see what the age of 3, 2 and 1 powers were and which megabeasts you choose to be the last.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on March 02, 2022, 12:39:42 pm

I think the age is usually only checked by the game at the start of the year or month? So it's likely we skipped the ages of power completely.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on March 02, 2022, 12:44:44 pm

Oh really, huh i just thought it would update. But it makes sense that it wouldn't check for it every moment.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on March 02, 2022, 03:58:35 pm

As far as I know, the age transition was triggered by the death of the last megabeasts. It’s not dependent on forgotten beasts.

The message popped up when I struck the earth on my new fort, in the first month of 860. 12th Granite to be precise.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on March 02, 2022, 03:59:55 pm

Ah thats interesting i thought it was as the wiki listed forgotten beasts with the megabeast tag.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on March 02, 2022, 04:42:22 pm

I think it's the power tag that's important, but there is a lot of conflicting infomation out there on age changes.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on March 02, 2022, 04:46:49 pm

Quote from: Bralbaard on March 02, 2022, 04:42:22 pm

I think it's the power tag that's important, but there is a lot of conflicting infomation out there on age changes.

It is a little opaque, but as I understand it the power tag is added in worldgen, and applies to demons and megabeasts, not forgotten beasts. There’s still loads of them in Orid Xem.

Going to try to get as much of a fort together as I can and upload the save tonight.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on March 02, 2022, 04:55:15 pm

Im gonna look into it as i would love to know what can and cannot be a power. Its not the megabeast/titan tag. Could be power

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on March 02, 2022, 11:09:53 pm

OK, here is the save for the end of Turn 73, and the year is now 863.

I have made a new fort, to the north, called Iroldeduk (Northmanor) the Unholy Cathedral. It was founded by the Cult of Dishmab (Ramparts). It is a work in progress as I only really spent a day on it. Hope to build on it next time around.

I will detail my story and my museum submission in a later post.

Please sign me up for another turn Bralbaard.

https://dffd.bay12games.com/file.php?id=15852

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on March 03, 2022, 07:29:37 am

The turn list and map have been updated:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/o1kAI8T.gif)

It's worth pointing out that a lot of new hillocks have popped up around the new site. Most are inhabited by humans, not dwarves. (for those that have difficulty finding it on the map, it lies close to Monkeycurse)

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on March 03, 2022, 07:45:11 am

Yeah, my fort was only 2-3 years old, and I was constantly being spammed about new hamlets and hillocks. Same happened with my last fort. Does that not happen with you guys too?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on March 03, 2022, 08:19:33 am

I think its most of us aren't doing good high value trades. Atleast when ive traded like crazy in other worlds is when i get hamlets.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: MrWillsauce on March 03, 2022, 10:04:07 am

Please sign me up for a turn. I've been away from the forums for a long time, but I contributed to the first museum like 9 years ago!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: BluarianKnight on March 03, 2022, 02:52:32 pm

Sweet! I'll be able to start tomorrow night! (Midterms finish tomorrow, so this is great timing.)

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on March 03, 2022, 02:55:22 pm

Quote from: MrWillsauce on March 03, 2022, 10:04:07 am

Please sign me up for a turn. I've been away from the forums for a long time, but I contributed to the first museum like 9 years ago!

Welcome back!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on March 03, 2022, 03:04:56 pm

Quote from: BluarianKnight on March 03, 2022, 02:52:32 pm

Sweet! I'll be able to start tomorrow night! (Midterms finish tomorrow, so this is great timing.)

Ayy nice, best of luck with your midturns and the world :)

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: WonderPsycho on March 03, 2022, 06:41:54 pm

Quote from: kesperan on March 01, 2022, 05:59:38 pm

(https://i.imgur.com/FVF2Xgg.png)

HAHA I KNEW THIS BLIGHTED THRALL OUTBREAK WOULD LEAD TO THIS WORLD INTO PASSING INTO A DIFFERENT AGE, GOLDEN AGE HERE WE GO!!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on March 04, 2022, 08:17:43 am

To be fair, as horrendous as Kosoth's Omon Blight is, the sentinel event in the change of Ages was probably Moldath chopping the head off the last remaining Roc who had evaded him decades ago.

I had hoped to kill it and reanimate it as a mount, which would be metal AF, but he ended up decapitating it....

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on March 04, 2022, 09:11:36 am

"Moldath III", Prologue, Turn 73

A Treatise On Necromancy, by Moldath Mournsaints.

Now, dear reader, I would consider myself to be a learned dwarf. After so many years travelling the lands of Orid Xem in search of knowledge, and from perusing the records of those adventurers come before me, I have created a list, nay a treatise, on the arts of necromancy. In the history of this world, there have been twelve sacred slabs created. These slabs are gifts from the very gods themselves, imparting great knowledge upon their readers. And is not the pursuit of knowledge the most glorious ambition of any creature?

And so it is that I have come to list this treatise, a compendium of knowledge, for any brave and inquisitive mind to follow in my learned footsteps...

• 1. Dustbone the Fated Oblivion (Gifted by Warosp the Fated Urn) - Current location is unfortunately unknown. It is rumoured to have been lost in the Plain Hill in the year 703. Last seen by Oddom Girdergrove, before she was beheaded by Bil Hammertome
• 2. Fatalurn the Hag of Dying (Gifted by the mighty and venerable Ala) - Found by mortal men, currently stored in a dwarven fortress. This slab is still available, to those who look. Seek out Ashcinders!
• 3. Fatedpusses (Gifted by Gopet the Putrid Cyst) - This fine slab was gifted to the famous Museum by the heroic adventurer known as Lonelythrall the Hideous. Though, I have to admit, I could not find it per se, when last I searched that fine establishment. Perhaps it has been spirited away?
• 4. Frothbone (Gifted by the most omniescent Ala) - Ahhh, Frothbone. Rightly in the hands of the Coven of Frothing, or so I thought. Some fiendish scorpion took it from its rightful place and it now appears to be quite lost, somewhere in the Quick Steppes. Such a shame, for of all the slabs, dear readers, this is my favoured.
• 5. Gallpaddles the Spittle of Juice (Gifted by Agwa) - Now this slab is one of my more recent aquisitions. It currently resides where I can keep a rotten eye on it. Search in Stockadeoutrage!
• 6. Roastfierce (Gifted by Kas Bannershocked) - This slab, too, appears to have been gifted to the Museum by Erith Whippedumbral and Nom the Cheese. It is quite challenging to find in amongst the detritus of this place, but I am lead to believe it resides there still. As an aside, an interesting story my fellows - the dwarf known as Erith Whippedumbral was in fact raised into undeath on more than one occasion, and on her last rising took the name The Divine Fight, or Nabasbardum. Would it surprise you to know that many of the adventurers of this world now wear fine bone crafts hewn by this Nabasbardum, including a particular crown submitted by a jovial young wolf man not so long ago!
• 7. Shadowbury (Gifted by the Adalatir deity Tithleth) - This slab was unfortunately lost before I was born, in 703. Much like Dustbone, it was lost after Oddom Girdergrove was slain by Bil Hammertome.
• 8. Stabbedwring (Gifted by kas Bannershocked) - Previously stored in the monastery Hoodconstructs, no sign of this slab has been seen since 754. It is considered lost, but these artifacts have a habit of finding their way back home...
• 9. The Certain Urns (Gifted by an unknown Deity) - Would it surprise you to learn that King Bralbaard found this slab, within the very Museum itself, in 700? He took it to Treatyseed with the intent to destroy it, but that task was later completed by none other than Bil Hammertome. He cast the thing into the volcano the Hearth of Burials, where now the fort of Ironwards the Strifeful Hollows stands.
• 10. The Fragrant Burial (Gifted by Tarem) - Found in the clutches of Cog Wildnesswork the necromancer in his tower of Glazedriven, by the curiously named dwarf adventurer Th4dwarfy1 Shieldtempests. Sadly, he did not get to use the powers he learned, having been shortly after struck down by an elf of all things...
• 11. The Putrid Juice (Gifted by Eslim) - This slab is known to me. It resides in Ashcinders. Perhaps a brave adventurer willing to brave the traps of that place will uncover the story of how it came to be there?
• 12. The Unholy Evil (Gifted by the prolific Ala) - Yet another slab lost to the world. This gift of Ala was thrown into the volcano The East Fountain, above the ancient fort of Keyconjure by the misguided adventurer Glloyd Ancientborn the Round.

It would seem that the budding seeker of knowledge will have to travel far and wide to relocate these ancient depositories of knowledge. Who among you is up to this task?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Maloy on March 04, 2022, 09:19:00 am

I just find it incredibly epic that you just walked in and changed the entire era of the world, passed along the file and are gonna fill us in later lol


There's just something epic about that and I look forward to the write up of it to come

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on March 04, 2022, 12:49:08 pm

Moldath has now surpassed Avolition in most notable kills.

On another note, regarding Moldath,

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

he killed my troll and impaled him (sadism +1, that makes his sadism infinity+1), what's the story on that?

I specifically remember sealing him as well as the other refugees each in a sealed room (or did I forget to with him?).

---

Forgot to mention, there goes the roc race. Ah well.

Looks like Moldath lost the honor to have the 666th page (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Gébarmafol) on the wiki, he'll have to settle for 667th (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Moldath Leshaltölún).

---

Quote from: Bralbaard on February 26, 2022, 06:13:46 am

About my horse,  Mestthos Lovermachines: I'm pretty sure that I bought him during character generation, so that would be quite different from whatever caused Pis to appear.

That's why I mentioned my discovery is mostly (or completely) useless/irrelevant: it's a piece of data that exists unrelated to anything else. I made the comparison with your horse to show that the order of generation probably holds true with the appearing of historical figures in the game, as your horse was generated after you, and Pis was generated after Kom, so it's not just the game putting random characters in random order. I just found it curious that the demon appeared just one character after Kom, but I doubt there's any causation.

---

Regarding Golden Age, that's interesting. I'm almost surprised it took over a century and a half for it to happen, considering the killing rampages some of the adventurers went on.

Regarding Age of the Goblin, I doubt we'll get there. We're more likely to get into the human age (Fairy Tales?) at the rate the goblins are whittled down. Especially as the hate on goblins seems to have become contagious amongst the adventurers - and from what I remember we only had one goblin adventurer, and that one claimed to be the reincarnated demon of its civilization (the one that wasn't Shoveth (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Shoveth_N%C3%A5zomgenlath_Sar) or Egu (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Egu_Odanez_Exzas_Otsmor)). Even if someone doesn't go Apocalypse Bear (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Arcturus_Enmucuthroz) on the elves again, the humans outmatch anything but the goblins in number.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on March 04, 2022, 01:06:45 pm

I noticed, i commend you on your goblin slaying skills. Will have to claim the title back next turn. Also i see you noticed Frothbone. Its not truly lost but got to stop Ala spread.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: WonderPsycho on March 04, 2022, 04:11:53 pm

Quote from: kesperan on March 04, 2022, 08:17:43 am

To be fair, as horrendous as Kosoth's Omon Blight is, the sentinel event in the change of Ages was probably Moldath chopping the head off the last remaining Roc who had evaded him decades ago.

I had hoped to kill it and reanimate it as a mount, which would be metal AF, but he ended up decapitating it....

actually probably also that too

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on March 06, 2022, 12:37:46 pm

"Moldath III", Part I, Turn 73

10th Felsite 858

Perhaps you will have read of my previous adventurers? if not, please allow me to introduce myself. I am Moldath Mournsaints. I was not strictly born on Orid Xem, and I have no parents. I used to be an amulet, but that is another story all together. I am a dwarf, a necromancer, and a vampire, and I am troubled by a terrible affliction. The Rot. It is not clear when it first took hold; I suspect now it is the result of the foul magic of a wight. When my flesh rotted away, I was tortured and flayed by amateur surgeons. My eyes failed me, and I was bitter and twisted. I became the Blind Sadist. Angry and hopeless, I was desperate for a way out. I discovered religion! Needless to say, where previously I considered myself an atheist, I am now a devout follower of Ala, for the Lord of Balance, Blight and Death has given me a new life, as a Fell One. Some even called me the Prophet of Froth!

When I settled in the abandoned human castle of Spicetrails, a short day's travel east of the fabled mountain, it was with hopes of a quiet retirement. That was in the autumn of 826. The years of torture and servitude in the horrible island fort of Ancientlibrary were not something I wished to repeat. For a while I lived the life of a hermit. I was unmolested, and content. Fate, it seems, had other plans. Perhaps driven by the endless yearning for fresh blood, I find myself tempted back into the world, and in the early spring of 841 I found myself drawn to dwarven civilisation once more.

Eskôn, Clearmasters, was not by then a new fort - it had been founded way back in 794. The Armors of Diamond were a stout folk, and yet seemingly obsessed by a diamond pedestal of some provenance. The fort itself was seemingly built atop the ruins of an older site - the monastery Wanderedhorses, a shrine of Bikda. My life in Eskôn started simply enough. I took the name of Ilral Palaceverse, a ranger and bonecarver, and was welcomed by the simple folks there. I am ashamed it took only 48 hours for the first dwarf to be found, drained of blood.

It did not take them long to accuse me; the outsider. Despite my protestations, they sentenced me to the hammer and the chain. Fifty hammerstrokes in all. In the end, they chained me up like some beak dog with a nickel silver chain, in the dungeon. I decided then to escape from this fort. Coming here had clearly been a mistake. It took only eighteen short months for me to gnaw through the chain and escape from Eskôn, amidst the chaos of an unexplained cave in, and luckily I managed to find my old armour and ... thank Ala! Godenrigoth! The adamantine scimitar, perfect as the day it was gifted to Kajeth Fatecrypts by Ala himself.

After leaving Eskôn, I head to a place I might find sanctuary - Kikrostzar, Stockadeoutrage. Perhaps King Tobul will remember I gifted him that artifact spear, and grant me asylum from the justice-hungry Walled Dye? The dwarves there at least were happy to see me, and I managed, for once, to keep a low profile.

When King Tobul died at the ripe age of 182, without spouse or issue, Queen Ral Diamondoiled was named his succesor. This made my position here a little less clear... Queen Ral had no relationship with this outsider, and so I decided I needed a way to ingratiate myself!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on March 06, 2022, 02:18:58 pm

Quote from: kesperan on March 06, 2022, 12:37:46 pm

When my flesh rotted away, I was tortured and flayed by amateur surgeons. My eyes failed me, and I was bitter and twisted. I became the Blind Sadist. Angry and hopeless, I was desperate for a way out. I discovered religion! Needless to say, where previously I considered myself an atheist, I am now a devout follower of Ala, for the Lord of Balance, Blight and Death has given me a new life, as a Fell One. Some even called me the Prophey of Froth!

[...]

and so I decided I needed a way to ingratiate myself!

Ah man, that's an ominous start!

Also, is he delusional, lying through his teeth or does he really believe things went down like that in Eskôn? He forgot Kikrost saved him from the hammers and entreated with him ceaselessly about his art of undeath, even tried to heal him. A shame he left with such a bad view of lovely Eskôn.

Great writing style, looking forward for more.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on March 06, 2022, 02:39:31 pm

Quote from: Lurker Z on March 06, 2022, 02:18:58 pm

Also, is he delusional, lying through his teeth or does he really believe things went down like that in Eskôn?

Well, he is a self confessed sadist, who's brain has rotted away. He feels he is the victim, despite clearly murdering three dudes in Eskôn almost as soon as he arrived. I think he is probably an unreliable narrator...

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on March 08, 2022, 08:33:10 am

I have been having a look through Legend Viewer while preparing the write-up for my last turn, and noticed something.

Avolition Holyblood's kill count isn't accurate on QD's table - it looks like he joined the fort of Falsetower in 853, drained 23 dwarves of blood, then went on another goblin slaying rampage during Avolitions last turn in the year 858 (the one with the penguin man and mushroom people, who died in 849).

I'm not meaning to cause trouble here but are we allowing multiple adventure turns during our week now?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on March 08, 2022, 09:18:03 am

If thats not allowed, i won't do it again. I just saw it as passing the time during the week.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on March 08, 2022, 09:38:55 am

Before I start, nobody should take anything here personal, the rules are rather complex, and it's expected that some differences in interpretation of those rules exist. It is helpfull to to have issues with the rules pointed out every now and then to make sure that everyone is treated fairly and that the game can continue to move forward.

About the issue at hand, playing multiple adventurers after each other is not the intention. I think in this case only the story of the plump helmet man was published?
There have been earlier issues with this though,  I know that at some point we also had a case where a new character died, and the player wrote his story from the perspective of an earlier adventurer . This was for roleplay reasons, (it was stated that the old adventurer had found the journal, and that this was the reason the story of the newer adventurer had survived). This was more or less fine as the older adventurer did not have much of an impact on the world, and only travelled to the location and back, but you can imagine that if that older adventurer had gone on to kill the law givers of two civilisations and the last dragon, it would not be ok.  It is clear therefore that you quickly get into grey areas.

The best and most fair solution I think is to just not play multiple characters in succession, at all or to ask when in doubt. It is worth pointing out though that we are always having these discussions after the fact because save games and write ups are mostly completed after the adventure is done. There is no good way to deal with enforcement of rules, and I also do not want to spend my time on that.
I'm happy if stuff moves forward in the general spirit of the rules, there is no way it's all going to be perfect, but having a (short) discussion every now and then helps!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on March 08, 2022, 09:58:50 am

It was needed, glad for the clarification of the rules and I appologise for the extra adventures.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Quantum Drop on March 08, 2022, 10:09:47 am

Quote from: kesperan on March 08, 2022, 08:33:10 am

Avolition Holyblood's kill count isn't accurate on QD's table - it looks like he joined the fort of Falsetower in 853, drained 23 dwarves of blood, then went on another goblin slaying rampage during Avolitions last turn in the year 858 (the one with the penguin man and mushroom people, who died in 849).

Thanks for pointing that out - didn't notice. It's been updated with the latest general figures from LV (going to get the specific ones later).

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on March 08, 2022, 10:12:15 am

Quote from: AvolitionBrit on March 08, 2022, 09:58:50 am

It was needed, glad for the clarification of the rules and I appologise for the extra adventures.

No problem  :). I wrote that wall of text then found out that you had already posted a reply to Kesperan. There was probably no real need anymore for the clarification from my side, but my finger was already on the post button, so don't read to much into it.

Anyhow, I'm looking forward to the rest of the story.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on March 08, 2022, 10:29:28 am

We can still take our former adventurers to new places just to settle while avoiding "real adventures" if in any way possible, right?

I was planning to start with a new adventurer and after it was finished, to get my old ones, whoever I find (un)living to my fort at the center of the world.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on March 08, 2022, 10:32:40 am

Quote from: Lurker Z on March 08, 2022, 10:29:28 am

We can still take our former adventurers to new places just to settle while avoiding "real adventures" if in any way possible, right?

I was planning to start with a new adventurer and after it was finished, to get my old ones, whoever I find (un)living to my fort at the center of the world.

That sounds reasonable. I think we even did something like that to Moldath as well because he kept being relocated by the game?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on March 10, 2022, 04:20:19 am

"Moldath III", Part II, Turn 73

21st Moonstone 859

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/GchgnJC.png)

The new queen may have a mission for me - rout the remaining Scholarly Manors. I thought I already had?
Ral Diamondoiled is a miner by trade, and I find her clinging to the rocky spire that forms the centre of this fort.
The general is a bit shifty but I recognise in him a kindred spirit.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/XglTcy8.png)

He is mangled and shattered, and is missing his nose and right ear, much as I am.
I decide he is not a threat, unlike the slavering ghouls of Treatyseed. Perhaps some can resist the urges of the blight?

I leave Stockadeoutrage and head east across the frozen tundra.
In the dead of night I am attacked by a night creature - a skinless humanoid with a trunk.
Osman Ashtunnel the Shady Cavern of Umbras is spattered with snow and wields a copper knife.
I slash at it and Godenrigoth tastes its first blood in many years. Its foul trunk sails away.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/fQsCgKN.png)

Godenrigoth is then wedged firm in the creatures chest but it refuses to let go!
Finally, after I tear its neck with my teeth and hack its head with my spare axe, it finally relinqushes my scimitar, as it bleeds to death.
I continue east, and encounter a troll fleeing from a fort on the horizon. I quickly put it down.
It is still night when I arrive at Sealsabres, and encounter a goblin lurking by the entrance.

Inside the fort is an expansive and well appointed temple, with many gold and green glass statues of the pantheon of the Walled Dye.
To my delight I find a large stockpile of alcohol, and help myself.
A short distance further is a grand dining room and artefact repository. Many fine works are on display.
One catches my eye - The Scholarly Scorn, a Zinc figurine of Vabok Glazeddoors. I slip it in my pack.
Vabok Glazeddoors was once king of the Walled Dye and the masterfully crafted figurine celebrates his ascension, and is finely decorated with gold and basalt.

Within the library are a great many books about the Dark Pits Wraithbreath... where could these have been authored?
I even find some copies of Goden Charmkey the Gates of Mightiness, the famous necromancer's work.
Travelling deeper into the fort I find the armory, weapons and armour of various qualities and materials abound.
I find the forgehall and spot a swordsdwarf hollow hunter, who ignores my greeting.
I do find an adamantine vein, but no evidence that the dwarves here were foolish enough to mine it.

23rd Moonstone 859

I retrace my steps westward, past Stockadeoutrage, towards the goblin pits and Stealmountain, where I have slaughtered goblins before.
It is eerily quiet. Further west is the Dark Pit of Chilledhate, and I stumble into the mustering goblin army.
Swarms of military goblins stream from the crude towers and are met with gleaming blue strikes from Godenrigoth.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/EfMoAZ0.png)

Soon there a number of religious goblins - Sacred Persuasions. Most of them seem to be blighted ghouls. The waves of goblins are unending!
All day and all night, the screams of goblins fills the foul air.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/VAEt5t5.png)

24th Moonstone 859

I head north west from the smoking ruin of Chilledhate. Five hundred fewer goblins infest this world, having fallen to my hands.
I arrive at a modest fort, Stasismanors. I bump into a chief medical dwarf necromancer who seems to be fleeing from some beast... a towering quadruped composed of ash!
The great forgotten beast lumbers up the central stairwell, its great ashen trunk curling in front of it.
I leap upon it, Godenrigoth singing. I dismember the beast and take its trunk as a trophy.

A short while deeper into the fortress I find a pedestal upon which sits a finely crafted steel morningstar. An unusual weapon to be crafted by dwarven hands.
I place the Spot of Quietness within my pack - a steel morningstar encircled with bands of steel and rectangular diorite cabochons.

25th Moonstone 859

I leave Stasismanors and head west across the featureless snow. It is only then I notice I have something stuck in my tooth, and spit it out.
It appears to be a goblin's foot.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/xk2Z1ZD.png)

I arrive at the apparently abandoned ancient fort of Palacework. This place has a sinister history, and rumours of necromancers and invisible warriors abound.
I find a dismembered speardwarf outside, an exceptional steel spear and steel armour nearby. A short distance away is a mutilated horse corpse.
I seem to remember a story of an adventurer of the museum who was assailed on horseback by an elf Hollow Hunter... perhaps these are their remains?
I take their chicken leather backpack, which has remarkably well preserved wolf meat, and Adilatir coins from the year 710 - 149 years ago?

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/uuhlqNz.png)

Inside the fort I find a bone figurine of the famous warrior Erith Whippedumbral, crafted by a being known as Nabasbardum... The Divine Fight?
Perhaps an alter-ego of Erith herself? I also find some elf teeth. These perhaps belong to the elf hollow hunter, Evala Blazedjudged.
I descend the fort's staircase and find, bizarrely, a zombiefied eagle neck, sleeping in a fungiwood bed.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/NKm7D0y.png)

I find no other things stirring in this place and make my way to the surface, where I encounter two dwarven hollow hunters on patrol...
One is Erush Gildlabored, and the other Tosid Fissuretowers. These dwarves have been residing here for centuries, having been raised by the evil Cog Wildnesswork.
They are the remnants of The Matched Hame, a dead civilisation, and eye me mournfully. I leave them unmolested.

A brief journey north west and I stumble upon a sad sight... two slain plump helmet men, and an elegent yet alarmed blue peacock.
They look to have been slaugtered by wolverines. Or perhaps the infamous hollow hunters?

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/srX5UIQ.png)

I continue my journey west, and enter an eerie haunted ice plain.
I stumble upon a carved wall of ice, and a militia commander who recognises me!
He is called Limul Brotherlens, and I am assuming he knows me from my time incarcerated in that awful island fortress Ancientlibrary...
I seem to have found Frostwall the Last Bastion.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/Uyu6Z0r.png)

I delve further and am amazed to see a huge icy edifice, constructed by dwarven hand from pure ice, rising many urists into the sky.
There are further great icy walls and structures. I explore this wonder of dwarven ingenuity, but I find no beasts to slay.
Quite a few of these dwarves are familiar to me from my time in that cursed library.

26th Moonstone 859

It is not very far before I chance upon another fort, the strangely named Free the Eggs.
The first thing I spot on the featureless tundra outside is an artifact iron crossbow, Twilightmolten.
I place it in my pack and look for any signs of life outside. A freezing peasant confirms the Golden Eggs rule this fort.
A series of ovoid rooms are again carved from the living ice. The egg obsession here is slightly perturbing. There are a great many masterwork bone crafts, and some evidence of metalworking. I explore the fort looking for beasts to slay yet find none.

I travel south east to the huge sprawling tower complex of Glazedriven. I have been here many years before, and have heard rumours the ranks of the twisted experiments have swelled ever since.
On entering the main tower, I am immediately attacked by a grotesque beast, a muscular hound of Kosothducim.
This feathered hexapod was once a dog, but is now unrecognisable. It has long black feathers and wings and slavers for flesh...

The soldiers of night, on the other hand, are quite pleasant and leave me to my business. After exploring the smaller towers, I spot a human necromancer, holding what looks to be a slab!
He is a most amiable fellow by the name of Ezif Bluewave, and is quite happy to trade the slab for The Spot of Quietness the steel morningstar and Twilightmolten the crossbow.

I now have in my hands Fatalurn the Hag of Dying, a kimberlite slab.
Reading it, I have learned another secret. I can now raise Putrid Ghouls! I leave Ezif with his new weapons and bid him good day.

27th Moonstone 859

Emboldened with new knowledge, I am now a Legendary Reader! I look at my maps and see there is one famous fort I have not yet visited, which is near this part of the world.
The Abyssal Sanctuary is rumored to be the home of many great adamantine crafts, and has been beseigned by the denizens of hell.
One of the advantages of my undying body is that it is no inconvenience to me to sprint north through the barren frosty mountains, all day and all night.

I soon arrive at the outskirts of The Abyssal Sanctuary. The corpses of many mangled keas let me know that I am near the entrance hall.
I unsheath Godenrigoth, its divine blade undulled by the scores of goblin skulls it has taken, ready to face whatever this place can throw at the Blind Sadist.
The first great beast to fall is a... small great horned owl. This place seems infested with common beasts. Where are the demons?

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/Jeeaclm.png)

I travel down a winding path until a great hall and trade depot opens before me. I hear the sounds of battle...
An eerily detailed floor shows grotesque scenes of dwarves prostrating themsevles before a burning door... a portal to hell?

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/ei0fzwe.png)

I explore the fort further, the same grisly icon everywhere I cast my gaze. An enormous stockpile of iron chains; what could they need all these for?
Several human corpses, and ungodly amounts of human blood sprayed left and right. I press on and find myself in some fiendish maze.
I explore for what seems like days, going round in circles until finally I find myself in an enormous room, carved of blood-red hematitie.
There is still no sign of the demonic beast that I heard on entering the hall.

At the end of the hallway is a mined out adamantine pillar, dwarven corpses shattered and dismembered all around.
I lose count of the fallen, and every one is beyond my magic to restore. The dwarves here dug too deep indeed.
I find no living demons here, though, and retrace my steps. I can see no sign of the wombat-molesting light blue devil, but as I exit the fort I am accosted by a kinglet devil - Blushedromance the Adorable Pus.
Two strokes from Godenrigoth mangle its neck and cleave its foul skull. I leave the Sanctuary and head southwards once more.

28th Moonstone 859

I leave the mountains at the abandoned fort of Duskhome, and put down a Human Beast Hunter Empty One and a few terrified goblins.
I continue my journey, this time south east. At the ruins of the cursed Pit, I slay Buriedurn the winged fiend - a horrifying slug demon.
Thiefpuzzles the Wicked is a shadow spirit - a quadroped made of ash. It disintegrates when Godenrigoth takes its head.

I head then to Borncats, the Roc shrine, where I once slew Calovi. Ngomstu Beachweather is the last Roc of Orid Xem, grandson of Calovi.
I have a fiendish plan to slay this beast and raise it as a revenant mount. A great winged zombie-roc would be a fitting steed.
However, he dies much quicker than his grandmare - I am much stronger than I was all those decades ago, and Godenrigoth takes his great head from his neck.
I am unable to revive his corpse, much to my chagrin. His zombie head flops about comically, and is put down once more.

3rd Opal 859

The next few days involve a lot of travel, and many dingoes being strangled.
At last I arrive at a familiar fort - Ashcinders the Molten Scar. Time to pick up some gear and visit old friends.
I gather a masterwork spear crafted from the divine blistered metal that I brough to the forgehalls here from Coverashes many years ago, and kill a shifty looking goblin on my way out.
I find no sign of the weaponmaster responsible, Bim Pageswelters the Accidental. I am saddened to hear he has died of old age, and seemingly left no corpse to raise.

5th Opal 859

The spire of Falsetower the Citadel of Worlds pierces the sky. Scattered around are ballista bolts and workshops of many kind. What secrets could this tower hold?
The tower is eerily quiet, and I find no living souls. The surface is scattered with corpses and bones.
Mangled dwarves spattered with weremammoth blood and various corpses of forgotten beasts suggest this was not a happy place to live.
Various intelligent undead stalk the surface and meander around the fort, and I even come across some wounded troglodytes.
There are rumours that the deposed King Bralbaard Hammerfishes the Yawning fell here. Sadly, I can find no sign of his corpse.
Whatever happened here I am struggling to find answers, yet I find no great treasures or enemies to slay. I decide to journey back northwards.

6th Opal 859

The town of Strifefularmor seems quaint enough, but on closer inspection it is infested with blighted thralls.
Kosoth's Omon Blight has fully taken hold in these parts. It shall be scoured from the earth.
I climb into the keep and find it in disarray. In the centre of the room, surrounded by corpses and thralls, is an enormous troll.
Xubngesp Craterdimple the Glad End is clearly undead, its body a mess of scars and rot.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/P6P2GMK.png)

The town cleansed, I move on to Partnerdaub. The name is familiar - I suspect I have been here before many years ago.
There are a few thralls here, and a suspicious goblin Master. All meet their dooms.

I travel north over the next few days, stopping by at many hamlets looking for signs of the blight - I am heading towards the sprawling metropolis of Scarletbronze.

10th Opal 859

Scarletbronze is home to a great many thralls, all huddled in the keep. They flee in terror but are cut down like wheat.
I also find two ressurected werebeasts, who also fall. Next to face my wrath is the notorious bandit haven Swordgleamed.
On arrival I am ambushed by a massive human army. This could get messy.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/aqfwJqU.png)

Mixed in the horde of humans are a few goblins, and I even spot a goblin blighted thrall. Chaoes ensues - it appears there are loyalist forces still bearing the regalia of Omon Obin, pitted against scores of bandits.
In the bedlam, bolts and arrows fly left and right. An insurrection has begun.

I spot a goblin priest trying to run away...  how did he get here? He is quickly beheaded.
I suspect that I may have instigated a full-blown battle between the local militia and the bandit horde.
Some of the humans consider me their ally and we drive the invaders north west.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/ojKx3Z4.png)

Slowly, I manage to push the bandits back towards the keep, the ground slick with their blood.
There is utter carnage, and in the chaos it is hard to tell friend from foe.
Eventually their forces break, and their leader Tholo Claspzenith arrives, a goblin warlord. As his head leaves his shoulders, the town of Swordgleamed is free. The bandit forces seem broken, and the Omon Obin troops take the keep.

13th Opal 859

For the next few days, I head north through the Tundra of Heroes, and meet no sentient thing.
Wolves feed my desire for battle, and slake my ungodly thirst, as I head into the Adventurous Steppes.

14th Opal 859

I arrive at a fort that was not on my maps - Newworld?
This fort appears to be in the very centre of the known world. A fleeing goblin wrestler is quickly dispatched as I approach the fort from the south west.
A squat tower stands on the plane, with the four cardinal directions paved out before it. A beacon at the heart of Orid Xem.
Inside I greet the expedition leader Onget Asmorul. I find a bar of nickel silver; my favourite metal - sadly it now brings up memories of my incarceration in Clearmasters.
The bottom floor of the fort is flooded. I find no beasts to slay, but spend some time reading in the well stocked library.
As I leave, however, I am ambushed by a troll wielding a steel boning knife! I make quick work if it.
This curious beast was known as Arazi Bonearmor. I take its steel knife. The dwarven metal should not be in the hands of beasts such as this.

A short while north west of Newworld, I am ambushed by a goblin. This one seems different some how. It is covered with ropes of unnatural muscle and is clearly undead.
Stozu Blackbank the Fiendish Soot Thrall? What manner of creature is this? It is certainly aggressive.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/KTTQ8Es.png)

I slash at it, and even with the divine metal, I cannot sever a limb. Many muscles and nerves in its legs and arms are torn but still it comes.
I disarm its silver scimitar and launch a devastating blow against its neck. The upper spine is shattered and Godenrigoth is lodged in the wound, and still it comes.
Again and again I chop chunks of twisted flesh from its neck and it continues to advance.
Without its weapon, it claws and kicks to no avail. Finally my blade bites deep and spills its blackened brains.
This fiendish soot must make an ordinary goblin superbly strong. Perhaps I will find some for myself?

I stop off at my erstwhile home castle of Spicetrails, and unburden myself of various trinkets and curios I have acquired. I set off once more, heading north west.

Around the mountain where Ironwards is carved, I bump into a dwarf hammer lord gaunt zombie - Iton Cityruns the Symmetry of Suffering.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/UVqcrU4.png)

She is spattered with forgotten beast extract, and her body is heavily blistered. Before her lie the corpses of two demons.
Like most undead, she is mute and unwilling to share tales of her exploits with me. I wonder what great stories she could tell.

The last time I travelled in these parts, there were demons roaming nearby, and this time is no different.
Plaguemirrors the lizard devil falls to Godenrigoth.

16th Opal 859

I arrive at yet another fort that I have not yet explored - The Iron-Deep.
This mine was founded in the year 700, and is long abandoned. I climb across the bridge, and find many goblin and dwarf skeletons, victims of a battle long since forgotten.
It is an impressive structure, balanced above a bed of ice, but the lower levels are flooded and I am quickly swept into a huge cistern.
It takes all my supernatural strength and endurance to swim against the current and climb back to dry land, where I find a rotten dwarf corpse.
I gesture and it shudders to life as a Cold Slayer. I find no other living creatures here and decide to move on.

17th Opal 859

I arrive in the hamlet of Guildperfect to some commotion. In the civic mound, some merchants are fighting off human zombies, while a gaunt zombie looks on.
Thikut Netsteel the Misty Circle is a macedwarf, and like me, his entire body is rotten. He must have been subjected to the same foul magic which has rotted my flesh and robbed me of my eyes.
I put him out of his misery.

A short journey northwards, the necromancer tower Momentcrowded is home to a few zombies and a sole necromancer, but all the books have been looted.
There are no more secrets for me here.

18th Opal 859

In Largetempests, to the north east, I stumble into a prophet necromancer who seems to be missing both of his hands. He claims to be called Bolli Squashedclap, but since he also claims to be a prophet, I am suspicious.
I think this could be Hob Tileddoctrines, the infamous creater of Tileddoctrines Fist. Godenrigoth bisects him cleanly, and his mangled skull now adorns my backpack.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/kuVCUzH.png?1)

19th Opal 859

I head east over the mountains and revisit Heroicgem, as I promised Queen Ral I would. The remnants of The Scholarly Manors continue to gravitate to that place. I slay two necromancers but find the tower otherwise abandoned.
Again, no books are to be found. I suspect that scorpion fiend has spirited them away to his library on that terrible island... Could this be the end of Oddom's legacy at last?

... to be continued.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on March 10, 2022, 05:53:55 am

The Further Adventurers of The Blind Sadist; Moldath Mournsaints the Ardent

20th Opal 859

In the early hours of the morning, I am ambushed by yet more dingoes, and then suddenly a night troll appears.
Od Umbralgrave the shadow troll lunges at me with a carving knife.
My first blow shatters its upper spine and it collides with me in a tussle. My second strike cleaves its skull.

21st Opal 859

A few goblin patrols are spotted around the dark pits near my intended destination - Waterdeeps. They are soon dealt with.
I discover yet another night troll - this time it is a horned, grey-skinned monster - Uktang Fatedburial the Fatal Death.
It is naked yet carries a carving fork. I will not be his meal.

Soon after, I arrive at Waterdeeps from the south - the only dwarven fort in this part of the world.
The dungeonmaster I meet informs me the Sabre of Keeps runs this place, built at the source of a great river.
In a feat of miraculous dwarven engineering, a whole basin had been excavated, and the river seems to spring into life from a tall spire, tumbling mist down on the dwarves below.
The towering waterfall is powered by a number of windmills, and all considered is very impressive.
I find upon the floor here a masterful artifact headscarf, the Meteor of Shadow. It replaces my tattered hood well.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/d6XRxWn.png)

21st Opal 859

I head north west, and find some densely packed dark pits.
I make my way to the Dark Fortress Skullhated, slaying many goblins.
Atop the tower, I find two goblins in religous garb, asleep. I silently remove their heads.

22nd Opal 859

I begin the long trek north over the Perfect Horns.
I am unmolested save for some mountain goats.
I discover an untouched volcano, a great spire of obsidian reaching to the heavens - The Splattered Blaze.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/FBcSeIR.png)

Stowing my weapons, I climb the great edifice and gaze into the molten depths.
I press on, and eventually the mountains give way to the Waste of Strangeness, a desolate place home to camels.

23rd Opal 859

The Perfect Horns give way to the Hill of Contesting, and nestled in a valley to the north is Posionuttered, heart of the Most Sin.
Camped outside is a huge army of nameless trolls and beak dogs, but goblins are curiously absent.
I forge on through the enormous Dark Fortress. The central tower is surprisingly quiet.
This is where Egu Craftlenses, the demon lord of the goblin filth, was struck down nearly a century ago.

Atop the tower are a few cowering noble goblins, who are quickly slaughtered.
Travelling downwards, I find a blighted thrall, and also a floor hatch leading downwards... could this be the underworld spire thrust up by Egu?
I tentatively start my journey down.

I head down many levels on a precarious slade stair, until a further expanse of warren-like catacombs open up.
It is slow going, and I have to turn back more than once.
The stones are getting warm to touch now - I am once more in the bowels of the earth.
Finally I discover an Underworld Gate, and with some trepidation, venture once more into Hell.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/RyHzAYe.png)

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/T9Efp0P.png)

The first demons I encounter are fiends of steam, and while terrible to behold, they dissipate quickly in the face of my onslaught, leaving me drenched in boiling water.
They appear as if some great bird has formed from living vapour, in the shape of a monstrous harrier.
Even as I slaughter them, these fiends mock my rotting flesh...

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/2VokTRf.png)

The next foul monster to attack is a sleet fiend, a great python composed of snow, with an undulating trunk. It sprays frozen dust all around.
Unfortunately for the demon, snow is no match for adamantine.

Light blue devils are pterosaurs with deadly blood. They do not provide much challenge.
Skinless monsters, however, are enormous web-spraying bulls which must be approached with caution.
By sneaking stealthily behind them, then paralyzing them with my death magic, they are easily disabled.
I slaughter every demon I can see, then begin ascending back to the mortal realm.

On the outskirts of Goldhells are many goblins apparently fleeing from terror. I slaughter them quickly.
I head north through the mountains once more.

24th Opal 859

After a long trek, and near the summit of the Perfect Horns, is a small wooden cabin, surrounded by bleating mountain goats.
Inside I find an old and wizened human.
He introduces himself to me as Glloyd Ancientborn the Round, and I notice he is missing his right arm. He calls this place Mountaincrest the Last Shelter, a safe haven far from civilisation.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/u3JIBdq.png)

I am suddenly reminded that I found his arm... in the vault of Coverashes, many years ago.
Atop his head is the green glass crown Galleyhazy, the famous namesake of the fort Emeraldcrown.

He has masterful bone crafts by Nabasbardum, the alter-ego of Erith Whippedumbral, and bears the bismuth bronze short sword Ikal Obok, slayer of many goblins.
One thing in particular catches my eye - Dippeddaub the Blanketed Cult, a legendary onyx opal bracelet crafted in Duskhome, before it fell to the great curse.
Despite my best efforts, Glloyd is not interesting in trading for this prize.

I bid him good day and continue on my journey. Before I leave, I tell him that the skeletal remains of his right arm are within Ashcinders, if he wishes to retreive them...
I begin the journey north west, down the mountain towards the fort of Archquakes.

Bizarrely, I find a frail human merchant atop the mountain, fighting a mountain goat blighted thrall and with wolverine bites all over his flesh.
He is called Adil Dendoctrines, yet he is too frightened to talk to me. I slay the goat and leave him to his business, but sadly a short time later he suffocates, his wounds too great.
I restore him to unlife as a Fallen Slayer.

When I arrive at Archquakes, it is clearly overrun. Trolls and beak dogs roam the fort and the corpses of their kin litter a huge area.
Every step feels like it takes an hour... some kind of temporal anomaly has affected this place.
Atop the mesa, I spot a human necromancer! I hack at his head, as he gestures and troll corpses rise to answer his bidding.
I slay as many trolls as I can find. I find little treasure here, and move on.

25th Opal 859

Heading north west into the human lands of Mong Uthros, I arrive at the human hamlet of Ferriedtwinkled.
I almost walk into a phalanx of elven soldiers! A war party, come to sack the town?
I notice there is even a goblin in elven clothing. Are the elves finally at war with Mong Uthros?

Even though these two kingdoms share my God, Ala, there must be some dispute. These elves are not here to make friends.
They are certainly no friend to me, since I slew their dark queen. In true blind sadist style, I decide to choose violence over diplomacy.
Their pitiful cloth robes and wooden swords are no match for a whirlwind of adamantine.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/KY0r3Yg.png)

Having slaughtered the invading elves, I seek out the abbot of the village.
Finele Tundrapraises is his name. He tells me of Frothbone... Uklasut. It is in Tunneledaction in the Ashen Power.
I think he is mistaken. It was stolen there by the mad monkey Raki Umberclan, but last I heard it was safe with Lubbe Cleardrank of the Coven of Frothing.
Perhaps I had better check it out.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/YSVMWGL.png)

I find the Ashen Power, the mead hall of Tunneledaction, deserted.
A single human skeleton lies on the floor and of Frothbone there is no sign.

26th Opal 859

Outside Atticmuffins, the capital of Mong Uthros, is a large refugee camp.
Perhaps the elves really have declared war. On entering the keep, I discover a bandit group calling themselves The Late Specks has taken over the town.
I clear out this insurrection, and the naked goblin spies lurking in the upper levels.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/96IHvrl.png)

27th Opal 859

Frothbone is nowhere to be found. I search the monastaries around Atticmuffins, then return to Monkeycurse where my living blood was last spilled, but to no avail.
I set off swimming north from Monkeycurse, to the terrifying Island of Animals.
I make land fall as the weak sun is setting.

28th Opal 859

I seem to have misjudged my swim and instead make landfall on the quirky Dreamy Island!
I spot something moving in the bushes, and grab it by the neck. A gremlin! I soon find its friend.
I drink their blood but it is not very filling.
I stow the lifeless corpses of "Ferra" and "Malvo" in my pack.

1st Obsidian 859

After another long swim, I arrive on the Island of Animals, a fierce and haunted place.
There is rumour of an abandoned fort on this isle, which fell to a terrible curse. I set off to explore.

My exploration of the west of the island is uneventful, but as I head north I am ambushed by hideous creatures. They are the size of a dwarf or elf but with a terrifying skull like visage.
Foul blendecs! Despite their nightmarish appearance, they are not terribly effective in combat. I take the skull of one particularly muscular specimin as a trophy.

2nd Obsidian 859

I continue my circumnavigation of the island and encounter a skeletal putrid ghoul.
All flesh has been seemingly flayed from its rotten corpse, and it shambles towards me.
Clinging to its frame is armour seemingly marking it as a member of the Mong Uthros guard. Its large copper helm bears thwe sigil of two anvils, the symbol of Mong Uthros.
In its hand is an iron crossbow.
Some adventurer's recruit? I hack them in the chest and the quickly collapse, whatever energy reanimating them dissipated.
Nearby I find the shrine of some forest titan, awash with its blood.
I leave the corpse of the guard here, and take a sample of the titan blood with me.

3rd Obsidian 859

I find the fort entrance, roughly dug from the peat. Homesafe the Shrine of Guarding.
There is little sign of fortification; perhaps the dwarves here did not last long.
The quaint fort is modestly appointed, and I find a couple of books here and there.
It seems the dwarves here dined on mussels, as their shells litter the floor.

4th Obsidian 859

Having full explored the Island of Animals, I am a little underwhelmed. I was lead to believe roiling fiendish soot clouds scoured the land, and the dead walked.
I find some small lairs with the remains of dead foul blendecs, and amongst their detritus are some bone crafts by the hand of The Ghoul-Father, Hannibal Valleyball? I have heard little of this adventurer...
I see no further undead creatures or menacing beasts, and so head east across the sea to the elf lands.

The forest retreats seem mostly abandoned. I arrive at the old dwarven fort of Lancesavage, only to find it crawling with goblins. I purge the menace from the fort.
The fort itself is a harrowing warren of corridors and doorways, with no rhyme or reason. Whichever dwarf was responsible for this architecture was clearly insane.
Having slain as many goblins as I could find, I leave and head north.

5th Obsidian 859

The hills give way to joyous wilds, and I spot herds of unicorns grazing.
As I head north, I spot a castle on the horizon - strange for this part of the elven lands.
Strewn all around are many books and I try to gather as many as I can.
I lose count of the books here authored by the elf chieftess Afe Sparkledfill.. and most concern this fort itself, Splashbeige.
Inside the fort I discover Afe Sparkledfill herself, struggling under the weight of all the books in her arms.
I spot something odd in her grasp - it looks like a scorpion man's hand.
I trade her many books for the scorpion man hand and a few other artifacts, including a copper sword and the intriguingly named shield Naughtyslap.

6th Obsidian 859

I head north, past the seemingly abandoned elven capital Glacialtempests, to a cave at the north of the world. Within are scattered wooden crafts, their crafter unknown and unseen.
To the north west is a camp, on the north coast of this great continent, where it is rumoured the Apocalypse Bear once lived.

The camp, Northcamp seems to be deserted. A few trinkets remain.
One is a figurine of a black bear man, refusing chains, while a feather tree burns.
He would never be a slave, and the elves tastes his wrath.
I stow this symbol of defiance in my pack.
I have come to the end of the earth, and decide to turn back, and head towards the Museum.

10th Obsidian 859

The last few days of travel have been largely uneventful, but now I have discovered a cave. Outside are various crafts in rock, and some food, including cave lobsters and fish.
Some beast must have lived here. I venture inside. I soon discover a giant rat, which is quickly dealt with.
Something large is moving far below... a huge female giantess!
It is enormous and muscular, but completely naked.
I leap upon it, hacking with my sword, tearing a great gash in its belly.
Two more striked cleave its arms from its body.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/lPDxlz2.png)

The great beast is gouting hot blood, coating the cavern walls, and it starts to slow, its breathing laboured.
Forcing Godenrigoth hard into its chest, I can feel its enormous heart tear, spraying blood.
Finally, its head is separated from its gargantuan shoulders. It is absolutely enormous. The head alone weighs 1640 urists, the body a huge 14680 urists, even without its arms.
The head will be too burdensome to carry away even for my superdwarven strength, its great bulk would encumber me greatly.
I set to the grim task of butchering the remains - the skull alone is a much more manageable 202 urists.

11th Obsidian 859

I stumble into a strange labyrinth as I travel south west.
I hear the boasts of a monstrous minotaur, but when I find him, he is in a sorry state. He is blinded in both eyes, and missing both his horns! He is incredibly skinny.
I guess being blind and hornless makes it hard for him to hunt prey to devour?

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/hy7niD0.png)

13th Obsidian 859

In the monastery of Hoodconstructs, I find a precious treasure - Gallpaddles the Spittle of Juice, a slab! I learn how to raise Hollow Stalkers.
To the east, is the solitary Dark Fortress Malignfocus.
I enter it from the west, and in one of the small towers I meet a human axeman wearing the emblem of The Creamy Confederacy.
He tells me The Subtle Society band of outlaws under the overlord Ilosp Motherintense runs this place.
I am not sure if he is a member of the outlaw gang, having deserted from the military, or whether he still swears loyalty to the Confederacy.
My suspicions are raised when I stumble inside the keep and find there are goblins amongst the troop, who still wear the symbol of the Most Sin.
None will tell me who they are loyal to.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/iyB8VRs.png)

I suspect that since they have confirmed this place belongs to outlaws, they are probably bandits. Either way, Ala will sort them out.
I start hacking with my axe and sword, the entrance to the stout keep a natural choke point. More and more bandits stream in fromt the south, only to find themselves in a dwarven meatgrinder.
Once the dust clears, scores of dead lie at my feet. I press on towards the next keep.
Bandits stream from the doors, human and goblin alike. None are spared.

Having fought my way to the top of the central spire, I am surprised to see no boss or ringleader. Where is this overlord hiding? Just more bandits, cowering in a group.
I slay them like the rest.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/bUrEgLn.png)

When I finally emerge it is in the deep of night, and my armour is caked in the gore of countless goblins and humans.

14th Obsidian 859

I start my journey back to the Museum. I leave as my official submission the giantess skull, and her blood.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/HwcXkWe.png)

I head back towards Stockadeoutrage, and have one last gift for Queen Ral to ingratiate me with her line...

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/nR9AbWG.png)

Forts and Camps Visited:

The Iron-Deep
Homesafe the Shrine of Guarding
Lancesavage
Archquakes
The Abyssal Sanctuary
Sealsabres
Newworld
Free the Egg
Waterdeeps
Frostwall the Last Bastion
Falsetower the Citadel of Worlds
Stasismanors
Northcamp

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on March 10, 2022, 10:08:52 am

Fascinating journey Moldath went on. Visited a lot of forts and seems you have won favor with Ral. Interested to see Moldaths story from here. Also see you traded for Holybloods hand.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Maloy on March 10, 2022, 11:03:02 am

If blood in this game could actually fill tiles like water does Moldath would have created rivers by now


I shouldn't feel bad for goblins, but I do a tiny bit because they stand absolutely no chance!
Perhaps the soot zombie goblin was one of their last futile attemps to resist?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on March 10, 2022, 12:00:47 pm

Quote from: AvolitionBrit on March 10, 2022, 10:08:52 am

Also see you traded for Holybloods hand.

Yes; it’s in Spicetrails now with the rest of my treasures!

Well, apart from the goblin hair crown which was stolen and appears to have been traded to a dwarven caravan…

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on March 10, 2022, 12:16:30 pm

Quote from: kesperan on March 10, 2022, 12:00:47 pm

Quote from: AvolitionBrit on March 10, 2022, 10:08:52 am

Also see you traded for Holybloods hand.

Well, apart from the goblin hair crown which was stolen and appears to have been traded to a dwarven caravan…

Um... ummmm? I don't remember trading bone/hair crafts. In fact, I remember hoarding those (including shell and other creature-part crafts) in my forts. I hope I didn't do it by accident.

Quote from: Maloy on March 10, 2022, 11:03:02 am

If blood in this game could actually fill tiles like water does Moldath would have created rivers by now

Yeah, I'm impressed. I'm super-impressed. Orid Xem adventurers really outdid the Mudungudon ones in killing, there wasn't even a grand slayer (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Category:Grand_slayers) there among the adventurers.

Quote from: Maloy on March 10, 2022, 11:03:02 am

I shouldn't feel bad for goblins, but I do a tiny bit because they stand absolutely no chance!
Perhaps the soot zombie goblin was one of their last futile attemps to resist?

Take a look at what Malladang has been up to (massacres on the civilized races reaching well over 15k - in fact, I think a SINGLE WAR they did 15k civilized casualties) and you won't be sorry at all. They even officially couped a human civ, as in Legends Viewer outright states that Goblin McGobkins became Law-Giver after a coup.

---

Once again, amazing adventure by Moldath. I think a new one is an adventurer of the museum raiding Hell from an adamantine spire rather than from a dwarven breach. Really amazing.

And now I know what happened to the troll. It looks like I didn't contain him properly (and why would he attack? Did he turn feral like that Adilatír demon that attacked Bralbaard who was also his King?). Whoops? Glad someone visited who could defend themselves, would have been awkward having an unknown attack troll guarding Iroram and ending some poor soul's life.

Quote from: kesperan on March 10, 2022, 04:20:19 am

I arrive at a fort that was not on my maps - Newworld?
This fort appears to be in the very centre of the known world. A fleeing goblin wrestler is quickly dispatched as I approach the fort from the south west.
A squat tower stands on the plane, with the four cardinal directions paved out before it. A beacon at the heart of Orid Xem.
Inside I greet the expedition leader Onget Asmorul. I find a bar of nickel silver; my favourite metal - sadly it now brings up memories of my incarceration in Clearmasters.
The bottom floor of the fort is flooded. I find no beasts to slay, but spend some time reading in the well stocked library.
As I leave, however, I am ambushed by a troll wielding a steel boning knife! I make quick work if it.
This curious beast was known as Arazi Bonearmor. I take its steel knife. The dwarven metal should not be in the hands of beasts such as this.

I'd forgotten about the library I set up, I'm glad Moldath could do some reading. And also that he didn't find out that... wait, I don't remember any Onget being expedition leader, Kikrost was friends with the old one, but I forgot his name. I might want to look into that.

I was at first wondering why it's flooded, but then I remember it's the low-key aquifier on the surface. Ah well, there's a lot of work to do in Iroram. A LOT of work.

Does anyone know that if you remove the floor of an aquifer by channeling and making the tile "Open Space", you remove the aquifer? Because I really hope that happens.

As for the tower, I'm undecided what to do with it, but it'll probably no longer be squat and I'll do something with it. I'm not sure what yet though.

Edit: Rovod (the original expedition leader) became a Baron. And Kikrost (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Kikrost Órnomal) got sent to a hillocks in the middle of nowhere. Frak my life.

---

Ah, scrolling through the replies reminded me that there's also a list of immortality slabs (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/List_of_artifacts_of_Orid_Xem#Immortality_slabs) on the wiki that may have information that Moldath didn't have (and vice-versa, of course).

---

Hmm, any word on Bluarian?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on March 10, 2022, 12:47:57 pm

Quote from: kesperan on March 10, 2022, 12:00:47 pm

Quote from: AvolitionBrit on March 10, 2022, 10:08:52 am

Also see you traded for Holybloods hand.

Yes; it’s in Spicetrails now with the rest of my treasures!

Well, apart from the goblin hair crown which was stolen and appears to have been traded to a dwarven caravan…

Completely forgot about the goblin hair crown, it must of got put into one of the craft bins as i lost all my items at Falsetower and it was traded. In unrelated news, i hear Dumat Wetfigure of Milecopper has been spotted with her new hairdo.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on March 10, 2022, 01:37:50 pm

I see you actually beat back the hordes of bandits at swordgleamed as well? Impressive.

I have a lot of information to update..

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on March 10, 2022, 08:18:51 pm

Quote from: Bralbaard on March 10, 2022, 01:37:50 pm

I see you actually beat back the hordes of bandits at swordgleamed as well? Impressive.

I have a lot of information to update..

Well, I’m not sure how legends viewer records it, but I killed all the unaffiliated apparently bandit humans and goblins and left the ones with the Omon Obin seal on their armour, who were fighting against them. It should be safer and a lot less populated than before.

For your edits of the front page: Moldath has visited Theifguild (on my second turn), Monkeycurse (2nd and 3rd turns), and Mountaincrest (3rd turn). Also you have Nogoodnames listed as a creator rather than explorer of Ashcinders.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: BluarianKnight on March 10, 2022, 08:42:44 pm

Save will be submitted Sunday.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: BluarianKnight on March 13, 2022, 08:18:45 pm

Scratch that, Monday - apologies for the small delay, something popped up and I'd like to finish it.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: BluarianKnight on March 14, 2022, 07:12:10 pm

https://dffd.bay12games.com/file.php?id=15859

File uploaded! Might take a few days to write out my adventure - I'm still incredibly rusty, so I didn't exactly do anything memoriable..

Please put me back on the list.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on March 15, 2022, 10:24:04 am

Got the save, here's hoping for a good run.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on March 15, 2022, 11:10:50 am

Good luck Lurker

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on March 15, 2022, 12:49:06 pm

Haha got killed during a blight incursion. Señamatem, the formerly peaceful religious hamlet, is now a body-part littered war zone.

[sarcasm] Thanks, Kosoth & Ketas. [/sarcasm]

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on March 15, 2022, 04:32:35 pm

That…. Didn’t last long.

Are you building a new fort or reclaiming one of your existing ones?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on March 15, 2022, 05:00:25 pm

I'm planning to continue Iroram, unless I get better ideas, that's all I'll play as long as the Museum III lasts.

I'm planning to get Bomrek (my necro experiment adventurer), Kikrost and Rovod to Iroram, play the week, then seal them in their own rooms before I retire. Well, if they survive me playing the fort the week.

As for my death, I did at least get one blighted thrall and the remaining one is very wounded, plus the goblin Lady thankfully got infected by the plague and then got killed. Unfortunately, a few other humans who jumped into the fight died too. It was the original thrall that killed me, tough thing, we whacked at her I think it was, for hours. I'm surprise dawn didn't come by the time my char died.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on March 15, 2022, 06:26:09 pm

That's an unlucky adventure. Thralls and ghouls can be very though if you encounter them early. 

Quote from: Lurker Z on March 15, 2022, 05:00:25 pm

I'm planning to get Bomrek (my necro experiment adventurer), Kikrost and Rovod to Iroram, play the week, then seal them in their own rooms before I retire. Well, if they survive me playing the fort the week.

Does sealing someone in their room do anything? reloading and reclaiming works differently from normal save games if I'm not mistaken. Aren't creature locations randomized in those situations?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on March 15, 2022, 06:32:38 pm

On a test reclaim of the current save, I actually found the elf and necro I brought sealed in the rooms I sealed them in, so it appears to work. Still not sure what the issue was with the troll, I must forgot to seal him.

I'm hoping sealing creatures means they can't leave a fort between saves.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on March 15, 2022, 06:53:03 pm

Quote from: Lurker Z on March 15, 2022, 06:32:38 pm

On a test reclaim of the current save, I actually found the elf and necro I brought sealed in the rooms I sealed them in, so it appears to work. Still not sure what the issue was with the troll, I must forgot to seal him.

I'm hoping sealing creatures means they can't leave a fort between saves.

Prison fort

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on March 15, 2022, 07:04:53 pm

Quote from: Bralbaard on March 15, 2022, 06:26:09 pm

That's an unlucky adventure. Thralls and ghouls can be very though if you encounter them early. 

I could have run, but I was in the "defend the hometown" mindset. I remember some wise adventurers seeing thralls and running away (I think yours did the same, including King Bralbaard and the kobold.

Quote from: AvolitionBrit on March 15, 2022, 06:53:03 pm

Prison fort

It's important for my plan, otherwise dwarven forts start getting spammed by humans, elves or worse and I lose my "exhibits"... I mean members. Yeah, members.

On an unironically unrelated note, does anyone know why Adilatír is more humans (of which most appear to be abstract ones) than dwarves? Are we getting the same phenomenon as we got with goblins in the elven civilization?

---

Edit: Moldath just returned to The Armors of Diamonds and took over Eskôn just before I unretired, completely independent from any actions I took as far as I know. As long as he doesn't impale dwarves as revenge, I'm perfectly fine with it.

The interesting thing is that if kesperan doesn't unretire him, he might get back in the line of becoming a Baron, Count or King of Adilatir. Or maybe he'll never advance from there. Who knows.

I sure hope he doesn't come my way in a migrant wave...

---

Ok, I discovered a weird tangled mess here. Evala (who killed Th4dwarfy1 and who I asked Avolition to resurrect) got himself again killed, by another undead. That same undead killed Urdim (The Prophetess of Dalzatèzum) and two plump helmet men (who I suspect they were the companions of an adventurer of the Museum's).

The next person who encounters Eko will either enter history for having slayer her, or be very unlucky.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on March 16, 2022, 12:30:23 pm

The blind Sadist sure is active. It must be because he is a dwarf and a vampire. The behavior of entering new sites after being discovered unaging at the prior. I wonder if he would become some form of nobility by the time kesperan's next turn roles around.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on March 16, 2022, 07:34:20 pm

Quote from: Lurker Z on March 15, 2022, 07:04:53 pm

Edit: Moldath just returned to The Armors of Diamonds and took over Eskôn just before I unretired, completely independent from any actions I took as far as I know. As long as he doesn't impale dwarves as revenge, I'm perfectly fine with it.

Wait, what? Moldath shouldn't be anywhere near there. He should be classed as a citizen of the Staff of Kissing.

In fact, when I loaded up the game again as Moldath, the current General of the Staff of Kissing (the blighted thrall Oddom Musizhilral) was killed by a human mercenary, and Moldath immediately was promoted to General. I was going to try and engineer this into my next turn somehow, and roleplay it as a reward for gifting Queen Ral the immortality slab.

This is most vexing; if he has taken on a new identity and migrated back to a Walled Dye fort, he will lose all his masterwork gear and legendary artefact sword. Most vexing indeed.

If he does migrate to Newworld, your best bet is to immediately banish him.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on March 16, 2022, 10:16:39 pm

That must be in an alternate reality, because I searched "General" in his Legends Viewer profile and nothing came up.

What can I say, Moldath is behaving weird (and the game is behaving weird towards Moldath, apparently).

Spoiler: image (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/uZORNhR.png)

There's no "Moldath tricked the Walled Dye into thinking he's someone else" message. I honestly am not that surprised, since even when you moved him to Kikrostzar, it still said he was part of The Armors of Diamond. The game probably saw a gap in positions, saw him with the most deeds and called him there. Note that he's moved "in real time" in two days after he's become a Bookkeeper and Broker, though I'm not sure of the significance of it. Or why it remembered him as part of The Armors of Diamond when the game usually forgets you're part of a group if you join another group. This is confusing.

---

If Moldath arrives in Iroram (I really hope he doesn't, one encounter in fort mode with the Blind Sadist was enough for me), I'll just seal him in a room and release him before I retire. It's actually amusing seeing Moldath making his mark on the world as an NPC as much as is impressive as player controlled. But my prediction is he won't, because he's for some reason tied to The Armors of Diamond now. Though I'm really curious if this puts him back in the line of succession for Baron/Count/King, since I'm assuming he's still using the fake name for The Walled Dye and I think his first Barony was as himself. But who knows how the game counts these things.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on March 17, 2022, 12:50:33 pm

You’re right about the General incident - that didn’t happen in the main game, it happened when I loaded up my copy after I retired Iroldeduk, my new fort in the north.

If he’s now a noble at Eskon, he shouldn’t migrate.

Looking forward to Bluarian’s story too. It looks there’s another black bear man abroad, this time with an immortality slab…

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on March 18, 2022, 02:04:16 pm

My name is Urist and I am of Señamatem. You might have heard of it, the first capital of Omon Obin, however, more recently, historically speaking at least, a place of quiet and worship where holy men gather to pray. It is, possibly more obscurely, the place of origin of Lurker Onecbehal (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Lurker Onecbehal), a somewhat local celebrity. We know both much of little of Lurker, we know not his parents and there are rumous that he was divinely blessed. He always held to Bikdá, as good folks of Señamatem were to do. 770 saw him overcome by wanderlust and the hope of bringing not himself, but Omon Obin to its former greatness. Though these writings are supposed to be of me, I find that I must delve back in time much to speak of great histories considering my home-town and Lurker's exploits are by far more memorable, as they occured in more recent times. It is in his footsteps I wish to follow, even though the world is dark and full of horrors. There is one more facet of Lurker that is relevant to me, his Goblin Rage. Whispers among the holy men and women here say that it has spread in recent years to other adventurers and sapient beings, the need to exterminate all goblins they encounter. This proved fatal for Lurker in 794 when he assaulted a goblin in lost-to-us Thillecit, only to be slayed by a fellow human.

Thankfully, Lurker left many weapons, armor and even jewels here so I only need to find his mythical hut and equip myself for the journey. My first step will probably be Eskôn, a dwarven fortress built around his worship. This is so exciting!

---

Entry 2:

It's night, but I feel restless. I hear noises. What has waken me up? I reluctantly leave my bed, even if I planned tomorrow to talk to my fellow citizens for possibly the last time, attempting to get that foul goblin "leader" alone, and then...

Well, I'll see to that tomorrow. Now I see... people fighting? What is this? The foul goblin fights Adi, aided by some of my human town-folk. I blame my Goblin Hate on what happened next, but I cannot bear to help the goblin. I didn't know at the time it was the Blight, before it was yelled to me, and yet by then it is too late... the goblin turns from an ally into an enemy to my sense, moreso than she already was, into the town's enemy. I fight her with abandon and she is slayed, though I do not take the credit. I believe the blighted one will go down, but it is... hard. I have two companions aiding me, one fighting at my side, the other flinging bolts. We fight for hours, we fight through the night, that I am surprised sunrise does not reach us. It feels like the Gods themselves want to keep the night up until the ending of this battle. Then again, being under the auspices of Bikda, perhaps she herself does this. The fight takes me close to the Town Hall, where I see in horror flung teeth, but no corpses. I pray to Bikda only mild injuries exist and it is too dark for me to see any corpses. I risk leaving the battle to my companions and loot the bodies around. As I reach the entrance, I see two townfolk cowering in the corner, muttering "It is terrifying." Of course it is, but that does not make you less than craven! We fight here for our lives, yet there you are, not aiding.
I return to the battle with good protection and several coin purses heavier, yet disaster struck: our melee fighter is infected! We manage to put him out of his misery, but Adi still attacks, his guts bruised and hanging out, his entire body a mess of viscera and bruises, yet still fighting with supernatural strength and speed.
I feel myself safe, after all I survived with subpar equipment, now that I have iron on me-
The great-axe falls, as it has so many times and-

The End.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on March 18, 2022, 02:47:42 pm

The blight claims another life. Kosoth has a lot to answer for, as Hannibal before him.

Perhaps the Blind Sadist must ride again, to cure this rot?

(Love your writing Lurker.)

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Unraveller on March 18, 2022, 04:37:22 pm

I definitely have a small arc in mind provided the Blight isn't eradicated by my turn haha. I'm on two sides for how I'd like to see it progress, on one hand with the blight gone, we could make room for more 'world' events so to speak. On the other hand. . . Zombie Apocalypse ala 28 Days Later. . .

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on March 18, 2022, 05:32:05 pm

Thanks, kesperan. I had the first part written even before I started the adventure, the backstory and all, I thought of just posting that for now, but it felt too little for a post so I recounted the entire fight. The funny thing is that this is literally how the fight occurred in-game, absolutely nothing was embellished, to the two cowards hiding in the Town Hall. The bodies I looted are probably collateral from before I arrived or during the fight, I think we were more than 4 fighting Adi (the goblin included), but there were literally people snoozing in the Town Hall, so Adi didn't get to them. The only thing I lied about was not knowing it was the blight, since I saw Adi's name as a blighted thrall.

This is an interesting point and something that should be taken into consideration, a "fresh" blighted thrall doesn't immediately register as one until it does for some reason (probably finally decides to attack you or is close enough). So you might see two creatures fighting and not realize one of them is blighted, although you can get around this by looking at the blood on the ground, since I think it instantly tells you that it's blighted. It was the same with the goblin, I knew she got blighter, but for a few turns she still registered as an ally, so I was weary of attacking her and getting the whole town against me (I don't know if it works that way, but I didn't want to risk it).

As for the blight, alas, it's spread pretty far. I didn't even know it was in Señamatem, but it's in goblin lands and probably got into some religious groups (that's how it infiltrated Adilatir originally I think, through some Sacred Evenness). We'll probably have to contend with it for the rest of the game.

And yeah, looking in Legends, it appears that Adi is a direct infected of Kosoth. He now has 6 kills to his name and earned himself the title the Holiness of Blame. He's also a noble of Radircika (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Radircika) since 802, since as some might know, in Dwarf Fortress religions don't discriminate you on the basis of being a night creature (civilizations and any other group do, kicking you out and declaring you their enemy).

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on March 18, 2022, 06:21:23 pm

Interesting, so the blight has spread.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Quantum Drop on March 18, 2022, 06:50:49 pm

I'm starting to think the Blight was a bit of a mistake.

(Other than that, I love your writing; a shame this turn was so short.)

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on March 18, 2022, 06:59:24 pm

The plague spreads most directly by the infected being called into positions of power, thus spreading them across Orid Xem. I'm not sure if it's coincidence or outright developer interest, but it appears the Blighted are more likely to be called to positions of power. This may be because the Blight makes them immortal (though I have no confirmation so far), because they met an adventurer of the Museum, thus elevating them in the game's choosing pool for some reason, or because the developer indeed wanted a Blight to be hard to contain and so intentionally made this mechanism. Regardless, it's very interesting indeed.

Quote from: Quantum Drop on March 18, 2022, 06:50:49 pm

I'm starting to think the Blight was a bit of a mistake.

(Other than that, I love your writing; a shame this turn was so short.)

I'm divided on the subject: on one hand, it gave us a hell of a villain/challenge beyond the vanilla ones while still staying vanilla. On the other, the world might not survive it (and I pity the fort that gets a blighter as an Outpost Liaison like I have - at least I knew what I was dealing with and healed him with DF Hack, even if only temporary. Even if the caravan guards had killed him, I don't know if dragging the blood through the fort infects everyone; I'm reminded that there are syndroms that turn dwarves just by touch, like some of the rain in Archcrystals (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=156319.0), where fort apocalypse was barely avoided after a dwarf took a nut without gloves... or infected the gloves... or ate it... something like that, but still pretty niche).

---

I reclaimed Eskon as a test (I'm going to crash the game so it's not saved) and Moldath appears in practice as "Friendly" and as broker as a profession. Also how are you even able to play him in this condition?

Spoiler: image (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/rrauqYt.png)

---

Bloody bugs after bloody bugs. I got Kikrost before I reclaimed, but while I was taking Rovod, Kikrost got called back to the stupid hillock. I can confirm however with a 90% accuracy that locking people in ROOFED tiles/rooms without entrances or exists keep characters inside.

After I reclaimed now, my fort lost its barony. No great loss. Also, my baron was supposedly mine, but in fact had the title for that conquered vault.

Other bugs include sites often crashing when I reclaimed/unreclaimed. I managed to bypass this by taking over an adventurer for a short while, retiring that adventurer, then successfully reclaiming.

Edit: My female elf disappeared between saves. Also the river I drained filled again. Thankfully, I'd channeled a lot around it so now half the map is flooded (yes, thankfully, because the river mouth is still blocked and the water can disperse faster now).

$%@#$%@$%@$%@$%@$%@$%%&$%&*%&$%@$%!#$!

At least I got that goblin in that I'm going to have squads murder repeatedly until I get named reptiles (new ones original from this map and unrelated to those from Eskon).

I am curious where that elf went, maybe she got promoted because I upped many of her skills (especially in elf-related matters, like plant gathering)? It'd be interesting if someday she'd ascend to Princess/Queen. I'd copy, retire and save, except it takes ages for a game to save (between 5 and 10 minutes). Well, I'll find out when I retire before I post the save, I suppose.

Ah, I discovered why my map is more flooded than it should be by an expanded river: apparently the puddles I drained also regenerated.

$%@#$%@$%@$%@$%@$%@$%%&$%&*%&$%@$%!#$!

Edit: Rovod's gone too. As are all my bins and barrels.

More edit: Looks like the bins and barrels were... misplaced. Somewhere. I don't know from where they're getting them back, but they are. That's something, I guess.

$%@#$%@$%@$%@$%@$%@$%%&$%&*%&$%@$%!#$!

---

Finally, something went right. Seven named reptile people!

Spoiler: image (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/NzbJFt7.png)

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on March 19, 2022, 04:28:34 pm

Hmm. Moldath never used to have his entire body mangled, just rotten. He does look like rather flimsy. I’ll need to investigate ways to cure him of this insufferable rot.

I suppose getting him husked somehow and then scrubbing all that bothersome flesh off in a !!magma!! bath might work?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on March 19, 2022, 05:08:03 pm

As long as he has the toughness to survive, a nice scolding bath of magma might solve the rot. Ofcourse he is always welcome to come to my fort and get operated on by the scorpion.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on March 20, 2022, 02:54:12 am

Quote from: AvolitionBrit on March 19, 2022, 05:08:03 pm

As long as he has the toughness to survive, a nice scolding bath of magma might solve the rot. Ofcourse he is always welcome to come to my fort and get operated on by the scorpion.

Toughness is indeed the issue. If his whole body is mangled, a single hit will likely make him collapse. At this rate, I’ll be lucky if he survives to my next turn!

He might not survive the next round of dwarven surgery either. The wiki says intelligent undead don’t die of blood loss but I’m not sure if that’s true.

If anyone has any clever way of fixing this progressive rot syndrome I’m open to suggestions…

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Quantum Drop on March 20, 2022, 05:55:56 am

Quote from: kesperan on March 20, 2022, 02:54:12 am

Toughness is indeed the issue. If his whole body is mangled, a single hit will likely make him collapse. At this rate, I’ll be lucky if he survives to my next turn!

He might not survive the next round of dwarven surgery either. The wiki says intelligent undead don’t die of blood loss but I’m not sure if that’s true.

If anyone has any clever way of fixing this progressive rot syndrome I’m open to suggestions…

Blood loss shouldn't do him in; the resurrection syndrome automatically removes the [HAS_BLOOD] tag, same as regular undead.

Going to do some testing on whether or not his body's weak enough to collapse, but the !!magma!! bath seems like the most dorfy solution so far.

EDIT: Initial test results are in.

Spoiler: Gamelog Excerpt (click to show/hide)

You make a flicking motion! (NOTE: This way done by Irthu, one of my bad characters from an earlier turn)
Moldath freezes!
Moldath falls over.
Moldath stands up.
Moldath falls over.
Moldath stands up.
Moldath falls over.
Moldath stands up.
Moldath falls over.
Moldath stands up.
Moldath falls over.
Moldath stands up.
Moldath falls over.
Moldath stands up.
Moldath falls over.
Moldath stands up.
The dwarf Axe Lord Moldath Leshaltolun Kiddir raises a heavy fog.

(The following bits were done by Lonelythrall).
The dwarf Axe Lord Moldath Leshaltolun Kiddir falls over.
You hack the dwarf Axe Lord Moldath Leshaltolun Kiddir in the upper body with your blistered metal battle axe, but the attack is deflected by the dwarf Axe Lord Moldath Leshaltolun Kiddir's xsteel breastplatex!
The dwarf Axe Lord Moldath Leshaltolun Kiddir stands up.
The dwarf Axe Lord Moldath Leshaltolun Kiddir falls over.
The dwarf Axe Lord Moldath Leshaltolun Kiddir strikes at you but the shot is deftly parried by the blistered metal battle axe!
The dwarf Axe Lord Moldath Leshaltolun Kiddir stands up.
The dwarf Axe Lord Moldath Leshaltolun Kiddir falls over.
You hack the dwarf Axe Lord Moldath Leshaltolun Kiddir in the head with your blistered metal battle axe, but the attack is deflected by the dwarf Axe Lord Moldath Leshaltolun Kiddir's adamantine helm!
The force bends the neck, tearing apart the fat!
The dwarf Axe Lord Moldath Leshaltolun Kiddir has been struck down.

TL;DR: A cure for Moldath is definitely necessary if Kesperan wants to keep using him. Going to start looking into lava and surgery.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on March 20, 2022, 06:50:45 am

Maybe it's time he's put to "rest", allowed to live a simple life as he wishes as an NPC? Maybe he'll be called back to be a Baron, Count, King, maybe he'll stay in Eskon for the rest of his the world's life (even if he hated it there the first time), maybe he'll haunt another fort and will accidentally be put down by someone who doesn't know him.

It's your char of course, but that's my suggestion.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on March 20, 2022, 08:25:47 am

You might be right Lurker.

It’s not my turn for a good many weeks so we will see what happens!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on March 20, 2022, 11:31:22 am

Quote from: kesperan on March 20, 2022, 02:54:12 am

The wiki says intelligent undead don’t die of blood loss but I’m not sure if that’s true.

During my turn in fortress mode, one of the newly made intelligent undead was forever bleeding and was constantly being operated on. Its why Avolition got surgeon to legendary  +5 and even bralbaard got a high surgeon level. That dwarf never stopped bleeding and stayed alive after retirement. Surgery not done by an amatuer could resolve the rot.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Quantum Drop on March 20, 2022, 12:24:45 pm

Does anyone know how to get any more specific info from the health screen (e.x.: where rotten tissue is excised from)? I've done a couple attempts on curing the rot via surgery in fort mode (Legendary+5 all med skills via DFHack), but Moldath's died immediately after the "Excise rotten tissue" job begins. Wondering if there's any specific location it being excised from is causing this.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on March 20, 2022, 12:33:57 pm

I guess he is rotten to the core. Did you try with soap?

As for more details, not sure if the treatment screen details the area of excisition

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Quantum Drop on March 20, 2022, 12:40:50 pm

Quote from: AvolitionBrit on March 20, 2022, 12:33:57 pm

I guess he is rotten to the core. Did you try with soap?

As for more details, not sure if the treatment screen details the area of excisition

I haven't tried with soap yet; maybe that will have an effect.

EDIT: Nope! Tried with a few bars of soap at the ready and he still died seconds after the "Remove Rotten Tissue" job began.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on March 20, 2022, 12:53:43 pm

Quote from: Quantum Drop on March 20, 2022, 12:24:45 pm

Does anyone know how to get any more specific info from the health screen (e.x.: where rotten tissue is excised from)? I've done a couple attempts on curing the rot via surgery in fort mode (Legendary+5 all med skills via DFHack), but Moldath's died immediately after the "Excise rotten tissue" job begins. Wondering if there's any specific location it being excised from is causing this.

Kills over 4000 creatures, including many megabeasts/eldritch horrors.

Dies in mock surgery.

The ways of Armok are mysterious indeed.

Quote from: AvolitionBrit on March 20, 2022, 12:33:57 pm

I guess he is rotten to the core.

Well, it's his fault for putting weird things in his mouth. Even if it wasn't that that caused it and was a syndrome rain, it's still karma rotting him whole.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on March 20, 2022, 01:45:11 pm

I really appreciate your efforts at !!SCIENCE!! guys... wee Moldath has grown on me - a generic dwarf who gained a bit of a personality from emergent storytelling like the rot itself. I wouldn't want to get rid of the rot, just tame it somehow...

He survived surgery before, the only thing different this time is the "mangled" body parts.

The only way, I think, to save him would be to use some of the DFHack tools to remove some of these "mangled" wounds and see if a surgeon can fix him after that. I have had a look with "show-unit-syndromes", GUI/GM-editor and GM-unit and the syndrome causing the rot is nowhere to be seen. I think it must be "magic" from an intelligent undead that is causing, as beast/demon sickness would appear in the syndrome list.

Gaunt Zombies, Hollow Zombies and Rotten Slayers are all types of intelligent undead in this world that can use Rot magic, and Moldath encountered at least one Gaunt Zombie in Orbsmortals in his first turn.

The info for that magic is in the world.dat but I am no modder. Need a big brain like Atomic Chicken to have a look!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: TheFlame52 on March 20, 2022, 02:03:02 pm

I can take a look. Observe the title under my avatar.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Quantum Drop on March 20, 2022, 02:04:20 pm

Had a quick look at the World.sav for Gaunt Zombies; here's the code behind their necrosis-causing spell:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

[OBJECT:INTERACTION]
 [INTERACTION:SECRET_RES_POWER_98_1]
 [GENERATED]
 [I_TARGET:A:CREATURE]
 [IT_LOCATION:CONTEXT_CREATURE]
 [IT_MANUAL_INPUT:victim]

[I_EFFECT:ADD_SYNDROME]
 [IE_TARGET:A]
 [IE_IMMEDIATE]
 [SYNDROME]
 [SYN_CONCENTRATION_ADDED:1000:0]
 [CE_NECROSIS:SEV:500:PROB:100:START:0:PEAK:0:END:3:VASCULAR_ONLY:BP:BY_CATEGORY:ALL:ALL:RESISTABLE]

This might explain why it's not showing up in show-unit-syndrome (threw an error when I tried using it) or the GM editor; it would have burned out three or so ticks after rotting most of his body. I'm willing to wager the rest of the necrosis magics and material syndromes are similar.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: TheFlame52 on March 20, 2022, 02:18:01 pm

The other lieutenant-caused syndromes should be the same as that one. You must have been hit quite a few times, since as I recall, the rot doesn't proceed that quickly.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on March 20, 2022, 03:44:14 pm

https://dffd.bay12games.com/file.php?id=15863

Here's the save, no use hanging onto it since I'll go back to work tomorrow. I honestly did more than I thought I would, but it also reminded me what a slog Fortress Mode is. I love the game, its story and its worlds, but when going down to the gritty, I'm starting to see why successful long-running forts are those that last years-in-real-time and multiple game versions: it's just that much of a slog.

Well, good luck to the next inhabitant in this world and add me to the turn list, please.

To future players: remember that at least Fortress Mode is full of bugs, though thankfully not game-breaking yet. In fact, from a technical point, the fort ran excellent, I had not one crash in around 5 in-game-years of playing, only what I described in previous posts (and a few more I might have forgotten to list).

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on March 20, 2022, 04:32:13 pm

Looks like Maloys dog sadly died of old age.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Unraveller on March 20, 2022, 04:39:31 pm

Rest in peace doggo. They had a good life and Maloy the wolf man gave 'em lotsa love.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on March 20, 2022, 06:51:38 pm

Quote from: TheFlame52 on March 20, 2022, 02:18:01 pm

The other lieutenant-caused syndromes should be the same as that one. You must have been hit quite a few times, since as I recall, the rot doesn't proceed that quickly.

That is the odd thing. The rot is persistant. It never went away. You can test this by using DFHack Full-Heal on him. Fast travel a few tiles and the rot begins again. If it is a permanent state, it must be somehow recorded and that is why it is strange to me that it doesn't appear in the list of active syndromes. He should have 11 active syndromes - one is Vampirism, 9 are various strains of necromancy, and is being a Fell One intelligent undead.

Now, from Legends Viewer, Moldath has 15 active interactions. Four of those are listed as intelligent undead "powers" which are active on him.
DEITY_CURSE_VAMPIRE_8 is fairly self explanatory - cursed by a god to be a vampire in a monastery.
The 9 secrets are the 9 flavours of necromancy Moldath has learned.
SECRET_UNDEAD_RES_40 is him being raised as a Fell One.

The ones I have highlighted in Red, which are not listed in any of the DFHack utilities, are the ones causing the issues.

(https://i.imgur.com/FoKSal4.png)

Secret_98 relates to Gaunt Zombies, who Moldath fought in 807, and seemingly cursed him with Rot.
Secret_49 creates Empty Ones, who are very rare, as the slab that creates them was destroyed early in the succession game. I did find one of them in the ruins of Duskhome - Anir Pokedbent the Dimples of Dashing. Anir apparently casted Rot, Blister and Dizziness on him.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Code: [Select]

[OBJECT:INTERACTION]
[INTERACTION:SECRET_RES_POWER_98_1]
[GENERATED]
[I_TARGET:A:CREATURE]
[IT_LOCATION:CONTEXT_CREATURE]
[IT_MANUAL_INPUT:victim]
[I_EFFECT:ADD_SYNDROME]
 [IE_TARGET:A]
 [IE_IMMEDIATE]
 [SYNDROME] 
[SYN_CONCENTRATION_ADDED:1000:0]
[CE_NECROSIS:SEV:500:PROB:100:START:0:PEAK:0:END:3:VASCULAR_ONLY:BP:BY_CATEGORY:ALL:ALL:RESISTABLE]

[OBJECT:INTERACTION]
[INTERACTION:SECRET_RES_POWER_49_3]
[GENERATED]
[I_TARGET:A:CREATURE]
[IT_LOCATION:CONTEXT_CREATURE]
[IT_MANUAL_INPUT:victim]
[I_EFFECT:ADD_SYNDROME]
 [IE_TARGET:A]
 [IE_IMMEDIATE]
 [SYNDROME] 
[SYN_CONCENTRATION_ADDED:1000:0]
[CE_BLISTERS:SEV:500:PROB:100:START:0:PEAK:0:END:3:BP:BY_CATEGORY:ALL:SKIN:VASCULAR_ONLY:RESISTABLE]

[OBJECT:INTERACTION]
[INTERACTION:SECRET_RES_POWER_49_2]
[GENERATED]
[I_TARGET:A:CREATURE]
[IT_LOCATION:CONTEXT_CREATURE]
[IT_MANUAL_INPUT:victim]
[I_EFFECT:ADD_SYNDROME]
 [IE_TARGET:A]
 [IE_IMMEDIATE]
 [SYNDROME]
[SYN_CONCENTRATION_ADDED:1000:0]
[CE_NECROSIS:SEV:500:PROB:100:START:0:PEAK:0:END:3:VASCULAR_ONLY:BP:BY_CATEGORY:ALL:ALL:RESISTABLE]

[OBJECT:INTERACTION]
[INTERACTION:SECRET_RES_POWER_49_1]
[GENERATED]
[I_TARGET:A:CREATURE]
[IT_LOCATION:CONTEXT_CREATURE]
[IT_MANUAL_INPUT:victim]
[I_EFFECT:ADD_SYNDROME]
 [IE_TARGET:A]
 [IE_IMMEDIATE]
 [SYNDROME] 
[SYN_CONCENTRATION_ADDED:1000:0]
[CE_DIZZINESS:SEV:500:PROB:100:START:0:PEAK:0:END:3:RESISTABLE]

I think this is proof that these are the syndromes that are causing the rot, but doesn't explain why it persists and is still making him weaker by mangling body parts decades after it happened...

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on March 20, 2022, 07:15:14 pm

Quote from: Lurker Z on March 20, 2022, 03:44:14 pm

https://dffd.bay12games.com/file.php?id=15863

Here's the save, no use hanging onto it since I'll go back to work tomorrow. I honestly did more than I thought I would, but it also reminded me what a slog Fortress Mode is. I love the game, its story and its worlds, but when going down to the gritty, I'm starting to see why successful long-running forts are those that last years-in-real-time and multiple game versions: it's just that much of a slog.

Well, good luck to the next inhabitant in this world and add me to the turn list, please.

To future players: remember that at least Fortress Mode is full of bugs, though thankfully not game-breaking yet. In fact, from a technical point, the fort ran excellent, I had not one crash in around 5 in-game-years of playing, only what I described in previous posts (and a few more I might have forgotten to list).

An eventful few years. Adilatir has had a new king, who quickly died, and now a new Queen.

Long live Queen Lorbam Minedswords!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on March 21, 2022, 02:19:05 pm

I've finally updated the map with Bluarianknights fortress, and made some other updates.

That makes it Tonnot's turn.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on March 21, 2022, 05:10:18 pm

I haven't had much time to look through the history before or after I gave the save, but that's certainly interesting. It looks like a new massacre occurred on the level of the ones in 825 (the first one, when King Bralbaard left) and 826 (when Moldath arrived). This is getting pesky, anytime a controlled character comes around Ilrallenod, the nobility is culled (which, jokes about nobles needing a magma bath aside, I'm pretty sure some of the dead are dwarves dear to people who played them in forts). Is anyone going to take the challenge of reclaiming Ilrallenod in fortress mode and cleaning it up?

---

I checked in a hunch and looked into the newest non-retired auto-save that had Moldath imprisoned... and he was COMPLETELY HEALED, even after what I assume were MONTHS in the dungeon. This means, in Fortress Mode, full-heal WORKS, or at least worked in 842. So why doesn't it work for you guys?

(https://i.imgur.com/pAqvaNc.png)

I can say why it doesn't stick when making the transition to Adventure Mode. As I've mentioned before, it appears to me that in many ways, Fortress Mode and Adventure Mode are two entirely different games that can be played through the same executable in the same world. FM has a chance of not remembering effects of AM and vice-versa, and they're both cobbled together by Legends Mode. I've already made the point of that blighted thrall guild representative that I cured via DFHack of the blight and he came back next years blighted, I cured him again and he died once again (violently) blighted. This appears to be the technological equivalent of the right hand not knowing (or caring) what the left hand is doing.

---

Quote from: Legends Viewer

0841-01-28 In 841, early spring, (28th of Granite) Moldath became a member of The Armors of Diamond. add hf entity link
0841-05-11 In 841, midsummer, (11th of Malachite) Moldath was convicted of murder by The Armors of Diamond, sentenced to 50 hammerstrokes and imprisoned for a term of 8 month. 

So I remember healing him just the once, when he arrived, when I saw his everything yellow and didn't think about it much since. So he stayed perfectly healthy for nearly a year.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on March 21, 2022, 05:22:59 pm

I think I am resigned to the fact it won't be possible to "fix" Moldath. I think you are right with regards to Fortress and Adventure mode working differently.

His rot syndromes don't appear to interact with any of the utilities available to modify or remove them, and the only other solution I could think of would involve editing the master WORLD.DAT to change the original syndromes to, for example, only rot skin/muscle layers rather than "BP:all" - and WORLD.DAT editing is strange magic indeed.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on March 21, 2022, 06:20:49 pm

Does Moldath even need fixing? The rot is an essential part of the (rather amazing) legend of the blind sadist. He would simply not be the same without it.
Also, healing characters with dfhack would seem to go a bit against the spirit of the game. 
 
I laughed at the "463 days prison sentence" in that screenshot. If the sherrif only knew half of what Moldath had been up to.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: TheFlame52 on March 21, 2022, 06:40:45 pm

Quote from: kesperan on March 20, 2022, 06:51:38 pm

I think this is proof that these are the syndromes that are causing the rot, but doesn't explain why it persists and is still making him weaker by mangling body parts decades after it happened...

Ah, that's it! It's not the necrosis that's mangling his body, it's the blistering. I've seen it before, in very severe cases of forgotten beast poisoning.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on March 21, 2022, 06:45:32 pm

Quote from: Bralbaard on March 21, 2022, 06:20:49 pm

Does Moldath even need fixing? The rot is an essential part of the (rather amazing) legend of the blind sadist. He would simply not be the same without it.

Quote from: kesperan on March 20, 2022, 02:54:12 am

Toughness is indeed the issue. If his whole body is mangled, a single hit will likely make him collapse. At this rate, I’ll be lucky if he survives to my next turn!

I think the whole discussion started from this. Kesperan is (understandably) worried about this epic char getting one-hit by a random snapping turtle or cat or something.

---

Quote from: Bralbaard on March 21, 2022, 06:20:49 pm

I laughed at the "463 days prison sentence" in that screenshot. If the sherrif only knew half of what Moldath had been up to.

Quote from: kesperan on March 06, 2022, 12:37:46 pm

It took only eighteen short months for me to gnaw through the chain and escape from Eskôn

This part did it for me. Escaping Eskôn took more time than it took him to kill those four thousand creatures as long as you ignore the breaks between his travels.

---

Quote from: Bralbaard on March 21, 2022, 06:20:49 pm

Also, healing characters with dfhack would seem to go a bit against the spirit of the game.

Hmm, in Orid Xem I only do this in Fortress Mode so I don't have crippled dwarves clogging my fort. I didn't know he was a player character when I did that (since he came under a false name).

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on March 21, 2022, 06:51:01 pm

Quote from: Lurker Z on March 21, 2022, 05:10:18 pm

Is anyone going to take the challenge of reclaiming Ilrallenod in fortress mode and cleaning it up?

I tried that once in an alternate reality and it was a mess, I think that was how we found out Treatyseed was affected by the blight in the first place. Not only will reclaiming cause a massacre under the dwarves living in Treatyseed, but for some reason dozens of dwarves migrated into the fortress from other sites within the few days I played it, most of them were torn to shreds in seconds. I don't know how a party of seven inexperienced dwarves could have any hope of fixing that, without making everything worse.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on March 21, 2022, 06:59:58 pm

Quote from: Bralbaard on March 21, 2022, 06:51:01 pm

I tried that once in an alternate reality and it was a mess, I think that was how we found out Treatyseed was affected by the blight in the first place. Not only will reclaiming cause a massacre under the dwarves living in Treatyseed, but for some reason dozens of dwarves migrated into the fortress from other sites within the few days I played it, most of them were torn to shreds in seconds. I don't know how a party of seven inexperienced dwarves could have any hope of fixing that, without making everything worse.

CHALLENGE ACCEPTED!

...Ahem. If no one else tries by the time of my turn (and if the save doesn't turn into a raging dumpster fire by that time), I'll give it a shot.

But seriously, leaving it as it is is worse. A lot of the murdering is happening in the underground maze of that (by now) cursed fortress. Every new adventurer/possessed creature just loading the site is going to start another round of killing, possibly increasing the skills of blighted present super-dwarves who get better with each killing.

Now that I think about it, I'll have to probably leave everyone on the surface and seal off everything even after I clean everything up, because there'll always be the chance of someone blighted being called to the capital since it's not just the capital, but Evost Dèg (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Evost Dèg), a major religion's Holy City.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on March 21, 2022, 07:22:15 pm

Quote from: Bralbaard on March 21, 2022, 06:20:49 pm

Does Moldath even need fixing? The rot is an essential part of the (rather amazing) legend of the blind sadist. He would simply not be the same without it.
Also, healing characters with dfhack would seem to go a bit against the spirit of the game. 
 
I laughed at the "463 days prison sentence" in that screenshot. If the sherrif only knew half of what Moldath had been up to.

I absolutely don't want to get rid of the rot. I want to get rid of the "mangling" but I can't think of a way how. I think that now he is consider a noble in Eskon, I can't even retire him in one of my forts anymore to do some surgical experiments.

Edit: Yep, he is permanently Broker of Clearmasters :D

(https://i.imgur.com/PMEGLTX.png)

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on March 21, 2022, 07:36:37 pm

So i had an issue getting holyblood into a fort and working. Assume an identity and then retire them at the fort.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on March 21, 2022, 07:54:11 pm

Quote from: kesperan on March 21, 2022, 07:22:15 pm

Edit: Yep, he is permanently Broker of Clearmasters :D

(https://i.imgur.com/PMEGLTX.png)

Remember nothing's certain. You moved him to Nomal Alis, so he's a member of there too, also of Adilatir, so he should be able to rise in both civs. Also confirmation that you can stop being a noble in a civ and be called back.

Spoiler: image (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/4Q0QMXs.png)

Though Moldath's situation is even more unique in that he died, then was brought to life. But he should be back in the running for noblehood (which, with the blight infesting Ilrallenod, that might not be a great idea... but if for him or his opponents, time will tell).

Either way, I'm definitely looking forward to what happens next to him. You said he ascended to General of Nomal Alis in an aborted timeline, so we know that's possible too. On the other hand, he might just escape from the blight's ravages there.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on March 22, 2022, 02:40:34 am

Quote from: Lurker Z on March 21, 2022, 06:59:58 pm

Quote from: Bralbaard on March 21, 2022, 06:51:01 pm

I tried that once in an alternate reality and it was a mess, I think that was how we found out Treatyseed was affected by the blight in the first place. Not only will reclaiming cause a massacre under the dwarves living in Treatyseed, but for some reason dozens of dwarves migrated into the fortress from other sites within the few days I played it, most of them were torn to shreds in seconds. I don't know how a party of seven inexperienced dwarves could have any hope of fixing that, without making everything worse.

CHALLENGE ACCEPTED!

...Ahem. If no one else tries by the time of my turn (and if the save doesn't turn into a raging dumpster fire by that time), I'll give it a shot.

But seriously, leaving it as it is is worse. A lot of the murdering is happening in the underground maze of that (by now) cursed fortress. Every new adventurer/possessed creature just loading the site is going to start another round of killing, possibly increasing the skills of blighted present super-dwarves who get better with each killing.

Now that I think about it, I'll have to probably leave everyone on the surface and seal off everything even after I clean everything up, because there'll always be the chance of someone blighted being called to the capital since it's not just the capital, but Evost Dèg (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Evost Dèg), a major religion's Holy City.

You might have the best chance if you reclaim the site using the other dwarven civ, Nomal Alis.
Also immediately destroy the tavern, raze the temple to the ground and remove any other room and guild hall assignments that may exist.
I have some hope that changing ownership to Nomal Alis will stop the site from attracting Adilatir nobility and citizens, it should not have the same attractiveness to Nomal Alis.

I hope Adilatir will not see that as a declaration of war though..  :)

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on March 22, 2022, 11:02:32 am

That sounds like a mess.

Anyway, anyone's welcome to try before or after me, I'm just making plans right now, it's a long time until my next turn and I give no guarantee I'll take on the challenge.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Unraveller on March 22, 2022, 01:09:23 pm

I'm still thematically focused on the Realm of Silver and it's descent. Truly the quality of living for most humans in that land have plummeted since we've gotten around. Tempted to usurp their blighted or otherwise ambivalent leadership and usher in what other people of Orid Xem are calling the 'Golden Age'.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on March 22, 2022, 01:44:49 pm

Is Tomnot active? Says last online 11 days ago. Gonna chuck them a Message

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on March 22, 2022, 02:14:14 pm

I already sent a PM yesterday, no response yet.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: tonnot98 on March 23, 2022, 08:01:33 pm

I AM HERE!

I'll start playing tomorrow! Sorry about the delay. Any suggestions on what I should check out?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Unraveller on March 23, 2022, 08:59:25 pm

I'm personally curious about reading more insight into the realm of the elves. We've had very few elven adventurers IIRC. Actually we've had very few goblin characters as well. Though by no means take those as anything more than my musing.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on March 24, 2022, 10:42:49 am

We haven’t seen much of the elves since their Dark One queen was killed. They have a new Queen and Princess but they are not easy to find. The capital of Glacialtempests is largely empty. The elf population seems to have recovered somewhat since the rampage of the Apocalypse Bear.

They do seem to be at war with the humans of Mong Uthros, their neighbours to the southwest. Moldath encountered and slaughtered an elf war band in 859.

There is a rather interesting elven fort, Splashbeige, with a single elf master who has a huge number of books and artefacts, who has been visited by a number of adventurers in the past.

A few elven leads for you to consider…

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: tonnot98 on March 24, 2022, 11:15:12 am

Two (very minor) things I've noticed with the OP: Artifact 20, Better nature, a cat parchment scroll calls Fidale a he instead of a she. Also the "constructed by" credits on a bunch of the later fortresses are missing.

Anyway..

Before you is a journal bound in grown feather wood and the pages are made from turkey parchment. It belonged to one "Yawo Rainstir."

Spoiler: Open the journal! (click to show/hide)

   
   Our numbers dwindle and the world becomes an increasingly hostile place. Where Orid Xem was once plagued by bitter wars between nations, and between the living and dead, these conflicts are now replaced by inner struggle and instability. The elves of The Squeezing Fords believe themselves isolated, but even now banditry and roving gangs of criminals force us to suffer beneath their cruel grip. It's a great shame that the greatest champions of the elves in recent memory were no elves, but a damned goblin and one of those freakish "Hands of Planegifts." The moment we tried sending off one of our own to seek glory at The Museum of Boltspumpkin, those oafs died before they could even leave our borders!

   My kin think me mad for trying to venture out into the world beyond. But traders tell us horror stories of plagues, necromancy, demons and curses. If we cannot even defend against bloodthirsty bandits in our own lands, how will we fare when the evils of the world finally reach us in our isolation? With our unholy queen slain by another creature of death, nothing further stands in the way of our glory! What will the other nations think of us in our time of need, when we have ignored them in theirs? I will beseech our princess and tell her of my desire to act as her hearthsperson, defeat evil in her name and better our people's status in the eyes of the other disparate and desperate nations.

6th of Limestone

I have started my journey to the east. I cross many empty forest retreats, the handful of elves or mutants impossible to find within the maze of branches by design. Though I know they are there, warily watching my movements, it is no less lonely. Thankfully I had no need to prepare for much beyond walking as the forest's bounty is plentiful, fruits and nuts will sustain my journey.

10th of Limestone

I've found an isolated wooden hut in disrepair overlooking the northern coast. Mangled skeletons and tamed flames dot the outside. Within is a simple casket belonging to some human named "Kajeth Fatecrypts the Unholy Balance of Froth." Inside of a box nearby is a masterfully-made, if damaged wooden spear. It seemed to belong to someone else, as the name "Raki" is engraved in it. I think I'll take it with me and leave the rest of the place undisturbed. It's not like they'll be needing it at any rate. I'll also sleep here for the night, it'll be nice to be outside of the rain for once.

11th of Limestone

I've wandered into a dwarven hillock by the name of GoldenPondered and met a fellow here whose younger brother was drained of blood by some terrifying scorpion monster named "Avolition." The poor lad was only 7 when he was slain, and had been praised by the fortress for creating some wondrous craft named "The Mansion of Covering". I hope to never cross paths with this creature, at least not without a suitable large log to crush it with!
(https://imgur.com/LHMZSyC.png)

The elves of The Squeezing Ford usually have Burnt Umber skin and Pumpkin or other red/orange hair colors. It's a pretty odd mix, but they seem to be the defacto "dark elves" of this world. I've also been trying to talk to all the dwarves I see to make more historical figures in an attempt to alleviate the problem of fortress dwarves shuffling between new fortresses every five years. Or will this lead to other issues?

Quote from: kesperan on March 24, 2022, 10:42:49 am

There is a rather interesting elven fort, Splashbeige, with a single elf master who has a huge number of books and artefacts, who has been visited by a number of adventurers in the past.

My goblin adventurer originally came from that fort, and was great friends with the woman that lived there! At least until she got thrown into a glowing pit...

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on March 24, 2022, 03:24:25 pm

There are a few dwarven hillocks near the northern mountains between the elf and human lands which have only recently sprung up after I built a new fort there.

Northmanor should be close by.

Poor Logem. It was inevitable.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on March 24, 2022, 05:42:56 pm

Quote from: tonnot98 on March 24, 2022, 11:15:12 am

The elves of The Squeezing Ford usually have Burnt Umber skin and Pumpkin or other red/orange hair colors. It's a pretty odd mix, but they seem to be the defacto "dark elves" of this world. I've also been trying to talk to all the dwarves I see to make more historical figures in an attempt to alleviate the problem of fortress dwarves shuffling between new fortresses every five years. Or will this lead to other issues?

Interesting about Ribiromimi physical characteristics, well it explains why half of them or more turned to Ala (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Ala) worship and why their civilization hosted at one time 5000 goblins.

On the other hand, they are originally nature worshipers and they still go around imposing wood quota. Speaking of their isolation, they made their way more than once in Iroram in the center of the world, so they shouldn't be that cut off.

They're the only race of elves in the world. Though I wonder if that would change if one would play an elf outsider...

Regarding historical figures, they get called to the capital all the time (if you're going to Ilrallenod (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Ilrallenod), prepare to trigger another massacre and to have the blighted horde at your heels). The only thing it could alleviate, maybe, is the extra humans over dwarves ratio Adilatír is facing right now.

By the way, your char made a mistake regarding the Elven Dark Queen Vafice (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Vafice_Falethefama), she wasn't blighted, she was a resurrected undead. Not sure who fired first between her and Moldath though, I remember reading the text, but it was pretty vague and to me it boiled down to "Moldath see undead, Moldath attack undead now and ask questions never".

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on March 24, 2022, 07:13:49 pm

Quote from: Lurker Z on March 24, 2022, 05:42:56 pm

By the way, your char made a mistake regarding the Elven Dark Queen Vafice (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Vafice_Falethefama), she wasn't blighted, she was a resurrected undead. Not sure who fired first between her and Moldath though, I remember reading the text, but it was pretty vague and to me it boiled down to "Moldath see undead, Moldath attack undead now and ask questions never".

Moldath had become a fervent worshipper of Ala and he thought Vafice and all her necro experiments were an invading army out to destroy Mong Uthros, his new favoured homeland. She was rather suspiciously camped outside Trammeledjudges. This was the town that she had taken charge of after the Ribiromini had taken it from the Scholarly Manors in 345, during the War of Fists. It was during this war that she was slain and then corrupted by Thranan Echohails to be a puppet of Oddom Girdergrove (at least in Moldath's eyes).

In one way he was right to be concerned; the War of Routs begain in 838 under the banner of the new Queen of the Elves, reigniting a battle that was last waged seven hundred years ago. So... Moldath was totally right all along - in 859 he encountered an elven warband of the Moth of Pleating in the Mong Uthros village of Ferriedtwinkling, and slaughtered them all.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: tonnot98 on March 25, 2022, 04:17:22 pm

The journey continues!

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

13th of Limestone

Took a refreshing swim in the river as I approach Glacialtempests. The other rivers near my home are way too active to enjoy swimming in them, more than one enterprising elf child has been swept away by the current. Even here my carelessness almost tossed me over the edge of a waterfall!

15th of Limestone

Found a small camp with a crippled administrator and his bodyguard. He claimed to be an ex-husband of the last, late princess. They were being awfully tight-lipped about what kind of tragedy befell their forest retreat, or even where they were fleeing from. Osime succumbed to his wounds not long after our conversation, and his body guard refused to join me on my adventures saying that he still has a duty to fulfill. Ah well, maybe I'll see him again some other time.

I've finally reached Glacialtempests, and I am quite disappointed. The abbott looks like he's been clueless for the last few centuries, the druid is shifty-eyed and smells of goblins, and the princess is quite fat. They're the only three people still in our capital and they are all useless! They prosecute a war against the humans because of their mistreatment of plants and animals, yet they seem like they could hardly handle the affairs of what to eat for dinner. Perhaps I should take matters into my own hands and replace them? I'll have to garner support, but my people are so complacent. Even if the forces of darkness were chopping down their trees they'd sup their sun wine and make sarcastic remarks. Hopefully I can find more like-minded elves.

16th of Limestone

I've come across a forest retreat named Bootteal and what I've found disgusts me. Corpses of elves and trees are littered everywhere. Smashed branches and felled trees bearing axe wounds and elf skeletons imprinted with claw marks. A trio of goblins happen to be travelling by and tell me of the rampage of a creature named "Arcturus," a blackbear man. A soldier under the banner of The Creamy Confederacy, and a one-bear killing machine. How had these rumors not reached me in the western forests? Blood will be repaid with blood, I will find this beast and slay him! His gnarled hide will surely bring legitimacy to my cause! Beyond that, I should take care to preserve the corpse, it'll make a fine feast for my coronation.

Before I came here however, I made two new friends that follow me not for any political reason, but to play music and make merry. I'll find a way to press a sword into their hands...

17th of Limestone

I found a perfect gemstone in one of the Home Trees, though it has a strange aura about it, as if some malevolent force carried it before. Maybe it'll lead me to its past owner? There's no way it could've been made by elven hands at any rate.

(https://imgur.com/j2L7ubL.png)

20th of Limestone

I told my new companions to wait for me in the forest for a day or two. My wanderlust led me to an island off the northern coast. They were quite surprised to see me return with a trio of cave swallow women wielding fungal spears! While they may never have even heard of politics or kingdoms, these three were looking for a change of scenery, and decided that exploring the surface at my side would give them many stories to tell their tribesmen. I'm just thankful that I have some competent security!

21st of Limestone

I've found the skeleton of another birdman and an elf. Something about it feels important, so I stuff their remains into a sack and carry on. Well, that's what I would've done if their killer hadn't been loitering nearby! I scarcely began moving before I heard freakish howling quickly closing on me from behind. I dropped the corpses and grabbed hold of the sword I had taken from the dead elf, and we held our own against the beast. And of course by "we" I mean the birds and I. The two musicians following me fled for the hills as soon as they heard the howling. I ducked behind the creature as the birds distracted him, and pushed my sword through the back of its neck. It bled out quickly thereafter, but not before breaking the fragile bones of my new companions and killing one and crippling another. I had to leave her behind in the care of elves at another forest retreat. The final one of the trio, I've taken to calling her "Beakie" and she offered to continue following me to help slay more monsters. I truly admire her willpower.

(https://imgur.com/V6tniUO.png)
(Pictured: Me standing amongst the broken bodies of this battle.)

22nd of Limestone

I travelled to the Hamlet of Snackbrews, and within it I found a gaunt-looking dwarf wearing a mask of copper. She warned me of some strangeness surrounding the fortress of Northmanor, they've been awfully quiet lately and there's been no news reaching the hillocks. She also mentioned that she and her husband were expelled after he stole a prickleberry. These dwarfs are quite strange with their laws, but I decided to investigate the fortress myself. Perhaps the dwarfs would be open to trade?

23rd of Limestone

A dwarven fortress is truly a sight to behold! Looking past the corpses of trees, I greeted them and they greeted me. I have to maintain a good reputation with these fellows if I want a safe rule after all, and seeing how these people have harnessed the power of magma to fuel their industry, I feel that was a safe call. They seem to have quite a few tamed grizzly bears wandering about as well. I offered to practice my profession and use their cloth supplies to fashion them some new clothes in return for a pair of metal spears and some food and drink. They graciously accepted, and I was quickly put to work making new pairs of socks out of the strange silk of a "phantom spider." I used the opportunity to make a comfortable robe of the stuff for myself as well. While I worked here, the dwarfs mentioned a great library across the sea. I think I could swim the distance, but I'd have to leave my companions behind momentarily again. I'll have to go visit its great stores of knowledge.

All in all, I can't imagine why such a friendly place has such a foreboding name. Maybe it was a joke of sorts? Heck, even the surgeon was discussing with me the finer points of nature.

26th of Limestone

Was it tribal animosity or just bloodlust? Beakie shouted some words in a language I didn't understand before starting a fight with a pack of wolf men. I don't know what got into her, but they were dispatched easily enough with our new weapons. She's been flying about snatching vultures from the sky on our travels as well.

28th of Limestone

It was a wasted journey. The island is far too overgrown to navigate even for an elf. I found a tunnel with a trade depot but it didn't seem to go anywhere. After I gave up and left, I got attacked by a cave critter duo! A giant olm and a giant toad had apparently gotten the taste for blood and sought mine, but a spear to their lungs set them straight. I am at a loss of where to go and what to do. I've heard about banditry over in the village of Pleatedhorse, I should investigate.

3rd of Sandstone

On the way to the hamlet, we were accosted by another one of those Howling Freaks. The creature nearly bit Nemo's arm off before Beakie and I could bring it down! Thankfully, he only needs one arm to play the Ni. Beakie is feeling vengeful, and urges us to hunt down more of the monsters. It'd make a nice story at any rate.

Ancientknowledge is a laggy nightmare. The trees have grown too thick and the lag was unbearable. I spent an hour and a half slowly trudging through and still didn't find the fortress entrance.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on March 25, 2022, 05:51:18 pm

Interesting story, oh god yeah there are a few items with holyblood kills, there is a severed goblin hand somewhere with a number of kills. I think even my own severed hand had kills to it. Looking forward to the rest of your journey.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on March 25, 2022, 06:10:00 pm

Quote from: tonnot98 on March 25, 2022, 04:17:22 pm

I've finally reached Glacialtempests, and I am quite disappointed. The abbott looks like he's been clueless for the last few centuries, the druid is shifty-eyed and smells of goblins, and the princess is quite fat.

You managed to find the princess and the druid? You've done better than me... I have been looking around for them and could only ever find the abbott. No sign of the new Queen though?

Quote from: tonnot98 on March 25, 2022, 04:17:22 pm

I travelled to the Hamlet of Snackbrews, and within it I found a gaunt-looking dwarf wearing a mask of copper. She warned me of some strangeness surrounding the fortress of Northmanor, they've been awfully quiet lately and there's been no news reaching the hillocks. She also mentioned that she and her husband were expelled after he stole a prickleberry. These dwarfs are quite strange with their laws, but I decided to investigate the fortress myself. Perhaps the dwarfs would be open to trade?

Ha! If these two are the dwarves I think they are, they are necromancer migrants from Ancientlibrary, who I ejected because my fort wasn't ready for any necro-shenanigans. Don't believe that story about the prickleberry!

Quote from: tonnot98 on March 25, 2022, 04:17:22 pm

A dwarven fortress is truly a sight to behold!

Ah, so you visited Northmanor. It's a work in progress. I have started on the obsidian tower for throwing goblins into the lava moat and we have everything we need for a steel industry, but I ran out of time, as usual.

I didn't find Ancientlibrary too bad when I was there last. That damned scorpion has been hoarding books from all over Orid Xem there and necrofying his population. If you are still near that island, you could pop over westwards to Relicward - there is loads of well crafted steel gear there which would fit an elf.

Enjoying the journey so far!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Unraveller on March 25, 2022, 11:04:12 pm

Very curious to see whether or not Yawo will indeed manage to return some sense of lost luster to The Squeezing Ford. The time of elves seems as if though it has long passed in Orid Xem

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on March 26, 2022, 08:03:07 am

For laggy sites, I suggest using jump when available. It's cut down my lag time by a lot, maybe half a minute per tile.

Loved the journey and the log, looking forward for more.

Quote from: Unraveller on March 25, 2022, 11:04:12 pm

Very curious to see whether or not Yawo will indeed manage to return some sense of lost luster to The Squeezing Ford. The time of elves seems as if though it has long passed in Orid Xem

They had a revival in the 8th century, where they were the only race to truly mass-reclaim along Adilatir and their people moved from the sites of other races to reclaim their fallen retreats. Arcturus put a dent in their population, certainly, and Avolition if I'm not mistaken wiped out their goblin meat-shields (5000 of them I think?). So maybe it's not "long passed", but certainly they've had it rough for the last half a century. Their biggest problem, I think, is that they don't procreate much, though I had found some elves born (of actual parents rather than the void itself) in the 8th century. All in all it's bad, not that that bad. Hells, we've been propping Adilatir for over a century and a half, each fort probably has over 5 children born in, each fort has been generating at least 20 NPCs on founding and constantly generating NPCs out of the void, and the world still has only 700 total dwarves, as opposite to over 1700 elves. Ribiromimi is a colossal that's really hard to take down.

---

Since the subject is somewhat related, I was wondering about something: would it be a problem if we used the All Races Playable (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=140713.0) mod? Would it be world-breaking? I've tried it on a test save and it works pretty well with humans, the only problem I have encountered so far is that there don't appear to be noble positions (the noble screen is simply a blank black page).

Also elves would be really hard to play, they don't have mining (though maybe that could be modded back in?).

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on March 26, 2022, 08:32:43 am

I know Bralbaard isn’t keen on mods in case they affect the stability of the save.

Having said that, didn’t we have an elf fort in the shape of a giant tree in the first Museum? Evertree?

In slightly related news, I’ve found a DFHack script that someone on the forums made which allows you to add or change your adventurers deity. This is useful for role play reasons as the only dwarves we can now generate are outsiders with no cultural history and who cannot worship a deity. It would also allow animal people to have a religion.

I tested it on a test save to successfully make Moldath a devout follower of Ala with no apparent repercussions. Thoughts?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: tonnot98 on March 26, 2022, 10:17:08 am

That would be pretty good to aid in roleplay, like something happening where someone could even change their religion. I was also planning on using DFhack to allow Yawo to be able to find a mate after retiring. If he retires...

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on March 26, 2022, 10:31:10 am

Would be nice to give animal men a chance to worship on of the gods of the world.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on March 26, 2022, 10:43:22 am

Quote from: AvolitionBrit on March 26, 2022, 10:31:10 am

Would be nice to give animal men a chance to worship on of the gods of the world.

My

Code: [Select]

tweak makeown reptile people worship by themselves directly after they become members of my fort. Did you check if Avolition Moncadem‏‎ or other adventurer animal people got "infected" by worship after they joined a fort? It does happen to characters in contact with fort members, I think.

---

Avolition doesn't worship according to Legends Viewer. Hm...

---

So out of the adventurers I checked so far, between a quarter and a half of the adventurers worship, but I suppose they have to be part of a civilization for that. I remember Lurker Onecbehal default-worshiped Bikdá (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Bikd%C3%A1/Orid_Xem_God).

Quote from: kesperan on March 26, 2022, 08:32:43 am

This is useful for role play reasons as the only dwarves we can now generate are outsiders with no cultural history and who cannot worship a deity. It would also allow animal people to have a religion.

Aaaaaah, that's interesting about the dwarf, I forgot issues happened where dwarves stopped being unplayable for some buggy reason. Animal people though appear to all be non-outsiders (is this some part of the dwarf outsider fix?), so why don't they worship/can't they join a religion?

---

Re:manually changing religion, I'm ambivalent on the issue. Personally, I want to see how the characters grow outside our influence and choose their own paths or the world/game chooses it for them. On the other hand, personalization is a core aspect of adventure mode, so if someone can canonically choose a character's very appearance and thoughts, religion shouldn't be off-limits either.

This is probably going to be a cosmetic fit anyway, since Lurker Onecbehal was swiped by a religion he had no relation with the deity it represented, so you could make your character an Ala-n and they can be swiped by the religion of a deity of peace or something.

Quote from: kesperan on March 26, 2022, 08:32:43 am

I know Bralbaard isn’t keen on mods in case they affect the stability of the save.

That's why I brought it up for discussion. I'm curious if there's anything game-breaking in the mod that could cause problems if it's reverted back when necessary or if we have to upgrade to a new version.

I've found a way (in theory) to get the elves to dig in this mod, it's just a matter of editing the

Code: [Select]

entity_default.txt in the archive to add the same code for digger the other races have, more precisely add the line

Code: [Select]

[DIGGER:ITEM_WEAPON_PICK]
I also suspect the reason I had the black screen issue is that I didn't modify the main DF folder, merely the test save. But for that, I'll have to make a new DF folder just for the save. Well, back to testing.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on March 26, 2022, 11:36:50 am

Well, when you are choosing your characters starting site, profession and beliefs, animal people can only choose "None." And the same goes for outsiders. Some religions are limited by sites, and I am not sure exactly how that works.

I don't know how your reptile men started worshipping dwarven Gods - perhaps if they have access to a temple in fort mode they can choose their own God?

I have an un-named reptile man at Ashcinders who Moldath raised from the dead. He was originally the husband of the reptile woman tavern keeper who migrated from Clearmasters. He died of old age and was entombed then Moldath turned him into a Hollow Zombie. He is a nameless sentient skeleton, and that is kind of badass. I think I will call him Billy. He's a bit of a rubbish leatherworker, as all the clothes he makes are too small for dwarves.

I just checked and, yes, he worships The Mine of Ambers.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/cJ9k5fd.png)

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on March 26, 2022, 11:50:06 am

Here is the code I used, courtesy of Lonewined.

Quote from: lonewined on July 28, 2018, 01:27:03 pm

With a bit of snooping through other people's scripts, I managed to figure out a very simple script that appears to be working:

Code: [Select]

-- This script makes a historical figure worship the chosen deity
local deity_name = "Liral"
local worshipper_name = "Istra Twinklingeye"
local deity_id = ""
local worshipper_id = ""
local worshipper = nil


-- Looking for the deity historical figure
for _,fig in ipairs(df.global.world.history.figures) do
 if fig.flags.deity and (tostring (dfhack.TranslateName(fig.name, true))) == deity_name then
  print("Found deity " .. deity_name)
  deity_id = fig.id
  print ("Deity's historical figure id: " .. tostring(deity_id))
  break
 end
end

-- Looking for the worshipper historical figure
for _,fig in ipairs(df.global.world.history.figures) do
 if (tostring (dfhack.TranslateName(fig.name, true))) == worshipper_name then
  print("Found worshipper " .. worshipper_name)
  worshipper_id = fig.id
  worshipper = fig
  print ("Worshipper's historical figure id: " .. tostring(worshipper_id))
  break
 end
end

-- Creating deity link
local deity_link = df.histfig_hf_link_deityst:new()
deity_link.target_hf = deity_id
deity_link.link_strength =  100
worshipper.histfig_links:insert('#', deity_link)
print(worshipper_name .. " is now a worshipper of " .. deity_name)

My adventurer is able to pray to the deity, and with the help of open-legends I can confirm she also has the deity listed in her Legends entry. The next step will be adding the need for my adventurer to pray to the new deity, and removing the link and need related to the old deity.

Simply change the names of the unit in question and the deity in question, save it as "religion.lua" or whatever in the DF/Hack/Scripts folder and run it once in game.

I have no clue about modding, so perhaps there is a way to modify the script to target the current unit and offer a selection of Gods rather than having to hardcode the script.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on March 26, 2022, 11:50:56 am

The reptile people from Iroram are native from the caves at the center of the world, I have no temple there and they worship dwarven Gods. So it looks like it's simply the magic of tweak makeown.

I have the suspicion that if I use that mod and tweak makeown animal people with humans, elves etc. those animal people will worship the default Gods of the race I play with.

Quote from: Legends Viewer

In 848, midwinter, (6th of Opal) Wildpaddled died of old age in Ashcinders the Molten Scar.

But... but... I made them immortal... didn't I? What is this anti-sorcery?!

Maybe she'll return to life when you reclaim the site?

---

In completely different news, I'm thinking of making an article on the elves born (not out of the void) since the 8th century. It's going to be a slag. The worst thing is a player is likely going to use it to hunt them down. Ah well, the risk of being a historian.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on March 26, 2022, 12:13:11 pm

Cheers for the code, just lets creatures have just that bit more connection to the  world.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on March 26, 2022, 01:36:47 pm

Holy cow, I found an entirely living elven unit:

Spoiler: image (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/LBCzkMT.png)

Aweme and Yonali have two other living sons, too!

Took me a while to trudge through Moldath and Suril's elven massacres.

And another?!

Spoiler: image (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/ymildWF.png)

Ìle and Amu have two more sons, too.

---

Upon further research, I discovered a baby boom in 719. I found so far 6 elves born in that year. After 720 let's say, there were 8 or so births, definitely under 10 in over a century. On the other hand, void elves keep coming to their sites, so they're slowly repopulating. Sloooooowlllllllllyyyyyyy...

Final count shows 17 elves being born (of mother and father) in what has come to my attention was the 718-719 baby boom.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: tonnot98 on March 26, 2022, 11:53:37 pm

Player fortresses (and the lands surrounding them) are scary. Never know what those asterisks are gonna be.

Spoiler: The journey continues! (click to show/hide)

5th of Sandstone

It's no use! It's not a small band of outlaws that rule Pleatedhorse, it's a massive group of dozens of criminals! My tiny band stands no chance against such numbers. Why should I bother to help The Nations of Honoring anyway? My people are at war with them after all... Maybe I should keep interacting with the dwarves? It has been a lucrative endeavor, and I'll need all the wealth I can muster if I'm going to help maintain the forests. We elves can stay sustained with the harvest and tend to the trees no problem, but history has not been kind to us in martial matters. Perhaps I should seek a mercenary warband in the south? It'll be a long journey, but it's sure to be worth the trouble.

6th of Sandstone

Nemo is dead. One of those mutant Hands of Planegifts ambushed him while he was relieving himself. I was always wary of them when they lived in the forest retreats among us, because of their tendancy to go feral like this one. They outnumber us four-to-one in the retreats, it'd be a disaster should they ever revolt. I wonder what I should do...

7th of Sandstone

Seeking to avoid further contact with the human nations in the north, I crossed the famous "Razorbridge." As I chatted with the locals, they mentioned recognizing one of the corpses I brought with me. Apparently a figure had been carved in their likeness and made its way into the sheriff's personal collection. The two people I found were adventurers headed to the Museum of Boltspumpkin! Apparently a special place was carved for those that fell either trying to serve or after having served the Museum called "Herograves." Now that I have slain their killer, I feel honorbound to inter them where they belong.

A Museum, huh? Maybe if I can find a great relic of my people, I can display it there for a century or two. Perhaps it'll bring some estranged elves back to the forests if they see that their homeland is in resurgence. I wouldn't be too adverse to accepting dwarven immigrants either, as long as they can live without lumber like civilized folk.

8th of Sandstone

I've lost the corpses, and I fear what might become of them! I saw smoke billowing from the shore so I went to investigate, and found a monstrous-looking human punching crabs to death and raising them again! A small, scuttling swarm I saw in the distance and the stench of death filled the air. Then he noticed me! I took off running, but one of the soldiers I hired on the way here challenged him. It didn't last long, but at least he afforded the rest of us time to escape.
(OOC: I lost the corpses of Laci and Vadane in Ghoulcreek while fleeing from Ketas. Oops.)

9th

I found a headless corpse wandering around the forest. I hit it with my spear, and it remembered that it should be dead. Butchered it for good measure. Could this have something to do with the warrior I fled from yesterday? I should revisit the camp later, preferrably with an army at my back.

10th of Sandstone

I wandered into the city of Incenseorder. It's comepletely abandoned. More than that, it looks like a massive battle took place here and within the castle lies the corpse of a great demon. Old blood stains the outside of the keep, but the inside is smothered by soot and ash. After what I saw on my journey here, I decided it prudent to butcher the beast and hopefully rendering it useless to those that can raise the dead. In the ashes, I find some armor that's surprisingly fitting to my form. I'm horribly slow and clumsy wearing it, but it should help stop the odd sword or two.

I met a group of human merchants picking through the ruins of the city and shared a meal with them. They mentioned that a dwarfen fortress far to the north had met a similar fate. Something by the name of "Relicwards." It's a long way there, so hopefully I can find some time to practice wearing this armor.

14th of Sandstone

I visted a nearby fortress that seemed abandoned. There was a single resident, a dwarf insane with sickness and covered in nasty blisters. He tried attacking me at the top of a large, spiral rampway. I dodged his whip, and Beakie drove him back with her spear. He backed off too far, however and plummeted a full 47 levels to the bottom. All I heard was a massive crash echoing through the tunnel. When I went down to check on him, I found that he exploded into many different pieces. He landed with enough force to greatly damage the armor he was wearing, too!

(https://imgur.com/juHM3je.png) (Pictured: A blighted thrall in five separate pieces. Every extremity came off.)

17th of Sandstone

I've finally made it to Relicwards, and I'm starting to have doubts. There are so many corpses strewn about, with enough steel arms and armor scattered to dress an army! The fortress itself is isolated, but with how much gold and steel there is on the outskirts, I can't help but wonder what has kept scavengers away all these years? Something is very wrong here, but I can't help but feel like I must continue deeper inside...

The inside of the fortress is quite different, however. While there's a giant mess outside, the inside is eerily clean. Deeper within, I found an armory which must have enough full steel suits of armor to outfit every last dwarf living in this world! I'll certainly have to return later with some dwarfen mercenaries, I'm sure they'll appreciate the plunder.

--

I knew it! My intuition was rewarded! I've found a pair of magnificent glass bracelets! On a pair of pedastals, they were named Whiskerweakens and Lashfleshes. I shall take them both, and figure out what to do with them later. They're too beautiful to leave down here, collecting dust. Deeper still is a small library with a decent selection of scientific manuals, and even a few guides to elven forest retreats. Said books were originally authored by a goblin named Olngo Hellcackled, who fled to the elven nation after being religiously persecuted, only to be caught up in The War of Fists, in which the dead nearly conquered the world. It's an interesting point of view, seeing how much has changed after nearly six hundred years!

--

Now I know why the fortress hasn't been picked clean. I'm the only one fool enough to step foot in here in the last few decades. I write this now, standing above seemingly endless pits staring into the eyes of a giant, golden statue of an ancient demon. The dwarves here did not arm themselves to renew past glories, they sought to out-do past evils. They've suffered for their hubris, but now I find myself in a precarious position. The smart thing to do would be to leave immediately with my newfound wealth. But something else is egging me on. It feels like my curiosity won't be sated until I see a real, living demon. So I must venture deeper.

(https://imgur.com/fqtep0y.png) (Pictured: I'm having some regrets.)

The bottom of these pits, I've finally found. Menacing glass spikes line the floors. It must've been a sacrificial chamber. I shudder to think what kind of ruthless dwarves lived here. They're bordered by a strangely shaped viewing area. The spikes all look clean, I can't help but wonder if they were ever used, or just meticulously cleansed of gore after use?

(https://imgur.com/k9tGiVU.png)
(https://imgur.com/AJ6bm9u.png)

I finally find evidence for what transpired here. Proof to my theories. The remains of demons at the very depths of this fortress. But still, I must go deeper. Past the dead demons are forges powered by magma. Deeper still is an expansive cavern with a glittering blue pillar of stone jutting upwards from the floor, right near the stairs. It is like no metal I have ever seen before. At the bottom of the stairs, the pillar had a hole. Something drew me in, I found myself able to climb the rough stone walls as easily as I climbed the trees back home. But as I reached the bottom of this hollow tube, I saw nothing but certain doom awaiting me below. An endless pit glowing with an eerie purple light. I had already gone too far before, it was finally time to go back up.

(https://imgur.com/qTxzmJ2.png)

While scavenging the surface for valuables, we found a large, ornate coffin. Perhaps this'll be a good donation to Herograves? Maybe a sort of "I'm sorry we lost the hero corpses you wanted to a deranged necromancer"

Fair warning: the fort of Shipwheeled, in between Latewhipped and Relicward, is causing crashes anytime I pass time to sleep within like 20 regions or if I get too close through any method of travel. Also I have a feeling that at this rate I'm gonna run into quite a few player villains, necromancers especially. Ketas attacked me on sight! World's starting to feel real small after 200 years of fucking with it. You can hardly go five regions without running into someone's mess.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Unraveller on March 27, 2022, 12:56:35 am

Ketas is frightening to come up against. I wasn't certain what to expect exactly during my brief turn as Amala, but the moment she rounded the corner and locked eyes with them, one of the key progenitors of the Obin Blight, they bolted, and swiftly towards her. Had Amala not been riding a flying mount, I am certain that she would have been slaughtered in an instant, or worse perhaps. She did steal their morningstar though, so. . . Take that villain!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Quantum Drop on March 27, 2022, 03:48:36 am

Quote from: Unraveller on March 27, 2022, 12:56:35 am

Ketas is frightening to come up against. I wasn't certain what to expect exactly during my brief turn as Amala, but the moment she rounded the corner and locked eyes with them, one of the key progenitors of the Obin Blight, they bolted, and swiftly towards her. Had Amala not been riding a flying mount, I am certain that she would have been slaughtered in an instant, or worse perhaps. She did steal their morningstar though, so. . . Take that villain!

I did powertrain Ketas' attributes prior to husking them to make sure they wouldn't be slowed down by becoming a husk, and to fit with their character for the turn. Seems that might have been a little too effective, though, with how fast Ketas can move when provoked (particularly since existing around them counts as that).

Also, being a bit of a pedant here: Amala actually stole Kosoth's morningstar. Ketas used an artefact steel axe, which I think they still have.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on March 27, 2022, 06:24:21 am

Quote from: tonnot98 on March 26, 2022, 11:53:37 pm

World's starting to feel real small after 200 years of fucking with it. You can hardly go five regions without running into someone's mess.

You guys get all the luck. I only run into abandoned or laggy NPC forts and that's when I'm not ganked while running. Bonus points if I have a fair fight, I feel I'm winning and than I get the death message. In hindsight, the fact that I managed to survive with Lurker Onecbehal the first turn against that night creature is a miracle not so easy to replicate. It's what probably gave me the false confidence boost to get my chars killed since then.

Quote from: Quantum Drop on March 27, 2022, 03:48:36 am

Also, being a bit of a pedant here: Amala actually stole Kosoth's morningstar. Ketas used an artefact steel axe, which I think they still have.

To be fair, when you have two chars in a single turn (not that I mind) that start with the same letter, it's not unexpected people get the names wrong. The only reason why I don't confuse them on the DFL wiki is that I follow Legends Viewer religiously, then cross-reference with the names in the adventurer list (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/List_of_adventurers_who_traveled_towards_The_Museum). It doesn't help that there's another unrelated adventurer named Ketas. If I started using my brain to untangle that web of names, it'd fry in the winter, so I'm not even bothering. Not your fault Ketas might be a common name in DF, of course, but that's just how it happens.

Quote from: Unraveller on March 27, 2022, 12:56:35 am

[...] [Amala] rounded the corner and locked eyes with them, one of the key progenitors of the Obin Blight, they bolted, and swiftly towards her. Had Amala not been riding a flying mount, I am certain that she would have been slaughtered in an instant, or worse perhaps. She did steal their morningstar though, so. . . Take that villain!

Ok, I keep reading this, even on the TV Tropes, but where is this mentioned in the thread? Did I miss a post? Because all I remember reading is that ballad (which was wonderful and kick-ass, of course), but at least some of the allegories went over my head. Can I get a link to a chronicle of these events? Thanks.

---

Avolition's character is jumping up in linked pages on the wiki, at this rate he'll be in the first 10 (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Orid_Xem_tops#Most_linked_characters) shortly. He's already at 17 links, which is close to the threshold. Thanks Brit for making him an article!

---

Tonnot, glad to see another adventure post from you, I'll read it shortly. Keep them coming, I hope you have time to play during the week too.

Quote from: tonnot98 on March 26, 2022, 11:53:37 pm

within the castle lies the corpse of a great demon. Old blood stains the outside of the keep, but the inside is smothered by soot and ash. After what I saw on my journey here, I decided it prudent to butcher the beast and hopefully rendering it useless to those that can raise the dead.

Well, there goes Pis (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Pis_Ethbaoxut). He probably won't be missed.

And yeah, I'm starting to see what you mean that you keep encountering others' messes. Wow. Quite the adventure you're having.

Quote from: tonnot98 on March 26, 2022, 11:53:37 pm

I write this now, standing above seemingly endless pits staring into the eyes of a giant, golden statue of an ancient demon. The dwarves here did not arm themselves to renew past glories, they sought to out-do past evils. They've suffered for their hubris, but now I find myself in a precarious position. The smart thing to do would be to leave immediately with my newfound wealth. But something else is egging me on. It feels like my curiosity won't be sated until I see a real, living demon. So I must venture deeper.

I hope you survive. I'm on the edge of my seat here.

---

I'm glad you survived, didn't encounter any nasties and managed to make your way back.

---

Now I'm thinking my next adventurer should be a scavenger of these abandoned forts, since the human from Señamatem stitch ended badly.

Also, does anyone know where Lurker Onecbehal's corpse ended up?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on March 27, 2022, 10:06:29 am

Ketas attacked you because he is Opposed To Life. He’ll leave you alone if you’re undead or a night creature. Might have to send in a rescue mission to retrieve the elf corpses, but it’s entirely possible he has already raised them…

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on March 27, 2022, 10:18:47 am

Quote from: kesperan on March 27, 2022, 10:06:29 am

Ketas attacked you because he is Opposed To Life. He’ll leave you alone if you’re undead or a night creature. Might have to send in a rescue mission to retrieve the elf corpses, but it’s entirely possible he has already raised them…

We can see that well enough in the next turn's end in Legends Viewer (Legends Mode might not show it because of the Hidden History). Note that, from my last experience, I can mostly safely say that NPCs start acting "NPCish" and not "Fortress Mode"ish in Adventurer Mode after the site is no longer loaded and thus the necromancer doesn't feel threatened anymore. But, as kesperan pointed out, that might be too late now. Which might not be such a bad thing (unless of course another unknowing adventurer comes to them before the player can take their turn to take their characters out of there, in which case... that's just bad luck).

I'm surprised retired undead adventurers don't go around killing people in various area in the world like these NPC necromancers we encounter and that attack our adventurers on sight.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Unraveller on March 27, 2022, 10:44:22 am

Quote from: Quantum Drop on March 27, 2022, 03:48:36 am

Also, being a bit of a pedant here: Amala actually stole Kosoth's morningstar. Ketas used an artefact steel axe, which I think they still have.

That makes more sense, given that it was just laying out in front of Ghoulcreek when she arrived, and given that Kosoth just decided to unceremoniously die in the middle of someone's turn. Suppose I'd forgotten after looking at its kill screen.

Quote from: Lurker Z on March 27, 2022, 06:24:21 am

Ok, I keep reading this, even on the TV Tropes, but where is this mentioned in the thread? Did I miss a post? Because all I remember reading is that ballad (which was wonderful and kick-ass, of course), but at least some of the allegories went over my head. Can I get a link to a chronicle of these events? Thanks.

It's all in the one post, but here's the specific snipping for ya. Side note, I didn't realize our writing was featured on any other site aside from the wiki. That's pretty neat!

Quote from: Unraveller on February 18, 2022, 06:18:07 pm

. . .

Just then as luck would have the orphan cries,
"Mucka! Land ahead, don't falter now you need only fly!"
So fly she did and land as well,
Upon dark shores where sea did swell,
This land appeared no different than her island home,
Yet with endless paths for which to roam.

A sight stood out to the girl -- a house, a wooden spike!
Could within dwell vibrant life?
She gathered her courage and wrangled her steed.
Ghoulcreek, the Raven of Whips, a hall of mead.
But whence she round the corner her heart did flutter,
A blighted monster returned her gaze with a mutter.

(https://i.imgur.com/puuPmMv.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/ILCjWpw.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/8CPNhxW.png)

Upon the grass and at her side,
A gleaming morningstar had caught her eye,
At unnatural speed the dead dwarf lunged,
And so she rolled, her body plunged,
In the young girl's hands the artifact rose,
To defend her body from mortal blows.

(https://i.imgur.com/YWP36Bj.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/tQWeEzi.png)

The weapon had grown weary and betrayed its master,
The ghoul spat a curse and redoubled faster,
Grace of gods were with the girl thence,
Her body intact and nary rent,
Had Mucka not swept her up and taken flight,
She would have surely fallen to the blight
. . .

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on March 27, 2022, 11:14:32 am

Quote from: Unraveller on March 27, 2022, 10:44:22 am

Side note, I didn't realize our writing was featured on any other site aside from the wiki. That's pretty neat!

TV Tropes (https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/LetsPlay/TheMuseum) link.

---

Specific quote:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Quote

Tragic Mistake: Amala Fragrantshaft using Okirramtak to defend herself against Ketas Indigovaulted. This leads to her having a major My God, What Have I Done? moment when its bloodlust results in her sister Mucka being killed during Amala's rampage through a goblin pit, and ultimately results in her death.

---

My mirror (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Orid_Xem_tropes) on the DF Legends wiki.

---

I didn't know what the one who added that line was talking about (all I knew was that Amala got one of the Blight Makers' weapon), so I didn't add it in the mirror until now. I don't know what's accurate in that statement and what not.

Quote from: Unraveller on March 27, 2022, 10:44:22 am

Kosoth just decided to unceremoniously die in the middle of someone's turn.

How am I missing so much? I saw in Legends Viewer that he drowned or something, I thought it was just QD being repentant for unleashing the Blight and transferring that onto one of their characters and drowning him out of shared guilt.

Whose turn did he die in the middle of?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Unraveller on March 27, 2022, 11:26:08 am

The statement is a fully accurate interpretation, pretty much a summation of my entire post.

As for Kosoth, maybe it was intentional, and I just didn't realize. Going by QD's list of adventurers, by the game's logic, they starved to death in 797, in Ghoulcreek. The flavour being that they succumbed to the concentrated effects of the blight. Might have happened during fortress construction afterwards.

EDIT: After re-reading QDs second post, it seems somewhat ambiguous as to whether it was a purposeful choice or not, having him written as losing most semblance of life by the end. For reasons I can't fathom, I seem to have a false memory of an OOC post mentioning Kosoth's strange death of starvation in the middle of another turn, and folks being sad about such an ignoble end to a figure that shaped much of year 800 onwards.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on March 27, 2022, 12:18:57 pm

Mandela effect (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mandela_effect). But more seriously, you're probably conflating Raki's ignoble death (TV Tropes mentions it there) with it. He did make Monkeycurse and brought Ala's immortality slab there, as well as many other wonders, even if he was a villain who cursed people to be werebeasts. It was him that K & K were trying to top, I think, and they succeeded (to most of our horror). The interesting thing is that I didn't even read QD's post, I just wasn't that invested in the Blight storyline (even as it is now taking over the world), I just made my assumption from a simple line from Legends Viewer (plus I have no memories of anyone lamenting... uh, the dead K so I don't confuse them).

By the way, I'm not sure if I said in the thread, but Amala (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Amala_Camelaisa) has an article on the wiki.

---

On the note of the All Races Playable mod, looks like my modification to allow elves to dig crashes the game. I am sad. I should probably mention it there (even if it is a modification of a mod that's trying to undo at least a part of what the original mod was trying to do).

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Unraveller on March 27, 2022, 12:29:54 pm

Everything else aside, I highly recommend reading the Ketas and Kosoth storyline to everyone. Not just for the sake of historical context, but just because it's quite good. QD strikes a really excellent menacing tone with them, and at times there's a haunting feeling for me on re-reads knowing what comes from their actions. Not to mention setting up a potential big bad in the form of the Abyssal Cult and their dark diety.

Funny, how many of us use this Museum world to craft all of these storylines when the main point originally was to fill Boltspumpkin up with all manner of knick knacks. But for me, I came for the premise, and stayed for the writing.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on March 27, 2022, 12:44:56 pm

Ah, I most definitely came for the story (and firstly, to build fortresses; that's all I knew at the time and this is still the only place I play adventure mode; though it's taught me (theoretical) tricks like if you want to clean up your map and don't want to ruin the resources, just get rid of the excess with an adventurer moving it to another part of the map).

Re:K & K storyline, I started reading, but I lost my interest after seeing what kind of people they were. I'm not a goody-two-shoes, not at all, but a group doing horrors for the joy of doing them or for some twisted science just sat wrong with me, just as Malladang and goblins in general disgust me (and Malladang made me hate goblins even more; usually gob civs, even in this world, are a lot more restrained), but the death of chosen necromancers and some megabeasts actually saddens me, because so much is lost with them in a historical sense. So, I'm sorry, but I just can't stomach their kind of evil. I've said it before, it's not QD's fault and they made a good story out of it.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Quantum Drop on March 27, 2022, 04:11:59 pm

Quote from: Unraveller on March 27, 2022, 11:26:08 am

The statement is a fully accurate interpretation, pretty much a summation of my entire post.

As for Kosoth, maybe it was intentional, and I just didn't realize. Going by QD's list of adventurers, by the game's logic, they starved to death in 797, in Ghoulcreek. The flavour being that they succumbed to the concentrated effects of the blight. Might have happened during fortress construction afterwards.

EDIT: After re-reading QDs second post, it seems somewhat ambiguous as to whether it was a purposeful choice or not, having him written as losing most semblance of life by the end. For reasons I can't fathom, I seem to have a false memory of an OOC post mentioning Kosoth's strange death of starvation in the middle of another turn, and folks being sad about such an ignoble end to a figure that shaped much of year 800 onwards.

I suppose I should take this opportunity to shed some light on this.

I didn't intend for Kosoth to starve to death at the start. I was actually split between two endings for them when planning the turn - one in which Kosoth would regain enough self-awareness to realise Ketas had manipulated him into becoming a mindless tool dedicated to spreading the Blight, then flip out and fight to the death against him in an attempt at redeeming himself (most likely dying in the process), and one in which the two of them finished up by turning a human fort's population into Thralls then retiring there for use in a later story (Rekthor's turn, which I still need to write up and didn't really go to plan). I eventually decided on the latter (since I needed to get onto finishing up Ironwards and was kinda attached to the two evil little gits), only to find it didn't work and only gave starvation as an option; Ghoulcreek was an attempt at getting around this, but it didn't exactly work out.

The ultimate result of this was that Kosoth's gradual degeneration and eventual death from the Blight was written in (with some other bits influenced by this thread and others) as an ex post-facto explanation for why he bit the dirt.

---

Onto other matters: it's great to see another adventure post from you, tonnot! This one's definitely gotten me hooked; that chapter on Relicward had me on the edge of my seat for much of it! I hope your elf survives whatever they run into in the future...

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Eric Blank on March 27, 2022, 09:49:07 pm

I enjoyed reading your visitation of Relicwards, Tonnot! I enjoyed making that temple to the death deity, but no, I never sacrificed anything in the pits (didn't have anything to sacrifice). Didn't intend to breach the circus either... there were no survivors.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Unraveller on March 28, 2022, 02:14:02 am

Some minor findings for those interested --

Spoiler: Regarding Streammartyred (click to show/hide)

Two towns in Omon Obin have been plagued with huge amounts of refugees set up for the last century or more on their outskirts, namely Scarletbronze and Streammartyred, and further of course, merely entering these places can instantly crash the game. I haven't delved into the former as of yet, but some weekend messing around has led me to question just who these people are stationed outside the latter. As it turns out. . .

(https://i.imgur.com/bdwyjXp.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/jOXBF58.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/pdeObwG.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/v4IDdAv.png)

So, it's the leadership, and likely many citizens of the town itself. Why would the Coalition of Recreation be camped outside of their own seat of power? And just how long has it been this way? Of that I am uncertain, but what can be said is that the Coalition of Recreation was formed when the Realm of Silver at large put an end to a civil war amidst the town after the 146th Conquest of Streammartyred. This was known as 'The Fierce War'. Later, the remnants of the insurrection, 'The Puce Canyons' were absorbed into another rogue element amongst the Realm of Silver -- 'The Imperial Tummies', a criminal organization who have been embroiled in a civil war vying for where? You guessed it, Scarletbronze. That one, know as 'The Incinerated Conflict' has been ongoing since the year 500 to now. And contained a total of 191 Conquests of Scarletbronze!

So where exactly does that tangent bring us? No where really, but perhaps the sheer amount of battles in these territories, each with a new government group being created at the end and then being supplanted by the next might explain the weirdness of these locations, and crashes upon entering. But. . . I want to dig deeper, so I decided to ATTEMPT reaching the keep of Streammartyred and see who currently called it home.

(https://i.imgur.com/DyJ6ibX.png)

Unsuccessful in my attempts to walk into Streammartyred, I chose to create a new adventurer, one whose occupation was to begin as a hearthperson of the town. And here we immediately get a potential taste of what's going on. Egu Craftlenses the Key of Trading was the Black Demon who formed the dominant goblin civ we know as the Most Sin, yet. . . Egu is no longer of the living. In 769, Athama Stalkhandled alongside Irthu Bladebroken and Ragnar Ironjaw slew the demon. But what of this goblin, Arstruk Cruelgriffon who supposedly leads the army on the march? It seems they yet live. . . But where?

(https://i.imgur.com/spLvZtl.png)

Imprisoned in none other than Streammartyred, for more than a century and a half. So is it that the army that is on the march already came to the town and suffered defeat during the battle of The Incinerated Assualts? Perhaps. . . Let us look through the eyes of our newly minted hearthsman!

(https://i.imgur.com/IUpFLVL.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/mehc1B8.png)

A mountain of humans, goblins, and blighted thralls mixed therein. The overwhelming majority of the humans here are various religious leaders from a massive assortment of different sects of Omon Obin. And the exact same can be said of the goblins. There are a few nobles of the Coalition of Recreation mixed in. Some goblins, some blighted thralls, some human. So. . . Then I exterminated them all as any good scientist in a throwaway timeline would.

(https://i.imgur.com/E8owK1f.png)

From the looks of things, the entire town is utterly abandoned. An incredible dense array of houses line the streets, each filled to the brim with clothing and other goods, yet not a soul in sight. Legends Viewer tells us that 80 Humans and 56 Goblins live within the town, those were the ones holed up inside the keep. Surely the ~thousand or so Humans that once lived here must all be concentrated alongside the 859 cats of Streammartyred in those teeny-tiny little tents, thus causing a crash as soon as they are loaded. One way I imagine this can be solved is if the War of Crucifixion ends completely, making the town realize no one is actually marching on them. But aside from that, I suppose I haven't uncovered much. Ah well.

Before giving up, I decided to unretire old Arstruk Cruelgriffon. I don't imagine it'll glean anything, surely he's just locked up in the Streammartyred dungeon right?

(https://i.imgur.com/6ck2Tnt.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/ANPfSl6.png)

Curious. But does it mean anything? Probably not.

EDIT: The actual crash is a spam of 'succession traveler placed out of bounds' messages. I know we suffered this earlier in this game's life-cycle, though I'm unsure if it was ever resolved.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on March 28, 2022, 09:29:50 am

That's about as roundabout as I went with that adventurer of mine in search for Amala.

The easier way to see all this is to make a fort in a throwaway timeline over the town itself that you want to investigate. You can easily do this with the embark anywhere DFhack command. Optional to use the reveal command, it might show you underground structures or creatures, and also what kind of animal people might spawn in the caves.

For me, when I make a fort over such a site, it usually gives me thousands of creatures. Another feather on the theory of Dwarf Fortress and Adventure Mode being two different games that can be ran in the same world through the same executable. This might also explain why Avolition (I think it was Avolition, right?) killing a few hundred goblins or maybe less was able to wipe out Ribiromimi's 5000 "abstract" goblin population. I'm 90% certain if you use the fort method on the site Avolition killed those goblins before Avolition got there, you'll find 5000 goblins with names and everything.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on March 28, 2022, 10:31:38 am

Loving the detective work. It wouldn’t be a Museum game without stress testing the very limits of what is possible in Dwarf Fortress…

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on March 28, 2022, 12:20:56 pm

So in regards to Ribiromimi's population, when i took an hour to get to the door on sight. There were units everywhere so those 5000 goblins/elves did exist. As soon  as i unloaded the site as it was taking minutes between actions. When i went to return it would crash me.

Quote from: AvolitionBrit on December 15, 2021, 02:35:16 pm

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/HDPnhY9.png)

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/RupG4Jw.png)

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/MozobGW.png)

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: tonnot98 on March 28, 2022, 07:52:04 pm

Short one for today. Laggy sites, crashes, and other real life duties got in the way of doing more.

Spoiler: Yawo's journey continues! (click to show/hide)

20th of Sandstone

I'm travelling south once again. This time I was passing through the hamlet of Homagemoons, near Incenseorder where I butchered the remains of that demon ten days ago. As I approached the keep, clearing my throat and readying my nemethe to play a tune to the local lords, two humans tumbled out of the front door brandishing knives against one-another. The ghoulish-looking human covered in blisters was clearly winning until one of the soldiers I hired stepped in and cut him to ribbons. Cusith said that he was infected with something called the "Obin Blight" and had likely lost his mind. The woman she was attacking, Uquur Twinkledthrew, had been badly injured in the fight but miraculously escaped infection thanks to Cusith's intervention. Uquur told us that she was leading the local priests in an insurrection against their insane leader and Cusith had struck the final blow. As thanks, they invited us to stay the night. The Band of Hail is no more, long live The North Coven! I guess...

After taking a closer look at the body, her condition looks much like that crazy dwarf that attacked me in the fortress. I asked Cusith to tell me more about the blight and he told me that it has overtaken whole villages in the last few decades, and it's spread by the sick going insane and biting others. Uquur must've been desperately trying to keep away from the teeth of the women attacking her. Her nose and ear has been mangled beyond recognition, and the rest of the wounds on her body will heal into unseemly scars.

24th of Sandstone

I finally made it to Herograves. As much as it pains me to see yet another wooden fortress, I felt chills as I stepped inside. It certainly wasn't the cold, either. On a bridge crossing the river that runs through the fort, two humans clad in blue metal were sparring with weapons of a similar make. They moved faster than even my elven eyes could process, every move a blur and it felt that I was hearing the clashing of their weapons three strikes too late. I approached them and made my presence known, and they both stopped mid-stroke, frozen in place and slowly turned to face me. They hadn't said a word, so I tried asking them about their strange weapons and armor. No response. Sweating, hoping not to make a fool of myself, or worse, I pointed out that one of the humans had two such swords and offered to buy it off of him with the collection of gemstones and jewlery I picked from the ruins of Relicward. At the mention of that fortress, an elf dressed in similar armament stomped up to me as the other two broke their pose. The trio stared at me with a cold, unfeeling glare. As detached as they seemed, they must've thought my naiveté was amusing. "Who is this bumbling fool? Doesn't he know who we are? What we've done? The amount of blood we've spilled with the very weapon he offers to buy?" Something like that, I'm sure. Not a word was spoken between these three blue knights, but I had enough wit to tell that they'd prefer I left.

I hadn't stopped to chat with the rest of the locals. I dropped off the bejewled coffin and went on my merry way to enjoy the company of more agreeable folk. Are other adventurers like this? The only other ones I've found were corpses, so I certainly hope not.

Dark ones, hollow hunters, fell ones, etc. being completely silent during conversations is both fittingly ominous (in some cases) or just frustrating (in most cases). This was the former, at least.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Unraveller on March 29, 2022, 02:14:44 pm

I'm certain Irthu, Athama, and Ragnar are friendly sorts! Maybe Yawo just came at a bad time? :p

Guess I'm more surprised they didn't immediately slaughter you. I suppose intelligent undead aren't OPPOSED TO LIFE.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on March 29, 2022, 05:01:47 pm

It seems to be a bit unpredictable. I have met plenty intelligent undead who just stand there and ignore you, and some (even dwarves from the Walled Dye who have been raised) attack on sight.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on March 29, 2022, 05:40:26 pm

Yeah its wierd, had undead adventurers attack me and other undead adventurers just be peaceful.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Eric Blank on March 30, 2022, 05:15:51 pm

Maybe they've made an enemy of a group or civ you're a member of, or vice versa

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: tonnot98 on March 30, 2022, 11:36:27 pm

Quote from: Eric Blank on March 30, 2022, 05:15:51 pm

Maybe they've made an enemy of a group or civ you're a member of, or vice versa

I'd be surprised of Kesat isn't an enemy of every civ at this point.

Spoiler: Yawo's journey ends! (click to show/hide)

24th of Sandstone (cont.)

Just north of Herograves is the town of Diptrampled. Within the keep, I found a strange-shaped fellow. He looked like a big mouth with arms and legs and introduced himself as Nom, whilst simultaneously handing me a delicious biscuit. We chatted over the meals he cooked, and he told me of the local "rulers." Apparently they're a band of outlaws calling themselves "The Black Nightmares." He wasn't too concerned, he was happy to cook and they were happy to eat. I guess it's the simple things for some people. There seemed to be a mini museum of weapons with historical owners in the keep there. A halberd owned at one time by a dark one named Pictham, or a short sword owned by someone calling themselves Lurker. I decided to drop off the wooden spear that I had used briefly. Now it has a shared history between myself and someone named Raki, whoever that was. Nom seemed a bit worried after hearing that name, so it was probably someone influential.

Deeper in the keep, Nom showed me something strange. It was a small pouch that seemed to flicker in the light. Apparently it was made of boogeyman leather! I had heard stories about such creatures and how they would fade into mist after the sun rose, but somehow a particularly plucky craftsman had not only managed to procure a corpse of one, he had skinned and tanned their hide to make a truly unique fashion statement. I think this would make quite a good entry into the bigger Museum nearby, I must only deliver it (in my own name of course) and soon, hopefully the name of The Squeezing Fords will be on the lips of locals here. If not that, then hopefully my own clothiering business will be revitalized. I wonder if I could make a jacket out of boogeymen?

While exploring the town, a strange looking dwarf pulled me aside to tell me about some outlaws that had apparently occupied the great tomb of Bornoats. I'm pretty sure I saw a large pile of gems behind him but he moved to block my view and assured me that I was capable of handling a few brigands, and that there would be plenty of plunder to be had. I'm not so sure that it'd be very profitable compared to just going back to Relicward, but it'd give me something to do.

25th of Sandstone

I've finally made it to The Museum of Boltspumpkin, and what wonders I have seen! And what horrors! Priceless artifacts of untouchable beauty stand side-by-side with great piles of skulls that reach nearly to the ceiling. Works of great knowledge share a shelf with a blood-stained and dented book about goblin history. Even the patrons of this museum are quite interesting. I found one of those mutant experiments that plague my forest retreat. But I couldn't help but find myself enamored with the weapons that he carried. Their colors shifted and seemed to blister, pop, and reform into square patterns, but somehow held its form and retained a deadly edge. He carried many shields made from the stuff with him and I offered to buy one. I had some regrets, as I had to sit through a feverish sermon about his dedication to the god of blood, and how the spoils of slain divinity were his, and some other things that I stopped listening to. Eventually he parted with his lowest quality shield for quite an obscene price.

I passed the day chatting and sharing drinks (though they steered me away from the wine) with the locals, learning about great adventures and conquests as well as the horrid villains that have come and gone. Apparently I've met quite a few of them already, and they're surprised that one such as me has gotten away in one piece. I've started realizing real quick that this world is much bigger than I could've ever thought, and filled with things that are far beyond my capacity to deal with. While I may never be able to match the feats of violence of these other heroes, I might still be able to make history by restoring the health and power of my homelands. If another power-mad necromancer should come to our forests with an army of the dead, we need to be ready.

I set the boogeyman leather pouch down on a pedestal, making my official entry. My dreams of restoration will take quite a few decades to realize.

28th of Sandstone

I found the tomb, but there were no criminals here, just a bunch of loaded traps. I've got nothing to show for this trip besides Bilalo's broken leg.

29th of Sandstone

I've travelled to the fortress of Agefall, at the suggestion of Kadol Princesspage. He was a dwarf I met at Boltspumpkin, and told me the rumors of a newly made fortress and gave me its approximate location. Well, I've found it and I'm finding rotten dwarf corpses on the outside. I've heard that the dwarves were almost wiped out during The War of Fists, but this fortress was built sometime after that war had ended! My companions nervously drew their weapons, expecting a fight and got one soon after. A dwarf showing signs of what I now know as the Obin Blight charged us. I'm not sure if the dwarf was skilled before, or if his disease brought him to new heights of strength, but he would not fall! He broke Bilalo's spine, cracked one of Beakie's wings, and even had my spear stuck clean through his head without showing signs of stopping! It was only after I got hold of him and tore his throat apart with my bare hands did he finally die.

After exploring, I can tell that the dwarves here had barely managed to build their shelter before finding their doom. The farms are plowed, but barren. Fresh ores lie on the floor, extracted from the cave walls while the anvil still sits in their wagon. All the other corpses have broken bones and shattered skulls, could the dwarf that I killed have done this to all of them? When nature takes its course and claims the corpses for the soil, the only evidence that they were ever here will have been the small wooden hut they constructed.

I wonder, if this shield was taken "from the divines" as Lonelythrall said, then could this blistering metal have something to do with the blistering Obin Blight that has plagued this land? I don't trust the current druid of our realms, but I will consult him nonetheless. I doubt he wants to deal with the risk of the blight spreading to our mutant population. It's gonna be a long trek north...

3rd of Timber

I had heard rumors of bandits occupying the hamlet of Mossmatched far to the east, but when I went to investigate I found an occupying force of goblins instead. I didn't stick around to let them see me.

(https://i.imgur.com/JBHoZZ7.png)

4th of Timber

I've found the fortress of Waterdeep, again with the directions given to me by Princesspage. This place is still bustling with life, unlike many of the fortresses I've visited before. The dwarves tell me that they built this fortress as a monument to their gods, and in doing so they've made an impressive shrine at the top of a waterfall which is the main source of water for a massive river that gives life to many other nations.

(https://imgur.com/FNlQwpl.png) (We're 12 levels off the ground!)

Strangely enough, I could not find a path to the underground, nor did I find evidence of metalworking amongst these dwarves. The entire, fortified structure was built from the same stone quarried to make a massive moat around the fortress.

5th of Timber

On our way west, we ran into a goblin patrol. One of them cut off Beakie's right wing with an axe, and she bled to death not long afterwards. The patrol was small, so the rest of us avenged her. Even when I leave the forest behind, my friends are still murdered by these fiends!

(https://imgur.com/O6lva3f.png)(Blood flows and mixes into the stream.)

We ran into another patrol. Bilalo is dead now. The goblins are crawling everywhere around here. In the evening, my other two companions and I ambushed two other patrols, wiping them out.

6th of Timber

Ambushed another three patrols. I had planned on letting one goblin live after giving them my name, but then they attacked after surrendering so I had decided to put them all down.

7th of Timber

Ambushed a group of goblins that included their general, Utes Hellmute. I ran down her bodyguard and cornered her. She refused to tell me her plans so I gouged her eyes out and left her alone in the forest.

(https://imgur.com/GjuL1Eu.png)

As I reflect on this and my recent encounter with the blight, I realize that sometimes you just have to take matters into your own hands.

11th of Timber

Spent a few days trekking through the mountains, only to run into (and through) more goblin filth. It's almost like they're being bred for the express purpose of dying in battle, because I found a group of unarmed and unarmored recruits attempting to fight alongside actual soldiers. They also had some sort of priest following the group. I've noticed someone in similar dress when I saw the army a week ago. My companion Betra fled like a coward rather than face the encamped enemy with me, only to return after I've already won the battle. I let him know that he need not follow me any longer.

14th of Timber

I am nearly home. But then I heard a howling on the wind. Just as my journey began, so does it end. My final companion, Cusith, was strangled to death by a howling freak. It never released its grip on his neck even as I stabbed it again and again, until his life left his eyes. Then it broke my fucking ankle before bleeding to death.

16th of Timber

I have made it to the eastern forests of my homeland, all alone. I've made my case to the druid and he seems willing to see if Cacame could help with this worldly blight. Winter is upon us soon, and there will be much work that needs to be done. Besides that, I must rest my ankle. It may be a long time before I can go out in the world again, because I'll need time to garner support for my cause. Despite all the evils of the world, I'm sure that the turn of the millenium will be a shining age of peace and prosperity.

Now... Where do I begin?

RIP to my homies. I'll have the save uploaded tomorrow morning.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Unraveller on March 31, 2022, 12:03:48 am

Ahh! Now I definitely wish to see Yawo return in a future turn and see just how they intend to further bring prosperity to the Squeezing Fords. Heck, It'd be pretty sweet if they became a druid themselves in the meantime. I really do enjoy Orid Xem as seen through the eyes of the adventures who aren't unstoppable murder machines, though I'm sure Yawo became fairly experienced regardless.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on March 31, 2022, 03:25:16 am

Great story dude. Are you making a fort?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on March 31, 2022, 03:26:02 am

I really enjoyed reading about your adventures Tonnot. Some legendary stuff happened as well, like that undead dropping 47 levels to his death.
Nice museum submission too.

Quote from: tonnot98 on March 28, 2022, 07:52:04 pm

I finally made it to Herograves. As much as it pains me to see yet another wooden fortress, I felt chills as I stepped inside. It certainly wasn't the cold, either. On a bridge crossing the river that runs through the fort, two humans clad in blue metal were sparring with weapons of a similar make. They moved faster than even my elven eyes could process, every move a blur and it felt that I was hearing the clashing of their weapons three strikes too late. I approached them and made my presence known, and they both stopped mid-stroke, frozen in place and slowly turned to face me. They hadn't said a word, so I tried asking them about their strange weapons and armor. No response. Sweating, hoping not to make a fool of myself, or worse, I pointed out that one of the humans had two such swords and offered to buy it off of him with the collection of gemstones and jewlery I picked from the ruins of Relicward. At the mention of that fortress, an elf dressed in similar armament stomped up to me as the other two broke their pose. The trio stared at me with a cold, unfeeling glare. As detached as they seemed, they must've thought my naiveté was amusing. "Who is this bumbling fool? Doesn't he know who we are? What we've done? The amount of blood we've spilled with the very weapon he offers to buy?" Something like that, I'm sure. Not a word was spoken between these three blue knights, but I had enough wit to tell that they'd prefer I left.

Was this Herograves or the Shelter of Adventurers? The description makes it sound like this was the Shelter, the two sites are quite close on the map.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Quantum Drop on March 31, 2022, 03:39:39 am

That was a great turn, Tonnot! Really enjoyed reading through your story; hope Yawo returns at a later date to continue it.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: tonnot98 on March 31, 2022, 08:54:32 am

Quote from: Unraveller on March 31, 2022, 12:03:48 am

Ahh! Now I definitely wish to see Yawo return in a future turn and see just how they intend to further bring prosperity to the Squeezing Fords. Heck, It'd be pretty sweet if they became a druid themselves in the meantime. I really do enjoy Orid Xem as seen through the eyes of the adventures who aren't unstoppable murder machines, though I'm sure Yawo became fairly experienced regardless.

Advancing into elven nobility is gonna be a lot harder than advancing into dwarven or human nobility, but two people have been made kings already, so who knows? Also I was only competent in spears for the longest time until I decided to avenge Beakie, and it's not like goblins are too dangerous unless you're outnumbered.

Quote from: kesperan on March 31, 2022, 03:25:16 am

Great story dude. Are you making a fort?

Nnope, no time. I like to try and dedicate the majority of my week to fortress-making if I'm gonna bother, so I can make it past like year 5 or something.

Quote from: Bralbaard on March 31, 2022, 03:26:02 am

Was this Herograves or the Shelter of Adventurers? The description makes it sound like this was the Shelter, the two sites are quite close on the map.

...that explains why I didn't find the graveyard.

Anyway, sign me up again!
(https://c.tenor.com/mBLX9j5CuMIAAAAM/thor-another.gif)

Here's the save: https://dffd.bay12games.com/file.php?id=15874

Also, also... I looked at the post-turn populations and The Squeezing Ford went from 636 elves to 322. I have no idea how this happened!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Unraveller on March 31, 2022, 09:01:12 am

Possibly because much of the Squeezing Ford hasn't been loaded/explored in a while if I had to guess? It seems the elves are facing a potential crisis.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: tonnot98 on March 31, 2022, 09:15:13 am

Oh dear, does that mean the Silver Plague has reached the northern forests?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on March 31, 2022, 10:11:28 am

Spoiler: Before turn 76 Civ Pop (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/FWa5nTj.jpg)

Spoiler: After turn 76 Civ Pop (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/YcyvLPt.jpg)

Spoiler: Ancientknowlege (click to show/hide)

I didn't know a retired fortress would continue to write books, looks like the library continues to grow (https://i.imgur.com/VrsC1id.jpg)

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Quantum Drop on March 31, 2022, 10:46:53 am

That's a pretty steep drop - just under half of the total elven population of The Squeezing Fjords. Doesn't exactly bode well for their future, but it certainly opens up a whole range of storytelling possibilities!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on March 31, 2022, 10:49:27 am

The elfs are going the way of the hydra. In a few hundred years time, "oh yes, the tall humans. They once lived in the forest amongst nature".

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on March 31, 2022, 11:04:33 am

As I pointed in part posts, their only saving grace is that they reclaimed all those sites in the 8th century, the only civ to do so alongside Adilatir. This is great for them because the game occasionally adds a named historical elf every few years or perhaps even more often. They'll survive unless a player goes after them through adventurers (which has played a big part of their number dropping until now), fortress mode conquering their sites or the other civilizations eye their sites... though why they'd want them, I can't fathom. I'd say realistically only Mong Uthros, who's already at was with them and who had historical clashes, might try that, but they've had those 708-709 massacres through wars from the goblins.

---

I've noticed through the save some other interesting things. I don't know if it's been noticed, but Dur Badu might be legitimately extinct, with the last King Beksur Pumikega (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Beksur_Pumikega) dying in 814, taking all the other civ's titles with him. Then again, this is the third time the civ had this happen, having two other gaps between Law-Givers, one rivaling Nomal Alis.

---

If he lives long enough and so does the game, Avolition might end up the King of 5 civilizations, including Omon Obin, Adilatir, The Most Sin and The Creamy Confederacy, since he's somehow become member of all of them (I suspect the often retire and unretire in different sites added him to all these civs) and the game might give a character concomitant titles in each civilization.

---

No movement on Moldath so far, I find this actually weird. I suppose not enough time was spent between turns that events could proceed.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on March 31, 2022, 11:32:22 am

Its interesting to see what will happen to the elfs before the year 1000.

Ah i see that Beksur has finally croaked. Could be a free title there, not sure it works like that but retiring at one of their sites might make you a member and thus instantly jump the hoops to lawgiver. Additionally assuming identity might do that too.

Oh yeah, that is a possibility. Will be interesting to see if i do. Might have to join the The Squeezing Fords. Will be interesting to see if Adilatir gets another adventurer ruler. They certainly have a fine selection of nobles. Could even go to a reptile or wolf man, that would be interesting. We will see soon as Lorbam is starting to get up there in age at best another 47 years.

It might be a while before he moves again. Just waiting for someone to notice he is ageless.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: tonnot98 on March 31, 2022, 11:50:42 am

Quote from: AvolitionBrit on March 31, 2022, 11:32:22 am

Just waiting for someone to notice he is ageless.

"We've had this king for a while, isn't that weird?"
"Like no one's killed him yet?"
"No no, like he's older than all the other kings."
"Because no one k-"
"NO, I think he might be ageless or something."
"Wait I thought all lobsters were ageless!"
"...He's a scorpion man."
"What's a scorpion if not a land lobster?"

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Unraveller on March 31, 2022, 12:40:55 pm

Quote from: Lurker Z on March 31, 2022, 11:04:33 am

Snip

A reality where at best three elves live in each of their sites, or worse, many remain completely empty, certainly doesn't feel like days of glory, haha. Elves're starting to look like fairy tale beings if ya'ask me.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on March 31, 2022, 02:06:35 pm

Quote from: Lurker Z on March 31, 2022, 11:04:33 am

No movement on Moldath so far, I find this actually weird. I suppose not enough time was spent between turns that events could proceed.

That’s good news. Means he hasn’t died yet. He’s so fragile. I worry about him…

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on March 31, 2022, 05:32:29 pm

Quote from: tonnot98 on March 30, 2022, 11:36:27 pm

16th of Timber

I have made it to the eastern forests of my homeland, all alone. I've made my case to the druid and he seems willing to see if Cacame could help with this worldly blight. Winter is upon us soon, and there will be much work that needs to be done. Besides that, I must rest my ankle. It may be a long time before I can go out in the world again, because I'll need time to garner support for my cause. Despite all the evils of the world, I'm sure that the turn of the millenium will be a shining age of peace and prosperity.

Now... Where do I begin?

That was bitter-sweet. On the one hand, he survived. On the other, he lost all his companions, most permanently, one to cowardice and low-key betrayal. On the other, he met Lonelythrall, which is awesome. Is the fort you found a player one killed by a single blighted thrall? Damn, you were lucky he didn't infect you.

Also, surprisingly positive attitude considering the discussion going on in this thread and the 300 elves left of the original near-2000. I do wonder what happened, I don't believe it's related to the "sites not being logged anymore", I think it's the opposite, just like the adventurers wandering through Omon Obin erased the abstract population, the same is happening here.

Quote from: kesperan on March 31, 2022, 02:06:35 pm

That’s good news. Means he hasn’t died yet. He’s so fragile. I worry about him…

My theory is that his state is... let's go with "fluctuating". Have you tried unretiring him in a test save? My theory is he'll be back either to yellow on all limbs or to whatever state you left him in adventure mode.

Quote from: Unraveller on March 31, 2022, 12:40:55 pm

A reality where at best three elves live in each of their sites, or worse, many remain completely empty, certainly doesn't feel like days of glory, haha. Elves're starting to look like fairy tale beings if ya'ask me.

They're keeping their sites and their tenuous control over the cradle of their civilization, the north-east part of the world. That's more that you can say for, say, Dur Badu, who's lost all its sites to megabeasts and those sites were absorbed peacefully by Omon Obin, practically killed the civilization.

Speaking of Dur Badu, another indication that it's truly dead is that you can't have a human adventurer from there. I wonder if you, though it looks like you couldn't have one at the end of the first turn, either. Hm, I might experiment, I can use DFHack to give characters different civilizations than their original, I wonder if that can respark a civ, or going to one of their sites and mounting an insurrection in favor of an old dead civ's group...

Quote from: tonnot98 on March 31, 2022, 11:50:42 am

Quote from: AvolitionBrit on March 31, 2022, 11:32:22 am

Just waiting for someone to notice he is ageless.

"We've had this king for a while, isn't that weird?"
"Like no one's killed him yet?"
"No no, like he's older than all the other kings."
"Because no one k-"
"NO, I think he might be ageless or something."
"Wait I thought all lobsters were ageless!"
"...He's a scorpion man."
"What's a scorpion if not a land lobster?"

Reminder that Bralbaard was called as King as an intelligent undead by the civilization from which the greatest necromancer in the world rose. Though that makes me wonder how many know their King was undead, Kikrost certainly did by the letter I "transcribed", but then again Kikrost was positively fascinated by immortality himself and sought it in all forms.

My point is if anyone would even care, also it's a rump state with 79 goblins and no humans, now that I look at it all congregated in what appears to be the capital Fedemesme and the goblins attract more goblins to settle there. There goes my theory that as long a civ survive, its original race will repopulate its sites, looks like the surviving race in a civilization is going to rule it forever, or at least until some takes some drastic measures. Maybe using the adventurer start points to start a rival race breeding population?

Quote from: AvolitionBrit on March 31, 2022, 11:32:22 am

It might be a while before he moves again. Just waiting for someone to notice he is ageless.

Does anyone care about ageless after World Activation? From what I know, if you time it right in World Generation and stop it before chosen necromancers are discovered, they'll remain part of their civ until the end of time (unless something unforseen happens, like they're killed, imprisoned, their civ is destroyed etc.)

Quote from: AvolitionBrit on March 31, 2022, 11:32:22 am

Ah i see that Beksur has finally croaked. Could be a free title there, not sure it works like that but retiring at one of their sites might make you a member and thus instantly jump the hoops to lawgiver. Additionally assuming identity might do that too.

Interesting theories. I was thinking of giving a char or more the Dur Badu civilization ID via DF Hack so they'd put on an insurrection.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on March 31, 2022, 05:44:15 pm

A civilization of gremlins seems viable.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on March 31, 2022, 06:18:06 pm

Quote from: Lurker Z on March 31, 2022, 05:32:29 pm

Quote from: kesperan on March 31, 2022, 02:06:35 pm

That’s good news. Means he hasn’t died yet. He’s so fragile. I worry about him…

My theory is that his state is... let's go with "fluctuating". Have you tried unretiring him in a test save? My theory is he'll be back either to yellow on all limbs or to whatever state you left him in adventure mode.

Well, it’s all a bit unpredictable and to be honest there’s 9 other players to have their turns before I’m up again, even if I did want to wheel out Moldath again. We could potentially be in the 920s by then. We will see what happens!

Hopefully he will just chill out as Broker and nobody will try to kill him in the meantime…

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Unraveller on March 31, 2022, 08:06:36 pm

Truly Kasperan, the waiting is the hardest part. I'm kicking myself for not getting back on the turn list until after I actually finished Amala's write-up. Haha.

But the waiting isn't a loss, I truly do love reading everything and deep diving into this one particular world with you all. For me, it's such an incredibly compelling way to experience Dwarf Fortress, and I daresay this is the only place to get it. In this form at least.

I'm hoping the tale I wish to tell will still be viable by then, but that'll only be if Omon Obin is still plagued with the blight by then. Which I suppose isn't too unlikely, unless someone takes one of the war-god adventures and cleans up the world. Which is similarly not too unlikely, hehehe.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: tonnot98 on March 31, 2022, 11:03:51 pm

Quote from: Unraveller on March 31, 2022, 08:06:36 pm

But the waiting isn't a loss, I truly do love reading everything and deep diving into this one particular world with you all. For me, it's such an incredibly compelling way to experience Dwarf Fortress, and I daresay this is the only place to get it. In this form at least.

Hear hear! Almost 200 years of shared history between so many people. Whether a character lived for a day or a fortress survived a decade, we've all added to the annals of history together. I can only hope that some truly amazing adventure mode succession game ideas will follow the future arcs of Dwarf Fortress. Imagine what kind of shenanigans we could get up to with a more robust magic system? Or if we could truly lead a nation?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Unraveller on April 01, 2022, 04:34:31 pm

I know the majority likely only care for Fortress mode, but I do hope that doesn't keep Toady from fleshing out more adv mode mechanics in the future. But of course, the further we go on the more and more blended these two things become.

I see WonderPsycho hasn't been on in a couple weeks, hopefully they check in soon!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on April 01, 2022, 06:26:58 pm

Last active 17th of March, doesnt look good.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on April 02, 2022, 02:25:29 am

Quote from: Unraveller on April 01, 2022, 04:34:31 pm

I know the majority likely only care for Fortress mode, but I do hope that doesn't keep Toady from fleshing out more adv mode mechanics in the future. But of course, the further we go on the more and more blended these two things become.

There was a discussion on the development roadmap (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf//index.php?topic=174112.msg8354566#msg8354566) that is cause for concern, apparently adventure mode may very well not make it into the first steam release. emphasis in the post below is mine.

Quote from: kitfoxgames on February 23, 2022, 01:27:30 pm

Steam Community Update 23 February 2022: Release Roadmap
https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/975370/view/3099043827445055732  (https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/975370/view/3099043827445055732)

Hello!

Work has now progressed to the point that we feel like we can share a plan for the next several months of development, all the way up to the release. It has been a long road of course, and I'm sorry it has taken so much time to get to this point, but as it turns out there was an awful lot of stuff to do ha ha. And there's still quite a bit left to go.

We need to maintain some flexibility to react to feedback or emerging circumstances, so the following can't be set in stone. But hopefully it offers something of an idea about what's up. I know there are various levels of patience out there. All we can do is keep at it and try to plan the next steps carefully.

Here's the rough roadmap:

1. Finish the menus that haven't been upgraded yet. These include the graphics and layout for justice, health, diplomacy, and hauling. These aren't small tasks; each will take weeks. I'll also be working with Jacob during this period on the sprites we need to update throughout the project. He submitted the new weapons recently, for instance, and I also got a new batch of music from the composer. It's important to get these things incorporated in a timely fashion so everybody can keep working.

2. As the menus are finished, and the graphics updates are completed, we'll move on to some important interface and usability improvements (tooltips everywhere, Xs to close windows, hotkey support, etc). Some of these can be done fairly quickly, but a few are chunky additions, and there are lots of them to do. After this part is done, the game should be much easier to get into. At the same time, we'll also be continuing to add graphics (flows, the ocean and beach, some more shadows, etc.)

3. All this time, of course, we've been fixing old bugs and making new bugs and fixing them, and here we'll need to focus and spend some quality time with them, so that we have as smooth a launch as possible.

4. We're not sure what level of Steam Workshop will be needed for modding support, and it needs investigation.

5. The old ASCII version has other game modes - Adventure mode, Legends mode, and Arena mode. We've made significant progress on Legends mode, but we haven't done anything with Adventure mode and Arena mode yet. We also have the Classic ASCII mode to support, and we are also working on Mac and Linux builds.

6. There's the matter of Steam achievements and the other various Steam features. We'd like to support whatever people are into here, eventually.

When we finish the first three points, we'll have the playable fort game on Windows. The path ahead is now shorter than the path behind, and looking at the amount of graphics left to produce and the amount of menus to update, it looks like our earliest possible launch date would be in the fall. Many of the things from #5 or #6 will delay the launch significantly, and this leads to some very hard questions indeed! I know most of you want us to launch the game as soon as it is feasible, so we've been thinking about what it might look like to do some of #5 or #6 post-launch.

We'd been hoping to have more of these later items done faster, of course, but a few things happened. Well, 2020 and 2021 happened, ha ha. Also, my original plan for how Classic mode might be implemented has only partially panned out. I made an ASCII friendly interface layer, which'll be a great help, but I underestimated how long it would take to retool all of the smaller clickable buttons into an ASCII-friendly state. A few menus will need to be redone from scratch, and my current thinking is that doing ASCII versions of the menus alone would take a few months. I'd mostly been accounting for keeping and adapting the ASCII glyphs we already had in place, with some alterations to support for example the ability to see multiple Z levels, but the menus have changed so much it's now a much larger project. The hard question then is do we want to delay the initial release to do this? Or launch, and then do the free update after.

Adventure mode is straightforward in its way. I don't expect it'll have many real development gotchas, but it does have dozens of menus, some of them quite complex. So similarly, that'll be months of work to complete. It's an important part of the game and has figured into some of the most well-known DF community stories, but it's also separate enough from Fortress mode that we can conceive of letting people get their hands on fort mode first. Again, delay or launch?

We'll be pondering this and considering feedback. We'll eventually get to everything; it's just a matter of the best order to do things, with a different right answer for different players, frustratingly enough! I'm grateful for how patient people have been in general, especially with everything going on, and thankful for the support we've gotten from the community and Kitfox as we try to get this initial release together.

We'll continue to keep you posted with regular news updates.

-Tarn

That would mean we may very well be stuck with this world for several years before we can move to a DF version with new adventure mode mechanics and content. I like how Toady does acknowledge the existence of adventure mode succession games and their importance though  :).
Also I'm still enjoying myself here in Orid Xem, imagine what it could be in say, two years time..

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on April 02, 2022, 03:49:07 am

Yeah, thats a shame as it is a big part of the game but im sure it will get there. Plus like you said we still have Orid Xem, honestly would be cool to see if this world can make it another two years. So much story telling potential. Also if wonder is still a no show, looks like your up Bralbaard. Interested to see what character or characters you create.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on April 02, 2022, 05:44:48 am

I won't be able to pick it up before monday, so let's give Wonderpsycho a few more days to respond.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on April 02, 2022, 06:04:29 pm

Quote from: Bralbaard on April 02, 2022, 02:25:29 am

I like how Toady does acknowledge the existence of adventure mode succession games and their importance though  :)

I am pretty sure we are the only adventure mode succession game in the Hall of Legends? Well, us and Epic Adventure at the Start of Time, which is pretty cool. It does make me grin to think of Toady reading the exploits of our adventurers!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Paaaad on April 02, 2022, 10:47:14 pm

Huh. I was looking at some of the various leaders the world has seen, and I found one Sutar Taxedpuzzle. Dude was Law Giver of Oman Obin from the 5th of Moonstone 779, as well as Sacred Zeal of The Persuasive Faith from the 25th of Malachite 756, to the 17th of Opal 802, when he was killed by a human necro named Erab Boltedgill (His page indicates him being infected by Kosoth, struck down by Galka, and some relationship with Lurker Lockingkingdom (visual). Oddly, no indication of his actually being a necromancer.). Odd thing is the first entry on his page is him getting bitten by Raki the 23rd of Slate 746. The dude became a noble AFTER becoming a weremammoth! Excuse me, but what? I thought people were supposed to run into the wilds after getting turned into a werebeast.

Sutar is also the only leader to have been so cursed, either before or after elevation.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Unraveller on April 03, 2022, 12:03:01 am

Legends Viewer doesn't differentiate the spawns of necromancers like our blighted thralls or intelligent undead. The 'necromancer' that killed Sutar after Galka arrived in Entrancegrapes was a blighted thrall who attained a position of power after being infected.

Despite the infection, they remain citizens of their nations, the whole  'opposed to life' thing only appears to be relevant when loaded in the current game, while they're in the background they seem to act as anyone else. So entering the castle led to the thrall to immediately attack and kill Sutar when it came down some stairs.

Speaking of Sutar, if I had to guess, some of the same logic applies to werebeasts, but rather,  that the only werebeasts that live in the wilds are ones that were created during worldgen. Hence why they remained a member of society. Though that's conjecture.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on April 03, 2022, 06:02:02 am

Sutar (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Sutar_Lutonecar?so=search) has an article on the wiki, by the way. I've wanted to stay on top of Monarchs of official civilizations at least from the beginning of the 8th century forward, so a lot, if not most of them have articles.

Unraveller, that's basically accurate. World Activation, for all its improvement over the 0.34 versions (which didn't have it) still lacks events that exist in World Generation. Werebeasts, even those of worldgen, never rampage anymore after World Activation. Take for example Urwa Nihdesana (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Urwa_Nihdesana), exiled prince of the Abowba (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Ikar Abowba) dynasty. He got infected in worldgen and declared an enemy of Omon Obin, but never rampaged after world activation and died peacefully of old age. Uja (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Uja Kusutbepa) too, despite being turned into a vampire and surviving for a few decades like that, has 0 kills and if she had any, they would have been as a directly confrontation with an adventurer of the Museum.

In that same vein, megabeasts stop rampaging, except in Fortress Mode. The things that happen in World Activation are marriages, births, wars and ascensions to noble positions, as well as moving from one place to another to fulfill those noble obligations or of scholars to visit even outside Fortress Mode. I think even entertainment troupes stop their activities, though I may be wrong. Necromancers are not "suspected of not aging" or at least, they're not driven out because of it. One thing that happens, as proven with Uja, is that once a ruler of a group - bar religion - is confronted with being a night creature, they immediately lose their title. Not their religious title, of course. Religions don't care about trifle things like being a necromancer, vampire, werebeast, generic undead etc. In fact, I'm pretty sure in these worlds if a creature would be revealed to a be a world-destroying eldritch abomination like Cthulhu and they'd be part of a religion, the religion would just shrug and say all are welcome anyway. I'm leaning to this being a bug, but whether intended or not, it makes the world a lot more grimdark (and thralls a lot more troublesome as they keep being moved through settlements at their ascension to a noble/religious position).

Yes, sadly, Legends Viewer sees blighted thralls simply as "necromancers". However, it does distinguish necromancer experiments as their own race (example, Hands of Planegifts) and undead as "SECRET_UNDEAD" or something of the sort rather than lumping them with necromancers.

---

Speaking of royals, finally got around to making an article for Ago (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Ago_Cocuewom), current

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

blighted thrall

Law-Giver of Omon Obin.

---

The last living dwarf of Datanduthnur (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Datanduthnur), The Iron-Guard, the first player fortress of Orid Xem, Tobul Mistêmâtastdied (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/House_Uzolkeskal-Vabôkurem#Tobul_Mistêmâtast) died in 847 (born 696) of old age. However, there is a blighted one who came back from the dead and even now stalks the capital.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Maloy on April 03, 2022, 06:29:31 pm

That sounds like those interesting things we learn from playing a world so very long

I think most worlds you generally stop playing before you can start seeing the "cracks" or all those things that aren't happening now post-generation

This one is fascinating to watch for that reason

I wonder if at some point in the long future this will get even more oriented of player characters fighting each other and such?

If I become a werebeast I'll be sure to rampage for all!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Eric Blank on April 03, 2022, 06:42:51 pm

It's almost tempting to go on a werejackal rampage tbh

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Unraveller on April 03, 2022, 06:52:29 pm

I'm personally not against a type of adventurer v adventurer action going on. Especially if a player wants to set their character up for it, like the aforementioned werebeast on a rampage. But of course, only if it's 100% consensual.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on April 04, 2022, 09:49:15 am

Allright, no response from Wonderpsycho, I'll get started on my turn.

Quite a few obligations this week and I've also started a new job today, so time will be limited. 
It should be plenty for the ideas I discussed earlier.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on April 04, 2022, 01:12:50 pm

I see we have both started new jobs. Best of luck in your new role. Good luck with the world.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on April 04, 2022, 04:34:18 pm

Quote from: Bralbaard on April 04, 2022, 09:49:15 am

It should be plenty for the ideas I discussed earlier.

Oh, intriguing! Are you going to reclaim Treatyseed? Good luck with the new job, and the turn!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on April 05, 2022, 04:36:32 pm

Interesting little tidbit, Imic's killer (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Unlo_Oddoosmoz) is still alive and kicking, last sighted in a gob-on-gob war in 859. Since he last killed Imic, he's become a war veteran, participating in 14 battles.

Spoiler: image (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/OtVCC98.png)

No other kills or epithet (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Category:Creatures_with_epithets) gained though.

---

Good luck to Bralbaard in his turn. I hope he takes on cleaning Ilrallenod with all the epicness and drama that might come of it, but no pressure. If he can't manage, maybe someone else or even I'll try it.

Quote from: Maloy on April 03, 2022, 06:29:31 pm

That sounds like those interesting things we learn from playing a world so very long

I think most worlds you generally stop playing before you can start seeing the "cracks" or all those things that aren't happening now post-generation

This one is fascinating to watch for that reason

I wonder if at some point in the long future this will get even more oriented of player characters fighting each other and such?

NPC'd adventurers fighting each other? That'd be great. It looks like being undead increases a creature's chances to wander the world and even encounter other undead and duel it out. Evala (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Evala_Mifavaafuni), an undead and an adventurer slayer himself, got killed twice by two such wandering undead.

Well, to be fair, that did happen in Mudungudon, there we saw the world breaking down in other interesting ways than this one, with entire towns depopulated of their mortal population by the mere presence of adventurers, mortals being finally allow to die of old age in a static world. Even if the technical possibilities at that time made it janky, the first fort of Mudungudon had this same fate, except some original dwarves survived by virtue of not being in the range of a wandering adventurer. Two to be exact (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Etomtholtig). We also can see this because the first Orid Xem fort died with the overseer (was it Bralbaard?) sending the survivors away, most of which were scooped up as Barons, Counts, etc. for a territorial large but underpopulated Adilatir. On the other hand, it's going to be hard to see what happens with a merely retired fort, where does "original inhabitants" stop that we can trace them and say how many lived throughout the centuries?

---

I've been looking through the "battles" that made Unlo a war veteran and I've found a few things. The first "battle" was not part of any war, which surprised me. Looking further, the "attacker" was part of the civ that claims the site. So I wonder what's going on. Scrolling through the attacker's LV page, I find

Quote

Entity Reputations
◾The Tar-disloyalty of Fate of  The Knowing Deceiver: ◾Treasure Hunter: 500%

So it appears the "attacker" was in fact an NPC adventurer  who wanted what the site was holding, presumably got caught and killed in the melee.

The other battles so far appears to be scoutings from Nusmzolak, which prompts the question: how do they justify in-game giving the scoutings such ridiculous names as, for example, The Crazy Onslaught.

G(oblin) 1: Hey man, I heard you were part of an awesome-sounding battle called The Crazy Onslaught. Tell me all about it.
G2: Well, alright.

Quote

In 719, midsummer, (19th of Malachite)  The Most Sin attacked The Tar-disloyalty of Fate of  The Knowing Deceiver at Dreadruled. Leader of the attack was the goblin Mato Wickedstrike, and the defenders were led by the goblin Olngo Hateddies the Fell Band of Fighting during The Crazy Onslaught as part of The Barbarous Conflict.

In 719, midsummer, (19th of Malachite) the goblin Olngo Hateddies the Fell Band of Fighting entirely outwitted the goblin Mato Wickedstrike, and the defenders had a strong positional advantage in Dreadruled during The Crazy Onslaught as part of The Barbarous Conflict.

In 719, midsummer, (19th of Malachite) the goblin Mato Wickedstrike was imprisoned by The Tar-disloyalty of Fate during The Crazy Onslaught as part of The Barbarous Conflict.

G1's eyes sparkle: Wow, man, that must have been a great General! How many troops did she have with her? At least a dozen, right?
G2: None.
G1: What?
G2: It was just her alone, sneaking around until we caught her and put her in the dungeon.
G1: But... but... you just said... the outwitting and... and...
G2: What can I say? That's how it was written in the history books *shrugs*.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: WonderPsycho on April 05, 2022, 10:13:03 pm

oh god i missed it again i am so sorry, i again got tangled up again on some other stuff along with a ss13 feature i was working on for a ss13 server i am a mentor for so sorry i missed my turn again

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on April 05, 2022, 10:51:58 pm

Maybe Bralbaard could let you get your turn after his, as a sort of a swap? It's unfortunate to miss your turn by a day or two. I'm for it, if no one else minds. It's supposed to be your first turn ever too, right?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on April 06, 2022, 12:55:39 am

That is fine with me, I'll add it to the list.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on April 06, 2022, 05:49:28 am

Trade sounds good to me.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: WonderPsycho on April 06, 2022, 12:19:09 pm

actually i decided i am not gonna hop on just yet, i'll watch for now, cause i don't think i am fully free yet as i am working on some scripts for some videos i am working on

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: WonderPsycho on April 06, 2022, 12:27:06 pm

oh wait too late i am already on the list but i am next you know what i'll try this out i changed my mind, this time i won't miss it

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on April 06, 2022, 02:53:25 pm

I will put the save up for you on monday, if that helps in planning.
As for my adventure, it is not the Treatyseed thing, I don't think I'd be up for a task that daunting.
It is something different from the regular adventures though, and we have discussed it before. Here we go.

------------------------
 

Can Mischief save the world??
by Midas Squarewheel, head ecologist of the museum.

Dear reader. Before you lie the incoherent writings of Midas Squarewheel, the new head ecologist of the museum. I am but a simple scientist, and my deeds may not amount to much, but I feel it is important to put them to paper. The world needs to be saved after all, and if I fail, others may read this and prove to be more successful. 

Recently the museum has made some funds available to hire an ecologist. They ended up hiring me for the job,  Midas Squarewheel, in most aspects a fairly average human. I fear that if they had hired an elf, he would have gone mad within days, due to the current state of things.
In fact, because of the current situation I can only assume that the museum must have hired an ecologist out of a feeling of guilt as the effects that the museum itself has had on the world’s ecology are nothing short of catastrophic.

In the Third Age of Myth and before the world had a thriving ecosystem, with megabeasts as top predators, living together with many other creatures in an intricate web of relationships. The adventurers have destroyed all that, by killing every last megabeast and by unleashing terrible plagues on the land.
I’ve heard all the excuses. They say that we are better off without the Dragons, Rocs and Hydras, they claim it is well known they killed people on their rampages. But the truth of the matter is that by removing the top predators, the whole ecosystem becomes unbalanced and will collapse. The data shows this clearly: every other population, even that of all sentient races has been in decline over the last centuries. Mass extinctions are everywhere. The Golden Age is not truly golden, it is an age of rot and decline. If nothing is done to stop this we will end up in an Age of Death. The rate at which the intelligent races are dying is far in excess from the few sentients that fell to megabeast raids in the early ages:

(https://i.imgur.com/KKGAOMi.gif)

Even the dwarves that initially seemed to profit from the decline of the others have been in a steady decline over the last hundred years.

Raki, the mad monkey king was the first to recognize these facts. This was still in an early stage, well over a century ago. If only his reaction had been different. He chose a path of revenge and destruction and only ended up making things worse.
No, to save the world we have to heal it. We have to reintroduce key species to stabilise the ecosystem. The megabeasts however can no longer be saved. The last have died. Necromancy is no cure, it is a curse that will only make things worse. Our only option is to look at important species that are at the brink of extinction now, and try to save them, that way we can stop the decline, and maybe we can turn it back around.

This line of reasoning brought me to the gremlin.
Yes the gremlin, one of the most remarkable creatures that used to live in our realm. They were by far the smallest of the sentient creatures, even a moth man or a kobold stand at twice the height of a gremlin.
(https://i.imgur.com/kZJlVZ1.gif)
They are well known for their mischief and their stealth. Despite their size a single gremlin could bring a whole dwarven fortresses to ruin by pulling the right lever. Their cleverness and unique features were an important balancing force in the ecosystem of Orid Xem, but today they are all but gone. Rumours exist of populations deep below the world, but they are just rumours. Official counts tell us that today, only one Gremlin remains in the world, in the Teal Pit, a cave on the inaccessible “Dreamy Island”. I had therefore abandoned all hope that the species could be saved.

(https://i.imgur.com/s4W1UpW.gif)

Untill one day an old man showed up at the museum with a caged gremlin. He told me that despite the fact that this particular gremlin was resistant to sunlight, I should never let it come in contact with water, or feed it after midnight.

I am of course first and foremost a scientist, and curiosity got the better of me. I did both of those things the same night.

Now I am in command of a gremlin horde of 381 gremlins..

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

so when starting as an outsider you can take gremlins as pets for just one Urist per gremlin.
By selling my starting gear I could afford 381 of them. This will be.. interesting.
(https://i.imgur.com/Tjplrxb.gif)

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on April 06, 2022, 03:01:20 pm

The mad man actually did it, he has a horde of gremlins. This is gonna be good.

I can already imagine the endless stream of jokes.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Unraveller on April 06, 2022, 03:20:23 pm

I feel sorry for your FPS. . . I'm so excited to see how many lil' green guys make it to the end of this adventure.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: WonderPsycho on April 06, 2022, 03:26:30 pm

Quote from: Bralbaard on April 06, 2022, 02:53:25 pm

I will put the save up for you on monday, if that helps in planning.
As for my adventure, it is not the Treatyseed thing, I don't think I'd be up for a task that daunting.
It is something different from the regular adventures though, and we have discussed it before. Here we go.

aight cool, good thing i have set my browser to always open up bay12 when i start it up now, so this time i will make sure i won't miss

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: TheFlame52 on April 06, 2022, 05:21:28 pm

This will, without a doubt, be an entertaining turn.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on April 06, 2022, 05:30:43 pm

Quote from: Bralbaard on April 06, 2022, 02:53:25 pm

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Now I am in command of a gremlin horde of 381 gremlins..

---

so when starting as an outsider you can take gremlins as pets for just one Urist per gremlin.
By selling my starting gear I could afford 381 of them. This will be.. interesting.
(https://i.imgur.com/Tjplrxb.gif)

Yikes! Well, happy Easter massacre, everyone!

Hm, I'm curious if they'll throw themselves at player forts with Invasion:on in a frenzy.

Quote from: WonderPsycho on April 06, 2022, 03:26:30 pm

aight cool, good thing i have set my browser to always open up bay12 when i start it up now, so this time i will make sure i won't miss

Yes, that's what I've been doing lately so I can "follow" this thread. This system hasn't let me down yet.

I hope you can make your turn, good luck.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on April 06, 2022, 05:47:24 pm

Quote from: Bralbaard on April 06, 2022, 02:53:25 pm

Official counts tell us that today, only one Gremlin remains in the world, in the Teal Pit, a cave on the inaccessible “Dreamy Island”. I had therefore abandoned all hope that the species could be saved.

Well, that must be "Deem." According to the story, there were four Gremlins on the Dreamy Island, discovered by Tipi Fatewalks (Eric Blank). Gerry drowned. Deem was out hunting. Ferra and Malvo were later encountered by Moldath...

Quote from: Bralbaard on April 06, 2022, 02:53:25 pm

Untill one day an old man showed up at the museum with a caged gremlin. He told me that despite the fact that this particular gremlin was resistant to sunlight, I should never let it come in contact with water, or feed it after midnight.

Um... in a strange coincidence, that old "man" was Moldath. He brought the blood-drained corpses of Ferra and Malvo back to Boltspumpkin and reanimated them as Dark Ones.

This should be interesting :D

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: WonderPsycho on April 06, 2022, 06:10:36 pm

Quote from: TheFlame52 on April 06, 2022, 05:21:28 pm

This will, without a doubt, be an entertaining turn.

highly agree, i wonder what BralBaard will do next

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Quantum Drop on April 07, 2022, 02:40:19 am

Oh good god, Bralbaard actually went through with it? Assuming FPS death is avoided, this is going to be quite the interesting turn.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on April 07, 2022, 04:46:10 pm

I was at the top floor of the museum when the gremlin multiplication started. Hundreds of gremlins poured down the stairs into the museum. Fascinated by this unexpected development I followed them down. When the gremlins made it to the main hall I got my first chance to observe gremlin behaviour, they started to climb over the museum exhibits, and a few unlucky visitors. 
My mood soured somewhat when I found that one of the visitors was the old man that had sold me the caged gremlin. He looked at me accusingly, said my family would be cursed for ten generations and left, leaving behind a faint smell of decay. Meanwhile gremlins were breaking down the museum. I took out my notebook and started taking notes when the head of the museum staff walked over and said I was fired.

When I packed my stuff I noticed that the gremlins were following me around. Apparently they considered me some kind of leader. I was strangely pleased with myself. This was my chance to save the gremlin race.   A plan formed in my head. I would travel the world, leaving small groups of gremlins behind. They could fill the ruined and empty villages that are everywhere, a first step to heal the world. I started by instructing a small group of six gremlins to stay behind in the museum itself. They would be my official submission to the museum, whether the museum wanted it or not.

After that we travelled to Thiefguild, and we visited the tavern there. The dwarves were happy to accept ten gremlins, apparently they expected they would fit in perfectly in their stealthy organisation. We then travelled to Herograves, where another group was left behind.

I can not say that the journey was easy. At first I was fascinated by gremlin social behaviour. Their interaction exists mostly out of telling each other jokes.

(https://i.imgur.com/ayyEcsA.gif)

The gremlin that tells the best jokes will rise in social standing, and have a better chance of scoring a mate. The effect in a gremlin troupe like this one is that at any one time, dozens of gremlins are trying to outwit eachother by telling a novel joke, and the cacophony of high pitched voices and laughter make it almost impossible to function for outsiders like me. 

(https://i.imgur.com/arMXHYi.gif)

Despite these problems I tried to learn more about the gremlins. Could they handle simple tools? I created a small number of crude stone axes and distributed them to a few gremlins. Then I tried to instruct them in their use. I swung my axe at a raven, batting it out of the air, hoping to teach the gremlins how to hunt, and survive in nature. The effect it had was unexpected. The attack surprised the gremlins, and the telling of jokes ceased immediately.  Suddenly the gremlins were turning on eachother, demanding eachother to yield, and issuing threats. They stopped short of actually doing harm but the mood was extremely tense. It was like half the gremlins, which in a way were animals like the raven, sided with the raven, while the other half took my side. I restrained myself from use of violence and weapons in front of the gremlins for the next part of my journey. The gremlins however had lost their innocence, and would be threatening eachother for days.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

FPS is bad but manageable, the problem is having to click through ten pages of gremlin humor for every step you take.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Maloy on April 07, 2022, 05:27:24 pm

So the museum received a submission of 6 gremlins, a formerly extinct now endangered species, infamous for its thieving?
In the museum filled with many famous and infamous wonders?

Well I, for one, welcome our new gremlin brothers!

Also respect to how much tedium you have to endure in this turn. Your sacrifice is appreciated

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on April 07, 2022, 07:15:20 pm

Quote from: Bralbaard on April 07, 2022, 04:46:10 pm

I swung my axe at a raven, batting it out of the air, hoping to teach the gremlins how to hunt, and survive in nature. The effect it had was unexpected. The attack surprised the gremlins, and the telling of jokes ceased immediately.  Suddenly the gremlins were turning on eachother, demanding eachother to yield, and issuing threats. They stopped short of actually doing harm but the mood was extremely tense. It was like half the gremlins, which in a way were animals like the raven, sided with the raven, while the other half took my side. I restrained myself from use of violence and weapons in front of the gremlins for the next part of my journey. The gremlins however had lost their innocence, and would be threatening eachother for days.

Wow, we're verging into new territory here. This in an unexpected bug, but then it's unsurprisingly that something would happen. It's just amazing it hasn't crashed the game yet.

I have to admit, I wasn't expecting much from such an endeavor, but you've got me hooked. Looking forward for more.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: tonnot98 on April 08, 2022, 07:31:30 am

Please for the love of cacame, bring some to the forest retreats! They'd make better neighbors than Hands of Planesgifts!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on April 08, 2022, 10:52:42 am

Quote from: Bralbaard on April 07, 2022, 04:46:10 pm

... leaving behind a faint smell of decay.

Moldath confirmed!

Looking forward to the rest of this story and how the Gremlin horde are going to influence Orid Xem!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on April 09, 2022, 03:18:13 pm

By sprinting ahead of the gremlin pack I can spend at least part of my time outside of hearing range of the goblin jokes, making the journey a lot more pleasant. I have made a worrying discovery however. It appears that the gremlins that I left behind at the museum and other sites have all dissapeared, and I can only conclude they must have been unable to survive without me, or the rest of the gremlin pack. There is no trace of them. 31 gremlins are lost and only 350 remain.

I should have predicted this. It is a common problem when trying to reintroduce species back to the wild. Creatures bred in captivity lack the training and experience necessary to survive in nature, or in this case civilisation, and quickly perish. It was a mistake to abandon them so quickly. I must prepare the other gremlins better, and the only way to do that is by spending a long time training them.

Spoiler: Out of character rambling (click to show/hide)

 They are truly gone, no trace of them when exporting the populations and sites, or when embarking over the sites where I left them behind. I decided to spend some time building a fortress to allow the remaining gremlins to apply for citizenship, which takes two years, maybe that will fix the problems? )

I talked to the dwarves at Waterdeep, a fortress at the source of the Purged Loot. I need them to assist in constructing a fortress for the gremlins, where I can prepare them better for their future. I hate dealing with dwarves, but only they are allowed to build new settlements.
As expected the negotiations went far from smoothly:

“So mr. SquareWheel, you want to make use of our services to build a fortress for you? First of all,  who will be going to live there?”
“The gremlins, and me. There's a lot of gremlins, but they will assist during the construction of the fortress"
“Gremlins?” That is not possible I am afraid”
“What do you mean?“
“We only allow intelligent creatures into our fortresses as inhabitants or visitors. Gremlins are too short, it is well established that you must be this tall to be intelligent” (The dwarf pointed to a height somewhere halfway his beard, indicating the height of a kobold)
I responded angrily: "I’m two heads taller than you, it may be better to drop the argument about heigth and intelligence”
“Stop insulting me, mr SquareWheel! You will have to enter all of the gremlins in the animal category instead. They will not be allowed to work and must at all times behave behave like proper animals.”
“Master dwarf. I did not mean to insult you but we simply need them to work or we will not be able to feed 350 gremlins and provide them with clothing.”
“Clothing!!? Mr Squarewheel you know as well as I do that clothing a gremlin is strictly against regulation DF0.47.05!! We can provide clothing for any creature of a variety of sizes that is listed in the appendix of the regulation, but even though it covers a lot of creatures such as elephant men, undead and even  rodent men, it is clear that gremlins are not listed. We simply can not allow this.  In fact, mr. Squarewheel, I can read your thoughts, and I will assure you that none of the creatures that are listed in the appendix are even remotely as small as the gremlin, so do not even try to work around the rules by seeking a substitute."
 
I finally accepted a deal as I had no other options. According to my calculations it would take two years to uplift the gremlins to full citizenship, at that point they should be able to make their own clothing. After the main contract was done the dwarf handed me an enormous stack of paper sheets. "Please sign a form in triplicate for each gremlin" He demanded. "Without it we can not leave!"

(https://i.imgur.com/OYeZf7P.jpg)

I will spare you the details of my time spend in the dwarven fortress. It was terrible, and a complete failure. The seven dwarves that were assigned to the mission were as strict on the rules as the trader I spoke to earlier, and we simply could not provide enough food for the gremlins. I knew they were carnivores and had assumed that they would happily eat eggs or prepared eggs and had planned accordingly by ordering a large number of turkeys from the trader. In no time we had thousands of eggs. I had ordered the dwarves to work full time in the kitchen to boil those eggs. But the gremlins would only eat raw meat,and did not touch the eggs. The horses and yak cows that were brought along were devoured in no time, and the seven dwarves could simply not work fast enough to butcher the turkeys in time and there were only keas to hunt. The turkeys would also only have lasted a month or two at most. It was simply not possible to feed 350 gremlins with a working population of seven dwarves. I decided to leave with all the gremlins when the situation grew desperate, as I knew they were able to forage for their own food outside in the wilds.

So now I find myself again in the wilds, with a horde of starving, desperate and angry gremlins.   

Spoiler: OOC (click to show/hide)

So as long as I stay with the gremlins they'll be fine, even when retired. I'll adventure a bit more before finding a spot to settle down

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on April 09, 2022, 04:42:20 pm

Genuinely laughing out loud here! This is epic. Those poor turkeys...

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Maloy on April 09, 2022, 06:06:13 pm

You think you could possibly gift groups of them to npcs?

I know its finnicky with them since they simultaneously sapient and animal

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on April 09, 2022, 06:13:44 pm

Quote from: Bralbaard on April 09, 2022, 03:18:13 pm

Spoiler: Out of character rambling (click to show/hide)

 They are truly gone, no trace of them when exporting the populations and sites, or when embarking over the sites where I left them behind. I decided to spend some time building a fortress to allow the remaining gremlins to apply for citizenship, which takes two years, maybe that will fix the problems? )

I'm not surprised, though I apologize for not thinking of mentioning it. I did an alternate universe run with an adventurer in Orid Xem, though I forget at this time for what, retired the world... and the adventurer was gone. Not even in Legends Mode. I think for a character to become a historical figure, they need to do something, even if interacting with an artifact (easier would be a book).

Something else I didn't think would come in handy until now, I remember seeing an unnamed kea (I think in Orid Xem too, in someone else's turn) become a historical figure once it ran off the map with an artifact. So that's one more point on how gremlins leaving the site with an artifact, book, scroll etc. might make them historical figures.

Quote from: Bralbaard on April 09, 2022, 03:18:13 pm

“We only allow intelligent creatures into our fortresses as inhabitants or visitors. Gremlins are too short, it is well established that you must be this tall to be intelligent”

My headcanon is that each fortress has its own rules. They're semi-autonomous states in themselves, with emphasis on the autonomy part. My forts at least welcome animal people unless it's against lore, because some are at least as strong or stronger/faster than dwarves. On the other hand, I recommend against goblins, they're weak and have really nasty personality traits, they form grudges, love brawls etc. There's a reason even in Legends Mode you'll see them casually murdering sapients during peace-time when it's convenient to them. My forts wouldn't take a gremlin or something that can't haul at least as well as dwarves.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on April 10, 2022, 12:55:26 am

It's just that gremlin pets appear to be bugged in various ways, and this is my headcannon to deal with it. Dwarf therapist doesn' t list them, not even as animals. The game itself has them as animals, not visitors. Also normally you can specify alternative clothing sizes in the workshop for your animal men, but gremlins are not listed.

Also, from a test game, if you retire them with the adventurer they are listed as outcasts, and the game is known to lose track of those.

Quote from: Maloy on April 09, 2022, 06:06:13 pm

You think you could possibly gift groups of them to npcs?

I know its finnicky with them since they simultaneously sapient and animal

I've been testing exactly this, and it seems to circumvent at least some bugs!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on April 10, 2022, 01:07:24 pm

Our travels had been relatively peaceful, but that had to end sooner or later.
That end came in the form of a dingo attack in the deep of night. A single unarmed gremlin is easy prey for a dingo, but the beasts horribly misjudged our numbers. The dingoes mauled one gremlin in their surprise attack, but then all 349 remaining gremlins piled on the dingoes. None of the gremlins were armed as they left their stone axes behind in Mischieflaws, but the dingoes stood no chance.

(https://i.imgur.com/n4vbtg0.gif)

One gremlin stood out in the battle. He killed three of the four dingoes, which is quite an achievement because all 349 gremlins joined in. That is not all that is noteworthy. I know for a fact that all the gremlins were generated out of thin air at the top floor of the museum, but their bodies do seem to have a physical age. Aye Coloreddoctrine is one of the few that should be considered just a child, I would estimate him at no more than seven.

(https://i.imgur.com/ku2hj69.gif)

It was clear that gremlins have the potential to defend themselves in battle. And there is more good news. I found that gremlins will happily bond to other people.  As long as these other people take good care of them, they can safely adapt to the world, without me having to take care of them. I started out with leaving small numbers of gremlins behind in Mischieflaws, then travelled back to the museum. I gave away gremlins to a lot of people, including quite a few adventurers of the museum. They all promised to take good care of their new companions as well!

(https://i.imgur.com/4ToKXSF.gif)

And that is quite a responsibility! A gremlin can live for a thousand years, so it is not a short time commitment.
Now that I know that my gremlins have a future I can rest more easily. I will retire to further educate the 300 or so gremlins that remain with me, and hope they can have a positive influence on the world.



-------------------------------
OOC: I will play a bit more gremlin-fortress now, with a more sane number of gremlins. I have obviously not been able to give everyone gremlins, but a few of the adventurers I met in the Museum, the Shelter of Adventures and Waterdeeps now have one, or a few companions. Feel free to give them away or whatever if uninterested  :P

Also, while trying to give away the gremlins I ran into a nasty bug, apparently the gremlins I tried to leave behind earlier (the ones that went missing) were still listed and whenever I selected one the game crashed on me. I found that it has likely already been reported on the bug tracker,  here (http://www.bay12games.com/dwarves/mantisbt/view.php?id=11690). I would not know where to begin fixing this with dfhack, but according to the report it is possible. Anyhow it likely only affects my character, these are the offending gremlins (got the list from fortress mode, where they are still listed as "bonded":

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/1aPMmBX.gif)

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Unraveller on April 10, 2022, 02:15:55 pm

It is my hope that the gremlins all become assistants in the as of yet uncreated physical Historian's Guild

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on April 10, 2022, 02:17:58 pm

The humorous archives, the guild dedicated to documenting every joke ever told.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on April 11, 2022, 01:45:19 pm

The save game can be found here:

https://dffd.bay12games.com/file.php?id=15880 (https://dffd.bay12games.com/file.php?id=15880)

That makes it Wonderpsycho's turn.
Good luck!

Edit: I have added Mischieflaws to the map, it lies close to Waterdeeps.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Unraveller on April 11, 2022, 01:55:36 pm

I'm genuinely excited to see how the new swelling of gremlin population alters things. And whether or not they become a properly civilized population that can expand! How lovely would it be for the gremlins to inherit Adaltir when we inevitably enter the Age of Death?

Anyway, hope you enjoy your week Wonderpsycho. Always look forward to what a newcomer to the Museum games brings to the table.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on April 11, 2022, 02:42:25 pm

Well just going through the world and it does seem like gremlin society is possible

(https://i.imgur.com/JMx9UCx.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/IPXo6id.png)

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Maloy on April 11, 2022, 02:49:11 pm

In some far off museum future timeline we are all dedicating our turns to fighting Gremlin tyrants and their army of intelligent undead

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on April 11, 2022, 02:58:16 pm

After the gremlins applied for citizenship I fired all the dwarves and let the gremlins have their jobs, so these are not events generated by the game itself.

I failed to get them to breed as of yet. I started my adventure with 50% males/50% females, but I managed to only gift away female populations , as you can see in avolition's screenshot ::). Will need to fix that in a later turn.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on April 11, 2022, 03:02:47 pm

Well they have plenty of time to do so, gremlins can live up til 1,000 years, i wonder if i could get one to work in a library and become a scholar.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Quantum Drop on April 11, 2022, 03:17:07 pm

Quote from: AvolitionBrit on April 11, 2022, 03:02:47 pm

Well they have plenty of time to do so, gremlins can live up til 1,000 years, i wonder if i could get one to work in a library and become a scholar.

I'd expect it to be possible, at least once they apply for citizenship. Wonder what kind of books a gremlin would write about?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Unraveller on April 11, 2022, 03:36:25 pm

Since the Gremlins were originally considered 'animals' perhaps it would have been necessary to pit and pasture them in small spaces together during that period in order to breed them? Could you check their relationship screen after having become citizens? Wonder if they can marry other gremlins and the like. It seems gray as towards how they're treated.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on April 11, 2022, 04:45:16 pm

Quote from: Maloy on April 11, 2022, 02:49:11 pm

In some far off museum future timeline we are all dedicating our turns to fighting Gremlin tyrants and their army of intelligent undead

This man is talking my language! I wouldn't be surprised if gremlins (theoretically) become the new Hands of Planegifts who overrun the world, this time with actual historical populations instead of abstract numbers. And so the world ended after being overrun by gremlins.

Quote from: Unraveller on April 11, 2022, 03:36:25 pm

Wonder if they can marry other gremlins and the like. It seems gray as towards how they're treated.

Remember that animal historical figures can marry other animal historical figures, so it's certainly possible. Now, the breeding is up in the air, especially since we don't know their gender preference (are they infertile like the adventurers? Do we need to DFHack them into liking the opposite gender?)

I still don't think they have a future, they're too weak. I hope the one who killed three dingoes becomes legendary though.

Quote from: Unraveller on April 11, 2022, 01:55:36 pm

How lovely would it be for the gremlins to inherit Adaltir when we inevitably enter the Age of Death?

I still think that the Age of Death would have to be engineered for it to be entered at all. We have two very strong human civilizations, three medium strong and this is not even counting goblin civs. Even if goblins can be whittled out, we'd at most be in the Age of Fairy Tales. And again, unless engineered out, void elves will continue to be generated as long as Ribiromimi has elven leadership and sites for void elves to appear out of nowhere. Ironically, ending their goblin meatshields may have improved their number in their civ's original species.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Unraveller on April 11, 2022, 04:51:32 pm

You make a good point about the relationship preferences, due to having been created alongside an adventurer, they may need to each and all have their switches flipped with DF Hack in order for them to actually take partners. I'll investigate this shortly.

EDIT: After having investigated into the romantic preferences of various gremlins within the fort of Mischieflaws, I can say that they have all been given the ability to mate. A few gremlins even have the 'love' relationship with others. So we may actually see procreation or at least marriages in the next few years. The only other potential hang-up is that I believe creatures have to be within a certain age of one another to mate, which might be as few as 10 years. This seems fairly relevant considering the gremlins have ages that vary in the several hundreds between one another.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on April 11, 2022, 06:11:01 pm

There are probably exemptions made in the code for creatures who can live 1000 years. Probably.

---

I checked a few things in the new save. Moldath is still there. No new elves have been generated since Yawo's turn. That's about it for now.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on April 11, 2022, 06:49:28 pm

Quote from: Lurker Z on April 11, 2022, 06:11:01 pm

Moldath is still there.

Yay, I am not dead yet!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Eric Blank on April 11, 2022, 06:56:39 pm

Yeah recent romance changes in the villains updates were supposed to make relationships a possibility for much larger age ranges.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: WonderPsycho on April 11, 2022, 09:46:02 pm

aight noticed bralbaard is done and it's my turn, getting the save right now and getting to it

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: WonderPsycho on April 11, 2022, 09:50:25 pm

also considering the whole gremlin thing, along with how kobolds in this world are sort of nearly extinct, it kind of gave me a idea for a fun little kobold adventure thing i might do, tho i wanna things up a bit for my kobold adventures or whatever, infact it's the first rather "gimmick" or thing i wanna do for my first adventurers, rather then whatever gimmick i was coming up earlier regarding the whole Obin Blight Pandemic happening in this world that fascinates me very much on what's happening in this adventure succession game's world, but yeah

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: WonderPsycho on April 11, 2022, 10:37:42 pm

with the whole obin blight stuff happening in the world in mind, i set a little fun goal i have for my little kobold adventurer, and i think i am gonna enjoy this one no matter if it leads to me failing on reaching said goal for my little kobold, and i died and stuff, still i think i am gonna have lots of fun with this turn

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on April 11, 2022, 10:46:20 pm

Good luck on your first run, WonderPsycho. I'm glad you were online to see it's your turn. It's your choice of course, but kobolds might be pretty hard for a first time run, especially in a world as Orid Xem (but probably in any world). Even Bralbaard and the currently most experienced players did their first turns either as human or dwarf. But, it's your choice, if you think you can handle it, great luck to you!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: WonderPsycho on April 11, 2022, 11:02:35 pm

Quote from: Lurker Z on April 11, 2022, 10:46:20 pm

Good luck on your first run, WonderPsycho. I'm glad you were online to see it's your turn. It's your choice of course, but kobolds might be pretty hard for a first time run, especially in a world as Orid Xem (but probably in any world). Even Bralbaard and the currently most experienced players did their first turns either as human or dwarf. But, it's your choice, if you think you can handle it, great luck to you!

i had my many experiences with DF adventure mode, besides i am not too bothered by dying and stuff cause !!Losing is Fun!!, but in all seriousness, i really don't mind dying easily in my first run and stuff, plus i highly expect my kobold adventurer to die half-way through on trying to reach my goal for my adventurers, considering the place they need to go to set their goal is quite far (a very few might know where i might be going with this maybe but yeah)

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: WonderPsycho on April 12, 2022, 02:10:17 am

done playing for a bit for my session tonight, will write down one part of what i have done so far with my adventurer tomorrow, it's quite late on my end rn tonight

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: WonderPsycho on April 12, 2022, 12:28:11 pm

gonna put up my part 1 soon, need to do some other stuff irl first

Title: Kobold Trio Post 1:Beginning of the Journey
Post by: WonderPsycho on April 12, 2022, 05:52:28 pm

Our story begins with a trio of kobolds who have recently reunited together on a journey... what may this journey be.. and why they seem to be going on this journey in the first place?

Journal of Zal Entry 1

This is the first time I have ever begun writing a journal so, sorry if my writing skill is not that very well, but enough of that, let's get into introducing ourselves for this first journal entry of mine..
my name is Zal, Zal Ngotozsongob, and these two are my fellow friends going with me on this journey

(https://i.imgur.com/urF4ux7.png)

(https://imgur.com/Ux7T8cE.png)

(https://imgur.com/QlcHCLj.png)

(https://imgur.com/sg4H8MS.png)

(https://imgur.com/5Om9IzS.png)

(https://imgur.com/VDnZInv.png)

(https://imgur.com/4NUkLd0.png)


we have plans on leaving the regions near and/or of Omon Obin to somewhere in the faraway mountains of the South(i was never really smart with compass things humans and dwarves use anyways, so I'd say the mountains of the downwards!) to create a grand new safe haven for us kobolds and the gremlins my two friends seemed to gotten a hold of from some "magic gremlin" a weird old man gave them.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://imgur.com/LpoJ6uD.jpg)

I mean heard rumors of a ecologist being hired at the Boltspumpkin museum who had gotten hold of a similar "magic gremlin" from a similar weird old man... (I don't know maybe this is that the same old man? I mean according to some info I got from Zosto, the old man considered them as his "second customers" or something, I don't know, could be a coincidence.

well enough of that we reunited to go and do this journey to start a new safe haven away from the horrible Obin Blight that is tainting our current home regions we are packing up and leaving from right now (well as far as I know not, it's not really just that blight that's plaguing here in these regions, it's also halfly plagued with some undead weremammoths and such by some crazy monkey I only heard rumors of existing here), we decided to do this journey in the first place to hopefully make a new safe haven for our nearly kobold kind and even gremlins with these new gremlins we got thanks to that magical gremlin my fellow friends (or rather friend and "acquaintance") had kind of received from said strange old man I had mentioned earlier.

As we reunited at a nearby Elven forest retreat of some sorts of the elven Civilization near Obin Omon (kind of forgot the name of that collective of Forest Retreats myself forgive me possible readers who find my journal), and packed up a bit with some of our pets, some chickens we got to bring as a small source of livestock for this dream safe haven we wish to create when reaching our location, and got our gremlins ready and we begun taking "South" or downwards rather!

(https://imgur.com/bCLtOK8.png)

While we were prepared, we got a move on and I checked my map a bit just to get a good look on where we reunited at.

(https://imgur.com/S16rNk1.png)

With that I remembered we meant up all together at Sparkledemeralds, a elven forest retreat, though I can't help but feel this retreat was quite empty, and it really bothers me with how much fog there is in The Worshipful Jungle, the jungle this Forest Retreat and others nearby it was built in, really gives me a rather creepy and slightly uncomfortable vibe like there could be a blighted thrall around here in this jungle just watching us from a distance hiding amongst the fog, possibly waiting for the right moment to possibly kill/infect us and our gremlins all at the right moment..

that is one of the reasons on why I want to leave these regions with my traveling buddies in the first place, the constant dread of possibly being attacked killed or infected by those undead blighted thralls or whatever other awful beasts that are out here thanks to Necromancy and that stupid rumored crazy monkey! whatever his name was!

As we were walking through Sparkledemaralds and past the other forest retreats near it as a settlement (my theory as to how quiet Sparkledemaralds was and how quiet the other forest retreats near it were so quiet was because some of the elven population evacuated a bit from how bad the Obin Blight situation was spreading and how it kind of even spreaded a bit out of the Omon Obin civilization into a nearby dwarven civilization as well, from what I atleast heard a little of a alot of kind of..

While traveling some of our gremlins were joking around which atleast lightens the mood a little while traveling, but is kind of a bit annoying while we finally walked out of the Forest Retreats and are trying to atleast get through The Worshipful Jungle on our journey, while at the same time getting grouchy over being rained upon in the rain that is mixed within the fog that is on the jungle of where we're at right now.

(https://imgur.com/y5XrjP6.png)

Oh gods and deities above, some of our Gremlins are even petting our chickens, they might grow a bit too attached to our chickens, even though they are our future livestock.

(https://imgur.com/fvFwTdg.png)

But thank the gods none of these little guys can get ahold of my pet bat that is sleeping soundly in my backpack, Batto Eyo Eyo, because I do not want to lose my trusty bat that's been along with my for my abstract ideas I have been thinking about from many times here and there ever since I was a small little kobold that used to live in a small little cave.

(https://imgur.com/gIIYQGz.png)

After a long while of walking through all the fog and we kind of made it halfway out of The Worshipful Jungle but the sun came down and it was pretty dark out, so we decided to sleep it out with a campfire next to us, so that next morning we may go back to traveling to the location we so desperately want to reach no matter how far it is, to finally setup a true kobold and gremlin settlement safe haven for us three to relax away from the awfulness that is the blight tearing through the "Omon Obin regions of Orid Xem", though I fear we may not survive on completing our journey to make this safe haven, my journal and maybe some of Zosto's work in progress writings will be all that's left to help keep our stories for those who wish to read to let it be known that us kobolds and gremlins are dying races..

But atleast them gremlins might have some hope of being repopulated in the world again, but who knows..

Entry 1's writings end here, Entry 2's writings are now in progress to any of those who may or may not find my journal.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

OOC:tried my best on writing this out and the whole not knowing compass directions stuff was kind of unintentional (cause i constantly confuse North, South, West and East together sometimes) but i decided it would be cool to write in the fact that Zal doesn't know much about compass directions into his character cause why not, but yeah, also hoped you enjoyed my first post on what is happening in my turn I will work on Post 2 after playing some more, tho there is a chance Post 2 will happen when my turn is over/when my character is dead or retired so it might wind up being much longer then this post but yeah.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: WonderPsycho on April 12, 2022, 05:54:40 pm

here's my post 1 on my turn so far, will get to making the next post when my turn is over (examples: characters are dead/characters are retired) so yeah

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on April 12, 2022, 07:05:37 pm

Cute adventures, your writing style fits kobolds' thoughts, it seems. I hope they survive and I wonder where they'll end up. And yes, they have a good idea, I forgot to mention it before, but if you find a blighted creature, just run. It might even save the settlement they're in from being infected because once the site gets unloaded, they return to being normal citizens.

By the way, you might want to avoid posting multiple times if your post was the last, there's a "Modify" button next to the "Quote" button that lets you edit your posts and add new information whenever necessary.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: WonderPsycho on April 12, 2022, 07:28:58 pm

Quote from: Lurker Z on April 12, 2022, 07:05:37 pm

Cute adventures, your writing style fits kobolds' thoughts, it seems. I hope they survive and I wonder where they'll end up. And yes, they have a good idea, I forgot to mention it before, but if you find a blighted creature, just run. It might even save the settlement they're in from being infected because once the site gets unloaded, they return to being normal citizens.

By the way, you might want to avoid posting multiple times if your post was the last, there's a "Modify" button next to the "Quote" button that lets you edit your posts and add new information whenever necessary.

aight will do

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on April 13, 2022, 01:00:14 am

It warms my heart to see more gremlins on the road. Good luck on your adventure!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on April 13, 2022, 06:25:45 am

This is surely the age of gremlins

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: WonderPsycho on April 13, 2022, 01:21:26 pm

aight playing some more today for my adventurers and stuff and i'll see how far i'll go this time

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Eric Blank on April 13, 2022, 06:38:38 pm

The dawn of gramlinkind as a civilization, possibly. Are they considered playable members of any civ just yet? I dunno how you would go about making a wild species available as a playable race tbh, retire enough historical figures into settlements of a given civ?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: WonderPsycho on April 13, 2022, 06:52:35 pm

Quote from: Eric Blank on April 13, 2022, 06:38:38 pm

The dawn of gramlinkind as a civilization, possibly. Are they considered playable members of any civ just yet? I dunno how you would go about making a wild species available as a playable race tbh, retire enough historical figures into settlements of a given civ?

not sure

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: WonderPsycho on April 13, 2022, 06:58:48 pm

also will say on my turn today, my game crashed while i was trying to fight back against some wolves that were attacking a bunch of my gremlins and kobold allies and while the game was trying to process the amount of creatures i can choose to attack as i wanted to attack those wolves to help out my gremlins and such, my game crashed but i still have teh screenshots of what happened before that part crashed and i was forced to play back where i last left off, is it fine i incorporate those old screenshots as like my character Zal having a strange nightmare/dream and after the so called "dream sequence" is over it gets right into what actually happens in my turn, or is using those old screenshots on the game before it crashed as a  dream sequence can kind of come off as savescummy or whatever, just thought i could use those old screenshots as like apart of a dream sequence on my second post of my turn and stuff maybe (cause i don't wanna let those old screenshots go to waste or whatever so yeah)

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: WonderPsycho on April 13, 2022, 07:22:43 pm

also another thing i am kind of confused about, when my character is dead (since with my adventurer he's in a adventurer party) is it that the whole adventurer party has to be dead which means i am finished or if the character i was playing as is dead then i retire the adventurer party and give out the save and such?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on April 13, 2022, 09:00:35 pm

As long as you don't have more adventures with your party, I think you should be ok in moving it into the nearest settlement to retire it. Though from the looks of it, you didn't die while you commanded the party, so that's why the game lets you go forward.

As for what happens after your adventurer dies, you can end the game, then start a fortress for the rest of the time you have available (which appears to be until the next Monday). It's your choice if you want to make a fortress anywhere in the world until Monday or just upload the save right now.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: WonderPsycho on April 13, 2022, 09:13:04 pm

Quote from: Lurker Z on April 13, 2022, 09:00:35 pm

As long as you don't have more adventures with your party, I think you should be ok in moving it into the nearest settlement to retire it. Though from the looks of it, you didn't die while you commanded the party, so that's why the game lets you go forward.

As for what happens after your adventurer dies, you can end the game, then start a fortress for the rest of the time you have available (which appears to be until the next Monday). It's your choice if you want to make a fortress anywhere in the world until Monday or just upload the save right now.

i was asking if my whole adventurer party needed to be dead or if my main adventurer only had to die in order to be over with my turn regarding being dead with your adventurer party as a peasent since in df with two allies the game forces you to click tab to switch with your other adventurer characters cause the game made me switch to one of my kobold adventurer allies but i retired anyways cause i am not sure if my entire party has to be dead or do I have to have to only have my main character i was controlling to be dead in-order for my turn to be over but yeah anyways sending in the save, will make my second post of my turn tomorrow since i made alot of screenshots and alot of stuff has happened and stuff

(wait nevermind you did answer my question i didn't see for a sec)
tho i will say my first question wasn't answered if it was fine for my crashed game session to be a dream sequence my character has before i go into what actually happens to Zal and stuff

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: WonderPsycho on April 13, 2022, 09:33:42 pm

here's the save

save:https://dffd.bay12games.com/file.php?id=15883 (https://dffd.bay12games.com/file.php?id=15883)

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Unraveller on April 13, 2022, 09:56:53 pm

I personally don't have any issue with using some lost data in the turn, these things happen in DF. Especially so thatnks to how much we push a world's limits.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: WonderPsycho on April 13, 2022, 10:04:00 pm

Quote from: Unraveller on April 13, 2022, 09:56:53 pm

I personally don't have any issue with using some lost data in the turn, these things happen in DF. Especially so thatnks to how much we push a world's limits.

forgot to mention screenshots of my unfortunately crashed session being used as a dream sequence as for the start up of post 2 before post 2 goes into what actually happens to Zal in my turn and stuff, but yeah my apologies for not phrasing what i meant earlier on my last message

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on April 14, 2022, 12:09:41 am

If you start with a party of multiple peasant adventurers it is kind of arbitrary which of those you consider your main character. It is fine to continue as long as one of them survives. Feel free to pick the save back up again if that's the case. Adventurers that join the party during the playthrough don't count.

Crashes happen a lot unfortunately. Feel free to write about it, your solution sounds good.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: WonderPsycho on April 14, 2022, 01:17:53 am

Quote from: Bralbaard on April 14, 2022, 12:09:41 am

If you start with a party of multiple peasant adventurers it is kind of arbitrary which of those you consider your main character. It is fine to continue as long as one of them survives. Feel free to pick the save back up again if that's the case. Adventurers that join the party during the playthrough don't count.

Crashes happen a lot unfortunately. Feel free to write about it, your solution sounds good.

thanks, also i will say the screenshots i left out for the crashed session had a few funny moments in it which was one of the reasons why i wanted the crashed session screenshots to be converted into being apart of dream sequence of what was happening before it goes into what actually happened at the end of the turn and such, plus my entire adventurer party as far as i can see seem to be entirely dead at the end of my turn so far so yeah (one of them died of starvation the other two well they had a same fate but that's to be revealed in Post 2 when i get to writing it tomorrow which will take a while cause of how many screenshots i took and other shit but yeah)

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on April 14, 2022, 09:35:21 am

I feel like the one *you* feel is the main one should matter most, but I have no problem people continuing playing if they started in a group.

I'm not sure I want to ever start or make a group, despite - unironically speaking - Bralbaard's example of excellently hiring goblins as cannon folder. I've heard they make problems, including attacking your undead if you are a necromancers, attacking people if you just want to brawl, I assume attacking enemies of their civs or groups (I've had at least in Fortress Mode an elven caravan attacking a necro experiment friendly to me because he was presumably an enemy of their civ) etc.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Unraveller on April 14, 2022, 11:07:21 am

Well, guess that makes it Nogoodnames' turn eh?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on April 14, 2022, 12:00:55 pm

Yes, I've already send a PM.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: WonderPsycho on April 14, 2022, 11:44:17 pm

aight post 2 may take a while, i am finished with kind of halfway of it rn so yeah

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: nogoodnames on April 15, 2022, 03:22:25 pm

I'm pretty much swamped for the rest of the month. Can I be bumped down 3 or so turns?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on April 15, 2022, 05:12:32 pm

Guess that makes it QD's turn?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Quantum Drop on April 16, 2022, 10:35:52 am

Unfortunately, I'm going to have to request I be bumped down as well (around 4-5 places). Got summatives coming up, so I'll be busy for the next few weeks.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on April 16, 2022, 10:39:40 am

Looks like it makes it Erics turn

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on April 16, 2022, 03:28:58 pm

I've edited the turn list, let me know if it needs further work :)

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: WonderPsycho on April 16, 2022, 05:11:45 pm

update on post 2 being written, i decided to upload all of my screenshots on imgur first before i finish the rest of the post so yeah

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Eric Blank on April 16, 2022, 05:52:52 pm

I will attempt to start tonight after work

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Quantum Drop on April 16, 2022, 06:53:25 pm

Quote from: Eric Blank on April 16, 2022, 05:52:52 pm

I will attempt to start tonight after work

Good luck with your turn!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: WonderPsycho on April 16, 2022, 11:02:27 pm

Quote from: Eric Blank on April 16, 2022, 05:52:52 pm

I will attempt to start tonight after work

good luck

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Eric Blank on April 17, 2022, 12:29:17 am

Any idea what graphics pack was used last or a quick way to uninstall the raw changes it made?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on April 17, 2022, 05:43:30 am

Just copy the default RAWs over. The only edits are to add Outsider tag to dwarves and kobolds.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on April 17, 2022, 05:48:56 am

If you think the raws were modified, shift+delete the raw folder in the save and copy a new version from your main folder. That way there will be no leftovers remaining.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: WonderPsycho on April 17, 2022, 11:58:49 am

Quote from: Eric Blank on April 17, 2022, 12:29:17 am

Any idea what graphics pack was used last or a quick way to uninstall the raw changes it made?

i was using the default graphics last time, i always use default DF ASCII graphics whenever I play dwarf fortress

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on April 17, 2022, 12:36:39 pm

Yes, but I noticed the ascii was already messed up on my turn, I made no attempt to fix it, likely someone used a graphics pack before us.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Maloy on April 17, 2022, 01:15:42 pm

Quote from: Lurker Z on April 17, 2022, 05:48:56 am

If you think the raws were modified, shift+delete the raw folder in the save and copy a new version from your main folder. That way there will be no leftovers remaining.

That is some handy information to have for the future in general

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Unraveller on April 17, 2022, 01:24:50 pm

Nuking the whole raws is a bit unnecessary, especially if you want to keep some of the few changes made. You should only need to change the init file in the save. Or you could just replace the init and colors file with the vanilla ones from the main folder. If you were to edit them, the relevant info should be. . .

[FULLFONT:curses_INSERT TILE IMAGE NAME HERE.png]

And

[GRAPHICS:NO]
[GRAPHICS_WINDOWEDX:0]
[GRAPHICS_WINDOWEDY:0]
[GRAPHICS_FONT:INSERT HERE.png]
[GRAPHICS_FULLSCREENX:0]
[GRAPHICS_FULLSCREENY:0]
[GRAPHICS_FULLFONT:INSERT HERE.png]
[GRAPHICS_BLACK_SPACE:YES]

Those should control the graphics/tiles, the image names are within the curses folder of df iirc. One may also need to change the colors file as well. But either way I suppose it's not really much of a big deal.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Eric Blank on April 17, 2022, 04:48:02 pm

It looks like LNP was used to install graphics. I have no experience with it, but I installed the Phoebus tileset and enabled graphics mode and it looks okay with that so I assume that was the one used. I'm not going to delete the graphics files, but I am going to switch the raws back to ASCII, I'll keep the kobold and dwarf changes.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on April 17, 2022, 05:55:08 pm

LNP won't let you install graphics over modded RAWs. I have used LNP to change the graphics to Phoebus on my turns by copying fresh RAWs over the existing one, updating graphics in LNP, then adding then modifying the RAWs to allow dwarf/kobold outsiders (and elf and goblin too, for giggles).

Good luck with your turn!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: WonderPsycho on April 23, 2022, 11:27:09 pm

aight at this point i feel like i might not make post 2 cause of how much i have to write for it along with the amount of screenshots i took, or I might continue on trying to finish it and stay determined but who knows

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Eric Blank on April 24, 2022, 02:37:04 am

Yeeea so there was some success going on here in my turn, not only of the adventuring sort.

https://dffd.bay12games.com/file.php?id=15893

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

The third adventures of Pik and Desli began in the early winter of 872 from that little cabin in the woods in the north. A handful of wanderers had settled there over the years. One Atul shrinetrusts had actually passed of old age while staying there. The pair had been hospitable, but it had to end when the waking nightmares came. For several months both Pik and Desli suffered terrible waking dreams, as if pulled from this world into another, where they faced the same battles over and over again against never-ending hordes of blighted thralls; those flesh-eating semi-undead afflicted by a ghoulish curse, which had began a century ago. Purportedly, from one Tacnu Sealwhiskey, the disease had never been cured or stamped out, and occasional outbreaks still wracked the human lands. There was no answer in their small library of tomes for the cause of such visions, but there was one good place to seek them; the Museum of Boltspumpkin, where a greater collection and many wizened adventurers stood vigil. The pair said their goodbyes to their small gathering and began the trek southwards.

There was a brief stop at Relicward, where they encountered a single lone dwarf afflicted by the blight wandering the halls. He was quickly dispatched without incident. The only one inhabitant of the site as it turned out. It wasn't a lengthy visit, and they moved on to the south, as there was nothing new to be found here.

It was near the fort of Shipwheeled that they encountered their first great obstacle; Nothing. An invisible force assailed Pik suddenly, quickly removing the use of his arms. Unable to perceive his assailant he stood no chance, but Desli's keen sense of hearing gave her the edge to slowly begin fighting back. Pik was forced to watch almost helplessly, able only to occasionally propel it away when Desli called him to do so, alternating with her own spell of propulsion. Desli was at a loss to land effective blows on the assailant, however, as even though she could hear roughly when it moved from the occasional clank of its metal, steel, armor and the rush of air as its weapon - apparently some sort of hammer that largely bounced off her own armor and shield - she could not tell its exact position, Most swings of her axe - Foldeddaggers the Crack of Noiselessness, an ancient steel battle axe of dwarven make - either missed entirely or bounced off the thing's armor. Rarely, when it did apparently bite into flesh, no blood spilled from the wound. Nor did the thing apparently tire or breathe any more than Desli herself - certainly some form of undead. They fought in circles like this for several hours, neither able to make much headway on the other, Pik relegated to the role of attempting to interrupt the fight when Desli should tumble, or for instance when she was disarmed, and her leg shattered, forcing her to fight hobbling on one leg or prone.

If the undead could feel anxiety, that would be what Pik would describe feeling during this timeframe. Eventually the fight took a turn for the better when the combatants stepped beside a pond. Here, Pik propelled their enemy into the murky waist deep water, where when it emerged, its form was outlined by the water pressed away from its body; perhaps that of a dwarf. Now finally they could see roughly where their opponent stood, what stance it took and what leverage that might offer it. Trapped by the steep, muddy slope of the pond, the dwarf would have to struggle for several minutes to escape, and could easily be forced back in, allowing the pair to escape. However, the opportunity to flee now was weighted against to risk of the thing pursuing them indefinitely. A risk they agreed was unwise to take. Here, Desli jumped into the pond in front of the dwarf, swimming forward and balancing on her one uninjured leg, while Pik propelled it away against the opposite muddy bank. Outlined in thrashing mud and water the dwarf was a far easier target for Desli's axe, but the fight dragged on still for nearly another hour. She managed to disarm it, hurling its hammer across the pond, but this only caused it to change tactics to bashing her with its shield, knocking her teeth from her jaw, and setting upon her with its fists. Pik propelled it away once more as he too entered the pond, to smack the thing with his arms to little effect, and then trying to wrap his arms around it to hold it still. Desli soon struck a blow to the dwarf's jaw, sending teeth flying across the pond, but it stood defiant as they, but eventually their combined efforts wore it down, armor came undone and slipped off into the water, and a mighty blow was struck to the dwarf's breast, splitting it nearly in two with a sickening crack. Finally, the spell that hid it from their sight came undone, and a dwarven woman lay dead, bisected and battered before them. A necklace dangled from her neck bearing the name Tosid Waneplanks.

It took several minutes to drag themselves out of the pond. Desli took the dwarf's steel chain leggings to replace her now badly mangled greaves, the left plate crushing her shin. After several hours Desli could walk again, and Pik had regained partial use of his hands, so they carried on south, towards their goal; the Museum.

The northernmost outskirts of civilization were largely unchanged in their one-hundred and two year absence. The first settlement, being the town of Incenseorder, was still ruled by the charcoal brute Yane Crowdsquashes, Time had not been so kind to the pair's reputation here, with this lord, however.

That was a hairy fight, and I have no idea who this Tosid character could possibly be, or where she gained such amazing skill and a suit of steel armor, legends mode reveals only that she had been killed twice before in Shipwheeled. I encountered her wandering in the forest, wondering what that asterisk could be, and found out too late there was nowhere to run from the Nothing. If Pik or Desli had been alone, it would have been impossible as I could not attack her and had to rely on the AI. Pik being immediately disarmed made Desli the logical choice, but her getting disarmed too, twice no less, made it even more anxiety-inducing.

Anyway, spoiler alert!

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/Qb7wdP9.png)

Oh, also also also, I kept the modified objects folder, just renamed it, and replaced it with a vanilla objects folder and added the changes to dwarves and kobolds.

Also also, the save on my computer came out to 4.11 gb, up from 2.91 after unpacking the turn 78 save. WTF? I might have to delete the save just because my laptop only has like 10 gigs of space left and i cant run my external HDD without a reliable power source

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on April 24, 2022, 02:55:25 am

Quote from: WonderPsycho on April 23, 2022, 11:27:09 pm

aight at this point i feel like i might not make post 2 cause of how much i have to write for it along with the amount of screenshots i took, or I might continue on trying to finish it and stay determined but who knows

I was looking forward to reading the second part. Also there is no obligation to use all the screenshots, or summarize everything that happened. Just the highlights would be fine too.
Also nice to see that Pik and Desli have been on the move again. I actually tried to visit them during my turn to gift them a few gremlins. Sadly I could not find them.

Edit: One of those new hamlets Eric pointed out (Coalford) was actually settled by a single gremlin and a group of turkeys. It's one of the gremlins that applied for citizenship in Mischieflaws, Imiwe Hoistedjumped. Good to know gremlins are free to move about when they are proper citizens.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: WonderPsycho on April 24, 2022, 12:16:13 pm

Quote

I was looking forward to reading the second part. Also there is no obligation to use all the screenshots, or summarize everything that happened. Just the highlights would be fine too.
Also nice to see that Pik and Desli have been on the move again. I actually tried to visit them during my turn to gift them a few gremlins. Sadly I could not find them.

sorry about holding back on what happened to my adventurer trio, truth is my main character Zal is dead, one of them went completely missing in action while fighting some undead and the last one starved to death, all that were left were some of the many gremlins that survived the chaos in a few parts and such, also thanks for telling me this i decided i'll continue working on my post 2 a bit more and getting it finished either on tomorrow or the day after tomorrow

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on April 24, 2022, 04:04:47 pm

Watching your story with interest Eric. Looks like you have been culling the ghouls too.

Also: I guess that makes it AvolitionBrit's turn?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on April 26, 2022, 06:31:22 am

Yeah, been playing it. Going good so far.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: WonderPsycho on April 27, 2022, 02:46:07 pm

changed my mind, sorry i couldn't get to writing alot on what happens in the end of my turn and stuff for post 2, just i really really want to focus on getting some other stuff i am working on done and stuff (examples include some videos i am working on for my yt channel and etc) and some other stuff, actually would it be fine if i made some videos on what happened in my turns in the future for this succession game maybe? or would that not be much of a good idea? i mean i will say i am pretty experienced with editing videos and can add in some commentary acting as the character in my turns in future turns and stuff but yeah, just a thought

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: WonderPsycho on April 27, 2022, 03:13:41 pm

however i can give a link to the imgur post i made with all the images i made for post 2 all archived at for every to look at even if i could not write everything and stuff because i was too stressed on wanting to work on some videos i really felt like i needed to work on and stuff

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on April 27, 2022, 07:06:51 pm

Quote from: WonderPsycho on April 27, 2022, 03:13:41 pm

however i can give a link to the imgur post i made with all the images i made for post 2 all archived at for every to look at

That sounds great.

---

Good luck on your turn, Brit. Looking forward to seeing your adventures.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: WonderPsycho on April 27, 2022, 08:53:37 pm

here's the link to all of the images i had plans on using in post 2 but couldn't finish writing up all of post 2

https://imgur.com/a/eofNzmP

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Eric Blank on April 28, 2022, 05:16:10 pm

Thats a lot of gremlins

In fort mode I noticed the majority of workers I could request from those hillock that spawned had no names or weird names. Could they be gremlins that you guys imported? I didn't actually try.

I also took zero screenshots during adventure mode. Will try to post the last part tonight

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on April 29, 2022, 02:12:16 am

Quote from: Eric Blank on April 28, 2022, 05:16:10 pm

Thats a lot of gremlins

In fort mode I noticed the majority of workers I could request from those hillock that spawned had no names or weird names. Could they be gremlins that you guys imported? I didn't actually try.

I also took zero screenshots during adventure mode. Will try to post the last part tonight

One of those villages was founded by a gremlin and a group of turkeys. Some of the others have a lot of humans, those could explain the weird names?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on April 29, 2022, 01:44:56 pm

Those gremlins are getting around…

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Eric Blank on April 29, 2022, 02:04:16 pm

Damn, if I had requested them as workers I could have inducted gremlins into my workforce and Dwarven civilization proper! Missed opportunities because I was concerned their unnamedness implied they could cause the game to crash because the save had corrupted their unit files and lost their names.

I wrote like a paragraph last night, ran into writers block and distractions. Will do more tonight

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on April 29, 2022, 03:38:52 pm

Well in regards to wierd names, meet the hand of planegifts called hand of planegifts. A wandering peasent.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on April 29, 2022, 03:48:19 pm

Quote from: kesperan on April 29, 2022, 01:44:56 pm

Those gremlins are getting around…

Quote from: Eric Blank on April 29, 2022, 02:04:16 pm

Damn, if I had requested them as workers I could have inducted gremlins into my workforce and Dwarven civilization proper!

It's really not much of a gremlin invasion yet, these are the populations of the new villages, with the only gremlin highlighted, from the world_sites_and_pops file:


1667: Sazirurist, "Bridgedaggers", hillocks
   Owner: The Perfect Spear, dwarves
   Parent Civ: The Walled Dye, dwarves
   2 elves
   6 dwarves
   2 cavies
   1 chicken
   1 dog
   3 reptile men
   1 turkey
   1 peregrine falcon
   5 horses
   7 alpacas
   2 giant leopards
   1 rhesus macaque
   1 giant dingo
   2 donkeys
   1 red panda
   1 yak
   1 water buffalo
   2 goats
   3 cows
   1 kestrel
   1 giant raven
   1 giant black bear
1668: G¢smerletmos, "Umbralcobalt", hillocks
   Owner: The Rampart of Play, dwarves
   Parent Civ: The Walled Dye, dwarves
   1 dwarf
   49 humans
1669: RŒsenatul, "Coalford", hillocks
   Owner: The Treasury of Equivalence, dwarves
   Parent Civ: The Walled Dye, dwarves
   1 gremlin
   37 turkeys
   7 geese
   1 two-humped camel
   1 gorlak
   1 armadillo man
   8 dog outcasts
1670: KolocŒg, "Wheeldells", hillocks
   Owner: The Playful Wheel, dwarves
   Parent Civ: The Walled Dye, dwarves
   1 dwarf

That one gremlin is one of the eleven that exist in the world that have been properly integrated in dwarven society because it applied for citizenship in Mischieflaws.
A bit more effort will be needed to integrate more gremlins into society, and to get them to marry and multiply.

I'm currently running a game of my own where I have integrated a small number of gremlins into a fortress, and then expelled all the dwarves. Gremlin fortress!
It is a nightmare. The gremlins are too tiny too wield axes or picks so I can't get any work done. They are exceptionally useless at everything. They obviously also can't defend themselves in a fair battle. It is a fun exercise to find other means of survival.
I'll have to go full gremlin on this, lots of traps and levers.. 
Also because of some infuriating bug, the game considers any door a gremlin walks through as "taken by an invader" so I can't close any doors in the fortress.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on April 30, 2022, 03:01:28 pm

Holyblood Log - 20th of Timber 876

I awoke from more troubling dreams, the coming of the first millennium of the new age approaches and spells with it disaster. I dreamed of a world flooded with goblins, a great beast feasting on them from the depths. I fear the goblins' dark influence will come for me, especially after what they did to Bralbaard. They say that Bralbaard is dead, spreading word of goblins slaying the old king with ease. I know differently, they did something to him, he is still there. All those who “died” in the angry onslaught of monsters are different. Spectures, ghostly figures who merely wander the lands, akin to lost souls. I sought to remedy this.

I headed to the museum to read up on current affairs and dig through the previous exhibits. I sought the star charts but was rewarded by secrets thought to be lost, Uncanny death documented The secrets of the unholy evil. Glloyd had concealed the secrets and for all the adventurers that have come and gone no one else has thought to read it.

It was during this reading I had a sudden realisation, the overlap, the matching details and the connections. Drawing from teachings taught rituals, incantations and secrets. I combed through the rest of the literature in boltspumpkin to further my knowledge. It was then I came across a document from the blind sadist. It details his research on the slabs and where to find it. For a rotten Ala worshiper it seems we a kindred slab seekers. It appears I have just learned a secret he didn't know. Seems the details on roastfierce are inaccurate I have been unable to locate the slab after searching through all the exhibits. I plan to head south and return to my tower in progress at falsetower with a few stops on the way.

Notes:
Restoration spell

Reagents - Ichor of the caster, lapis lazuli, honey
What else?
What else? Gremlin tears?

ooc: writing this from notes on my phone as I'm away currently. So apologies for typos or errors.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on April 30, 2022, 07:33:27 pm

Haha, I like it.

It is true, Moldath craves to consume all the knowledge of Orid Xem. As you will know, there are twelve secrets from twelve slabs, and Moldath currently has learned nine of them. Of the three remaining, only one is lost forever... thrown into a volcano many years ago, and leaving behind as far as I know no other manual or scroll.

"Uncanny Death" is a manual written by Glloyd Ancientborn the Round in 727. It concerns the secrets of life and death. All crafsmanship is of the highest standard.

The thing is... Glloyd only knows one type of necromancy, the ability to raise Gaunt Corpses. Moldath learned that particular secret from "My Thoughts On Sleep", by the wolfman were-jackal Desli Wanedhummed the Beautiful Intricacies, in 826...

That accursed scorpion still has a bit of catching up to do! :D

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on May 01, 2022, 10:55:49 pm

Here it is. More writting soon.
https://dffd.bay12games.com/file.php?id=15899

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on May 02, 2022, 08:15:28 am

Holyblood Log - 23rd of Timber 876

I finally reached cogs old stomping ground, from reading the journals of Shieldtempest this was where the fragrant burials were found. I'm hoping to search the tower and come across any knowledge that remains.

No luck seems Shieldtempest took all the records from and the slab from this place, all he left was The Dwarf, My Love; a masterful story of forbidden love and tragedy, nothing of use here. However I have managed to put most of these poor creatures out of their misery. To think these fragments once constituted people and animals. Most of them are still blinding waiting on their master to give them orders. Some remember and yearn to return, some crying and some enraged. Some of them ran and hid. But most of them are no more. A pity to think these were once fragments of humans, dwarfs and a goblin. No matter, I'm sure someone else will put them out of their misery eventually. Onwards to Ashcinders.

Holyblood Log - 26th of Timber 876

Had to take a break to replenish but I finally made it to Ashcinders, a well crafted and armed fortress with a speciality in metal crafts I do believe. Certainly had a fine selection of weapons to look at. I headed toward the lower depths and found an artifact vault. Sure enough there was a back room with Fatalurn the Hag of Dying and The Putrid Juice. But something was amiss. The long corridor looked too good, so I sent the ibex I had tamed first and sure enough it was trapped. Not a surprise but nothing my many limbs couldn’t carefully maneuver through.

The knowledge the two slabs gave to me has started to fill the gaps in my knowledge, and new connections have formed. I must recover them all. But for now I have enough to restore Bralbaard. The vessel for this shall be Drunken Flaxen and all the ingredients should still be available at falsetower. My tower.

Holyblood Log - 5th of Opal 876

It was going so well. The Lapis was shaped, the honey was poured correctly, the gremlin tears were salty enough. I had even used some of his teeth and of course blood-red cinnabar. I must be missing a piece. It would have worked. I cut my stump and poured my ichor into the coffin, I spoke the words and it was working. The ingredients began to coalesce, the ingredients began to shape his new body, he spoke through strained red raw flesh. But the spell grew unstable and it began zapping the sides of the tower, blocks crumbing. It then struck Zokus cage and the Ettin's once glazed over eyes suddenly regained their once lost hue and with renewed strength he ripped himself out of the cage. He used his powers and slammed me against the wall. He then turned his attention to the regenerating Bralbaard. Breaking his body and feasting on the energy that remained. The ettin escaped, still damaged but with renewed vigor. Bralbaard was broken once more. His head severed from the body. I placed his remains into Drunken Flaxen and made plans to head north. It's time this hero finally rested.

Ammendment - Drunken Flaxen is missing from herograves so either some fiend has stolen his remains or he was not truly dead yet?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Unraveller on May 02, 2022, 02:20:21 pm

Surprised at how quickly turns can arrive when they seem so far away! I'll begin tonight or tomorrow.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on May 02, 2022, 04:10:33 pm

9029 kills you absolute mad man.

Looks like you also killed Queen Ral of the Staff of Kissing, you evil dwarfslayer!

SOMEONE MUST STOP THIS EVIL SCORPION MENACE!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on May 02, 2022, 04:40:23 pm

Holyblood Log - 22nd of Opal 876

A long endless journey north, through the empty tundra. I came towards a shrine, a good resting place and perhaps some adventurers lost loot. Oh it certainly was a find. Mysteries of Bereavement detailed the secrets of Fatedpusses, another slap I sought, it was claimed to be in Boltspumpkin like roastfirece but it was nowhere to be found. It was certainly a development. But that wasn’t the best part. It seems we have necromancer corpses with souls still clinging to them. They will certainly be useful for the future.

Headed further north and arrived in Stockadeoutrage, just the place i sought. Another slab was here and in the hands of a filthy Ala worshiper. I was approached by Vucar Axesafety, she asked what I was planning on doing here. Seemed she was familiar with me and knew I wasn't called Sazir. She wanted to be queen, but it turns out an Ala worshiper was an evil and cruel leader, who would have guessed. Vucar had a lead on another dark artifact, I happily agreed. Ral was alone on the surface, asked to borrow the slab and she happily agreed. When I was returning it, it seems my stinger accidentally jabbed her leg. She fell to the floor in pain, they called out for medical dwarves to help the queen, I reassured them I knew what i was doing, after all i'm a master surgeon. Unfortunately Ral didn't make it, somehow her upper spine broke as she fell. I would have revived her but I didn't think she would want that. Vucar was crowned the new queen and told me that an dwarf had spotted a bear man carrying a similar slab, Queen Ral had asked the dwarf to follow him. He was in Waterdeeps.

Black bear man, could it be Arcturus. It would explain what he has been up to since I raised him, no one else had spotted him since then. Additionally a necromancer slab which one. Two are destroyed, two are in Boltspumpkin apparently, two are in Ashcinders, i have one kept hidden, Ral had one. This leaves the four lost slabs. Dustbone the Fated Oblivion and Shadowbury, both slabs whoms knowledge I already knew thanks to some of their writing existing both lost with Bil Hammertome. Stabbedwring, which appears to have the least documented information of it, not even Moldath knows much of it and lastly The Fragrant Burial, which is lost along with all of the vast majority of cogs writing to Mr Shieldtempest.

Holyblood Log - 24th of Opal 876

Arriving at Waterdeeps, instantly ran into a not so undead bear man, it turns out his name was Ahang Matchlabor, a lovely guy. Let me read Stabbedring, it seems he hasn’t even read it either. Another piece of the grand puzzle comes together, just three more I seek but each one mocked me. Roastfierce, hidden in Boltspumkin somewhere, even the blint sadist knew the knowledge of this one. I am sure once he learns about Stabbedwring he would seek it, he two seems to have issue with the other two. All of The Fragrant Burials writing died with Shieldtempests, being in the wild so long it's doubtful that they even will be found. Lastly, The Certain Urns, no known writing exists and Bil Hammertone destroyed it. I need time to think about my situation. Thankfully I am near my favorite place.

OOC: I planned 10k but with saturaday out of action it would take to long so i wrapped up early.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on May 02, 2022, 06:59:13 pm

Holyblood Log - 2nd of Granite 877

I finally arrived at Splashbeige and met my good friend Afe Sparkledfill, we caught up, she once again was caught up in her research, read all the books available and gave her some new ones. Interesting information, it seems the blind sadist has been up here. He has my hand now, interesting. Will have to keep an eye on him. For now I have set my sights on resting in Lancesavage for a while.

Holyblood Log - 16th of Granite 877

Two weeks to recharge and I'm ready to go, I have taken on a new identity, the astronomer Tonpa Peacenuts. I have plans to make claim to some new land Sombershovels seems like a good start.

Holyblood Log - 6th of Slate 877

I have arrived at Passionspirals, from my research this is the home of The Certain Urns. I have learned a lot here, Genam Riddleddressed wrote about a lot. A pity it wasn’t about the secrets of The Certain Urns, will have to comb through these tomes, books and scrolls again. But it had given me two leads for the secret. Two apprentices that left the tower according to the documents, the best lead was Peklod Theatershowered, he moved around a lot and seemed to have moved to Paintedhopeful, after he was inspired by the music of Xuspgas Splatteredhorror. Ironically he was a goblin I killed over 20 years ago. But it sounds like he was still inspired to write, perhaps he might have written the secrets down. Another was Innu Velvetstood, he seems to have also been absent from the tower's demise.

Addendum: My little friend has told me that Innu is alive, I wish I could get him to start writing but my blood hibernation is taking hold. Will have to lure him out.

Holyblood Log - 7th of Slate 877

The team is starting to come together, just found my second candidate in Tongstreat. The old tomb, turns out a certain soul is begging to return to life. I think Thomo Releaseddrinks the Crazed will make a fine addition to the team.

Holyblood Log - 8th of Slate 877

Largetempest another tower dedicated to the secrets of The Certain Urns, less hopeful of a place but it was worth a shot. This tower has had many of its books removed. Of what remained, none of them details the secrets of the slab. I wonder if Ancientknowledge has any of those secret books. I never read those ones, plus I hear it's a necromancer's paradise. If you can find the way in ofcourse.

Holyblood Log - 9th of Slate 877

NO, it's not here. I wiped out the entire site and read all the writing, no secrets. That human Xuspgas got himself killed by a drawbridge. A DRAWBRIDGE OF ALL THINGS. Needless to say this is a dead end. Will bring these books to Boltspumpkin, put them in one of the towers and read them all again. I must have missed something.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Quantum Drop on May 03, 2022, 05:55:49 am

Quote from: kesperan on May 02, 2022, 04:10:33 pm

9029 kills you absolute mad man.

Looks like you also killed Queen Ral of the Staff of Kissing, you evil dwarfslayer!

SOMEONE MUST STOP THIS EVIL SCORPION MENACE!

Oh dear god. I just did a calculation of how many notable kills there have been in the major Museum games so far. Over the course of these games, we've killed about 16502 notable historical figures, assuming no miscounts in the adventurer tables and excluding non-historical kills. Avolition Holyblood is responsible for 9029 of those deaths, so about 55% (rounding up). So not only has he killed more people than literally any other character (and potentially any other histfig) in the history of the Museum, he's killed just over half of everyone who has ever died by an adventurer's hand.

All hail the evil Scorpion War-God, I guess?

(Other than that, loving the story, AvolitionBrit! Interested to see how this develops further, and here's to getting even more kills in the future).

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on May 03, 2022, 08:03:40 am

Holyblood Log - 12th of Slate 877

It seems the recent boom in gremlins has been caused by a mysterious stranger. I have my suspicions on who that is. But I'm not sure what they are planning.  I need a little friend on the inside as I'm sure they will come in handy. Gave her a great boon now all she has to do is go around and be my eyes when mine are not looking.

Holyblood Log 14th of Felsite 877

How interesting, I came across a band of goblins when I happened across a corpse but not just any corpse. A certain penguin researcher, seems a goblin beat her to death. Brought her back and she seemed grateful. She agreed to be a researcher for my organisation. Told her to meet me in Lawtaker. She will eventually be assigned somewhere to further my research. Currently torn between my elven friend or Anceintknowledge. For now she has plenty of time to tell me what she knows.

Holyblood Log - 23rd of Felsite 877

I brought the necromancers to Falsetower, brought them back and hopefully they can start helping me find the lost secrets. They owe me for bringing them back after all. Hopefully like a damaged book, these necromancers can piece together the lost pieces.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Unraveller on May 03, 2022, 03:10:58 pm

Ahh yes, a gathering of all manner of night creatures. Should their intentions be anything less than altruistic. Well. . .

My turn is going quite well, not sure if I should start writing the first post just yet when we still have a few recent adventures waiting in the wings to be told. Don't wanna muck it up too bad. Regardless, this is going to be a very long turn for me, lots and lots to do.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Glloyd on May 04, 2022, 04:46:55 pm

Quote from: kesperan on May 02, 2022, 04:10:33 pm

9029 kills you absolute mad man.

Looks like you also killed Queen Ral of the Staff of Kissing, you evil dwarfslayer!

SOMEONE MUST STOP THIS EVIL SCORPION MENACE!

We definitely need the updated population graphs after this turn.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on May 04, 2022, 07:41:23 pm

Holyblood Log - 18th of Limestone 877

I feel my blood sleep taking hold, the year 1000 is approaching and I must prevent the oncoming disaster. I hope I wake up in time. The age of death haunts my mind, the harbingers of Ala. In the west the hollow ones, souls anchored to this world by cogs lost secrets. The power to be unseen, a dangerous gift. Should they escape their mountainous prison, the invisible death would be inevitable. The north held the elusive elfs run by the mostly Ala worshiping royal court, what plans they have after years of elven decline. To the east, the goblins of The Most Sin, what they lack in conventional strength, their numbers and dark magic makes up for it. They have waged war on everyone and like the legends of the hydras of old, even after losing the head, they quickly get a new one. As well as this, they rebuild themselves quickly, if unchecked they could grow exponentially and usher in a Age of Goblin. The south is werebeast country, be careful with who you're with on a full moon, some people are found savagely ripped apart whilst those who survive come back changed. The weredisease is a deadly one and could spread havok if it spread beyond the tundra of heros towards the densely populated north. We have seen what the blight has done in the north before by that mad lion tamarin. It's even believed that some of those infected are still around. The final one is a mystery to me, some speak of a great beast slowly swallowing the land whole like the lost fortress of Gor or the lesser mentioned Duskhome, others speak of a great blight returning, another theory is the demons rising to the surface to lay waste to all. Im not sure what is the final one or if any of them are.

I have made preparations and have slowly been gathering allies in my cause. My good friend Afe in the north, a grand scholar who has existed for the entirety of recorded history and a bit before. My little friend, like her brethren brought into this world by unknown means, the new blood coursing through her veins will make her seem deceptively weak. She is my eyes and already has told me some interesting information. Then there's Tosace, a penguin scholar who has documented great beasts and has an axe to grind against the goblins. I aslo have Thomo, an ancient mummy and once Law-giver of the high confederacies, I have brought her back several times and gifter her great gifts. Of Course she is a friendly mummy who plans to seek revenge for her killer. In return she has offered me his belongings. Needless to say, even death won’t be an escape for Bil Hammertone once she gets his hands on his body. Finally the last member is one of my own creation, hollow and without life, parts of goblins combined, perhaps they might one day stir life and seek control of The Most Sin.

I seek that this composite soul will bring life to the vessel. I'm curious to see how independent it could become.

Any who wish to prove themselves to me, bring me the knowledge I seek and I shall grant upon you a great boon.

For now I return to sleep, so that my visions return and give me the answers I seek.

(OOC: Sign me up for another turn)

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on May 05, 2022, 04:06:49 am

Nice summary of the state of the world at the end, though it should be stated that other observers might have included Holyblood himself as the greatest threat that our world is facing  :).
Did you submit anything to the museum? you mention somewhere that you have dropped of books in one of the towers?

Quote from: Glloyd on May 04, 2022, 04:46:55 pm

We definitely need the updated population graphs after this turn.

Here they are! The goblins seem to have taken the highest casualties. Also, say hello to our new friends.

(https://i.imgur.com/V7OO2sA.gif)

Only surface gremlins are included here, not the subterranean populations.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on May 05, 2022, 08:24:22 am

No submission this time. Just started a ridiculous amount of books there as they were slowing me down.

Also it will be interesting to see if gremlins will take over dwarves in terms of numbers.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Unraveller on May 05, 2022, 12:43:09 pm

Depends if they actually breed I suppose, not certain if they'll do that as outcasts though?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Maloy on May 05, 2022, 05:30:35 pm

Quote from: Unraveller on May 05, 2022, 12:43:09 pm

Depends if they actually breed I suppose, not certain if they'll do that as outcasts though?

Would it help if we dfhacked some of them to be married to each other?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Unraveller on May 05, 2022, 05:35:05 pm

Quote from: Maloy on May 05, 2022, 05:30:35 pm

Quote from: Unraveller on May 05, 2022, 12:43:09 pm

Depends if they actually breed I suppose, not certain if they'll do that as outcasts though?

Would it help if we dfhacked some of them to be married to each other?

I believe that can only be done while in Fortress mode, either that or I haven't figured out any method to do so during adventure. I've edited spouse IDs before but they immediately seem to revert after the next tick. Would like to know if anyone has any method for this they're aware of.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on May 05, 2022, 06:21:47 pm

Hey guys, I just noticed that we have now surpassed the original Museum’s turn count.

81 turns so far and 177 in game years, and the game is astonishingly still pretty stable!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Eric Blank on May 05, 2022, 06:23:25 pm

I'd use dfhack to make sure they're both marriagable and oriented comparably (willing to marry opposite gender). in spellcrafts I have a fruit called lovers barb that modifies some personality traits, can't recall the list. People under its effects are more likely to form relationships, and it increases frequency of lovers and marriages. It's by no means a method to force marriages though, and still requires them to interact with one another over a couple months. If you use dfhack to change their personalities to make them highly sociable and fall in love easily, it should work there too.

As a guess,, It's possible that dfhacking doesn't work because the game reevaluates their personalities and relationship next turn and decides they're not compatible, causing them to immediately divorce, or there are now more flags that need to be triggered

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Unraveller on May 05, 2022, 07:11:22 pm

-- PREVIOUS ENTRY -- (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8315156#msg8315156)

---

(https://i.imgur.com/7TSZM2E.png)

---

They creak and groan, a hoarse voice lost to the quietude of their adopted home. It wisps off from the height of that obsidian spire, wordless breath cast across the wind and cloud that so roil across the skies of Omon Obin, and yet onward. Where the elements across the volcanic mountaintop have ensorcelled that downtrodden figure to its place, they shudder again to some semblance of life beyond endless contemplation, beyond their constant inner-flagellation. " 'Fore I'd even realized it. . ." Their head creaks to one side, they are alone. "Turot, you have passed. And yet I. . ."

The patina bronze head of the pick they bore held them aloft in place of long stunted legs, the crust driven from their eyes. "How nearly a century has come and gone." They speak aloud as if to re-find their voice. One more glance is given the the Realm of Silver below. "And how I have languished aught of nothing for the people I proclaim to love so dearly." The figure's time of solitude had wizened them, had salved old wounds, but perhaps too. . . Hardened their heart.  A few small farewells are bidden to the stout kind whom curate those halls. Another shock of surprise as even their beards have greyed, and their eyes have suck since they were known to him, while their own view hadn't changed a day.

---

Since the days of our youth, we were taught one all consuming truth.

(https://i.imgur.com/4yh0q9D.png)

"Come on Jas. The hell ya dawdlin' fer? We got work to do. . ." Eman Sedastishas's harsh voice, and the jab of his armored elbow snapped the other soldier to, "Blighties ain't gonna take care of 'emselves." He add, scratching at his scraggly goatee, only to Jas' irritation of course. "Ohh don't be such a bother now Eman. It's best to let the man focus you know?" A jovial voice breaks the two up, the rotund spearman, Jol Nathobdubmith places a mittened hand upon his comrade's shoulder as they're utterly isolated in the empty streets of Armorstrife. All along the way doors and windows are boarded up, shutters creak only ever in slight to witness the trio's movements, and to send a prayer or two on their way as they head for the marked homes.

One day, it will be us starring down the hearthsmans' speartips, and we'll beg for a swift demise.

Jas Anthrad gripped his squared chin and spoke resoundingly, a halberd over one shoulder as they strode, "Indeed, heed from your betters Eman. Speak the words your father's father have passed down to us."

A grumbled sigh erupts from the other man, "We ain't come all the way out here from Waxfight on Lord Perad's whims jus' to recite somethin' we all know."

Jas is unmoved by Eman's appeal, the clinking of their high boots carrying the little squad onward, echoing through the quiet town. "Please. It will still my wavering heart."

With only a small protest, the gruff soldier began to speak a mechanical verse that had been driven into him since the days that he couldn't care for anything more than swinging a stick beside his old hound. "The Blight 'tis a curse, but its thralls be men. To say its victims're monsters is to say the same for we. Only a dignified, painless death will do, for there is no other cure. Beware the fangs, beware their speed, but most of all, beware the damage to thine own soul. . . There's yer damn words, now let's get a move on."

And so move they did. Clattering with a will from door to door, their weapons at the ready, a few short knocks, directions from the frightened locals, and further. They came upon it under the harsh midday sun, whilst the chill of winter ablated it some, a door strung with twin and scrap wood, an ashen cross hastily scrawled upon it. "None could mistake that sign, fellows." Jol chimed in, his spear at the ready.

"Aye, let's be done with it." Jas confirms. The band tears down the paltry defenses keeping the sounds of scratching, moaning, and their horrendous cries of agony.

(https://i.imgur.com/IxN6GOx.png)

Within. . . There were nothing of the unfortunate soul's family left, merely scraps of their clothing drenched and encrusted in old blood. The starved one, careens its head against the light brought in behind the three men, those eyes on the forefront bore only the sickness, only the accursed hunger driven into each being of blight, but there was indeed something deeper within. The smallest of lingering flames, sadly yet, one so small as even the driest tinder could not catch alight. Then at once, the cursed figure charges forth, wanting nothing more than to sink its teeth into fresh flesh. Armed to keep it at bay, Jol and Eman stand beside their leader. Jas moves with a flourish as the butcher draws close, in a single motion he severs the head its body, whereupon that flame is gracefully extinguished. "Woebegotten, rest in peace." Jas proclaims, resting his arm again upon a shoulder.

(https://i.imgur.com/Wm7jquz.png)

The gruff swordsman muses aloud without as much decorum as his peers, "Wow, guess ya really are focused today huh?" Neither make much of a response toward Eman. The pudgy spearman hefts the fallen thrall over his shoulders as they exit the forlorn home. Again, naught but the frigid air and the sun's warm kiss to greet them. "Still don't get why they gotta call our country-podunk arses out here, ain't Armorstrife got a whole militia they could field? Hell thinkin' on it, we shoulda brought Bethri, maybe Mori too. Least they're lively. . ." Eman wheezes, still scratching away at his beard.

"Now, now, let's just be glad we've a job at all." Replies Jol.

Jas responds with a certain wistful sigh, "Truth be told, all the aristocrats have been holed up inside the keep for the last few months. They're simply not willing to have their guards do the nasty work. A few country toughs like us though? Perfect for the job."

"Ya got a way with words to say all that 'stead of 'they just don't give a damn.'" Eman spouts.

The trio find a good open spot before a temple pit within the city, Jol softly heaves the body of the thrall down before it, "That makes one." He eases out before joining in on the prior conversation, "What they don't quite understand is that have us ruffians cursed by a bite or two means a whole load of trouble for them. So. . . I suppose our fellow Eman is quite right here."

"Heh. . . Use us nobodies as meat shields, figures."

---

Over the course of the day, the trio puts in their work, felling blighted thrall after blighted thrall, their armour and relative skill giving them the advantage over the supernaturally infected peasantry, little more than a few bruises. Yet. . . As the sun fell in the sky, the band bore witness to the market square slowly being populated by all those seeking a profit in these trying times. Even while a thrall hunt was ongoing. . . "They stupid or somethin'?" Eman says aloud.

"The love of money. . ." Jas responds, " 'Tis the root of all evil." Though he catches himself in his dogma at the very end, indeed life in Omon Obin was not the quiet and easy life like that of their forefathers, centuries ago. They say the Realm of Silver was once a bastion of peace, but now? No matter where you go you find some victim twisted into horrendous forms seeking the blood of their families and friends. Jas puts that contemplation out of his head as Jol shakes the pair of them to.

"Comrades, look, yonder!"

(https://i.imgur.com/1NlMDTI.png)

A flesh-craving citizen broke out from hastily adorned barricades, the scent of a meal was palpable on the air for it. An older merchant cries and raves for help amongst the others, but most are paralyzed or panicked yet worse. The trio from Waxfight sally forth with all the haste they could muster, but even so find themselves too late, a single bite, that's all it takes. A chunk of the merchant's shoulder is torn from their body and perhaps through that wound all the rotten essence of the Obin Blight is put forth. The colour is flushed from their skin, the eyes sink near hollow, and the mouth begins to slaver all the yet more. Jas bites his tongue, his brows furrow, the rage is clear on his countenance. The three of them cut down the two thralls in moments.

Jas tears off his bronze helm and sinks to his knees before the merchant, leaning on his haft for support. "Go back to your homes until you are given our word of clearance." He mutters aloud. "NOW!" A scurry of feet and the scooping up of their goods heralds the local peddlers away, leaving the trio again abandoned. "Damn. . ."

Eman kicks at Jas' side playfully, "Hey, come on, this ain't yer fault. Those guys shoulda known not to be out--"

"Is our lot in life not trial enough?" The golden haired band leader sighs, "Wherefore to deserve this fate, in one split-second, our hands are forced to put down the innocent."

"Innocent?" Eman grumbles. "The hell kinda blood-drinking monster's innocent?"

Jas shoots up from his spot at the swordsman's declaration. "Monster? You and I are closer kin to beasts than they! How many people have we put to the sword in Waxfight alone? Is your brain so small that you cannot even recall your younger siblings?!"

"You sonuva'." Eman grasps the nape of Jas' mail. "Wanna make that one more?" He adds before the fat spearman pulls them apart.

"Let's not act like children now, fellows. If this 'tis a curse put upon us from Gopet the Putrid Cyst, wouldn't you say you're playing rather quite well into his hands, eh?" Jol diffuses yet another spat between the two, "Now, let's get these two off with the rest, shall we?"

---

(https://i.imgur.com/qsfF58l.png)

(https://i.imgur.com/9auDv9g.png)

The flames crackle, the dreadful scent of immolating hair and flesh and bile alike wists through Armorstrife, but the three men turn not their noses down from it, for the curse is burned away along with it. All the while, cinders, motes of smoldering orange are lifted up into the heavens by the wind. "May these souls find peace again." Says Jas Anthrad. 'And may our own taint be forgiven. . .'
They remain there for a time, until every last thrall they could search out amongst the city was turned to ash, ready to be used for marking the dead in the future. . . All told, fifteen flames were burnt out. After a time, the three men began the day's journey west back to Waxfight.

---

(https://i.imgur.com/FTn60Qh.png)

It wasn't long before Jas' somber thoughts and Eman's abrasiveness melted away again thanks to the comradarie they shared, or perhaps it escaped amidst the bonfire through the night. Yet something wasn't quite right as they strode through the idyllic little hamlet of their births. Doors were left wide open, pens unattended, little details that their distracted minds couldn't quite put together until they came before the doors, a single crimson streak upon the wood. Each of them drew their arms, but their spirits were not so steeled to the sight before them.

(https://i.imgur.com/jY8wXLC.png)

The Brass Coalition, their comrades, even Lord Perad who so graciously cared for his men, all of them had fallen to the blight in the trio's short absence. Without a shred of self-preservation amongst them, all the weight of granting their friends and family a dignified death pushed them forward into a bloody struggle. One that would leave the band with countless scars.

(https://i.imgur.com/HkPRUAj.png)

Scars that ran deeper than the flesh.

(https://i.imgur.com/scwV0Zu.png)

The exhausted trio discarded their battered armour, their arms, they langoured in the field before the mead-hall, yet another great flame to stay their tired hearts, yet more acrid scents, yet more souls laid to rest. They remained there, unmoving, watching the great inferno take the only earthly connections they each bore up to the cloud swept sky. As ever, Eman was the first to speak, yet no pithy quips came from him then, rather he asked simply, "What's left for us now?". Neither Jas, nor even Jol could find the words to reply. Each of them fell into sleep as the flame died down.

(https://i.imgur.com/wZxJpeQ.png)

When at last, as the frigid wind picked up, chilling them to their bones with no fire to warm them, Jas is the first to open his tired eyes, though he does not believe he's left a dream. For before the group a figure was, suspended caught in the air by balancing upon the haft of an old pickaxe, two might arms suspended a torn and broken body. Two almost vestigial legs hanging aloft. Stranger yet still, eyes that seemed to pierce the malaise of night. "You fight well." The strange man speaks through a voice befitting an elder.

"W-Who are you?" The golden haired Jas manages to speak through his grogginess, raising to a knee with one hand upon the halberd at his side.

"There'll be no need for that boy. Before thee 'tis naught more than a simple traveler." The pallid figure croaks as the other two companions begin to stir from their rest. "Thou needen'st fear the blighted flesh. Only the bite will do thee in." He gestures with a nod toward the ashes.

"Yes, we know." Jas mouths, releasing his grip upon the weapon. "We're simply giving their souls a proper send off. . . Begone traveler, this town has nothing left to offer you. Leave us to our mourning." Despite his words, Jas receives no more than a chuckle, or perhaps a 'harumph', electing him to speak yet more, "You think our plight humorous? You think it a jest that tonight we were forced to slay our kin, our beloveds? Begone! Go crawl back to the shadows where ilk of your like are born from."

"No. . . 'Tis a burden I have shared well in. It is humorous rather the twists in this path that Osmos has laid out for me." The balancing one can't help but seem tone-deaf to their plight. Eman and Jol shake the sleep from themselves, bearing weary guises, though allowing their more eloquent comrade do the talking.

"We care not for your twisting path, traveler. For ours is at an end." Jas brings himself not to share a gaze with the other, something about those eyes demand his focus.

"Oh? Thine path is at an end? Thou tire of tainting thine hands? Mayhaps I should oblige those desires!" Those trunk like arms bulge and grasp tight the pickaxe, in a single motion a mighty swipe mid-air casts the warm ashes across the field to the three fellows, and is then once again back to standing the figure up right before they'd even fallen.

"You ain't foolin' us ya cripple! We'll gut ya if ya come any closer, got that?!" Eman blurts out, standing with his silver sword at one side. Yet, Jas is stunned. Within him, deep within, an instinctual dread surrounds the broken body of the man across from them.

The strange traveler continues, "Thou art willing to send off their souls in ceremony and yet at the same time will spit upon their ashes. Here I thought that perhaps I saw a savior of Omon Obin within thee, but now I realize I am mistaken."

Jol at last replies, "What would you have us do odd-fellow? Can't you see our plight?"

(https://i.imgur.com/ALA7DqL.png)

They crane themself back around from leaving, despite the words from Jol, their marbled eyes are affixed upon Jas, "Survive. Bear the weight of these sins within thee, let them temper thy resolve, go out across the Realm and do what thou hast always done. Dost thou not seek revenge against those that put this blight upon thee?"

The winter air grows still, a dusting of powdery snow beginning to fall from the night sky. "No." Says Jas, "No, I seek not revenge. I wish only to some day see peaceable days for the Realm of Silver. Tomorrow we will set out renewed and cleanse the tarnished sheen of our great nation until the day we too succumb, at that time my comrades will be there for me." Moments after, both Eman and Jol lend their hearty agreement to that fact. Leaving the stranger now in silence.

"I see. . ." He says with a light chuckle, "No, it's that I've underestimated thee. You may call me Galka, if you would have me."

(https://i.imgur.com/UYxyjjG.png)

---

---

Quote from: kesperan on May 05, 2022, 06:21:47 pm

Hey guys, I just noticed that we have now surpassed the original Museum’s turn count.

81 turns so far and 177 in game years, and the game is astonishingly still pretty stable!

And here's to many more! There's still so much meat on the bones here, even after the death of most all megabeasts. So many stories we could tell, so many new ways to use the tools at our disposal to create new and interesting interactions. There's truly nothing like The Museum. Anywhere.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: TheFlame52 on May 05, 2022, 07:42:49 pm

A good start to a turn!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Quantum Drop on May 06, 2022, 03:26:47 am

Great start to your turn, Unraveller! Looking forward to how this develops!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on May 06, 2022, 09:53:11 am

You certainly have a way with words, Unraveller. Great story. Nice to see Galka out of retirement :D

I have never been able to successfully take over a site in adventure mode - tell me your secrets!

Kosoth Salvesank has a lot to answer for...

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Quantum Drop on May 06, 2022, 10:47:01 am

Quote from: kesperan on May 06, 2022, 09:53:11 am

I have never been able to successfully take over a site in adventure mode - tell me your secrets!

I think you have to ensure any and all other claims on the site are removed to make a successful takeover. So when Galka and his allies mercy-killed Lord Perad and the other nobles in the mead hall, they also took out anyone who could've contradicted Galka's claim on the site; with no-one else claiming the site, he could take it over without any issue. IIRC you also have to be part of a civilization, rather than an Outsider.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Unraveller on May 06, 2022, 12:39:31 pm

Pretty much everything that QD said, you can also get people in positions to yield their status to you through dialog, even monarchs, though it's a little more convoluted, and possibly a bit exploity. But then again, this is DF, so seems mostly fair game.

Funny story about the claim on Waxfight, after traveling around for a day or so and returning to the mead hall, we found that there had immediately been an insurrection by a religious group that supplanted Jas soon after. I assume due to our absence. It doesn't come up in the story as we never return and the Band of Wax was more just meant to commemorate the formation of their Blight Cleansing party.

Appreciate the support everyone!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on May 06, 2022, 02:42:02 pm

Really looking forward to seeing how your story develops.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Unraveller on May 06, 2022, 09:55:35 pm

---

(https://i.imgur.com/xAsuraO.png)

---

Stagnation. . . This Realm of Silver is no different than it was nearly eighty-years ago when last I crawled from the expansive abyss below. It is the same Realm of Silver that put children in caves to prospect, the same Realm of Silver whose leaders have naught a thought in their heads for that which plagues the land. How pained I am by this realization, though didst I curtail the Blight to the best of my then-mortal abilities, it was far from enough. This curse, for whom now I know its origin, the only salve is to scorch the earth 'neath our feet. This Band of Wax. . . Perhaps the Age of Heroes is not yet at an end.

Morning came, as ever it does, Jas, Eman, and Jol spoke their final farewells to their comrades midst the biting chill, "Cado. . . Mori. . . Bethri. . . Zuso. . . Someg. . . Therset. . . Perad." Though they were taken by the Obin Blight, and thereafter extinguished by those three men, still their flames are added and will live on within the newly formed Band of Wax, the flickering candle that dares to shed itself brightly upon Omon Obin.

"Shouldst thee wish to truly take upon this trial and. . . _{Retain thy humanity,} this Band will need more than a crippled fellow and three guardsmen." Galka rasps, sitting in the grass poking through the night's frost.

Eman dons his bronzed armor and rearranges his affects, he can't help but reply, "What? Ya saying we're too weak huh? That it?"

Refraining from saying the obvious, Galka takes a more measured approach. "Boy, I have been from Anvilsleeve to Ordermorals, dost thou believe that the worst of it is already behind thee? Omon Obin has naught but greater tragedies in store for thee. Let not this dream of tranquil days rest on the shoulders of just three men." The strange traveler turns then to the golden-haired Jas, having just emerged from the main hall with a bundled map in hand, "Thou won't save everyone." Those words dig deep for the Band's defacto leader. His brows furrow as Galka continues, "Yet if thee wish to affect real change in the Realm, then surely a trio of brothers perishing midst a plagued city would sully the hopes and dreams of those beyond thy grasp, no?" He does not relent, "Being so, our first destination shall be Partnerdaub, two days to the east, when last I passed through the city on my path here, 'twas a sanctuary from the Blight, perhaps Baron Cemir will afford thee men to command. . . Regardless it shall give thee time to rest thine weary bones and hearts for what lay ahead."

Eman and Jol look to Jas Anthrad as he grips his chin, standing over the cold ashes of the prior day's bonfire. When at last those ochre eyes of his opened to share a gaze with the enigmatic orbs of Galka Linarad, they were newly determined. "Your advices are warranted, wanderer, but we are hale and whole, we've no time to waste." The map unfurls in his outstretched hand, their path realized, Brunchworkers, Caverntunnel, Shovedsquare, Trailbrain, Gearseiged, Sizzleoils, and finally Partnerdaub. "We'll rest as needed, but we cannot let a single hamlet escape our eyes, no matter how small."

"Aye." Eman nods with affirmation, thumbing his nose at their crippled 'patron'.

Jol lets out a goodly laugh from his belly, cutting some of the drama, "Ohohoo, you certainly have our work cut out for us Jas."

'Will their resolve perservere. . ?' Galka merely nods, "Very well, lead on, I name thee Jas Gloryage the Worshipful, lord of the Band of Wax."

---

The people of Brunchworkers live in squalor. . . Mere hours after they'd set off for the last time from their home of Waxfight, the Band of Wax arrived in the neighboring Hamlet, few were about the place. What sheds there were from the elements looked to be in great disrepair, sickly animals begged for feed on the streets. A sense of neglect was midst the chilling air, Eman bellowed as they moved, "How can the Lord here let their people live like this?!"

"S-Soldiers!" A nourished figure, aged beyond their years, scrambled to the four men in bronze mail. Without hesitation, the peasant fell to their knees, gripping tightly upon Jas' leg. "Please, something must be done, something must be done, somethi-"

With both mittened hands, Jas brought the figure to his feet, "We hail from Waxfight, we've no provisions to share, where lurks the Blight?" Both Eman and Jol brandish their arms, thier trained eyes scanning the little hamlet for some indication of the accursed ones.

"'Tis the mead hall, o' warriors. The Entrancing Coalition is naught but starving beasts. . ." He manages to cry, "For so long we Brunchworkers've been without brunch ourselves. . ."

The Band of Wax takes leave of the peasant, finding themselves before The Flier of Horses, the main hall. A congelead sludge of crimson and rot ooze from the bottoms of its barricaded entryway.

(https://i.imgur.com/njJBUwr.png)

Jas was the first to advance, a mighty swing from his halberd hacks away the boards, turning them to splinters as the doors creak open.

(https://i.imgur.com/Cngpt8t.png)

The bleakness within hides naught the starkly blood-red blisters covering the bodies of the nobles and their guardsmen alike, leaving nothing to differentiate their status any longer. There is no moment of hesitation within the Blighted Thralls, without delay they pour from the confines of their den, striking out at the Band of Wax with tooth and nail, having lost no sense of their former skill before the curse. For Jas, Eman, and Jol, raising their blades and spears here was a task far less burdensome than within Waxfight. An onslaught, a wave outnumbering them two to one, the three oath-brothers hack into flesh, pierce the rusted armor, and separate heads from their necks for each movement of Thralls, had become more and more predictable, as peasantry spoke, they were as starved beasts desperate for a meal. Yet still without a shred of nourishment for decades within those walls, they did not decay, nor perish.

Another wave of exhaustion came over the battered trio, each of them still in full control of their minds. Galka made his presence known once more from abaft, "Splendid." He mused aloud, "Indeed thee fight well. From hence I shall join thee in battle, skilled as thou art -- twould be doubly dire shouldst any of you succomb."

Eman huffed, catching his breath from the battle, "Heh. . . You're gonna fight, ya cripple?" Though Galka elected not to feed the gruff swordsman's jeers. Each and all of them began to gather the corpses of their fallen kinsmen, and just as well bundles of firewood. Yet, the golden-haired leader of the Band is distracted, kneeling before one of the thralls, he finds his eyes trailing up the body.

(https://i.imgur.com/x5fcxw8.png)

He doffs one of his mittens, idly he inspects the odd bits of jewelry. "'Tis no animal bone. . ." He mutters in quiet as Jol and Eman ready the flame.

"Thine eye is a discerning one." Speaks Galka, having dragged himself up beside, sending a shock through Jas' spine, he continues, "It is as thee say, the Obin Blight does not merely push the soul from the body, they art no shambling corpses without thought.  Rather the curse consumes the soul, enwraps it with aggression, a need to replicate, and a detest for those whom live in the light. Perhaps it is not so surprising that somethings make their way through the suppression. . . "

Jas takes a few moments to internalize what his strange companion had said, tossing the macabre crafts into the growing fire. "I shudder to imagine a force that could turn this Blight into a weapon for their machinations, something darker than goblins." Blistered flesh and boils burst and crackle within the inferno before them, acrid blood sizzles, and hair takes the flame well, deepening its color.

Galka holds his tongue in slight, The Tower of Silence had provided him with nearly a century of all the lore that the Walled Dye could muster. . . Some things need be left unsaid, "Prophetic words, Jas Anthrad. I didst naught take thee for a flame seer. . ." He quickly reorients his words, "Thy lifetime alone wilt naught be enough to stare down all the dark forces of Orid Xem, let us focus upon the monolithic task at hand."

A quizzical expression overtakes the Band-Leader's face, before morphing into a wry grin, "Tell me." He begins with a resolute timbre, "Wherefore have you come upon such wisdom that we may share in it? You are no older than any of us and yet I find when I listen to your silver speech, I am drawn in like a child before the village elder passing down all that becomes him."

"I am merely well-traveled, 'tis all."

---

Signs of the blight receded as the Band traveled east, here and there through the hamlets they'd be met with slammed doors and closed shutters in their duties. Yet still they pressed on, doing what they must. "Damn bastards. . ." Wheezes the swordsman Eman, he scratches away at his balding head, following shortly behind the rotund spearman, having just left the village of Shovedsquare.  "How in the blue hell're they gonna run us outta town after clearin' out their infestation huh?" He grimaces and grumbles as the beleaguered Band continues eastward, the rising town of Partnerdaub on the horizon.

Jol is the one to reply, gentle voiced as ever, "Eman, dear fellow, you know well, we are the headsman come to take their kin, cursed or not. Emotions are far more powerful a driving force than rationality, wouldn't you say?"

"Ehh. . . They coulda at least offered us some rations, I'm starved." The swordsman groans, "If I don't eat, I'm gonna be the next Blighted Thrall, and I'm coming fer yer mighty ass Jol."

"Look lively. We're nearing Partnerdaub." Calls Jas from the head of the pack as the city comes into focus.

(https://i.imgur.com/DYujEHn.png)

"A stark contrast to Strifularmor, isn't it comrades?" Jol chuckles, and Eman breaks out in front of the others with a great wide smile across his face, "Heheh, hell yeah! Let's find a tavern huh?!" His voice cascades out into the streets of Partnerdaub, and it is lost amidst the bustle. Markets are open, merchants are plying their wares, cats and guineafowl roam free, and the scent of fresh-baked goods lingers in the air. For the trio of Waxfight, in truth, they'd not have witnessed a sight like this in their recent years, perhaps in their lifetime, for so strong the grip of the Obin Blight is upon the commoners.

"Fine then. Secure us lodging and provisions Eman, we'll have a talk with the Baron so don't skimp out on us either. We may have a proper army to treat." Jas' words are more than enough to send the gruff swordsman off into the city. "Disarming as it is, our caution is yet warranted, it all begins with a single bite. Jol, won't you keep an eye on him?" With a nod and a jolly, 'but of course!', the heavy-set spearman heads off as well, leaving Galka and Jas to make their way towards the keep.

(https://i.imgur.com/FWFnX8H.png)

The sight is an absolute wreck. . . A few guardsman are picking through the remains and cleaning the grounds of the main hall, for which is choked by the viscera and blood of a prior struggle, an older foppish sort overlooking the matter. Jas falls to a knee, bowing his head at the entry-way, "Lord Baron Cemir." He proclaims resoundingly, "I am Jas Anthrad, come from the western hamlet of Waxfight."

A bit surprised by the sudden intrusion, Baron Cemir turns to face to the pair and gathers himself despite the grisly scene before them. "You may rise, I expect you come on orders from the triumvirate of Strifefularmor?" Before the bandsman can respond Cemir is frank, "Once more I'll make it clear, we can afford no aid to your people, it does not surprise me that with three religious leaders and no rigid structure that you cannot take the protection of your own people seriously. Still, despite that sad fact, we have our hands full just keeping our region safe, as you can see. . ."

"Lord Baron." Jas begins, standing firm now, his bronze helm held at one side. "I come neither for Order of Butterflies, nor Strifefularmor, nor even Waxfight." He takes in a deep breath, the trepidation leaving his body, "I come as the lord of the Band of Wax. Our creed is to see peaceful days return once again to all of Omon Obin, to rid our once great nation of its Blight. Have you need of us, sir?"

The Baron's expression doesn't change all that much, perhaps a tinge of irritation, he watches two of his men carry yet another corpse out from the bowels of the keep. "Can't say I've heard of you." He coos. "But we have our thrall issue quite well and dealt with, our militia has become versed in cleansing this disease. Well. . . I suppose we've had some help from a few strange travelers that passed through within recent years. I must decline your offer, Jas Anthrad."

"Very well Lord Baron, then I must ask of you now -- You say your men are capable, perhaps you would be willing to lend a few spears to our cause?" He responds in kind.

"Hmm, so you have come to drink of our resources, as I suspected. You will find the same answer for as if you belonged to Strifefularmor." Cemir does not afford much emotion to cloud his words, he's concise about the matter. The response deflates Jas, to a degree, though the Baron continues, "However, there are many able bodied warriors who call Partnerdaub their home thanks to its renowned safety, perhaps you garner their support?"

Jas gives his superior a good nod, "Aye, we'll make certain to." He and Galka turn to leave Cemir and his soldiers to their work, cleaning up after the bloodshed having come and gone -- Jas and Galka not realizing just how close they'd come to two of the most influential enigmas in the last century. Before they make their final steps beyond the threshold, Jas adds, "Ah, Baron, we took the liberty of freeing all your holdings of the Blight before we arrived, you ought to try keeping a closer eye on the commoners who feed your realm. Good day."

---

A week comes and goes in a flash, Galka's words rang true, it wasn't until at last that the trio of oath-brothers relieved themselves of their affects and sat in a few good sturdy seats with a mug of mulled raspberry wine that they realized just how tired they were. Roast pork is served before them in an inn just beyond the city walls. With a mouth half-full of food Eman airs out his grievances, "Not one, not one damn sword-arm, not one spear-tip, no arrows, no bolts, no guy with a bashin' stick, not even a cranky old lady with a broom. We SUCK at recruitin'."

Jol chimes in as well, "I've no luck of any sort either it seems. One candlemaker offered his services until I explained away the confusion. . ."

"The people here are indolent, they don't see beyond their walls." Jas bemoans, gripping his squared chin as he warms his feet by the hearth.

"People just don't have any idea who the Band of Wax is, they ain't heard of us yet." Eman adds.

Finally Galka pitches his wisdom, "I am afraid 'tis worse yet, we art viewed as rote mercenaries at best, killers at worst. Though we do a service for the people of Omon Obin, they art blinded by their aloofity -- 'tis the downfall of our nation and the so-called nobles whom sit at its head. Perhaps a few heroic feats wouldst do well to cement us in the eyes of our people."

"Like we ain't been doin' heoric feats since day one?" Eman cries, slamming down his mug upon their table as he begins to stand, "I'm goin' out to take a piss." He adds so eloquently. The gruff swordsman cracks open the inn's front door, allowing the night chill to dart within, he breathes deeply in the sharp tang of winter, whilst the full moon shines brightly down upon them. Almost as if on queue, a curdling cry pierces the frigid night air, followed by a wild braying not far behind. "You all heard that. . ?" Eman mutters. In moments, the Band of Wax hefts their arms to, and charge toward the source of the cry.

(https://i.imgur.com/P0pEc1a.png)

(https://i.imgur.com/BPkHAPR.png)

As they scour the streets, alert and on edge, a strange sight belays them -- a green skinned little man bursts from their house, hobbling down the road, a trail of blood abaft from their gouting wound. Jas, Eman, and Galka rush into the domicile while Jol tends to the goblin, had greater darkness not blinded their memories in the coming months, then the sight before them would have forever stricken itself in their minds.

(https://i.imgur.com/r4HqCM5.png)

(https://i.imgur.com/kIz3kcE.png)

A truly horrendous monster there stood, the goblin's lifeblood oozing from the beast's maw. The twisted cervid lets out an unholy wail before battering Eman back, leaving a mighty dent in his breastplate, and doing worse for his guts. Perhaps any soldier of this land might have fled then, but by now the Band of Wax was well accustomed to battling horror. Galka propelled himself forth, taking one of the creature's legs in a single swipe of his old pickaxe, a sight that immediately justifies his travel with the Band in the watering eyes of Eman. With that opportunity, Jas drove his halberd's tip again and again into the chest of the thrashing monster, bleeding it dry far before it could truly do battle with them.

(https://i.imgur.com/UH6rvtX.png)

A sharp, 'Oh!' grabs their attention from just outside, as the moon casts its rays upon the eyes of the wounded goblin, their body begins to shift in Jol's arms. Flesh burbles and muscles tense, all manner of veins across their skin expand and bulge. Their eyes take on a scarlet hue, and with a sudden will, the blood streaked goblin lunges for Jol, though he manages to drop them and bound away. The eyes of the Band of Wax are all upon the agonized creature, but before they could make a move, Galka drives his pickaxe into the creature's head. . . They decide first thing in the morning, they'd move on from Partnerdaub.

---

A sizable figure clad in armor stands firmly in the middle of the road leading west out of the city. Lengthy blond hair and strong features bear the man's expression against the four bandsmen who amble out from Partnerdaub. The figure grips tightly their implement and shouts them down. "Halt!" As Jas attempts to speak, stepping forward to meet the man, he finds that in an instant the speartip of the armored stranger is inches from his throat. "One long month I'd hunted my prey, how do you think I feel when you lot snatched it from my fingertips?"

Eman and Jol draw their blades from behind their leader, whom slowly, yet firmly raises a hand their way. Those hawkish eyes of the strangers are affixed on naught but Jas' own. With a sudden flourish, the golden haired leader of the band takes a stride backward, parrying away his opponent's weapon in the same breath, "This one speaks only through battle." Jas murmurs, losing not track of the younger fellow's eyes. The stranger is the first to act, using the momentum from his tip being driven away to bring the axe-head back around to the other side, barely being caught by Jas' own halberd with a metallic screech. The bandsman clenches his teeth, stepping inwards with their weapons still in the bind. He quickly slips past the axe-head and levers his haft into the other man's chin, sending him to the ground. He does not relent, pointing now his own spear-tip at his opponent's throat. "Have you a name, o' valiant one?"

A wide smile cracks across the younger man's mouth, "Quenir Abcango!" He roars, both hands passing the haft of his weapon across the road into Jas' legs, sending him down to join them. Quenir laughs heartily, casting aside his arms to the relief of the rest of the band. He lends a hand toward the other man, "We'll consider that a tie, you're a fine warrior. . ."

"Jas. Jas Anthrad." He replies.

"You four have done a great service for Omon Obin, both in slaying that werebeast, and in your earlier exploits." Quenir shakes Jas' hand strongly, "Bring me glory and death, and your efforts here in Partnerdaub will not have been in vain."

Jas can't help but smile himself at the straightforward nature of the man, a a certain carefree feeling welling up within him, "That brashness of yours will surely find you killed someday, so death we can promise you. Welcome to the Band of Wax, Quenir Abcabgo. . ."

---

---

Might have gotten a little lazy with the last part there, have a good amount of content to still get through and not a ton of freetime left this week. Hopefully I get it all finished by Tuesday.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on May 07, 2022, 06:18:04 am

This is epic dude. I’m invested!

Zom Tormentchaos the Leap of Cudgels, the goblin weremoose, had been terrorising Partnerdaub for 300 years. He somehow managed to avoid both Avolition Holyblood and Moldath's ghoul cleanses before. Thank you for your service in this grim task!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Unraveller on May 07, 2022, 04:41:22 pm

Given that Moldath and Holyblood have been through much of the Realm of Silver, more than once even, I'm surprised at the amount of leftover horrors, Blight or otherwise. I suppose it's easy for things to slip through the cracks. Not to mention those two are probably a little more aloof to the fate of Omon Obin -- Not so for the Band of Wax! No stones unturned. Aside from Streammartyred. . . As crashes happen around the city for the most part. In one iteration of the save before I lost some data, I'd managed to get to the keep and destroy the Blighted Thralls there, but I couldn't be bothered to do it again as it slowed down to a chug hardcore. In fact, that may be the only place left in Omon Obin where they haven't visited. Hopefully the blight there does not spread too greatly.

Glad you're liking it Kesperan, not sure if it's truly reached epic levels yet tho. Haha.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on May 07, 2022, 05:47:15 pm

Thank you for your service, glad to see an indepth ghoul purge

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Unraveller on May 09, 2022, 05:30:44 pm

---

(https://i.imgur.com/xqzXZx6.png)

---

Hollowed out homes line dilapidated and overgrown roads nestled between snowdrifts as instruments howling by the breath of Orid Xem -- The frosty gusts of deep winter bit and stung at the Band of Wax, their armour practically glistened 'neathe the sun, coated in glassy ice. Each trudge through the ever deepening snow grew more difficult than the last. "How come. . . We can't keep up with that invalid?" Eman wheezed from above the Yak-Hide scarf wrapped firmly about his neck, the swordsman's breath crystallizing in the air, practically blinding him in his own fog. True enough, that enigmatic wanderer pulled himself forth with speed across the blanketed ground several paces ahead of the rest, despite the loss of his legs. Perhaps, in a way, that debilitation had made the man stronger.

"His will is legendary." Quenir applauds. "Master Galka's desire to see this quest through is greater than even ser Anthrad, we could learn much from their resolve, you and I." Eman merely growls, perhaps a pout as well from behind his bundles. Quenirs's wild eyes dance from destitute hovel to destitute hovel, scanning from some semblance of life, and worse yet, the mark of death. Perhaps for good, neither lurks in this somber place of Enterframed. "All too common a sight, long the road of recovery will be after our mission is through." His words ring out even above harrowing wind.

"Already thinking on success? Your boldness is intoxicating new-fellow." The jolly voice of the spearman, Jol, brings up the back of the group, each of them keeping strong their march despite the climate.

Quenir belts out a hearty laugh to warm the spirits, "From where do you men hail?" He asks, testing each step with a quick jab of his haft.

"Waxfight." Replies Jas, his eyes trained on the horizon. "Sleepy little Hamlet to the south. . . " His voice was wistful, there were deep remembrances within those words, "We are not like to see it again, I suspect."

Again Quenir laughed, "That the truest saviors of this land be its common serfs, we of no background, nor lineage. We men who would be forgotten on the morrow. I cannot help but laugh!"

"Saviors, you name us?" Jas questions, "Our's is a grisly task."

"You travel not for glory, nor for riches, nor even for yourselves. Rather for the sake of the realm without patron, who with a mind quicker than molasses could name you anything but? Long live the Band of Wax!" Upon his proclamation, their collective boots made way into the adjoining hamlet -- Stabbedechoed. Before them. . . A field of gore.

(https://i.imgur.com/dJ2ZSrV.png)

---

"Loli above, move your ass you old bastard!" A booming voice filled the discordant hall, battering away the horrifying groans of handfuls of crimson blistered soldiers -- blood and rot oozing from the bursts in their skin, hunger in their eyes and dripping saliva for the flesh of the last two amongst them still untouched by the gifts of the Obin Blight. Unprepared for the sudden influx of the curse amongst his people, the lord hobbled their way past their final broad-shouldered guard, barely out of the grasp of the thralls made of his court. "Do away with them, do away with them! Destis you must!" The old nobleman cried and wailed, darting behind her Destis Laniecroh, her muscled figure interposed between he and the worst of the rabble. "Yeah, yeah your lordship, just hide. I've got this under control." She cooed, though a certain rasp in her voice betrayed her immense trepidation, 'six of them. . . Her mind bemoaned, 'We're dead meat, ain't we?'

Both of her thick hands grasped tightly upon her copper maul, just the right size for a woman of her stature. Yet the great hammer only afforded her a small tinge of security. She roared, "All of you damn idiots getting bit. . . Should be ashamed. Come on! Lemme fix that for ya." As if on queue, her old comrades raced towards her where she blocked the threshold at the back of the mead hall. The first came barreling toward her, pain stricken in those hollowed out eyes, without a moment's hesitation it's face is met with a mouthful of copper. The jawbones jammed upward into the brain, both slaying and sending the cursed hearthsman to the side, allowing the next two to advance. 'Always were an ass, Mec.' She mused to herself, grasping for some kind of levity midst the danger. Cobi was next, she crushed a leg out from under him with all the might she could muster in a swing, dropping the thrall to the floor. She carried the momentum through to bash in the armored spine of her good friend Jonu.

But for all her strength, she couldn't move fast enough -- A speartip took a healthy bite of her side, pinning her against a wall thanks to the unnatural power coursing now within the blood of the infected ones. Destis ground her teeth against themselves, stifling a wrack of pain, but the last of her two old comrades clattered beyond her. She struggles as much as she can manage against the blighted one, snapping and slavering as its fangs draw in. Even so, her wavering eyes are drawn to the back, the lord scrambled but could find purchase, yet the two thralls upon him could. Their fingernails dug and hooked into the elderly noble's flesh, then came the teeth. Rending and ripping, the blighted thralls that once served the lord were his undoing, "Destis!" He screamed, "Destis!" As he entrails spilled out unto the floors. Only in that moment could the hammerwoman find the strength to dislodge the spear from her side and beat back the thrall upon her. Without looking back at her lord, she fled from the mead hall, a few tear drops sparkling in her clenched eyes.

Destis charged through the onion fields flanking the hall, her only thought was to head toward the village. A firm fist at her wound, she came upon a sight even more dire -- From each home the blistered ghouls, freshly minted, tore apart the innocent, rending flesh and blood from the bone by the all consuming burden of their immeasurable hunger. How mothers and fathers became cursed then to devour the children they held so dear, how the dead became one with the roads, all of it nearly became too much for her, balancing upon a knife edge with one side begging for a desperate retreat, while the other whispered a valiant demise. . . Without much thought she waded into the thick of it, maul firm in her strong grip.

---

"Band of Wax!  Now is the time to make well on thy oaths!" Jas Anthrad rose his axe to the tumultuous skies, daring either to opening up on another all encompassing blizzard, or fade away for the sun to have a chance. At his back, the four men -- Galka, Jol, Eman, and Quenir each and all raise their own arms and bellow out a tremendous battle cry befitting an army moreso than a small band. Those armored few descended into Stabbedechoed with abandon, a purpose heralding them on in their hearts. Their skills sharp and minds trained for their months of hunting down the accursed, the Band of Wax's blades strike true, cutting down the blighted common folk, and on occasion something more frightening. . .

(https://i.imgur.com/nNUKRVj.png)

^{"You stinkin' bags of meat!"}

Quenir's halberd tore mid-way through the torso of an old milker, as he withdrew it and lent an ear to the wind, he could hear the cries of that voice once more, ^{"I'm gonna. . . Gonna smash all-a-ya!"}

"Ser Anthrad!" He called, snapping his head to one of the many little homes upon the road, the bronze-armored Jas emerges from its threshold shimmering slickly in crimson, a child curled up within, terror in their eyes. "To the west! Someone is resisting, we must lend them aid!" Quenir cries, as Eman and Jol finish off another of the thralls seeking out a meal upon the muddying road. Without hesitation, the men charge in swift.

Destis batters away another of the cursed serfs, she lingers on the edge of the village, clearing a path for the frightened and unaffiliated to make their escape. Her maul utterly destroys the head of another thrall like that of a melon, electing a scream from the little group she'd saved, no doubt kin with the fallen one. She grits her teeth, wounds piling up clearly from 'neath her dented armour. Another three of the maddened creatures hungrily drinking in her image as they amble towards her, 'This is it. . .This is the end!' Yet before Destis Laniecroh could swing her maul for the final time, the three oncoming thralls were felled in unison. At last did the shaded sky open-up casting rays and silhouetting the warriors as the drew near. The front man removed his blooded helm, golden-hair flowing freely as he spoke, "That should be the last of them. Jol, master Galka, Quenir, double around and check in on all the shuttered homes." With a fine salute, the three marched off to be sure of Stabbedechoed's safety. Jas turned then to the hammerwoman, "Such bravery, legendary." He says.

Before he could extend a hand in greeting, Detsis musters a grand smile and all the harrowed fear washes away from her face, "Ahh, my knight in shining armor's turned out to be a prince charming too?" She coos, taking a step forward and wrestling a thick arm around the back of the man's neck and pulling him in just a tinge closer, "Name's Detsis, life's short, wanna be mine?" She added, much to the immense confusion of her would be suitor.

Eman cackles from behind, "Don't think I ever seen you this fluster Jas! Bwaaahhahaa."

The captain promptly separates himself from the towering woman and clears his throat, "Ahem. I am Jas Anthrad. leader of the Band of Wax. You have done well in protecting these people Miss Destis. . . You've our respect." He raises an eye behind her to see the small group she'd kept safe, a mixture of fear, loathing, and despair gazed back at him, they'd not truly appreciated the gravity that this day alone held.

"It was nothin'." Destis proclaimed before immediately falling to her knees with a mighty thud, keeping herself upright by leaning on the haft of her heavy maul. She seethed in pain as Jas knelt to steady her, "That wasn't all of 'em." She managed to croak, "In seconds the Blight was within the hall, only I managed to get out of there. . ."

"I understand." Spoke Jas then, "You remain here with these folk who owe their lives to you. We'll--"

"No ya won't." Destis let out with a wheeze, mustering the strength to stand once more, "This's my fight too. Those're my comrades we need to put down, and I'll be there, ya got that?"

Jas Anthrad's eyes met with her's amidst the corpse strewn village, her determination was that of their likes, he could not deny her request. The Band of Wax marched to fell the final motes of rot there in Stabbedechoed.

---

(https://i.imgur.com/l7ZTTiK.png)

A roiling inferno warmed their spirits as night fell, Jas, Eman, Jol, Quenir, Galka, Destis, they all gathered about the flame, it's tongues licked out against their battered and exhausted bodies yet could not burn them. The stench of cremation had drawn the remaining townsfolk from their hovels. The reverent and quiet peoples had joined hands amongst the band. There in that place, they were all people of Omon Obin, there they gathered to mourn the lost, to share gratitude, to see the souls of their loved ones stripped from the curse of Thranan Echohail the Rapidity of Helms originating more than five centuries ago, not that any amongst them save Galka knew of such arcane lore.

"Ser Anthrad. . ." Whispered Quenir. "Still you would not name thyself a saviour?"

Before the captain could make much of response, two young ones cozied up to Jas' leg wearing pots upon their heads, "We're gonna go with you!" One cried, "Yeah, yeah! We're strong warriors." Added the other. The golden-haired man harbored a smile, though his heart ached, he placed both hands upon them and spoke soft, "If the two of you are such great warriors, Stabbedechoed will need your strength to remain safe and free. They're counting on you." In their flushed faces he could see they'd been made orphans by the Blight, hardly a rare story in this 'Golden Age'.

"We share the boys' sentiment." Spoke a stout blacksmith, "Our Lord couldn't protect us, and in our most dire days, ye show up like a gift from Loli Fairclearing herself. We're in yer debt sers." A collective agreement ran through the humble folk. Eman let out a great sigh, "Sure is nice to hear a little praise fer once." The Blacksmith again spoke, "Destis ought to go with you all, she can bear our dreams with her."

"But. . . You idiots'll all die without me. . ." She protested in slight. Though to little avail.

Hungrily, Jas' eyes supped upon the flame, each bonfire they built it seemed only added to the candle they'd represented. Leaning upon their pick as always, Galka spoke quietly, that only Jas could hear. "Thou hast seen it, thou has lived it -- No place amongst our Realm of Silver is free from this madness, this curse. Those that sit at the head of our nation wouldst sooner see it fall to ruin than to rise from these ashes. Even those with the power to act make no movements, choosing only to secure their paltry holdings than to aid those that wouldst seek peace." The sounds of growing murmurs amongst the people and the band are slowly drowned out to Jas' mind, only the backdrop of crackling flames and the words that the strange traveler Galka spoke could reach his ears. "If tine ambitions are true, then thou wouldst need to act beyond a mere cleansing of this Blight. Thou must seek Entrancegrape. . ."

"I've naught a drop of noble blood in my body." Replies the man, reaffirming, "Murderers and usurpers the likes of us need not have such ambitions."

"Thou speak to tradition and the aristocracy. . . They've no mind for the common folk, thou knowest this well." Galka's yellowed orbs pierce the night beyond the fire, digging deep into Jas' armor, "Who better to steward the realm than he who hath been borne amongst its bosom?"

Jas cannot find the words to fight with Galka, worse yet for he, the voice of Quenir breaks that ephemeral silence, "Long live the Band of Wax!" It ceased his moment of introspection, his gaze fell upon each and all of the townsfolk, in unison they cried, "Long live the Band of Wax! Long live the Band of Wax. . !"

"Take this chance Jas Anthrad." Spoke Galka once more. "This is the crossroads of the future of Omon Obin, I pray thee choose wisely."

He sucked in a deep breath of the frigid winter night and the smoky flame before them, sacrifices must be made for the sake of peace, he affirmed. "People of Stabbedechoed." He began, raising a fist to his chest. "Your dreams and powerful hopes are the fuel that we require to continue burning bright. Ours is a battle without end, yet with your support our burden is as light as feathers. This day, we have freed Stabbedechoed from the shackles of the accursed Blight, and one day soon we will free Omon Obin from the shackles of its malicious governors who lend no aid nor creed to its humble folk. On that day, we in turn ask for your aid, should we deserve it."

"Long live the Band of Wax, long live the Band of Wax!"

---

Under the urging of Galka Linarad that night, after observing the moon above, the band remained in Stabbedechoed for two weeks more, recuperating and resting after their many hard battles and long journeying. In those quiet and peaceable days, one could almost forget the long road ahead and the tragedies that lurked there. Treated as heroes among the populous, they at last set off again with provisions aplenty and one more warrior to swell the Band's strength. Destis bore the weight of her people's resolve across her broad shoulders, just as well as her maul. From there, days wheeled by on traveling north, heading towards the old districts of Omon Obin.

Speechrags, Foggycradle, Heattreated, Pleatedtongs, Tunneluttered, Pricetressed, Stillhandle. . . Not one of the villages, abandoned or not that they'd passed through on their travels then had escaped the ravages of the Obin Blight, indeed the further northwards they traveled, the deeper the shadows grew, yet as did their skill, their experience, and their despisal towards the ones who would allow their homelands fall into such decay. The Band rested upon the edge of a forest clearing, just beyond the horizon they could make out the city of Scarletbronze, their next heading. As the night drew in, and the comrades gathered about a small flame, Destis spoke, "I've heard tale of Scarletbronze. They say the city is cursed whole-cloth."

Eman butts in, "Yeah, like every other place we've been through."

"Let us not lower out guard, bandsmen." Quenir makes clear, resting with his halberd upon a shoulder. "A city is still a city, if Scarletbronze has fallen entirely to the Blight, then we've an army to contend with. . . My blood is boiling with the excitement."

"Whether it is a thousand, or but one, our aim is as true as ever." Jas coos, stoking the flame.

"We're all behind you good fellow." Jol adds, serving a hearty portion of stew to the collective band.

On the edge of camp, Galka gazes upward at the stars, his eyes affixed on the nearly complete moon, musing with a great sigh, "Let us rest into the day on the morrow." He addresses the rest of them, "My bones are weary from our long journey." His words are met with an incredulous gaze from the captain of the band, who had never once before heard a complaint out of the crippled man. Yet, he does not protest.

---

(https://i.imgur.com/YgTicOj.png)

"Tis truly eerie a sight." The rotund spearman spoke, though his voice was low and soft, still yet it carried itself in great echo over the emptied cityscape. Roads bore no travelers, shops remained empty and unopened, neither child nor animal played in the streets, nor patrolled an entourage of guards keeping the townsfolk safe. Scarletbronze was well and truly abandoned. Each of the band slowly moved through the town, opening doors, or gazing in through windows to find wares and clothes untouched, already the sun hung low in the sky. The quiet played upon their mortal psyches, each movement from another bandsman beyond their sight put them further and further on edge until at last Eman's scratchy voice leaped over the rows of houses. "Hey! Hey! I found someone!" He cried. Causing the entire group to cram into the threshold of one particular house.

(https://i.imgur.com/dOtYKkA.png)

The figure of a human stood completely still, gazing longingly up at the ceiling of their home. The man's skin was pale, their body gaunt, eyes like voids of the darkest sky burned holes through whatever sight they were set upon, yet the figure did not even so much as turn their way as they entered. "Are you quite alright good fellow?" Asked Jol as he drew in close. Each of them had lowered their arms for no signs of the Blight had so much as shown themselves anywhere across the city. No response came from the man, they merely stood. The sight sent shivers down the bandsmens' spines, though they could not then pinpoint rightly why. Eman gently jabs the figure with the flat of his blade, nothing. "Master Galka, what affliction befalls this man?" Asks Quenir.

"I-I know not." Stammers the wanderer, "I believe they must be wallowing too deeply in despair. There will be nothing we can do." Galka goes quiet, leaving the domicile, electing the rest to do much of the same.

(https://i.imgur.com/r1X91tn.png)

It's not long after that another crosses their path, moving without purpose to their human eyes, simply heading onward down the road, nothing could halt their advance. The deep orange glow of the setting sun had befallen them, yet after all this time, the Band of Wax could find nothing resembling the Obin Blight amongst Scarletbronze. . . Nearing the end of their inquest within the city, the group opens yet one more door, a small home where yet another despairing hollow figure stands, they do not even attempt to speak. Behind them, they shut the door, slumping thereupon. "Spose the stories were not so." Destis says, "Not sure if I'm glad about that or not."

"Place is a ghosttown, wonder what the hell happened here anyway." Eman sighs.

Jas grips his squared chin, "Famine, War, Disease. Still many great tragedies haunt our land than simply the Obin Blight. When all this is said and done, we must surely turn our attention to those. . ." The brightest of moons had risen into the sky, a wrap of darkness surrounded the Band of Wax quicker than they could have imagined. Each of them with great, wide eyes turned in horror to the sounds emanating from the home they'd just left. A monstrous trumpeting shook the very firmament of the land beneath their boots, and from there, a howl that tore the spirits from them. Armaments are grasped tightly, Jas creaks open the door again. from within the gloom a pair of great cyan orbs gaze back.

(https://i.imgur.com/dfAR2WN.png)

Jas cannot utter a word, he remains like that of a statue in doorway, though his eyes glimpse yet that which lurks within -- Shaggy scarlet fur like that of streaks of blood coat a twisted humanoid monster reaching up into the heights of the room, two great tusks glimmered in the darkness. One small motion came from the shadows. "Jas, what's wrong!?" Cried Eman.

(https://i.imgur.com/9GvBJ6B.png)

The captain of the band is thrust like a ragdoll out from the threshold, a bolt of bronze fired past the band, slamming into the house opposite. Though shaken, Eman and Quenir charge within to bear witness to the immense twisted mammoth. "A werebeast! 'Tis a werebeast greater than the likes of Partnerdaub!" Quenir bellows, catching the monster's attention. Eman takes the opportunity to strike.

(https://i.imgur.com/EDkS862.png)

The slash of his sword does little than shred some of the fur from the undead weremammoth's hide, a wave of despair erupts throughout the Band of Wax, yet it is not deep enough yet to halt their advance. Quenir barely manages to move his body out of the way of the accursed beast's fists, utterly destroying the foundation of the building. Jol then enters next and Destis slaps some sense back into Jas. The fat spearman sends his iron tip through the abdomen of the great creature, though no horrendous screams are given in response, only a quiet, murderous stare.

(https://i.imgur.com/NPQT659.png)

Jol's left leg is practically blown off of his body, the bronze of his greaves shorne completely as if paper. Galka manages to pull Jol from the melee as wails in utter agony. It's just enough for Jas to regain some semblance of coherence, he scoops up his axe and halberd along the way and rejoins the battle along with Destis. For a short time, the four of them dance about the overwhelming creature, well aware of their frailty in comparison to such a beast. No matter how much blood they spilled from its lower half, the fell one did not even so much a slow, Jas' footing trips up then only in slight as the band tires, two ivory tusks drove forth with immense speed to run him through. "JAS!" Cried both Destis and Eman, but the moment was too short, they could do nothing. Blood spouted, painting the wall into a dire mural of their hubris. Jas gathered himself, standing back up from the ground to see that it was rather Quenir who had been gored through, having leapt to save their captain. Yet another good man fallen to the bleakness of Orid Xem.

Jas Anthrad let out a sorrowful battlecry, dropping the halberd and raising his iron great axe with both hands. Whilst the weremammoth played with the dying food upon its tusks, the golden-haired leader hacked straight through one of its tree trunk legs. An immense quake rippled through the city as the creature fell, thrashing a trumpeting. Eman quickly put a stop to that with a swipe of his blade, severing the wild trunk from the werebeast's body. There and then, together, Jas and Destis leapt with mighty abandon, crushing and severing the monster's horrendous head with their weapons. . .

(https://i.imgur.com/18aELKr.png)

"Quenir! Quenir!" Roared the captain, falling to his knees beside the other man, two sizable holes like ballistae shot poured gallons of blood from their body.

"So. . . You didn't lie after all." Feebly, Quenir spoke, a smile breaking across his face. "You would lead me to glory and death, and here I lay. . ."

"Damn you. Why did you push me out of the way you fool?" Jas pleaded with him, nothing could be done for the mortal wounds he bore.

"Because. . . Because you must live, that our Realm may see again peaceable days. . ." Quenir's eyes drifted, "You are a man that I was happy to follow. . ." The last words of Quenir Abcango struck deeply into Jas' spirit. The golden haired man held his comrade tightly, there was no turning back after that, the path to save Omon Obin became clear.

"Quenir." He said, "Losing you is like losing an army at our side. . ."

They remained there for a few moments more before Jol's voice, stricken in pain managed to break through, "Fellows! M-Master Galka, you must aid him!" The wounded spearman points from the threshold, Eman, Destis, and Jas rush on through. That horrid beast for whom all their might could barely rend. . . It was not alone. Galka scrambled and rolled with great speed and precision 'neath another of the weremammoth's legs, unable to find a moment to strike -- The Band of Wax would give it to them. The three charged forth, their weapons aloft, knowing now what irreparable damage the beast could dish out they gathered what vigor they yet still bore and dodged about the creature's attacks, striking again and again at its legs to little avail. Then, taking after Galka, Jol fights through the pain within his leg and crawls forth, driving his iron spear into the werebeast's knee, shattering the bone, causing a sickening crack as the femur pierces the flesh. Yet another quake threatens to tear Scarletbronze asunder as the monster clamors to grasp Jol.

(https://i.imgur.com/qefHCMB.png)

With a powerful swipe, Jas manages to hack away most of the creature's hand, yet still it continued. Galka drives his pickaxe into the werebeast's spine, yet even with Destis and Eman's help, they cannot pull the beast back. A tusk impales Jol's shoulder inciting another horrible wail. The captain of the band destroys the ivory with another swing of his axe before the other three at last manage to pull the monster upon its back. "This one's fer Quenir!" Cries Eman, leaping upon the blooded chest of the weremammoth and stabbing his scimitar straight through one eye. "This one's fer Jol!" He adds, leaping away from a fist before carving out another of those cyan orbs. "And by Loli, this one's fer me!!!!" With a final great slash.

(https://i.imgur.com/q2rxd2T.png)

Each and all of them began to catch their breaths amidst the battlefield. Jol's voice, despite its pain was the first to reach them, "D- Do you remember our promise. . . As we set off from Waxfight?" He asks, Jas and Eman clambering to where he lay.

"Don't talk ya dumbass." Eman wheezed, prying the spearman's armour off to get at his wounds. "We can still save ya, ya don't need no meaningful last words. . !"

"Eman, dear fellow. . ." Jol muttered, bringing both arms around he and Jas to draw them close. "You heard what Quenir said, t'was a werebeast through and through."

The realization shook Eman and Jas, the oath-brothers three who left on this grandiose quest together. Yet. . . They could not muster their weapons. "T-That was for the Blight, this is different!" The grouchy swordmaster bellowed. "We can just tied ya up, every time yer gonna transform, ya got that? WE AIN'T GONNA KILL YOU OVER THIS!!! Right Jas. . ?" The captain was at a loss for words, he could only gaze down upon his oath-brother and swear vengeance against the shadows of Orid Xem.

Without warning, Jol pushed the pair off of him. With both hands he raised his spear, "Brothers! I know you'll find the strength to see our journey through!" He cries, driving the spear through his own chest. "Long. . . Live. . . The Band of Wax!"

---

Trumpets sound in the distance, quakes shudder the land. The Band of Wax is surrounded on all sides.

(https://i.imgur.com/jHEA0Dm.png)

As light broke and the sunrise commemorated a new dawn, three men and one woman marched from the city of Scarletbronze, each bearing an immense scarlet trunk, symbols of their survival.

---

---

Thank you for the INSANELY difficult challenge in creating the Fell One Weremammoths, Braalbard. Truly the timeline in which Raki Umberclan the Bulbous continued their horrendous reign as the Mad Monkey King would have been armageddon for Orid Xem. His spawn where incredibly powerful, honestly some of my most difficult fights in adventure mode by far, if not for their size and strength, then for their ability to fling and paralyze people with a mere gesture. Without the Band of Wax being as large as it was, Jas or even Galka would have stood no chance against them, one paralysis likely would have been all it took to be annihilated.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Quantum Drop on May 09, 2022, 06:36:07 pm

My god, Unraveller, that was magnificent to read. Had me on the edge of my seat throughout, and I feel it's only going to get better. Great work!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Unraveller on May 09, 2022, 07:00:45 pm

Always cheering me on QD, much appreciated. 😁

We've only time enough for one last post, tomorrow's the due date. Hopefully the finale will be worthwhile!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on May 10, 2022, 02:51:33 am

The band of wax, is certainly a grand force of power. Interested to see what they do next.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on May 10, 2022, 04:04:58 pm

This is great, Unraveller. Weremammoth fell ones are a formidable foe. I can't help but think timing your trip to Scarletbronze for the full moon was reckless!

I hope the Band of Wax make it to Entrancegrape!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Unraveller on May 10, 2022, 05:43:50 pm

---

(https://i.imgur.com/px7IKN1.png)

---

"You knew of this, didn't you?!" Jas' voice takes on a tone the other's would nary hear, both of his hands gripping tightly about his comrade's collar. As daybreak came wit the warmth of sunrise, a deep orange glow beset itself upon the four remaining members of the Band of Wax. Yet the morning's comfort made no attempts to enshroud them. The captain of the band's brows were furrowed, the pain of their loss had gripped him so. Jas' knuckles creak as he shared a harrowed gaze with the other man. Galka did not respond, his eyes did not bear the sorrow of the other's. "How meticulously you waited out the coming of a full moon! Did you wish our demise? Have you grown bored of this circus?" With each word, the golden-haired lord grows more and more furious, not even the firmness of Destis' hand could assuage his ire. "Speak!" He roared, the power in his voice greater than the terror those trumpeting wails imbued in Scarletbronze.

"Thou nary wouldst have come this far without I." Speaks the dangling Galka who bears neither arrogance nor anger returned in their voice.

Jas reeled back, throwing the man forth, his back slamming against a tree marking the woods beyond the city. "Quenir and Jol would not have perished were it not for you!" He bellows, his tone easing downward into a seething hate. Eman joined the beefy hammerwoman in embracing their leader and friend. "Come'on Jas. . ." Eman wheezed. "Leave the guy alone, he. . . He couldn't a known all this." But the swordsman's half-hearted thoughts couldn't move his oath-brother's soul. "As far as I'm concerned. . ." Jas began, "You killed the both of them." A derogatory finger points to the crumpled man.

"Hmmph." Galka stifles a chuckle, " 'Tis all it takes to cripple our future Silver Lord?" In one swift motion, the man is again balancing upon the end of his old pick, "No amount of legitimacy, nor noble blood, nor heroism could ever see one such as thee leading this nation to a bright future, perhaps I was mistaken."

"You. . !" Jas plants a bronze boot forward, digging into the mud, he rears back a fist only to be held back by the other two.

"Thou art wrong." States Galka plainly, yet again his voice bites into Jas' psyche more deeply than the frosted wind, "Twas thine own weakness that killed Quenir Abcango and Jol Nathobdubmith. Weakness of heart, weakness of mind, weakness as a leader -- Take this tragedy into thyself and destroy the weakness within you, Jas Anthrad. Or perhaps thee would sooner tarnish their memory?"

Nothing then could keep Jas back, he forced himself forward in the grasp of the others, with no aim yet but to murder the strange wanderer in their midst, nothing save a mighty slug from Destis, knocking their leader out cold. . .

---

"There it is, just down from these rocks." Spoke a young soldier, clad in a mix of copper and bronze, shading him well against the red loam.

"You've done well Thaguk, now return to the village." The golden-haired man gripped the edges of his light beard, where once a squared chin had been, gazing down at the hall nestled between two overarching cliffs. He could sense it, the miasmatic stench of vile forces that emanated from that gray, blooded shelter.

"But Ser Anthrad, this is my fight too. Begone fear!" Thaguk spoke with resolve, gripping his war-hammer just so.

Those words were enough for Jas to nod in assent, "Very well." He said, gesturing a hand from abaft. Eman, Destis, and Galka too encroached up upon the cliff-side, each of them with a watchful eye toward the wooded doors of the granite hall of Chucktrades. There the Band of Wax remained for a time, perhaps an hour, seeing no more than a goblin or two slink in and out of the oppressed hamlet's seat of power. When at last it seemed that all was quiet, in unison, the five warriors clambered down the hill with great haste, kicking up a cloud of dust to obscure their advance, yet when at last they stood before the threshold, they'd stammered. . .

Their hearts wavered, something there, within the confines of the room beyond. . . It beat and it beat, palpitations in the deep and dark, that which is beyond mortal, or perhaps even immortal understanding, a shred of knowledge better lost to time than uncovered once more. Galka found himself affected most by this strange and otherworldly pulse. "Turn back now, even I cannot say what lurks therein. . ." He whispers, yet Jas' flame is given fuel by the strength of the young Thaguk beside him who would see his home freed of shadowy influence.

"Heed thy worry we shall, Master Galka. But the Band of Wax cannot back down!" With a will, Jas Anthrad bore the iron axe so bequeathed, 'Goldenbreath', and battered down their doors, Destis, Eman, and Thaguk alongside him. His eyes were opened torn, a wave of uncaring thought assaulted each of them, vibrating up from the earth below their feet, tingling across their spinal cords, and daggering their minds.

Quote from: ChaosPotato on November 17, 2021, 04:06:27 pm

THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM THE WORM

Their breaths had quickened, Thaguk nearly passed into unconsciousness from the hyperventilation. Together upon a sea of endless black, their sub-waking minds did drift. This coldness, this emptiness, this despair for all things of life and unlife, how it invaded the Band of Wax's very souls. Amidst the nothing, there twisted and roiled, thrashed and moaned, an unfeeling non-something that filled all space beyond the firmament of Orix Xem. A non-something that threatened to devour their very beings, yet. . . Within, a blazing flame burned, a light that proclaimed their truest existence did shine and warm the coldness of that ephemeral place. . .

When at last Jas and his comrades could muster the will to shake that dire vision from their heads, a new terror was before them.

(https://i.imgur.com/HSrrW6f.png)

Bodies of the former lords and men of this place were strung, hung, quartered, and staked all across the confines therein. Gore and viscera rotting and congealing about the sullied grounds thereof embodied the decay of the Realm of Silver, its fall to decadence, excess, its fall to the grasp of not monsters, but the darkest recesses of the human id. Thereupon the walls where old nobles lay, some yet still drew breath, a false breathe, that which magicks beyond the Band of Wax's understanding ensorcelled for the sake of experiments into the beyond. The face of their foe then made itself apparent in the gloam, eyes that bore no semblance of reality. A mouth that wordlessly spoke curses and unknowable things. There from every side thralls of the Obin Blight and worse experiments yet still shuddered to drag the Band of Wax into their domain.

(https://i.imgur.com/oojOrKk.png)

With a mighty swing, Jas rends one of the ghoulish figures asunder as his comrades too pour into the hall, battling their own demons. Yet just as soon as the putrid one is felled, so too with the mere flick of wrist, does it return to its false-life. Again grasping and clawing upon the man's bronze armour. Across the hall, limbs are hacked away from their masters, the heads of fanciful creatures -- kobolds, trolls, goblins, they're rent from their homes, and again do they return to life. Snaking arms grasp their legs, weighing them down, rolling heads bound and snap with teeth that would inflict states even more vile than the Blight, while headless shuddering bodies swing their blades with abandon. Yet still, the flames within them are emboldened, they do not back down -- For without they, who would polish Omon Obin to a luster once more. . ?

The melee is fierce, their mortal bodies tire against the ever returning onslaught. There and then, Galka weaves between flesh and damning teeth, with a single well-put strike of his pick, it is done.

(https://i.imgur.com/TmK4Am7.png)

The experiments of the mad one ceased to be, leaving only now the rolling head of their master. Ezif Bluewave. . . Upon their face, the constant twisted expression of insanity, the imprint of what even Galka cannot explain, a non-thing for prophesying mayhaps when the day yet comes. . . For now the Band collectively agrees to put their collective experience out of their minds, focusing on the future of their realm. Amidst the gore, they are quiet, somber for the lost. "What manner of being was that. . ?" Asks Jas, Eman and Destis look to Galka for the answer.

"A Necromancer." He so speaks, as if it be evident. "The very same kin of those who began this great Blight. But this one was merely a fledgling." Those words struck another pang of fear in their hearts. "I had thought their kind nearly extinguished, but this one's presence was unknown to me." Jas knelt to the stained floor beside the dead, a glimmer had caught his eye. Before long he'd hefted upward two immaculate pieces of metalwork.

(https://i.imgur.com/8A1E79N.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/heJMuQH.png)

"Ahhh. . . Artefacts of Dwarven make." Galka gazed upon them as if having known the intricate histories of each craft. "'Tis a boon greater than thee realize, for our purposes, the dwarves in these lands will welcome the Band of Wax with wide open arms for having recovered their legendary armaments. . ."

---

For a time, the Band lay in rest and recuperation putting a mountain of Blighted bodies to rest behind them. There, they stood in awe, their human eyes had never laid yet upon the stout bearded men of the mountains, and yet there in the bosom of the fortress of Clearmasters they gazed on as Galka spoke in low, harsh tones to the expedition leader there, as if old friends uniting after a long time apart. "Just who exactly is this guy anyway?" Destis questions, wrapping a thick arm around Jas to draw him in. He doesn't struggle against her, saying only, "A simple traveler, nothing more. . ." Galka's discussion led the dwarf across from them to grow wide in his eyes, gazing back at the band with a hearty laugh and goodly spirits. A deal was brokered then, though they would not know of its import until later. . .

---

"Señamatem -- Weatherponder." Jas stood over an embankment rising above the little town upon one of the great rivers of Orid Xem. The fresh air did them well, and so he spoke, "What better place for the Band of Wax to call their home than the first capital of Omon Obin?"

"Aye, let poetic justice be done to the bastards at Entrancegrape!" Called Eman, a strong pat upon their leader's back along with.

"The people here have long been under the yoke of the aristocracy, and will support our cause." Adds the young Thaguk.

Destis leans at Jas' side, dwarfing him even still, "Now's the time to use up all that good-will we earned, huh?"

---

Their words whisked upon the chilling wind over Weatherponder as Winter spent the last motes of its strength. They looked to the Sunny Water, the lake that fed nearly all of Southern Omon Obin, and began their march thence. Over the next two months there rose the small fort of Candlekeepers, here would the Band of Wax stage the final legs of their quest. Time moved on as ever did, how many more would have lost their lives to the Blight or worse yet shadows had on that day in Waxfight, Jas Anthrad, Eman Sedastishas, and Jol Nathobdubmith not forged a bond of brotherhood to bring light back to their homeland? The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing, or so they say. Despite the death the dealt, Jas could only hope that their wills had made good on their promise.

"Legitimacy. . . What claim to the throne have we truly?" Muses Jas, overlooking the Sunny Water from the battlements of their woodfort, beside him alone Galka finds the right affirming words, "What greater claim need we than the support of the people? Our purpose is just, our aim true, and our strength. . ." He gazes back over the confines of Candlekeepers, men and women from across the realm had swelled their numbers two fold, "Our strength in time will be the hearts and minds of all those who seek peaceable days."

"I fear 'tis a greater trial than I have ever faced before." Jas proclaims, though no triumph resides within his voice. "I know little aught than killing, Master Galka. I am no administer of realms."

"Hard times create strong men." The other did speak, "When at last thee come out from beyond the other side of this, thy people will rejoice. Thy sword arm will yet be needed even then I daresay." They remain quiet for a time before again Galka finds the words to stoke his understudy, "Jas Anthrad, eighty years hence, I journeyed far to the north, far beyond the great Tundra of Heroes. There for the sake of a young boy, we visited the Museum of Boltspumpkin. There heroes of legend, names even thee from thy little hamlet of Waxfight shouldst know well, did cement themselves in history forever. Lonleythrall, Umberrazors, Hammerfishes. . ."

He could feel the bright flame within his chest, he could feel its blistering heat, "Yes. . . There I will shed this name, the last days of Jas Anthrad, that is what you will say, for it is what you have done with your own."

Galka chuckles, his yellowed slit eyes marveling over the crystalline lake waters breaking through isles of ice, "To live, to love, to care for our own, it is to sacrifice." A droplet from dry, old, eyes does fall from the battlement, it mingles in the fresh waters below. "I-- The Realm of Silver's faith is with you."

---

"Eman. My oldest friend. My brother." In the center of Candlekeepers, just outside the main hall, Jas places both hands upon the gruff swordsman's shoulders, "Our quest is not at an end, the cradle of Omon Obin is yet still amidst the influence of the Blight. Go, as Lord of the Band of Wax, and see that it is made right."

"Yo-You. . ." Despite his abrasive hide, Eman can't help but to break out, he hugs tightly about Jas, "Bastard. If you don't come back, then I'm gonna find you an' Jol in hell and beat the fuck outta ya, ya got that!?"

He pats his dearest friend's back, sharing in the comradarie. "Must you go alone?" Destis asks, crossing her arms, "I mean. . . Surely you need protecti--"

Before she could continue, Jas had held the burl hammerwoman in embrace, and with her, shared a deep kiss. "I must." He spoke as he drew away from the now-flustered Destis. "I go not as claimant to Omon Obin, nor as the Lord of the Band of Wax, but as Jas Anthrad, for the final time."

---

(https://i.imgur.com/9EEtW4A.png)

He bore no worry for his comrades, tested and true were they against the perils of the world, and now nothing could halt the Band of Wax from seeing the next horizon. There he stood, far, far, far beyond the sleepy little village of Waxfight from whence he was born and raised alongside their ambitions, stretching out further than the furthest reaches of the eye did the Tundra of Heroes stretch, and endless sea of ice, snow, and biting wind all days of the year. Bundled up, mustering the courage within him, Jas took his first steps outside of the Realm of Silver for which he bore love unrelenting. Days wheeled by amidst the harshness of the Tundra, yet now with the gathered flames of his people within him, no mere cold would claim his life.

Through ice trudged he.

(https://i.imgur.com/jrMDudo.png)

Against dark foes trudged he.

(https://i.imgur.com/JyYdRtJ.png)

(https://i.imgur.com/AUedjIi.png)

Against all that would see him through 'fore his quest complete.

(https://i.imgur.com/74CemI9.png)

(https://i.imgur.com/ir9Pl2H.png)

And before long stood he, in the midst of a grand fortress the likes of Dwarven hands, nestled in the endless tundra.

(https://i.imgur.com/qfArFKu.png)

There in the place known as Stocakdeoutrage, capital of the furtive Staff of Kissing, the first true feeling of warmth shot up from the earth below Jas' feet. The volcanic power that ran the industry of this place welcomed him as a traveler with open arms. Yet as he walked its halls, the only response to greet him was the echo of his metal shoes cascading down the obsidian walls. "Death and decay greet us all." He mouths aloud, the bigness of Orid Xem refocusing his ideals, his ambitions, "Even beyond the Realm of Silver, we cannot escape these plights." As mere happenstance, his bronze boot clatters across a gleaming band of white metal, sitting humbly in the center of the fortress grounds. He kneels down to it, a sense of unease for its meaning.

(https://i.imgur.com/OJvKWl1.png)

Fingers reach out to the glint of silver below but they halt themselves before gracing it, turmoil brews within, an old argument amongst himself. Yet a sound from the darkness of the fortress rings out. Alerting him. Before Jas could draw his weapon, an elder voice speaks thus. "Will you take up the crown, Jas Gloryage the Worshipful?" His eyes adhere to the dark, within the shape of an ancient, graying dwarf. "It is a heavy burden, is it not?" The old woman prods, draped in fine clothes despite the detritus of this place.

"Who yet speaks?" Jas asks aloud.

"Be not alarmed." She replies, "We know well of you, you stand before Vucar Axesafety. I ask again, will you take up the crown?"

How the mixture of metaphor and reality dance within the golden-haired man's head. At last, midst the dim light and the warmth of Stockadeoutrage he speaks, "If it is for my people, then I shall take upon these shoulders any burden."

The old dwarf smiles, "An apt answer. We of the Staff of Kissing offer you this crown, for we know you shall wear it well." Before Jas knew it, the woman was gone amongst the twists of the fortress. There and then he did grasp tightly the cold surface of the silver crown, how its frost bit into his flesh. Thereon his travels continued.

---

"What are you?" Asks the man, grasping his well-formed beard of bright gold hair. A quizzical expression upon his face as he kneels in the springtime grass of the lands beyond the tundra, gazing down yet still upon a teeny-tiny little figure of pure green, snoozing discordantly against the haft of their oversized shovel.

"Bwaaah!" The little figure screams, falling upon their rear. "What am I? What're you!?" They scramble back to a stand.\

Jas, still puzzled by the little one, standing amongst rows and rows of finely crafted coffins says, "I am a human, and you?"

"Ahhh, hello Ahuman!" The creature greets, "I am Amtoc!"

Jas lets out a humored sigh, "Say, little one. Have you heard of the Museum of Boltspumpkin?"

"Have I heard of it?" The gremlin danced, "Heck, I practically live there!" They cry, darting up to Jas where he crouched and grabbing hold of a mittened hand with both of their own green graspers. "C'mon, c'mon, I'll show ya the way!"

(https://i.imgur.com/ajBsayJ.png)

All manner of strange eyes, some yet beyond the realms of mortality did scan the human who made their way within the ancient castle. Amtoc led him quickly along by the sake of their waddling pad-footed gait immediately within the Museum. Pointing to and fro from every manner of curio and corpse that lined the walls of Orid Xem's most premier site of history. ". . .And that's. . . Over there is. . . If you turn your attention to the left you'll see. . ." On and on Amtoc spoke, miles a minute, the little creature jumped and pointed and dragged Jas along until they were joined by two gremlins yet more who shared just as much excitement as their peer. The man couldn't even take in the sights before moving on to the next thing, yet. . . As his eyes crossed paths with a small collection in an otherwise empty corner of the Museum they were filled with a certain understanding, and a certain sorrow too. Countless bone figurines lined the walls and floors of that room at the height of the keep, all carved of a single figure unknown to him, yet the mark of his comrade was unmistakable. In the next moment he once again found himself before the threshold of the museum. "Well, what're you gonna submit?" asks Amtoc.

From thence, Jas did present a bundle out of his pack. "The symbol of our survival." He speaks, though any semblance of meaning is lost upon the little gremlin. Five trunks, each belonging to the risen Fell One Weremammoths, spawns of Raki Umberclans the Bulbous, from Scarletbronze. They were entwined together, a missive in the human tongue of Omon Obin and Dwarvish both bound them together. There, pinned upon the wall just beside the front entrance read thus,

O ye of valiance,
O ye of deed,
Shouldst thy heart weep for the land,
Shouldst thy dreams of Orid Xem be tarnished,
If thou battle the bleak,
If thou battle injustice,
Join with us the Band of Wax,
Join with us in this new Realm of Silver,
That days of peace can be assured.
-Jas Gloryage the Worshipful.

"'Tis a commemoration for my fallen brothers." He adds, the gremlin trio jumping for joy alongside him, he couldn't help but laugh, any sense of somberness washing away. The last days of simple Jas, bandman and soldier were at an end. They began the trek back south, in that grand wide world of theirs.

---

Jas's helm was held at his side, gone were the days of his dented and blood encrusted bronze mail, there he stood, at the gateway to Candlekeepers enwrapped in plate of glistening white. The symbols of his band of brothers, and of Omon Obin shone filigreed into the chest. Beside him there stood Eman and Destis, Thaguk and Galka there were too. And before them, rows of men and woman who pledged themselves to their cause. Jas began to speak, addressing them all, "Over the last year, the Band of Wax has saved countless lives, whether through spite of the common man, or through their thanks we done what's right for the people of our great Realm of Silver. We have suffered too, we have lost much in our quest, the lives of our brothers, the innocence of our minds, those we could not save. . . Through this pain, this sorrow, the despair we have pushed through and been born anew, not for the sake of ourselves, not for riches, not for fame, only yet to see peace and beauty return to the land." The golden haired claimant looked over them, each and every fellow who had come to the wood fort of Candlekeepers at their call to duty, he could not even begin to describe the many trials that each of them had faced, "So too have you all lost something to the Blight. Children, friends, parents, enemies, those whom we love. . . Who could not be moved by the power of will you have all shown us today?! No mountain could stand in the way of thy spirits!" His voice booms over the soldiers, hailing each and all from every corner of Omon Obin, placing that helmet upon him, Jas roars, "You! The woebegotten, the downtrodden, the oppressed, you whom bear our nation upon thy backs, the end of our quest is at hand! We march now to Entrancegrape, let thy voices be heard!"

A quake of cries rippled through the skies, the death knell of the old Realm of Silver sung its song across the land, far beyond Candlekeepers, far beyond the north, far beyond this Orid Xem, for even the souls of the once Blighted joined in its chorus. There and then, the Band of Wax began their final march.

Before Jas took the head of the column, he stepped out to one side, where a broad-shouldered woman gazed on, draped in warm robes, a hand upon her stomach. Jas stepped up to her, sharing another kiss. "You're far more beautiful without all the armor." He cooed before quickly taking a sucker punch to his mid-section, one that he could feel through the breastplate. "Come back alive, ya idiot." Destis jeered. Falling to a knee, the wide-smiling Jas pressed his forehead against the growth in her belly, "How could I not, I've two people relying on me." He spoke softly, only to be brought up again by the hammerwoman, "You've got a whole lot more than that. . . Now get out there and lead!"

Taking his spouse's command to heart, Jas Gloryage the Worshipful rode to the front of his army, taking lead. Across the beauteous spring growths all around them, the Band forded the great river, beyond the ongoing construction of an expedition of Dwarves, electing gawks of majesty from the commonfolk among them. They marched through Señamatem -- Weatherponder, the first capital of Omon Obin, and soon once again to reclaim that title. From Pointydabbler to Utteredguard, from Polishedwanes to Scrubbedstab, the true beauty of the Realm where the Blight had been cleansed made itself apparent. Nothing would slow their march, neither hunger nor exhaustion, thirst or fear, for each and all of them carried the flames to shed light upon their people's future, all the while singing songs of love, of victory, of loss.

At long last, at the end of their journey, the Band of Wax in its great score stood before the tall walls of Entrancegrape -- The castle hidden away from the common folk, a symbol of the descent of their leaders, a symbol of the aloofness from those that govern, a symbol of uncaring excess while their people starve. . . The lords of the band rode forth before the great threshold. There, young Thaguk blew a mighty horn with all his breath, summoning forth a disgruntled face from the gatehouse high above. "Who dares muster an army 'fore the gate of Omon Obin!?" The voice croaked, raising a single knobby hand in the air, and sending a glance back to those whom station the walls.

"That would be the High Chancellor." Galka whispered toward the leader of the band, Jas then spoke, firmly so, "Has the realm fallen so that its own people cannot even petition an audience with their king?" His gaze pierces the cloud cover on high, a single ray of light seethes down upon the old noble at the gatehouse. "We are the Band of Wax, on behalf of all Omon Obin. Bring us our Silver Lord that we may have words with them."

A grumble erupts from above, yet it is quickly silence by the Chancellor. "The Law-Giver meets not with troublesome rebels." He continues, a growing irritation in his eye, "Begone, lest we have our forces surround and destroy you!"

A wave of laughter meets the challenge head on, Jas responds so, "Your forces?" He brandishes a hand out beside him, the triumvirate of Armorstrife, Baron Cemir of Partnerdaub, all the just lords of the land had rallied to the Band's call, "Who can you muster that does not already stand among us?" His words do well to quiet their opposition, the old Chancellor's raised fingers waiver in the still air.

"You would do well to remember your place. . ." He wails, throwing his hand down forward, "Fire!" A wave of arrows cut through the tension, raining down upon the Band. "Shields!" Eman bellows, "Shields!"

Arrowtips find their marks amongst the bronze and copper armored masses, yet Jas stands yet still unwaivered before the gate. "You would fire against your own people!?" His words shouted down the arrows that deigned to put an end to him, sticking the ground about his feet. "Defenders of Entrancegrape! Lay down thy arms and join hands with us for a better tomorrow!!" Even still, the walls did not budge, moments later armored figures, wild in movement trashed against the battlements high above. About their necks, living men heralded them along with spiny catch-poles. Unceremoniously they cast their men off the walls and into the dirt below, moments later they again shuddered to life -- Crimson blisters that oozed across their faces, the last stronghold of the Blight. Eman and Thaguk pulled Jas back from where he stood, bringing him to the shield-wall against his recklessness. As Entrancegrapes armed and armored thralls clambered forth, the battle began. . .

Teeth rent through armor, while blades did in kind, blood was shed before the walls of Entrancegrape, not of beasts, of men, of kinsmen. . .

The gates fell in time to the Band of Wax who'd mustered the spirits of all those who'd fight for their land. Within, the deepest keep of the history-rife castle, there alone Jas Anthrad stood, an axe at his side.

(https://i.imgur.com/av9x1Me.png)

(https://i.imgur.com/wTxcsMx.png)

He fell to a knee before Ago Swallowsunk, the unfortunate soul, chained and starved, kept barely alive between wracks of agony, used as a mere tool to justify the greed and malice of those that controlled the Realm. The crowned thrall scraped and moaned as Jas grew closer, desiring his warm mortal blood. The golden-haired claimant embraced the Blighted one, bringing them in tight and close. Teeth crunched into his silver pauldron, but could not find their mark. "Shh. . ." He spoke, "Quiet now, you are free of your burden, I will take it upon myself. . ."

(https://i.imgur.com/s9oraLa.png)

---

Galka Linarad balanced upon a finely smithed crutch of gleaming white metal. In his tired and sunken eyes he did bear witness to a sight that truly eased them. The lords of Omon Obin each and all stood for a toast in the halls of the newly minted 'Silverthrone', built by the Dwarves of the Staff of Kissing, just upon the grand river flowing through Señamatem -- Weatherponder, once more the capital of the realm. Eman there stood half-drunk, an arm around the young Thaguk, there was Baron Cemir and the lords who'd joined them in their fight, then further amongst those the soldiers of the Band of Wax. The cinnabar stone carpet led from the great threshold of the gleaming cyan mirocline keep, following it along to a trio of thrones, each masterful forged, there had sat Destis in one, a thick hand grasping tightly upon her husband's. Jas sat in the center, his now thickly bearded chin held high. He could see just more than Galka, he looked out onto his court and there the faces of Quenir, Jol, and all those who lost their lives in pursuit of their peace. As Galka lowered the silver crown upon Jas' head, the man shed a tear. Galka then proclaimed, "All hail Jas Gloryage the Worshipful, 23rd Law-Giver of Omon Obin!"

"HAIL! LONG MAY HE LIVE!

---

The days of the Blight proper are behind us. Still yet its festering rot could reappear at any moment. O Valiant souls, seek out the last vestiges of this curse, that it may never rear its head.
The spawn of the Mad Monkey king, the Fell Ones of Scarletbronze -- Only the most courageous must be called to action, should we ever wish to reclaim the city, they must be put to the sword.
Swordgleamed is inundated by poverty and crime, the bandit warlords there must be dealt with, less our people be put in harms way, yet. . . I hesitate to call for their demise, for they are our people too.
Streammartyred, its citizens live in huddles and tents beyond the confines of the city. . . Something must be done.
And further, the towns and hamlets of Omon Obin must be aided in rebuilding their homes, corpses and gore festering with the Blight remain all across our land, those who would aid in restoration would do a great service to our land.

Jas Anthrad removes his pen from the parchment. "We've a great deal left to do. . ." His voice carries from the heights of Silverthrone, over Weatherponder and beyond, upon the sunrise of a new dawn.

---

---

OOC: And that's all she wrote everyone. Uploading the save now.

Lurker, if you're still Lurking around, I found out that Clearingheaven the Quitescent Heather was once again stored in Entrancegrape. . . I just forgot to pick it back up. So there's another little quest if anyone wants to return it to the museum since it is an official submission. Or perhaps offer it to Jas, as it is in-fact a traditional symbol of Law-Givers. Which is probably why it kept ending up in Entrancegrape.

Furthermore, of note, I did end up killing another adventurer, though I did not realize it until the deed was well and truly done. Ezif Bluewave, of Chaospotato. The one enamored by THE WORM, due to the circumstances, I had no choice to slay them -- Well, NPC Galka chose to. Forgive me for that transgression.

Lastly, QD, if you add them to the ever growing list of adventurers you maintain, it's probably best just to do Jas, considering I bodyswapped on a few occasions, adding all of the Band of Wax to the list would just bloat it unnecessarily I think.

Regardless of all that I really hope you guys enjoyed this adventure, the official submission to the museum being the five trunks of Fell One Weremammoths, and the missive that came along with them.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on May 10, 2022, 06:48:44 pm

Well, that's a lot to unpack!

Ezif Bluewave was a necromancer, and he was given The Spot of Quietness and Twilightmolten by Moldath in return for his slab. It seems he was called to religious service by Bikda, and left his necromancer tower to lead a holy order. Until his head was chopped off. What did you end up doing with the artifact weapons?

The sterling silver crown; it once belonged to Queen Ral, gifted to her by Moldath. It seems the new Queen didn't take a liking to it!

Great turn Unraveller; your story menaces with spikes of awesomeness.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: TheFlame52 on May 10, 2022, 07:14:56 pm

It's been a long time since we had such a hero at the Museum! And a fully mortal one, no less!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Unraveller on May 10, 2022, 07:39:35 pm

Quote from: kesperan on May 10, 2022, 06:48:44 pm

Ezif Bluewave was a necromancer, and he was given The Spot of Quietness and Twilightmolten by Moldath in return for his slab. It seems he was called to religious service by Bikda, and left his necromancer tower to lead a holy order. Until his head was chopped off. What did you end up doing with the artifact weapons?

Ah yes! I'd forgotten. My intentions with the artefacts were to be used for Galka to barter with the dwarves, whether it had been The Staff of Kissing or The Walled Dye, in order for them to construct the fortress of Silverthrone, which in turn became the capital of Omon Obin. However, I ended up in haste forgetting to actually do so, by the time I realized this I was already about done completing the fortress, so I then decided to create a treasury and artefact room and then once again forgot to inter them there haha. So in the end Jas Anthrad still holds The Spot of Quietness and Twilightmolten in his inventory due to slipping my mind. Feel free to take them from him if it's appropriate, maybe even in turn for doing the Realm of Silver a service? ;)

Quote from: kesperan on May 10, 2022, 06:48:44 pm

Great turn Unraveller; your story menaces with spikes of awesomeness.

Quote from: TheFlame52 on May 10, 2022, 07:14:56 pm

It's been a long time since we had such a hero at the Museum! And a fully mortal one, no less!

Much appreciated! Galka was originally intended in my first turn here to remain mortal, though circumstances made it seem fitting for him to gain vampirism after biting the throat out of Uja Hoodbathed. Now I can at last attest to having a mighty mortal champion, especially among the hordes of necromancers and walking corpses amongst our Museum. It's my hope that this begins a new dynasty for Omon Obin, originally made Jas' goal to 'Start a Family' so we'll see if he actually ends up having children, beyond my narrative overtures.

---

(https://i.imgur.com/0tlVhzW.png)
For those curious who wish to visit Silverthrone and hold court with the 23rd Law-Giver, it's pretty much directly under the Weatherponder tile, ya can't miss it.

---

---

THE SAVE IS RIGHT HERE! (https://dffd.bay12games.com/file.php?id=15922) @nogoodnames

_{I sure hope this is the right version, my backups confused me. haha.}

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on May 11, 2022, 04:06:47 am

A new law-giver, truly a worthy holder of it.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on May 11, 2022, 07:27:23 am

Just looking through Legends Mode just now.

He actually did it... Unraveller made a new capital for Omon Obin, became the new Law Giver and then got married. I don't know how any of that is possible, but he did it. Magnificent bastard.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on May 11, 2022, 07:42:42 am

Quote from: kesperan on May 11, 2022, 07:27:23 am

Just looking through Legends Mode just now.

He actually did it... Unraveller made a new capital for Omon Obin, became the new Law Giver and then got married. I don't know how any of that is possible, but he did it. Magnificent bastard.

That's truly impressive, haven't had a poke in legends mode yet but could be interesting to see Ras' lineage continue onwards through the years.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on May 11, 2022, 04:30:09 pm

That was a properly epic turn Unraveller!
I updated a lot of stuff but will have to go through the posts again to check which fortresses you visited.
I added a mission to the missions section to retrieve Clearingheaven the Quiescent Heather as you suggested, but there's a good chance it will dissapear again after being submitted.
Should I sign you up again?

I've done a major update of the world map, the old format was getting too crowded. Fortress names can now be displayed on both sides of the map. There's still a lot of stuff that should be rearanged but it is a start:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/8pj55AK.gif)

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: nogoodnames on May 11, 2022, 09:01:28 pm

Ok, a lot to catch up on but I've got the save and finally enough time to play it. I'll start soon!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Unraveller on May 12, 2022, 01:04:06 am

Quote from: Bralbaard on May 11, 2022, 04:30:09 pm

That was a properly epic turn Unraveller!
I updated a lot of stuff but will have to go through the posts again to check which fortresses you visited.
I added a mission to the missions section to retrieve Clearingheaven the Quiescent Heather as you suggested, but there's a good chance it will dissapear again after being submitted.
Should I sign you up again?

I've done a major update of the world map, the old format was getting too crowded. Fortress names can now be displayed on both sides of the map. There's still a lot of stuff that should be rearanged but it is a start:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/8pj55AK.gif)

Absolutely, I'd love another go. Didn't have much opportunity to visit many player-sites. Just Clearmasters, Stockadeoutrage, The Shelter/Herograves and of course the Museum.

New map changes are looking good, maybe we can just infinitely widen the blackspace as we continue into the 1000s, haha.

---

(https://i.imgur.com/T1nANxF.png)

I completely forgot about this happening, guess you can strike their being interred in Herograves from the main post as they're probably off wandering around. . . Well except for Lurker, who ended up dying for a second time in Swordgleamed funnily enough. What did Holyblood actually do with these old heroes, Avolition?

---

Another note; Turns out the Royal Executioner of Omon Obin -- Nisam Spoonedlover and High Housekeeper -- Ithev Twojoys are vampires! Cursed long ago in 769. Jas and the Band of Wax never did depose the already existing nobles of the court, simply due to me forgetting. Hopefully they've the interests of the Realm of Silver in mind much like Galka.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on May 13, 2022, 05:39:33 am

I raised them from their graves, i wanted to bring back warriors of old to help protect the world but some come back hostile and others don't.

Also they have an interesting behavior of being raised and wandering to a random place. If i recall correctly i has traveling with one of the museum goblins and Lurker just randomly showed up and just charges me. Seemed he crossed the Tundra of Heros in the time between ressurection and slaying. I think i saw pictham wandering around but wasn't hostile and i have not seen the bear since the return from the dead.

They can still both be played, would be interesting to see them return and since they are wandering. Its really chance if you encounter them or not. I wonder how their 80 years of wandering has been going.

Would be interesting to see Cathar make a return to play again.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Unraveller on May 13, 2022, 01:34:10 pm

Considering Lurker headed back to Swordgleamed, perhaps the risen adventurers returned to where they perished in life? Interesting.

Speaking of returning adventurers, I'd love to see Dreamypuzzled actually apotheosis within that goblin one day and return to Orid Xem. Could even df-hack them literally into a Zebra Monster and overlord of the Gobbo Civ, if we wanted to go that far, not certain on that front. Either way it's another fun little plotlime to continue.

---

(https://i.imgur.com/IfVBT1M_d.webp?maxwidth=640&shape=thumb&fidelity=medium)

I assume Jas is considered a Necromancer because of his RES_40? Funny that merely getting flung by the Weremammoth Fell Ones causes you to be pinged as a Necro. Obviously they don't have immortality or power of life and death, but the Band of Wax did get away from Scarletbronze with permenant Paralysis Resistance! I suppose some residual dark magicks of The Mad Monkey King remain with them even now. . .

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Quantum Drop on May 13, 2022, 03:10:02 pm

Quote from: Unraveller on May 13, 2022, 01:34:10 pm

(https://i.imgur.com/IfVBT1M_d.webp?maxwidth=640&shape=thumb&fidelity=medium)

I assume Jas is considered a Necromancer because of his RES_40? Funny that merely getting flung by the Weremammoth Fell Ones causes you to be pinged as a Necro. Obviously they don't have immortality or power of life and death, but the Band of Wax did get away from Scarletbronze with permenant Paralysis Resistance! I suppose some residual dark magicks of The Mad Monkey King remain with them even now. . .

Truth be told, that's a goof-up from me editing tired. Just fixed it in the table, but the paralysis resistance thing seems pretty cool.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Unraveller on May 13, 2022, 03:14:29 pm

To be fair, they also show up in Legends Viewer when you tick the Necro box. But then again so do the Blighted Thralls. Guess it's anything even related to necro powers.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on May 13, 2022, 03:26:19 pm

The intelligent undead magic effects being permanently attached to your character is the same bug that means Moldath rots continually. It comes up as an active interaction even though it shouldn't persist based on the raws of the interaction.

I didn't know it made you immune to paralysis though, how did you discover that?

SECRET_RES_POWER_40_3 just means the third power of the intelligent undead raised by SECRET_40, i.e. Fell One Paralysis.

Moldath has managed to accumulate Gaunt Zombie Rot, Empty One Rot, Empty One Blisters, and Empty One Dizziness... gotta catch em all!

(https://i.imgur.com/pAmlEuQ.png)

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Unraveller on May 13, 2022, 03:43:11 pm

It seemed as the battles in Scarletbronze went on, and that status accumulated, the Bandsmen could no longer be paralyzed, and rather only the push effect from the Weremammoth's seemed to occur, they always used both in combination on the same target. I assume the 'RES' means resistance, but truly the inner machinations of Dwarf Fort are unknowable.

I wonder if the rot effects can kill a more. . . Mortal being than Moldath.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on May 13, 2022, 03:56:37 pm

Ah so looks like the longer Moldath lives the more rotted and frail he will become. Didn't know had two kinds of rot, as well as other intelligent undead ailments. I wonder if Moldath will manage to get the three secrets he needs before he crumbles. Secret 84 is easy, the other two are tricky. If secret_6 is more prevelant we would liturally have the invisible death killings thousands. Secret 6 has some hope, as Th4dwarfy1 was killed. Its likely his backpack and stuff still exist somewhere with secret_6 but its alot of searching but possible. Secret_49 is almost dead, Innu Velvetstood is the last living necromancer to know that knowledge. It could be possilbe to lure him towards a tower or even better a fort and get him assigned to a library. All of the missing writing died with Bil  Hammertome. Ironic, he had the secret of multiple necromancer schools in his hands and dies of old age. Seemingly taking the secrets of The Certain Urns to the grave. I did try to see if reclaiming treatyseed would allow dump the items Bil had on him during his death but alas they seem truly lost to us.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on May 13, 2022, 04:39:01 pm

I too discovered that Innu Velvetstood was still alive while browsing legends mode. I am hopeful he will still be alive on my next turn :D

Secret_6 I think will be next to impossible to recover, as Shieldtempests belongings are "lost" by the game.

The Certain Urns was thrown into a volcano, so it is lost forever.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Unraveller on May 13, 2022, 04:52:30 pm

Assuming it wasn't made out of flamable/meltable material, a careful Dwarven Submarine may be able to recover it. Not certain about whether or not any of our undead fellows can retrieve  it, doesn't lava and fire do 'bleeding' damage so to speak?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on May 13, 2022, 05:05:30 pm

Quote from: Unraveller on May 13, 2022, 04:52:30 pm

Assuming it wasn't made out of flamable/meltable material, a careful Dwarven Submarine may be able to recover it. Not certain about whether or not any of our undead fellows can retrieve  it, doesn't lava and fire do 'bleeding' damage so to speak?

It was (or is?) made of blistered metal:

Quote from: Bralbaard on March 12, 2020, 05:43:26 pm

My dwarven senses immediately perceived that this object was made of a metal so exotic and rare, that I am sure it must have been forged by a supernatural power. But then I perceived the aura of pure evil that permeated its blistered surface.
(https://i.imgur.com/2d2mhwV.gif)
I have been able to resist reading beyond the title, and have wrapped it in a piece of cloth, but it still beckons me with visions of great power. I know it must be destroyed, for I somehow sense that the power that rests in this slab would destroy the remains of our dwarven empire instead of save it. Despite their cruelty and greed for power, I think the goblins that live here have never messed with this slab, I think they lack the skills to sense the exotic nature of this metal, and being immortal they may not be lured by its promises of an eternal life. I hope I can get away with stealing the item.

That was from my first adventure. I found the slab randomly lying around in Boltspumpkin before I even decided on making it the museum. It even magically returned to the museum after I accidently lost the slab in Treatyseed.

It should be magma safe, but it never magically returned to Boltspumpkin after being thrown in the volcano, like it did the first time it was dropped. Who knows, it might just be lying there in that volcano on top of the semi molten rock.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on May 13, 2022, 05:24:31 pm

Quote from: kesperan on May 13, 2022, 04:39:01 pm

Secret_6 I think will be next to impossible to recover, as Shieldtempests belongings are "lost" by the game.

Really, i know it doesnt show up if truly lost, For example, Frothebone is "lost" but its just on the shrine roof of the monestary and has been there through every new save. I think it still could be salvaged. Just need to figure out where he placed his belongings or where he was first struck down. A true needle in the haystack. But i think you may be right unless he placed his belongings elsewhere they were not by his remains. Ofcourse his reanimated corpse is around somewhere.

The Certain urns seems to have been destoryed but would be interesting if the volcano was drained and it was still around. Could be a fun little fortress flooding the surface with magma to find an ancient artifact.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Maloy on May 13, 2022, 05:40:12 pm

This is true artifact hunting right here


Also just finished reading unraveller's turn and GOT DANG



Besides the amazing writing quality the experiences are insane. Idk when Braal did it, but dropping some end-game boss level encounters in a city is hilarious and epic and I'm impressed you came out as whole as you did!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on May 13, 2022, 07:02:02 pm

Quote from: AvolitionBrit on May 13, 2022, 05:24:31 pm

The Certain urns seems to have been destoryed but would be interesting if the volcano was drained and it was still around. Could be a fun little fortress flooding the surface with magma to find an ancient artifact.

The main reason I think it is not recoverable is that Legends Viewer considers it destroyed - you get an error message when you try to search for it.

I mean, plenty artifacts go missing and cannot be found again but they still appear in LV.

Sorry about the random tangent but I so wanted to find this one with Moldath - it has the coolest procedurally generated name I have ever seen... but I scoured the catacmobs of Trammeledjudges with Moldath and it is nowhere to be found. That's how I ended up finding Thranan Echohails.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/fDY6QLU.png)

It is created presumably by goblins, then made an heirloom of the demon lord of the Knowing Deceiver, Dreamypuzzled the zebra fiend, who uses it to hack apart hordes of undead in the centuries long battle between the goblins and the necromancer hordes of Oddom, The Scholarly Manors.

Sarvesh is a mercenary dwarf who is raised into undeath by Cerol Basinbolt (apprentice of Oddom, killed by Moldath in 829) and then becomes one of their best generals - he leads them in over 200 battles. In 265, The Scholarly Manors conquer Stealmountain, the capital of the Knowing Deceiver, and he finds Bloodwrath. Dreamypuzzled is killed by an unknown dwarf. Sarvesh then goes off to war again, and is killed in Trammeledjudges in 280.

Now, I have searched Kindledrings and Stealmountain too in case it teleported back, and it is nowhere to be seen...

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Unraveller on May 13, 2022, 07:28:18 pm

Quote from: Maloy on May 13, 2022, 05:40:12 pm

This is true artifact hunting right here


Also just finished reading unraveller's turn and GOT DANG



Besides the amazing writing quality the experiences are insane. Idk when Braal did it, but dropping some end-game boss level encounters in a city is hilarious and epic and I'm impressed you came out as whole as you did!

Thanks! If you feel like reading what led up to Scarletbronze being a home to Fell Weremammoths, here's a link to the adventure of Raki Umberclan (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8206859#msg8206859) who would become known as the Mad Monkey King! They would be a dire antagonist to this day had they not descended into the deepest pits of Orid Xem, never to return. . . Or will they?!?

---

As for the slab, I only did a very cursory check up by reclaiming Ironwords, nothing was at the bottom of the Burial of Enchantment's magma pool, however it may be scattered elsewhere on the mountain tile perhaps.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Paaaad on May 13, 2022, 09:32:12 pm

Yeah, just going to jump into the conversation here to say that The Certain Urns is definitely gone- it got thrown into a volcano, which provides a direct path to the top of the SMR… In other words, the Magma Flow tiles. Might as well have thrown it into one of the bottomless pits in hell. Per the wiki. (http://dwarffortresswiki.org/index.php/Magma_flow)

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Glloyd on May 13, 2022, 11:14:39 pm

I also threw a slab down a volcano on my first turn, and later threw Iden's corpse down the same volcano on my third turn.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on May 14, 2022, 12:38:29 am

Quote from: Paaaad on May 13, 2022, 09:32:12 pm

Yeah, just going to jump into the conversation here to say that The Certain Urns is definitely gone- it got thrown into a volcano, which provides a direct path to the top of the SMR… In other words, the Magma Flow tiles. Might as well have thrown it into one of the bottomless pits in hell. Per the wiki. (http://dwarffortresswiki.org/index.php/Magma_flow)

I' ve heard people claim SMR only destroys magma vulnerable stuff and that that makes it different from atom smashing.. but if legendsviewer can't find it is probably gone.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on May 14, 2022, 05:20:26 am

Quote from: Glloyd on May 13, 2022, 11:14:39 pm

I also threw a slab down a volcano on my first turn, and later threw Iden's corpse down the same volcano on my third turn.

Yeah, the one you destroyed is called The Unholy Evil. It also crashes LV when searched, so also gone forever. The other ones we can’t find are just “lost” and might turn up again some day.

I think Moldath’s and Holyblood’s quest to learn all 12 secrets might be impossible though unless the missing ones teleport home some how.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: TheFlame52 on May 14, 2022, 07:49:36 am

Quote from: Unraveller on May 13, 2022, 01:34:10 pm

Speaking of returning adventurers, I'd love to see Dreamypuzzled actually apotheosis within that goblin one day and return to Orid Xem. Could even df-hack them literally into a Zebra Monster and overlord of the Gobbo Civ, if we wanted to go that far, not certain on that front. Either way it's another fun little plotlime to continue.

That was me. I gave up after all the weapons I submitted to the museum warped back to their original locations, the remaining ones on my list crash the game if you go near them, and the law-giver I wanted to usurp is caught in limbo, either non-existant or in one of the areas that crash on load. If anyone wants to give it a try themselves, feel free.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on May 14, 2022, 05:18:31 pm

Quote from: Bralbaard on May 14, 2022, 12:38:29 am

I' ve heard people claim SMR only destroys magma vulnerable stuff and that that makes it different from atom smashing.. but if legendsviewer can't find it is probably gone.

Myth busted! I haven't been following the last few pages, but I saw this conversation and I can say that LV is crashed not just by destroyed artifacts, but also by artifacts in the possession of adventurers as far as I know, so it's likely artifacts in magma crash it because LV doesn't look so deep in the world or some other reason. So there could still be a chance artifacts can't be destroyed.

Quote from: TheFlame52 on May 14, 2022, 07:49:36 am

That was me. I gave up after all the weapons I submitted to the museum warped back to their original locations, the remaining ones on my list crash the game if you go near them, and the law-giver I wanted to usurp is caught in limbo, either non-existant or in one of the areas that crash on load. If anyone wants to give it a try themselves, feel free.

That was the artifacts in the possession of adventurers I was thinking about. They crash LV while possibly still existing in some form in the game.

Speaking of crashing, has anyone ever figured out why Brushsack (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Nosingfath) crashes LV, but has no problem in the actual game? It's been bugging me for literal IRL months now.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Paaaad on May 14, 2022, 05:36:34 pm

Quote from: Lurker Z on May 14, 2022, 05:18:31 pm

Quote from: Bralbaard on May 14, 2022, 12:38:29 am

I' ve heard people claim SMR only destroys magma vulnerable stuff and that that makes it different from atom smashing.. but if legendsviewer can't find it is probably gone.

Myth busted! I haven't been following the last few pages, but I saw this conversation and I can say that LV is crashed not just by destroyed artifacts, but also by artifacts in the possession of adventurers as far as I know, so it's likely artifacts in magma crash it because LV doesn't look so deep in the world or some other reason. So there could still be a chance artifacts can't be destroyed.

No, it’s not that LV isn’t looking deep enough, it’s that the slab in question fell onto a Magma Flow tile at the bottom of a volcano. According to the wiki, those delete objects dropped on them as surely as if they had been dropped into a pit in hell. There’s no object to find anymore.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Unraveller on May 15, 2022, 02:54:56 pm

Quote from: Lurker Z on May 14, 2022, 05:18:31 pm

Speaking of crashing, has anyone ever figured out why Brushsack (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Nosingfath) crashes LV, but has no problem in the actual game? It's been bugging me for literal IRL months now.

I've noticed a few sites have this issue, during my last turn, when the Band of Wax traveled to a western (south-western?) castle in Omon Obin, I intended to view its history, though it crashed LV, don't recall the name though. Again, nothing wrong with the site itself. I'm sure we could pinpoint the causes somewhat easily, just haven't dug into the sites file recently.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on May 17, 2022, 04:00:37 pm

Any update on how your adventure is going NGN?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: nogoodnames on May 17, 2022, 09:06:18 pm

Quote from: kesperan on May 17, 2022, 04:00:37 pm

Any update on how your adventure is going NGN?

It's coming along. I might not have any posts until after I finish because I don't think I have enough to play and write at the same time.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: nogoodnames on May 19, 2022, 01:19:55 am

Alright, adventure finished! Here's the save: https://dffd.bay12games.com/file.php?id=15943

The world was mostly stable, but I couldn't enter Warshrieks. The game crashed every time I got near it.

I'll try to get the first post done tomorrow.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on May 19, 2022, 01:31:40 am

Quantum drop, if you are reading this, could you hold off from picking up the save game for now?
It appears the issue may be similar to the Gor/Duskhome corruption. several site files (1667-1669) appear to be missing from the save, and the file for Warshrieks may have become corrupted (1666). I will try to investigate this evening.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Quantum Drop on May 19, 2022, 02:35:09 am

Quote from: Bralbaard on May 19, 2022, 01:31:40 am

Quantum drop, if you are reading this, could you hold off from picking up the save game for now?
It appears the issue may be similar to the Gor/Duskhome corruption. several site files (1667-1669) appear to be missing from the save, and the file for Warshrieks may have become corrupted (1666). I will try to investigate this evening.

No problem with holding off on picking up the save until/if this problem can be fixed.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on May 19, 2022, 03:05:50 am

Looks like the worm has stuck again.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on May 19, 2022, 07:18:27 am

Oh no, not again!

Is it fixable? What is causing the site corruption?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on May 19, 2022, 09:21:10 am

It's good to see the gang's all here. Hope the corruption gets fixed.

I'd like to ask to be taken off the turn list. I don't feel I'll be able to do justice to the game either in adventure mode or even fortress mode in the near future. I'll continue to lurk, but I'm way behind even in the posts after my turn. Maybe when I'll have time, I'll read the entire thread again and inspiration will return. Until then, good luck to everyone and I hope I get to read everything soon.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on May 19, 2022, 09:59:21 am

Yeah hope so, see you're going to live up to your namesake Lurker. Shame to see you go quiet and I do hope you stick around and do return

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Unraveller on May 19, 2022, 11:49:37 am

I'll echo that! Your commentary and enthusiasm on delving into the history and legends of Orid Xem is a good reason for what drove me to keep coming back and playing here! Still, don't take that as any pressure, I hope everything is well on your end Lurker.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on May 19, 2022, 01:40:11 pm

Yes, feel free to unlurk any time, I enjoy reading your comments and stories.

---

About our fight with the corruption: It appears that the problem has been present since Eric's turn, Warshrieks is already broken in the version that he uploaded. I hope he still has a working version somewhere on his harddrive, that way we may be able to fix some stuff. Anyhow, I'll send him a PM to check if he still has something..

Because some site files are missing entirely, I strongly suspect that the underlying issue is the same as it was for Gor and Duskhome, the villages that were founded in his turn are also affected.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on May 19, 2022, 01:48:19 pm

Do we know what causes the corruption?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on May 19, 2022, 01:52:19 pm

No.
It could be a dwarf fortress problem, where the game is not saved completely, or it could be some bug during uploading or archiving of the file, so not caused by DF, but that may be less likely now that it has happened twice?

I guess if Eric has a working copy we could be a bit closer to solving the issue.
For reference, discussion on the earlier corruption that was largely fixed, starts about  here.  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8250711#msg8250711)

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Eric Blank on May 19, 2022, 01:54:24 pm

I'm going to check the savegame on my computer and see if those files are present tonight, will be like 12 hours I just pulled into work

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on May 19, 2022, 02:32:22 pm

Thanks Eric!

It is worth noting that you already mentioned that there were some issues with the save game during your turn and that you might delete it, so I guess the odds are not in favour of the save being there..
I wonder if the large increase in file size (over a gigabite!) is related..

Quote from: Eric Blank on April 24, 2022, 02:37:04 am

Oh, also also also, I kept the modified objects folder, just renamed it, and replaced it with a vanilla objects folder and added the changes to dwarves and kobolds.

Also also, the save on my computer came out to 4.11 gb, up from 2.91 after unpacking the turn 78 save. WTF? I might have to delete the save just because my laptop only has like 10 gigs of space left and i cant run my external HDD without a reliable power source

It appears that the save file increase is entirely due to the world.dat size almost increasing in size tenfold. Somehow the save game size returned to more sane proportions the next turn, it seems to randomly go up and down now that I'm looking into it. This might not be related after all. 

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on May 19, 2022, 02:58:54 pm

Okay, so decided to throw myself at this and see what i can figure out. Gonna also look at the previous time this bug happened to test a few things. So currently if you tried to load or visit Warshrieks. It will crash you and give you the following error

Spoiler: Error message (click to show/hide)

succession traveler placed out of bounds
succession traveler placed out of bounds
succession traveler placed out of bounds
succession traveler placed out of bounds
succession traveler placed out of bounds
succession traveler placed out of bounds
succession traveler placed out of bounds
succession traveler placed out of bounds
succession traveler placed out of bounds
succession traveler placed out of bounds
succession traveler placed out of bounds
succession traveler placed out of bounds
succession traveler placed out of bounds
succession traveler placed out of bounds
Site Map:  Extra Item Occupancy 81,120,87

The last line appears to be or related to this - http://www.bay12games.com/dwarves/mantisbt/view.php?id=2422

Messing around with this script atm - https://docs.dfhack.org/en/stable/docs/_auto/fix.html#fix-item-occupancy - No dice

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on May 19, 2022, 04:41:38 pm

Further observations.

The villages that were build during Eric's turn work just fine even if they don't have site-xxxx.dat files. So that might be just natural behaviour for sites founded by the game. If so the current corruption could be unrelated to the Gor/Duskhome issues (and possibly limited to just Warshrieks itself)?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on May 19, 2022, 07:10:12 pm

It’s possible that the discrepancies in size of the world.dat file are due to whether it is saved in a compressed or uncompressed format, which is an option in the Lazy Newb Pack.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Eric Blank on May 19, 2022, 11:18:22 pm

Ive checked my savegame too and unfortunately the same error and crash occur for me, too. The hillocks are all perfectly visit-able, but not the fort, either in adventure mode or trying to resume control over it. Whatever happened must have occurred as I retired the fort, and I dont have any additional backups

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on May 20, 2022, 08:35:16 am

That is unfortunate. Thanks for looking into it. I'll mark Warshrieks as lost to the corruption when I do the next map update.
That means Quantum Drop can get started with their turn.

This is the link that Nogoodnames posted earlier:
https://dffd.bay12games.com/file.php?id=15943 (https://dffd.bay12games.com/file.php?id=15943)

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on May 20, 2022, 10:45:38 am

A solution I found for my own sites crashing was starting as or taking over an adventurer, retiring it, then reclaiming the fort. It worked every time. I don't know the principles at play at all, but I know it worked every time for some unknowable reason. This means keeping the session continuous until it lets you into the fortress.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Quantum Drop on May 20, 2022, 01:08:06 pm

Unfortunate to hear about Warshrieks being lost. I'll get started on the save tomorrow - have some stuff to take care of tonight.

EDIT: Huh, looks like Jas got married to Destis Sisterbreeches.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Eric Blank on May 20, 2022, 01:51:45 pm

Quote from: Lurker Z on May 20, 2022, 10:45:38 am

A solution I found for my own sites crashing was starting as or taking over an adventurer, retiring it, then reclaiming the fort. It worked every time. I don't know the principles at play at all, but I know it worked every time for some unknowable reason. This means keeping the session continuous until it lets you into the fortress.

Worth a shot anyway. We could attempt to unretire it after each adventurer/fort, see if it let's anyone in in the future.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on May 20, 2022, 09:40:40 pm

You can test it on a throwaway save. That's why I did, I used to make throwaway saves after each turn to get the newly generated creatures' names through The Masonry Method (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Orid_Xem?so=search#The_Masonry_Method), but my own fortresses crashed without letting me enter them. So I suspected (on the flimsy logic that this is an adventurer-heavy succession game) that going into adventure mode, then retiring an adventurer and going into fort mode will fix it. Again, I have no idea why it worked for me, but it did.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on May 21, 2022, 07:25:17 pm

Forgotten - Tales of would be adventurers by Rura Parchedswamp, Unwilling apprentice to the historian guild.

Did I ever tell you the one about the crabs and the historian guild? Needless to say it put me in a real pinch. Turns out they weren’t too happy with my joke. Said I crossed a line and now I have to fill in for one of their historians who was recovering from “crab wounds” bloody baby, sounds like nonsense to me. It was a few hours of them discussing what to give me before they dumped my assignment on his desk. That hooked nose one snickered as he walked away from my newly assigned desk. To think they would send a hammer woman in place of a historian.

Volume 1 - Echos of a beekeeper

The first would be adventurer I was given the task of researching was Egesh Clinchedhide. I wondered why they assigned me to this would be an adventurer who didn't make it. Her story was pretty old and I doubt anyone knows what happened to her. But I had to cross the tundra of heroes and come back with a story on top. Before I departed I ensured I bought the supplies I needed, a nice barrel of strawberry wine will do nicely as i undertake the long journey south.

I arrived in Stabbedechoed, on the 2nd of Opal. A local farmer named Rogan was the first soul I met. After some talking she agreed to let me stay at her house for the night as long as I shared some strawberry wine. She even mentioned he knew some stuff about Egesh. Called her The Helmed Teacher of Palisades. Arriving at her abode I was met by the sight of rags and bones littering the ground. She told me to ignore the mess, but it keeps them at bay. The then she referred to are magma crabs and blind cave bears, MAGMA CRABS. Needless to say i would have ran out if not for Rogan being in the way. “This place used to belong to Xem Inkmaurve” she said. This name was someone completely different, did i just enter a cannibalistic mad woman's home. “This was her home until she was butchered”.

Needless to say Stabbedechoed is a dangerous place, a place with mad people, deadly bears and Magma crabs (yes this is real). The ground and homes are littered with remains in various states of decay. I for sure though i was gonna be murdered by this strange woman and ofcourse the guild would send me to this nightmare of a place. But she didn't kill me. After a horrific night in this disgusting place fueled by a heavy night of the strawberry wine, I finally had enough information to get back out of here.

Egesh Clinchedhide was the local beekeeper in town, trading her wares with the town. She would often interact with warriors in Stabbedechoed. One of them showed her the basics of combat and in time she would acquire equipment, she had plans to explore the world and head towards Boltspumpkin. On the day she was to leave something happened. Which resulted in her attacking multiple members of the town killing five. She was manic attacking wildly, her swings erratic and crazed. A trainer for the local warriors, a Sapa Sweetnessclash intervened, she  saw the wild swings and in a swish of her silver whip she struck down Egesh. She became a local hero and would marry and die of old age in Stabbedechoed. Whilst Egesh became sometime more, she was a lesson. The name Helmed Teacher of Palisades, it was given to her as an ironic title, a moral story told to warriors who fought with reckless abandon. The meaning being that although armored, a single blow could still deal leathal damage and lead to your death.

The citizens of Stabbedechoed know the name Egesh for a curse that befalls the town, she is to blame with the death, monsters and attacks here. The town is infested with beasts, blind cave bears and magma crabs alike. Both are attracted to the seemingly endless supply of corpses and body parts that litter the street. Apparently up until recently citizens would go mad, start attacking people, adventurers would come and clean it up but the madness would always return. Recently the band of wax arrived and helped clean up the madness. However the new corpses are attracting more blind cave bears. The bleakness of the streets littered with teeth, the bones protrude from the ground like blades of grass.  As the wagon leaves the boundaries of Stabbedechoed, I feel that for all the answers I received one question still lingers in my mind. What made her go crazy?

A few weeks later, I returned to my “desk”, writing up my findings. Those chumps from the historian guild were disappointed to see me back in one piece. Of course it wasn't long after publishing my piece that they were “interested” to see me write more. They assigned me to be an apprentice for the guild and said they had my next assignment ready. Sut take me now.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on May 22, 2022, 03:13:08 am

Nice to see someone revisit the old, missing stories. This was from Ionmatrix turn, turn 24.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Eric Blank on May 26, 2022, 01:30:21 am

Third adventures of Pik and Desli, Part two

The town of Incenseorder, realm of the charcoal brute lord Yane Crowdsquashes, lay empty as ever. The lonely lord waited in the empty keep, until the day Pik and Desli arrived. When they entered, he became enraged and attacked them unprovoked. The enormous four-horned sauropod bathed them in fire, and roared in fury when they stood unperturbed, having blocked its flames with their shields. The beast stood no chance in hand-to-hand combat, Desli striking the final blow. The town lay empty now.

The surrounding hamlets did not. Many of them were inhabited, but overrun with blighted thralls. It felt like the pair killed hundreds on the march south towards Boltspumpkin, hundreds of innocent civilians lay dead in piles on the floors of their own homes, eaten alive by their friends and families, or unceremoniously hacked to pieces by the wandering adventurers. The duo had the ever-creeping sensation of deja-vu as the encounters became more and more familiar, even apparently repeating, as if he universe did not approve of the culling of the infected. Finally, after what seemed like weeks, but only took three days, they reached the Museum.

Once there, they began searching the archives for answers to the source of the recurring, waking "dreams." There were many dozens of such reports, including Desli's own dream of fighting the undead, long ago while she herself were alive. The phenomenon occurred seemingly at random, but like their dreams of fighting the blighted thralls, would sometimes recur many times in quick succession. But, there was no conclusive answer as to why, or what these dreams meant. The sufferers always seemed to be adventurers. Adventurers who sought out the Museum, even, as these dreams did not affect the average wanderer.

The dreams didn't happen for the rest of the week, and eventually exhausting all information, the pair decided to leave behind their own description along with a new piece for the museum; an artifact grate left on the second story. Their own story was thus;

"Desli and I both have been experiencing shared 'waking dreams', where despite not falling asleep we would find ourselves in a different place, usually a hamlet or village, the ones north of the museum, near the sea. The hamlets were empty or filled with corpses, or terrified villagers fled from their homes before we reached them, chased by their own crazed kinsmen. We fought to defend the villagers but all too often they would be torn to shreds. Once, even, I was overwhelmed and torn to pieces. I say once, because the dreams would repeat, even as we actually walked south towards the museum. It often felt viscerally real, and then suddenly we would 'wake up' back at some point we believed we'd passed hours before, only to repeat again as we approached the hamlet where the events of the 'dream' had happened. This repeated over and over, until we passed through most of human civilization and were only two days travel from the museum, and has not occurred again since."

Soon the pair were debating returning north as they left the castle, and encountered a dwarf in. He introduced himself as Zon Packedtrusses, a representative of the Walled Dyes and merchant. He sought an adventurer or party to help move goods from the old fortresses of Championvaults, now apparently overtaken by goblins, and Sealsabres, and bring them to a site they had selected for a new fortress. The job was to be done discretely, as it was of great importance to the Walled Dyes. Although payment was a nebulous promise, including a pile of gold and equipment, the pair agreed, largely uninterested in material wealth.

This trip took several weeks, but once it was done, the pair settled down in a new log cabin, in the mountains near a stream, across a lake, where they would once again be largely alone, in another scenic location.



So that was it. The "dreams" were repeating crashes while going through hamlets on the way south. There wasn't a plan or intention when I started my adventurers, I didn't actually have a plan. I did decide after making it to the museum and depositing that artifact grate, to borrow some equipment from Championvaults and Sealsabres to establish Warshrieks and a militia that I used to engage in war against the goblins and that pesky human civ that theyre at war with, which led to becoming a barony and the establishment of the hillocks. Unfortunate that it was all lost.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: nogoodnames on May 26, 2022, 02:55:00 am

From the desk of Leto Searchpraise, Senior Apprentice to the Historian’s Guild
2nd Timber, 879

Dearest diary, how wonderful it is (in spite of present circumstances) to be writing again! It has been far too long since I took up the quill. Six years! Six! Where has the time gone!? It shames me to admit it, but I fell into something of a deep depression over my inability to complete my final dissertation. A single piece of new history to graduate to full guild membership? I was sure it would be child’s play. Alas, everywhere I looked I was plagued with false starts, unfinished tales and well-trodden ground. Everything of substance I found was already known to the guild. I thought I finally had something with that gorlack. I payed that courier extra for his guarantee that no one in the north had seen that recovered journal. But it was incomplete! How can I turn an incomplete account into my magnum opus? There must be finality!

Since then I haven’t had the will to do much of anything. Mostly I just locked myself away in the library and tried to forget myself in the collected books. It was not a happy time.

And so that brings us to today. Or rather, yesterday, when I received a sealed letter from the head historian. If I do not complete my dissertation by the end of the year, they are going to rescind my apprenticeship and expel me from the guild! After all I’ve done for them! All the long nights dusting tomes, correlating dates, tracing genealogies - all for nought! The indignity of it all has me halfway convinced I should throw the letter back in his face and set fire to the library on my way out, but I won’t stoop to their level. This is a wake up call. If my work ethic is not enough, then let spite be my fuel!

There’s only one thing to be done. I must venture out into the world and find my own piece of history. Yes, that’s what those snobs at the guild suggested in the first place, but I see no other option left to me. I don’t intend on getting myself killed. If I’m to survive the wilds, I’ll need some help. Thus I have come to The North Cinnamon, a tavern in the town of Incenseorder. The town has something of a seedy reputation, and I’m sure I can get some local toughs to draw off any dangerous attention.

As luck would have it, Just as I reached the tavern, two severely beat bruisers came barrelling out the door. I peaked inside and saw a dwarven woman jeering after them.

“That’s right, ya louts! Next time, think twice afore messin’ with yer betters!” she yelled at the fleeing men.

I’ve met few dwarves, but this one stood out among even that odd crowd. She looked closest to those of the Walled Dye but her mahogany hair had a stronger colour than any I’ve seen, and her skin had olive – perhaps even green – undertones. I wondered briefly if she might have some goblin blood in her. The dwarf caught me staring and met my gaze steadily. Even with a solid two foot height advantage, I felt a twinge of unease. Well, she wasn’t exactly the bodyguard I had in mind but could clearly handle herself. I cleared my throat and made to approach her.

As I stepped forward, I suddenly found my path blocked by an absolutely massive man. Nearly as tall to me as I to the dwarf and rippling with muscle. So solid and silent was he that I had mistaken him for one of the building’s support pillars. He wore a helmet that obscured his face, but his dark skin and golden hair marked him as a man of the south, The Realm of Silver. I was keenly aware of the battle axe he carried with a blade as wide as my torso, now angled ever so slightly so as to give the impression that it might be used to cleave me in two at any moment.

(https://i.imgur.com/c8m4FJ6.png)

“Aw leave ‘im be, Juvar. Ya think this scrawny runt is any threat?” said the dwarf. That made the giant take a step back, but I could still feel his eyes on me. “Watcha want, babyface?”

In spite of the insults, I straightened up and made my case. To their credit, the two of them heard me out and only snickered a few times. After I finished they left to discuss the matter amongst themselves while I waited patiently. Finally they returned, looking thoughtful.

“Arright, Leto was it?” asked the dwarf. I nodded in affirmative. “I’m Dana Hailmurders, of no clan, and this here’s Juvar Scarsung of Omon Obin.” she said, jutting her thumb out at the southerner. “We’re a couple of misfit drifters who washed up here. I’m a miner. Tried to get a job at Emeraldcrown but they’re only taking glassmakers. Can you believe that? Dwarves that don’t dig!? No wonder the place still isn’t roofed.”

“Anyway...” she continued, “Juvar’s a mercenary, but no one here’s been paying enough recently. Also-”

Juvar raised a hand and motioned to speak for the first time. “You know my homeland?”

I answered that, yes, I had some knowledge about it. Any less-than-diplomatic opinions though, I kept to myself.

“I have heard rumours of a new law giver. One who fights to take the land back from the blight. I would like to know the truth of this.” said the towering man. I waited to see if he would say anything else, but that was all.

Dana spoke up again, “Yeah, Juvar came north to get away from the whole zombie apocalypse mess down there. If yer heading that way we could tag along for a reasonable price. We’re a package deal though, and we’ll want a share of any loot.”

In the end I negotiated them down to something I could afford, plus first dibs on anything of historical significance. I had to sell my horse, but she was getting on in the years anyway. I loathe the thought of crossing the Tundra of Heroes and prancing around in that backwater, but I see little chance of getting a better deal from anyone remotely competent.

Before we left, Juvar pulled me aside and handed me a dagger. I tried to refuse, but he insisted I take it. “I cannot defend one who does not defend himself.” was all he said. We shall see about that.

(https://i.imgur.com/63AQ0aT.png)

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on May 26, 2022, 09:39:44 am

Sweet! Two updates in one day.

It's a real shame about Warshrieks. It must be a pain knowing that work is lost. Glad that cinnamon brute is gone though.

And NGN, love your artwork as always. Nice to see the High Confederacies get some love again. Incenseorder - is becoming popular once more!

Leto Searchpraise is finally at large. His great-great-grandfather and namesake Leto Searchpraise the First would be very proud, I am sure, to see him with a dagger in his hand!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Unraveller on May 26, 2022, 01:49:56 pm

It's always awful for us to lose data here, but there's not much we can do I'm afraid. Honestly I don't even know if there is a proper way we can avoid the occasional corruption with how often the save changes hands into different environments. One day THE WORM consumes all, eh? Regardless, I'm glad you added on to the rest of Pik and Desli's story Eric. Even if you didn't have much of a goal, I have a softspot for them so I'm always glad to read what's going on with em!

---

Gotta second Kesperan for sure, but even if the awesome art wasn't accompanying your posts NGN, still greatly enjoy what you bring to the table. Not to mention anytime our non-physical historians guild is mentioned, I can't help but smile. Looking forward to Leto and his band's adventure! Make some history!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Eric Blank on May 26, 2022, 06:38:49 pm

To be fair, the work wasn't all lost: there's still piles of goblin corpses and sites conquered to count, and the act of war itself was the purpose behind the forts foundation, in an ideal location sealsabres just wasn't in.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Quantum Drop on May 30, 2022, 05:00:01 pm

Right then, adventure's finished. Here's the save: https://dffd.bay12games.com/file.php?id=15950

The world was mostly stable, though there were a couple crashes seemingly caused by AI necromancy. No sites I visited seemed to cause CTDs.

I'll try and get my first post out tomorrow (or Wednesday). Good luck to diogo_alt_tab on their turn!

---

Love the artwork and story so far, NGN! Always good to see your work in the thread; looking forward to seeing how Leto and his band fared in their adventures!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on May 30, 2022, 06:07:47 pm

Oh Gods... more ghouls...

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on May 31, 2022, 05:53:43 am

I've send Diogo_alt_tab a message. I'll catch up on updating the posts with lists and information later, I'm traveling for work this week.

Edit: Diogo can't play right now, that makes it Maloy's turn.
I have updated the lists, let me know if I missed anything.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Maloy on June 02, 2022, 09:42:20 pm

Excited for next turn and to keep playing alongside you all!

It'll be a day or two before I start, but fortunately I learned since my first turn that I don't have to finish writing everything I did by the end of the week as well


Last time I had this weird crunch of figuring out what was realistic for my turn because I thought I had to have it written out and posted in a week lol
Looking forward to what can be done without that pressure

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on June 03, 2022, 04:34:44 pm

Good luck with your turn, Maloy. Please take your time and enjoy it!

Do you have a plan to return to your wolf-man, or will we see a new adventurer?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Maloy on June 04, 2022, 03:19:04 pm

Quote from: kesperan on June 03, 2022, 04:34:44 pm

Good luck with your turn, Maloy. Please take your time and enjoy it!

Do you have a plan to return to your wolf-man, or will we see a new adventurer?

Oh yes! He's been in possession of the blood-soaked ear for a long time so must see how this has impacted him
I'm also thinking I might need to make him immortal. I realized a good amount of time can pass between turns in-game

I also had something else in mind so I am gonna create a peasant adventurer to join him

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on June 04, 2022, 05:39:48 pm

<In 879, midwinter, (22nd of Opal) Maloy became obsessed with his own mortality and sought to extend his life by any means.>

Well, there's an unhealthy amount of vampire blood in barrels back at Boltspumpkin, and if you follow the adventures of the evil scorpion, he has found most of the necromancy books/slabs in the world! You are right to be concerned - animal people only live to a maximum of 80, which is even less than humans and significantly worse than dwarves.

I see you are currently Lord of the Impervious Wall and ruler of Incenseorder. Congratulations!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Maloy on June 04, 2022, 08:35:46 pm

So I downloaded it and combed through legends as well as adventure mode and I can't seem to find Maloy
I thought maybe his custom name reset to his initial, but he isn't amongst the wolf man historical figures either?

idk. Stasismanors also isn't around nor its government as I left statues of him in that fort and I was hoping to use that to find him, but no luck there either

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on June 05, 2022, 02:09:25 am

This should be the correct save:
https://dffd.bay12games.com/file.php?id=15950 (https://dffd.bay12games.com/file.php?id=15950)
Maloy appears to be present for me. What is the date in your save game?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on June 05, 2022, 07:03:10 am

He is definitely still alive and in game. I have found him chilling out in the central keep in Incenseorder on a test character.

Once you are sure you have the correct savegame: to unretire him, choose "Specific Person" in the adventure mode character creation menu and scroll until you find him. Every adventurer who is still alive (or who has been raised to unlife) should be on that list.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on June 05, 2022, 07:13:02 am

Can confirm the wolfman is alive

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Quantum Drop on June 05, 2022, 01:50:34 pm

Further confirming that Maloy's wolfman is alive, as well as selectable on the specific person screen. Good luck with your turn, Maloy; I hope everything goes well on your end, and that you have a good time without the pressure to finish it quickly.

(Speaking of turns, I would like to be re-added to the turns list and am posting the first part of my recent one below. Apologies for the lack of images; this is mostly setup for the rest of it.)

---

Arkur Fedemnoñi slowly crept into wakefulness on the flagstones. One hand instinctively went to the back of his head. Every time he awoke he did this; every time he awoke, he knew exactly what he would find; and every time he did so he involuntarily twitched as he felt the raised scar at the back of his head stinging.

He grimaced at the sensation as he forced himself to stretch, flinching at the numbness in his legs. The straw-coated floor of the cell provided little comfort at night, nor did the manacles set into the wall above them. They’d tried using them only once – his wrists were thin enough to slip out of them every time they tried - but they still served as a bleak reminder that he was a prisoner here.

Prisoner. Not a patient. The letters branded into the wood of its gates claimed otherwise, but he had learned the truth in short order. Though this place wore a hospital’s trappings, none of those within were here to be nursed back to health.

He raised his hand to his ear, sticking a finger in to carefully scoop out the candle wax he’d stuffed in there before he slept. For the past few weeks (at least, he thought it weeks) he had taken to collecting the little blobs of wax that fell from the guards’ candles, using them to stopper his ears against the moans, snarls, and weeping that echoed through the stone of the passageways. It was always at its worst during the night.

The man pushed himself upright and limped over to the door, peering through the bars into the gloom beyond. Nothing stirred in the corridors – perhaps that meant it was early morning. It was easy to lose track of time in this blank, featureless cell. If it was, that meant it would not be long before the guards would be prowling the corridors. And when the guards walked, those who commanded them were never far behind.

A sharp qualm ran through his body at the thought. He had lost track of the times he had been dragged through the stone corridors to their workshops, but he had not forgotten the nature of each session. He had not forgotten the knives and phials of dark, bloody fluids; the scent of spoiled meat and fresh blood, and the hunched, feral creatures that snarled and dribbled bloody saliva through the bars of their cages in the corners of the room. New nightmares to add to the old.

Footsteps rang on the stone. Arkur flinched back as though the door burned, hearing the sound of keys rattling out in the gloom.

The light of the guards’ torch burned his eyes as they opened the door to his cell. He knew better than to put up any resistance as they entered and seized him by the wrists, dragging him upright and into the gloomy corridor. They wouldn’t kill him or strike him too badly, but their masters were all too willing to overlook their subjects’ blackened eyes and split lips when they were dumped into their workshops.

The other prisoners came to life as the guards half-marched, half-dragged him past. White, cataracted eyes, wide with madness, stared out from the shadows of cells. Chains rattled as the livelier inmates threw themselves at their cell doors, straining against their restraints and snarling with murderous anger. He caught only glances of their forms – twisted limbs, blistered flesh, bloodied mouths – but they were enough.

The guard’s grip on his arm went rigid, then slackened. A horrible gurgling noise came from behind him, cutting off into a wet, rattling hiss. Arkur dared a glance behind him, and was greeted by the sight of the guard sliding to the flagstones like a marionette with its strings cut, a long shard of iron protruding from the side of his neck and a red flower blooming across the fabric of his shirt. The other guard was face-down on the stone further back, blood pooling around his masked face.

For a few seconds, Arkur stood dumbstruck, stunned by the sudden demise of the guards. Then something broke, and he scrambled backwards, trying to get away from whatever had killed his captors. Thoughts of escape swam in his mind and blood pounded in his ears as he half-staggered, half-ran forward, trying to ignore the sudden outbursts of noise from the other inmates and the steady thump of boots on the stone behind him. Sweat beaded on his skin as a fire ignited in his chest, fighting against the damp cold of the stone corridors.

Arkur managed only a few steps before he felt a hand clasp his shoulder and haul him backward. He staggered, trying to prise the fingers off, but each one was sheathed in cold metal and had a grip as firm as a corpse’s. Gritting his teeth, he whirled about to face them.

The pair were strangers, both clad in dark, rough-spun cloaks, hoods drawn up over their heads. Arkur caught sight of a tell-tale gleam of metal beneath one, while the other had a swathe of material pulled up to obscure their face – only their eyes could be seen, cold and pale, staring at him through the gloom. Neither looked particularly friendly, the low light lending a sinister, even ghoulish cast to their appearances.

“Come with us,” The one with the fabric-clad face extended a hand down to him. “We need your help, brother.”

Arkur’s instinctual protest died in his throat at that. Whatever they were, however sinister they might have looked and sounded, they were offering him a way out of this hell. He grasped the fabric-clad one’s proffered hand, nodding his thanks to his apparent ally as the man pulled him upright.

“What-? Who are you?”

The man shook his head by way of reply, eyes flicking warily between the slowly-cooling body and the ends of the corridor.

“Not now,” He muttered, gesturing toward one of the bodies. “Put his uniform on and follow me. Need to get out of here, before the guards figure out they’re missing.”

One particularly swift exchange of tattered rags for the guard’s scarred, dented armor later and with a travelling cloak hastily thrown over his form, Arkur found himself being led through the gloom of the corridors. It was slow going; often, they were forced to hide in the shadows of alcoves as one of the prisoners was hauled past by guards, or walk past them with their heads carefully lowered and their faces hidden. Several times he feared they were becoming lost in the maze of cells and tunnels that lay beneath this place, only for them to turn another corner and recognise a familiar stretch of tunnel. They were headed for the courtyard.

Ducking into a cramped alcove to avoid another patrolling guard, one of the two men turned to him, placing a finger to his lips. The other one departed as soon as he had made the motion, slipping through the open door ahead of him with surprising speed and silence for one so massive.

“Stay here and don’t make a noise. We’ll be back soon.”

Arkur slumped down into the niche, mind awhirl. He shifted uncomfortably in his armor; he was drenched in sweat despite the chill in the air, and the blood that had leaked inside was beginning to dry. There was a table and a pair of chairs set into the alcove, littered with the detritus of what looked like an old meal; though the bones lying on the plate were dusty and well-chewed, he couldn't help the sharp pang of hunger that rose in his stomach at the sight.
 
“What in the devil’s name are you doing here, guardsman?”

Arkur’s breath caught in his throat as he turned to face the source of the voice: a tall, dark-eyed hammerman in bronze and copper armor, his breastplate emblazoned with the sigil of the guards. His eyes narrowed at the sight of Arkur, as though trying to place him; Arkur risked a glance to his sides, but neither of his erstwhile allies had returned. 

“I- I’m new here, sir.” Arkur almost cringed at the sheer implausibility of the lie as soon as it passed his lips. The guard raised an eyebrow at his words, walking toward him for a closer look.

“Hm...” The guard’s eyes narrowed to slits as he considered him. “Really, now? Mh. I suppose they must have forgotten to tell me about that.”

“My- I’m sorry, sir. I thought-”

“Come now,” The guard said, sharply. “Tell me, what’s the day’s password?”

“Wh-what?” Arkur stuttered, almost choking. The guard’s hand shifted to his side, unlimbering the heavy form of a large bronze mallet as his face shifted to a sharp glare.

“The day’s password, guardsman. Now!”

“I- I don’t have it! They forgot-!”

“You lie.” The guard growled, stepping toward him. “I ain’t seen your face around here before, and the captain’s said nothing about ‘new guards’. Much less one with those marks –”

His eyes darted about, frantically. His rescuers were gone. There was no time to think. Arkur reached out half-blindly, seizing a tankard from the table and swinging it hard into the man’s temple. There was a dull clunk as it rebounded off the side of his bare head, sending the guard staggering; a sharp, flailing elbow caught him in the nose for good measure, sending him to the floor in a cursing, ungainly heap as Arkur rushed out through the door and into the courtyard.

The low light of the evening stung his eyes as he darted out onto the frosted earth. The main gate was shut. He could see a pair of dark lumps sprawled out near it, just the right size and shape to be a body. Arkur’s heart clenched sharply in fear, beating its rapid tattoo in his chest – perhaps his erstwhile allies had been found and slain. He would need to find another way out, and fast; already he could hear the sound of outraged shouts from the tower, as the wreckage of their earlier actions was finally uncovered.

Yet for all that he looked about the courtyard, he could see no other way out but the gates. The walls were solid, smooth stone; even if he was strong enough to climb them, there were no hand-holds to support his slight form. Those in the keep would cut him down in a heartbeat. Rushing back into the tower was no option, even without the height he’d have to jump from. Arkur’s heart began to hammer in his ears, and he nearly leapt into the air outright as a hand clamped down on his shoulder.

Wheeling around, he found his rescuers returned, as if by magic – the towering brute’s gloves were reddened and his cloak dirtied, but the other man seemed entirely unruffled.

“Told you we’d be back.” The livelier of the two commented, a grin audible in his voice. He stabbed a finger toward the wooden gates of the castle. “Now, come! Follow us!”

No further words were needed. The two of them ran, and Arkur followed, past the looming shadow of the main keep, past raised stones and lumps of earth. Their boots crunched frosted grass underfoot, each motion accompanied by a series of muffled shouts and a terrible din from behind them. Surely, it would not be long before they began to be pursued. Arkur thought of the dark, bloody workshops and mouldering cells that lay beneath his feet and physically shook the memory from his head. Move!

Voices echoed somewhere behind them as they rushed across the courtyard, scrambling and skidding down the side of the depression where the main gates loomed. The guards lay still on the floor, heads twisted to unnatural angles. The first of his rescuers slammed into it shoulder-first, growling as the doors resisted his weight; the second joined in moments later, straining with the effort of shifting the heavy wooden gate. It creaked on old hinges, groaning like a dying animal as the shouting and clanking of metal-clad figures came closer and closer –

And then they were out, spilling into the rapidly-falling dark, running across the fields with the earth crunching underfoot and the breath exploding from his mouth in hot, steaming clouds. Arkur had no clue where they were going, but he barely cared. He couldn’t stop now. Twice he caught distant shouting on the wind, and twice he found himself digging into reserves of energy he didn’t know he had to keep running, trailing behind the heels of his stronger, faster rescuers. They ran until he collapsed, legs buckling from exhaustion; the lights of his former prison had long since faded into the darkness of the horizon.

“I think we lost them,” The first remarked, shedding his traveller’s cloak. His features were rough and scarred, worn down by the marks of old fights and blotted on one side by some odd tattoo, but there was a disarming warmth to his voice and manner. “Citoj is circling back to make sure they’re gone.”

Arkur managed a wheezing groan in reply. His chest felt like it was full of hot embers from the exertion of the chase. His rescuer paused for a moment, before carefully slipping an arm under his and pulling him upright, propping him upright against the rough trunk of a nearby tree before he continued to talk.

“Good news: you’re still alive and kicking. Bad news: half the realm wants us dead.” He folded his arms over his chest, giving an almost casual shrug of his armoured shoulders. “You’ve been out of the war for years, and that was before those rubsitot got their hands on you.”

“War-?” Arkur’s voice was barely above a whisper, sanded down into near-uselessness from years of disuse and parched by the chase they’d endured. “What-?”

“It’ll come back in time, my brother.” His rescuer answered, nodding to the other man as his hulking form emerged from the shadows of the treeline. “Right now we need to focus on gettin’ you to safety. Didn’t plan this whole thing out just for you ta’ die in the damn woods…”

“W-who?” His voice was fading in and out of Arkur’s hearing, now that the rush of the chase was wearing off. Exhaustion was setting in fast, greying out the edges of his vision and rendering his limbs heavy as lead. “Who are you…?”

“Who am I?” The man grinned. “You can call me Aril.”

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: TheFlame52 on June 05, 2022, 01:56:56 pm

I'm completely lost

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Maloy on June 05, 2022, 02:41:48 pm

Okay got it
For some reason I went to this link to download the file: https://dffd.bay12games.com/file.php?id=15143
Rather than the correct link: https://dffd.bay12games.com/file.php?id=15950

I have it now sorry for the confusion not sure how I ended up there
Also I just didn't question the turn number because I just assumed the counter had restarted or something

Bral sent me the right one originally I'm not sure how or why I got that file, but clearly error on my end

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Unraveller on June 05, 2022, 11:57:35 pm

What're ya lost about Flame? QD's dropped a fine intro with some cryptic and otherwise dreary wordsmithery. I'm certain more will be revealed as it goes on. I'll admit though, I'm definitely partial to using the game as a storytelling vehicle beyond the actual confines of adventure mode in of itself. Looking forward to the next part! - That goes for all of the half finished stories so far. Haaha.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Maloy on June 08, 2022, 06:20:04 am

You write like a pro QD. I love the attention to detail, and also just how your paragraphs are formatted and overall pleasing


I find myself in a quandary

I've been permanently crippled although still alive and now I find myself at a cross roads of immortality that leaves me with questions

I don't WANT to become a werebeast to be immortal, but the regeneration is tempting
I was on my way to Boltspumpkin to become a vampire when it happened

Could be a crippled vampire? Not opposed, but if so could I become a werebeast later through infection? Are necromancers still counted as living and thus able to be cursed as well?

I know certain acquired powers/curses/etc can stack


Either way any route I take is filled with danger as evidenced by my now destroyed body

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Paaaad on June 08, 2022, 09:23:48 am

I don’t believe you can be both a werebeast and a vampire, but I just had an adventurer become a vampire via dice after learning two necromantic secrets. I think you can do the same with becoming a werebeast.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on June 08, 2022, 10:26:01 am

Yes, that’s correct. You can be a vampire necromancer or a werebeast necromancer but not a vampire werebeast.

Hope it works out for you!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: nogoodnames on June 09, 2022, 11:51:14 pm

From the desk of Leto Searchpraise, Senior Apprentice to the Historian’s Guild
2nd Timber, 879

Before we left town, Dana told me she had some errands to run. We followed her to one of the nearby houses and, well, maybe I should have expected this. Inside were a group of ruffians being lorded over by a goblin woman. It seems my new companions have some connections in the criminal underground.

(https://i.imgur.com/3uWNIJ2.png)

“’Ello Atol. Got myself hired on a job out of the city. I’ll be takin’ my cut early. No hard feelings, eh?” Dana said to the goblin.

“Damn shame to lose you, dwarf. Always need a dwarf to tell when you’re getting ripped off... Bah! Just cough up the last haul, take your keep and then off with you!” Was

“Course.” Said Dana, presenting a pair of rose gold goblets from her bag. They looked to have been taken from the tavern we had just left.

Needless to say, I was aghast! Dana must have noticed me staring at her as she rummaged through the bandit’s loot pile. “What?! So what if I do a bit o’ inventory work for the local gangs?” She said while picking up a worn buckler, “Girl’s gotta eat! S’not like anyone else is hiring in this backwater!”

Well, perhaps I can accept working with thieves, but Incenseorder was once part of the High Confederacies, and I will not abide by any dishonour on my homeland! Let’s see what the local lord has to say about this!

Upon entering the town’s keep I was greeted by a magnificent stench. Sulphurous and fetid with overtones of rotting meat. Strewn about the place were the remains of some great beast. It suddenly struck me of the historical significance of this place. This is where Balbaard Hammerfishes met his first end, and this must have been the beast that did it! The godfather of the guild died here, and it completely slipped my mind!

I was so dumbstruck over my lapse in memory that I almost didn’t notice the wolf man standing in the corner. He eventually broke the silence and introduced himself as Maloy, the lord of Incenseorder. Another name I recognize! I had happened upon his story while combing through the museum archives.

(https://i.imgur.com/ZnVClyZ.jpg)

Unfortunately, Maloy had little interest in what I had to say about the bandits besmirching his town. He kept fretting about the army of Dubmith Appearedtrailed coming to reclaim the town for the High Confederacies. Personally, I would be glad for Incenseorder to be returned to its rightful owners, but his worries seemed ill-founded. Dubmith had died nearly a century ago. I didn’t have the heart to tell Maloy.

Well, that could have gone better. Dana snickered a bit at my failure. “Coulda told’ya that weren’t gonna work. Atol’s gang’s pretty much the only game in town.” she said. Well, no sense dwelling on it. Onward!

We reached the next major town, Padcalls just before dusk. The streets were empty and dead quiet. I tried knocking on a few doors, but there was no answer. “We should move on.” said Juvar, speaking up for the first time since I hired him. However, I insisted that we at least say hello to the local lord. I knew the confederacies had reclaimed this town about 20 years ago. Surely they would be gracious hosts for the night.

We entered the castle, but still didn’t see or hear anyone. “Stay here.” Juvar commanded, he himself moving carefully toward the keep.

I must admit, his behaviour and the lack of a welcoming party had me a bit spooked. A few moments passed. Suddenly, we heard Juvar shout, “THE BLIGHT! IT’S HERE!”

(https://i.imgur.com/RNGU2EV.png)

“The blight?!” I asked, incredulous, “Ridiculous! That’s just a southerner boogeyman story!”

Dana hefted her pickax. For a moment, it looked like she might take a swing at me. “Are ye really that daft?!” she exclaimed, “Have ye never left yer cushy library?! The blight’s everywhere!”

I was going to snap back at her, but then I noticed a hint of real terror beneath her anger. Her eyes darted between the main gate and the keep where Juvar had called out. We could hear more now. Clashing of metal, a cry of pain. She made her decision and charged in to aid her friend.

I wish I could tell you more of how the battle went. Alas, after seeing the response of these two capable fighters, I decided to exercise some carefully weighed prudence and fled through the gates in the opposite direction.

What I can say is that it didn’t go well for my two guardians. From my chosen vantage point, I saw them emerge from the gates, battered and bloody. Fortunately whatever had done this to them did not seem intent on following them out of the castle. I rendezvoused with them once I saw it was safe. Up close their injuries were even worse. Both looked to have been bludgeoned heavily. Dana could hardly stand, but it was Juvar’s state that chilled me. The proud warrior I had met this morning was a mangled pulp. His breath came with significant struggle in shallow, raspy bursts. My interest in anatomy has been limited, but I have a passing knowledge of medicine. It was obvious he was dying.

Dana was distraught. For now she was focused on tending to Juvar, but I feared she would soon come to blame me for his fate. And perhaps, I would deserve it,

I helped tend to their most pressing injuries. Once her leg was splinted, Dana could walk again in spite of the pain. We carried Juvar between us and escaped to a nearby monastery. Like the town, it was abandoned. Still, Dana went to the divining altars, hoping for some guidance from the gods. Whatever she received was of little comfort.

(https://i.imgur.com/bFbuLOe.png)

We decided to camp there. Well, more like we collapsed on the spot as soon as we found it relatively safe. Between Juvar’s rattling breaths and the thought of what might be lurking out there, I don’t think any of us will be getting much sleep.

Seeing Dana’s growing concern for her friend, and still feeling a bit guilty of my part in what happened, I maybe mentioned something I shouldn’t have. I wanted to give her some hope! The grand museum has many artifacts. Arcane secrets, relics of unnatural power. I, of course, have grown to know many of them during my apprenticeship. I mentioned a bit of it to Dana. I told her there might be something in Boltspumkin that could heal Juvar. A half truth at best, but the way her eyes lit up... I couldn’t help myself. I may come to regret this.


3rd Timber

We have our new goal now. We make haste to Boltspumkin. Juvar can’t travel, so we’ll have to leave him here and return once we have his “medicine”. A diversion from my plans, but I can tolerate it. I doubt Dana would continue to uphold our deal otherwise.

Juvar for his part is holding on, just. He can’t move his limbs, but has been able to push himself around somewhat using a wiggling motion. I can tell it pains him, but he doesn’t let Dana see. We’ve exchanged a few knowing glances, he knows his chances as well as anyone. Regardless, we set him up in an abandoned house on the outskirts of town. We made him as comfortable as possible and left a week’s worth of food and water before saying our goodbyes.


4th Timber

We made haste southward, but I did make a slight detour to the castle of Roastedlobsters. This was where my ancestor and namesake, Leto the first, once served. Family legend holds that he conducted a ritual here to banish the infernal armies of the necromancers, which were breeding uncontrollably and threatened to engulf the world once again. Sadly, none of the soldiers here seemed to know of this deed. Just as well, I suppose. The populace at large would panic if they knew how close they came to oblivion. I did find his name and titles among their records though. A nice bit of reassurance.


5th Timber


We’re within spitting distance of the museum now, but the sun will be setting soon and we won’t be able to get there before nightfall. However, there is another landmark looming over the horizon. The dwarven fortress of Ironwards, the Strifeful Hollow. I’ve never actually been inside one of these fortresses before, but the thought is tempting. The dwarves have been the ones shaking things up the most in recent centuries. Could this place hide the story I’m seeking? Regardless, we’ll need some place to rest and Dana will be there to act as a liaison. It’s worth a look.

I don’t actually know that much about Ironwards other than it is said to be a powerful military presence. A bastion guarding the passage between North and South, they say. As we neared the smouldering peak of The Hearth of Burials (ominous name!) the smell of brimstone filled the air, and soon became choking. Closer in, the lush grassland was burnt to ash. I stepped on something that crunched beneath my feet. Looking down, I realized to my horror that it was a dead goblin, charred to carbon! Then I beheld that there were dozens more, buried in the ash. And humans too! I was starting to think it was a mistake coming here.

The source of the blaze that consumed this army soon became apparent. The dwarves had cut a deep moat around Ironwards and, bubbling up from channels dug into the volcano’s heart, a river of lava flowed angrily through it. Even standing near the moat was roasting me alive. A cast iron bridge that may as well be a skillet spanned the moat. I scampered across it as quickly as my shoes sizzled with each step.

(https://i.imgur.com/TXZj2FQ.png)

Near the entrance to the fort we saw our first sign of life: a single dwarf. He eyed me warily, but dropped his guard when he saw Dana, greeting her warmly. I couldn’t follow his dialect, but Dana filled me in on what was said after we moved on. Apparently this dwarf was a militia commander, although he had no one to command. The fortress hadn’t seen any action in some time and most of its warriors had drifted off to other settlements, leaving only a handful to keep the place in order. In fact, it was so understaffed that someone had stolen two artifacts from the fort’s treasure vault some years ago without any of the inhabitants noticing. Dana had a mischievous gleam in her eye when she relayed that.

We entered Ironwards proper. The air inside was stale but cool. An immense relief after the inferno, even if I could barely see. Dana guided me through a veritable wall of cage traps and up a ramp until we reached some kind of infirmary. Nearby there is what looks to be a dining hall. True to the place’s name almost everything here is made of iron. Moving further on, we come across a vast armoury, filled to the brim with suits of iron plate armour forged to a level of quality only the dwarves can produce.

Dana didn’t hesitate to begin picking out choice pieces for herself. She was quick to justify the theft, saying, “Better I take it than leave it to rust. You what those blighters could do. I need some proper armour.”

Well, I wasn’t in the mood to argue with that. What came next filled me with a bit more trepidation. We backtracked a bit to a staircase and, after I stumbled a bit in the dark, we went up to the next level. This one seemed to be designed as noble quarters, with a couple richly engraved rooms. However, they all looked incomplete without any furniture, save for one. There, in this abandoned wing of the fortress was what I presumed to be the treasure hall. A stunning diversity of items stood atop pedestals, exhibiting a rich mastery of craftsmanship. Dana wasted no time in snatching up a gorgeous chain shirt. Then she proceeded to goad me to take something for myself as a souvenir. Well, I was firmly against theft on principle however... I must admit to human weakness. I thought, if nothing else, one of these artifacts would make a decent subject for my thesis, or perhaps even a “donation” for the museum. I chose a scepter of light, frosty white metal. I had never seen its like, and the mysteries of dwarven metalwork are always a popular subject.

(https://i.imgur.com/1xoFuOw.png)

But before you think I had completely taken leave of my morals, let me say I felt immense guilt over this petty crime! So much so that I left behind one of my cherished books as a meaningful (if perhaps inadequate) token of recompense!

With the guilt weighing me down, I decided it was best to leave this place. Nearly tumbling down the stairs into the untold abyss below did help solidify that decision a little. We crept out of the fortress, carefully avoiding the sole dwarf we had seen earlier. My heart could have done without the added stress of Dana’s ill-gotten armour clanking every step of the way!


6th Timber

After camping outside its walls, we finally reached Boltspumpkin at daybreak. Ah, walking through the gate after so long away was like coming home after being lost at sea. Then I stepped into the museum proper... and was immediately assaulted by several independent displays of gremlin stand-up. I then recalled why I had stopped coming here.

(https://i.imgur.com/Wri1fVb.png)

However, I can’t fault the museum’s other exhibits. The place is still as entrancing as ever, and if not for that jolt back to reality I might have lost myself exploring and forgotten our grim purpose here. Alas, I still needed to uphold my promise to help Juvar. I found what I was looking for immediately. Right at the entrance were stacks of barrels full of viscous scarlet liquid. The label identified it as the blood of the last vampire to plague this land, slain many years ago. Vampire legends are numerous and varied, but a common thread was how some vampires would gather cults and offer their followers a bit of their blood. The blood, it is said, could grant the drinker unnatural life. Could this save Juvar? I felt obligated to try, despite my misgivings.

I surreptitiously scooped up some of the blood into a goblet and slunk out the door. I had hoped to make a clean break, but was frozen by a raspy voice behind me. “Well deary, it’s been a while since you came round. Thought I might have scared you off after last time. Eee hee hee!”

Of course. The goblin woman caretaker stepped out from behind the door. “Hello Thep, it’s so nice to see you, but I really must be getting back to my thesis. don’t have time for you to lead me on another wild goose chase.” I said.

“Still on about that, eh? I don’t suppose your work involves tampering with museum exhibits,  does it?” She replied. My blood ran cold. She continued, “Would be a shame if someone misconstrued your intentions. Of course, such an accusation might be brushed off if the accused were known to make generous donations... Things like that shiny rod sticking out your pack, say.”

I sighed and reluctantly handed over the dwarven sceptre. “Why Mr. Searchpraise, how unexpectedly generous! I’ll be sure to keep this safe ‘til the curator can assess it.” said Thep, carefully tucking the sceptre into her cloak.

Dana had watched the whole exchange and stifled a snicker as we left, but suddenly became serious when I told here I had the “medicine” for Juvar.

We set off at a brisk pace. Along the way, we got into something of a light argument. Dana, evidently feeling more confident in her armour, wanted to take revenge on the blight afflicted thralls that had nearly killed her and Juvar. Every time we stopped for a break she took the chance for some quick martial training, and pressured me to do the same. Naturally, I had no interest in such pursuits. That set her off, but we pressed on. I thought the matter was behind us, but as dinnertime came around and I found my supplies thin, Dana refused to go hunting and insisted that I find my own meal! Well, if she seeks to embarrass me and insult my pride then I have no choice but to meet her challenge!

My hunt for dinner took longer than I would have liked, but eventually I stumbled upon some grazing antelopes. They remained blissfully unaware of my presence. I hefted the dagger Juvar had given me, chose my target and expertly snuck up on the herd. With fluid motion, I pounced on the beast and sunk my dagger into its neck! It fell dead with a whimper and the rest of the herd bolted. Ha, let that be a lesson to any who think me incapable! What a rush! If I were of lesser intellect I might find myself getting used to such brutish pleasures.

The hunt left me quite exhausted, and thirsty. I took a swig from my water skin but immediately spat it out. Salty iron! Some of the antelope’s blood must have splashed into my water. Well, that was fine. I felt invigorated, alive! I wasn’t even hungry anymore.

I returned to Dana with a spring in my step. Maybe it’s not so bad to get my heart pumping.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Maloy on June 10, 2022, 08:21:30 am

I met Juvar the other day! He didn't like me, but most people seem to not like me with my low personality stats lol

Also the locals in the area talk non-stop about Dana and her actions it's actually quite cool reading this when I've just been interacting with these characters either directly or indirectly

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on June 10, 2022, 08:41:05 am

I just love how cute Maloy is!!

Great update NGN as always :)

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Maloy on June 10, 2022, 02:44:36 pm

At the end of my turn and after many agonizing hours I have found a game-crashing bug



One of my three party members became a werebeast. They transformed and the game crashes shortly after presumably after enough time passes where they are supposed to revert back to their natural form. Doesn't matter where I am when the time is up on my transformation the game crashes

Absolutely heart breaking. I can upload the save to be looked at, but I'm also okay with the traditional approach of chalking all this up to a "strange dream" when it comes to writing. Did accomplish quite a bit I was proud of too  :(

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: nogoodnames on June 10, 2022, 03:03:21 pm

Quote from: Maloy on June 10, 2022, 08:21:30 am

Also the locals in the area talk non-stop about Dana and her actions it's actually quite cool reading this when I've just been interacting with these characters either directly or indirectly

That's neat! I haven't really noticed rumours spreading from adventurer actions before.

Quote from: Maloy on June 10, 2022, 02:44:36 pm

One of my three party members became a werebeast. They transformed and the game crashes shortly after presumably after enough time passes where they are supposed to revert back to their natural form. Doesn't matter where I am when the time is up on my transformation the game crashes

If it really is the transformation then maybe killing them (or deleting them with dfhack) could stop the crash. Uploading the save would be worth a shot.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on June 10, 2022, 04:11:28 pm

Quote from: Maloy on June 10, 2022, 02:44:36 pm

At the end of my turn and after many agonizing hours I have found a game-crashing bug

So, I think you have a few options. If it is only that one companion, you could try retiring your character in a town and then restarting again, which might get rid of the companions. Or you could just kill them :D

At this stage in the game I've discovered it is so important to have multiple back ups. There are so many bugs and places that cause instant crashes that it is disheartening to lose so much progress.

I hope you manage to salvage your turn!

(Also I have only just noticed the undead ear round Maloy's neck in NGN's masterwork engraving of a wolf man - I lol'd...)

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on June 10, 2022, 04:20:29 pm

Yep, backups are needed indeed.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Maloy on June 10, 2022, 09:53:36 pm

Kesperan's idea actually worked at first. So I can't retire my werebeast adventurer only give into starvation so I retired one of his companions and that did it, but now you can't enter the part of Incenseorder that he was in without the game crashing. The heart of the town, and site of Braal's first death is unreachable


I've posted the save. If my character is salvageable that's great, but tbh if all this is a big hassle or has contributed to making the world more unstable I'd be more comfortable with pretending my turn didn't happen and I'll just write it as a dream
I'm sorry guys, and I really love the Maloy wolf art by the way I just noticed the ear too it's an epic touch lol you portrayed him and his personality as I imagined! I didn't realize that army has been dead for over a century. Literally everyone in town has been freaking out about it for forever and it plays a funny part in my turn


Here's the save: https://dffd.bay12games.com/file.php?id=15960

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: nogoodnames on June 11, 2022, 02:39:01 am

Okay I have a partial fix. I had to delete the references to Maloy's werebeast state and active transformation from his historical figure record. That forced him back into normal form and stopped the crashing. However, he is still a werebeast and if he transforms again the crashes come back. We could potentially cure the curse entirely to stop that from happening. Or maybe healing his lost limbs will prevent the crashes. Healing him does stop the crashes. I'll try poking around at it some more tomorrow.

Seems to be this bug: https://www.bay12games.com/dwarves/mantisbt/view.php?id=10849

I wonder if the same issue might be behind the crashes in some other sites. We certainly have plenty of werebeasts going around.

Anyway, here's the non-crashing save: https://dffd.bay12games.com/file.php?id=15961

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on June 11, 2022, 03:52:15 am

So it’s all good then? Incenseorder doesn’t crash and Maloy is still a werebeast?

Let me know if you want another day or so to finish your turn Maloy, or whether I should start.

I’ve been planning a High Confederacies character so Divedact and Incenseorder are likely to play a part…

Edit: downloaded the save and made a throwaway character to investigate Incenseorder. It does load properly. But Maloy is broken. He has a missing hand as his only wound but he also seems not to be able to do anything. He is on the floor and hauling all his equipment, i.e. behaving as if he has a spinal injury.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: nogoodnames on June 11, 2022, 08:40:11 am

I updated the save so Maloy will be healed and won't start crashing if he transforms again. The missing leg and hauling were because he was supposed to be in werebeast form but got forced out of it so couldn't wear any of his clothes.

The crash seems to happen when loading a werebeast that has transformed back to normal while offsite, but their pre-transform body has a missing limb. The game is apparently tracking the missing limbs across transformations and running into problems with that.

I was also able to load Warshrieks, but that involved deleting the entire site populations. I'm not sure if I can narrow down the root cause.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Maloy on June 11, 2022, 01:23:36 pm

You're a gem ngn! I'm glad you were able to save both the turn and my character! and if by some chance we found a solution to other present bugs then some good really did come out of it!

Go ahead and play Kesperan my last act I had planned was to retire him at incenseorder anyway!

Also as a DM I always play music for the scene for my players so here's what I had in mind while I was writing this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ki90h6JP8LY&ab_channel=NatureSounds

                                                     The Reign of the Moonlit Fox
Today marks a new adventure when I had given up on those many years ago.

This journal has long been neglected. Under the ear's influence I had intended to burn it to mark the end of my old days, but Zon stole it and ran off while still at the museum and hid it somewhere there. It arrived just recently by way of courier who had no idea what he was bringing.


Many things have changed:
Zon passed away years ago. He remained my best friend and only real companion to his last even despite my changes in demeanor. I buried him under his favorite tree we used to howl at the stars at when I was still a pup myself.
The ear empowered me and led to me becoming Lord of Incenseorders; The very town I was seeking to flee. I joined a short and tragic line of lords who all were undead tyrants in their times. With the Ear I appeared to everyone as a great hero and power even though I barely knew how to wear the armor I had scavenged. They eagerly submitted to me and it fed my delusions of power. To mine and the ear's credit we did prosper Incenseorder some. The economy had improved greatly and peace had fallen on the surrounding hamlets who now brought their goods here to be traded.

It even had the far off ability to influence events and people. I was able to influence a group of heroes to cleanse the area of the blight bringing much needed stability, and another power that is as great as the ear had been crippling the goblins far from here. More recently two adventurers came by. At this point my relationship with the ear had deteriorated, but more on that soon. I tried to convince them to deal with the far off threat of Dubmith and his army, but the ear instead influenced them to seek out the local threat of bandits. This leading to the breaking of our relationship.


The ear had grown sick of me in my old age. It cursed me "The petty dreams of a petty Lord" and berated my lack of ambition and satisfaction. Finally, after the conflict we had over Dana and Juvar it finally declared that it would go to sleep and wait for me to expire from old age that it might seduce a much more powerful wielder, and that was that.

Suddenly I was free of its influence and suddenly the town that praised my rule for years returned to mocking and ignoring me.

The sudden powerlessness left me afraid and fearing my own demise in my late years, and my bitterness towards that cursed ear left me filled with a desire to spite the thing.

I roamed the town trying to rally the people with the great and forgotten history of Incenseorders and most chose to ignore me or outright ridiculed me, but I did win one listener's ear.
An elven trader passed through although he had no packs or animals. Only the two fluffy wamblers that rode his shoulders. He carried himself as a human and had clearly spent too much time amongst them, but was accompanied by a much more wild and wild-eyed elven lass dressed traditionally with a bow and accompanied by a bobcat

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/8ieydXe.png)

"Hail noble wolf!" Said the male "I am known in these lands as Arthur and this is my dear companion and childhood friend Miaralei." I felt like an antelope being sized up by a lion under her gaze and I hoped my helmet and veil covered this fear.
Arthur continued "Our own people are recovering from hard times themselves and so I feel some empathy for your plight. How might we assist you?"

I froze up. I had been totally ignored for so long since the ear had forsook me I truly didn't believe that anyone would take me seriously anymore. Miaralei cut in after an awkward silence "Why would any respectable Lord just trust some flippant and bubbly elven man who walked into his town?" she approached to stand next to Arthur and elbowed him in the side "Pardon, My Lord, but you can only expect others to cooperate so long as both parties benefit, yes?"
My mouth was so dry I couldn't open it to speak so I nodded my head, and she smiled finally at that and spoke "I seek prey to hunt and to learn of your peoples ways so that my own might grow stronger, so use us in a way that benefits your own rule."

"Uhh" I awkwardly replied "There's an army coming, and we need more men to protect the town." I paused and considered. These are the first people to show me respect without the ear. If they met other people from town they'd surely see how I am really seen and would also mock me.
"We- uh- that is to say" I cleared me throat and straightened my back "We have an army approaching, but we need more men. you elves are people of the land and so I need you to accompany me to....the south! We will find more soldiers to hire and will seek greater power to protect these lands"

"Deal!" Arthur shouted enthusiastically and grabbed my paw to shake. "See Mira? These lands have no shortage of excitement and it's right up your alley!"

End Part 1

OOC

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

I still have the ear on me thankfully. Also did wanna say that I my idea is that Maloy perceives himself as having influenced the events of past adventures by using the ear, but that by no means implies that he actually did since the ear actually appears to be entirely inert and not have any power. You can just take it as the ramblings of a delusional and lonely wolf

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on June 11, 2022, 02:08:33 pm

Great story Maloy, the first part already has me interested. Look forward to your next post. I enjoy reading different peoples views on the events.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: nogoodnames on June 11, 2022, 04:58:23 pm

I like how you've justified the bare-bones implementation of adventurer nobility as a consequence of the ear's machinations. Good stuff!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Cook100500 on June 11, 2022, 10:09:51 pm

 One has always played adventure mode because one have never figured out how to build stairs down in fortress mode. One always have been confused on how do ones playing fortress mode are frustrated or just don't know how to play adventure mode. For now one do not play adventure mode as it is almost always inhabited by no one except the undead in his custom 20000+ years old worlds, and one loves playing vampires and necromances and with ones disabled one's gameplay would loose a lot of interest.

One is fascinated with the stories being told there, and because of that one wants to join the queue on the adventure.

One is dabbling at English skill and formatting: he can understand everything, yet he can express few. But one is adequate writer and can use his low language skills to write something even if it is of low quality regarding language comperhention, and one thinks it's a great opportunity to improve his skills at writing, play adventure mode after a long hiatus, and have a part in an interesting project made by enthusiastic one's.

Can one join?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on June 12, 2022, 12:59:49 pm

Welcome, I'll add you to the list!

Edit:
I missed all the drama with the latest save game troubles. Do I understand correctly that the crash is fixed but that we are waiting for further experiments to see if Warshrieks can be fixed as well?

Edit 2: Also, great updates by everyone!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on June 12, 2022, 04:57:48 pm

Maloy has handed the save over to me, I have downloaded it and made a start.

Incenseorder doesn't crash but Maloy's wolf man is still a bit... wonky.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: nogoodnames on June 12, 2022, 06:53:22 pm

Quote from: kesperan on June 12, 2022, 04:57:48 pm

Maloy has handed the save over to me, I have downloaded it and made a start.

Incenseorder doesn't crash but Maloy's wolf man is still a bit... wonky.

If you missed my updated save, hitting Maloy with a full-heal and making him reequip his stuff should fix any residual wonkiness. Well, as long as he doesn't lose another limb that is...

Warshrieks is loadable if you prevent it from spawning any of the inhabitants, so one or more of them is causing the crash. Problem is, there are 158 inhabitants and I don't have a good way of narrowing it down. Maybe it's the same werebeast crash, maybe not.
(Or maybe it's the nemesis vector? I have no idea how the nemesis system works but it has 160 entries vs. 158 units so maybe there are a couple bad entries. Someone more knowledgeable about dfhack and the df data structures could probably figure it out.)

Edit: I did some more testing and it turns out mid-transform werebeasts cause two nemesis records, presumably for their were and normal forms. So it seems likely that Warshrieks has two transformed werebeasts that are causing the crashes.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Maloy on June 13, 2022, 07:20:24 pm

Thanks guys! I figured I had to justify how the wolf man became a lord and yet is universally not respected by his people, and this playthrough actually had a lot of interaction with the stories of other adventurers. I really wanted to explore the social system

If it works I can implement a personal rule for the wolf man: If he loses a limb, but somehow survives it with no danger nearby I will use full-heal on him to prevent the bug. Since his werecurse will make him regenerate anyway it isn't metagaming, and I can rp that as a residual effect of the ear or something.
Sorry this part doesn't have more pictures it would've just been pictures of me standing in the woods or in front of a hill.
Here is the music of choice for this part: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A8qMyBWZNw0&ab_channel=SkoomaScamp

Part Two

Journal Entry
The plan so far is this: Recruit capable-appearing warriors to stay in Incenseorders and protect the town. Easier said than done. The surrounding hamlets didn't even boast a single "wrestler" to defend themselves with and usually fled at the sight of danger or bunkered down and hoped they were not found. Incenseorder boasted 4 soldiers, all of whom made a career out of ignoring my orders since the ear forsook me, two were "wrestlers" who essentially were just local drunks who got in trouble for brawling and are doing this as community service, the third is an archer who was a hunter who hadn't gone into the forest in years for fear of blight or bandit, and finally a pikeman who is old enough and feeble enough where we all have openly wondered how he is still alive. It's an uphill task.
Secondly, more important and secret as well, was to reach the vampire blood at the museum. If the Ear was so determined to look down on me and outlive me I would show it! An immortal wolf lord leading my people to a prosperous future! Who's ambitions are petty now? HA!

So far I have convinced the elves that I am quite capable as a Lord. While both have been very receptive to me "Mira" ended up causing arthur to be alienated from me. She shows much appreciation and interest in me and this seems to agitate the elf man. They bicker like an old couple, but it never comes off as them not wanting to be around each other.

It's confusing and she seems to use me to fuel his frustration. Moments like this I miss Zon even more

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

 Mira's opinion of Maloy
(https://i.imgur.com/AScqJPD.png)

As we made our way south we checked in on the neighboring hamlets. Most were abandoned completely. In a few there were dead bodies. The bodies of blight victims which seemed to take forever to age. I had learned previously that the best way to deal with the blight was to avoid it all together and so closed the door on the homes after I found them.
It was worth checking the abandoned homes though. Over the last few years scavengers and bandits wandered the area and if we ran into any we might be able to convince them into the service.


We did finally meet one of the inhabited hamlets: Masteredgriffons.
Despite the ear's silence the people here still respected me. Likely because they only came to know of me after I became lord. The respect was appreciated, and it was nice to hear trade was going well.
They were a main supplier to incenseorder which served as a trade center. I am quite proud of that as before I took over there was only one store in town despite there being many merchants
I shared the story of my rise to lordship, and stumbled over the unimportant details, and then spoke on the importance of cooperation and sacrifice.
Everyone found it quite boring including Mira and Arthur, but they all showed some interest in the topic.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/LlRQ2IG.png)

The town had no warriors to speak of at all and we had to continue on. We passed yet even more bodies in an abandoned section of the hamlet and Arthur piped up "What has happened here to leave so many dead and why are they left here?"
"Some are bandits or the victims of bandits being left where they fell. Others are victims of the blight. Usually you don't touch the bodies in case they are blight victims and infect you, but also many times there just aren't enough people left alive who will discover the bodies."
"That is so sad" He replied visibly disturbed. "Prey weeps" Mira retorted
I didn't respond, but the question certainly left me thoughtful: Curiosity was often rewarded around here with tragedy. So much so that even looking around at abandoned houses on the other side of town might spell your doom. We all had strong boundaries in life and had good reason for doing so. If I became a vampire though I'd likely be immune to the plague anyway.

Most of the woodland trip was filled with the two elves giving news. Their homeland was frequently reclaiming forest retreats now and they both chattered endlessly about one expedition or another spreading the magical woodlands further afield again. I couldn't place it, but they seemed of different minds in how they reacted to this.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/cw7EhQ1.png)

Our final stop before the rest of the trip would be through wildlands was the abandoned castle of Padcalls. There were no scavengers in this place either, but there were a couple more bodies in the village outside the castle. As we approached the castle itself we actually could hear sounds coming from the central keep. I was eager to see who it was so I waltzed right up to the door before Mira loudly hissed for my attention. "Do you know who is in there? It could be brigands"
This didn't really occur to me. Things had been so quiet around here lately, but it was also too late as I had already begun pushing the door open as she mentioned this very logical thought.
Inside an intimidating figure had already turned to face me. A human warrior, powerful and imposing stood surrounded by the bodies and blood of blight victims. I recognized him. He was one of those ones who I tried to send to fight the army of Dubmith but the ear directed them to bandits! Juvar! He also hung around the town a lot before that, but there was something different in his eyes.
"Ah....hello! Good to see you again Juvar!" I said forgetting my noble standing and etiquette.
"I am Lord Juvar now and this is my castle" He flashed me a sharp-toothed grin.

The things we discussed were mostly trivial, but some were incredibly confidential and out of respect...and fear of him I shall not divulge all the details, but suffice to say I was on the very verge of completing my entire quest then and there!
But Juvar had no interest in conversing with me. He barely could stand me and stomped away at the end of our conversation. Whether it had to do with what had happened to him recently or with our past dealings while I was influenced by the ear I could not say, but my hopes were twice dashed. I admit to being tempted towards violence over the defeat, but I likely wouldn't have won and my heart wouldn't allow it.

I hope he will warm up to me eventually having this castle occupied is great for those of us to the north and I'd love to convince him to be a trade partner. Ah well.

From there we made a journey through wilderness which I dearly enjoyed this time. Now that I knew how to hunt and remembered the trail I enjoyed walking through these forests, the mirthful grounds, and more.

The elves caught me up on more news of their lands expanding, but there was contention over a loss of "tradition". Apparently Mira is one of the last worshipers of the elven force-god Cacame while Arthur barely qualifies which is more than most elves give to the being. For my part I relayed stories of history including that of my position. Mira's bobcat had warmed up to me as well. Arthur's fluffy wamblers mainly rode on his shoulder or head, but occasionally when we rested they liked to roll up to Mira and coo in her lap. They were so adorable and I regretfully couldn't help, but sit and think about the rumors about how they didn't have blood, but the sweetest of juices like from a tree.



At the turn of our quest when we crossed the great expanse of wilderness from my lands we found a hillocks! I must've missed it last time or it wasn't here! the dwarves relayed that they had just recently found it, but dwarves live twice as long as humans so I don't trust their use of the word "recent". Either way only 7 dwarves lived there. The militia commander and Sherriff thus had zero interest in moving north, but they did tell me about trade. They had no interest in sending caravans north, because to the east was a fortress that they traded their farm goods for everything: Crownhall the City of Stone
Located deep in the mountains to the east with only a peaceful brook being a guide it'd be a hard trek.
Three things are true about dwarves though
1. They are incredibly strange to everyone, but them
2. They like to collect rare artifacts and prisoners; including the kind that make you immortal
3. They make warriors as good as they do weapons.
So our course was set!

We follow a river to the base of the mountain and stopped to consider our course. I looked up in awe of this stone formation. Millions of times bigger than I and millions of times more perpetual. It was beautiful and I felt so small. Is this how the ear viewed me? Well, if so that's what it is to me! It'd be in a cellar somewhere if it wasn't for me!
As I had worked up the courage to climb this mountain, with no gear I might add, I heard a cry! Arthur had strayed too close to the river and an alligator had begun to attack him!
Mira began firing and I sprinted with all my might drawing my war axe and sword. I chopped at it's neck twice and did little more than break it's scales and draw it's attention while Arthur helplessly prodded it with his wooden spear.
Suddenly, faster than my eye could follow, the alligator grabbed my right steel boot in it's mouth.
There was a pause as I looked it dead in the eye and it looked at me.

It rolled. It rolled with such force and speed that it tore my foot clean off. Time froze and as adrenaline set in I fell to the ground and screamed and screamed.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: tonnot98 on June 19, 2022, 09:28:21 am

I had a strange dream where I was playing in this world and somehow managed to unlock the ability to build and use nunchaku. Everyone suddenly wanted to make ninja characters, but I woke up before I could see the resulting chaos of a dozen ninjas descending on this world.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Cook100500 on June 19, 2022, 01:10:05 pm

Quote from: tonnot98 on June 19, 2022, 09:28:21 am

I had a strange dream where I was playing in this world and somehow managed to unlock the ability to build and use nunchaku. Everyone suddenly wanted to make ninja characters, but I woke up before I could see the resulting chaos of a dozen ninjas descending on this world.

One thinks, nunchacku, is technically a wooden flail. Can one make that using advfort? One suddenly has a desire to create a ninja dwarf

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Unraveller on June 19, 2022, 05:30:33 pm

This dream entirely tracks with the reality of this succession game, lol.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on June 20, 2022, 06:02:44 pm

More or less finished my turn.

Having some odd bugs with my reclaimed fort - no dwarven caravan is turning up and when I tried to /force, one from Morul Kan turned up... the Page of Tiredness, who have been dead for 780 years. No migrants are coming either.

Will see what I can do to fix it then upload the save tomorrow.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on June 20, 2022, 06:11:58 pm

That is certainly interesting. Back from the dead to trade? would love to see what legends said happened for that.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: nogoodnames on June 20, 2022, 07:01:01 pm

The Page of Tiredness? Leto's submission to the museum was an anachronistic coin from them. Made of blistered metal, of all things. I figured someone earlier had hacked it in somehow, but maybe something more interesting is going on.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on June 20, 2022, 07:25:34 pm

No his submission was an artifact aluminum septre. Looking at legends mode on the last save. Yep, they have no activity after a dragon wiped them out.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: nogoodnames on June 20, 2022, 07:49:21 pm

Whoops, I guess with how slow I've been going with the updates Bralbaard took that as the official submission...

For reference, this is the actual submission:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

An impossible coin made of mythical metal. It is currency of the long-dead dwarven civilization, The Page of Tiredness, yet is dated centuries after their fall. An enduring historical enigma to ponder.
(https://i.imgur.com/p2sS46W.png)

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on June 20, 2022, 08:06:38 pm

Ah i see, well this is certainly something. Perhaps as the world is slowly crumbling different realitys are bleeding in. A coin of an impossible metal, from a dead civilization. Where did you find it? We need to send an dig team out to see what other oddities there are.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: nogoodnames on June 20, 2022, 08:47:03 pm

The lady of Questedtimes was holding several of the coins, as well as an adamantine wafer. I assumed some other adventurer gave them to her. There were a few other oddities in that hamlet. I'll try to get to them soon.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on June 20, 2022, 09:20:07 pm

I think Northmanor the Unholy Cathedral has lived up to it's name.

I have worked out why the caravans have stopped coming. The constant rain of malodorous goo causes the pack animals to flee in horror, so the caravan "encountered hardship." Will be interesting to see what it says on Legends Mode. I guess me being in the bad books with the Walled Dye means I don't get any migrants? Oh well, nearly finished either way!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Yarlig on June 21, 2022, 04:46:40 pm

I've been catching up on reading the stories lately and it's fascinating how much has been happening' both by the players' initiative and through DF's own contrived workings. Please sign me up again' would be great to explore the world some more.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on June 21, 2022, 06:29:57 pm

OK, here is the save.

https://dffd.bay12games.com/file.php?id=15971

I managed to fix the caravan bug - by building a large pallisade around the freakish weather zone, they elected to return from the safe map edges, and brought a monster migrant wave with them. Will  be interesting to see how legends mode handles the apparent ressurection of Morul Kan...

The game is saved on New Years Day 885.

Happy hunting!

Oh, and before I forget: Please sign me up for another turn!

Edit: It seems there is a new King of Morul Kan, after nearly 800 years...

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on June 21, 2022, 07:42:39 pm

Well played, Kesperan. I am curious to know how you

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Got Innu Velvetstood to write

In regards to The Page of Tiredness  (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/M%C3%B6rul_Kan?so=search) this is most interesting. They have reformed, seems the dwarven merchant wave caused it and made the merchants become its new current leadership complete with worship to their previously forgotten gods.

You can now make a fortress for The Page of Tiredness. Still no idea on the blistered coins history. Perhaps they have been secretly alive all this time, living like shadows to the world.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on June 22, 2022, 02:17:11 am

That is quite a development..  :o

Nogoodnames submission has certainly increased in importance with the resurrection of Mörul Kan. I've never seen a coin made of divine metal either, this is spooky stuff.
That coin was minted in 769. It might be possible to learn more about it's history by figuring out who was playing around that time..

I'll update the turn list and museum submissions later today.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Maloy on June 22, 2022, 07:02:17 am

What cool developments!

I'm interested in hearing your write up on why and how the page of tiredness came back, Kesperan!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on June 22, 2022, 08:16:32 am

Quote from: nogoodnames on June 20, 2022, 08:47:03 pm

The lady of Questedtimes was holding several of the coins, as well as an adamantine wafer. I assumed some other adventurer gave them to her. There were a few other oddities in that hamlet. I'll try to get to them soon.

Quantumdrop might have been involved. One of his turns more or less lines up with the date the coin was minted, also see the last sentence under the spoiler in the quote below;
That's a spoiler for a reason, I guess, so probably don't click that if you want to wait for Nogoodnames story.

Quote from: Quantum Drop on April 17, 2021, 04:31:57 pm

In the name of keeping the game going, here's the file: https://dffd.bay12games.com/file.php?id=15507

To summarise what's happened, until I can get a proper epilogue written up tomorrow:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

• My official submission is the Heart of Egu Craftlenses the Key of Trading (and approximately two hundred other fleshy demons, but who’s counting?), stored within the masterwork adamantine sarcophagus ‘Heartstolen the Furious Doomed Demon’.
• The corpses at Herograves (as well as those of TheDw4rfy1, retrieved from Palacework, Pictham Contestlabour, retrieved from the north-western outskirts of Patternbegun, and Solon Riftworks, retrieved from The Pit) have been reinterred, with each one placed in an adamantine sarcophagus.
• Irthu, Athama, and Ragnar are retired at the Shelter of Adventures, having made a donation that can be found in the leftmost stockroom (to wit: several adamantine wafers, some divine metal gear from LT’s vault, the head of Cog the Omnicidal Maniac, and various knick-knacks picked up throughout the three’s adventures; Urus, Ketas, and Abhaar have also been retired there). I’m not 100% sure what these new residents being Vampires and Intelligent Undead will do, but it hopefully won’t cause issues with those already there.
• About a dozen new vampires, give or take a bit, should now be active in the Realm of Silver; one should most definitely not consider going to Ordermorals, Questedtimes, and Enterancegrape to investigate the meadhall/castle keep-dwelling nobles there. 

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Quantum Drop on June 22, 2022, 12:23:40 pm

Quote from: Bralbaard on June 22, 2022, 08:16:32 am

Quote from: nogoodnames on June 20, 2022, 08:47:03 pm

The lady of Questedtimes was holding several of the coins, as well as an adamantine wafer. I assumed some other adventurer gave them to her. There were a few other oddities in that hamlet. I'll try to get to them soon.

Quantumdrop might have been involved. One of his turns more or less lines up with the date the coin was minted, also see the last sentence under the spoiler in the quote below;
That's a spoiler for a reason, I guess, so probably don't click that if you want to wait for Nogoodnames story.

Ah, yeah, that might have been me. I remember forging a few divine metal coins and some adamantine via forge-munchkinery, and LV indicates Athama briefly traded with one "Naquuv Pocketclouts" of Questedtimes during his adventures. (She's not the lady of the place, so best guess it that she traded with her boss offscreen). I don't know why they depict The Page of Tiredness' symbol, though - none of the adventurers had any connection to that civ that I know of. Maybe the game picked it at random or as a side effect of advfort being used?

Before I forgot: I would like to be signed up for another turn. Also, eagerly awaiting the write-up on your turn and its events, Kesperan!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Eric Blank on June 22, 2022, 03:57:10 pm

ooo a civilization literally reborn? That's interesting stuff!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on June 22, 2022, 04:59:21 pm

Quote from: Eric Blank on June 22, 2022, 03:57:10 pm

ooo a civilization literally reborn? That's interesting stuff!

The thing is... I tried to recreate this on a backup save and everything worked normally. Caravan turns up on time, smooth as clockwork.

For some reason when I reclaimed my fort, the caravan was in a bizarre flux state. There were piles of unclaimable items on the ground which appeared coloured red in the stocks list. The diplomat appeared, asked if I wanted to be a barony, but then the merchants didn't appear.

I used DFHack:

Code: [Select]

caravan list which printed

Code: [Select]

0: Adilatir arriving 0 days The 0 days didn't really change. I got one initial migrant wave, then loads of "no migrants this season."

Next I tried:

Code: [Select]

force caravan player which did nothing, and according to the DFhack database, you can use various tags for civilisations, e.g. civ number or biome. So I tried:

Code: [Select]

force caravan MOUNTAIN And the dudes from Morul Kan pitched up. The elves and humans came as usual, and one year, Morul Kan and Adilatir turned up on the same day, in winter. The hardships/irregularities was due to the pack animals fleeing in terror at having to wade through pools of malodorous goo.

(https://i.imgur.com/zsgES2y.png)

I can also confirm that the 5 new Morul Kan dwarfs are the ones who visited Northmanor. They are grouchy from being in freakish weather and are coated in malodorous goo.

The king is a bit of a badass though. He is mighty, and likes hydras for their seven heads. That's pretty metal. I think making a fort as Morul Kan and trying to reclaim Keyconjure would be pretty cool to try!

Spoiler:  large image (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/5b233sr.png)

Good luck on your turn MrWillsauce! Hope to get started on my story soon. I have 40+ images of varying quality :D.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on June 22, 2022, 05:12:59 pm

Quote from: Quantum Drop on June 22, 2022, 12:23:40 pm

Ah, yeah, that might have been me. I remember forging a few divine metal coins and some adamantine via forge-munchkinery, and LV indicates Athama briefly traded with one "Naquuv Pocketclouts" of Questedtimes during his adventures. (She's not the lady of the place, so best guess it that she traded with her boss offscreen). I don't know why they depict The Page of Tiredness' symbol, though - none of the adventurers had any connection to that civ that I know of. Maybe the game picked it at random or as a side effect of advfort being used?

Before I forgot: I would like to be signed up for another turn. Also, eagerly awaiting the write-up on your turn and its events, Kesperan!

And I'm also looking forward to reading the rest of Maloy's turn, it ended in quite the cliffhanger and I'd like to know if my ear Maloy survived after that alligator attack.
As for the reason that Mörul Kan was picked both for the coin and for the caravan; possibly this is because it was the first civilisation that was spawned in our world? It may simply be on top of the lists that the game defaults to when stuff breaks down

Also, I tried to check if you can play an adventurer from Mörul Kan, but apparently dwarves have become unplayable again. Didn't we have that problem before?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on June 22, 2022, 05:16:07 pm

No, kobolds are too

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on June 22, 2022, 05:36:59 pm

Yeah, that's the graphics pack bug over-writing changes to RAWs. That seems to happen a lot when people use LNP (like I do...)

Just have to add OUTSIDER tag back to kobolds and dwarves.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Maloy on June 24, 2022, 09:09:38 am

Quote from: Bralbaard on June 22, 2022, 05:12:59 pm

And I'm also looking forward to reading the rest of Maloy's turn, it ended in quite the cliffhanger and I'd like to know if my ear Maloy survived after that alligator attack.

Well, since you asked!

Finale: The Fate of All

Blood was everywhere. I suppose if you asked me I would have been unable to tell you what goes through someone's head at such a grievous wound, but nothing went through mine. For a time that felt like both a moment and an eternity all I was primal fear and pain.

I rolled around the ground, distancing myself subconsciously from my attacker, while pools of blood drowned the grass around me.
Dimly I could hear Mira and Arthur beating the alligator. With their wooden weapons it was more like chasing off the creature than defeating it, and I was still bleeding everywhere.

The ear was laughing...or maybe I was laughing? But inside as time passed some feet away from the carnage there was a rage inside at the unfairness of it all. What right did a stupid animal have to do this to me?
I realized that I still held onto my axe and sword, and at that very moment I really didn't give a damn about my life. That pathetic creature was going to die

I scrambled with all speed back to the fight. My blood still spurting and sliding through my own pools of blood I had left just trying to get this far.
I beat the alligator again and again in the head with axe and sword. Again and again until it's head and exploded.
And then I passed out.


OOC

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

My thoughts as a player were that if I could get away from this fight and "wait" it'd seal the wound and I'd survive, but we were still in combat and the elves were having no luck at all. So my only hope was to quickly scramble back in and finish this as fast as I could. A little more time passing and I would've died

Following my...loss. The dream of crossing two separate countries to reach the museum and immortality were now impossible. My only hope was that dwarves, in keeping with their nature of hoarding rare artifacts, would have a book, scroll, captive vampire or something I could use! So I began the grueling journey of crawling up a mountain. I could barely speak. My fine dwarven armor was worn away by being drug along rocks and the occasional stream I would take breaks in. Mira and Arthur were ignorant of a wolf man's ears and didn't know I could hear them as I lay alone on the cold rock at night. Apparently Mira wanted to abandon me. Elves are wild nomads and don't abide cripples. Arthur considered it entirely unacceptable and ultimately won the argument. Finally, after two days of non-stop climbing we reached the tomb of my dreams.


The entrance to the city was one large gate with a massive tower over the top. The entrance was paved with the sides filled with masterful statues of the Shining Sun: the god of blood.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/Brf6qaW.png)

A terrifying warning to all to whom the fortress belonged. But there was no one at the gates. Upon entering the bridges we crossed were filled with steel spike traps beneath, but they were long-covered in thick cobwebs, and if they had ever seen use it had long since worn away. I crawled on my belly still. The smooth stone easier on my body, but making it harder for my claws to pull me along. They were broken and cracked now.

We passed a couple of goblin warriors. They had no interest in conversation with us and seemed to be laying about. But we did find bodies scattered about. Dwarves without a mark on their body laying around in rooms, guard posts, and more. They had all died of old age. On my final stop for my quest for immortality I was constantly assailed by the reality of mortality. Only a few dwarves remained and they were haggard old things. Their minds long gone and they barely acknowledged our existence.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/MlXWxg9.png)

What a cruel fate. To age and die in a place where no one will even bury you for their are none left who will.

The wealth here was immeasurable, presumably the hillocks nearby traded food and drink for the treasures of these halls to the few living members left.
Ancient tomes were scattered everywhere and I tore them open and read and read. My elven companions stood around in the darkness watching the greedy glowing eyes of their wolf lord searching each tome. Many spoke of a necromancer tower and some even spoke about the secrets of life and death, but none contained the secrets

Arthur found a dead guard at the top of the entrance tower. Old age claimed him as the elements wore away at his body beneath the armor. Arthur liberated the dwarf's spear from his clutches to replace his own wooden staff.

Through endless wandering of massive empty halls I found nothing, but death and darkness. The ear was probably laughing to itself endlessly. Fate was so cruel. I crawled across a masterfully engraved bridge and found a throne to some king. A throne to my dreams.
Covered in dust and cobwebs. It's last true owner long gone. This was fate. I laid down and wept

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/cDOzV7h.png)

With dreams crushed and hope gone I crawled back home in a journey that took many days. Mira scorned me and was stand offish, but Arthur was constantly checking on me. His fluffy Wamblers would roll down and let me use them as a pillow on the hard ground.

With old age on it's way to claiming me I decided to still use my last days to the benefit of my people. After returning we were able to find and convince a human mercenary to the west to join the defense of our town, in exchange for me teaching him to be a storyteller like me!


I looked over our store house and the piles of gleaming gems I had amounted there over the years.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/yHbNNLx.png)

Mira in particular was left shocked by the treasure trove before her "How could one grow such a treasure in such a destroyed land?"
"If everyone was a hunter or warrior who would be the miners or craftsmen?" I said as I propped myself up against a wall "If we want things to get better than we have to build a place where people can be something else" Despite years of labor I had only grown the treasure modestly and we went from 2 stores to 5 stores in town, and no artists like the old days.
Still, Mira looked impressed and hopefully she regretted wishing to leave me for dead.

Unable to shake the sense of hopelessness I crawled to a shrine. Would the gods show me mercy if the ear and fate would not?
They spoke...and they spoke a curse on me too.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/4TS6Qnf.png)

I had never known such bitterness to be cursed be all things on earth and the heavens?

I rolled again. A warning. "May you be cursed for all your days gods of this cruel world!"

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/iqC1Cl8.png)

I rolled again in my anger and I felt such a cold feeling as if I had done something unspeakable:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/TSedXuj.png)

None of the others could hear this curse that was laid upon me. None knew. But I did. I laughed about it. The gods sought to curse me, but they have made me more powerful and immortal! I told my companions to watch the town and I fled into the woods.

There I waited for days and days until that first full moon. I wondered what it was going to feel like. Would it hurt? Would I go crazy? I only had legends to go off of!
Until finally, one evening I just...woke up?
I was stronger now...and weaker? I suppose it wasn't the same as being cursed to be a mammoth, but I was still immortal!
I laughed and ran through the night with my leg returned to me. What could I do with all these years?
I envisioned streets with marching soldiers, artists singing, dancing and telling great stories in the streets, and every home being filled with people again! Yes, the greatest city on this world and I had all the time to build it!
The ear began to speak to me again offering me power once more "This time you shall be my partner and not my master, ear!" It only laughed in response
The reign of the moonlit fox begins now

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/zzhOxXt.png)

Sign me up for another turn. I think I'm gonna use my next one to see if I can convince people to move to my town and live there. I wanna see if it's possible for homes and businesses to become reinhabited by a growing population. Plus I feel like Maloy's character progression goes more towards social development over legendary warrior. Especially since my werebeast form clearly isn't build for it lol

Also I contemplated maybe starting a new werebeast kingdom as well, but since we discovered missing limbs on werebeasts can literally blow up the game I think I'm gonna shelf that one

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on June 24, 2022, 01:43:04 pm

I never knew being a werebeast could lower your stats. Interesting.

Anyhow it's good that we know about the werebeast related crashes now. In hindshight, Raki is probably responsible for some of the world stability issues we have right now.
I wonder if there is a way to fix the affected werebeast to prevent some of those crashes? I'm certain that the crashes around the Scarletbronze marketplace must be related. There was a very large battle there involving many weremammoths. There's a good chance some of those lost limbs.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Maloy on June 24, 2022, 03:09:00 pm

Quote from: nogoodnames on June 11, 2022, 08:40:11 am

I updated the save so Maloy will be healed and won't start crashing if he transforms again. The missing leg and hauling were because he was supposed to be in werebeast form but got forced out of it so couldn't wear any of his clothes.

The crash seems to happen when loading a werebeast that has transformed back to normal while offsite, but their pre-transform body has a missing limb. The game is apparently tracking the missing limbs across transformations and running into problems with that.

I was also able to load Warshrieks, but that involved deleting the entire site populations. I'm not sure if I can narrow down the root cause.

It seems like if we can identify the specific person who is missing a limb and is infected and heal them then they stop being broken.
I think they could also just be deleted once identified too

Might have to add a rule where if you're playing a werebeast and lose a limb, but survive the fight involved, you need to dfhack full-heal yourself before you transform again

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: nogoodnames on June 25, 2022, 12:52:31 pm

From the desk of Leto Searchpraise, Senior Apprentice to the Historian’s Guild
8th Timber, 879

Sleep eluded me last night. I just lay on the ground until the sun peaked over the horizon and its rays pierced my eyes painfully. I felt quite sensitive this morning. Not only my eyes, but my other senses as well. I could swear I heard Dana’s heart beating from across the campfire. Birdsong rang harshly in my ears and my muscles ached. Side affects of my body acclimating to the exertion last night, I suppose.

We set off early and made good time heading North. At this pace we will should return to Padcalls by tomorrow. In truth, I still have my worries about “curing” Juvar, if he even yet lives. I dare say a shameful part of me almost hopes he has succumbed to his injuries. Is it better a man die before his time or to live and be damned? Such ethical quandaries rarely interested me before, and I can’t say I like them any better now that one is forced upon me.

A welcome distraction presented itself in the form of the ruins of the necromancer tower, Largetempest. I was feeling uncharacteristically bold and decided to detour through it. Dana took a bit of convincing, but I assured her it wouldn’t delay our travel.

(https://i.imgur.com/hY7Xdq7.png)

As expected, the tower was empty. Its unholy halls long since scoured clean by adventurers of old. Well, “clean” in a metaphorical sense. The butchered bodies of necromancers and their abominable creations still littered the ground. It made exploration quite unpleasant, though I felt less squeamish than I expected. Was this fraught journey already desensitizing me to death? Regardless, I searched through the stores of literature left behind by the departed owners of this place. Alas, it seems the inquisition has been rather thorough in disposing of all but the blandest works. Not that I wish to become a student of the dark arts, of course! But it would be nice to have something more interesting to read than daily zombie headcounts and stockpile records for ritual candles.

I left a bit disappointed, but still quite proud of my bravery. I never would never have dared venture into such a place mere days ago!

As night fell, I felt a nagging hunger. Not surprising considering I hadn’t had anything to eat or drink all day! After my success last night, I was quite excited to hunt again. And so I left Dana behind to stalk the night. It wasn’t long before I sniffed out my quarry: a tiny marsupial. I sprung from ambush, hands ready to wring the life from it! I reached out and... AND...

(https://i.imgur.com/0Ms67q4.png)

Well, in truth I’m not exactly sure how it all went down. The excitement and hunger must have been too much for me. The next thing I knew, the beast was dead and its blood was trickling down my chin. I was still hungry, but the way I... lost control, it frightened me a little. I suppose this is what the lest civilized amongst us know as “blood-lust,” how horrid! Well, my little dip into barbarism may not have fully sated my hunger, but it was enough for the time being. I will have to be more careful to control such impulses in the future.


9th Timber

At last we reached Padcalls. Dana was quite eager to go find Juvar. I had to remind her that there were still victims of the blight nearby to keep her from calling out. We found Juvar right where we had left him. He was alive, albeit looking a bit more haggard than I remembered. He wheezed out a greeting as Dana ran up and hugged him. They both turned and looked at me expectantly. I opened up my pack and produced a gold goblet...

(https://i.imgur.com/j1Bj14Z.png)

Juvar tentatively sipped at the sanguine contents of the goblet. As he did, his ragged breaths steadied (or did they stop entirely?) and he was able to push himself into an upright sitting position.

Dana whooped in joy. “It’s working! Ye did it! I can’t believe ye did it! Come on Juvar, on your feet!” she said. She tried to pull Juvar up but he collapsed again, still unable to support himself. “Whats wrong? It worked didn’t it? Why can’t you stand?!” said Dana.

After all that, this was tantamount to failure! I tried to reason it out to her, saying, “The medicine has preserved his life but... maybe it can’t undo all of the damage?”

Then Juvar spoke, “It’s alright, Dana. Our friend has... saved me.” As he spoke, he didn’t look at her but instead stared directly into my eyes. I felt a pang of guilt. Perhaps I should have told him what the blood was, what it would do. Did he understand his fate? If so, he didn’t reveal it. He continued, saying, “I am sorry but I will not be able to hold up our agreement. I am still still unable to accompany you. I will remain here.”

“Damn it, Juvar! I don’t want to leave ye alone in this gods-forsaken city again!” exclaimed Dana. “Well, if yer staying here then the least we can do is make it a bit safer and get revenge on the bastards that did this. Come one!”

Dana grabbed my arm and pulled me in the direction of the castle, against my protestations. Juvar crawled along after us. “Ye’ll be fine. They caught us by surprise last time, but now we know what’s waiting in there, and this armour will even the odds. I jus’ need ye to distract ‘em while I line up the killing blow!” she told me.

We arrived and circled around the keep. This time, I was close enough to hear the undead inhabitants. No, not exactly hear them. More that I could feel them, hiding in the dark. Up until that moment, I had planned to keep my distance and bolt at the first sight of danger, but when I felt the thralls... Any fear I had was replaced by a black rage. I could feel the bloodlust gripping me again.

(https://i.imgur.com/arcTFPH.png)

I gripped the dagger Juvar had given me and flung the doors to the keep open. Dana looked a bit stunned but readied herself as the inhabitants poured out. There were two of them. Living once, but now oozing with the pestilent blight, any humanity long since gone. One was in simple cloth, but the other was a dwarf soldier, heavily armoured and wielding a nasty mace.

Dana quickly dispatched the unarmoured thrall, but she had trouble penetrating the other’s armour. Even with several pick strikes that dented its helmet and would have killed a normal man, it kept coming. I stood fast, trying my best to dodge the mace blows that came for me. A mistimed dodge sent me to the ground. My leg wouldn’t let me stand again, but the surging adrenaline numbed the pain. I took more hits from the mace, but then I saw an opportunity. With unnatural strength and speed, I reached out and ripped off the fiend’s helmet. Dana had already lined up her swing, and without resistance, she struck true.

(https://i.imgur.com/8r7dXuO.png)

I nursed my wounds while Dana burnt the bodies of the blight victims within the keep. Juvar caught up to us at that point. “Thank you my friends. You have driven the evil from this place. I know not what will come of it now, but I will take stewardship of this town.”

(https://i.imgur.com/jEbJr9o.png)

Dana wanted to stay with him longer, but I insisted that we not delay my true mission any longer. In truth, I just wanted to get away as quickly as possible. I recovered from the battle remarkably quickly and could walk again in a couple hours.

We kept up an incredible pace into the night. Even after such a long day, I felt no need for rest. However, this just troubled me more. When at last Dana demanded we stop for the night, I stayed awake as we drifted to sleep. There is no more denying it to myself. What I have been feeling these past couple days is not merely the result of fresh air and exercise. No, it is clear that I made a terrible mistake that night after leaving the museum. Somehow, the vampire blood must have gotten into my water skin! I’ve cursed myself into becoming a vampire!

Juvar, the way he looked at me, I think he must know. Dana has surely taken notice of the changes in me, but I doubt she suspects the truth. Still, I must be careful. This has been nothing but a series of mistakes since I left the library! Damn the bastards who set me on this fool’s errand!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Maloy on June 26, 2022, 03:47:56 pm

So that's why Juvar was there!

So there's a potential new vampire plague in the lands and also potentially a werefox plague (Except werefox form is so weak they'd be more of an inconvenience)

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on June 26, 2022, 04:15:44 pm

"Kothvir I", Prologue, Turn 85

The Legacy of the Raven

The wind howled and the earth shook, the moon bathed in blood red. A portentous time, and the blacksmith Thel Calmwinter was nervous. He clutched the sigil of Sut the Tomb of Quests that hung round his weather-worn neck with calloused hands. 

The roughly made windows of his smithing shack rattled in the gale, and rain lashed his humble dwelling. There was then an unmistakable sound above the groaning wind. A knock, firm and solemn. 

Thel opened the door gingerly, both exhilarated and terrified of what he would face. No gaze met his own but that of a child, swaddled in a black leather cloak, in a basket on his step. Around this child’s neck was an amulet of black onyx, well-crafted and unusually detailed. It held the shape of a great raven with strange runes and symbols engraved upon it. 

Thel was sure he heard a voice ring out, clear through the wind. “Praise death!”

Thel looked up and thought he could make out the form of a great raven, and as the lightning flashed, it was gone. The earth shook once more.

“Life is in a word, persuasion”, he murmured in practised return.

He brought the bundled infant into the house and saw that it was a young boy, a thick shock of black hair atop his head, unlike any around here... the men of the High Confederacies were renowned for their goldenrod hair and aqua eyes and this child had neither. Emerald orbs met his.

The raven had brought him this gift, praise Sut, and Thel could not hope to imagine what destiny awaited him. He would raise him as his own, and teach him the hammer and the sword, that one day he might fulfil whatever task fate had called him to. He would know the ways of Sut the Tomb of Quests, in the faith of Thel’s ancestors, The Communion of Adventuring. The earth rumbled a final time and the howling winds melted away.

“Kothvir”, he whispered, swaddling the child in his arms. Quake.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Unraveller on June 26, 2022, 08:34:03 pm

I don't have any specifically insightful remarks at the moment, but I just need to get it out there that I'm fascinated and excited both to continue reading all the ongoing stories. So just see this as a post of encouragement for you guys. QD, NGN, Kesperan!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: MrWillsauce on June 27, 2022, 01:07:58 pm

Sorry ya'll I didn't check the forums for a while and didn't know it was my turn. I got midterms right now but in a couple of days I can get started on the game. If you don't want to wait it's okay if you skip me.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on June 28, 2022, 10:39:02 am

It's ok.
For the sake of keeping things moving, let's say your week starts with this post?

Edit: alternatively, I could drop you down the turn order one or a few places and let someone else play first?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on June 28, 2022, 02:06:16 pm

Quote from: Unraveller on June 26, 2022, 08:34:03 pm

I don't have any specifically insightful remarks at the moment, but I just need to get it out there that I'm fascinated and excited both to continue reading all the ongoing stories. So just see this as a post of encouragement for you guys. QD, NGN, Kesperan!

Thanks Unraveller. The best parts of a succession game are all the emergent storytelling when the turns bleed into one another.

All of the last few turns have involved High Confederacies and my adventurer ends up being inspired by yours too.

I’d hoped to have my story written up this week but my turn has come up early on Avolition’s adventure mode game so it might be next week for the story of Kothvir.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: MrWillsauce on June 29, 2022, 01:03:08 pm

I started. I'm a crab.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: BluarianKnight on July 06, 2022, 09:29:28 am

Before I start next my turn (which is after Will) I'd like to say - for my previous turn? Completely lost the journal posts for that, apologies for that.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on July 06, 2022, 05:43:42 pm

Quote from: MrWillsauce on June 29, 2022, 01:03:08 pm

I started. I'm a crab.

How are you getting on MrWillsauce? That should be your seven days up by now, no?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on July 08, 2022, 04:44:29 pm

Anything from MrWillsauce?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on July 09, 2022, 04:10:55 pm

No. I've send a PM

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Quantum Drop on July 11, 2022, 01:54:44 pm

Should we skip MrWillsauce if we don't get a response by the 13th? That should be two weeks, and I'll cynically note that they haven't been active since the 29th of June.

In the meantime, a continuation to the tale of my last turn (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8379611#msg8379611) (which I really should've written by now):

---

14th Moonstone, 879
Waking came slowly to Arkur. There was a throbbing pain in his head, deep and pulsing, rising from the base of his neck to the lid of his skull, leaving him unable to do much more than groan at the sensation as he began to rise from his sleep. As more of his senses returned to him, he was vaguely aware of a hand pressed against his forehead, keeping him in place as a cup was pressed to his chapped, dry lips.

“Drink,” A voice ordered, firmly. “It will help with the pain.”

Still did Arkur hesitate to drink. He had known those words in the past, and never had they been true. But after some time he allowed his mouth to open, letting whatever concoction was in the cup drip down his throat – it tasted bitter and spicy, burning his throat like molten rock as it slid down and leaving him spluttering from the force of its taste. The throbbing pain in his temples had begun to dissipate, however, and he forced himself to sit upright with a groan.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/SzmOOe3.png)

Arkur found himself face-to-face with a bird-faced creature of black leather and bronze, its curving metal beak inches away from his nose and one gloved hand still resting against his forehead. The opaque, rounded glass eyes set into the bronze of its mask gave it a faintly startled look, as though it had not expected him to rise with such speed. Its glove stank of wet leather and herbs as it moved, trying to push him back against the bed. Arkur tried to lurch back from the creature’s grip in mixed shock and revulsion, but its grip was hard as iron and unrelenting; even a sharp blow to the chest yielded no response or noticeable movement from the towering creature beyond a turn of its head and a throaty hissing sound.

“Ease off, Citoj!” A voice snapped, authoritative and vaguely familiar. Arkur turned his head toward the source, ignoring the twinge of pain that rushed up his neck on doing so. It was the other man from the castle, now without the disguising swathes of fabric across his features. He was a grim-looking young man of perhaps twenty seasons, his face craggy with battle-scarring and blotted by a dark, sprawling tattoo on one side, but there was an earnestness to his manner and words as he warded the creature off with pointed gestures of one hand. He turned toward Arkur, motioning almost apologetically with his free hand. “My apologies for the rude awakening, old friend. My comrade cannot talk as others do – his tongue was torn out years ago by our mutual enemy, and the mask contains a poultice of herbs to aid him in breathing. It is good to see you awake at last.”

“The name’s Aril, Ehhu.” Arkur’s confusion must have shown on his face, for Aril’s features creased in apparent surprise or confusion at his lack of recognition. “Don’t you remember?”

Arkur shook his head, biting back a growl as his temper began to fray. His head was throbbing furiously again, sending red waves of pain pulsing through the inside of his skull. His annoyance rose with each fresh pulse of pain as the man turned his head toward the bird-masked creature and began to speak in a low, hissing language that set his teeth on edge and intensified the pounding hurt in his temples.

"No! I remember scarcely a thought before you and your creature brought me here, and by the Powers, I’ll have an explanation out of you-!”

Aril’s features clouded sharply with sudden anger and hurt at his words, and as he cut himself off mid-sentence, Arkur feared that he had pushed his erstwhile friend and rescuer too far. A sharp stab of dread and fear coiled in his stomach. Then the moment passed as soon as it had come, Aril closing his eyes and letting out a soft, hissing breath that steamed in the cold air.

“I beg your forgiveness, my friend. This place…” He paused again, hesitant, then suddenly turned toward the door, shouldering his axe as he went. “I pray you, walk with me. Once you are ready, you'll have your answers.”

---

“You remember at least the Blight, I hope?” Aril began, as they stepped out into the empty streets of the hamlet. The wind had picked up in the time since he was last awake, sending cold gusts of air and snow moaning through over the desolate dirt roads. The breeze carried with it the stink of rotting wood and fresh snow. It made Arkur’s skin instinctually crawl, a feeling made worse by the silently looming form of Citoj behind him. The beaked mask the bigger man wore cast jittering, rippling shadows across the timber skeletons of the hamlet’s former houses, each sharp motion an enemy waiting to leap from the dark and tear into them all with twisting claws and jagged black fangs.

At Arkur’s shuddering nod, he continued. “Well, scarcely three years ago the bastards responsible for it came out into the open.”

Aril paused for a moment, carefully stepping around a large bundle of soaked cloth that lay half-buried in the snow. A dozen large stones had been laid on top of it in a large mound, topped with a makeshift marker of lashed-together wood, but the winds and gradual erosion ensured it had begun to bare its contents to the world once again. “People started disappearing, villages razed in the night - half the damn Realm’s now under their heel.”

“We found their seat of power years ago, but it’s a bloody fortress.” Aril’s voice hitched slightly, and his purposeful stride faltered as he continued to speak. “We… we’ve lost a lot of good people trying to get in there.”

“And I…”

Aril nodded once, scarred features grim. “Just over a decade ago, you and three others went missing after setting out to infiltrate one of their fortresses and kill the bastards responsible for all this horror. We thought you were dead – up until a couple weeks ago.”

Almost unconsciously, Arkur’s fingers rose to touch the raised scar at the back of his head. He’d had it almost as long as he could remember. Those words had ignited a spark in his mind, an itchy, fluttering flake of memory that rose up from somewhere deep in the murk that was clouding his mind.  He focused on it, trying to seize hold of it and dredge it up through the fog of his memories – and without warning, a burning star of pain burst into the back of his head.

The air was thick with the sickly scent of smoke and burnt meat and wet iron, blending together into a noxious witch’s brew of clashing smells. His fingers were wound around the handle of a sword tight enough to draw blood, adding to that which already covered the blade and the bound leather of its grip; his arms and chest burned with the effort of moving as he ducked beneath an oncoming spear, letting its barbed bronze head strike against the wall behind him before he pirouetted in place and struck in return, sending the soldier’s arm thumping wetly to the stone floor. A second blow to the chest left him staggering out of the battle, screaming for aid, but he scarcely cared – only the thought of escape rang in his mind, overriding all other concerns.

He darted past the clumsy, swinging forms of two more guards, pausing to trip one of them as they made a lunge at his neck. Their armoured form went crashing down the steps behind him, swearing and crying out in pain, but he had no time to finish the job. The other one had regained his wits and was swinging for him now, lashing out with a maul large as a full-grown man. It glanced off the side of his head as he forced his burning limbs to move, sending a flash of fire and light through the inside of his skull. He cursed aloud, flailing his sword about half-aimlessly in a graceless attempt to drive back the guard. The blade bit into the guard’s weapon arm, by luck as much as the guard’s recklessness, sending him scrambling backwards and down the steps with the crash of bronze on stone.

From somewhere behind him there came a terrible, baying scream. A half-dozen burly men were emerging from one of the fortress’ towers, hands wrapped around long wooden poles with chains mounted upon their ends. Each chain attached to a heavy iron collar locked around the throat of a second figure clad in bronze armour; they thrashed and writhed against their bonds, pulling at their chains like hunting hounds who had caught the scent of blood. He felt the blood run cold in his veins. Even at this distance, he could see the blisters and rot mottling their exposed flesh, while their wild, animalistic demeanour gave their natures away at a glance.

As he watched one of the bronze-armoured nightmares broke free of its handlers, head swaying from side to side as it lurched into motion. It was inhumanly fast, even by the standards of the Blight-Born; by the time its handlers could shout out in alarm the thrall was already a dozen meters away, bounding across the grass on all fours. A tiny spark of hope flared in his chest as it rushed to and fro, dodging between the barbed capture-poles and blades of a dozen guards. With luck, it would not smell him before he could pass out of the fortress and escape into the snowy hills and plains beyond. He crept forward toward the great wooden gates, hanging ajar from the latest shipment of flesh, then froze in his tracks as the thrall stopped dead in its motions and wheeled around to fix him with two maddened, bloodshot eyes.

The thrall scrambled forth and leapt at him, howling like a wild animal. A boot cracked hard against his skull, staggering him; before he could clear the murk from his head, fingers like iron bars seized him firmly around the throat and locked tightly together, pressing down on his throat as the weight of the thrall’s body pinned him to the ground. It shoved its face against his, bloody foam drizzling from the holes bored into the metal of the bulky mask it wore as it sought to bury its teeth into his flesh – the thing seemed too crazed to even register the heavy iron muzzle bolted into and through the bone of its jaws. Blisters burst and flesh bruised as he kicked desperately against its hulking frame, succeeding only in driving it to let out a muted snarl of fury and ram its armoured skull against his bare head several times. Stars burst in his vision and the inside of his head rang like a bell, almost drowning out the fast, frantic drumbeat of his heart and the terrible burning sensation in his chest.

A high, cold voice intruded on the edge of his hearing, shouting commands that sounded impossibly distant. He was vaguely aware of the sounds of a scuffle, the feeling of the hulking thrall being pulled off of him and dragged away by a dozen blurred figures as it bayed with rage. Cold metal fingers closed around his wrists and arms, dragging him none-too-gently across the stone floor and back down the stairs, down into the black hell of the dungeons below the castle –

A firm grip on his bare elbow drew him back to the present. He was on his knees in the dirty snow, his legs having buckled beneath him at some point. Aril was beside him, his axe cast aside and his arms looped under Arkur’s, keeping him from toppling over onto his face.

“What the hell were they doing to us there?” Arkur managed to wheeze, grimacing as Citoj reached out to steady him unprompted. There was something wrong about the bigger man that he could not quite place; something displeasing, something outright detestable, something that made the skin of his arm prickle with goose-flesh at the sensation of his leather-clad fingers’ touch. Scarcely had he felt such instinctual loathing for another, and yet when he stared into the rounded glass eyes of Citoj’s masked face, he could specify no point from which the disdain had sprung.

Aril halted for a moment, carefully considering his next words.

“Thralls never break ranks and run, or show the slightest sign of pain. They don’t need feeding or clothing or housing, and when there’s no slaughter to be done, you can just chain ‘em up in a room and leave them ‘til there. Make them wear armor or carry weapons, and they won’t let them go shy of being hacked into chunks fit for a stew. And should even one of their teeth break your skin, nothing shy of the Lady Herself can prevent you from swelling their ranks.” Aril’s expression was bleak as the frozen sky overhead as he motioned to the massive axe he carried, the crudely-made plates of bronze and copper that covered as much of his flesh as possible. “Perfect soldiers, my brother. All they lack is control.”

Arkur started in horror, several threads of memory and suspicion all connecting at once in light of his comrade’s words. The other inmates’ blisters and mortified flesh; the heavy chains used to secure them in their cells and bind them whenever they were brought through the passageways; the savage madness that seemed to break out in the hunched, feral creatures that the guards’ masters kept caged in the corners of their workshops –

“Those people in the cells… the other prisoners-!”

“Aye.” Aril’s voice was level, but the sharp twist to his ragged features belied the disgust he was feeling. “Experiments. Raw materials. Certain mixtures and extracts can weaken the will, render the strongest of men’s minds into malleable clay – and a thrall is no more than a man, driven by dark thirsts and made mighty by the Blight. Defy those holding their chains, and – well.” He gestured with a hand toward the empty hamlet, the rotting timbers of former houses rising from the snow-drowned streets like the bones of some long-dead creature.

Aril scuffed a boot at the exposed dirt, face twisting with some unidentifiable emotion as something poked up amidst the snow and soil – a tiny bone, a miniature humerus, greyish amidst the brown and white of the hamlet’s dirty snow. It was shattered down the centre, revealing the marrowless hollow within. Another, beside it – this one larger, well-chewed, scraped clean of whatever flesh had once been upon it. Scraps of torn cloth lay about them both, stained a deep, rusty brown; half-buried in them was a tiny sailboat, small enough to fit in the palm of even Arkur’s hand. A sudden, convulsive shudder wracked Aril’s body and he kicked snow over them both, shrouding them from sight. When he turned to face Arkur again, he looked far, far older than his youthful features suggested.

“This place used to be our home. Citoj and mine. They gave one of our number shelter, and they did this – a warning to anyone thinking of standing against their tyranny.” His hands curled into fists with the soft creak of metal; beside him, the hulking, beaked giant flexed his leather-gloved fingers in sympathy with his fellow. The old, bone-deep weariness in his eyes faded away in favour of a bright, angry fire, and the determination of a man ready to fight and die for his cause as he turned back to Arkur. “We can’t let this happen again, Ehhu.”

Arkur nodded once, in silent agreement. Whatever objections he had once felt were melting away as snow did before a fire, his fears and suspicions overridden by the memories Aril’s words had triggered. If those bastards in the castle were behind this, if they were weaponizing those Blight-infested monstrosities, he would stand with anyone who was against them. Yet there was one thing, nagging at the edge of his mind  –

“You called me Ehhu again.” Arkur’s eyes narrowed slightly as he spoke, quizzically. “Why?”

Aril was silent for a long moment before he closed his eyes and let out a soft, hissing sigh. He placed a hand to the side of his head, grimacing slightly as though recalling the memories pained him. “My apologies. An old friend, now many years gone. You… remind me of him.”

---

18^th Moonstone, 879

“Not much further now, my brother,” Aril murmured, gazing down at the squat mead hall standing upon the plains below. Much of the village was silent this late at night, but a few lights still flickered in the dusty windows of the central hall and a few puffs of smoke rose from the chimney.

“This is where your friends are?” Arkur was beside him, leather-clad form half-kneeling, half-lying in the greyish dirt. It was ill-fitting on his spare frame, salvaged and cobbled together from a dozen different bodies in the snow-drowned ruin of the village,  but it offered better protection than his prison rags.

“Aye.” Aril nodded his reply, raising a finger to point at the hall. “Down there was where we agreed we’d meet.” He shifted himself upright, gesturing  to the gentle slope of the hill before him, leading down to the expansive plains in which the hamlet sat. “Follow me!”

Aril led the group of three’s path down the hill, both hands upon his double-headed axe’s shaft and his watchful eyes kept firmly on the hall. Citoj stumped along at the back, beaked head swaying from side to side as he covered the trio’s rear and flanks. Arkur was between them, chivvied along by the constant push of Cito’s lumbering bulk, his eyes flicking between the shadows of the field and the heavy wooden doors of the hamlet’s hall. There was something in the air, something he could not quite place – something sinister and sickly, lingering at the very edge of his awareness.

Without warning, Aril suddenly stopped dead in his tracks. Arkur almost crashed into the armour of his comrade’s back, sending him stumbling as he fought to regain his balance in the wake of the sudden stop. “What-?”

“By the powers…” Aril’s low murmur was barely audible, but there was no mistaking the horror in it. Arkur shifted himself awkwardly to the side, peering around his brother’s bigger frame, and immediately saw what had drawn the exclamation from the other man.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/2DKy4K0.png)

The field before them was drenched with blood and the visceral remnants of its former inhabitants. Many of the bodies lay in half-shredded pieces, their limbs torn away entirely, or their forms cut completely in half; others were relatively whole, though the broken ruins of their heads (and even then, only when they had them) or their opened throats made it clear they had not gone peacefully. A handful bore the marks of horrific burns, their flesh charred almost to carbon beyond the whitish gleam of bone. Alone among the corpses, these ones bore a further mutilation: a jagged spear of metal driven with great force through each body’s breast, and a set of heavy weights tied by crude rope around their grotesquely mangled throats.

Arkur fought to keep his breathing steady as he took in the horror before him. The scent of blood and rot hit him strong as a hammer-blow, almost enough to physically stagger him. He had seen violence before, had inflicted it on others and felt it inflicted in him in turn – but this wanton butchery was unlike even the horrors his fractured memories of the time beneath the castle had displayed to him. Shards of broken bone peeked up through the dirt and crunched underfoot as the three of men crept through the devastation toward the central mead hall, where a few lights still flickered dully through the dusty windows.

Aril gave a low, dry hiss of breath as he carefully overturned one of the bodies. Beneath it, lying half-buried in the ashen dirt, was a shard of metal bearing an unfamiliar crest: two twisted figures, half-sloth and half-man, against a field of grey.

“The Great Enemy’s work.” Aril’s voice was barely above a dry hiss, eyes snapping back and forth as though he expected a thrall to leap from the shadows and devour them all. His limbs were taut with tension, and his eyes ablaze with righteous fury as he stared toward the hall. “Follow me, quickly! We could not save these men, but we might just avenge them.”

No longer bothering with stealth, the three men scrambled to their feet and rushed toward the mead hall in open anger. Aril reached the door first, raising his axe with a snarl as he sighted the drawn bolts and the smears of blood around the frame. “Down with the door, Citoj!”

Citoj swung his mace over his shoulder; the blow shook the hall, and the heavy oak doors leapt against their bolts and hinges. Noises arose - the murderers within had clearly not been expecting company – dismal cries of surprise and anger echoing dully from within. Up went the mace again and again, joined now by the heavy swings of Aril’s axe; the wood crashed and its frame bounded with each strike, but the excellent workmanship and strength of the doors ensured it was not until the fifth that they fell in splintered ruin. 

The besiegers did not hesitate a moment before sprinting in through the debris, weapons raised high and cries of fury echoing from their throats. The inside of the hall mirrored its façade: much of the well-worked furniture lay in wreckage about the room; other parts had been overturned, scattering their contents across the smooth, red-stained stone of the floor. All around lay bodies, some living, others so badly mangled that there was no question of life remaining. Many of the inhabitants were only just rising, snapped into wakefulness by the sound of splintering wood on stone, hands clumsily fumbling for the weapons and shields that lay around them in disorganised piles.

Citoj and Aril fell upon them before they could come close to arising. Bone shattered and blood flew with each stroke of their weapons as the attackers seized upon their foes’ surprise; Arkur trailed awkwardly behind, jabbing with his sword at any foe who tried to scramble away from the rampaging pair. It was a brief, bloody brawl, over almost as soon as it had begun – the savagery of the hall’s inhabitants not even close to a match for the pair’s fury and experience.

Aril turned one of the more intact bodies onto its back, face twisting sharply as he beheld the body’s features. Pallid, blood-streaked and half-ruined as they were, he could nonetheless recognise the face of his contact, friend, and mentor. The old man’s face was locked into a deathly rictus of defiant fury, bloody saliva half-dried on his lips, his eyes fixed in a glare; it looked as though he had bitten off his own tongue rather than yield their secrets to the Great Enemy. There was a knife driven to the hilt through his sable robes into the old flesh beneath, pinning a scrap of crimson-soaked vellum to his chest. Aril knew an execution warrant when he saw one.

Something coiled in his chest, black and angry and hot as molten metal. Whoever had ordered this would suffer for their actions – there would be only a few barely-living scraps left for the plaguespawn once he was done with them. Warm blood slicked his fingers within the gauntlets; he had been clenching his hand around the handle of his axe hard enough to draw blood through the metal. He breathed deep, reaching out to close his mentor’s eyes, then stopped. Something was poking out of his robes. Aril carefully extricated it, bringing the paper up to his eyes – it was a letter, repeatedly folded for ease of concealment and bloodstained at the edges, but otherwise untouched by the violence that had torn through the hall. He brought it to his eyes in haste, and read:

“My brother,

When this paper falls into your hands, I will have fallen in pursuit of our freedom. Under what circumstances, I know not, but instincts and intellect alike tell me that our force’s end is certain and soon. It falls to you to continue our endeavour against the Great Enemy’s tyranny, and do what I could not.

First, find the loose flag upon this floor. Use whatever means are needed to open the cavity beneath; you will know the right stone by the things that lie beneath. There will be a satchel beneath the stone, marked with the letter V; you will retrieve it and, severing the straps if it be necessary, acquire its contents as they stand: a phial, some crimson stones, and a bound journal. These contents you must take with you when you leave this place, wherever you might be bound.

That is but the first step of this service: now for the second. There is a place south of here, where a false-spire meets the sky; you must set out to this place, on foot should circumstance demand it, and reach there before midnight before the New Moon dies. Admit yourself to its deep regions with these items in hand. Here, you must read the book and speak with our Law-Giver, and accept his commands. Then, you will have played your part in this tale, and struck a mighty blow against the tyranny of the Great Enemy. Know that these arrangements are of capital importance, and by neglecting one, fantastic as these may appear, you will have charged your conscience with the shipwreck of our work and the deaths of our people’s hopes.

I go to meet my fate.

For the Liberation,

- V. Uveolbeoco"

Aril lowered it, his brow furrowing. The writing was verbose and fanciful to the point of opacity, a marked alteration to the blunt, simple prose his once-colleague had used; he had no doubts as to the grave importance of the message, but the meaning seemed lost among the layers of obfuscation meant to ward off the predatory curiosity of the murderers growing cold around them. He read the message again and again, puzzling over the meaning with a careful eye and a series of mumbled thoughts even as Arkur fidgeted about in discomfort and Citoj kept his disconcerting silence beside the hunched warrior. At last, however, something seemed to seize upon his mind, and he nodded with a sharp jerk of the head toward the southernmost corner of the mead hall.

Just as his lost friend had proclaimed, there was a loose flagstone, its edge slightly proud of the flags around it. He wasted no time in having Citoj lift the offending slab free of the dirt and rock, casting it aside to strike wetly against one of the corpses; there, within a tiny hollow in the dirt, a dusty satchel lay with its bindings undone. Aril lifted it free with almost reverent care, peering in to confirm the contents’ integrity, before nodding abruptly and sweeping the whole thing into his pack before either of his colleagues could snatch any but the barest glance.

“Let us go,” Aril’s solemn voice rang through the empty hall as he turned to face the two. “We will bury these men at sun-rise, then depart to the south. Let us hope my master will be there in time…”

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Quantum Drop on July 11, 2022, 01:56:08 pm

Falsetower the Citadel of Worlds, XX Moonstone 879

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/Q3F2Cnx.png?1)

It was a grey, wet morning when the travellers reached their destination the next day. Thrusting above the treeline and rising from the low morning light was a squat tower of weathered granite, its half-open top staring blindly into the gloomy, clouded skies above. A few animals chittered in the undergrowth as the three men emerged out of the underbrush and crept their way up the rain-sodden hillside, toward the yawning cavity that led to the inside of the tower.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/izFrYcS.png)

Within, the tower seemed almost abandoned. A thick layer of dust covered the rough blocks of the granite floor, broke by patches of slick rock where rainfall had wiped away the residue. Rusting, well-weathered bronze and iron arrowheads and a few shreds of mouldering wood or cloth lay in a broad, disorganised pile a few steps from the entrance. Yet what immediately drew the eye were the tower’s twin sentinels: standing in silent vigil over the room were two masterfully-carved granite statues of a towering, brutal figure, many armed and scorpion-tailed, surrounded by the figures of humans bowed in homage to the giant at their centre. Its face had been partially eroded by time, but Aril could still make out the curvature of an open, fanged mouth, and see that the statue’s weathered arms still clutched the forms of weapons, shields, and books in their stone fingers. 

“I have heard of this one before,” Aril commented, leaning in closer to the statue with an expression somewhere between curiosity and remembrance. “A many-armed warrior, who slew armies with words alone. And this –”

He jabbed a finger toward something nestled within the heavy granite arms of the statue, wedged into the space between two of the scorpion man’s limbs. Aril climbed up and leaned forward, carefully threading his arm between the jutting iron blade held in one of the statue’s many hands and the heavy stone book clutched in another; within a few minutes of struggle and muffled curses, he had freed the volume from the statue’s grasp, and scrambled back down to stand beside Arkur with the strange tome in hand. He all but tore open the volume, eyes scanning across the content of the pages with surprising speed, before abruptly slamming the cover closed once again and secreting it away into his pack without a second word.

“Perfection,” He murmured, voice suddenly hushed and hoarse. He wordlessly bowed to the towering statue of granite and moved back toward the tower’s entrance at speed, darting out through the great archway with a sharp motion for Arkur to follow him. There was an odd vitality to him, an energetic manner to his movements that had not been there before; Arkur could not help but note that it seemed quite at odds with his previously fatigued manner, though he contented himself with shaking his head and writing it off as a mere spirt of excitement, a temporary revitalization driven by whatever secrets the book happened to contain.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/HGj6bVK.png)

The fortress itself was, as was the dwarves’ way, cut deep into the flesh of the nearby hill, rather than situated mostly on the lush surface. The square, squat tunnel that led deeper into the fortress was unguarded, neither a bridge nor sentries in sight - no dwarves emerged to greet or challenge them as the three men stalked across the wet grass and into the yawning mouth of the tunnel. The inside was mostly clay and soil, rather than hard stone; the ground squelched unpleasantly with each step, sodden from the seeping of recent rainfall and the spreading pool of brackish water seeping from an alcove cut into the clay. Water dripped from the roof of the tunnel and trailed down the group’s backs as they set toward the solid-looking flight of stairs leading deeper into the hill-fortress’ form.

Their walk was almost painful in its silence. The halls were quiet enough for Arkur to hear his own heart beating in his chest, even with the constant, rhythmic clunk of metal boots against hard-packed dirt and stony ground. Nothing living stirred in the stone arteries of the fortress, yet life was quite clearly present: the torches mounted in the brackets were alight and the patina of dust that covered the floor was broken in many places by the tread of  boots, forming tracks of movement to and from the great halls and vast, empty rooms that seemed to comprise the great bulk of the fortress. Many of these they dared search, but all but a few were the same: smooth, bare stone, elegantly engraved walls, and a scattering of half-rotten clothes or worn, abandoned armour.

“Such a fortress, yet without a soul in sight,” Arkur mumbled to himself, unable to restraint a sense of faint awe at the sights around him. Dimly-recalled history books had spoken of the race’s once-mighty past and their grand feats of architecture, and gossiping traders had swapped tales of the great dwarven constructions they had witnessed on their travels, but to see the vastness of a true dwarven fortress in person was quite different to what they had claimed. “Where…?”

Aril shrugged his shoulders in reply, raising a boot to stamp twice on the flags of the corridor. “Down here, perhaps – beneath the soil from which they came.”

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/Z6IfMhV.png?1)

“Wait.” Aril suddenly hissed, hand going tight on his brother’s shoulder. He cocked his head to the side, then jerked his head back sharply toward the doorway of one of the rooms. “Back this way – quickly!”

No sooner than the three had retreated into the empty room, there came a low, heavy creaking sound, echoing up from one of the shafts at the end of the corridor. Something crashed to the ground, followed by the sound of heavy steps against the smoothed stone. A dwarf clad in a tattered robe emerged from the shadows of the stairwell, limping up the moss-speckled stairs with a purposeful gait. In the low light their features were difficult to make out, and the dusty, stained cloth shrouding their form obscured their nature further, but there was no mistaking the unnatural angle of their neck nor the ominously glowing lights of their eyes, casting eerie shadows across the smoothed stone of the walls. They did not seem to register the trio’s presence, or perhaps merely did not care, lumbering past the doorway to the hollow room in which they sheltered and disappearing deeper into the fortress, leaving the scent of mildew and soil in their wake.

Arkur looked toward Aril with a scare, but his brother was staring after the creature’s retreating back as though entranced, one hand resting upon the leather-wrapped shaft of his axe in a white-knuckled grip. Arkur let his own hand drop to his sword, fingering the battered handle warily. The creature swiftly turned the corner and vanished into the shadows once again, prompting a low hiss of breath to escape between Aril’s teeth as he rose from his half-crouch and began to make his way toward one of the other corridors.

“Follow me, you two.” He ordered, voice sharp. “I don’t want to deal with those damned things.”

On and on they went, more cautiously now. The torches grew fewer the deeper they went, wreathing the tunnels in a deep gloom that stank of moss and ancient earth that was broken only by the occasional weakly-burning brazier or bracket. Cold, creeping fingers of instinctual fear traced their way down his spine, and dark memories threatened to claw their way to the surface of his mind. Arkur fought to control his breathing and the rising tremor in his limbs; deep, slow breaths hissed between his clenched teeth as he struggled to put one foot in front of the other. Every shadow seemed to hide a potential enemy; every lightless doorway and room seethed with the vague, insubstantial presence of blister-fleshed fiends, leering at him from within the dark.

Aril did not seem to notice his stilted, tense gait or the strain in every motion his brother made, marching ahead of Citoj and Arkur with a strong, purposeful stride. He was muttering under his breath as he walked, tracing a path across the cracked stone of the walls with his free hand. At last and quite without warning, he stopped in his tracks, nearly toppling Arkur as he struggled to adjust to the sudden lack of forward movement. Before his friend could open his mouth to protest, Aril raised a hand and rapped his knuckles against a section of stone wall, features splitting into a grin at the answering report.

“Here, Citoj,” He began, but the masked giant was already in motion. His massive, gloved hands found the tiny crack in the wall Aril had indicated with ease, fingers digging deeply into the fissure and shifting about to widen the split in the stone. A low, hissing growl arose from behind his mask as Citoj strained against the heavy rock formation, muscles visibly trembling with the exertion of forcing the stones to move; quite suddenly the granite gave way entirely, rolling to the side with a bass groan of shifting rock and sending Citoj stumbling into the room beyond. It was a hidden door, leading to what appeared to be some kind of shrine.

Aril strode into the room without a second word. It was illuminated by fresh torches, breaking the gloom of the corridors to reveal walls covered in elaborate engravings and a squat stone altar in the centre of the room. A grin spread across his face; he turned to face Arkur with an odd, fierce light in his eyes. “This is the place, my friend.” Aril carefully laid out his pack upon the altar and began to remove some of its contents – a small phial of pungent ether, a few tiny red stones, a neatly-folded package of cloth – all of which he laid out as though preparing for some strange experiment. “Please, watch the door and ensure no-one interrupts us.”

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/DYWZDiu.png)

(https://i.imgur.com/xoPKpaw.png)

As his master continued with his preparations, Arkur turned his gaze to the detailed carvings upon the walls. A dwarf raising a pick to strike the raised flank of a mountain. A dozen stunted figures kneeling around another, this one raising a hammer. It was the third that caught his attention: a one-armed dwarf standing alone against an empty background, their body withered and ancient as a years-old corpse. A wooden crown hung from the dwarf’s skull-like visage, carved to appear veined with necrotic veins of wood-rot and seeming halfway to falling entirely. Beneath it, some crude vandal had roughly hacked words into the smooth stone, the raised capitals spelling out a strange message: GATAL ETAR UD NANOTH SHITHATH – ZILIR IKUD UD NANOTH LUNRUD.

The words jolted something loose in his head, dredging memories up from some distant corner of his mind - rumbling wagons moving in a long, unbroken chain across the frost-skinned ground, toward the distant form of a great stone tower; a herbal, earthy scent all around him as he worked feverishly beside a sallow, scar-faced dwarf at a glass-strewn bench.

They felt like the memories of a wholly different life, and recalling them sent a sharp spike of pain lancing through the back of his head. Arkur groaned, one hand fishing about in his pack for the medicine he’d been given earlier. It took a few moments before he could withdraw the phial of clear liquid, shaking it for a moment as his friend has instructed him; the moment he was done, the gaunt man wasted no time in uncorking and upending the vial into his mouth. A few seconds passed before Arkur straightened up and shook his head slightly, grimacing at the foul taste of the concoction even as the pain throbbing in the back of his head faded away.

Aril chuckled slightly at his protégé’s expression. The medicine burned like magma and tasted fouler than dwarven bread, but few mixtures did its job better. “Remember, you need to keep taking these, my friend. It’ll help keep your head together.”

Without waiting for a reply, Aril turned back to the task at hand. He crushed a set of small red stones to powder with a quick clench of his hand, letting the dust fall between his fingers to mix with the pale ether in the phial; small fumes of vapour arose from the liquid as the power dissolved, drifting idly in the air. Aril grinned, carefully shaking the phial in his hand to ensure the content was properly mixed, before raising its curved edge to his pallid lips. “I apologise. This may seem a little… strange.”

Before Arkur could take another step, Aril downed the crimson phial in a single gulp. Immediately, his friend was bent double by a violent coughing fit. His fingers locked around the shrine-table’s edge, eyes wide and unseeing, breath coming in strained gasps. His limbs shook violently, trembling like reeds caught in a storm. Then as suddenly as they had begun, the convulsive movements ceased: he stood tall and straight, though his eyes were still bulging and distant. When he spoke, his teeth were stained vivid red.

“Master?” He rasped. “It is done. The Usurpation is one less – the traitor is ended. And our old comrade is returned.” He paused, listening. Arkur cocked his head to the side, indulging his personal curiosity, but he heard nothing beyond the creak of Citoj’s heavy leather and the rapid, shallow breaths of his friend, hissing between his teeth with surprising force. Even so, Aril’s mouth broadened into a smile. “Yes. Yes. I see, sire. Will there -? Of course. I’ll ensure it is done. I’ll-”

Aril’s trance seemed to fade as soon as it had come. Something red and viscous dripped from the corner of his mouth, falling to stain the stone of the altar. He blinked for a moment, then laughed, tongue cleaning the red from his teeth as he looked toward Arkur. “Boatu, ub, toadiyc. My master is guided by these principles. And should all go as we plan, you will be among the first to receive them. Follow me, both of you – I know where we must now go.”

OOC: A few of the screenshots had to be re-taken thanks to my short-sightedness and a minor case of data loss (long story); had to split this into two posts because I tend to be a bit long-winded when writing which caused me to hit the character limit (as a trivial side note, the DF languages in the post should be accurate). Not sure when the next bit is coming out, but I’ll try not to take weeks this time.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Eric Blank on July 11, 2022, 02:19:53 pm

I've moved into my new house, I'd like to have another go!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on July 12, 2022, 07:42:42 am

Loving the story Quantum, really interested to see where it's going and nice to see where my fortress see through a story lense.

The artwork of Bralbaard was nice to see, made that image to as one of my early turn plans was to try and get crumblepink this ancient symbol of a diplomat of the walled dye. Of course it's lost somewhere. I recalled a plan to give it to Bralbaard as he was a diplomat of sorts. But he was in a rotten state when he turned up to my fortress. So why not this idea of the crown rotting and decaying the once great diplomat. Shame his coffin vanished now all we have is his ear. An arm somewhere and a few teeth.

Will be interesting to see if you encounter Roku or one of those necromancers pottering around.

Also noticed Lurker is still on turn order when he asked to be removed for the time being

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on July 14, 2022, 02:04:26 am

Ok, we'll skip MrWillsauce. There's been no response. That makes it Bluarianknight's turn.
I also seem to remember that Lurker asked to be removed from the list at some point but I'll try to confirm by PM.
I've also added Eric to the list.

Great work on all the additions to the different storylines over the last weeks everyone! I'll update the relevant forum topics later, I'm away from my computer for the next two weeks and editing long posts on mobile is a pain. 

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: BluarianKnight on July 14, 2022, 03:59:45 pm

I'll begin tomorrow!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on July 14, 2022, 05:20:27 pm

I was actually lurking when I was my name mentioned, didn't think to reply. Sorry to say I haven't read the stories so far.

Yes, I'm very busy right now, I feel it was a good choice that I wanted to retire for a while. I was surprised to find it was relatively close to what should have been my turn, it feels like ages since last I had my last turn.

Anyway, to confirm, yes, I'm retiring until I feel I have time for playing the game properly.

Thanks to Avolition for noticing that I was still in the turn list and for the good articles on the wiki.

I wish everyone playing great luck.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on July 15, 2022, 07:55:22 am

"Kothvir I", Part I, Turn 85

The Legacy of the Raven - the Tale of Kothvir Shadowstar, the Black Raven.

16th Felsite 880

I have lived all my life in Covereddrinks, with my father, the blacksmith. He has taught me all he knows but I can't shake the restlessness in my soul. I feel there is something else out there for me.
The town now counts me as their best armourer. I can craft almost anything out of iron or bronze, and have made many fine suits of mail for the local militia.
I've always felt different. The other children at school teased me for my black hair, which I hated. They called me the black raven, because of my hair and hooked nose.
I've asked my father why I am so different, and he always looks pained. He tells me it is Sut's way. I don't remember my mother, but father says I got my necklace from her.
It's a strange looking thing, with odd symbols. Made of a black precious stone, I guess.

Father is dying. He can't operate the forge anymore and has taken to his bed. I tell him that I can't stay here when he is gone, that I need to go out in to the world.
What I want more than anything else, is to learn from a dwarf. I yearn to shape steel, but nobody in the High Confederacies can teach me this. I need to find a dwarf master and that isn't going to happen in Covereddrinks.

Father says when he is gone, he won't be able to stop me reaching my destiny, whatever that means. He bids me to train every day with his sword, for when he isn't here to protect me from the ghouls that blight this land.
I am not sure I beleive him... nobody in Covereddrinks has ever seen one, but they say that the bigger towns are overrun, and nobody wants to visit the priests any more.

We are followers of The Communion of Adventuring, worshippers of the great wise Sut, the Tomb of Quests. Lord of Death and Persuasion. Our monastery, so I am told, is Roaredlions, near Sculptarches, but father would never let me go.
Said the ghouls would rip out my heart, which is a pretty scary thing to tell a child.

I am not afraid. I will go and visit these places when he is gone. I will reach my destiny, whatever that is. Maybe I will find a dwarf master smith and learn to shape steel, the first human steelsmith!
Or maybe I will visit Roaredlions and see the prophet?

The sun is low on the horizon and the lanterns flicker, as father calls me to his room. His breath is slow and weak and he bids me to come closer.
On the dresser is his black bear leather robe, and his notched bronze sword, alongside a backpack which looks strangely new.
He whispers that his time is come, and that he knows I will make him proud.
He has traded his last possessions for a horse, and bids me to leave Covereddrinks and never return.
He urges me to visit the great library of Divedact, where he is sure I will learn of my true destiny. My face twists in sadness and confusion, my cheeks wet.

I bury my father in the yard of our house. He will always be with his forge. I stow my meagre belongings in the pack and lead his horse away from my home, my childhood, my past.
The horse is called Omin, Silver, though it does not seem to respond to this name.

I leave the town and spend the morning hunting wildlife for provisions. Pack stowed with echidna meat, I mount Silver and head South, to where the villagers say is the closest Dwarven settlement.
I will visit Divedact for my father, that I promise, but first I wish to learn from the Dwarves. Surely I will find a smith willing to teach me the secrets of steel?

I realise this is the furthest I have ever travelled, as I leave the plains around Covereddrinks, heading to the closest village, Basicvaults.

On the outskirts of Basicvaults, I am suddenly ambushed by a horrid green person hefting a pike! This must be a goblin! Wrestling the pike from his grasp, I throw it into his leg and he yelps in pain. I wrestle him to the ground and eventually manage to strangle his filthy throat.

It seems that goblins run Basicvaults... this must be stopped in the name of Sut! I burn the goblin's corpse as my father had always warned me to. He says all who live in the time of the Blight must. Don't want him coming back as a ghoul.
I head towards the mead hall, warily leading Silver. The overlord runs in panic as the horse rears on him, and I defly take his head. Basicvaults has been reclaimed by the High Confederacies! Silver and I spend the night in the Weathering of Cusps, before dining on echidna meat and fisher berries.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/JVNNBa5.png)

17th Felsite 880

I continue my journey southwards. At the nearby castle of Peekbees, the garrison are waking as I enter the keep.
I spot a fine maceman, who is also a worshipper of Sut, who greets me in kind. He looks a fine warrior. I decide to ask the garrison here to run Basicvaults - I am no lord and I have more important tasks at hand.
They gladly accept.

I trade some gemstones for a fine iron breastplate. Upon it is a superiorly designed image of a square cut brilliant gem, The Roughness of Riddling, the symbol of the High Confederacies, in marlin bone.
I spend some time with the soldiers, sharing rumours. They take great pleasure petting Silver.
They tell of blighted thralls roaming the lands, one of whom was struck down by a wolf woman necromancer Desli Wanedhummed. Sounds scary, but I remain skeptical.
At a shrine of Tokda the Pristine Help, I roll the die and I am granted a week's good fortune! Could have been worse...

We stop at Embracedvises to rest for the night, and on entering the mead hall I am witness to a horrible scene!
Two twisted creatures reeking of death shamble from the hall. A Lady and a Sacred Gold... the draw crude knives and lunge for me!
The undead menace... my pulse quickens as I scrabble for my sword. Father spoke the truth, for surely these are Blighted Thralls. This threat must be ended!

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/eNwt69j.png)

They are very tough.. tougher than goblins or echidnas. My bronze sword seems only to bruise their muscles, not enough to slow their assault.
I yelp in pain as the Lady stabs my finger with her boning knife, but I get a lucky strike in and take her head in turn!
The sacred gold seems to look confused and retreats into the keep, leaving itself exposed to a slash to the neck.

I burn their corpses before heading further south. Dunehoisted is similarly infested with Blighted Thralls.
I feel a little more confident now - aiming for the head and necks seems to be the quickest way to dispatch them as they shrug off hideous body and limb wounds.
Three more thralls lie on the funeral pyre before the night is done.

18th Felsite 880

I arrive at a tall stone structure, the tower of Momentcrowded is long abandoned.
Piles of dismembered corpses and skeletons lie rotting inside but there is scant treasure to be found.
I am close now to the dwarven hamlet I have been seeking. Perhaps a smith there can teach me the ways of steel?
I bump into a dwarven baron running errands to the tower - he points me in the direction of Guildperfect.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/QwXJwZg.png)

It is the first time I have set eyes on a dwarf and they are strange stocky creatures indeed.
I introduce myself to the mayor, Reg Stockadewhipped, a rather frail fellow.
Reg tells me about some scary sounding dwarf forts - Frostwall the Last Bastion and Northmanor the Unholy Cathedral. They seem awfully far away.
I enquire further about whether there are any dwarf forts closer to here? Or any dwarven smiths who I can learn from?

Eventually he relents, and tells me of a fort nearby, Knifesteamy, which is still in operation.
Before he takes his leave, he suggests I ask about an abandoned fort to the far north, Relicward, which was rumoured to have great steelworks, and a temple to Midor, the dwarven death God. This I do find intriguing!

I follow the mayor's directions eastward, to Knifesteamy. Knifesteamy is rather sparsely appointed and at first glance appears deserted. There is no inn or temple that I can see, but there are some strangely fresh meat and fruits at the trade depot.
I tie up Silver and head down the coiling stairwell hoping to find some more helpful dwarves...

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/kNX76ad.png)

A short while into the fort I encounter my first occupant - a militia commander. This gruff soul is Moldath Racebridges.
I find only five dwarves here, remnants of a prior garrison. All of them have very important and grand titles and regalia, and are not in the remotest interested in teaching a human about steelworking, or guiding me to Relicwards.
There are huge levels dedicated to forgeworks, but they are stone cold and deserted. I find not even a scrap of iron, let alone steel.
Finally, I find a stockpile of well crafted dwarven smithworks. And steel armour! Oh how I am crestfallen when I realise it is just too small for me.
I do find however a steel sword and shield to replace my dented bronze ones. I leave Knifesteamy still with no knowledge of the dwarves.
I continue my tour of the southern hamlets of the High Confederacies, hoping to clear out any ghouls I can find.
A rather curious sight awaits me in Embraceddonkeys - a goblin lord and a mead hall brimming with elven poets of the performance troupe The Doctrines of Scalding.
Elf poetry is not my scene, so I bid them good day.

The town of Sprayoils is where I uncover my next coven of ghouls, and it looks like I am not the first to visit.
Corpses are strewn haphazardly around with hewn limbs and axe wounds gaping. Some damn fool has forgotten to clean up after himself.
I take down the lady and a slavering priest and am lucky to find a living survivor.
I spend most of the day clearing the place of corpses and tending to the remaining priests, who are grateful and let me stay the night. The funeral pyre burns until dawn.
The survivors acclaim me as a Witch Hunter, and I agree to continue my crusade to cleanse these villages, until I can reach the dwarven fort Relicward.

19th Felsite 880

On the outskirts of Sculptarches is the monastery of Roaredlions, as my father said it was.
Here I meet a curious goblin who claims to be a pilgrim. He claims to be a follower of The Communion of Adventuring like me. I find it hard to believe that Sut in his wisdom would allow a foul goblin to be his prophet.
He cheerfully lets slip that he is of the Most Sin and his wife is a bandit chieftess who lords over Sculptarches, and has done for nearly 200 years.
After maiming this bandit goblin imposter I decide to check out his story.
I had intended to leave him blind with no hands as a message to those who would seek to deceive in the name of Sut, but Obin has another idea. Don't mess with horses, I guess.
For some reason, the horse now wants to be known as Numberphantom, Idurwarosp.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/Cr82gSk.png)

When I arrive at The Mauve Prison in Sculptarches, it appears I am already too late to interrogate this goblin bandit chieftess, as the hall is swarming with ghoulish priests.
This is the cathedral of the Communion of Adventuring, and it is desecrated. The floor is slick with blood and goblin corpses are scattered wide.
The ghouls turn to face me and unsheath their dull knives. This could get hairy.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/TZOFwKl.png)

Thankfully, although there are many of them, they have little skill and no armour. My dwarven steel sword cuts through hemp robes and necks alike as wheat. Praise be to Sut the Tomb of Quests, Sculptarches is cleansed.

21st Felsite 880

The next few days are uneventful, as I travel the lands, visiting the hamlets. No further ghouls are to be found.

Something deeply suspicious, however, is happening in Singetown. A goblin professing to be a snatcher hastily drops an iron goblet as I enter the mead hall.
I see the remnants of some thick crimson liquid within. He claims to be Ozud Auburnscourges. He is not very convincing.
He then decides to be a spinner, and regales me of tales of him "rescuing" children.
I goblin blood drinker who snatches children? This is not going to stand. After I carve him up it appears he is in fact Nako Dreadslip, the goblin Vampire.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/KKkSkLU.png)

Singetown itself is crawling with undead. I urge my horse to safety while I deal with this threat.
The acrid stench of burning corpses wafts lazily over Singetown as I ride out east towards Padsplotted.
The blighted thrall Lady and two Sacred Esteems are put to the sword. With that, the last ghoul of The Communion of Adventuring falls, and I am now made Sacred Esteem myself.
May Sut the Tomb of Quests guide my hand. With my faith as my shield, and a bloody big sword, I will suffer not the witch, the ghoul or the heretic.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/PmChl4p.png)

22nd Felsite 880

As we travel west, we bump into a travelling priest. He says he is headed to Sculptarches to take up his position as sacred call.
I bid him good day, and silently pray he fares better than his predecessor. We spend the rest of the day marching northwest following the crude directions to Relicward, and rout a goblin master from Frilldeath.
It is likely we will pass through all the major towns of the High Confederacy on our great travel north.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/EjJ1wRE.png)

23rd Felsite 880

Divedact. The city is huge, larger than anything I have ever seen, yet oddly quiet. This great city of knowledge is home of the Palace of Brains, the largest library on Orid Xem.
It has been out of the hands of the High Confederacy for too long. I will do the bidding of my father and visit the library, and maybe find clues to my heritage here.
A sinister witch from the Realm of Silver has taken residence in the keep so local villagers had told me. I shall investigate.

I tie Numberphantom up in the centre of the old town and explore the outskirts of the keep.
I stumble across what appears to be a ruined temple of The Tenebrous Abbey. Delving further, I find myself in the dusty catacombs of Mazestar.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/jVgRBYl.png)

In a heavily trapped mausoleum, I find ancient steel gauntlets and leggings sized for a human, which are far superior to my battered bronze.
I ponder that this must be a sign of kinship of humans and dwarves in ages past, long before the undead threat engulfed this land and the stonefolk were scattered.

I trudge back up to the temple and head towards the Palace of Brains. It is truly a miraculous sight. More knowledge than ever I could have imagined.
The topics are diverse, geology, mechanics, astrology, trade... but several books catch my eye. The Unabridged Divedact, a 108 page guide to Divedact. Before the Human, a guide on The Master. Dwarf: Natural or Supernatural.

There are some revelations in these dusty tomes about the history of the High Confederacies, both ancient and recent. Divedact is now run by Peaceful the Godly Fellowship of the Realm of Silver taken over some years ago by a human necromancer. Perhaps this is the foreign witch the locals talked of?

Incenseorder, previously the jewel of the Confederacies, is now run by The Impervious Wall of the Dwarvish Walled Dye, usurpers!
It is true that Incenseorder has a troubled past. The great city was taken over by the undead of The Scholarly Manors for nearly seven centuries, then conquered by goblins of the Curious Horror and their demon masters.
Demons walked the streets after the town was sacked by goblins, and the cowardly dwarves granted them amnesty.

The charcoal brute Pis Meadowshaft left behind from the goblin attacks ruled the town for many a year, and put an end to many adventurers.
This firebreathing fiend was slain by the human blood-traitor Iden Bloodinked who conquered the town in the name of the dwarves of the Walled Dye.
The stubborn Impervious Wall then employed the same demonic charcoal brutes to run the city, and refuse all diplomacy!
They say the current leader, however, is a strange little wolf man who talks to the rotten ear of the dwarven King slain by Pis Meadowshaft.
Perhaps one day a hero will be strong enough to retake the capital for the glory of the High Confederacies, I grin to myself.

I am even more so intrigued when I see a chapter about The War of Scars, and recognise an engraving of a black opal amulet... the same amulet given to me by my father before he died!
The amulet's true name is Riddleddressed the Legend of Ravens, and it is the lost heirloom of Genam Riddledressed!

Could it be that that is the secret of my birth? Why I have the black hair of a raven, not the goldenrod of my supposed kin? What is the connection? I read on...

The Death God Sut the Tomb of Quests, praise be his bony countenance, bestowed the secret tablet The Certain Urns to Riddleddressed in the year 61, and with it she founded the tower Passionspirals which stood for nearly four centuries.
It was destroyed by the fearful armies of the High Confederacies in 443 during The War of Scars, and is now deserted. The Certain Urns is lost to time, and nobody is sure what happened to it.

I read on. It is said that the human Etru Rhythmicfree, lord of the Fellowship of Truth from Embracedvises looted the tablet when the tower fell, and it became a family heirloom.
Some say the following year, his army fought for the Creamy Confederacy against the goblins of the Curious Horror defending a long-sacked fort called Boltspumpkin. Why does that name seem familiar?
Etru was struck down by a monstrous blind monster demon commanded by the foul goblin Bosa Scarsteals, Master of the Curious Horror, and the slab was never heard of again.

The Creamy Confederacy had lost control of the fort to the undead of The Scholarly Manors many years before, and the dwarves of the Walled Dye and the humans of the Creamy Confederacy both staked a claim to it.
In the end, control was then wrested by the hands of an unlikely source - a strange goblin who claimed to have been a slave of the Confederacy.
This goblin swore allegiance to the Walled Dye, rather than the Scholarly Manors, and set up a Museum of all things.

Sadly though, the great knowledge is lost... Genam did flee the sacking of Pasionspirals in 443 and was slain by a charcoal brute under the onslaught of the Curious Horor, taking her secrets with her.
His apprentices were slain or enslaved, though some were unnacounted. Hob Tileddoctrines, one of the last of Genam's line, escaped from slavery and founded the tower of Largetempests leaving Passionspirals to ruin.

But what is this? A tale of a necromancer who slipped into the night after the tower crumbled to ruin... Innu Velvetstood. Imprisoned for theft and impersonating a prophet.
Last known whereabouts Orbsnarled, in Mong Uthros. Perhaps this coward is the last to hold Genam Riddleddressed's knowledge... my birthright.

My head spins. I thought my destiny was to bring the knowledge of steel to my kindred. To rid the High Confederacies of the vultures who pick its carcass, and now I find I am of the blood of Genam Riddleddressed?
I seek the guidance of Sut and in communion with him I find I need answers... I need to visit these places.

Passionspirals, the tower of my past.
Boltspumpkin, the curious Museum.
Orbsnarled - to find what happened to Innu Velvetstood.

And perhaps when I have the knowledge that has been denied to me, I will return and take Incenseorder from the demon-loving usurpers.

The streets of Divedact are blanketed in snow, and a pale moon is in the Eastern sky, as I make my way to the central spire which looms over the city.
I enter the Citadel of Sining to find a slavering goblin ghoul priest and a smirking Lady clad in iron. The Sacred Dream cocks a crossbow and I bat a iron bolt away with my shield.
The Lady merely snorts in delight as the ghoul barrels down on me. Aiming for the goblin, my sword catches the Lady on her breastplate and she howls in rage. I run out of her sight and manage to defeat the goblin before doubling back.

She is witheringly fast and laughs manically, screaming about wolfs and weasels she has slaughtered. I manage to disarm her jewelled silver scimitar, and a lucky strike to the leg chips her bone.
She seems to faint and falls to the floor unguarded. With a single strike, my steel sword is thrust into her heart to the hilt and her necromantic lifeblood spurts freely.

When the dust settles, I place the necromancer in the keep with her belongings and the bells ring out around Divedact at dawn. The Raven-Guard of Secrets of the High Confederacies rules Divedact!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: tonnot98 on July 19, 2022, 08:37:47 am

Super busy these days, gonna have to push my turn down to the end. Yawo will stir after a few more years of meditation...

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: BluarianKnight on July 21, 2022, 09:25:20 pm

I did end up getting a little busy myself - I am freer now, and will be able to hand in the turn by the 25th.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on July 26, 2022, 12:32:56 am

Hey Bluarianknight, could you please upload your turn? You can always finish your adventures later on a future turn. I'm looking forward to your stories!

Also Toady has decided that the (first) upcoming release of DF will not have adventure mode. We might be stuck in this version for a while... Imagine what this world will be by that time..

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on July 26, 2022, 02:04:28 am

Is a shame about adventure mode but atleast it's gonna come later. Will be interesting to see what comes of this world by then. Thinking of all the adventures

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Maloy on July 26, 2022, 02:45:32 pm

Quote from: Bralbaard on July 26, 2022, 12:32:56 am

Imagine what this world will be by that time..

It is terrifying


Likely by that point you could do a whole study on world and story development from this world lol it's already incredibly fascinating

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: BluarianKnight on July 26, 2022, 08:48:37 pm

Quote from: Bralbaard on July 26, 2022, 12:32:56 am

Hey Bluarianknight, could you please upload your turn? You can always finish your adventures later on a future turn. I'm looking forward to your stories!

Also Toady has decided that the (first) upcoming release of DF will not have adventure mode. We might be stuck in this version for a while... Imagine what this world will be by that time..

I apologize! I can upload it tomorrow, I was going to today but I'm away from my laptop due to personal issues.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: BluarianKnight on July 26, 2022, 09:31:34 pm

Quote from: BluarianKnight on July 26, 2022, 08:48:37 pm

Quote from: Bralbaard on July 26, 2022, 12:32:56 am

Hey Bluarianknight, could you please upload your turn? You can always finish your adventures later on a future turn. I'm looking forward to your stories!

Also Toady has decided that the (first) upcoming release of DF will not have adventure mode. We might be stuck in this version for a while... Imagine what this world will be by that time..

I apologize! I can upload it tomorrow, I was going to today but I'm away from my laptop due to personal issues.

Got it tonight - tossed it out. I did far less then I wanted with this turn - barely anything. My adventure was.. pitifully short.

https://dffd.bay12games.com/file.php?id=16020

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on July 27, 2022, 02:18:10 pm

Thanks for the save game! Don't worry about the short turn, life has a tendency to get in the way of things like this.
I'm looking forward to the story.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on July 27, 2022, 03:03:54 pm

Picked up the save, go the sit down and my chair finally choose to give out. Welp time to order a new one.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on July 30, 2022, 04:22:26 am

A little teaser of how my turn is going
(https://i.imgur.com/ED3s7IU.png)

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Quantum Drop on July 30, 2022, 04:41:58 am

Quote from: AvolitionBrit on July 30, 2022, 04:22:26 am

A little teaser of how my turn is going
(https://i.imgur.com/ED3s7IU.png)

Huh. IIRC that should happen when between 50-90% of civilised creatures are mundane, so I'm guessing we should expect a major drop in the goblin (or maybe the elven) population in the future. Looking forward to see how it turns out!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Maloy on July 30, 2022, 06:13:55 am

Quote from: AvolitionBrit on July 30, 2022, 04:22:26 am

A little teaser of how my turn is going
(https://i.imgur.com/ED3s7IU.png)

WHAT

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on July 30, 2022, 07:49:15 am

Report - The Treatyseed Event 885

“Can you tell me what happened?”
“I believe so but it… it was alot”
“Just tell me what you can”
“Well i was a relatively new baron at the time, it was a warm summer evening when a hooded figure descended the stairs and headed towards the queen”

As he approached Queen Lorbam, we noticed the tang of iron and the glistening of crimson pools behind him. “Looks like someone had too much strawberry wine” bellowed Udil Pulleytades as his massive frame vibrated with his wheezing chuckle. “Guards!” cried Kol Craftedtips in a half mocking tone. “Looks like one of the dwarven dregs has shown up”. The crowd of nobles erupting in belated laughter. The figure was unmoved by this and reached the queen. Getting down on his knees, he pleaded with her “you must help the dwarves, the lands continue to be blighted, the goblins continue their marches and the undead continue to grow”
“Ugh I don’t have time for this peasants drivel, someone get the wretched thing away from me” she screeched. The figure stood up and decried “was this what the dwarven nobles have become, fat leviathans that leech the lifeblood of the mountains, having petty power squabbles and putting dwarven lives in danger”. “Well i never” screached the frail queen, as the large vein on her head throbbed like a feasting leech. “King Bralbard would have never stood for this, he saved the dwarves from nonexistance” the hooded figure retaliated. The nobles waddled around to surround the hooded figure, grabbing him and pushing them to their knees using the weight of their obese frames. The Queen bent down and laughed at the figure, “King Bralbaard was a fool, an undead coffin pusher who meant nothing, he lived a loser, died a loser, lived an undead loser and now he is…” She suddenly stopped, her vision slowly clouded be a crimson stream pouring from her head. The room fell silent has the Queen looked up in horror as the curved blade of a scimitar was wedged in her head. “Wait I…” she whispered, falling to the floor as the scimitar was removed from her head.

Everyone was panicking, we all ran. I saw three more fall before I lost sight. As the larger members held the doors we called an emergency vote. Sibrek Waninggranite was to be king, by the time we were done, it was too late. The hooded figure had made their way in and several of us had fallen. Sibrek barely stood a chance as a spear was lodged into his body. The rest of us continued to run and hide. By the end of the night most of us were dead. We sent word to all the fortresses informing them we need replacement representatives. As for our ruler, we came across some documents upon Sibreks body, it appears Stukos Manortouches of Ancientknowledge is to be Queen. We have sent word to her that she is Queen, she has refused to move from Ancientknowledge, not that I blame her of course after what happened here, who would want to stay.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on July 30, 2022, 04:31:26 pm

Quote from: Quantum Drop on July 30, 2022, 04:41:58 am

Huh. IIRC that should happen when between 50-90% of civilised creatures are mundane, so I'm guessing we should expect a major drop in the goblin (or maybe the elven) population in the future. Looking forward to see how it turns out!

Apparently the dwarves aren't getting out free either.
If the ages work like the wiki says, close to 20.000 kills were needed for this age change. It is terrifying.

Edit: messed up the quote.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Maloy on July 30, 2022, 04:54:44 pm

I'm just sitting here getting mauled by gators and trying to convince low level warriors to join me while you guys are reshaping the landscapes of the planet

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on July 30, 2022, 07:19:27 pm

A coup!

What have you done Avo!?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on July 31, 2022, 02:16:35 am

And he did that in only 3 days. I fear what he might do in the other four.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on July 31, 2022, 04:29:40 am

I’d better get the rest of my story up soon then, before the End Times…

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Quantum Drop on August 03, 2022, 05:57:36 pm

Ashcinders, Moonstone 879
The mountains rose high before them as Aril, Arkur, and Citoj emerged from the treeline. Their leader had led them through broad streams and lush plains to reach this place, directed by his unseen master’s command.

It was an intimidating sight, the entrance of the great fortress: the land around was scorched and barren, pock-marked by lumpen chunks of cooled igneous rock and masked by a thick pall of grey ash. Great stone walls framed the gaping maw of the fortress entrance, carved from the living stone of the vast mountains rising above; far above stood a blunt, megalithic block of masonry, topped with crenelations and studded with arrow-slits. To the side of the fortress gateway stood a squat, steel-doored structure of green glass and metal, guarded by the symbol of the Walled Dye and the image of some great dwarven hero.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/9lQTGFG.png)

Both statues were forged of an odd, blistered metal - they seemed to ripple with barely-constrained motion or heat, lending them a curiously lifelike quality, but when Arkur touched a bare finger to them, it was as cold and solid as iron. The dwarf was wicked in visage and savagely scarred, their eyes little more than hollow pits in a metal face and their flesh withered like the image of the corpse-ruler in the False Tower. Their hulking frame was clad in decorated and scored armor forged from blueish metal and it grasped a short sword of the same strange blue metal in one hand, arm poised in readiness to strike; the other had its stubby, battered fingers wrapped around the throat of a flailing elf, crushing the creature’s neck with an iron-fingered stranglehold. The elf’s features were noble and elegant, as those of that fey race were wont to be, but constricted into a terrible rictus of fury that exposed teeth as long and sharp as knives rising from its jaws; the mouth was smeared and coated in rust, in sharp contrast to the otherwise near-pristine state of the statues.

Upon its stone pedestal, words had been carved in a simple, blocky script: Moldath Leshaltölún Nanoth-Råsh tharnas Dák-Enur nazush-kosak Vafice Iturlaltur.

Aril peered closely at the words, mumbling to himself as he went. “These are dwarven runes. I recognise a few of these...” He raised a finger to point to one set of the words, a note of excitement creeping into his voice. “There – these ones here! I recognise this name: a dwarven warrior of great renown, who worked to the same goal as us before he vanished. And here – the name of this place. Ashcinders the Molten Scar, just as my Master said!”

Aril broke away from the statues and practically sprinted toward the fortress’ entrance, rushing past the alternating statues of steel and silver that lined the tunnel within without a second glance. By the time Citoj and Arkur caught up he was at the sweeping central stairs, taking them two at a time as he half-ran, half-skidded down the mossy steps. No-one seemed to be present – no dwarves stepped out of the gloom to challenge or welcome them, only the echoes of their iron-shod steps as the small party followed Aril’s hurried flight down a branching corridor.

A great oval vault greeted them, carved of smooth stone and filled with statues of figures both familiar and unknown. Arkur could recognise the warrior from outside, a dark iron image of him raising an unfurled scroll covered in archaic runes aloft in triumph; across from him, as if replying to the dwarf’s gesture, there stood the statue of a second dwarf raising a stone-bound codex. Others were completely unrecognisable – statues of great beasts and mighty heroes stood alongside scenes of defeat or triumph from a dozen disparate stories, linked by no apparent common thread.

The centre of the chamber was dominated by a quartet of bronze statues, cast in the image of that strange, withered monarch whose image had been in the dungeons of the False Tower: one of him in the clothes of a commoner, raising a grotesque skull-totem aloft in apparent triumph; two of him amidst a gathering of other dwarves, now clad in something resembling a noble’s outfit - and finally one of him standing amidst a circle of kneeling dwarves, now lacking an arm and displaying the marks of terrible and prolonged damage to his body, but with a crown upon his head and a defiant strength to his worn frame.


Aril sped past them without so much as a glance, his eyes fixed firmly on the stone steps at the far end of the room, and the doors that stood at the bottom. Both were quite plain, beyond the engraving sprawling across their forms, detailing some great battle between dwarves and strange creatures. Despite their simplicity compared to the chamber of statues above, the sight seemed to bring Aril’s excitement to a fever pitch.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/cysCq7N.png)

“Get these doors open now, Citoj!” He growled, pointing the base of his axe toward the stone portals. Within a few minutes of violent struggle, his companion had managed to force the stone aside and reveal the chamber it had been hiding.

“By the Firstborn…”

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/lVHC1Af.png)

Whispered though it was, Aril’s words echoed from the walls of the vault like a ballista’s crack. The chamber was ringed by images of dwarves, cast in brightly polished electrum and seated upon thrones of precious metal. Crowns of precious alloy hung from sculpted brows, accompanied by the glint of forged sceptres and moulded ceremonial garbs. Other dwarves stood sentinel around them, these ones bearing forged arms and armour emblazoned with the marks of Ashcinders and Walled Dye alike; graven script ringed the stone bases supporting each image, detailing the names and dates of each monarch’s reign. Were it not for the metallic gleam of their features in the radiant torchlight, they looked as though they might turn to face the intruders and demand to know the reason for their entrance into this ornate court of royals.

In the centre of the chamber, there lay Aril’s prize – the reason he had sought this place. There, clutched in the hands of a dead dwarf, were the forms of several weapons forged of strange, blistered metal. Aril picked them up with an almost reverent level of care, secreting them away into his pack one by one, before turning and sharply jerking his head back toward the surface.

“Come, my friends. We have one more travel ahead of us…”

---

Tunneluttered, Moonstone 879

The village of Tunneluttered was silent and seemingly abandoned as the group limped into town. No lights gleamed in the dirty windows of the neglected houses, and the splintered remnants of wooden doors lay in the mud of the streets. Aril and his companions crept into the hamlet carefully, wary eyes flicking across decaying roofs and empty doorways for any sign of movement. Rot clung to the air, wooden and otherwise.

“What happened here…?” Arkur’s voice was barely above a whisper

Aril shook his head. “I’ll scout ahead, see if there’s anyone still alive. You – you go to the mead hall, try finding the local master.”

And with those words he was away, with Citoj at his back, stalking down the muddied roads of the empty hamlet. Arkur hesitated a moment before beginning to move himself, toward the blunt, squat building crouching at the centre of the tangled buildings. Bodies were strewn around the path to the mead hall, some bearing the blisters and sores of the Blighted, others a device of two bestial creatures, half-sloth and half-men. A few carrion crows took flight, disturbed from their feasting by a sudden shifting near the walls of the hall – a young soldier, still alive despite the carnage about them.

The soldier was propped up against a wall, still wearing their half-ruined bronze mail. They were breathing in a slow, stertorous manner, their armor black with dried blood, but still alive. Bodies lay in the dirt around them, bearing the marks of axe and sword blows to the heads and necks – many bore the sores and growths of the plagued, though a few bore the unfamiliar device upon their arms and armour.

“Please… help me,” The soldier managed to wheeze.

Arkur looked back over his shoulder, hesitant. Aril had ordered him to investigate the mead-hall, to help find out what happened here – that took priority. But something deep in his gut rebelled at the thought of simply leaving the soldier here to rot in their own blood. He took a deep breath and carefully put his waterskin to the soldier’s face, before moistening a strip of cloth and using it to wipe the worst of the blood from their face.

“Thank you, friend,” The soldier gasped. They wore the badge of the half-animal creatures; the sight of it stirred something deep within his memories. A mead hall, blood, the scent of rot and iron – Aril’s fierce words, spoken over the broken bodies of his friends and the bandits that had murdered them.

“I’m not your friend,” Arkur spat, one hand dropping to his blade. This soldier was part of the same group that had murdered his friend’s allies, but the need to learn what had happened here was the sole thing keeping them alive. “What were you here for? Capturing more of those bloody thralls for your cult?”

 “I serve the Realm of Silver alone,” They wheezed, features twisting in visible confusion, head shaking in the negative.

“Then… you are not part of those spreading this plague?”

“No!” The soldier’s entire frame convulsed horribly as a cough rattled their body, blood staining the grass. Steeling themselves, they pressed on. “Lord Gloryages – he sent us here to destroy the Thralls. Before they could spread again. Been doing this for months.”

Arkur almost recoiled openly at that. His first thought was that this puppet of the Great Enemy that Aril had described was lying to him, a last-ditch effort to save their own skin or poison his mind against his master. But their conviction seemed genuine; he could hear no trace of a lie in the soldier’s words. Something was not adding up, and he hated that. He pushed those thoughts aside as best as he could, forcing himself to continue speaking.

“What of the rest of your men? Where are they now?”

The soldier tried to raise their head, only for it to list to the side. Their eyes were becoming unfocused and cloudy as their wounds took their toll. “Those that weren’t killed ran. Going back… back to Silverthrone. Tell the Law-Giver what happened here.”

“And wh –”

“Arkur! I was wondering where you –”

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/ql5KmUO.png)

The air seemed to freeze as Aril and Citoj emerged from the houses they had been searching through. The unfortunate soldier’s eyes clouded eyes abruptly sharpened at the sight of the tattoo on Aril’s cheek, something flashing across their face too fast for Arkur to discern. Their hand tightened around the hilt of their sword until it creaked. Blood streaming from their mouth, they tried to raise the blade.
Before Arkur could react, Aril was in motion. His new axe of blistered metal flashed out, once, twice, severing the soldier’s head and then smashing through their armour to rip the body almost in half. Blood sprayed scarlet across the stained timbers of the mead hall.

“What madness is this?!” Arkur placed his hand  on Aril’s shoulder, shocked by the sudden violence, only for him to throw off Arkur’s hand with surprising force and a sharp growl of anger.
“They were bitten, my brother!” Aril snapped. He jabbed a finger at the broken, headless body in the dirt, ignoring the blood pooling around his dirt-encrusted boots. “If I did not slay them here, they would have begged for death once the Blight took hold!”

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/IxoX7gS.png)

(https://i.imgur.com/IY0ugCX.png)

Any further words were cut off by a terrible cry from the mead hall, accompanied by the splintering crash of its doors breaking free from their hinges. Two figures, both clad in the rich ceremonial robes of religious clergymen, sprawled out into the evening light, limbs locked together and blood pouring from a dozen different wounds apiece. The larger of them let out a terrible, baying scream of fury as she drove her fists into the man pinned beneath her, battering dents into the armor he wore. Her pallid, blistered face was locked into a mask of murderous aggression, yellowed eyes bulging almost out of their sockets and dark, viscous blood dripping from the shattered remains of her front teeth as she leaned down toward his face. Behind them, the hall’s interior seethed with the motion of bodies.

In an instant the living dead came boiling free of the hall’s doorway in a horrific tide of blistered, weeping flesh and blood-dripping teeth. These creatures were not like the sleepy, half-awoken bandit soldiers they had slaughtered in the mead hall weeks ago. These were Blighted Thralls, their bodies grotesquely swollen with unnatural growth and stripped of any sense of fear or restraint. Many bore little more than tattered cloth robes and rusty knives, but easily half of them wore the heavy iron and bronze armour of soldiers, their diseased forms bristling with blades and shields. A few dragged the shattered remnants of heavy chains along the ground behind them, trailing like streamers from their wrists as they charged the living adventurers.

No further words were needed. Aril’s axe flashed forward and relived a froth-mouthed fiend of his head as it ran toward them; Citoj shattered the jaw and skull of a second with a swing of his hammer-like fist, leaving the bodies to be trampled underfoot. Limbs and blood flew in equal measure as preternaturally sharp blades parted flesh from bone with every strike. And still they came - the plague-born beasts did not care for the losses inflicted on them by the intruding men, springing forward with bestial cries of hunger and bulging eyes, tumbling over one another in their haste to reach living flesh.

Stepping sideways to avoid the rusty, crusted blade of a halberd, Arkur swung his blade upward through the thrall’s weapon-arm before twisting to slash across the neck. The thrall made a repulsive sucking sound and toppled backward into the crush of bodies, only to be replaced by another. The plague-spawned beasts seemed almost oblivious to his friends’ presence, reacting only when struck non-fatal blows. One of them blundered past Aril, close enough that its flailing arm brushed against the scar-faced man’s cheek, yet it did not even try to turn aside and strike; another ducked beneath Citoj’s swinging fist and shambled on toward Arkur, moving surprisingly fast despite its ruined legs.

That was all that he had time to register. The tide of hungry thralls surged and Arkur was back in the fray, slashing and stabbing left and right as the plague-ridden creatures closed in. The fighting began to blur together, becoming one long blood-streaked haze. His clothing was soaked through with diseased blood; shreds of torn flesh and half-dismembered thralls formed a ragged circle around him. Breath coming in hitching gasps, Arkur forced himself upright, looking desperately to his friends for aid. Aril was hacking away at an armoured brute, sparks flying from its armour with every blow as he struggled to keep the creature at bay.

Citoj had lost his mask somewhere in the fighting, wrenched free by one of the ghoulish creatures. The ravaged face beneath looked even worse in the low light. The scales were peeling away from his flesh to reveal discoloured muscle beneath. One of his eyes was gone completely, the flesh around the socket rotten and gangrenous; the other was glassy and cold as the lenses of his mask, rolling about in its socket as he shoved his way through the mass. Beneath the wide nose-slits of his reptilian snout, there was no face – merely a hideous, skeletal grin of blackened bone and blistered flesh.

The shock Arkur felt at the revelation of his once-comrade’s appearance was swiftly overcome as a sharp, stabbing pain flared in his elbow.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/PcQsUKN.png)

Arkur looked down at his arm in mute horror. There was a tiny gap in his armor at the elbow where the gauntlet met the mail shirt, scarcely three fingers wide. Against any other foe, it would have been inconsequential. Against the infected, it had been enough. A quintet of ragged puncture wounds stood starkly in the crook of his arm, where a thrall’s teeth had cut through the skin and torn the fat beneath.

Arkur staggered away from the creature as it lunged for him again, spraying rot-laden spittle from the ragged nightmare of its face. Its jaundiced, bulbous eyes rolled in its sockets in madness or horror as its grotesque form lurched toward him. Its fingers were worn down to expose the bone, hooked into sharp, claw-like talons that reached out to tear at his armor and rake at the vulnerable flesh beneath. He forced his numbed arm up, driving the sword cleanly through its ruined face and into the brain behind – the thrall convulsed violently, limbs shuddering and spasming, before it went still with a soft, rattling sigh of breath.

Every beat of his heart now sent a cold, spreading darkness rushing through his veins as the thrall’s poison began to spread from the point of the bite, its cold fingers gently tracing their way up to his brain. He shrugged the body off of his sword, staggering like a drunkard as the world shifted and roiled beneath his feet. Everything seemed so much more now – he could hear every footstep and every breath and every soft rustle of fabric on diseased, rotting flesh as the thralls milled about them, see the wet, rich blood dripping from the bleeding gashes in their bodies. It was enough to make him drool as the scent hit his nostrils; he wanted it, needed it, needed to sink his teeth into the warm, sweet flesh before him and eat –

No. No! This is wrong! This-

“Help-” Arkur coughed, choking on the spittle that now overflowed his mouth and dribbled down his chin. The inside of his head pounded with hunger, a ravening, all-consuming desire for flesh and blood and bone that overwhelmed all thought but satisfying it. He reached desperately toward Aril, feeling something spark in his chest as his brother turned and saw the bite mark on his arm. “Help… me…!”

And in the last moment before the man known as Arkur Fedemnoñi became a prisoner to his hungers, he saw his brother-in-arms smile in malevolent triumph, and had enough of a mind left to scream.

OOC: That bit about Citoj being ignored by the thralls actually happened, despite him being 100% living in the game. My best guess is that the conflict levels bugged out for some reason. For posterity, I should also note that those blistered metal weapons were in Ashcinders’ glass building rather than the statue chamber.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on August 03, 2022, 08:14:28 pm

Was so close to finishing and stayed up to do so and then a crash lost me lots of progress. Will upload the save tomorrow once I'm back from work and just b-line to the endpoint

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on August 04, 2022, 04:43:37 am

QD: I really like your image of the Hall of Kings from Ashcinders, thanks for that :D

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Quantum Drop on August 04, 2022, 05:32:17 am

Quote from: AvolitionBrit on August 03, 2022, 08:14:28 pm

Was so close to finishing and stayed up to do so and then a crash lost me lots of progress. Will upload the save tomorrow once I'm back from work and just b-line to the endpoint

Unfortunate to hear about that crash, AvolitionBrit. Was it in a specific region, or was it just a random bit of bad luck? Either way, good luck with making up lost progress - it's going to be equal parts terrifying and interesting seeing what sort of changes you've caused in the world so far!

Quote from: kesperan on August 04, 2022, 04:43:37 am

QD: I really like your image of the Hall of Kings from Ashcinders, thanks for that :D

It was quite impressive, kesperan; figured I should provide it with an appropriate description (even if I couldn't fit in the descriptions without image bloat). How long did it take you to make that place, actually?

Other than that, here's the much-belated finale of Turn 83.

---

There was no shelter in the graveyard. In times long past, it had been a monastery, perched high upon an ancient hill. The pillars and huts that had once stood there were now weathered and worn, their former murals and engravings bleached away by the wind and rain to leave bare faces of rock. Here and there lay a recognisable headstone, the last marker of the monastery’s former occupants, but all too many were similarly bleached and bare, or sunk into the dirt and mud until only their weathered crowns poked through the dirt.

It was a graveyard, and nothing more. Nothing but the wind, the earth, and the long-buried dead kept this place.

Yet there were three figures there that night, standing amidst the graves despite the bitter cold. Thin rimes of frost rimmed their hair and cloaks, but none moved, remaining perfectly still. One was a man; the others, something different.

“Damn that old fool,” The first muttered, curling the fingers of his gloved fist. The bones clicked gently beneath the leather as he flexed a cold hand, trying to work some feeling back into the numbed flesh. “Had to choose this place, of all places. Cold’s going to kill me before our mission, at this rate.”

Several long seconds of awkward silence passed before the first man cleared his throat and addressed the second.

“When the others arrive, let me do the talking. I know you two are… hardly the best with people.” He laughed at his own joke, then flinched uncomfortably as the motion tugged the wounds in his chest. Phantom pains lanced the base of his spine, sending pain shooting up and down his body. Still, it was probably nothing compared to what Citoj and Ehhu were feeling.

The Doctor had lived up to his reputation in the miracles he could perform, however long it took him to do so. Aril had been able to sew Citoj’s few wounds shut like one might mend a ragdoll, but Ehhu’s affliction had required… special attention. The old man had worked day and night in the cellar of that gods-forsaken crossroads inn to contain the transformation wracking Ehhu’s body, which had already spread beyond the initial wound by the time they had reached the Doctor’s hideout – but the process had proven difficult, and his methods had left his brother rather changed.

Not for the first time, Aril found himself cursing his master’s recklessness. In his desire to avoid the fate of the last incompetent who held that position, he risked putting the whole enterprise at risk. The potion he had supplied to constrain the initial physical and mental anarchy of the thrall-change had been insufficient in the extreme, and the process of bringing his newly-blessed brother under control arduous. He could only hope that this meeting went smoothly and ended swiftly, such that he could return to what truly mattered.

It was almost midnight by the time the first of them arrived. His master rode out of the mists on horseback, moonlight glinting dully off his heavy plate and mail as the horse bore him up the hill and into the barren graveyard. The armoured brute dismounted swiftly, moving up toward the agreed-upon meeting place with a determined, purposeful stride and his massive battle-axe unslung. As his eyes alighted on Aril, he dropped to his knees in the freezing snow in respect of the new arrival’s superiority, forcing himself to swallow his private annoyance toward him.

“Master,” he intoned. The identity of Aril Vesseleyes fell away in an instant, shed now that it was no longer necessary. In his place stood Ulash Uveolbocot, loyal servant to one of the Firstborn’s greatest faithful and warrior of the Abyssal Cult.

“Ulash. You succeeded, then?”

“Barely, sir. He was compliant, but I had to cut many a throat to turn him. The cluster still lives, but diminished.”

“Good.” The armoured giant grunted, motioning impatiently with a hand. His armoured head turned from side to side, scanning the blank stones as though in search of something. “And what of Uveolbeoco? He played a role in this enterprise – where is he?”

Ulash Uveolbocot shook his head by way of reply. “The Usurpation’s forces eliminated them before I could meet with them, but we saw to it they would be silenced. They won’t know we’re coming.”
The Warlord gave a short grunt of understanding and made an off-handed gesture of the arm. Ulash recognised a dismissal when he saw one, and carefully settled into a more comfortable position to wait for the remaining members of the Council of Four.

Silence settled over the graveyard for a second time, broken only by the creak of leather or the soft hissing of breath; it was almost an hour before it was shattered entirely by the canter of approaching hooves, as a second horse and its rider emerged from the night and began their ascent up the hill. 

“Finally,” The Warlord rumbled, irritated at the newcomer’s late arrival.

He was an old man, clad in a simple cloak of sable cloth like the habit of a clergyman. A long, greying beard streaked with white lines trailed down his chest, contrasting with the oily black of his hair. One thin hand clutched a polished disc of obsidian, its surface engraved with esoteric golden markings that glinted in the moonlight. His slender fingers turned it over and over as he approached them, one eye examining the rock while the other remained fixed on the small gathering.

“What took you so long, Doctor?” The Warlord growled, striking the ground with the base of his axe’s shaft to underscore his demand. “You were meant to be here nearly an hour ago.”

“Be grateful I came at all, Warrior!” His face, covered with the lines of age, creased further in annoyance. He jabbed a bony finger at Aril’s master as he spoke. “Do you know how difficult it is for me to leave the Court in secret? Without arousing suspicion? Were it not for how crucial this creature of yours is -!”

“Enough.” A pale will-o’-the-wisp flickered to life in the darkness, threading its way through the ruins until it stood before the group. As it approached, features began to coalesce from the shadows, slowly forming a full body and a set of tattered, dark robes, until the High Priestess of the Abyssal Cult stood before them. Tall, gaunt, and pale as a corpse in the lantern-light, her half-ethereal presence was enough to stop the brewing argument in a heartbeat. The black pits of her eyes swept across the group, searching for any sign of dissidence before she continued to speak. “We have quoracy. We must address the issue at hand.”

“The Usurper,” The Doctor spat, as though wishing to clear his mouth of the word’s taint.

The High Priestess nodded gravely. Her expression was almost unreadable in the low light and further shrouded by her ragged hood, but there was no mistaking the distaste in her gesture. “His actions have caused great damage. Our Lord’s work is almost undone.”

“No thanks to your predecessor,” The Doctor sneered, turning toward the armoured figure of Aril’s master. “His carelessness deprived us of a powerful weapon. Having it with us today –”

“And yet they are not, because of your failures, Doctor!” The Warlord snapped, hands tightening on his great axe’s haft. His chainmail rattled as he stabbed an accusing finger toward the gaunt old man, eyes burning with ill-suppressed fury. “Your concoction was meant to keep it alive and under control, and see how that succeeded!”

The Doctor’s face twisted into an expression of harsh malice, fingers tightening around the polished disc of black stone he carried. A gentle clinking came from the pockets of his robes as he began to advance on the Warlord, vials of strange toxins and exotic specimens shifting about. “And were it not for y –”

“Enough, all of you.” The Elder growled. “Our lord requires discipline and unwavering dedication to His cause, not this pointless bickering. My decision is made, and our path set. The Law-Giver must perish, and his work with him. But it must be made to look natural – we cannot risk making any more a martyr of him than his death already will. Are you capable of arranging this, Doctor?”

The Doctor paused a moment, casting a glance at his fellows. The Warlord’s mail veiled his expression, though the tension in his limbs belied his anger; were they here, he didn’t doubt the Speaker would even try to hide their relish at the Warlord’s failure. What fools they were, he thought. They were powerful, but still no more than puppets to their Lord, and He had chosen to confer the true responsibility on him. Dreams of better things arose in the back of his mind as he replied, “Of course, Elder.”

“When are you closest to him?”

“My position grants me the run of the fortress, but I am usually at arm’s length from the court.” The Doctor’s expression twisted into a tight grimace. “I have tried to ingratiate myself to the man himself. New ways to slay the thrall-born, studies on their anatomies and the disease’s progress, scraps of information on our more expendable assets – but he just doesn’t seem to trust me!”

“I wonder why not,” Ulash heard his master mutter under his breath.

The Doctor seemed too absorbed in his thoughts to hear the snub. “I can try and get to him through the others. The Housekeeper, perhaps. I should be able to turn them given time-”

“Enough. Poison him. As soon as you can.”

The Doctor hesitated before replying, sweat beading on his brow despite the chill of the night. “I-it will be difficult. Getting past the nobility and menials alike, to say nothing of the-”

“Then think of something,” The High Priestess' voice, if it was possible, grew even colder. Frost crackled across the ground around with each word. “Poison his food after it has been prepared. Poison his wine or medicines. Poison the entire court if you must. Find a way to kill him, or it will be the worse for you!”

“It will be done, Elder.”

“Good. See to it!” The Elder growled, turning their irritated gaze on the Warlord. “I take it you have found a way to continue your predecessor’s work?”

“The purges were thorough, but we have identified multiple viable clusters. As soon as my agents locate suitable subjects, we can begin.”

“Good.” The High Priestess breathed deeply, and the whole of the graveyard seemed to shudder at the motion. Her cold, dark eyes seemed to stare clear through him, toward the kneeling figure of Citoj. “Remember your predecessor’s failures, Warlord Jigotdud. See to it that you do not repeat them.”

The Warlord’s grip on his axe tightened at that, but he gave a sharp nod of his head and bit back whatever words were festering in his throat. Ulash almost smiled at his master’s obvious annoyance, only to stop dead as the High Priestess turned to face Ulash, cold black eyes narrowing to reptilian slits. He hastily bowed his head in submission; Citoj’s form quivered beside him, half-forgotten fear pushing its way back to the surface of the ghoul’s mind at his former master’s presence. The scrutiny of the High Priestess was a palpable weight upon his back – even in her half-ethereal state, Ulash did not doubt that the Firstborn’s favoured daughter could rip the life from his body in a heartbeat.

Thankfully, her gaze lingered for only a moment before she turned to stare off into the dark, letting out a long sigh of breath as she went. Her form flickered like a candle’s flame, seeming to turn almost translucent for a moment before returning to a state of relative solidity. “We cannot risk the failure of this action. May the Firstborn guide your hand, Doctor.”

And with those words she turned fully on her heel and marched away into the dark winter night, leaving no footprints in the snow as her form began to flicker and fade into the shadows. The Doctor wasted little time in scrambling up into the saddle of his horse and spurring it sharply forward, galloping away to the east at great speed – he would need it to return to the Court before sunrise, and dodge the worst of the suspicious questions and awkward gossip.

The Warlord alone remained, still scowling after the retreating form of the Doctor and his horse. His breath hissed between tightly-clenched teeth to mist in the cold air; the shaft of his mighty axe groaned under the force of his grip as he fought to quell the boiling anger within him. With a sudden snarl, he lashed out with an armoured hand to smash a featureless tombstone to gravel. Chunks of stone and grit flew in a dozen different directions, the metal of his gauntlets sparking as they met the stone, but the Warlord did not stop there. He stormed on in rage, lashing out left and right with his fist and axe alike to send tombstones into crumbling ruin and hurl shattered pebbles in all directions, stopping only when there were no more markers to vent his wrath upon.

“That snivelling, incompetent coward will doom us all,” The Warlord gritted out from between his teeth, breathing hard from the ruin he had wrought in his temper. “I refuse to let our work be for nothing. We have all sacrificed too much to let it be for nothing.

“Ulash, Citoj, Ehhu – come with me. We must take a different path.”

---

2nd Opal, 879

Ulash Uveolbeocot stood on the rain-sodden hillside, staring across the wide, rushing river that cut through the land before them.

A quartet of bridges spanned the expanse to provide the sole link between the two sides of the expanse, broken only by a squat two-storey barbican formed of wooden logs; he could make out the shapes of two men outside, wandering back and forth across the strip of land where the river’s raised bank met the wood of the bridge. A watchtower of stone and wood stood off to the side to watch over the approach to the castle, but its crenelated top was bereft of any archers or ballistae and its half-wooden walls bore the signs of unrepaired weathering from rain and snow.

Silverthrone, seat of the Realm of Silver.

Beside him, Ehhu was almost unrecognisable as the half-starved creature that he had dragged out of that prison months before. His once-spare frame was now bulky with ropes of muscle, covered in a patchwork pattern of burns and half-clotted wounds from a close encounter with a hulking creature of the dark. What skin was not burned or bloodied was a sickly, cyanotic colour, stretched tight over muscle and bone to the point of translucency. Citoj flanked him on the other side, his lovingly-repaired mask casting rippling shadows across the wet grass. Though his thick leather robes concealed the bulk of his blessings, Ulash knew full well of the blistered mass of muscle and bone that lay beneath the thick garments.

The Warlord had warned him against the use of thralls – powerful as they were, Gopet’s Spawn always became either uncontrollable or listless once the infection entirely saturated the brain, as the slow, lumbering forms of Ehhu and twice-reborn Citoj could attest to. It had been an arduous task to keep the two moving on schedule: every second step it seemed like they were rushing off to tear into some small creature in the brush, no matter how little flesh was upon its bones. Every little sight or sound made by a living creature was enough to propel them into a killing frenzy of bloodlust and hunger – fine qualities for the battle yet to come, but a liability outside of it.

Instead, he had turned to a simpler, rawer form of weapon, calling on the holy magics that his god had seen fit to grant to him back in the echoing stone halls of a dwarven citadel.

A score of resurrected corpses stood around him on the rain-sodden hillside. Most of them were still clad in the torn, tattered remnants of the clothing they had worn when they were struck down, scraps of cloth and leather still clinging to their half-rotted frames; others were completely bare, their rags stripped away by the wind and weathering of their march through several stormy nights and snow-lashed plains. Not one had gone peacefully, as the black, crusted gashes across their chests, dark red marks around the throats and the occasional missing head or limb could attest. Their simple consciousnesses had been slaved to his will by the spells that animated them, a solid wall of bodies that he could control at the cost of their finer skills. They would not last long in a pitched battle, but neither were they required to.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/MYXa1yX.png)

(https://i.imgur.com/T1JEULQ.png)

(https://i.imgur.com/pBs2qMl.png)

(https://i.imgur.com/n99XICv.png?1)

Indeed, some had fallen already. There had been a great beast lurking in the hills near the fortress, a creature born in back when the world was still young. It had somehow escaped the deep caverns in which it dwelled and slipped out onto the surface, seeking new prey to sate its hungers. The arachnid nightmare had wasted no time in barrelling toward and through the ranks of the living dead, tossing whole bodies into the air like weightless rag dolls before snatching them from the sky with its vast, chitinous legs; its mandibles had snapped others apart like stalks of wheat, crushing flesh and bone with every bite. It had tossed and turned left and right, its webs binding bodies in place with every motion. It had stamped the living corpses into the ground in the wallowing struggle around it. But it was foredoomed, and it went down with one of the corpses shattering its carapace with a kick strong enough to break its own rotting bones; the horde around it had joined in with their own blows and bites, slowly rending the vast creature apart even before its heart had ceased to beat.

It was an unfortunate loss – the walking siege engine it could have served as would have been a powerful tool against the high castle walls, but his still-fledgling powers were insufficient to raise the great beast’s ragged frame. He would make do with what he had.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/fz21npd.png)

Ulash Uveolbocot, warrior of the Abyssal Cult, raised his massive axe of blistered metal aloft and bayed, “Forward, my brothers! Leave none alive!”

The undead seething around him surged forward in reply. It was not so much a swarm as much as a wave: bodies fell as their clumsy movements sent them crashing to the wet soil under their rotting feet, only to be raised up again and borne forward by the rippling motion of the other bodies around them, reanimated corpses tumbling over one another in their haste to reach the warm, living bodies in the castle.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/7uVW1eN.png)

(https://i.imgur.com/DK5UJsi.png)

(https://i.imgur.com/Nkz1Lo2.png)

(https://i.imgur.com/YxOvGma.png)

The two soldiers outside the main gates stood no chance against the horde; one was dragged down shouting in moments as the dead set upon him, kicking and punching every inch of available flesh they could reach, a few setting their teeth to work upon the ample exposed flesh offered by the thrashing form before them. The other managed only a few more steps before one of the crawling zombies struck a sharp blow to the back of his trailing leg, sending him to the dirt as the limb buckled beneath him. The horde immediately set to their grisly work, blood and shreds of torn cloth flying in a dozen directions as the undead began to pry their way into the soft meat below the copper of his armor.

Ulash did not care. He strode past the screaming, thrashing mass of corpses and into the fortress’s gatehouse, the lumbering forms of Ehhu and Citoj sweeping across the bridges along with him. Leather creaked beside him as the two thralls shivered with anticipation, their breaths hissing through tightly-clenched teeth as they fought to restrain the bloodlust driving their blessed flesh. Ulash resisted the urge to sigh at their impatience, knowing that it would be wasted on their half-addled minds. The last of the Doctor’s potion had run out days ago, and so he had been forced to resort to a crude, half-impotent brew, thrown together from scavenged ingredients and brewed in the empty shell of a raided hamlet.

He busied himself instead with scanning the broad courtyard in front of him, eyes leaping from figure to figure as he sought his quarry – the golden-haired usurper that dared call himself Law-Giver. Though they could be mistaken for traders or travellers at a glance, he expected their disguise to falter any moment now; perhaps the stampeding horde would give them away, now that they were nearly done with the flesh on the bridge, or the scent of iron and rot that hung upon the cloaked figures of all three men. If the Usurper could not be found before their illusion was discovered, the element of surprise would be lost and all of his master’s plans could be for nothing.

Ehhu gave a sickly gurgling noise and lurched forward, an unsteady step that almost unbalanced the grotesquely muscled form of the thrall. Unable to restrain his annoyance, Ulash turned to pull his brother back to balance, only to freeze as he followed the eyeline of the lurching creature’s head. Although partly obscured by the iron and bronze of its guardians, the Usurper’s form was unmistakable in his armor of glistening white. Ulash’s face twisted into a mask of murderous hatred beneath his helmet’s face-guard at the sight of him, and he let loose a diabolical roar of fury; the thralls at his side and the corpses behind echoed the cry, marching forward in synchronisation with their master.

The element of surprise played to their advantage, the Usurper’s men looking up in shock at the sudden, animalistic howling. For a moment, all seemed to still as the two sides confronted one another: the white-clad saviour of the Realm of Silver and his close coterie of warriors, famed across the lands for slaying Blighted Thralls, staring down the black-clad progenitor of a new Obin Blight and its sinister master, surrounded by the swarming undead.

Then the moment broke, and the battle began. The horde of corpses surged forward to wear down their masters’ prey, war-cries filling the air as the living surged to meet them in reply. Aril and his thralls were more discriminate, holding back to let the tide of dead flesh and bone tie up the chaff. Only when the Law-Giver and two of his personal guard stood alone did they break ranks and charge toward their targets: Citoj swinging a stone-hard fist toward the crippled dwarf, Ulash hammering the head of his axe toward the sword-wielding guard, and Ehhu barrelling toward the Law-Giver himself with a rabid howl of bloodlust.

Jas Gloryage met the thrall’s charge and swinging blade with one of his own. The shriek of metal on metal joined the cacophony of battle as his shield rang from the side of the thrall’s helmet, staggering but not stopping it. Beneath a mask of burned flesh and broken, weeping blisters, the ghoul’s bloodshot eyes burned with hatred as it forced its jaw to work. It reared back, baying like a wild animal as it slammed its iron-clad head into Jas’ nose, sending the Law-Giver staggering backward with a grunt of pain, stars bursting behind his eyes. Teeth flashed forward and crunched against his pauldron, failing to gain purchase on the smooth, hard metal; a few broke off entirely from the force of the bite, falling to the dirt with a spray of diseased blood, but the thrall barely seemed to register the injury it had done itself. It brought its free hand up and swung with a stone-hard fist in wide, sweeping strikes, trying to knock the Law-Giver off balance.

Jas drove it back with a mighty, double-handed swing of his axe, forcing the thrall to retreat or risk evisceration by the razor-sharp edge of its head. A second and third blow sent it scrambling backward with a hiss of constrained aggression, trailing a thin line of blood from a shallow wound in its elbow. With the creature temporarily driven back, Jas dared steal a glance toward his comrades.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/NoCV6JO.png)

Eman had scored a few shallow cuts across the necromancer’s exposed limbs, but his shield was badly dented and the sorcerer was pressing his attack, directing the swarming horde of living dead to intercept Eman’s blows and wear him down; anyone who might come to his aid was bogged down by the lumbering corpses. The beak-masked brute of leather and metal was locked in a deadly struggle with Master Galka amidst a ring of broken undead bodies; whenever one of the corpses drew too close, Galka’s heavy metal cane or steel pick would flash out and send a body falling with a skull shattered to splinters, or a chest caved in and rent open from the force of impact, leaving the thrall to pace back and forth like a trapped animal as it waited for an opening.

A second swipe of its blistered blade forced Jas to return his attention to the foe before him. The unnatural metal met the steel of his axe with enough force to jar his arms through the armour, forcing it to the side; while a sharp twist of his wrist managed to redirect the axe’s head into the thrall’s armoured side, it failed to break through plate or mail. Jas levered it free with a grunt of effort and swung the heavy axe in a vicious arc, tearing a jagged rent in the metal covering the creature’s shoulder. The blade stuck fast in the iron and the blighted thrall moved, pivoting around the shaft of the battle-axe to drive his blade into Jas’ side, cutting a handspan through his armor and into the flesh beneath.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/Xlkpqe6.png)

Jas gritted his teeth against the pain, almost losing several as it took the opportunity to drive a steel-shod fist hard against his jaw. The force sent the master of the Realm of Silver staggering backward, pulling his axe free from the shattered wreck of the thrall’s shoulderguard. To his sides, the battle continued to rage: Eman ducked beneath a wild swing of the necromancer’s blistered axe and forced him backward with a flurry of scimitar strikes to the arms and chest, before wheeling about to cut almost completely through the beak-masked thrall's arm as it sought to strike from behind; Master Galka was tearing a path through the necromancer’s shambling hordes with his pick, severing limbs and heads with every strike.

The blade flashed out again. Jas tried to turn away, to raise his shield, to dodge out of its path, but he was too slow, and the thrall too close.

There was a grunt of pain, a spray of hot, wet blood, and a sickly thud.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/pUvULgv.png?1)

The thrall shrieked in rage as Eman staggered back, blood spraying in a torrent from the stump of his shoulder. His left arm lay on the ground a few steps away, cut cleanly from his shoulder and still twitching with instinctual movements.

The thrall surged forward to drive its gauntleted fists into his face, hammering blow after blow into the buckling metal of Eman’s helmet. Eman staggered backward, dazed and unbalanced by the thunderous stream of punches he had received. As a final punch sent him half-staggering, half-spinning away from the thrall, it lunged forward toward his back with its blistered metal blade. Fabric tore, leather split, and a welter of blood erupted from Eman’s chest as the sword stabbed clearly through his right lung and out through the front of his chest.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/YolcsVS.png)

For a moment, Jas felt his heart stop dead in his chest. The blade slid back through the wound the thrall had inflicted as Eman began to crumple to the floor, but the ghoul was not done with him yet. Features twisting into a malevolent leer, it wrapped its fingers around Eman’s crumpling form and lifted him overhead, muscles straining as they took the full weight of the armoured warrior’s body. A convulsive shudder wracked its frame as it flung him aside like a child’s toy, sending the badly-wounded man crashing to the dirt several meters away; he rolled several feet, twitched slightly, then lay still.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/Q6L1eZ0.png)

Jas wasn’t quite sure what came out of his throat in that moment, only that it was violent and raw enough to make the thrall flinch back from his wounded friend in surprise. The Law-Giver was at its throat almost before it could blink, hammering his halberd toward its exposed neck in a brutal arc. One of the walking corpses blundered into the way instead, taking the full force of the blow to its rotting skull and showering him with fragments of bone. Jas wrenched the blade free and swung again, his axe splitting the air inches from the thrall's blistered head; it jerked aside before lunging forward with a bestial cry, whole body spasming with the force of movement. Its sword scraped across the scarred metal of his right pauldron, but slid free before it could bite into the flesh beneath.

Jas headbutted the thrall full in the face, meeting its snarl of rage with one of his own. There was a sickly snap of bone and cartilage as its nose broke, accompanied by another blaring shriek from the thrall’s throat as it reeled away. He followed it up with a thunderous right hook that sent its head rocking back on its grotesquely over-muscled shoulders, blood and shards of enamel flying from its lips as it staggered back. The blood pounded in his ears as he continued to slash and strike at the thrall, the rest of the battlefield almost fading away as he sought to rip apart the creature that had so badly wounded his friend.

The ghoul’s entire body strained with the effort of movement as it fought on. Its vision swam and pulsed red. Its mouth was full of rot and saliva, the viscous fluid dripping steadily between its jagged teeth. All around it was chaos and noise and blurry, thrashing figures, the living and the dead and those not fully belonging to either blending together into one massive smear of sounds and scents.

Somewhere deep, deep within the fractured remnants of the thrall’s mind, something gave way. Already weakened by the lack of the concoction keeping it in check, the thunderous blow from the Law-Giver’s gauntlet had dislodged long-suppressed sections of the ghoulish creature’s mind. It swayed drunkenly on its feet as unbidden thoughts and memories clawed their way to the surface of its mind. it raised its hands to ward them off, but still they came like a swarm of bats, battering away at him with every passing moment. The hamlets it had butchered and left lifeless, the great skinless beast it and its brethren had struck down in the snow-dusted wilds, the gathering in that silent place of mud and stone –

The sensation of teeth sinking into its elbow, and its master’s wide, malevolent smile.

Jas, of course, knew nothing of the internal chaos tearing at the thrall’s mind. He saw it stagger backward, hands raised to ward off an imaginary foe, eyes wide and unseeing, and seized the advantage presented to him. The first blow of his axe tore through the iron armour covering its shield-arm to lay the limb beneath open to the bone; the second scored off its battered shoulderguard as it convulsively dodged out of the way. The third it caught with its bare hand, holding the axe's shaft fast in its grip.

“No.” The creature rasped. Something shifted in its jaundiced, blood-crazed eyes as it shoved a hand against Jas’ chest, sending him off-balance from the unnatural force of the motion. The thrall raised its blood-slick blade aloft, face painfully contorting into a snarl as it forced its jaw to form intelligible words. Blood bubbled between its gapped, fractured teeth with each motion, dripping down the rust-streaked ruin of its breastplate as its whole body tensed in readiness to kill. “No. More.”

And in one smooth movement, it pivoted on its heel and swung with all its might, aiming for the neck of the huge thrall that Master Galka was wrestling with.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/6oOAZbz.png)

The hulking ghoul didn’t even try to move, or perhaps it simply lacked the opportunity to. The blistered metal of the blade tore through flesh and bone enhanced by disease and dark magic as easily as paper, even as the axe-bearing necromancer shouted in denial and surged forward with his weapon raised high. Something very much like a sigh of relief whispered from the creature’s ruined throat, and the beak-masked thrall’s body gracelessly slumped to the bloodied grass and went still.

Ulash’s scream of rage seemed to shake the whole fortress as he lashed out with his axe, striking left and right in blind fury as he sought to clear a circle around him. He raised a hand, letting the thrill of power he had come to associate with his Lord’s holy magic rush down his fingers as he swept an arm about himself. A dozen limbs and bodies - Citoj’s headless form among them - shuddered violently as he sought to raise them, feeling the pulses of awareness as the simple, crude consciousnesses he had instilled into them came into being; many immediately winked out, cut down by the humans and their stunted brethren as soon as they began to rise. Citoj was among them, the rising thrall collapsing with a dwarf’s bronze axe driven through his ruined armor and into the diseased flesh beneath.

The thrall’s whole body shuddered, convulsing spasmodically as his master’s commands wrestled against its treacherous mind. One hand locked like a vice around the wrist of its opposite, and the sound of grating bone joined the cacophony of battle. Ropes of unnatural muscle bulged with the strain of moving. The thrall’s teeth ground and splintered as its jaw seized up, sending jagged knives of enamel into the flesh of its mouth and lips. Yet still did the blade turn, the blistered metal Ulash had intended to strike the law-giver down inexorably moving toward his puppet’s own throat.

And as Ulash Uveolbocot smashed one of his attackers aside and surged forward, Arkur Fedemnoñi smiled and forced his hand to move one final time.

Ulash’s scream of hatred and frustration rang from the stones as he turned on his heel and rushed back across the drawbridges, swinging his axe left and right to clear a path through the living and the dead. Blood sprayed across his armor and leaked down into his eyes, but he barely registered the stink or the strain in his limbs. He barely registered the stinging sensation in his eyes and wounds as he sprinted onward, feeling the humans cheering and the faint sensation of necromantic connections being broken. He did not dare to stop running until he was several miles from the fortress of Silverthrone, alone under the light of a pale moon and run ragged from the exhaustion of the chase. There was a sensation like burning magma inside his chest, hot and suffocating, and his exhaustion was only half of the cause.

Gritting his teeth, Ulash forced himself to rise to his feet. His master would not be pleased by this turn of events, but he had half an idea as to how he might dodge the worst of his wrath. One hand groping in his pack for the blank form of a quire, Ulash Uveolbocot began to walk on into the night, toward the distantly burning lights of living hamlets.

---

OOC: I did think of adding dialogue to the final big fight to spice it up a bit, but I wasn’t confident in my abilities on that front. Anyhow, that's all she wrote.

Unraveller, Eman's missing his left arm (attack of opportunity went a little too well) and may get occasionally winded due to a damaged right lung; there may be a few lesser undead wandering around Silverthrone, but nothing like thralls. The Band of Wax were a hell of a lot tougher than I expected, all things considered.

My official museum submission is a stack of thirteen human leather-bound books penned by Aril Vesseleyes: twelve detailing the necromantic rituals and practices of The Abyssal Cult, and one self-justifying his actions in service to The Abyssal Cult. Their titles are listed below:

Spoiler: Museum Submission (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/Bvouci5.png)

Other than that, I hope you enjoyed reading this and wish you all luck with your turns.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Unraveller on August 04, 2022, 02:17:58 pm

I'm not even sure where to begin talking about both of your excellent turns QD, Kesperan. Even if the latter is as of yet unfinished -- Don't think I've forgotten the Raven! I must know what became of them.

QD, your continued abilities to write this brutal saga is inspiring. Truly. Not only is your descriptive writing top-freakin'-notch, but the amount of lore and story-telling this one drips with just incites something in me. Having poured over a lot of the text and histories of Orid Xem that have come thus far, it's so gratifying to see how these stories intersect. I had to re-read it twice just now to make sure I caught everything, especially about the Abyssal Cult.

Despite all their efforts to save the Realm of Silver, Jas, and the Band of Wax, simply have no idea how deeply the rot runs, their cleansing of the land was merely a bump in the road for the Cult it seems. Nor any way that they could begin to combat it. The attack on Silverthrone is undoubtedly something to light a fire under them, to give them an insight that there's more to this than some mere curse or contagion. That dark hands are at play.

I also appreciate actually heading there to attack and interact with my adventurers! I'm sure you went easy on them and probably could have slain them outright if you desired, even if they're tough and managed to bring down a few ghoulish weremammoths, they're still only human. And I don't think any of them had any legendary skills aside from maybe Galka. Still, what kind of storytelling would it be if you wiped out the new stewards of the Omon Obin? :P

Definitely can't wait to see how this continues to unfold. With my turn coming up next, I need to really work and figure out what on earth my plans are for it! Haha.

And now? The Age of Twilight is upon us. . . Be strong o' Silvered few.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Quantum Drop on August 04, 2022, 07:08:43 pm

My thanks for the praise, Unraveller. I figured that going all in on the lore and descriptions was a good idea, since I'm a lot better at writing them than character-to-character dialogue and interactions; plus, I felt it was time the Abyssal Cult received a bit of fleshing out before the whole Realm of Silver story arc continued, since they're the BBEG behind the Blight. I did do my best to include a fair few call backs and extra details here and then, so it's good to hear you picked up on most all of them.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

The situation with the Blight is probably a bit less bad than I made it sound: Citoj and Ehhu only hit a couple villages before the Battle of Silverthrone, and they were both waaaay less prolific than Kosoth (in no small part due to the Warlord's impatience derailing the Cult's original plans, whoopsie) - only nine surviving ghouls spawned in total, so there's not much risk of a sudden explosion of ingame infections and wandering thralls. Then again, the Abyssal Cult's taking a much more active hand in Blight-related affairs in-story, so there's still plenty of room for things to go to hell again in the next few turns.

Good luck with your pre-turn planning, Unraveller! (And with your turn itself - I get the feeling your adventurers might just need it in this new, darker age.) It's going to be interesting to see how the world continues to change, now that we're in a new era.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on August 04, 2022, 08:15:32 pm

Sorry it took so long, the crash lost me 4 hours of progress (it was traveling, froze and then i was holding down movement and it crashes), then as i was finished, go to submit my submission and i had left it somewhere in a goblin fortress. So i changed my submission to a backup. Also saving and retiring take quite a bit now and the upload too just a heads up. Also we are inching closer to the file depot upload size cap.

Looking forward to catching up to everyones stories.

Submission - Emal Mostod (Sense of Shame) A perfect lapis lazuli gem - "Said to be one of the seven treasures this appears to be an acknowledgement of the donors shame and the first step towards enlightenment as the world sinks into twilight"

Sorry for the delay - https://dffd.bay12games.com/file.php?id=16027

Also put me back on the turn list please

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Unraveller on August 04, 2022, 09:15:59 pm

Huh. For the last five years, Galka has been a baron of the Walled Dye. Of Treatyseed no less! Perhaps he has been finding what information he can muster about those who've set their sights upon the Realm of Silver. The Attack on Silverthrone. . . Despite their seclusion, the dwarves know much, and there is deep history to Ilrallenod.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Quantum Drop on August 05, 2022, 03:40:32 am

Well, well, that is cool indeed. On a related note, it seems another Fallen Civilization has returned to life - The Page of Tiredness now has 79 dwarves and zero sites. The human civilizations and even the elves have been seeing a general population growth since the start of Avolition's turn, while The Most Sin seems to have lost just shy of a seventh of its goblin population.

Looking forward to your writeup on your turn, AvolitionBrit!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on August 05, 2022, 06:31:44 am

I have not had time to read all the updates yet, but I've prepared a new population graph now that the Age of Twilight is upon us.
The impact on populations is not as bad as I expected :-p

(https://i.imgur.com/Di9LR9C.gif)

That makes it Unraveller's turn!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Unraveller on August 05, 2022, 08:16:22 am

I've got the save. Now. . . Where on earth to begin?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on August 05, 2022, 04:41:18 pm

Quote from: Quantum Drop on August 05, 2022, 03:40:32 am

Well, well, that is cool indeed. On a related note, it seems another Fallen Civilization has returned to life - The Page of Tiredness now has 79 dwarves and zero sites. The human civilizations and even the elves have been seeing a general population growth since the start of Avolition's turn, while The Most Sin seems to have lost just shy of a seventh of its goblin population.

Looking forward to your writeup on your turn, AvolitionBrit!

Looks like the Page of Tiredness are now back to being a functioning civ again - they generated a king after randomly appearing at Northmanor, and it looks like that made them available to select in fort mode. Avolition made a fort on the very northern island and thats where the 79 dwarves now reside (the ones that the evil scorpion didn't drain of blood, anyway...)

Avolition Holyblood now has 13,000 notable kills, which is just mind-boggling.

Oh, and we now have a gremlin Baroness, Riraci Crazebaldness, several reptile men barons, and an elf baroness, Miaralei who I think was one of Maloy's companions? I am guessing the mad scorpions insurrection created some vacancies...

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Maloy on August 05, 2022, 06:16:09 pm

Mirailei became a baronness? Proud of her!


Here I had some specific forest retreat antics planned for her, but random world events have created a more interesting path

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on August 05, 2022, 06:22:03 pm

Quote from: kesperan on August 05, 2022, 04:41:18 pm

Quote from: Quantum Drop on August 05, 2022, 03:40:32 am

Well, well, that is cool indeed. On a related note, it seems another Fallen Civilization has returned to life - The Page of Tiredness now has 79 dwarves and zero sites. The human civilizations and even the elves have been seeing a general population growth since the start of Avolition's turn, while The Most Sin seems to have lost just shy of a seventh of its goblin population.

Looking forward to your writeup on your turn, AvolitionBrit!

Looks like the Page of Tiredness are now back to being a functioning civ again - they generated a king after randomly appearing at Northmanor, and it looks like that made them available to select in fort mode. Avolition made a fort on the very northern island and thats where the 79 dwarves now reside (the ones that the evil scorpion didn't drain of blood, anyway...)

Avolition Holyblood now has 13,000 notable kills, which is just mind-boggling.

Oh, and we now have a gremlin Baroness, Riraci Crazebaldness, several reptile men barons, and an elf baroness, Miaralei who I think was one of Maloy's companions? I am guessing the mad scorpions insurrection created some vacancies...

Well that's an amazing change since the last time I played. And it happened in less than a century? Also, Age of Twilight: mind blown.

Wonder if they're my reptile men and if they're immortal. And if they're named. And if they had children by now. Hmmmmmm. I know at some point they went buggy, kept dying of old age in abstract/vague numbers, then resurrected when someone got on site and died again (but that happened to other creatures I haven't interacted with, including dwarves). Hmmm.

I'm glad the thread is still active, I was refreshing it some weeks ago and saw no activity at some point. I was a little worried. I'm glad there's still time for games in these hectic periods. (But then, when haven't times been hectic?)

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Unraveller on August 05, 2022, 07:30:36 pm

I fully intend to see Orid Xem to its death. Good to see you Lurker :)

I'm sure if you one day go back through the turns since you've last played, you'd have plenty to say!

---

Losing a ton of progress is just the name of the game these days. I've my cat to thank for invalidating my entire weekend haha.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on August 07, 2022, 01:16:09 pm

Ah yes, uncountable fortresses have been lost to catsplosions, undead cat skin and rotting, syndrome spreading felines. This is the first time I hear about real life cats joining the fight though.

I hope you have more luck with the rest of your turn!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Quantum Drop on August 07, 2022, 04:58:01 pm

The cats are learning how to cause Fun outside the confines of the game. God help us all. :o

Still, best of luck with the rest of your turn, Unraveller!

Quote from: Lurker Z on August 05, 2022, 06:22:03 pm

snip

Good to see you again, Lurker :)

I checked LV, and all the Reptile Man barons seem to have originated from Newworld before becoming Barons/Baronesses c. 885; Baron Clobberdtin, Baroness Consort Canyondipped, and an Unnamed Baroness. The other Reptile Men from Newworld also gained names: Lashkeys, Paintdwells (Mayor of Newworld), Paddleduttered, Bustmuted (Expedition Leader of Newworld), and Lakestongs (Militia Commander of Newworld). While at least one pair has married and another two are confirmed lovers, I don't think any of them have produced any children yet, though there's still plenty of time for them to do so.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Unraveller on August 07, 2022, 10:48:18 pm

(https://i.imgur.com/DvqoBqo.png)

Turns out Jas Anthrad is a freakin' giant of a human. 16,000 Urists larger than the average. Not too shabby for the golden haired Law-giver eh?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Unraveller on August 08, 2022, 04:40:12 pm

TWILIGHT OVER OMON OBIN

---

Treatyseed. . . A mess rivaling the likes of the worst plagued towns of Omon Obin, long had it been the capital of the Walled Dye, and long had it suffered tragedies perhaps greater than our tarnished Silver. . .

Five years, in that time I have leveraged my wit and will for the sake of the Walled Dye, the apt-named 'Tower of Silence' for which I sat idle for the better part of a century seemed to have impressed the stout folk. The name Galka Kinddrummed the Tiled Periwinkle of Healing is known to them, and it is welcome in the Walled Dye. A baron, made they me. Steward of some fortress in the wilderness for a time, another quiet time to follow the storm that was my -- Our Band of Wax and their pitched battle against the Blight. I could not refuse the offer, I could not turn down the chance to access the deep knowledge of the Deep Peoples, Jas Anthrad, Law-Giver of the Realm of Silver was surrounded thence by wise advisors and deeply-rooted confidants, my presence was not wholly required it seemed.

This was the opportunity that presented itself to me and to our cause. For a hand far more malevolent than the relative trifles of the Obin Blight had revealed itself to us. Know this, those who would hear my words, Silverthrone besieged by the risen dead, caked yet still by the earth that buried them, and the Obin Bight with its crimson blistered thralls, only a fool would consider these happenings as disconnected. A foul miasma lingers in the air at the falling of the Golden Age, and rising of the Age of Twilight.

What is this shadow? This creeping black, this cloying murk that threatens to choke the life from us. . ?

---

(https://i.imgur.com/sQbxGJ9.png)

I see now why a hume as I were chosen to administer a portion of their realm. . . Treatyseed stands in ruin, caked with gore, oozing with the blood of former noble houses. On the pretenses of ushering in the new Queen, Stukos Manortouches, myself and the other barons had been summoned to the capital, only when we'd arrived, naught but two things were made clear to us. This grisly scene, and perhaps worse yet, it's maker.

(https://i.imgur.com/brGxg5D.png)

The remaining dwarves looked on to the milky-amber statue in disbelief, it was a visage they had come to know in more than mere whispers. The Autumnal Kingdoms, the season of death's herald. Where commeth the man twisted in scorpion's shape, ruin is soon to follow. Word on the wind speaks this as the reason that the greenskins hordes have been quiet. Could this be the call for the Walled Dye's turn? Or perhaps something else is at play. . . Yet, hobbled there on one crutch, mine useless legs dangling as ever whilst looking upon the figure's likeness, I cannot help but feel a strange kinship. Men that have become abominable for their selfless goals. This being, they are not the one who has brought the Blight upon the world, nor responsible for the attack on the Realm of Silver, this I feel in my bones to be true. What relation they have to our hidden enemy. . . I cannot say.

'The Queen has fled to Ancientknowledge. . .'

I hear midst the doldrums.

'. . . We'd be wise to follow suit.'

Spoke another. Ancientknowledge, ever since I'd heard the name I sought to visit, to uncover the vaults of what the Dwarves may know. This seemed as good a reason as any. I made haste, quitting behind me Treatyseed, leaving the rest of the barons to what fate awaits them there. In truth, the nuances of Dwarven nobility matter not to me, I've only one mother land, and one true lord. Without delay, I set off. Called to action, uncontent to mill about at the speed of the Dwarf.

It was not long at all that, that history of the earthen-folk came to greet me. Far from my destination of Ancientknowledge, I'd found myself at the doorstep to yet another ruin midst the Perfect Horns. Perhaps no more than two-hundred years old now, yet still abandoned. Crownhalls, the City of Stone -- I ambled down into the main chamber, its immensity shook me to the heights of Dwarven masonry. A mere scribbling of mine cannot do it justice, I implore you one day visit this lonesome place and share in mine awe. For what purpose could its founders have left it to rot before a new leader of the Walled Dye was inaugurated there, I cannot say, however, it too stored knowledge. With purposeful movements, I perused the collections of its many works. Some bore the marks of great age, while others betrayed the presence of life here more recently, perhaps vagrants, perhaps the forgotten capital was not abandoned as long ago as I suspected.

My cold, pale hands caressed the codices from shelf to shelf, titles bearing words of Dwarven anatomy, their dry history, and the like, yet I do stop at one bound book, The Mystery of the Mountain Halls. It's lengthy prose captures my imaginations, folk lore of metals that gleam beyond the hue of Dwarven Steel, elusive as it is, and their methods of extraction. Fiction perhaps, but it is with such great gusto that the author writes. . . Then the next stack of tomes, these have been placed here, almost purposefully it felt. . . Concerning Rebirth, Loss and Beyond, Reflections and Errors of the Tower. . . My cursed eyes avert themselves instinctively, knowing what shadow they possess. It is unnerving, there in that great hollow hall, that knowledge of life and death lurks in these forgotten places. What I have learned without succombing to that shade is this; Mortal men have chosen this path, mortal men have beset chaos upon Orid Xem, and mortal men may be killed.

---

My journey was far from over, weeks had past as I traveled this countryside, while unravaged by ghoulifying plagues, these lands were yet bereft of vibrancy and life. In days long past great wars were fought here, and now all of that bloodshed was for naught.  As autumn turns to winter, another ruin reveals itself to my tired, sunken eyes. 'Relicwards' spoke the runic doorway. Nearly I had passed by, close to my destination as I was, yet staring into the darkness of fortress from snow blanketed fields, something yearned for my presence beyond. A great draft blew up from the innards of the fortress, it was a constant yawning of dry, hot air. The vacuum left where it had battled with the bitter cold had simply sucked me right in.

The iconography of death littered the remains of this once great place, practically built in the shape of flesh-stripped skull. Yet I was not turned, the pulling sensation kept me moving deeper and deeper still. Down countless stairways carven of the earth to an ominous twinkle.

(https://i.imgur.com/K7oKTMl.png)

A strange shaft gouting warm air, its walls glittering with an almost translucent blue ore, climbing down onto one rocky outcropping, I rubbed my eyes to be sure. And there it was yet still, hot to the touch, real as the pages on the tome I'd read in Crownhalls. Adamantine, possessing now both the knowledge to process it and all the time this vitality drained corpse of a body has in the world, my pickaxe couldn't help but vibrate in my hands. Without delay I struck the steel deep into mystic material, scattering ore and rock abounds -- I could not stop, no, I lost myself in old memories long thought pushed down to the bottom of my heart.

There and then I was back, returned to the Deferent Abyss, hacking away at rubble, a pickaxe in my hand, slight of body, young of face. And surrounded by rowdy miners each and all dear to me, the only family I'd ever known. So too there was Bekdil Wavetwist, but it was not a sorrowful vision, for I had long overthrown that burden. Her soothing words and welcoming visage were all that I heard and saw, along with the clank of metal against rock.

Before I'd known it, I had hauled the raw cyan ore up to the workshop level of the abandoned fort. Set it before the tables and again began to read the tome I'd stolen away from Crownhalls, and began to work. There in that place, I had nearly forgotten my thirst, and without the rays of the sun to guide me, I'd lost all count of time. Certainly weeks rolled by in that ruin, all my will was bent upon the glorious adamantine, and for a novice craftsman, the process was agonizingly slow. All the while I felt a strange beating in my chest, one that I had not since I'd accidentally supped upon Uja Hoodbath's tainted blood.

(https://i.imgur.com/8N6jA2s.png)

Lo' the culmination of my efforts, weaved of the thinnest strands of adamant metals, Iral Obin, Cloak of Silver, that which will protect the law-givers of my homeland until time immemorial. Yet. . . There was more metals left unrecovered, I returned. Mined. Hauled. Extracted, again and again. The yearning portal growing ever larger as it's walls crumbled. Time continued to pass there in Relicward, cloaks for the Band of Wax were made, a new head for my pick to hasten the process, arms and armor and the like all came to fruition. Once more, for what I intended to be the final trip down those spiralling stairs, past the magma seas, the earth had crumbled 'neath my feet. Orid Xem had swallowed me whole for my greed, I fell in to the abyss below. . .

(https://i.imgur.com/LXE0iqW.png)

---

Spoiler: OOC (click to show/hide)

There ya go, fairly short part one. Nothing tooooo special I suppose. For reference, I mined and extracted the adamantine with Galka using advfort, thankfully all the necessary workshops were already there in Relicward. When it came to the time. . . Man. Each single raw piece of ore being smelted into wafers took 2 minutes. Then extracting each into strands took an additional 4 minutes. It was a loooong process haha.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: TheFlame52 on August 08, 2022, 04:45:42 pm

Your sigtext seems very appropriate here.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Maloy on August 09, 2022, 10:45:49 am

Crownhalls is fully abandoned now? Sad, but expected

That's where I stopped in my last adventure
There were only a few dwarves left who were clearly at the end of their lives and a couple of immortal goblins squatting near the corpses of dwarves who died of old age

I'm hoping you make it out! Aren't there a few adventurers who retired in those dark depths you've fallen into?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Unraveller on August 09, 2022, 11:19:50 am

Quote from: Maloy on August 09, 2022, 10:45:49 am

I'm hoping you make it out! Aren't there a few adventurers who retired in those dark depths you've fallen into?

Yes. Permenantly. . .

Ol' Galka has a few tricks up his sleeves though, even if he's only got one arm. You don't live nearly two centuries without some kind of wit to escape hell.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Quantum Drop on August 09, 2022, 01:17:00 pm

Well, that is certainly one way to start out a turn. Here's to Galka finding a way out of Hell, hopefully without losing anything else along the way.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: TheFlame52 on August 09, 2022, 04:03:19 pm

I think we could use some good old cleansing hellfire in certain parts of the surface world.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Unraveller on August 09, 2022, 04:09:25 pm

I deeply considered trying to get the hidden-fun-stuff to come out into the surface world with me. But despite being able to talk they refuse to join your party no matter what it seems, even if they have a positive view of you. It could certainly be done, I just didn't want to get too DFhacky. Even though Demons versus the Undead sounds pretty rad -- The Realm of Silver is a land of men, nothing more.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Unraveller on August 10, 2022, 05:08:35 pm

(https://i.imgur.com/4gOYhOu.png)

In the ambient dark, lit in scarlet by the ominous glow of inscrutable chasms even further yet below, I push myself to a lean, gripping tight the cyan pick-axe that held me upright, there I take in the view for true. Beneath me an endless expanse of stone marked by the blackest of black precariously perched midst fields of canyons without end, spires of ravening rock sharply jut from every angle of this dark maw, threatening to tear the unsuspecting apart. . . The air here is sulfurous and stings at my throat as I breath -- still an unconscious effort despite my cursed state, I give in to my blood and hold my mouth firmly shut. A mortal could nary survive in this place. . .

My gaze drifted upward thence, ceiling bound, motes of that blue twinkle hued in the crimson of this place return my stare. A tube, a portal, a threshold through the seas of magma, the tome I'd read spoke nothing of such a thing. I am no stranger to the deep, I was borne of it, raised in the gloam with naught but the sound of metal against stone for company. Yet this? This is deeper still, deeper than the deepest caverns I'd plummed. Deeper than the murky parasitic waters and mud that I'd dragged my feeble body up through to the Realm of Silver. For a moment I'd considered,

'Have I naught suffering enough?'

But such thoughts are anathema, they do no good. Mentally, I marked this place, where my body smote across the dark soil, and set off to sate my curiosity. My body began to feel heavy as I moved, slowly, hopping carefully along the thickest parts of the land lest I descend even further yet still. There, alone in such vast distances, yes, I felt truly alone. Neither a insect, nor a beast, nor a man, none it seemed dwelt there. The earth itself was dead, what dust I could muster in the palm of my hand practically rejected my touch, rejected any semblance of life. The stagnancy felt as if though it affected me deeply, what in all of Orid Xem, was this place?

(https://i.imgur.com/a1Pn2Ku.png)

I brought my limp left hand to my forehead, my gait had slowed. Sounds, ethereal pangs of crackling indeterminate voices began to surround my thoughts, like they were rising up from those abyssal depths. A queer madness had begun to creep up just the same, grasping and burdening my psyche. Each word of those horrid wails my mind desperately sought to make meaning out, and each moment a further pain wracked it. Until at last a culmination of mine horrors made itself apparent.

(https://i.imgur.com/i5Xz9pQ.png)

(https://i.imgur.com/1WL2tTt.png)

An immense beast with eyes the likes of my pick-head bore holes through me as it stared.

~Ba-dum~

~Ba-dum~

~Ba-dum~

I shook it from the forefront of my head, swinging that pick with abandon to dispel the illusion. Despite hacking away the towering monster's flesh as if it were naught, the feeling was very real indeed.

(https://i.imgur.com/HUjwHo5.png)

(https://i.imgur.com/JUIQ9fD.png)

And even so, as if an apparition, a plume of fog erupted from the creature whilst their oily black innards spilled out onto the equally black earth, indistinguishable from the stones. For a good while I merely loomed over the sunken corpse of the creature, watching as what falselife it had leaked into the infinite depths. What had frightened me so. . ? The moment I asked that question, some inner part of me had realized the answer.

(https://i.imgur.com/bCqr70x.png)

Despite the heat of the place, a shuddering chill erupted up and down my spine, I felt the coldness of death come over me. This hunger, this thirst, for as long as I could keep it in check with small animals, I did so. But eventually their blood was as ash in my mouth, cattle and the like came next filling my stomach for a time, a long time. Until even that could not sate this urge. I dare not consume my kinsfolk, I would rather be condemned to death than to be a scourge upon my vaunted Realm of Silver. . . Yet, each time it returns, it does so with greater strength, lengthening the sinister shadow I bear with me. This day, or perhaps night, lost in those horrid caverns 'neathe the firmament of Orid Xem, it was strongest yet.

(https://i.imgur.com/H9MFSl0.png)

Unconsciously -- No, that's a self-delusion, I found myself drawn to the body, to the ebbing flow of the creature's remains. I engorged myself, supping upon the beast's essence until ought was left. A surge of vitality returned to me, hale and heart that I had not felt for decades. What an addicting taste. . . Disgusted with myself, I reorient, recalling the adamantine tunnel I'd fallen through before continuing on my aimless wanderings.

(https://i.imgur.com/8QzzdbZ.png)

'No. . . My only purpose is to serve Omon Obin.' I reasoned with the voices still calling to me, begging me to succumb to their madness. Perhaps on some level they had succeeded in their unholy task.

(https://i.imgur.com/j76QwLF.png)

(https://i.imgur.com/CYFjtHe.png)

Flying, bloated figures descended from their squat home about a stalactite, launching jeers at me through their cackles. I merely grasped tight my pick as they came near, deigning to return a word.

(https://i.imgur.com/ed0FDxG.png)

They would not listen. . . Nor would the unutterable pain put me down. Not here, not in this place. I hacked them apart, leaving naught left but their dryed out husks. There on I took control of my id, 'I must return.' 'I must return.' Again and again I repeated this. Turning back from a path of eternal wandering, not realizing thence how little a thread the remnants of my life hung upon.

'Neath the portal to Orid Xem above once more, I considered my only option, for both flight or leaping into the air were powers that availed me. The enigmatically dark stone of this underworld, the metal of fairy-tales in my grip, and this skill of a master miner, what other choice had I? With a great swing all the force I could muster crashed upon the rocks, chipping only a meagre stone whilst the wooden haft of my tool snapped in twain. Blessed be I that the head did not fly into some gorge never to be seen again. Thus, I wrested the cyan metal from the remainder of the wood, and held it tight, slamming it against the slade stone by my unnatural strength. Each cast of the adamant against it sent a high-pitched reverberation for miles across the chasms, alerting all manner of its twisted denizens.

Again and again my implement came down upon the impossible dense stone, certainly no pick of even mythic dwarven steel could scratch the earth here. Boulder after boulder I drew from the ground below unfathomable time passing, this immortal body my salvation, and my curse.

(https://i.imgur.com/qDJpvfA.png)

Days likely turned to weeks, the pile of dry corpses about my black quarry grew just the same, until at last, a mountain of nigh-Sisyphean effort had erected itself. Even so, I dredged one boulder yet more, hefted upon my back as yet another metaphorical burden, the true weight of which would not be realized for a good while. Thence, I escaped that Hell. . . One day to return.

---

OOC: I have one, maybe two posts left. I shall have the save up soon as well. Sorry if this one was a little rushed, I couldn't seem to drum up as much inspiration as usual.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on August 10, 2022, 05:32:17 pm

This is interesting, really enjoy how you worked in the events naturally. Drinking demon goo to survive as well. I wonder if you will escape or continue to be stuck in this cycle of fighting, feasting and wandering.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Maloy on August 10, 2022, 05:53:53 pm

Your writing style outright holds me into the reading where I have to continue until I finish

if a goo-soaked ear corrupted my character what does a vampire living off of demon blood turn into?!
Can't wait to see what happens next
Also sincerely impressed at your ability to defeat multiple demons and keep going.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Quantum Drop on August 10, 2022, 06:24:05 pm

This is really cool, Unraveller; your writing is impressive as always, and I love how you've worked unexpected(?) events into the story in a natural way. Drinking demon blood to keep Galka's bloodthirst down is certainly a novel way of doing so, and it certainly opens the way for some fun storytelling opportunities...

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Unraveller on August 10, 2022, 08:08:23 pm

We may not see what becomes of Galka's soul for a time. . . But perhaps in the future.

Thanks for the encouragement everyone, as always, the awesome validation you guys give out can't be beat. As an aside, Galka was meant to have killed significantly more demons than he actually did. However this was the point in which my kitty managed to alt-f4 my game haha. So I ended up truncating that section a bit on the gameplay side. Regardless. . . On a more related note -- Maybe the effects of demon's blood have already taken their toll.

(https://i.imgur.com/SiBwpEJ.png)

I mentioned I thought Jas was a giant among humans? WRONG, Galka is inexplicably more than TWICE the size of the average man. Gods above how can this be? Haha, he's only 60,000 units off from being as large as a minotaur. He's as large as the average gorilla, tiger man, and muskox man. Absolute unit.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on August 11, 2022, 12:52:51 am

He is clearly descended from the giants of old

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on August 11, 2022, 11:58:16 am

I'm having a look at the last save in what must IRL half a year and a few things spring to mind:
* There appear to be more towards half a century than even a full century since I had my last turn and all these new events happened (Page of Tiredness returned, Age of Twilight). It's crazy!
* I still have 7 dwarves in the center of the world and only one died of old age since that time.
* Iroram's (New World) human necromancer is still alive and even helped in the defense against goblins, though she was wounded. I made the right call bringing her in!
* I suspect Page of Tiredness returned because of something like Enhanced Gameplay in the LNP: some request to get trade caravans resurrected the civilization and then it got a King and everything. It's awesome! Maybe The Matched Hame will have that luck too someday.
* Many (if not all) of my named reptile men and women are alive and kicking. Though as noted above, they don't seem to be in a hurry to have offspring (maybe it's because they lay eggs?)
* The hillock Sazirurist / Bridgedaggers appears to be a mainly Iroram enclave for some reason. All the reptile men/women are mine, the two elves are the ones I brought to Iroram and even the dwarves are from the center of the world. Go them, I guess?
* How's Moldath? I see he's still kicking. Did you make a new char, Kesperan?. Looks like he found a successor in that Kothvir fellow.
* My first fort is also staying afloat at 8 living dwarves.
* Kikrost (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Kikrost_Órnomal) died in Alnismivid / Warshrieks in 875. There went his dream for immortality. At least he'll be remembered by history and by the wiki (probably/maybe Moldath too, though if I remember well, not with anything pleasant in mind). Does anyone know what happened? Did he went berserk or did his slayer?
* Rovod (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Rovod_Likotfeb) killed by Avolition in Treatyseed. I suppose he fought for the infected/undead or it was just kill everyone to make sure the plague is purged?
* My searches turned out dark stuff for creatures I was following. On the other hand, two elves as old as the world are still enjoying nature in some random hillock, so it's not that dark, but the personal stories I return to sure reminiscence of an Age of Twilight.
* Reclaiming my sites remains broken unless, I suspect, I use the "start game in adventure mode" trick. Do other people have trouble reclaiming their sites (i.e. the game just crashes)? Edit: I managed to reclaim after using the adventurer trick.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on August 11, 2022, 12:12:35 pm

From the tests I've done, they need egg boxes.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on August 11, 2022, 12:34:34 pm

Quote from: Unraveller on August 10, 2022, 08:08:23 pm

We may not see what becomes of Galka's soul for a time. . . But perhaps in the future.

Thanks for the encouragement everyone, as always, the awesome validation you guys give out can't be beat. As an aside, Galka was meant to have killed significantly more demons than he actually did. However this was the point in which my kitty managed to alt-f4 my game haha. So I ended up truncating that section a bit on the gameplay side. Regardless. . . On a more related note -- Maybe the effects of demon's blood have already taken their toll.

(https://i.imgur.com/SiBwpEJ.png)

I mentioned I thought Jas was a giant among humans? WRONG, Galka is inexplicably more than TWICE the size of the average man. Gods above how can this be? Haha, he's only 60,000 units off from being as large as a minotaur. He's as large as the average gorilla, tiger man, and muskox man. Absolute unit.

How are you finding this information? Is that from Dwarf Therapist after retiring them in a fort? I suspect the reason both Jas and Galka are so huge is due to enormous amounts of muscle...

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on August 11, 2022, 12:43:27 pm

"Kothvir I", Part II, Turn 85

The Legacy of the Raven - the Tale of Kothvir Shadowstar, the Black Raven - Part II

24th Felsite 880

The tower of Largetempest is deserted and I find a few trinkets but no armour. The corpses of long-slain necromancers and ghouls litter the halls.
I must press on northwards towards Relicward. Although my mind is reeling from the revelations of the library of Divedact, I still believe I will need to master Steel if I am to achieve my destiny.
I learned from the dwarves that Relicward was sundered after some great calamity, but they would tell me no more. I continue my journey northwards.

Veilfurs, a fort a short distance northwards at first glance looks deserted. There are skeletal remains of butchered goblins strewn across the courtyard and I hear the tell-tale shuffling of ghouls from the southeast building.
It is a tricky fight when half a dozen of them try to squeeze through a tiny door, lashing out at me with their clumsy attacks. I take a hit to the knee and fall to the ground, but I still manage to behead the last one - a goblin scholar - before tiredness takes hold.
This place has no treasure, but yet fewer ghouls now stalk the land. Outside the fort is a wonderous sight - a herd of graceful unicorn, their silver horns shimmering. Numberphantom charges after one, and that evening I dine on unicorn steaks.
I stow the unicorn hide and horn in my pack.

25th Felsite 880

On the horizon is the large town of Padcalls, and I enter the walls by midday. The Lord there is Juvar Scarsung, a hefty fellow who seems to be crippled in some way. He has a sinister look about him.
The corpse pile matted with maggots outside would seem to indicate his ascension was fairly recent. A jovial dwarf, Dana, joins him and we share stories of the battle against the blight.
I tell them of my quest to journey north to Relicward, and Dana seems to hesitate at advising me, before holding her tongue.
I help them burn the corpses and tidy up a bit, staying late into the night clearing the body parts and torn garb.

26th Felsite 880

It is snowing in the morning again. I set off northward again, bidding Juvar and Dana good day and gratitude for their hospitality.
A short while later I realise I no longer have my steel sword or shield looted from Knifesteamy! I must have thrown them on the pyre, curse my sleep-addled brain.
The remainder of the day is spent among the hamlets on the outskirts of Incenseorder, searching for a new bloody sword and shield.
I arrive at the erstwhile capital at dusk.
In a building to the south of the keep, a muscular wolf is contently petted by what appear to be bandits.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/Dk7o8XQ.png)

A goblin chieftess is here, flanked by burly human wrestlers. The goblin denies being part of the Impervious Wall, but the human wrestler cheerfully states that Maloy Craftsoars is Lord.
The wrestlers don't seem to mind a goblin chieftess in their city, for some reason. I assume they are keeping her under close guard and decide not to interfere. I do not wish any harm to come to the merchants and farmers here if I unsheath the rusty silver scimitar I scrounged on my way here.

A short distance north are two beings the like of whom I have never seen. Tall and slender and possessed of ethereal grace, these must be the elves of legend. Elves are an insular species, native to the far northeast and they are never seen in the lands of the High Confederacies.
They introduce themselves as Miaralei Shakenfurs and Arthur Mossdiamond. A bowelf and spearelf. They say they are on an important mission, and are not affiliated with the dwarven usurpers.

I grip the hilt of the scimitar tighly as I enter the keep. Oh what a sight, legendary Incenseorder. In the centre of the room is a rotting pile of demonflesh, decades old. The keep is in disarray.
When I finally meet this fearsome wolf-beast, ready to take his skull, he is... not what I had assumed. A meagre creature, he scrabbles on the floor. He is missing a hand and is naked.
This wolfman is no threat, and no fearsome leader. I cannot bring myself to slay this beast... he is half dead already it seems and nature will surely take its course. I will tidy the mess desecrating this place. The corpse parts and ragged clothing are soon ablaze and the keep looks better for it.
I try to engage the naked wolfman in conversation although he appears mute. Perhaps he will let me spend the night? He takes immediate offence to this and directs me to the inn... I sleep instead in an abandoned hovel.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/hBM8Spm.png)

27th Felsite 880

I warn the wolf that his days are numbered. After decades of decay the Confederacies are rising again. I will drive out the usurpers and the ghouls, make no mistake.
It is time to resume my journey northwards, to Relicward, my original goal! I set off at dawn and make good progress. These lands are mostly untouched by civilisation, and its the first time I have left the territory of the High Confederacies.

To the northwest, I spot a squat fort built into a mountainrange. As I arrive at the foothills it is clear that this is a dwarven fort - perhaps I will find what I seek here? I descend into the fort, and the first thing I find is a dismembered dwarf head. This is not promising.

I descend further and find some steel crafts, again all too small, but at the deepest part of the fort is a smelter powered by magma... I try to melt down some of the steel armour into some useable ingots but only succeed in destroying it.
I will need to find a functioning steelworks if I am to learn these secrets.

28th Felsite 880

The journey north is largely uneventful. I stop at a fort on the east coast of this narrow landbridge, and speak with a few elves there who swear allegiance to the High Confederacies! It seems the elves do take an interest in the mortal races. Finally I arrive at the southern aspect of Relicward, and it is time to see if the stories of the Dwarves are true. The imposing edifice looks impenetrable, and the sun is low in the western sky.
They say this citadel was a bastion of dwarven craftmanship, but was suddenly abandoned at great haste. Crafts and materials of every kind are strewn far and wide, alongside the skeletal remains of many dwarves. What happened here? I prepare to make camp for the night.

I am woken with a start as an enormous monster in the shape of a bear leaps at me, still on horseback. I barely have time to scrabble from Numberphantom's back before the great beast tears a ragged chunk from my face!

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/mgMmgZD.png)

The monster charges at me, roaring, as I scramble backwards, desperately trying to unsheath the scavenged silver scimitar. The beast is huge, its jaws slavering, and it continues to charge and tumble into me as I rake its stomach with my blade.
I dart behind a tree as the monster regains its balance and I drive the sword into its huge head with a satisfying crunch. Amazingly the bear still comes. This sword is not nearly as effective as the dwarven-crafted steel blade, but it is all I have.
Trying to regain composure, I take the fight to the bear. The beast takes a stab to its kidney, then turns its aggression on my horse! I ram the sword to the hilt in its great black skull and it slumps to the ground, unconscious but not dead.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/VfNRxR9.png)

I repeatedly stab the great beast in the throat and neck, hot blood spurting over me. After what feels like an age it finally breathes its last. I really need a better weapon.

I tie my horse to a tree, and head towards the fort proper, having skinned the great beast. I gather as many steel and iron crafts as I can find, and try to find a way into the smooth stone walls of the fort. I find no such entrance. A partially buried entrance is located, but it ends in a dead end.
I decide I will have to swim under the moat, which fills me with trepidation.

Gasping for air, I collapse wetly inside the courtyard of Relicward. I spot workshops where I can tan leather and spin thread... this is more like it. I tan the giant black bear hide and a unicorn skin I got from outside Veilfurs and make a masterful cloak.

In the depths of the furnaces I find what I am looking for... living breathing magma furnaces. I spot why this fort has fallen too... truly massive hideous corpses of unspeakable beings are strewn around and there is not a single living soul in this place.
The forges are brimming with metals... steel ingots and bars of silver and gold!

I toil in the heat for what seems like days, practicing with this new metal. After much trial and error, I have a full set of steel armour, studded with gold and silver. Although I do not claim to have any skill in the forgeing of weapons, I try to make a sword of steel, using the memory of my looted dwarven blade as a guide. I admire the handiwork of my new sword... Ghoulbane. I make several sets of steel armour, and each time I feel more confident in my skill. I think I have grasped the basics of steelworking, and the armour I have crafted is a huge improvement over the bent and battered bronze and iron I found on my travels.

2nd Hematite 880

It is time to head back south and on to the next phase of my journey... scour the land for signs of Innu Velvetstood. I rest for the night and am woken once again by a giant black bear. This forest is more dangerous than I had thought, all manner of huge beasts roam freely.
Ghoulbane bites deep into its skull and it twitches before falling still. A far cleaner kill than with the silver sword. I mount up my horse and head off before something else tries to eat me.

3rd Hematite 880

Another night is spent beneath the stars. I could get used to living in the wilderness, with my trusty steed. I spot on the horizon a compact fort that we had clearly missed on the northward journey, and head closer to have a look.

We are almost immediately ambushed by some kind of soldier, though unlike any I have ever seen. Not a ghoul, but not living. It looks like a dwarf, but it has Hollow eyes and a zombified expression. It takes a great many blows to its head and neck to put it down.
Fearing a fort full of these monsters, discretion is the better part of valor and I head south once more, skirting the great sea and through Incenseorder once more, on my way to Passionspirals.

4th Hematite 880

Binsacks is a hamlet to the far east of the High Confederacies influence, now raising banners for the Creamy Confederacy, and on arrival I see that it has not been spared the ghoulish pandemic.
Bodies litter the streets and deranged ghouls chase their kin into ruined buildings. I slay all that I can find.

6th Hematite 880

The travel has been slow, skirting the ominous Dark Pits to the east. Early in the morning we are ambushed by a party of goblin soldiers! It seems to be two groups of goblins at odds with one another, some kind of clan battle?
The two groups of goblins clash in the middle of the valley, and they are not simply brawling. One poor goblin has his guts torn by a spear, as another has his head bitten by a muscular hammergoblin.
In the midst of it all, I try to protect my horse from their attacks! For most of the day we stalk goblins in the outskirts of the Dark Fortress Tormentlives, and many goblin filth fall to my blade, and Numberphantom's hoof.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/i7SBlWz.png)

Finally we arrive at Passionspirals, the eerily quiet tower of my ancestor. It is, as expected, long deserted and repeatedly looted. Poring over the books we find here, a couple catch the eye.
Boy and Nothing More is an autobiography of my ancestor Genam Riddleddressed, detailing her childhood. Great Incenseorder, also by Genam, is a guide to the great city.
Interpretation of Secret Rel Dotoats tells of the necromancer Rel Dotoats, and a scroll entitled "An Exploration of Innu Velvetstood", I  discover that Rel was Innu's master, and responsible for imparting the knowledge of the Certain Urns.
While I find no works by Innu himself, I finally find something which might give me a clue to the next chapter of my journey. The text indicates Innu once lived in a house in Orbsnarled, in The Nations of Honoring. That is where I shall head next, to the northern lands of Mong Uthros.

7th Hematite 880

A short distance to the north east is the great Razorbridge, a feat of immense dwarven ingenuity famous throughout the land.
It seems long abandoned, however the bridge is sturdy as ever and saves me a great journey over land or a perilous swim with a reticent horse!

Half way along the bridge is a small outpost, and on a wooden altar I find a leather shield and copper axe of unparalleled craft, alongside what I can only describe as a mummified hand. What could the significance be of this object?

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/w4jBLDF.png)

The first place I visit in this new land is a monastery, where I divine the will of Thabi the Hopeful Rights, Goddess of Forgiveness. I am granted miraculous healing! Perhaps my smashed finger which has leaked pus for many weeks will now recover? I feel... renewed! The scar on my cheek where I was mauled by a giant black bear is gone too!

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/fbkqeUp.png)

A short distance to the north is the abandoned town of Stirredshoves, and a shrine to The Pulpy Creed, seemingly a religion of their death-God, Ala.
Rolling the dice I am again rewarded, this time with improved equipment! The unicorn cloak I stitched in Relicward is now a masterpiece!

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/zJAiDHU.png)

I head northwards and am attacked by a hideously deformed creature. It claims it wishes no evil, yet assaults me and my horse. I quickly dispatch it.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/kxIHlgS.png)

The castle of Elderssins lies on the horizon, and inside is a charnel house. Butchered goblins are spattered wide, and I find the butchered corpse of a dwarven hero - Ashro Scufflegrowls the Slick Bends of Ivy.
Many of these corpses have been flayed, and the skin is missing. What crazed butcher did this? On some of the corpses are what I can only describe as claw marks from a large scorpion... I take the discarded elf skin I find here... I don't even know why.

I make my way onwards to the gleaming capital, Atticmuffins. Its sprawling iridescent pitchblende keep towers over the landscape. On the outskirts are a great many refugees who say the keep has been infested with bandits.
I enter the tower, slay the usurpers of the Late Specks who had emerged from the sewers, and claim the keep for myself - the Greatest Attic of Muffins now rules Atticmuffins. I hand stewardship to the local militia.

I return to the refugee camp but something is amiss... a necromancer, and some kind of howling freak stalk the camps. I spot goblin overlords and all sorts of unsavory types. These monsters must have been ejected from the catacombs when the bandits took over. The necromancer abbot Sinur ressurects the foul creatures as I slay them, until I take his head.

There is a commotion, and many of the Hand of Planegifts priests attack me! Numberphantom crushes one of their skulls, and decides he wants to be called Numberphantom the Roasted Priest; he certainly enjoyed roasting that priest.
 
8th Hematite 880

The villages around Atticmuffin are unspoiled. I see no sign of any ghouls and the population are generally content. Life in The Nations of Honoring seems to be much safer than back home. I am searching for the town of Orbsnarled, and ask directions of a few villagers nearby. I am able to add some locations to my map, and head generally in the direction of the East.

9th Hematite 880

We arrive at a red bricked kaolinite castle, just east of the village Imagepear. The Blotted Coaltion runs Spongypriest. I ask for news and directions, but nobody is able to tell me the way to Orbsnarled, and nobody has heard of Innu Velvetstood.

10th Hematite 880

I am ambushed by dingoes in the middle of the night waking us from slumber, but pose little challenge to the mighty horse and I. When I first took this steed it was fat and lazy, it is now incredibly muscular and crisscrossed by a dozen scars.
This proud battle-steed has slain several foes and is unperturbed at the sight of a few mangy dingoes. Outside Tangalleys, are many horses grazing in pasture, the first Numberphantoms has seen in a month. I let him frolic with them for a while...

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/9y55kEm.png)

As I continue eastwards I spot what can only be a cluster of dwarven hillocks on the horizon, at the foothills of the mountains to the north. I investigate within the civic mound of Taperedmine, where a dwarf mayor rules over some human subjects, converts to the cause of the Dwarves.
He reports being one of 10 villages which depend on Northmannor the Unholy Cathedral, a dwarven fort. He marks the fort on my map. We head northwards to the fort and encounter a small encampment with two dwarves and a mute human expedition leader.
The horse takes an immediate dislike to one of the dwarves, who seems to be a necromancer! Before I have time to react, Numberphantoms has kicked both dwarves to death, despite my attempts to calm him.
I am speechless, why did the horse react like this? He looks at me sheepishly, dwarven blood caked over his hooves.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/wlBylfV.png)

11th Hematite 880

I spend the night in the dwarven encampment. I am very angry at Numberphantoms. Searching the bodies of the dwarves, I find one carries a codex, and the other a stone ring.
No other clues are available to suggest why these dwarves are camped here in the foothills. Ushrir Fordspears and Endok Kindlingcave are laid to rest here, beside their kenaf tent.

I tie the horse to a tree outside the fort of Northmanor - I do not want a repeat performance. The fort seems quite compact on the surface - a rectangular obsidian tower reaches up from a moat of fiery lava. Very dwarvish.
I tinker with the forges and construct a well-made silver scroll casing, and make some parchment scrolls, one of snowy owl leather and one from the skin of the long-slain elf from Elderssins.

Leaving the fort, I head south west as night falls, arriving bleary-eyed in the hamlet of Fountaineyes to a curious sight. In the mead hall an enormous camel is fleeing and the sounds of battle emanate from within.
Inside I find some hideous night creatures attacking the local dwarven lady! She is covered in wounds and appears faint. The camel looks on nonchalantly as the night creature bashes the dwarf with a cave spider silk dress.
I leap at one of the creatures and lop off its head... sadly too late for the dwarf who bleeds to death. The second creature of night lunges at my horse, bruising its head with a silk vest.
Biting its hand turns its attention to me and Ghoulbane bites deep into its neck. I hear some scrabbling sounds from behind a pillar, and a Howling Freak appears! A third night monster! It bites me in the shoulder and I lose hold of my sword.
Scrabbling in my backpack, I heft a steel battle axe and chop at its foul head, sending it sailing off in an arc. My shoulder will heal in time.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/jxjYvNn.png)

I now have time to survey this scene of horror. Gremlin corpses litter the floor, alongside the dwarven lady. In the basement I find a still-alive gremlin, who introduces himself as Uspab Primshowered. A gremlin raised by dwarves? How bizarre!

There is also the corpse of a small doglike creature, perhaps a kobold, with a zinc axe. It appears to have been slain by the night creatures too. I burn the corpses of the freaks and try to tidy this place as best I can. Zitha Shadytwilights, Kulur Umbralburial and Unu Tunnelburies the shadow creatures corpses are burned and the kobolds, dwarves and gremlins are put to rest. I find an array of strange weapons like the zinc axe, a lead dagger... I place these on the pedestals. These strange adventurers have been avenged. I leave the small gremlin Uspab in charge of the cleaned up hall, and head on my way.

12th Hematite 880

Distinctlashed has a goblin priest in its hall, and yet another gremlin corpse. I decide again not to get involved and head south west towards a castle. I am interrupted by a quite frankly bizarre sight. A zombie hammerhead shark corpse flops on the meadow before me, which would be scary if it were not so comical.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/7khrJqO.png)

We also find a zombie llama and an alpaca skeleton which proves tough to kill, as my sword strikes simply pass through its skeleton or glance away. I resort to chopping off its limbs, while Numberphantom bites its head off.

The castle of Presentpumpkins is occupied by a single bandit hermit by the name of Oku Stokedplaited, who claims to rule the Fated Kings. Nothing else of interest is to be found here, and I leave the smelly hermit in peace.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/Q4wTqrI.png)

13th Hematite 880

Trammeledjudges is an ancient and proud town, and for some reason seems to be under the control of a dwarven lord.
Lord of The Metal of Systems, Limul Brassguard, is pleasant enough. I help clear some goblin corpses from his tower and ask him for directions to Orbsnarled. He seems to think it lies a few miles to the south, so that is where we head next.
I hope he doesn't notice me discreetly pocketing a perfect tiger iron gem...

14th Hematitie 880

I finally find Orbsnarled. It is largely deserted, and the keep houses only an elf priest and a dwarf lord. They indicate that a priest known as Innu lives in a town to the north of here, called Tendertwine. I am getting closer! I head north once more.

I approach Tendertwine with trepidation. Inside the mead hall I see a handful of priests. Bugi Shoveledfigures the Hand of Planegifts is a Holy Skull, and a worshipper of the death god Ala. Sinur Colorbudded the goblin is a Sacred Filth, and favours Balance, another of the aspects of Ala.

Finally, I see a human Saced Calm... who introduces himself as Innu Velvetstood. He has long white hair, and is impossibly ancient for a human. His grey eyes remain sharp. In a grating raspy voice, he tells me solemly of his time as a prophet, many hundreds of years ago, before he was turned to necromancy by Rel Dotoats. I show him my amulet and his eyes widen, further more when I show him the books I took from Passionspirals. I gift to him "An Exploration of Innu Velvetstood." He understands now who I am and why I have come.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/djoCF2i.png)

I chastise him for abandoning Passionspirals like a coward, and he mumbles something unintelligable. I implore him to tell me where the slab The Certain Urns is. He shrugs and says that the last he knew it was taken to Boltspumpkin in the warchests of a conquering general. This is consistent with what I learned in the great library of Divedact.

I tell him that there is a way he can redeem himself... by inscribing the knowledge of Genem Riddleddressed.

I spend two weeks in Tendertwine with Innu as he struggles to remember how to record the secret that was told to him so many centuries ago. I give him the snowy owl parchment scroll with the fine silver rollers that I crafted in Northmanor, and eventually, he produces "For the Love of Expiration" - and trades it to me in return for the remaining books from Tendertwine.

My hands tremble as I grasp the lost knowledge. No living soul has held this knowledge for over four centuries. I stow it in my pack, still not sure what I will do with this new treasure. I mount Numberphantom once more and head southeast, to the city of Lipbraided.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Unraveller on August 11, 2022, 01:00:51 pm

Quote from: kesperan on August 11, 2022, 12:34:34 pm

How are you finding this information? Is that from Dwarf Therapist after retiring them in a fort? I suspect the reason both Jas and Galka are so huge is due to enormous amounts of muscle...

That's right! I've been playing an unretired Silverthrone for the hopes of beefing it up against future attacks. And so that the Realm of Silver actually has a military stronghold. But yeah, I suppose you're likely correct, and since becoming a vampire literally doubles your strength, toughness, and agility, I assume it must vastly increase your size too.

I see Galka followed in Kothvir's footsteps! Both learning metalcrafting in the hollowed out fortress of Relicward. Soon steel production will be widespread through the human lands thanks to these two men. =)

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on August 11, 2022, 02:35:05 pm

"Kothvir I", Part III, Turn 85

The Legacy of the Raven - the Tale of Kothvir Shadowstar, the Black Raven - Part III

28th Hematite 880

Lipbraided's central keep is scattered with goblin corpses. Violent internecine goblin slaughter has happened here with great abandon, and I spot for the first time in this part of the world a blighted thrall! I stride into the keep, drawing Ghoulbane, the steel shining in the low sun. The ghouls... ignore me. They prefer to attack one another!

While they are distracted, my blade bites deep. Panicked goblins rush from the towers to the west brandishing copper axes, and they too fall. I spend the night clearing and burning the corpses. These people are naive to the threat of the ghouls, leaving their corpses rotting in the open air...

1st Malachite 880

I can resist the urge no longer. As dawn breaks on a new month, I read the manual of Innu. My head swims, filled by the secrets of life and death, and I am transformed into a necromancer just as my ancestor Genam Riddleddressed was. I can raise terrible Empty Ones. I discard my food and water... I have no need of nourishment or sleep. This will make my long journey to Boltspumpkin that much easier. I have fulfilled my destiny and ressurected the lineage of my forebears. I hope Genam would be proud of me.

In the serenity after the carnage, as the embers of the funeral pyres dim, I inscribe the knowledge I have gained of The Certain Urns on the skin of a flayed elf. Ruination Within Reason.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/dhSkUFI.png)

2nd Malachite 880

I continue southwards, skirting the great ocean and heading towards the lands of the Omon Obin on my way towards Boltspumpkin. The perilous journey over the mountains would have been very difficult for me before necromancy has renewed my vigour.
A few scattered goblins are cut down outside their fortresses nestled in the foot hills to the south but they are not my primary concern. I have heard the blighted plague started in the Realm of Silver and I am eager to slay as many as I can. The townsfolk here tell of a rebellion, common folk raised under the banner of the Band of Wax slew many ghouls when the barony would not.

Their leader, a human named Jas, became their new law-giver, and brokered a pact with the dwarves to build a great castle. Perhaps I will pay homage to this proud ruler - a witch-hunter like myself. I will attend to Boltspumpkin in due course, but the return of the Certain Urns is of secondary importance now that I have the knowledge of Genam Riddleddressed.

We make good progress over the mountains and arrive in The Plain Hill as sun is setting. I visit a fort to the east which is simply over-run with turkeys. This place is known as Mischieflaws. Inside I see a very strange chief medical dwarf who is actually a gremlin, as well as a gremlin recruit. What on earth are these dwarves up to? The fort is quite compact, and does not seem to have a forgeworks to interest an armourer like me. They seem to make a living trading trinkets made of the bones of small grey monkeys. I take the opportunity to tan a few leather hides but I am bewlidered by these gremlins, so I press on.

A short distance to the southwest is Waterdeeps, famed as the source of a great river. Yet more gremlins infest this place...

I meet a haggard looking human who has gremlins crawling over her, Asseg Guildcrevice. Sadly, I have no food or drink to offer her, nor respite from the cackling gremlins.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/XOSvOdG.png)

Amongst the gremlins is something else entirely more curious. An enormous muscular black bear man. He is clad in iron armour and looks like he means business. I spot something in his pack which immediately makes me interested... a slab? I trade some gemstones for the slab which he is very happy to part with. I stow Stabbedwring on my horse for it is extremely heavy, hewn of dense quartzite. I set off once more.

3rd Malachite 880

South-east I continue, skirting the menacing goblin dark pits, and heading towards a human castle. Just outside I hear the sounds of battle. A human axeman is fighting a goblin, and he is losing the battle. His halberd and shield lie at his feet and he clutches his spleen as the evil goblin lifts his silver short sword. The human is losing, and he might not last long.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/D1Uej8O.png)

I draw my iron bow and shoot the goblin with a bronze arrow, striking him in the leg. He turns to flee! The cowardly goblin is quickly despatched.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/I8nsQBD.png)

I try to calm the human and he agrees to fight no more. I lift his halberd and shield to return to them, when out of nowhere, Numberphantoms leaps at him caving his leg in. I chastise the stupid horse but the damage is done. The human's head lolls at an odd angle and his arms and legs are twitching. A few moments later he stops breathing. What a pickle.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/3X5hIto.png)

I gather his equipment. It seems he is from a mercenary organisation, The Subtlety of Nourishment, based at the nearby fort of Couplefathers. I gather the corpse and equipment and trudge to the fort.

The "incense commander" takes the news rather well. She seems more perturbed about an argument she had with a bear many years previously. I decide to try to use my new-found necromantic powers to ressurect the dead axeman. The newly-risen Empty One looks around, confused, then saunters over to the mead hall to join his compatriots. Success, I think? Time to make myself scarce...

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/4OZa2ec.png)

4th Malachite 880

I discover a goblin camp a short distance south-west. Perhaps that is where our goblin assailant hailed from? I kill the goblins, relieving their elite crossbowman boss of some well-crafted, if small, equipment.
The choice of the spoils is an enormous solid platinum oslo weighing at least 85 urists... an instrument of some kind. It is enormous and heavy, and made of incredibly valuable metal. I hoist it on to Numberphantom. That can be his penance for randomly slaughtering humans.

We eventually make it to Paddleticks, an outpost of the High Confederacies here, taken from goblins around 60 years ago. I speak to the overlord. Apparently adventurers have been through here in the past and left some artifacts - I spot a pike of some unusual flickering metal and stow it in my pack, trading the overlord some gems for the trouble.

5th Malachite 880

We press on, heading south to reports of a recently abandoned dwarven fort, Agefall. The fort is indeed deserted; dwarf skeletons pock mark the dry surface. Inside are some hastily hewn rooms and a stockpile of hematite ore, but no sign of working forges.
The dank lower levels are partly flooded with brackish water. There are some workshops, but little evidence of any crafting. The dwarves here clearly fell quickly to some calamity, the source of which is not clear. I move on from this depressing outpost.

6th Malachite 880

The tower of Passionspirals lies to the south west, and is eerily quiet. I disturb a nest of rats as I search for an entrance to the tower proper. I find no living souls, but one meandering zombie is cut down.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/JL6Xi7j.png)

7th Malachite 880

I head west, towards this fabled Museum of Boltspumpkin, where the Certain Urns was lost in the distant past. I pass by small human villages and dwarven hillocks, densely packed. I enter the hamlet of Knowledgepalms to find the mead hall absolutely crammed with goblin priests of all kinds, knocking lumps out of each other. There is absolute bedlam, bolts and arrows flying, and goblins being smacked around with books and musical instruments.

The priests seem to be fighting mercenaries, but from outside it is not clear how this melee started. I manage to push myself inside... as I suspected, there are at least two blighted thralls in the thick of things. A Sacred Persuasion Blighted Thrall thrusts his copper pike through the brain of a mercenary, reducing his skull to ragged pulp, as all around priests squeal in fear.

Ghoulbane is required again. The first ghoul, is quickly beheaded. The ringleader it appears is Snodub Ringdooms the Bejeweled Focus of Raptors. He seems grimly satisfied that the first thrall has been slain, perhaps an enemy? If a ghoul could look startled, he did - when his head quickly left his shoulders. One faction of the furious priests now turns upon me, seeing their brethren fall. Can they not see they were already dead? Ghouls care not for the living! I guess I will have to fight my way out of this mess of goblin priests.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/0stogWE.png)

I spend the whole day burning the corpses of 79 dead goblins, and sorting through their inventory. Bizarrely, I find a rather fetching beak dog leather loincloth, The Rope of Sound, spectacular in its rainbow-coloured splendour. Strangely, Numberphantoms is not where I tethered him yesterday. Perhaps he grew tired of lugging around that enormous lump of platinum. I am sure he will show up.

8th Malachite 880

I spend the night in the mead hall, now cleansed of goblins. The new, human, Sacred Calm shows up looking a bit nervous, and I bid him good day. Numberphantoms has returned. No idea what he got up to, but he is caked in dingo blood. And has a few new scars. Perhaps I imagined the horse grinning.

We head west towards Boltspumpkin, stopping at a small hamlet. A very strange sight greets us in the Thunders of Mortification of Lawtaker - a bark scorpion man astronomer fighting a human mummy! The scorpion outmatches his foe, but in the battle reveals himself as a necromancer, raising every corpse in the building. When the dust settles only this strange scorpion is left standing. He introduces himself as Tonpa Peacenuts. He looks oddly familiar - I am sure I have seen his face on a coin? I hand him a merperson leather pouch that I found on the corpse of a goblin priest, containing one Avolition Moncadem Almefbehal gold coin. I am not sure what it looks like when a bark scorpion man winks, but I think that is what he did. Strange little scorpion. He appears covered in bruises and is missing a limb or two. I bet he has a story to tell...

9th Malachite 880

I arrive at the fabled Boltspumpkin. More gremlins... what is it with the dwarves and these irritable little creatures? I introduce myself to the lady of Boltspumpkin, Usbu Monstergully. Is this the alleged slave? Goblins are long lived, and perhaps she will know of the fate of the Certain Urns. The ruler, Ngokang, is nowhere to be seen. I search high and low but The Certain Urns is nowhere to be found. I engage a goblin monk in conversation... he tells me the slab indeed resided here until around 175 years ago, whence it was removed from this place and destroyed. I am strangely calm. I knew that finding it would be a difficult task. But now with Innu Velvetstood's text, I can be safe in the knowledge that the secret is not forever lost. I leave the flickering metal pike as a trinket for the museum and consult my maps and stock up on rumours from the various inhabitants here.

I get a few leads - Clearmasters, Stockadeoutrage... Lawtaker I already have visited.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/Ki0YX8U.png)

I am regailed again of stories of Jas Gloryage, the new law-bringer of the Realm of Silver, slayer of ghouls and leader of men. I will pay him a visit and offer my respects.

A short distance from Boltspumpkin, on the way to Stockadeoutrage, is the sinister and abandoned vault of Coverashes. It has been many decades since brave heroes slew the flaming beings of Midor here, but I am pleased to find some well crafted gauntlets of an incredible dull, black pock-marked metal. I stash some of the curious metal items in my pack. Perhaps they could be forged anew? There are no enemies to slay here.

I head southeast, towards the great icy tundra and Stockadeoutrage, capital of the dwarven Staff of Kissing. I pass through the town of Growlsuppers, and within the keep I find a number of goblins cowering from a blighted thrall. I slaughter them all just to be sure. The High Confederacy now claim this town from the goblin filth who claim to be of the Creamy Confederacy. I find a curious steel scimitar... this weapon is of strange heritage, as the goblins don't usually have access to steel, and dwarves have little knowledge of the scimitar. It seems to have snail man residue on it. I leave it in the keep - Snailstrike the Good of Uncles is inscribed upon the hilt. In the catacombs, a lone goblin chieftess meets her end.

The villages of the Creamy Confederacy are mostly abandoned. The journey to the edge of the tundra is uneventful. Eventually the steppe gives way to barren tundra, and an icy chill caresses my unfeeling skin. We have arrived in the Tundra of Heroes.

11th Malachite 880

The featureles tundra is disorienting, but using the stars as guidance we continue on our journey towards Stockadeoutrage. As dawn breaks, a dwarf appears on the horizon, striding towards me. His otherworldly stare, his bone-white hair and sunken eyes give away that this is no living dwarf. Nil Buzatfikod, the Cold Slayer bears down upon me. I try to calm the dwarf, having no wish to fight it. It responds by punching my horse in the neck, which he takes personally. The dwarf is strong but lacks skill, and Ghoulbane tears into his limbs with ease.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/93kwCNy.png)

A precise strike pierces its frozen heart, but does little to slow its advance, as no blood flows from its many wounds. Suddenly, Numberphantom launches a great kick which strikes the wight on the temple, and his skull collapses. It falls to the ground, unmoving. Never mess with a horse.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/Xp5r3RU.png)

I arrive finally at Stockadeoutrage. A great piller of stone erupts from the tundra, and magma flows from the bubbling volcano nearby. Many skeletons litter the snowy dunes, but I make out the stout form of the greying-haired Queen, Vucar Axesafety. I present to her an electrum crown, as a gift from the High Confederacies. I spend some time availing myself of the forts forgeworks, in preparation for meeting Jas Gloryage. I melt down some objects, including the platinum oslo that Numberphantoms has been lugging around for weeks.

I am able to generate a handful of ingots of purified blistered metal, and an single ingot of native platinum. I craft a breastplate and longsword for myself, and a great axe for the lawgiver of Omon Obin. From the platinum, which I have dragged across half the world, I craft a maul, decorated with unicorn horn.

We leave Stockadeoutrage and head southeast.

12th Malachite 880

The frozen tundra is eerily quiet, and monsters stalk the lands. A bleak creature is the first to be slain by my new blistered metal sword, Demonflayer, the Wraith-Blade. Outside an abandoned fort we encounter strange flaming crab beings. I am sure I am hallucinating but they feel real enough when a sword sinks into them. By late evening we have crossed the tundra into the northern reaches of Omon Obin. Two castles appear on the horizon. We head to the easterly one, and are approached by a human soldier of some kind. She seems quite passive but does not respond to my hails. I note then her neck hangs at an awkward angle and she doesn't seem quite alive. What manner of creature is this? The woman looks at me with a blank expression, and I note its elongated fangs. A vampire!

A reach for my sword and in that moment the vampire shimmers and disappears from view. I swing my Wraith-Blade at where I thought she was and feel a satisfying thud, but no body is found. These magical beings are deadly indeed. Numberphantoms appears perturbed and is keen to move on from this place. If more of these beings are in the castle nearby, we will have to have our wits about us!

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/s5T5Oos.png)

The castle is Entrancegrape, and is the scene of some kind of battle. The only residents are two travelling merchants who claim ignorance of the surrounding area, let alone what happened here. Thankfully, no further vanishing vampires are to be found.

13th Malachite 880

As I enter the town of Toothsneaks, I find evidence of blighted thrall attacks. The thralls however, are all dead. A wounded Holy Froth is asleep in a cabin, and curiously there is a dismembered corpse of an elf warrior clinging to the well. With a flick of my wrist, the noble elf Mace Lord empty one shudders to unlife. She is in a sorry state, but is clearly a warrior of some renown; fine armour and clothing lie at her feet. A masterfully crafted silver flail, etched "Foracovema" is still curled in her grasp. I place her equipment and severed limbs in the nearby mead hall and press on.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/jTQnMvQ.png)

South of the town Utteredguard, we are attacked by a thrall. The "lady" Osime Pleatweave has her head cleaved by my sword. Nearby are a scattered handful of dwarf teeth... I wonder who they belong to? Could these be from the infernal Kosoth who started the ghoulish plague?

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/C2XeCnD.png)

Near Adoreflaxen we are ambushed by shambling zombies. There are still undead threats in these lands. They are quickly put to the sword. We are searching for Clearmasters, which I think remains to the southwest. We press on. Eventually, after encountering some roaming putrid ghouls, we arrive on the outskirts of Clearmasters. Numberphantom kicks a jaguar to death for fun. We enter the fort from the north.

Using my leftover scraps of blisterd metal, I craft a book binding. I bind the elf parchement quire with giant cave spider silk thread and create a superior quality blistered metal bound tome.

I meet a rather imposing dwarf, who appears to be the local broker. He smells awful and his eyes are rotten sockets. He emanates an aura of malevolence. Under his ragged garb, impossible blue armour gleams. I hear his whisper in my mind, like a jagged icicle, and find myself handing him Stabbedwring, and Innu's scroll. Thankfully he hands them back a short while later, with a grin of rotten teeth. Shaken, I leave this place and head to Silverthrone, last on my list of places to visit.

It is a huge and impressive castle, and an example of dwarf and man working in harmony. Lord Gloryage has done a great thing in culling the ghouls from this place. I wish to pay tribute to him and learn his ways, so that the High Confederacies might also be free from this debasement.

I spot the law-giver chatting to a muscular one-armed lord, hefting an axe and halberd. He appears to have been recently wounded, and bears a grim countenance. The mangled bodies of several ghouls and zombies scatter the courtyard, and curiously I find weapons of blistered metal on their corpses... a sword, and a maul. One appears to have a book of magic spells, Defensive Hexes. Lord and Law-Giver tell us of the ever present threat of the undead, and how he recently lost an arm to a rabid ghoul. Their frigid corpses still stain the entrance of the keep. I stow the book and otherworldly weapons in my pack.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/d6xl1am.png)

I gift Lord Gloryage treasures from my travels - Thrallrend the blistered metal great axe, some well crafted armour and precious gems. He is most impressed by Numberphantom, this fine horse has served me through thick and thin and is now a proud battlesteed. This once lazy and obese horse is now thick with muscle, his hide a map of scars. His nose is broken. He has killed many fearsome opponents!

I can think of no finer gift for Lord Jas Gloryage the Worshipful, slayer of ghouls. I hope he takes good care of my valiant steed and may he serve him as well as he has served me. It is time.... time to go home.

18th Malachite 880

The journey home, while lonely without my faithful horse, is less eventful. I arrive at Boltspumkin and present to the Museum curator my book. If this strange little castle is truly the last resting place of The Certain Urns, then a blistered metal codex containing its knowledge is a fitting replacement.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/jsAOjCc.png)

I head back north, to the High Confederacies. I stop off at an unfamiliar castle and chat with a long-toothed historian, Leto Searchpraise. He is interested in the book of Defensive Hexes that I give him. I make my way steadily through my homeland, slaying the odd straggling ghoul or bandit, heading towards my final reckoning. Clenchedportent, the seat of government since Incenseorder fell.

22nd Malachite 880

It is midsummer.

At Clenchedportent, I can hear the scrabbling of ghouls and the sounds of battle before I arrive at the hall, The Assault of Honesty. The head doctor Asi Birthstones rushes out of the archway, clutching a deep gash to her head., closely follwed by the members of Lady Uzu Scouredgolds cabinet.
I am forced to put down a half dozen of the nobles who reside here, though strangely the ravening thralls leave the law-giver unmolested. First to fall is the cup-bearer, then the chamberlain, master of beasts, royal chef, head housekeeper and then chief counselor. All that remain are the injured doctor, and the oddly untouched law-giver.

She does not see me is a liberator, but accuses me of the murder of his ministers. I see through her. For four decades this corrupt fool has lorded over the decay of my homeland, and now I see she has not aged a day. I call her a child of night! She does not deny it, bragging she has slain many in her lust for power and blood. In the blink of an eye, I unsheath my blistered metal sword and the vampire's blood sprays upon the walls. Her head hits the ground a moment later, a look of surprise etched permanently upon her visage.

For the people of the High Confederacies!

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/g2LujA1.png)

The head doctor, Ari, is terrified of me for slaying the cabinet, but seems satisfied that this beast is dead. She implores that I must now become the new law-giver! I turn to her, wiping the vampire's filth from my blade.

In a low voice I declare - "I don't want it... I never have!"

They will find another law-giver, they always do. Perhaps now that the ruling cabinet is made once more of mortal men, then some healing can come to this land. I travel to Incenseorder one final time and warn the wolf Maloy that the wind is changing. Next time I see him, I will take this keep for the Confederacies. I retire to a quite town on the western reaches of Confederacy land, hopefully to live out my days in peace.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on August 11, 2022, 03:43:15 pm

That was amazing, can I say that Numberphantoms is the perfect sidekick? It provides strange plot twists and comic relief, even if the comedy is a bit dark in nature.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on August 11, 2022, 03:53:44 pm

Quote from: Bralbaard on August 11, 2022, 03:43:15 pm

That was amazing, can I say that Numberphantoms is the perfect sidekick? It provides strange plot twists and comic relief, even if the comedy is a bit dark in nature.

Thanks! He started off as a generic horse, and had EIGHTEEN named kills to his name at the end, and was basically just a walking lump of scar tissue. I checked the legends mode after the most recent save and he has sadly died of old age. RIP MurderHorse.

For ease of modifying the front page, the new forts that I visited:

45. Northmanor the Unholy Cathedral.
46: Agefall
47: Mischieflaws
48: Warshrieks
49: Silverthrone

And official submission is:

48: Ruination Within Reason: This dark codex is crafted from blistered metal, the same unholy substance as the lost slab The Certain Urns. It contains a quire of flayed elf-leather detailing the secrets of life and death, passed to Genam Riddleddressed by Sut the Tomb of Quests. Submitted by the witch-hunter Kothvir Shadowstar the Black Raven (Kesperan).

I think it should be number 48 since it was submitted before Avolition's last turn.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Maloy on August 11, 2022, 04:52:27 pm

Wow so many cool adventures!
I enjoyed it a lot and I always wonder on the understanding of steel craft in the dwarf fortress world
obviously humans and goblins don't have it, but it's a huge game changer so fun watching a story play out about it

Also sad to hear my character is still wonky, but glad arthur and Mirai were doing well. They actually refused to rejoin Maloy when I was messing around trying to fix him insisting they had more important business.
Maloy will never give up Incenseorders! Maybe? Idk he can barely fight and doesn't really wanna so we will see what happens lol so much stuff has happened since my turn my head is spinning with the options of what I can do

Also another body part of Bral's to be found?

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(http://www.starwarsreport.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/b4Pk9yv.gif)

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Unraveller on August 11, 2022, 09:04:56 pm

Back to you Bralbaard -- SAVE FOR TURN 89 START HERE -- (https://drive.google.com/file/d/1YuaY23OMxoX5m5crbknZUfRlwG70GXqS/view?usp=sharing)

I had a huge amount of trouble uploading to DFFD this time for some reason, so here it is on google drive.

Now I'm fascinated by the idea of piecing together the old king brick by brick. Can't do quite too much with an ear and hand just yet though.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on August 12, 2022, 01:39:16 am

Is the save file too big to be uploaded to DFFD now?

Good luck with your turn Bralbaard!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Quantum Drop on August 12, 2022, 03:46:30 am

File is still about 100 MB below the DFFD file limits, so it should still be able to upload there. Looking into google drive and similar alternative uploads may be necessary as we get closer to the limit, though.

Good luck with your turn, Bralbaard!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on August 12, 2022, 08:33:49 am

Quote from: Quantum Drop on August 12, 2022, 03:46:30 am

File is still about 100 MB below the DFFD file limits, so it should still be able to upload there. Looking into google drive and similar alternative uploads may be necessary as we get closer to the limit, though.

I still remember when their file limit was 250 MB during the original museum game and they increased it after our save game size breached the limit. But I think we should be fine for some time yet.

Quote from: kesperan on August 11, 2022, 03:53:44 pm

For ease of modifying the front page, the new forts that I visited:

Thanks! that saved me a lot of time!

I've got the save game.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Unraveller on August 12, 2022, 06:12:09 pm

(https://i.imgur.com/ABLqPzN.png)

The tension in the air is thick as the 23rd Law-Giver of Omon Obin speaks his mind -- a weighty statement to his most trusted friend, Eman, who bears a similar weight about his countenance.

(https://i.imgur.com/SDvELiN.png)

"Are you certain you're prepared for this, old chum?" Eman replies, idly gazing out from Silverthone's fishing pier, across the frozen river that seperates the castle and Weatherponder. Jas in turn is pacing back and forth without end, watching his own footfalls with both arms held abaft.

"No, of course not. . . How could any man be?" Speaks the common Law-Giver, a dire portent clear as the morning sun in his voice. It was then that the ever-low to the ground shape of the recently sparse Royal Chamberlain came into the scene, a bundle of glistening cyan cloth at one side, their pickaxe heaving them forward.

"Master Galka!" The expression of the gruff one-armed swordsman Eman lights up as he takes note of the other,  "You're a sight for sore eyes, lookin' more haggard than usual. Beat some sense into our valiant leader won't you?"

Galka, feeling the fatigue of his long journey can't quite muster the same enthusiasm, "I return bearing gifts, and news as well." He claims most plainly but his words don't seem to halt Jas's pacing.

"Your news will have to wait Master Galka." Says the Law-Giver. "We've greater conundrums with which to tangle this morn."

The crippled human takes a deep breath, his eyes narrow. "Has another attack come in my absence?" He questions.

"No. Worse." Replies Jas. "I'm going to be a father. . !"

(https://i.imgur.com/4kwd562.png)

---

(https://i.imgur.com/nlmAQpG.png)

(https://i.imgur.com/HQYb9On.png)

The three of them huddle into the royal bedchambers where Detsis' heavy breaths reverberate through the microline walls. Her strong grasp holding tight onto the slight high housekeeper who gives her hand off to Jas -- the man is sweating bullets. "Get a hold of yerself, ya pansy. . !" The muscled hammerwoman manages to growl from her bed and from beyond the engorged hill of her stomach. "We've managed to get this far, haven't we?"

Her voice reassures her husband, and day slowly wheels into night, Jas settling in beside her for the final stretch. As dark stars loom overhead in this new Age of Twilight, cries of new life echo throughout Silverthrone. Even whilst doom creeps near, life moves on.

(https://i.imgur.com/fd4fvXT.png)

Galka sweeps forth, with his one good hand gently cupping and swaddling the hefty baby in shimmering blue cloth while the high housekeeper severs the umbilical cord. Wrapped in the fairy-tale metal, Galka hands the child off to their father, who remains utterly stunned. "This is my first gift to you. . ." Galka begins.

(https://i.imgur.com/4GnbSY5.png)

". . . May if forever safeguard the Heir of Silver."

Jas holds close, and perhaps too tight the child to his chest. Feeling the impossibly light cloak about their insignificant form. "I've a son. . ." He mutters, tears welling up in his eyes. "I've a son. . !"

(https://i.imgur.com/OpqTnTe.png)

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on August 12, 2022, 07:22:56 pm

A true hier, born with an adamantine cloak around him. We will watch his career with great interest.

Really enjoyed your story Unraveller, your conversations have such a natural flow.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Unraveller on August 13, 2022, 11:36:09 am

Much appreciated Avo! Dialogue is actually one thing I'm oftend worried about, generally I find that in my head these things tend to sound stilted and weird, glad that doesn't shine through too much. Also It's really unfortunate about Iral Obin, the cloak of silver. I equipped it to Jas's child, however when they became a toddler in the middle of my adventure, the cloak was deleted completely. It's considered destroyed in legends. Pretty sad, haha.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on August 13, 2022, 06:42:22 pm

Awesome Unraveller! That must be a first for any Museum, an heir! I assume he will be next law-giver?

Oh, and did you happen to find any of my gifts when you unretired Jas?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Unraveller on August 13, 2022, 07:50:34 pm

I'm actually not certain if succession works familialy, it seems sometimes it does at least given our world. Might not need any goding by the time Jas passes away, but who knows for sure?

And yes, I most definitely took note of what Kothvir left, I shall make mention of some things in my next post! Pretty upset that Numberphantom passed on before my turn though, haha. I couldn't even find his corpse to give a great tomb to either.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on August 14, 2022, 03:30:24 am

Quote from: Bralbaard on August 12, 2022, 08:33:49 am

Thanks! that saved me a lot of time!

Noticed one small error - I didn't visit Warshrieks. Sorry!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on August 14, 2022, 04:40:46 am

Quote from: Unraveller on August 13, 2022, 07:50:34 pm

I'm actually not certain if succession works familialy, it seems sometimes it does at least given our world.

Most of the time it does. Looking through especially Omon Obin's history of Law-Givers, which has been the most stable nation until World Activation, you can see royal dynasties stretching for centuries, of 5-6 individuals from the same family.

The exceptions seem to be:
* If you get killed (i.e. King Bralbaard) and resurrected, the game treats the newly resurrected creature as a new contender in the line of succession (or not at all, as the case with King Bralbaard seems to be)
* If you become a necromancer, you can leave for your master's tower from that dreadful ruling position (this usually works with NPCs - I've seen a King/Law-Giver just up and leave to a necro's tower, losing their position, though I'm not sure it happened in Orid Xem)
* If you become an enemy of that civilization. Example: Urwa (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Urwa_Nihdesana), last eligible heir of Isun (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Isun_Cilbanulce), whose line ruled from 380 to Isun's death in 729.

See also Dethroned monarchs (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Category:Dethroned_monarchs).

The question is, can he have children, considering...

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Code: [Select]

Active Interactions: SECRET_RES_POWER_40_3


Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Unraveller on August 14, 2022, 11:12:26 am

He can, that is merely resistance to Raki Umberclan's Weremammoth Fell One's paralysis magicks. He and the Band of Wax did battle with them in Scarletbronze. He's not actually a necromancer, he's a mortal man. But Legends Viewer seems to think if you've ever been touched by such things, you're labled as a necro.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on August 14, 2022, 12:18:09 pm

Not really. Legends Viewer claims three categories as necros: actual necros, blighted experiments and the occasional demon (Egu (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Egu_Odanez_Exzas_Otsmor) was considered one, I think). I'm not sure what it thinks of undead and the like, but it doesn't say Jas is a necro, it just says that quote, which means that's in the game files. I just extrapolated and was wondering if he was secretly a necro/undead, but that's on me for assuming, not on Legends Viewer.

Another issue with adventurers is that I think they can't have children unless actions are taken via DFHack. Yet another issue that I've noticed is that there are a lot fewer born creatures in World Activation than there are in World Generation (exceptions are creatures who procreate in Fortress Mode for obvious reasons) and that nobody has any children out of wedlock after WG, which happens all the time before WG (which might explain why the world has fallen in the Age of Twilight). People have lovers, but if they don't marry, they don't have children. Yet another issue is that if the spouses are in different locations, it's yet another bust (for obvious reasons). And I think once a spouse dies, the chances of someone remarrying is really low (if possible at all).

I wish Jas all the luck, but the odds are not looking good for him. I'm curious how many non-dwarf Kings/Queens have had children after WG, because I can't think of one who did.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on August 14, 2022, 03:44:00 pm

Quote from: Lurker Z on August 14, 2022, 12:18:09 pm

I wish Jas all the luck, but the odds are not looking good for him. I'm curious how many non-dwarf Kings/Queens have had children after WG, because I can't think of one who did.

Well for what it's worth, the world history.txt file does seem to confirm Jas' claim that he has a heir:
   Jas Gloryage the Worshipful (b.852, Reign Began: 879), *** New Line, Married 2 Children -- Ages: 3 1

I'm sure some DFhackery was involved, I think there is a script that fixes the orientation tags too allow for marriage? I must admit it adds some flavour to the game. Use of this script is fine, and if I recall correctly it was used in the past as wel. Anyhow, I wish the royal family all the best.
 

Quote from: kesperan on August 14, 2022, 03:30:24 am

Quote from: Bralbaard on August 12, 2022, 08:33:49 am

Thanks! that saved me a lot of time!

Noticed one small error - I didn't visit Warshrieks. Sorry!

That makes sense. I just found out that the place still crashes the game upon visiting. I vaguely remember someone finding a fix for that, but I guess we haven't gotten round to implementing that? Anyone remember the details?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Quantum Drop on August 14, 2022, 03:51:41 pm

Yeah, adventurers are all sterile/asexual (not sure which) by default but dfhack's fixster script can solve that -- nogoodnames used that to give the adventurer they used to deal with the HoP clusters the ability to marry and have a child. Certainly allows for a whole new range of storytelling possibilities, I think.

On the subject of Warshrieks crashing iirc the method involved taking an earlier save file then copying the site image data (or something like that; was definitely a .dat file) from the non-crashing save to the crashing one. Will have a proper look back and try to find the exact posts/method when I have time.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on August 14, 2022, 04:12:36 pm

Lol @ sigtext QD... been reading the old Museum again?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Quantum Drop on August 14, 2022, 04:26:29 pm

Quote from: kesperan on August 14, 2022, 04:12:36 pm

Lol @ sigtext QD... been reading the old Museum again?

Yeah, I was reading back through some of the older material and noticed that in your turn as Kosoth Griffonblaze. Found the mental image it generated rather amusing, so I figured it was sig-worthy.

In the case of Warshrieks, I found this post by Nogoodnames:

Quote from: nogoodnames on June 12, 2022, 06:53:22 pm

Warshrieks is loadable if you prevent it from spawning any of the inhabitants, so one or more of them is causing the crash. Problem is, there are 158 inhabitants and I don't have a good way of narrowing it down. Maybe it's the same werebeast crash, maybe not.
(Or maybe it's the nemesis vector? I have no idea how the nemesis system works but it has 160 entries vs. 158 units so maybe there are a couple bad entries. Someone more knowledgeable about dfhack and the df data structures could probably figure it out.)

Edit: I did some more testing and it turns out mid-transform werebeasts cause two nemesis records, presumably for their were and normal forms. So it seems likely that Warshrieks has two transformed werebeasts that are causing the crashes.

So wiping the site's population as a whole (or otherwise stopping them spawning) should let us brute-force Warshrieks back into the game, but i have absolutely no clue what kind of impact it might have on the save's stability. If anyone knows enough about DFHack and DF's data structures to find and delete the corrupted entries related to the Werebeasts on-site, that should also open it up.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Maloy on August 14, 2022, 06:39:48 pm

Quote from: Quantum Drop on August 14, 2022, 04:26:29 pm

So wiping the site's population as a whole (or otherwise stopping them spawning) should let us brute-force Warshrieks back into the game, but i have absolutely no clue what kind of impact it might have on the save's stability. If anyone knows enough about DFHack and DF's data structures to find and delete the corrupted entries related to the Werebeasts on-site, that should also open it up.

Since werebeasts are always actual historical figures would it be possible to delete historical figures from the site one at a time until we hit the right one?

Idk how big the town is so if its hundreds I understand that could be a big task

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Eric Blank on August 14, 2022, 08:57:10 pm

Iirc there were like 80 dwarves left by the end, small drop in population there... I'm actually not aware of any werebeasts on site? At least I don't remember having any left over. I exiled a couple though after a weresomething or other attack

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on August 15, 2022, 07:53:33 am

Holyblood Log

I didn't know my journey would end where i started it. The keep of Boltspumpkin held a familiar warmth that I hadn't felt in a while. My mind clearer, my vision focused. I have decided to take up a familiar position as Docent of the museum as well as its defender. With a greater purpose I can stave of my bloodlust. Taking up the tower behind the main building as i slowly adorned it with my belongings. Of course i forgot hundreds of foul blendec skulls in LakeMenace, oh well less is more after all. These three shall suffice. My weapons are up for grabs, offering them out to would be adventurers and even a little training. The last thing an adventurer needs is their copper longsword breaking on them. Plus these weapons have such a deep rooted history that my immortal ass shouldn't horde them forever. They have stories of their own and better adventurers will hopefully use them for the greater good of Orid Xem.

I only recall fragments of the past years after awakening from a long hibernation. Tosace had rapidly deteriorated and her husking was almost finished. She had informed me of a lost secret now awoken. However during our travels she truely lost herself and became a husk. Needless to say, i put down the penguin woman. Was a shame.

I remember a strange necromancer who I gifted jewels too whilst I took a glance and this secret knowledge. It was one of the three i sought. Such knowledge, more of it coming together and then a blur. I awoke on an island, goblin limb in my maw, new wounds and bloody weapons.

The Page of Tiredness had returned, I had helped them. They were frozen for years, at least these ones. The recent warming, released them from their permafrost prisons below the Tundra of Heros, they had sought, an isolated island in the north. I crawled along the seabed and dragged their wagon across the ocean. The gave me a home, I was lost.

I was lost, my mind was clouded.. I was a parasite, feasting on the lost dwarves. I was always doing this in Falsetower. I was blinded by revenge, manipulated and twisted by this dark knowledge I was blindly helping Ala. I had been unintentionally doing his will the entire time. It hit me upon looking at that copper artifact, the sword. This dwarf had caught me feasting and immortalised it on the copper sword. No wonder that rotted dwarf hadn't moved in years, I was doing all the work for Ala.
I was sick, a plague upon these struggling dwarves and they showed me nothing but compassion and I took their fellow dwarves. I asked the smith to make me some armour and headed out not long after its completion.

The ugly forest, a place of death, the ruins of a small fort, littered with bones wrapped in plants. It was oddly beautiful, even in death there is life. Yet the island was full of foul blendecs, they would often try and pray on my whilst I composed my poems. For those that are unaware Foul Blendecs are clearly the foul creatures of Ala, skulls for heads, their hollow eyes pierce deep into your very being. Even in death, the skulls still reek with darkness, the sockets forever staring into your soul.

After contemplating in The Ugly Forest for some time, i decided to return to the Museum. But first a warning to the goblins, no more wars. Lake Menace was a mess with goblins, the pits ran red and at the end of it all. I just walked out and kept going until I was here. The place that will be my new home, I know I can hold it all back.

A true fresh start was required, I grabbed the lapis from my pocket, once a component in my hands for future spells. I wash my hands with it and for now I need time to think about what Im gonna do. I had all the time and I need to us it for something important.

I must not be tempted by lost secrets.
I must not be a monster.
I must be better.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on August 15, 2022, 08:35:10 am

Quote from: AvolitionBrit on August 15, 2022, 07:53:33 am

Holyblood Log


....

I must not be tempted by lost secrets.
I must not be a monster.
I must be better.

Ah. yes,  about those good intentions.
Let me present you with a brief glimpse into my adventures.
This is from when I just set foot into the museum:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/0ikrLZ0.gif)

:P

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on August 15, 2022, 08:43:17 am

Yikes, hope that feather isn't too tough to deal with. Atleast its not the sea serpent

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on August 15, 2022, 01:54:20 pm

We might have to be careful around the museum for the time being. The feather was not the only thing raised by Avolition but he appears to be in a better mood now. Anyhow, I was very lucky that the serpent was on a higher floor, not to speak of the fortunate location of submission 31:

31: a pile of 78 demon corpses stacked on a birchen pedestal on the top floor of the museum; some dark magic must prevent the birchen pedestal from collapsing under the weight. (submitted by Quantum Drop)"

That could have been a disaster of museum-ending proportions.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on August 15, 2022, 01:57:12 pm

Might need a move if this behavior continues.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on August 15, 2022, 02:46:25 pm

Quote from: AvolitionBrit on August 15, 2022, 01:57:12 pm

Might need a move if this behavior continues.

Yes that might be for the better. Have a location in mind? I could get him there.

I need to adjust my plans for my adventure. I managed to corrupt the save game with my first try, but have a relatively recent back-up.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on August 15, 2022, 02:57:57 pm

Lawtaker or herograves if thats alright. Sorry to hear your turn corrupted. Good you had the backup. Curious what you did to corrupt it.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Quantum Drop on August 15, 2022, 03:15:31 pm

Quote from: Bralbaard on August 15, 2022, 01:54:20 pm

We might have to be careful around the museum for the time being. The feather was not the only thing raised by Avolition but he appears to be in a better mood now. Anyhow, I was very lucky that the serpent was on a higher floor, not to speak of the fortunate location of submission 31:

31: a pile of 78 demon corpses stacked on a birchen pedestal on the top floor of the museum; some dark magic must prevent the birchen pedestal from collapsing under the weight. (submitted by Quantum Drop)"

That could have been a disaster of museum-ending proportions.

...In hindsight submitting that probably wasn't the wisest idea, though I'm not 100% sure whether or not demon corpses can even be resurrected in the first place. (Though this has reminded me that I still need to write that turn.)

Unfortunate to hear that your save got corrupted, though it's good you have a backup, at least. Do you have any idea what caused the corruption, or was it just a random stroke of bad luck?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on August 15, 2022, 03:49:31 pm

I know what caused the corruption, and it was kind of ironic. I'll save the story for later.

@Avolition: I'll make that Lawtaker, Herograves is probably not a very good location for an overenthousiastic necromancer  ;D.

edit:

@QD; Organic demons can be resurrected, but the ones made of inorganic materials can not, as far as I'm aware (I think that murder monster might actually have been a demon?). Don't worry about the submission, if it had gotten out of hand, it would have made a hilarious story. I'm quite sure we would have had sufficient capable adventurers to reconquer the museum.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Maloy on August 15, 2022, 05:27:45 pm

Be me contemplating how to make my mark on museum game history

Bralbaard states about how any necromancer could unleash the apocalypse by resurrecting 78 demon corpses

hmmmmmmmm


jk I would never intentionally grief

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Unraveller on August 15, 2022, 06:24:14 pm

The child, Irka Tinsabre he is named -- A blade that should never be swung. Still overcome with emotion, the Law-Giver of the Realm of Silver plants a kiss upon the whinning little bundle's forehead. Starlight filtering in from the white jade windows of the bedchamber illuminates the boy's flushed face. "I dare not utter a curse against ye, o' Silver Lord. . ." Speaks the High Housekeeper, clearly more words yet still hold upon her tongue.

"Please. Cast off those thoughts, we are not the nobles of old, we're hardly noble at all." Jas responds with a light grin.

"Oh no, good ser. You and your clansmen are more noble than any I've served, that is what says my tongue." Slowly, methodically, the Housekeeper draws the curtains, lighting a candle or two.

Detsis heaves, a mighty sigh escapes her throat, she's exhausted to say the least, "Let me have a hold of my damn son." She manages to say, feebly so.

"Ah. Right." Her husband stammers, gently handing off the shimmering cloak swaddling their child. With that, he turns again to the High Housekeeper, "Let us step out." He says, a credulous gaze is shared.

(https://i.imgur.com/K81SflA.png)

Irka's cries are muffled behind the solid willow door, Galka and Eman sit quietly in the dim dining room -- as quietly as the one-armed sword-master could manage, casting knuckle bones and beckoning his dour companion to play along. The Law-Giver leans against the bright microcline masonry of the Staff of Kissing's finest craftsmen, looking down to the squat Housekeeper, he speaks softly, "Now what was it that's bothering you?"

The woman gazed up at her tall, yet humble lord, "Ser. Again, I mean no disresp--"

"None taken, please. . ." He splays out a hand in gesture.

She adjusts herself, after these past few years still unable to acclimate to the 'royals'' lack of decorum. "It's just that. . . That the stars shone on young master Irka tonight. A. . . Constellation foretelling woe."

Jas raises an eyebrow, but he does not appear shaken, "And that would be?" He asks, pushing her on to continue, and to cut her vagueries.

"Gopet's Crook." She whispers at near inaudible level, yet Galka can't help but find his ear twitch as he turns his attention from Eman's foolery.

Again, unperturbed, Jas responds, "Dear Housekeeper, I am a simple man. Hardly can I read a codex let alone the stars, what significance is this?"

"You know Gopet of course. The Putrid Cyst. Death and Disease are his domain. The High Confederacies know he as Sut, the Tomb of Quests, while the Nations of Honoring give him only the name Ala. . . I do not question the motives of the gods, no, no of course not. But I fear for young master Irka in their plans -- the Gopet's Crook signifies the rise of troubled times, not the fall!"

Working herself up into a frenzy as her voice grows more and more unstable by the moment, Jas places both hands about her shoulders, steadying the woman. "There will always be troubled times, The Band of Wax's journey was only the end of the chapter, not the story. But even so, my progeny and I, the Realm of Silver, we make our own fate -- We are not beholden to some dictations of the night sky." He bears a warm smile, practically embracing the High Housekeeper as if to thank her for her concerns, yet he stalwart against their meaning. "Now. My wife awaits you, take good care of them both, and burden not their hearts with such words."

(https://i.imgur.com/VVXCRtV.png)

With a nod, and a return of Jas's countenance, she returns to the bedchamber. Galka has not taken his eyes off of her, nor Jas, he beckons the man before he can compose himself. "Is it secret. . . Is it safe?"

"Even you, Master Galka? My son is no pawn in our enemy's game." Jas rests both palms down upon the wooden table, leaning in over his companions.

Galka responds with a cold stare, "Can you be so sure?" He doesn't allow Jas a pithy retort. "You've blithely accepted the strange gifts of that hollow-eyed Raven, what makes you believe they weren't tools sent to destroy us from within? Or have you forgotten what has become of our dwarven scholars?"

(https://i.imgur.com/eU03mV0.png)

(https://i.imgur.com/hZaJSAy.png)

(https://i.imgur.com/BtHeijP.png)

Jas speaks softly, "Of course not. . ."

(https://i.imgur.com/SV1F9ys.png)

"It had to be done." The Law-Giver remarks, "I could not bring myself to execute them for their errant gaze. What monsters would we be?"

Galka merely grumbles before continuing, "Regardless, the slab is yet locked away, is it not?"

"Yes, yes of course. None but the three of us know it's precise location. Nor the rest of the manuscripts left by those assailants." Jas is haggard, some deeper portion of him is long exhausted from their campaign against the blight, yet that only seems to be the beginning.

"Good. See that it remains that way. . ."

---

(https://i.imgur.com/9ZErILd.png)

Jas sups upon a mug of spiced strawberry wine, sitting forward upon the eponymous Silverthrone. The castle's main hall is all but empty save for the Law-Giver and his two closest confidants. The night is young still, and the coolness of the hall invites awakness. Galka's voice carries only to the pair of men he'd shed blood with. ". . . Yea, if there's aught my journey has determined, 'tis that our foe is no dark god, but flesh and blood the likes of we three. The blight only persists in small pockets beyond our Realm, enough to assume this foe -- 'The Abyssal Cult',  either is near to us, or merely has a vendetta against our Realm, or perhaps certainly against our cleansing of their taint. To the fortress of Ancientknowledge I'd traveled, there the Queen of the Walled Dye met with me, her eyes as hollow as the scholars below us. I cannot say that she or the dwarves have any part in this, no, but I learned that the tablet in our vault is not the only one of its kind. Indeed there are no less than fourteen slabs, each holding the concentrated secrets of life and death. . ."

Eman rasps after a heavy glug of his mead, "Ain't no man needs that kinda power, must do stuff to yer head."

Galka nods gazing at his own pale limbs, "I concur. Certainly thee have noticed by now -- I am no mere man. A taste of that curs--"

Jas raises a hand to quiet his mentor's concern. "You are as much a man as we are. Nothing more need be said."

"Aye!" Adds Eman, "Band o' Wax, thru an' thru."

The crippled one can't help but fill ill at ease, but he manages a chuckle. "Well. . . Regardless of that, I put it to thee that wouldst we seek to learn any more of our foe, than seeking out the remaining slabs, chiseled by the gods is nary our only choice."

Jas replies resoundingly, his questions purposeful. "You would have us set out on another journey then? A wild chase even. And what of these tablets, if they are so corrupting the eyes of men, how can we keep them safe?"

"I've now more than a few leads. . . We would destroy them." Galka's proclamation resounds through the hall. "The will of the gods be damned, we've naught but suffered under the burdens they've laid out for us. It is my belief that we are no more than playthings for the greater powers, cheap toys to be discarded after a time. Let us rise above our station, let us wrest fate into mortal hands. . !"

Here, here! The other's exclaim, bringing their mugs together.

"But master Galka, I'm afraid we cannot set out at once. . . You know as well as I do that Silverthrone could be under threat again soon, we must continue preparations. I've contacted the Dwarves of the Staff of Kissing, they're willing to return and build walls for us -- fortify the river and more. Just the same, we've sent out a call for all able bodied men of the realm to join us here, Eman will be in charge of training them. But even before all of this. . ."

(https://i.imgur.com/vglwF2h.png)

Eman wheezes, gripping tight on his drink. "Swordgleamed ya know. . . The Feed o' Styles're startin' to get uppity as hell. We gotta put those bandits in their place. Sooner the better."

"Legitimacy is still hard to come by for us Master Galka. We've the support of a good deal of the populous to be sure, but the nobles are just as well to use our rise for their own gain. Our fist must be shown to come down on any threat, from within or without." Jas mimics his words with a clenched hand and a steady strike. "We cannot loosen our resolve, not ever."

Bringing his one good hand to his strong chin, the now more youthful face of the crippled vampire gazes back, "Great stewards of the Realm you've become. . . Such things had slipped my mind. We've no army yet to strike at the bandit stronghold, and I've heard tale that they're four-hundred strong and swelling still, what is your plan?"

Jas stands from the Silverthrone, a wide smile on his face as he raises his cup, "We'll go ourselves, as the Band of Wax!"

---

OOC: Not much to say here, lots of dialogue in this one. Probably just one more part after this.

Also Maloy! The Wolfman Lord obsessed with an ear is already plenty an impact if you ask me. Haha.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on August 15, 2022, 06:48:42 pm

Quote from: Unraveller on August 15, 2022, 06:24:14 pm

"You've blithely accepted the strange gifts of that hollow-eyed Raven, what makes you believe they weren't tools sent to destroy us from within? ..."

The slab, Stabbedwring! It was gifted by the Black Raven surely because the noble Jas Gloryage is incorruptable? And unlike poor Kothvir, lied to by his "father", ostracised by the golden-haired menfolk of the High Confederacies for being different, not driven by a yearning to fill a hollow in his soul?

I am really grinning here that you are weaving in the stories by me, and by QD and no doubt others. Keep it up. I have been sneak-peaking in Legends Mode and I have to say, Unraveller, with this turn and the one before, you have taken Adventure Mode to the next level. I wish I knew how to do half the things you have done.

Quote from: Unraveller on August 15, 2022, 06:24:14 pm

Indeed there are no less than fourteen slabs, each holding the concentrated secrets of life and death. . ."

Acccckkkktchually, there are 14 slabs, but only 12 have secrets. The other two are vault slabs, with demons true names... Beware! Destroying them will put you at odds with the Blind Sadist, hidden away in plain sight in Clearmasters, who seeks still to find a way to uncover the Twelfth Secret!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Unraveller on August 15, 2022, 07:26:02 pm

Galka's a suspicious one, and perhaps for good reason these days. He's been spending too much time among the dwarves I suppose. Besides, I imagine Kothvir's meeting with them was rather curt.

And hell yeah! The part I live best about this game is the collective story telling the emerges. I already know well how giddy I can get when someone mentions my adventures in their posts, so of course I gotta make sure to do the same.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on August 19, 2022, 12:41:34 pm

Dear museum curator,

It was not long ago that I became the owner of the piece of art that I now entrust to you. Though I am an avid collector of art, and know quite a bit of the history of our realm, I am at a loss as to what the subject of the painting is. It clearly depicts events of great significance, but all I have been able to learn so far is that it dates to the early Second Age of Heroes. A part of history that is sadly, shrouded in mystery. This is why I entrust the work to you, hoping that you will be able to use the museum's vast resources to learn more.

Best regards,

Kadol WhiskyBreakfast

(https://i.imgur.com/nU8o6p1.png)



(might take a few days before I'm able to write down further explanations, feel free to speculate)

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Quantum Drop on August 19, 2022, 02:23:30 pm

That's some really cool artwork to start a turn off with, Bralbaard!

Spoiler: Initial Speculations (click to show/hide)

• The hand with the crown above it (lower center-right) might be representative of Bralbaard Hammerfishes' animated bodyparts getting up to some breed of mischief, considering he's a (former) King and IIRC his missing hand was either animated or found at some point.
• Bottom left is pretty obvious - Avolition Holyblood the Autumnal Kingdoms' reanimation of a Murder Monster's feather with all the potential wackiness stemming from that. Above that it looks like an undead dwarf or human trying to use necromancy to influence or contact another - maybe Moldath Mournsaints is getting up to some mischief despite his effective retirement, or maybe Lurker Lockkingdom has finally succeeded in contacting a mortal agent to resurrect him
• Central creature looks like a reanimated (green circle and flies around head seems to imply necromancy) megabeast of some kind, going off the sheer size. Considering the beak and birdlike appearence I'd theorise it's a reanimated Roc, or some kind of birdlike organic demon. EDIT: Probably a roc, since I distinctly recall that at least one Roc's body was still intact.
• The cloud blowing an hourglass over -- I'd presume that represents the change in Ages that just took place, going from the Age of Twilight to the Second Age of Heroes. The other cloud in the top left-ish area, blowing toward the necromancy-wielding dwarf, OTOH, I have no clue what that might represent -- maybe some kind of strife or change?
• The centre-right scene looks like it involves some kind of holy figure (left, with the yellow light around their head) and a necromancer (right side); perhaps that's representative of a necromancer holding some kind of prestigious religious position while also living a double life as a user of dark magic. Not 100% sure which historical figures that might be referencing, though.
• EDIT: That scene at the bottom looks like a bunch of goblins or gremlins interacting with a pair of dwarven adventurers, possibly at a necromancer tower (based on the refuse pile with bones and the background building) or at one of the locations that Midas Squarewheel dropped off many gremlins (if they are gremlins).

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on August 19, 2022, 02:25:29 pm

The age of Twilight has been broken,
Means a beast has reawoken.
Look above into the sky,
The roc of wind has come for thy
- Unknown

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

What i can tell
- Holyblood reviving the feather
- Hourglass for changing of the age
- Bridge at the top is razorbridge
- A skeletal dwarven necromancer (Possibly Moldath) withering or reviving a tired adventurer
- An undead hand of a king (If i undead hand becomes king, i feel even more sorry for Maloy)
- Resurected Roc is likely Calovi Morningwhisker the Windy Beans. Associated with sky, wind and hunting. As well as one of her children

Thats all i got.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on August 19, 2022, 05:00:37 pm

Both of you have identified the majority of events!, but there is always more...

The save game can be found here (https://dffd.bay12games.com/file.php?id=16040).

@Quantum drop; when you are updating the list you only have to include Bor Kurerom.
Some spoiles about the rest:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

I started out with a three peasant party, but immediately left behind Zangu and Malduz. I intend to play Bralbaard's right hand next time round, but he's seen no action yet. I know there are other body parts and incarnations of Bralbaard in play, but I could not unretire them, not even with unretire-anyone, so the hand will have to do :-).

I have no idea why Lefari is playable in the adventure list. I never used Dfhack on/near the rocs.
I think my previous adventurer, Midas Squarewheel might have died before my turn. I could not play him.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Maloy on August 19, 2022, 05:39:13 pm

Gremlins!!!!

Do the two wolves represent my wolfman and his personality split?

I look forward to hopefully bringing more bral incarnations through body parts

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: TheFlame52 on August 19, 2022, 06:27:16 pm

I've always wanted to see someone play as a zombie hand!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on August 19, 2022, 06:30:12 pm

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Bralbaard has lived and died three times. Has been undead ruler, a ghostly phantom of falsetowers, a revived severed head (when i had brought him to herograves), a whispering ear, this new hand and other parts in the future

Also the reason for lefari showing up in adventurers is due to the retirement of the hand as it counts all those in the necromancers "party"

Also Maloy. Maloy Craftsoars is 61 now, the life expectance of a wolfman is around 60-80 so he is certainly getting up their in years. Hope he lives long enough for you to play him again. If you are intending to do so.

Speaking of old age, seems rekthor Lulledhames finally croaked in 893, living to the ripe old age of 167 years old which is 3 years from the oldest a dwarf can get without immortality. Lived the remainer of his life in Shadecavern and nothing happened. Quiet life working in The Basis of Bolts which is now being run by a dwarven couple. Wonder if we will ever learn more of this mysterious figure. He is attributed the pile of 78 demon corpses stacked on a birchen pedestal on the top floor of the museum; some dark magic must prevent the birchen pedestal from collapsing under the weight. I wonder if his spirit will be spotted when visiting.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on August 20, 2022, 05:41:27 am

This artwork is decorated with hanging rings of excellence and menaces with spikes of awesome!

This seriously looks like it could be a stained glass window in Boltspumpkin.

I’m very interested to hear of your tales Bralbaard! I’m liking some of the theories so far. Could that be an undead Roc? I didn’t think there were any intact roc corpses around to animate… intriguing indeed!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on August 20, 2022, 02:35:13 pm

Dear Mr. WhiskyBreakfast.

We have completed the analysis of the work you have entrusted to us, and it has a most interesting story to tell. The work tells us much that was previously unknown about Bor Mazeconstruct, one of the more mysterious museum adventurers.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/nU8o6p1.png)

The first hint about it's origins can be found in the top left corner, there we find the sign of a blueberry bush, the coat of arms of the Walled Dye, the dwarven civilisation that has shaped much of recent history. This tells us of a connection between Bor and the Walled Dye.

(https://i.imgur.com/B4Q62ai.png)

This is confirmed in the lower part of the painting where we find a scene with two dwarves and a lot of gremlins.

(https://i.imgur.com/TelerbL.png)

We have identified these dwarves as apprentices to Midas Squarewheel, a previous adventurer of the museum, who has brought many gremlins into our realm from an unknown location. We are fairly certain that Bor was one of his apprentices too, and that together they brought another large number of gremlins into the world. The dwarves stayed behind and took care of these gremlins, and play no further role in Bor's adventures.
It is noteworthy that one of the gremlins is carrying a gremlin baby. We are quite certain that the mother gremlin in this picture is none other than baroness Riraci, from Mischieflaws.

On the left side of the painting we find a curious scene:

(https://i.imgur.com/9OeJBRq.png)

The necromancer depicted here is without a doubt Moldath Mournsaints.
Bor has admitted himself that he stumbled upon the secret hoard of Moldath early in his adventures. According to legend this is a collection of weapons, armor, slain creatures and unimaginable treasures that rivals the collection of the museum itself. The painting shows him stealing an adamantine axe (recognisable by it's blue glow) and a murder monster feather from this collection. Though Bor never encountered Moldath, he later feared the items carried a curse, or that Moldath himself did cast a curse upon him from the shadows.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/4KBqN9p.gif)

The scene in the painting right below is a familiar one:
(https://i.imgur.com/GHBlKkT.png)
This is a well documented event! It happened right here in the museum at a time when Avolition Holyblood was here, working under the name "Crystalcrab the Ruler of Jewels"
This made the staff uneasy as they knew his history and they wanted to to keep him away from.. certain museum exhibits. It all went wrong the day when Bor Mazeconstruct walked in. Avolition Holyblood immediately called out at him and accused him of thievery.
There was no way a nobody like Bor could be carying an adamantine axe. To provide further proof he animated the murder monster feather in Bor’s backpack, another item that someone like Bor should not be carrying. The reanimated demon corpse immediately attacked Bor, and it was only through the lady of the museum’s quick intervention that nobody was seriously hurt.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/6lLF2aR.gif)

Avolition came close to killing Bor, but let him leave alive, after Bor told Avolition about the location of Moldath’s secret hoard. Not much later Avolition left in the direction of Lawtaker.
The museum still has the mangled murder monster feather in it’s collection, and considers it an official submission, even if it was kind of involuntary.

Back to the painting. There is a small scene with two wolves, we can only assume that Bor must have encountered wolves on his travels, but then again, who has not?

(https://i.imgur.com/64S9yC6.png)

We know Bor travelled extensively after his encounter in the museum, and that he became a more experienced man.
On the bottom right we find one of the key scenes in the painting, it depicts Bor Mazeconstruct, once as Bor the saint, and once as Bor the corrupted:

(https://i.imgur.com/UPKx5PC.png)

We know that after leaving the museum Bor became obsessed by fighting the undead and necromancers in particular, and he was often referred to as a holy figure. His methods though were unorthodox. To fight necromancy he wanted to study it, but he did not want to corrupt himself. His methods involved dragging dead animals to cursed ground, and camping out near the dead creature, sometimes for days, waiting for it to reanimate, something that happens naturally in some areas. While staying in these areas Bor had to fight many undead creatures.
At some time during one of these journeys Bor was assaulted by a terrible vision; In his writings he even claims it was not a vision, but that he really lived through it. He claims that he experienced a future where his efforts to conduct and test necromancy without corrupting himself, would corrupt and destroy the world instead. On the painting this is depicted by the torn map of Orid Xem. The experience apparently drove Bor to madness, and he embraced necromancy. He now claims he took the burden of corruption on himself, to save the world.

The main focus of the painting is this scene:

(https://i.imgur.com/Z2IaaHh.png)

It shows the main work of Bor Mazeconstruct, the turning of the age. An hourglass, toppled by a Roc. Many have claimed that the Rocs of the age of Myth have returned but a close look at this painting shows this is not the full truth:

(https://i.imgur.com/2JflMly.png)

A close view shows an aura of death around the roc's head, but more importantly, her whole body, including the beak, appears to be made from feathers! The Rocs that were raised by Bor were butchered by Moldath centuries ago, and Bor only managed to find the feathers, which, when raised, somewhat convincingly form the body of a Roc. but they are only a shadow of what once existed.
The painting also clearly shows that Bor raised two rocs. The one in the foreground is Calovi Morningwhisker the windy beans, recognisable by her association with the wind, the sky, and hunting. We think it was raised when Bor was still known as Bor the Saint, the cursed land from which the bird took to the sky is visible:

(https://i.imgur.com/xdIlQDO.png)

Some people claim that it's method of creation was it's undoing, and that Calovi no longer exists, or worse, that she will cause the destruction of the world. Time will tell.

What we do know is that the other Roc in the background was raised from death by Bor the corrupted. It is Lefari Birdbean the Rapid.

Then we are left with two other interesting scenes, the first is on the top of the painting:

(https://i.imgur.com/fIEmW1V.png)

It shows the fortress of Razorbridge. Dominating over the view is the detached hand of Bralbaard Hammerfishes, the former king of the Walled Dye. The eye is a symbol for the fact that the old king has seen everything there is to be seen, both in life and death. He has crossed it's boundaries so many times, some have lost count.
That the hand is the old king is confirmed on the bottom of the painting where the hand is shown as a companion to Bor, this time with a crown referencing his old position:

(https://i.imgur.com/z7qpgDk.png)

In this second scene the hand is seen as a companion to Bor the Saint, and this is the subject of much debate, and to be honest some pretty outlandish stories. 
The legend told by poets and storytellers is that he was raised twice: The first time resulting in the complete destruction of Orid Xem. The second time, legend says, Bor took the corruption on himself, to protect the world.

This concludes what we have learned about this particular painting. But please do not lose sleep over some of these fantastic stories. Certainly the whole story about the destruction of the world must be the product of too much imagination...

Best regards,

The museum curator

----------------------------------------------------------
OOC: so after raising Bralbaard from death the first time I switched control with the bodyswap command from Dfhack, so that I could play him later. This however resulted in a terrible monstrosity, when loaded he would not be an undead, but just a detached hand that would die of suffocation after twenty turns, and there were weird glitches with all kinds of stuff. I managed to mess up trying to fix it and the save game was corrupted beyond repair.
Apparently undead created from natural reanimation are not saved properly, or in a very different way from other undead. It was interesting, to say the least...

Also, as a result of interrogations, AvolitionBrit has a PM with some further information...

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on August 20, 2022, 03:30:57 pm

Interesting events, more gremlins wonder if they will start to outnumber the dwarfs. Certainly time will tell how far they will go. Certainly the museum ones took important roles and liven up the place that reeks of death and decay. Birds of a feather have flocked together to bring back a roc, interesting how it doesn't go to the age of x power.

Certainly adds some future challenges for future adventurers, doubt we will see the hollow hunters or even Zoku felled soom. Zoku is a very tough ettin to face. Just look at what happened to Bralbaard. Wonder how tough feathers will be.

Also best of luck  Cook100500 on your turn.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on August 20, 2022, 03:56:38 pm

Great story (prelude). I'm going to use the images for the wiki. I'm going to attribute each to you, of course.

Speaking of, I've updated the Bralbaard Nilthatlosh (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Bralbaard_Nilthatlosh) article with his latest death and killer. I'm planning to add a pets section (I'll have to re-read the thread to know if he had more than the horse and the cat) and apparently a body part section will also be necessary. I've added some small information about Maloy and the ear, but it seems a King's bodyparts are in high demand in Orid Xem (and in high motion as well, especially with the necromancers running around who treat Bralbaard either as their boss or God).

That being said, there's even more reason to elevate King Bralbaard to Godhood. I've already noted on The Great Black Tome (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Orid_Xem#The_Great_Black_Tome_of_Everything) section (my interpretation of how Legends Mode can be viewed in-game) that King Bralbaard hid the history of the world for his own purposes. Add to that he's a world-hopping explorer, and now that in-game adventurers go out of their way to bring him back to life (and his body parts), this has the making of a religion/cult.

---

Before I forget to type, and not in the least, great art Bralbaard!

---

I test-reclaimed Sethurdim Mestthos Oram (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Sethurdim_Mestthos_Oram) and it declares Bralbaard as deceased. After these three deaths, haven't they learned to just list him as still part of Orid Xem, whatever the reports they receive? They even have a slab with his name on it. It seems it didn't put him to rest as much as they tried.

---

Looks like the world is two years from arriving in the year 900 and 3 years to enter the 10th century. That means it's the in-world bicentennial anniversary of the founding of the Museum.

---

Was it noted that Galka Linarad (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Galka_Linarad) became a Baron of Adilatir in 885?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on August 21, 2022, 04:44:02 pm

Quote from: Bralbaard on August 20, 2022, 02:35:13 pm

The necromancer depicted here is without a doubt Moldath Mournsaints.
Bor has admitted himself that he stumbled upon the secret hoard of Moldath early in his adventures. According to legend this is a collection of weapons, armor, slain creatures and unimaginable treasures that rivals the collection of the museum itself. The painting shows him stealing an adamantine axe (recognisable by it's blue glow) and a murder monster feather from this collection. Though Bor never encountered Moldath, he later feared the items carried a curse, or that Moldath himself did cast a curse upon him from the shadows.

Ohhhh. Stealing from the Blind Sadist? That's mighty brave of you. Looks like you discovered my treasure stash in Spicetrails. I think I will need to unretire Moldath next turn and find some way of giving up his job as broker/manager of Clearmasters, so he can give Bor a paddling for stealing his axe.

Quote from: Bralbaard on August 20, 2022, 02:35:13 pm

To provide further proof he animated the murder monster feather in Bor’s backpack, another item that someone like Bor should not be carrying. The reanimated demon corpse immediately attacked Bor, and it was only through the lady of the museum’s quick intervention that nobody was seriously hurt.

The Murder Monster is actually much more rare than a simple demon. It is one of only two Archangels in Orid Xem. This particular feather came from the leader of the vault of Coverashes, and as far as I can tell was slain by Iden Bloodinked the Mire of Cities. It was later butchered and the feather looted when Moldath gathered every scrap of blistered metal from that vault to melt down in Ashcinders.

Quote from: Bralbaard on August 20, 2022, 02:35:13 pm

Avolition came close to killing Bor, but let him leave alive, after Bor told Avolition about the location of Moldath’s secret hoard. Not much later Avolition left in the direction of Lawtaker.

That dastardly scorpion already knows about my hideout - he's stolen stuff from me before!

Quote from: Bralbaard on August 20, 2022, 02:35:13 pm

The Rocs that were raised by Bor were butchered by Moldath centuries ago, and Bor only managed to find the feathers, which, when raised, somewhat convincingly form the body of a Roc. but they are only a shadow of what once existed.
The painting also clearly shows that Bor raised two rocs. The one in the foreground is Calovi Morningwhisker the windy beans, recognisable by her association with the wind, the sky, and hunting.

So if I understand correctly, by ressurecting the rocs, even just in feather form, the world reverted to the Second Age of Myth, which is probably a very uncommon thing to have happen. It requires there to be no megabeasts alive, and then one to re-appear.

Quote from: Lurker Z on August 20, 2022, 03:56:38 pm

Was it noted that Galka Linarad (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Galka_Linarad) became a Baron of Adilatir in 885?

Yes... Galka has quite a checkered political allegiance it seems. He is both a Baron of the Walled Dye, and simultaneously the Royal Chamberlain of the Realm of Silver.

Fun fact - Galka was also the first player character that Moldath encountered when he manifested into Orid Xem not too far from the Tower of Silence.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: TheFlame52 on August 21, 2022, 08:54:13 pm

Adventurers making secret hideouts, and raiding each other? What a game!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on August 23, 2022, 04:11:52 am

Any sign of Cook100500? As far as I can see he hasn’t been active in forums since June.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Unraveller on August 23, 2022, 09:14:04 am

As an aside, I would like to be placed back on the list. Forgot to mention earlier. I'll post my last entry to my recent adventure soonish.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on August 23, 2022, 04:33:45 pm

Quote from: kesperan on August 23, 2022, 04:11:52 am

Any sign of Cook100500? As far as I can see he hasn’t been active in forums since June.

No haven't had any reply. We'll move on. I'll update the turn list, it is Yarlig's turn.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Yarlig on August 25, 2022, 06:45:05 am

Downloaded the save' will try to begin shortly. Some gorgeous artwork and fascinating stories! not sure if I'll be able to match them but I'll try' hah.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on August 27, 2022, 01:23:50 pm

Looking forward to your turn, Yarlig. I'm not sure I ever thanked you for avenging Lurker Onecbehal or if it was knowingly or not on the part of Hannibal, but the obligatory thanks regardless.

---

I take it from my forays into Legends Viewer that Thillecit (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Thillecit) has been rendered visitable? Granted, in my character's death, I was able to fight with relatively good speed despite being outnumber 20:1. I assume there are dozens to hundreds of corpses strewn about, but that probably means more loot (and bodies for the interested necromancer).

---

Quote from: kesperan on August 21, 2022, 04:44:02 pm

Ohhhh. Stealing from the Blind Sadist? That's mighty brave of you.

So interesting thing about that. I was re-reading the thread, crossreferencing with Legends Viewer and noticed this.

Spoiler: Image (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/hYiysqa.png)

Does the Blind Sadist has any memories of this?

---

Quote from: kesperan on August 21, 2022, 04:44:02 pm

The Murder Monster is actually much more rare than a simple demon. It is one of only two Archangels in Orid Xem. This particular feather came from the leader of the vault of Coverashes, and as far as I can tell was slain by Iden Bloodinked the Mire of Cities. It was later butchered and the feather looted when Moldath gathered every scrap of blistered metal from that vault to melt down in Ashcinders.

Interestingly, I can't find this creature's name through The Masonry Method (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Orid_Xem#The_Masonry_Method). Might it be because I have an older save or does it really have no name in the common tongue? From what I know, when a body part is resurrected and receives a name, that name is also in the "original tongue" (though it's arguable what that is, considering it's practically a spawned undead; maybe the tongue of the adventurer, the resurrector or in the case of Fortress Mode, the dwarven dialect spoken by that civilization?). On a tangent, but I notice most books don't have a name in their own civilization tongue like artifacts have. Or that a minimal reader can read books from any languages. Gameplay and Story Segregation (https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/GameplayAndStorySegregation), I guess.

---

Quote from: Quantum Drop on August 19, 2022, 02:23:30 pm

or maybe Lurker Lockkingdom has finally succeeded in contacting a mortal agent to resurrect him

Nice namedrop there. I noticed it as soon as it was posted. Since it's up for discussion, if by the next turn I won't find Lurker on the turn list, I'll give him up for good and start a reincarnated Lurker character. His corpse is lost for decades, maybe a century by this point and nobody's coming forward if they butchered it or threw it into lava or just hid it, so there's not much to do I suppose. If things work IRL as I assume, I'll time my return to be around November, so I'm not yet asking to be added to the turn list, but soon... soon...

Speaking of Lurker, I've noticed that his submission Ligircaspa Osmahegesh (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Ligircaspa_Osmahegesh) has teleported back to the capital Ulosothro. Should we take this as a sign, or does the Museum want the anhydrite amulet as a keepsake from Lurker? I was kinda torn on taking it to the Museum in the first place, since it seemed like a national treasure for Omon Obin. Maybe its place is back in the capital rather than in the Museum? Maybe bring something back that represents Lurker instead of the amulet? Some input please?

---

I've updated all the adventurer pages on the wiki until (and including) Bralbaard's second run, up to his death. I've added image where I could find them (there might be more in the thread, it'll take a while to get up to speed with the present stories). I'd like some feedback on the King Bralbaard (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Bralbaard_Nilthatlosh) (he'll always be a King to the adventurers of the Museum) article, I've added some large quotes and I'm worried if they're clunky or not. Mestthos' story too has been wikified to the best of my understanding.

I'd also like some feedback on the Orid Xem (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Orid_Xem) page itself, especially the Supersources section. I feel it's overly clunky, but I'm not sure if I should split it into its own article, which would make it a lot less visible.

I've also updated the Silver Plague (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Silver_Plague) page, now it contains the three theories for its origins as well as the ones who put forward and discussed those theories.

---

One more question, what do we call army leaders during in-game recognized battles? For example, Bralbaard was the army leader where he was slayed by the goblin in 858, i.e.

Quote

In 858, early spring, (9th of Granite)  The Knowing Deceiver attacked The Everlasting Pillars of  The Walled Dye at Falsetower the Citadel of Worlds. Leader of the attack was the goblin Stozu Roomvile, and the defenders were led by Bralbaard during The Angry Onslaught of Monsters as part of The Roasted War.

(Jokes aside) What titles do Stozu Roomvile and Bralbaard have for leading their sides in the battle?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on August 27, 2022, 02:05:04 pm

Quote from: Lurker Z on August 27, 2022, 01:23:50 pm

Does the Blind Sadist has any memories of this?

So... in my third turn, in 859, I cleared out a bunch of ghouls from Strifefularmor who had been infected in Kosoth's mayhem of 797, including a nasty troll called Xubngesp Craterdimple the Glad End. The perfect wood opal, Heavenheathers the Fair Peace was in the keep. It must have teleported back from Boltspumpkin. I must have taken it and put it with my treasures in Spicetrails. But lo and behold, it has teleported back again as of 890, long after Moldath "retired" to Eskon.

If you visit Strifefularmor in the current turn, there are about 50 priests jammed into the keep and the gem is lying on the floor...

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Noagga76 on August 31, 2022, 08:02:53 am

Well, I’ll admit that I’ve  always been somewhat better at Adventure mode than I am at Fortress mode, so this looks quite appealing to me.

May I kindly ask to be added to the turn list?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Yarlig on August 31, 2022, 08:57:48 am

Quote from: Lurker Z on August 27, 2022, 01:23:50 pm

Looking forward to your turn, Yarlig. I'm not sure I ever thanked you for avenging Lurker Onecbehal or if it was knowingly or not on the part of Hannibal, but the obligatory thanks regardless.

NP; it was intentional' yes' although now that I think of it' not fully in keeping with what I intended Hannibal's personality to be. I actually only went there to pick L. Oniecbehal's corpse' but this Themsol was flashing bright pink - I assume the game considered him notable enough for killing an adventurer to distinguish him somehow? I 'l'ooked at his weapon and sure enough he had killed Lurker' so I beelined straight towards him.

Quote from: Lurker Z on August 27, 2022, 01:23:50 pm

One more question, what do we call army leaders during in-game recognized battles? For example, Bralbaard was the army leader where he was slayed by the goblin in 858, i.e.

Quote

In 858, early spring, (9th of Granite)  The Knowing Deceiver attacked The Everlasting Pillars of  The Walled Dye at Falsetower the Citadel of Worlds. Leader of the attack was the goblin Stozu Roomvile, and the defenders were led by Bralbaard during The Angry Onslaught of Monsters as part of The Roasted War.

(Jokes aside) What titles do Stozu Roomvile and Bralbaard have for leading their sides in the battle?

Commander' I suppose? Don't think the game itself has any particular title for those; in worldgen' it's generals' princesses and lords that lead the armies mostly' but in actual gameplay I think there is no hard rule.

As for my turn so far' well.. not much has happened' actually' besides a few hundred gobblins dying. Playing as a mooseman dual-wielding greatswords is pretty metal but storytelling sleeps when you focus on bisecting trolls.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on August 31, 2022, 09:24:07 am

Nice to hear your turn is going well Yarlig. Always good to see more animal men kicking goblin butt.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on August 31, 2022, 09:39:28 am

I for one welcome more one man army's engaging goblin hordes.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on August 31, 2022, 12:09:29 pm

Quote from: Noagga76 on August 31, 2022, 08:02:53 am

Well, I’ll admit that I’ve  always been somewhat better at Adventure mode than I am at Fortress mode, so this looks quite appealing to me.

May I kindly ask to be added to the turn list?

I've updated the list, welcome!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Noagga76 on August 31, 2022, 01:51:28 pm

 Great! Can’t wait to die horribly and call it a story

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Eric Blank on September 01, 2022, 06:35:56 pm

That's part of the fun. You get to make a great story about how you died!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Noagga76 on September 02, 2022, 11:13:08 am

It’s a fair while before I have my turn but I thought I’d ask preemptively, what are the rules on adding party members during character creation? Because I have an idea or two that may involve having some

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on September 02, 2022, 11:19:09 am

Quote from: Noagga76 on September 02, 2022, 11:13:08 am

It’s a fair while before I have my turn but I thought I’d ask preemptively, what are the rules on adding party members during character creation? Because I have an idea or two that may involve having some

Quote from: Bralbaard on March 10, 2020, 01:56:10 pm

Rules and advice:

-Adventurers have to start as heroes or peasants (no demigods).
-Feel free to pick any adventurer race EXCEPT for Charcoal brutes/demons, they are playable for some civs, but way too overpowered.
-Rules on adventuring parties: When you start as a peasant you can have up to two other peasants in your starting party. When starting as a hero you are on your own (but can recruit people in game)
-Death is the end. no savescumming unless you need to avoid crashes/bugs. losing is fun, and some of the best stories from the last game were short tragedies.
-You have one week, or untill your character dies, (but you can spend the rest of your week building an adventure site/fortress, see below)
-you can only submit -one- official item, but obviously you can gather other stuff that won't be catalogued.
-retire your adventurer when you are finished.
-Do not kill retired adventurers on purpose. Sometimes accidents can't be avoided, but people may wish to use those adventurers if they play a second turn.
-artifacts are currently bugged an may teleport back to their site of origin after being stored in the museum.
-Use of advfort crafting using dFhack is allowed to spice things up a bit, and to allow more flexibility when building adventure mode sites. Do not use other Dfhack scripts that make stuff easier without asking, also try to keep use of Dfhack limited in fort mode (using dfhack to cirumvent bugs/crashes is of course fine).
-The museum in Boltspumpkin is near the center of the map, the third post in this topic has maps and other information on locations. 

-have fun!
 
When building a fortress:
do not post a log of the construction for your fortress, this thread is about adventure mode, not fortress mode.
I will try to add finished fortresses and adventure sites to the world map, so adventurers know where to go.
If you build your fortress close to the museum, there may be a better chance that it gets visitors, on the other hand, adventurers have traveled all the way over the entire map in the first museum games so it is not a requirement.

Hope this helps

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Noagga76 on September 02, 2022, 11:25:22 am

Damn, read the rules but that was one I managed to completely overlook.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Yarlig on September 02, 2022, 12:59:55 pm

Save here: https://dffd.bay12games.com/file.php?id=16056

Apologies for the slight delays' I managed relatively little playing time at first and was scurrying to get everything done. Not much worth writing stories about' so I hope to post a writeup in a few days' time; so far' a quick summary:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

• Did some goblin culling mostly; if you're looking for an adventuring goal' then finishing off The Knowing Deceiver is a reasonable one' I think;
• Raised Hannibal Valleyball and unretired him briefly to equip him and drop him off in a new camp; did not go on any illegal adventuring with him' only killed a couple keas and similar stuff along the way;
• My submission is a *green glass sas*' a musical instrument which is a hand-held hourglass drum' its form symbolic of the world's recent age changes end the ever-shifting nature of Orid Xem; also brought a few pieces of silver armor to go with the golden set Eric had submitted;
• Fortresses visited are: Waterdeeps' Mischieflaws' Agefall' Secrethome and Thiefguild; two new 'forts' (more like glorified bandit camps) created' named Onionbunions and Urnways and a camp The Mountain of Hatred.

That would be it for now' please sign me up for another turn again; also' I've been having some ideas.. Do you guys think it'd be okay to add [OUTSIDER_CONTROLLABLE] to wagons? Not sure how it would work' exactly' but a wagon adventurer could make for an interesting experiment.

Also' good luck' Kesperan!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on September 02, 2022, 01:33:47 pm

Would that even work? It's fine with me if it does, I wonder if they will deconstruct as easily as in fortress mode...

Also, does any one else remember the talking wagon we had in the second museum game?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Paaaad on September 02, 2022, 01:46:27 pm

If I remember correctly, you’d just scuttle the instant you tried to move. Second person phrasing and all. I forget what thread I saw that in, but there were screenshots to prove it.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Yarlig on September 02, 2022, 01:57:37 pm

Yeah' thinking back of the talking wagon was what directly inspired me; he was probably the most memorable NPC in the second museum. Other than that' I'm sure it has been done in the past' although not in the recent past to my knowledge.

Here are some threads on wagonery in case anyone is interested:
http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=51245.msg6706172#msg6706172
http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=18980.0
http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=128593.0
(Haven't read everything' so do not quote me on how pertinent to the issue at hand they are)

Will probably do a test run with a wagon at some point and find out what you can and can't do.

---

EDIT: So I turned DF on real quick and here's what I gathered about wagon adventurers:

• You do not' in fact get scuttled the instant you move; the conditions for killing a wagon need to be researched
• Wagons can't hold or equip items' talk or learn any skills; the latter means that composing poetry or writing books is impossible.
• Wagons can' however knap rocks and carve bones (and maybe do carpentry? gotta have to check that later); in fact' items produced that way have quality modifiers despite the wagons' ostensible lack of skill.
• Wagons can't attack or be attacked; they can' however' dodge away from NPCs.
• Wagons appear as being of 3x3 size' but the lighter-coloured outside parts can pass through trees and walls. It's the dark inner core that functions as a hitbox of sorts.
• Wagons can't' obviously' open doors' but passing through a door already open works fine. They can also swim in water.
• The best part: you can pet wagons.

All in all' wagons would make pretty poor adventurers' I think' what with their inability to fight' communicate' and gather items. However' having a wagon with a human lackey to provide those services would make for interesting storytelling' I think. Might check if there is more to them' like carpentry' building sites' or holding nobility positions if all other members of their group are dead.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on September 02, 2022, 04:04:21 pm

Quote from: Yarlig on September 02, 2022, 12:59:55 pm

• Raised Hannibal Valleyball and unretired him briefly to equip him and drop him off in a new camp; did not go on any illegal adventuring with him' only killed a couple keas and similar stuff along the way;

You ressurected Hannibal after a century frozen in a lake? That's pretty cool.

Downloading save just now.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Quantum Drop on September 02, 2022, 05:51:59 pm

Quite the impressive turn, Yarlig; pretty cool that you managed to find the Ghoulfather after his unfortunate accident and finally resurrect him. Also pretty nice to hear that someone's exploring the fortresses in between the goblin genocides -- certainly looking forward to your writeup. Museum Adventurer Table has been updated with the latest PCs.

Good luck with your turn, Kesperan!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on September 06, 2022, 03:58:48 pm

Forgotten - Tales of would be adventurers by Rura Parchedswamp, Unwilling apprentice to the historian guild.

So it has been a while, honestly wasted a lot of time on a historical dead end detailed below but then i found a story that could keep these historians of my back and maybe give me some more "research funding". That would show them. Ofcourse this was just a joke, i wouldnt do that.

Assignment notes - Historical Footnotes

The dwarf Urdim Brassletters, was around roughly the same time of Egesh my previous work. Ah perfect this will be interesting. He was from the fort know as Lancesavage that was active in the early 6th century but mostly lays abandoned today. Egesh left the fort and likely died somewhere in the forest of pears, the locals believes a female grizzly bear they had taken to call cherishedfame was responsible. However this is speculation as no one has found Urdims remains. Maybe one day we will know what happened to this dwarf

Volume 2 - Cloaked in Mystery

Around the same time as Egesh and Urdim, there was Nocam Crabhawks the Tender Trenches. This male cougar man wanted to become a legendary warrior. He was from Containedpaddles a hamlet in the middle of the world. The first time he is referenced is as the slayer of Epeve Pagesmiles the Awe-inspiring, the ettin. He proved the kill with the artifact slab Gallpaddles the Spittle of Juice. Said to have beem created by a god of death, this slab was stolen from its original owner and was often seen in the hands of Epeve. The slab is rumored to have great power to whom who read it like the other dark slabs of the world. But he had never read it, instead handing it off to a Onec Weatherdress, whilst its not understood why he would do this, upon digging into Onecs family tree reveals her grandmother was a necromancer and carried around a different dark slab, that by the name of Stabbedwring. It could be a coincidence or there could be more. However it is not know the purpose of this exchange.

He is next referenced in a account from Whippedoils, noted as a strange traveller wielding weapons of a undertermined metal, described as bright metal. When looking into the meaning of bright metal, it could be in reference to Ringedwires, described as a bright metal prong. Know to many as a phantom weapon, often being seen in a place before disappearing and appearing elsewhere. It was first reported in Shotgleeful, the weapon has since been spotted in Stealmountain, Coverashes, Ashcinders and Falsetower. Althought these latter reports have started in the 7th Century.

It is also noted in this account he is the slayer of Thase Sheencastles the Call of Brilliance, another ettin. It is unclear if the ettin were his intended targets or just the ones he encounted its hard to say. But to have killed 1/5 of all Ettin in existance is no small feat. It was likely he sought out these kinds of challenges and he might be responsible for more kills than this.

The final report is the most interesting, the final sighting of  Nocam was of his battle with Thol Smoulderedfungi the Languishing. A strange battle for sure, fragments of accounts report the beast used a pig tail cloak as a weapon. The huge one-eued theropod with slate gray feathers, noted to have webs. It is likely Nocam was entangled and beaten to death with this pig tail cloak, likely got hit multiple times by this cloak. Yep this is true he died to a cloak. Infact memorial slabs detail several dwarves were beaten with this very same cloak. Certainly an interesting item. An early end to a legendary warrior who is surprising goes uncredited for his amazing achievements.

This was the end of the tale until another museum adventurer is mentioned whos account fills in some of the gaps, the blind sadist Moldath Mournsaints. He details the slaying of this great beast, paralysing it with a "flick of his wrist" . He beheaded Thol and carved a masterwork ring of its remains. He later remarks "one item catches my eye" refering to the bring metal prong Ringedwires, confirming was likely wielded by Nocam.

Authors notes:
It is hard to research these tales, the passage of time hasn't been kind to them. People die, accounts are lost, places abandoned and destroyed. Thankfully i am slowly making my way to the 7th century. The next person of interest is an Artha Peacefulsong a necromancer who had survived her adventure but never recorded her adventure. Was looking forward to talking to her and actually getting a first hand account for a change. Sadly she was murded some years back, hopefully with some luck we can figure out her tale. In Volume 3 - The eternal lady. The title could use some work as can my writing.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on September 07, 2022, 03:54:40 am

Good detective work!

Pretty sure the bright metal prong was gifted by a deity at a shrine, and was dropped by Nocam when he was killed. Luckily he was avenged by your friendly neighbourhood sadist.

Might try and raise Artha Peacefulsong during my turn as it was my fault she got killed…

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on September 07, 2022, 06:46:31 am

Quote from: kesperan on September 07, 2022, 03:54:40 am

Good detective work!

Pretty sure the bright metal prong was gifted by a deity at a shrine, and was dropped by Nocam when he was killed. Luckily he was avenged by your friendly neighbourhood sadist.

Might try and raise Artha Peacefulsong during my turn as it was my fault she got killed…

Yeah, Probably was but no documentation so Rura wouldn't know. Moldath certainly gets around, will go on rabbit holes and find he is involved somewhere ahaha.

Yeah, tbf alot of adventurers exist, you are not gonna know them all especially one that hasn't got a story. But yeah might need a cheeky rez

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Cook100500 on September 10, 2022, 08:09:10 am

One had a rough few months and missed a turn, sorry about that. Can one join the queue again?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on September 10, 2022, 02:50:18 pm

Sure no problem, I'll add you to the list.

Speaking of the list. Kesperan, how is your turn going?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on September 10, 2022, 05:02:58 pm

Quote from: Bralbaard on September 10, 2022, 02:50:18 pm

Sure no problem, I'll add you to the list.

Speaking of the list. Kesperan, how is your turn going?

I will upload the save tonight or tomorrow at the latest.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on September 10, 2022, 08:36:14 pm

I guess it's time to ask for a spot on the turn list. If there are too many non-shows, I might ask to be bumped down a few turns until November comes around.

I've been making more articles on adventurers, I'm only on page 30 on re-reading the thread. Even with Avolition and Moldath around, I'm once again impressed by some of the earlier adventurers. Lonelythrall is still going to stay in the top 5 personal favorites, he solo-ed a vault with a broken spine almost from the beginning! I'm finding new hidden depths for other adventurers too, Glloyd presented himself as a mild-mannered traveling scholar, but he's the third adventurer to survive in the 10th century after Bralbaard and Lonelythrall and he also has 65 kills, which is not bad at all. Fidale (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Fidale_Rabeavathe) had 32 traveling companions, and she led NINE of them to get epithets (i.e. titles like "the Sorcerous Vise" etc) - talk about to leading to "glory or death" and Fidale has led them to both. Doñas also got some good kills AFTER slaying the dragon, for which he became most known.

Speaking of, QD, any chance of Lonelythrall ever making a return? I suspect you retired him back then because he seemed too OP, but between Avolition and Moldath going full ham and all these ascended adventurers to Kings and Queens of major civilizations, I think Lonelythrall would fit right into the overall story.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on September 10, 2022, 09:47:38 pm

Here is the save.

I didn't have time to make a new fort.

https://dffd.bay12games.com/file.php?id=16073

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on September 11, 2022, 05:03:04 am

Just had a gander at the save, looking forward to seeing your turn writeup Kesperan.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on September 11, 2022, 07:18:11 am

Before I forget, please sign me up for another turn.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on September 14, 2022, 05:41:18 pm

I discovered something I didn't know until now and if this is intentional (it seems to be), it's mind-boggling.

So you know how there are very alive very un-tainted (not blighted thrall etc.) goblins and other creatures in Okgush Irka (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Okgush_Irka/345). Well, hold on to your seats... they were recruited. I first noticed it with Oddom Èrithzenon (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Oddom_%C3%88rithzenon), leader of that battle, who was just a humble tavern keeper... but then I noticed another goblin tavern keeper who participated in Okgush Irka and had the exact same story:

Some nice undead part of the dwarf necromancer Oddom's army with fancy epithets came into a bar, told war stories to any who listened, became "war buddies" with said tavern keepers despite not being in the same group and never fighting together in a war and a few months later, those bright-eyed tavern keepers became loyal members of the necromancer Oddom's army. This is brilliant!

Spoiler: Image (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/K7uQZWO.png)

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on September 15, 2022, 02:59:54 am

I always get a kick from your lore entries Lurker. The work you’ve put into this is brilliant.

I hope QD has started his turn.

I’ll get my story up as soon as possible, but quite busy at work over next week or so.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on September 15, 2022, 03:03:27 am

Certainly fascinating little facts of history in the world. Must of been a good time in that tavern during the 4th century

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on September 15, 2022, 10:57:54 am

Quote from: AvolitionBrit on September 15, 2022, 03:03:27 am

Certainly fascinating little facts of history in the world. Must of been a good time in that tavern during the 4th century

Well, it was literally The Last Battle for Orid Xem. It's the equivalent of the LotR movies final battle. It was an ongoing apocalypse narrowly averted. I've seen enough worlds generated to know that a necro can win. In those scenarios, the world generation immensely speeds up, which means the world stagnates without the undead ever being bothered or doing anything.

The fact that undead soldiers from the source of said apocalypse could just waltz around as honored guests in dark fortresses is... interesting. It looks like the place was conquered by the time the goblin Oddom was recruited and she was thus nominally under their control anyway... but she doesn't appear of a member of a previous group before The Scholarly Manors... interesting.

Also, the little I researched into this, it seems other necro groups recruited the same way.

One more aspect that may be notable, the living were rewarded with both lordships and artifacts. Wow, Oddom Thobmunèst wasn't just a mindless hoarder of undead until she could bury Orid Xem in bodies, she actually used tactics and guile.

Quote from: kesperan on September 15, 2022, 02:59:54 am

I always get a kick from your lore entries Lurker. The work you’ve put into this is brilliant.

I hope QD has started his turn.

I’ll get my story up as soon as possible, but quite busy at work over next week or so.

Looking forward to reach your story/stories soon, I'm rereading the thread and I'm only at Raki's (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Raki_Shedoshgabat) debut, a fifth of the way into the thread.

Speaking of QD, he was way ahead of us on some aspects. According to TV Tropes (which means at least two people discovered this before me),

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

the Omon blight (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Omon_blight) is the same as the Thranan plague (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Thranan_blight). According to TV Tropes, QD found with his characters an infected goblin and started infecting others, just like Raki did with the weremammoths and Ragnar (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Ragnar_Uzinugrad) with Asmel's vampire blood.

Thanks for the compliments, kesperan. I'm also amazed by Moldath's incredible adventures.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on September 16, 2022, 03:33:43 am

Quote from: kesperan on September 15, 2022, 02:59:54 am

I hope QD has started his turn.

Yes, QD is playing, he picked up the save on Sunday.
I have updated the turn list, good to have you back on the list Lurker. I really apreciate all the work you've put into the wiki, and look forward to your adventures!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Quantum Drop on September 16, 2022, 03:48:31 am

Good to see you're back Lurker -- thread hasn't been the same without your deep dives into the lore and discovery of cool facts about Orid Xem's history. To answer your earlier question, I haven't really thought about Lonelythrall for a while, but I figure I can work him into a future turn considering how the world's changed since then.

(I can also confirm I'm playing my turn; wrapping up my main adventure today then moving onto the building of a fort.)

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on September 17, 2022, 01:38:44 pm

Just took a look in the save, Moldath borked his profile both in Legends Viewer and Legends Browser. Also looking forward to the story, the things I've seen are spoilerific.

Thanks for the warm return welcome, everyone. I hope I can do my next turn justice.

Quote

org.apache.velocity.exception.MethodInvocationException: Invocation of method 'getShortDescription' in class legends.model.events.HfLearnsSecretEvent threw exception java.lang.NullPointerException at events.vm[line 30, column 40]

Yes, that makes sense and is as I suspected. Moldath may have learned a few too many secrets for these programs to handle it. One of my other suspicions was that he had too many kills, but that Learns Secret puts me to mind of exactly what it's called.

This might be a word of caution for Avolition not to gather more secrets as his profile might become inaccessible too (it works for now, I checked).

On another note, this is just like Moldath to break the world's perception of him. That's something we've come to expect from him.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on September 17, 2022, 02:25:11 pm

Yeah, i spotted that his profile isnt readible anymore, we might have to post in legends viewer again and get another bug fix.

I was planning a new character/charcters next turn anyway so we shall see.

Avolition will learn all 12 one day.

Moldath has certainly transended the game and has brought death to his profile. Ala would be proud.

Also cheers for the corrections on the page last night lurker, was trying to keep to the template but i missed some aspects. I will try and be more diligent when adding more pages, even went back over some of my older ones on gods and ettins.

Looking forward to seeing what QD has gotten up to.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on September 17, 2022, 10:42:42 pm

Well that is strange.

It’s not a spoiler to say that Moldath hasn’t learned any secrets since 880, so I’m not sure how that has happened.

I hope it’s fixable.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on September 18, 2022, 05:22:22 am

Yeah, i posted on the legends viewer thread so hopefully we can get a fix and find out what the cause is.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on September 19, 2022, 04:33:49 pm

So I have... mixed news. Remember when a few months ago I attempted to recreate Orid Xem from seed to near-total failure? While I managed to get the geography right, the names were all different, including of geography (mountains, jungles etc.), settlements, civilizations, characters, history, everything. I didn't bother checking most of it out, but if you dropped one of our Orid Xem-ers there, they wouldn't know they were on the same world. I called that world Orid Xem Secundus, but then renamed it to Orid Xem Protos (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Orid_Xem_Protos). This is the world (more or less) that would have resulted if Bralbaard hadn't change a parameter here and there.

Spoiler: Images (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/vtZjYsS.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/MopECO9.png)

I can't say I've been searching for a solution since that time, but an idea hit me. Now, while I was doing that, I was reading the DF wiki on world generation and it says:

Quote

In older versions, the same seed value(s) produced identical worlds on every computer at any time (if other parameters were identical, too). In the current version, the seed values for the world itself and the names seem to produce the same result, but you will get changes in events which will result in a very different world history. It seems like the history is partly random and not completely connected to the seed. Keep this in mind if you want to regenerate a particular world.

But I ignored that as I looked upon my results and expected the world to despair! I had did it. Same civilizations, same creatures, same events, same artifact names! It was amazing! Yes, a few things changed down the line, but surely we could recover Orid Xem to its true, unhidden history for future generations to know! The Walled Dye is there, Oddom is there, she turns necromancer at the exact same day, the same gods, everything.

There were... just a few snags.

(https://i.imgur.com/FyNeGw5.png)

But my biggest concern is, each 3 times I generated the world, this gal shows up...

Spoiler: Image (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/TpNfXLd.png)

An interesting thing is that in two generated worlds, with the same death age, in one she has one extra child. But that's not the problem. The problem is Galka "Tunnelglazes" Gujegcango herself, or rather what she represents. And what she represents is that in 3 out of 3 generated worlds, she took the place of an Orid Xem Prime Omon Obin Law-Giver early in its history, which threw off the whole chain of command and more-over, is sure to have caused butterflies. Now, you'd think with Omon Obin being isolated, this wouldn't create waves in the world. Maybe that's correct. But if she didn't, some other things did.

Things go off the rails after that. The Assault of Gales/Okgush Irka (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Okgush_Irka/345) never happens, not in the two worlds I generated until the year 700. Oddom wins both times. And it's surprisingly not the end of the world. Wellllll, I say that...

Spoiler: Image (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/nzaGr8Z.png)

It looks like I was inspired in choosing Omon Obin for most of my characters, it's the only one left standing. The elves are dead (well, some undead may be still running around), the goblins are almost destroyed and the dwarves somehow still survive, but barely. At least Oddom has stopped her conquest in the south and the north is sa-

(https://i.imgur.com/bHBqRGv.png)

Spoiler: Image (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/bkoy4qF.png)

Whoops.

But let's return to Galka. Why does she represent the biggest threat to the restoration of the True Orid Xem Unveiled? Because all these worlds I generated with histo-

Wait. I had an idea. I'll get back to you in a while. While this post may seem like mad ramblings, I'll leave this here and post updates as soon as I test my new theory.

(I swear that last mid-cut was not planned, I literally got an idea to restore Orid Xem while I was typing.)

Meanwhile, have some elven madness (the "necromancers" are obviously blighted thrall equivalents):

Spoiler: Image (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/xWGjvyN.png)

---

No, it seems my theory didn't pan out. I was actually generating the world with historical figures culled. With them unculled, Ebpel exists, but she doesn't inherit any longer because... she's passed over for her younger sister for no reason? ... This might require more investigating/generating.

I also notice the world I just generated entered in 202 in the Third Age of Myth, compared with Orid Xem Prime which enters this period since 160. This is definitely a large change in the world already.

---

Well, to finish my post, my original belief (which may be true even now) was that we might never recover the original Orid Xem, or even one remotely close to it. However, with at least the first century being near-identical, it does help us identify some historical characters which were outright culled in Orid Xem Prime. While not foolproof that they'll be the same, it can be tested by re-generating the world again and again and see the most common creatures in it. One thing that is very important to me is that we finally have the region names unhidden, which will help my obsession with using the original names of everything in the game. Or people could just regen the game to a time they want to play and save some civilizations, destroy others or do other things in the 1st century. Do note that as things are history break down from about the start of the 1st century (maybe it can be pushed further) and that once you generated the world, you might never get those variables again, so be careful when you set your end date.

I'll upload on DFFD the template with which you can create your own Orid Xem, "slightly" modified, but it is so far the best I could do.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on September 19, 2022, 05:05:23 pm

Interesting how one change in the leadership causes such a shift from the norm. I wonder what Galka was like, what did she do in events? Was she mummifed and if so we could use some dfhack trickery to take control of her and learn her personality.

DF title passing seems to be a interesting case, it goes down, will not travel across the lines. The oldest isn't picked but instead seems to be random offspring be that the preference of the deceased monarch or election by the noble. It also means that the seat of power easily shifts and doesn't stay within one house. Not sure if there is a word for this

Looking forward to seeing what changes have occured in QD turn.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on September 19, 2022, 05:13:56 pm

Updated post. Galka doesn't even exist with culled historical figures off. Ouch.

Spoiler: Image (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/KHPhDAr.png)

Well, here's her history. A little more stripey than I believed. Still, you could do more than that if you properly generate the world with her, you can generate it to the year before she dies and unretire-anyone and play her, I suppose. I'll see about packing the template on how to generate Orid Xem as I have.

Edit: I still have a version of the world where she's alive, so I can do a quick unretire-anyone on her for you.

---

It might help generate a world the closest to Orid Xem Prime if we knew for certain what DF version it was generated in. The logs say 47.04 and this is what I used, but if anyone (shoutout to Bralbaard especially) who knows for certain on what version the first turn of the game was, it might help get even closer.

---

Special delivery, Galka personality:

Spoiler: Image (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/m1b1qHS.png)

By the way, yes, she was mummified.

---

Quote from: AvolitionBrit on September 19, 2022, 05:05:23 pm

DF title passing seems to be a interesting case, it goes down, will not travel across the lines. The oldest isn't picked but instead seems to be random offspring be that the preference of the deceased monarch or election by the noble. It also means that the seat of power easily shifts and doesn't stay within one house. Not sure if there is a word for this.

I always thought it's absolute primogeniture, unless the monarch doesn't have (eligible) children (i.e. even if you're not dead, you can still be passed off by: dying then being resurrected (I think DF resets that character's level of influence in a civilization with their resurrection), becoming the enemy of that civilization (i.e. werecreature). We've seen necromancers becoming leaders of their civs in other worlds, but not too much in the .40+ versions. I have myself seen in the current version a monarch up and leaving (and being dethroned, naturally) to a necro tower to apprentice to a necromancer to learn to be one.

I'm also somewhat sure I've seen the title pass to uncles or step-brothers, though I may be wrong or it could have been completely random and they just happened to be related, practically starting a different dynasty from the same family.

---

Re: Mummies. I've found that with some full-heal and shenanigans, you can turn a mummy into a normal mortal being (who apparently doesn't keel over and die for some reason). That being said:
* They'll lose all their titles (bar the title they created themselves as the leader of the group when they returned to life)
* If in fort mode, they'll still be aggressive towards your group.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on September 19, 2022, 05:31:23 pm

The human who sold Orid Xem

Cheers, so she was a criminal and doesn't enjoy cooperation

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on September 19, 2022, 05:50:07 pm

Yes history seeds seem to be broken, (https://www.bay12games.com/dwarves/mantisbt/view.php?id=6934) sadly. 
I've tried to recreate the world in the past as well, but just could not get it right. Even when using what should be the exact copy of df47.04 it was generated in, and the same raws you get different results.
It's a shame because some interesting stuff could be done if we had working seeds.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: TheFlame52 on September 19, 2022, 05:59:16 pm

I've noticed that pausing in the middle of worldgen causes things to diverge. Pausing makes sites realize they're unoccupied, among other things.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Quantum Drop on September 19, 2022, 06:23:55 pm

Should have the save up tomorrow evening; apologies for running overtime on this turn. In the meantime, Orid Xem has apparently decided it's time for another change:

(https://i.imgur.com/EcQGhDx.png)

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on September 19, 2022, 06:30:05 pm

Quote from: TheFlame52 on September 19, 2022, 05:59:16 pm

I've noticed that pausing in the middle of worldgen causes things to diverge. Pausing makes sites realize they're unoccupied, among other things.

I don't think I did that, but we have all the time in the world to test theories.

---

I found a world where Oddom... laired? Eh? Eh? Pretty weird world, two different civs instead of the Most Sin, 30k elves, 90k goblins, 144k humans, 15k dwarves. Looks like a world people play more regularly. Dunno where all those humans are, since all the civs barely account for 50k humans.

Spoiler: Images (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/b2oc3Xy.png)
Pictured above: Adilatír population, year 700.
(https://i.imgur.com/uROIXQy.png)

This is some Twilight Zone level spookiness. I know some of those names. They have no reason to be associate with Oddom in such normal, every day fashion. It's like seeing a world where Hitler became an artist and they're making a movie about him and him moving through Germany, Poland, France etc. making art exposés. One thing that does make sense is her relation to astronomy, her Orid Xem Prime daughter was a legendary scholar with astronomy-related discoveries I think.

Quote from: Quantum Drop on September 19, 2022, 06:23:55 pm

Should have the save up tomorrow evening; apologies for running overtime on this turn. In the meantime, Orid Xem has apparently decided it's time for another change:

(https://i.imgur.com/EcQGhDx.png)

Nice to see an update, QD. You're welcome to join our discoveries of Weird Orid Xems.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on September 19, 2022, 06:39:19 pm

Interesting I just had a thought in bed, does our talking cave dragon exist in the other worlds?

Ah glad to see twilight has returned. Wonder if the golblins will restore the golden age as they recoup their losses

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on September 19, 2022, 06:50:46 pm

Nirmek (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Nirmek_Balusen)? I'm really doubtful, he's "born" in the 4th century, but who knows when he's generated (if you generate a dwarf at the start of the 7th century, he's given a "birth day" in the 650s or earlier. If you generate an elf or goblin at the same day, they'll be given a "birth date" in the 400s-500s. I'll look it up, but I doubt it. Also, nitpick, but from what I remember, Bralbaard said he met Nirmek, tried to talk to the cave dragon, but Nirmek doesn't have voice rights or something. He's sapient and civilized, sure, but can't talk (which makes sense since he's an animal who gained sapience through slavery, because that's how things work in Orid Xem).

Faci did survive into the 8th century in at least Oddom Girdergrove the Cradle of Biting's world. Islas was ganked here by the 2nd century. I think most dragons bar Faci get ganked by the 8th century, no idea why they're more squishy and why she survives.

Well, we have this gal, who as the only one of her kind, became sapient too. Weird.

Spoiler: Image (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/13phe7X.png)

---

Edëmtusung wasn't destroyed by Faci in this world, but by Snuko (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Snuko_Ustånonû). He also has 4 very living kids with Ricote (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Ricote_Rinosidaya_Rede) in the 700s. Yikes. Still only 10 rocs in this world. Calovi (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Calovi_Rifanithe) ganked in year 75. This really is some funky mirror universe, the names are the same, but the events diverge greatly.

(https://i.imgur.com/kFpX1Jd.png)

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on September 19, 2022, 07:01:51 pm

Quote from: Quantum Drop on September 19, 2022, 06:23:55 pm

Should have the save up tomorrow evening; apologies for running overtime on this turn. In the meantime, Orid Xem has apparently decided it's time for another change:

(https://i.imgur.com/EcQGhDx.png)

Yeah, I think that might have been Moldath. The roc feather didn't fare too well in my turn. The age change only seems to pop up in Fort mode for some reason.

Loving these alternate history What If..? moments, Lurker!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on September 19, 2022, 07:05:41 pm

Interesting, I guess enslavement of cave dragons awakens their sapience. I guess it's that when they are enslaved, the game makes them do that behaviour and a likely outcome is to become a refugee which results in fleeing one site and joining a group. With generation not taking to account this is a beast.

Yeah it's only in fort mode that the age changes, from what I recall it checks the age criteria at the start of each new year in fort mode.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on September 19, 2022, 07:20:50 pm

Which means we have reached the year 900, the 10th century dawns after 200 years of The Museum III.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Eric Blank on September 20, 2022, 01:58:47 am

Which is a lot. Like, an excessive amount of gameplay.

I'm interested in how worldgens of the same seed progress. In any of them does the necromancer apocalypse never occur? One in which Cog never decides to go full psycho? And if so, the Hands of Planesgifts never exist? Or better, what other races of experiments are created instead, and are they similar or totally different to Orid Xem Prime? How procedurally generated creatures are produced is fascinating

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on September 20, 2022, 02:32:23 am

Quote from: Eric Blank on September 20, 2022, 01:58:47 am

Which is a lot. Like, an excessive amount of gameplay.

I'm interested in how worldgens of the same seed progress. In any of them does the necromancer apocalypse never occur? One in which Cog never decides to go full psycho? And if so, the Hands of Planesgifts never exist? Or better, what other races of experiments are created instead, and are they similar or totally different to Orid Xem Prime? How procedurally generated creatures are produced is fascinating

Cog and Oddom definitely rampage regardless. All dwarven civs but the Walled Dye... well, die. The Walled Dye miraculously survives even when Oddom wins. The elven civilization is always dead, which begs the question on how they survived in our world.

There are definitely different necromancer experiments names than in Orid Xem Prime. The history breaks down not later than the second century. For example, Asmel Avuzadas (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Asmel_Avuzadas) doesn't exist in the world Oddom Thobmunèst Arban Nitig‎ (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/ Oddom Thobmunèst Arban Nitig‎) exists, though granted that world deviates the greatest in my experiments. Even in this highly deviated world where Oddom starts a different named group, has much different actions than canon and thus a lot less success, Oddom gets the same slab as in canon from the same deity as in canon. All the creatures from ATBT exist, though some gain different epithets (poor Egu (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Egu_Odanez_Exzas_Otsmor) gets some really lame ones).

---

And since the subject is ongoing, we return to Galka "Tunnelglazes" Gujegcango. Why is she always generated in the place of our Omon Obin's Law-Giver? I don't know. The only answer I can come to is that it's because I put reveal history on, which brings me back to how Galka's presence has doomed our chance of getting an unhidden complete clone of Orid Xem. Changing so historical characters don't get culled lead to almost different worlds altogether, like Oddom Thobmunèst Arban Nitig‎'s, while keeping the historical figures culled at least allowed Oddom to form the Scholarly Manors and to continue her path almost identical largely into the 2nd century.

---

I'm more fascinated in what "culling" implies. From first view, it seems that creatures who didn't reach nobles are simply erased, even if they created creatures who became Law-Givers. But WHEN are they erased? If after they die, it shouldn't change anything. Yet it does. Why? Are their interactions erased too? What the hell is happening and what really is this culling?

I've noticed in the unculled historical figures, some of the culled ones reach Law-Giver. So why were they culled? Why didn't they reach Law-Giver in canon? So many unknowns... I wouldn't be surprised if this was outright unintentional emergent behavior (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emergent_gameplay).

---

Quote

0108-01-01 In 108, Cog died of old age.

Well... I stand corrected... Now who got that slab? XD

Quote

0053-09-15 In 53, late autumn, (15th of Timber) Cog became obsessed with her own mortality and sought to extend her life by any means.

0064-06-08 In 64, late summer, (8th of Galena) Cog began worshipping the dwarf deity Tarem.

Holy mother of Armok, she never got the slab.

Holy mother of Armok, she never got the slab!!!

Spoiler: Image (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/HnzA6XE.png)

Well, this guy was useless. He was a pretty decent fellow in our timeline (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Vutok_Gusilvod). I put the goal in because maybe not wanting to rule the world made him stagnate? But he didn't do anything else in 700 years... he just... shut down...

---

Ok, what the hell?...

Spoiler: Image (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/aiErcQb.png)

---

I narrowed down the timeline split in Oddom Thobmunèst Arban Nitig's world to the year 58, where a goblin just outright had different named children than the one in the original timeline.

Still, these alternate timelines are great tools to recovered purged creatures from canon.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on September 20, 2022, 03:29:27 pm

Quote from: Lurker Z on September 19, 2022, 06:30:05 pm

Quote from: TheFlame52 on September 19, 2022, 05:59:16 pm

I've noticed that pausing in the middle of worldgen causes things to diverge. Pausing makes sites realize they're unoccupied, among other things.

I don't think I did that, but we have all the time in the world to test theories.

You probably did not do that, but I might have when I  generated the museum world, and it will be hard/impossible to recreate the effect.
I can't even seem to generate the same seed without crashing in df 47.04

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on September 20, 2022, 04:36:58 pm

Uploaded on DFFD: https://dffd.bay12games.com/file.php?id=16085

How I did it:
* I took a fresh download of DF47.04 (thanks for confirming that was the version you originally used, Bralbaard).
* I took the oldest save uploaded for the Museum, Bralbaard's himself at turn 1 end.
* I copied all raws in the DF47.04 folder and told it to replace all.
* I added the seed in the data/init folder as explained in the DF wiki (https://dwarffortresswiki.org/index.php/DF2014:Advanced_world_generation#Editing_the_parameters_init_file), so you'll find it as the first "type" of world to be generated.
* The theory was that I didn't have to fumble around with what Bralbaard may or may not have modified when, as far as I know, the game makes a copy of the raws it uses to generate the game in the save file.

Other notes:
* For this bundle, I modified creatures from being hidden. I suspect this is one of the reasons the game drifts earlier in its creation, but if Bralbaard paused generation... well that might explain it too. Creatures are set to culled.
* Modifying creatures to not be culled created the Arban Nitig (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Orid_Xem_Arban_Nitig) timeline, which goes off the rails much faster than when I had them culled, as early as the year 58.

Enjoy your infinitely diverse Orid Xem(s)!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on September 20, 2022, 05:21:11 pm

"Moldath IV", Prologue, Turn 91

6th Granite 899 - Northmanor the Unholy Cathedral

Kodor Anvilhearth was a singularly average dwarf who had lived his entire life in Northmanor, the Unholy Cathedral. As a steadfast member of the Cult of Ramparts, he fully believed in the groups central ethos - something that ordinary dwarves of the Walled Dye might find strange, if not abhorrent. Kodor sat quietly in the Black Vault of Despair, the dusty library which formed part of the central tower of the fortress. The blackened bronze bookcases groaned under the weight of tomes both new and ancient. His wandering gaze was focused as the old scholar politely coughed.

Catten Eldersbasesments was a necromancer, an acolyte who had travelled from that well-known site of necromantic knowledge, Ancientlibrary, some years ago. He had come to the cult late in life, but was fully committed nonetheless and his experience of the dark arts had provided some unique insight to the brethren.

"You see, Kodor..." he began. A speech Kodor had heard many times.

"It might shock you to learn that Orid Xem is not the only world in all of creation. Unnumbered planets of every shape and size burst across the cosmos, in each their own dimension." He paused and chuckled. "Almost as if playthings of some great intelligence. You have heard of Armok, have you not?"

Kodor's brown furrowed. Catten was insulting him. Every dwarven child knew of the legend of the first God, the God of Gods, Armok. The Blood God. But few of them actually believed Armok existed. They had their own Gods, and by Tithleth, they knew those were real. You only had to look at the cursed werebeasts, the vampires, or the necromancers themselves. Curses and divine knowledge were the boon of the Gods of Orid Xem. Fickle, capricious, and very real. But Armok? Who could say.

Catten claimed of course that he had evidence. And that is what brought him to Northmanor. He was above all a scholar, a man of science who belived in what he could touch and taste and feel, and with every fibre in his being he believed in the tenet of the Cult of Ramparts.

"Does it not strike you as strange, then, that every civilisation on this planet has a God of Death? We, of course, praise mighty Tithleth, the matron of time, the ender of weakness. We know she formed the bronze slab Shedimostar many hundreds of years ago, and granted her secret to the infamous Oddom Girdergrove. Oddom was a cruel and ambitious dwarf who sought to subjugate others of course, but one cannot say she was anything but successful in recruiting souls to Tithleth's banner...." his line of thought meandered like the trail of smoke from his pipe.
"But other dwarves share a strikingly similar entity in their own pantheon. Have you ever had chance to speak with our guest, King Atir?"

Kodor's brow furrowed harder. This time Catten's story had taken a tangent that he hadn't heard before, and he was slightly unnerved by the manic twinkle in the necromancers cold pale eyes.

Atir Lobsterseals was certainly a curiosity. He claimed to be the King of Morul Kan. But everyone knows they were wiped out seven centuries ago, by a huge dragon. Apparently nobody told him, as he turned up with a trade caravan 17 years ago. No memory of the past, or where he came from. Catten presumed of course that he had travelled here from another plane of existence. One of his mirror worlds. He felt it was the tangible truth that he needed to complete his theory.

Catten droned on, as Kodor's thoughts wandered once more. The dwarves of Morul Kan worship a being known as Midor, a great and powerful god, who while not credited with the gift of secrets to mortal races was the primogenitor of one of only two known angelic vaults. The Doom of Midor, a huge archangel wreathed in flame had been struck down many decades before by a foolhardy and very very lucky adventurer.

"Twelve!" shouted Catten, disrupting the younger dwarf's reverie. "Twelve secrets... that is the missing key."

"The Cult of Ramparts believe in a Death God for which there is not a shred of evidence, or so they think... Dishmab Northmanor the Mute Saffron Soot. His deeds as outlandish as they come. Did you know they believe he was touched twice (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=104399.msg4950507#msg4950507) by an evil cloud of twisting death and yet survived stronger? Did you know he was betrayed, and tossed into the lava lake (https://i.imgur.com/RWsn4KW.png) at the centre of his world, and swam to the surface to enact his revenge (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=104399.msg5290455#msg5290455)? Did you know he walked the surface of hell and slew all he saw? Well of course you do, for why else have we built this place? Northmanor, glory of Dishmab.... Rampart. The Cult. Don't you see? We have proof! This death God is not a facet of the others, like Midor, or Tarem, or Sut the Tomb of Quests or any of the lesser human deities. He was once a mortal dwarf, twisted into death incarnate by fate itself."

Catten was rambling now. He felt that Dishmab was real, as they all did, but the necromancer clearly thought Dishmab could actually manifest in this reality.

"The twelve secrets. That is the key. Each secret born from a slab, and each slab a breath of the power of creation from a God of Orid Xem. That is what is needed to bring Dishmab to us. This is why we build this tower." the scholar concluded.

"He calls himself Moldath Mournsaints, and from what I have learned of him, he is not from this world." he continued, after a long pause. "And he is the vessel into which Dishmab will be poured. I have studied this strange dwarf for many years. Painstaking research, following his journeys, his travels to the castle they call Boltspumpkin..."

Kodor shifted uncomfortably in his seat. This was all new territory and he was very much regretting volunteering to help the old man.

"Moldath himself manifested into existence on Orid Xem. In a cave, far to the south. His arms chained with steel. Mournsaints the Fire Ruler of Rewards, in his own utterance. He had with him a small creature, a bat, which he called Dishmab. Moldath believed that he was not, in fact a dwarf, but an amulet. An amulet! And what is an amulet if not a magical focus?!"

The old man was clearly insane. How could a dwarf be an amulet? What did any of this mean? And more importantly, what did it have to do with Kodor Anvilhearth?

"And do you know what I have learned about this Moldath? He yearns for the secrets. That is the key. Twelve secrets, twelve fragments of the key. When the key is complete, will it not unlock the amulet? Will it not open the way for our own God of Death to be born anew? And do you know how many of the secrets he has found? Eleven."

A chill trickled down Kodor's spine. Surely this was all nonsense, wasn't it? The scholar had a look of complete seriousness, his face granite. "Which do you think is the final secret he needs, young Kodor?"

"Shedimostar" Kodor found himself murmering.

"Now you see what you must do. The tower is complete. We have fashioned it for the liking of Moldath Mournsaints, with golden crafts, and rooms for his treasures and trinkets. He must be lured here. And we must complete the prophecy. We must find the Twelth Secret. Dark forces rail against us. They tell of another, seeking the secrets. A devil twisted in the shape of a scorpion. He must not succeed. He must not unite the secrets before Moldath, or all is ruin."

"Why have you summoned me here, scholar?" the recruit finally spoke, his mouth strangely dry.

"Because we know where Moldath is. And we have discovered why he is there, more importantly. He cannot leave. He is bound by something stronger than magic - an oath, to a dwarf long dead, by the name of Kikrost. He is their broker, their manager. And everytime he tries to leave he is brought back by his oath. You, young dwarf, are tasked with breaking the oath. Return Moldath Mournsaints to Northmanor and you will have played your part. As we speak, our agents scour the earth looking for Shedimostar. It was lost, long before you were born. They search old Heroicgem, long in ruin, and they travel the breadth of the Plain Hill. This is not your task."

The necromancer planted his hand firmly on Kodor's shoulder. "Go now. To the place they call Clearmasters. And release the Blind Sadist from his oath."

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on September 20, 2022, 05:41:04 pm

Quote from: kesperan on September 20, 2022, 05:21:11 pm

6th Granite 899 - Northmanor the Unholy Cathedral

The necromancer planted his hand firmly on Kodor's shoulder. "Go now. To the place they call Clearmasters. And release the Blind Sadist from his oath."

Wow, how my spur-of-the-moment incomplete build that accidentally attracted an immortal eldritch abomination from across time and space has become a crucial place in Orid Xem's destiny by sheer circumstances.

Kikrost must be shouting profanities from the heavens. He invented taint-free immortality, gave it freely to everyone, his immortal meat-shields... I mean subjects all deserted him and then he got killed, even if he would have lived forever otherwise. Then he's witnessing these mad-balls doing mad pseudo-science and blaming him for that weird curse that keeps calling back Moldath to Clearmasters. What a time to be (un)dead.

I love how our actions on the world intersect in the weirdest of ways. I can't wait to read the rest of it.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on September 20, 2022, 06:13:41 pm

Moldath's ardent followers are certainly getting there. The twelve secret, i don't even know if Moldath got it. Im curious if he has become the one necromancer to rule them all.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on September 20, 2022, 06:21:19 pm

Thanks for the kind words of encouragement :)

I have about 45 images saved, and a long-assed story to write. I haven't found the secret, but that wasn't my main focus for this turn, so I don't know why Moldath has been deleted from LV.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Quantum Drop on September 20, 2022, 06:36:46 pm

Save is up: https://dffd.bay12games.com/file.php?id=16086

There's a new human-controlled fortress on the map by the name of Abyssdeeps and no new museum submission. I would like to request another turn; good luck to whoever's on next.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on September 20, 2022, 07:27:40 pm

Well, looks like Moldath was King of the Walled Dye for three weeks. How annoying. :|

Looking through LV now... more ghouls! Yay!

Good luck on your turn Maloy.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on September 21, 2022, 01:32:24 pm

Quote from: kesperan on September 19, 2022, 07:01:51 pm

Quote from: Quantum Drop on September 19, 2022, 06:23:55 pm

Should have the save up tomorrow evening; apologies for running overtime on this turn. In the meantime, Orid Xem has apparently decided it's time for another change:

(https://i.imgur.com/EcQGhDx.png)

Yeah, I think that might have been Moldath. The roc feather didn't fare too well in my turn. The age change only seems to pop up in Fort mode for some reason.

I have occasionaly seen the game recognize an age-changing event right away, but most of the time it does not. If it fails to do so it seems to check for the correct age each time the year changes. Most of the time that will be in fortress mode.

I've finally updated the map. The Mountain of Hatred, Onionbunions, Abyssdeeps, and Urnways have been added to the map. 
Maloy has downloaded the save.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Maloy on September 22, 2022, 08:00:59 am

I report the good news that my character bears no bugs.

He started still wearing all his gear with no weird behaviors
I love all the adventures Mirailei got up to while I was inbetween turns although I can't seem to open up the save on legends viewer. If someone can could you drop that info for later?

THUS far all the lands I'm in are incredibly peaceful and you guys have done a thorough job genociding anything that might cause trouble in the world lol

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on September 22, 2022, 08:11:03 am

If you've never worked Legends Viewer before, it's not as easy as using the save the game gives you. You need:
* A copy of the save with no active fortress of adventurer. PLEASE use a copy of the save and not the save you're running, otherwise you might get issues.
* In that copy, go to Legends Mode.
* There are two ways to do this:
** Way 1:
*** If you don't have the LNP bundle, you might want to get it.
*** In the DFhack console, type

Code: [Select]

exportlegends info** Way 2:
*** In Legends mode, press the letter

Code: [Select]

x*** Note that I haven't tried this, I only used DFhack console, so I'm not sure what you'll get
* In the Dwarf Fortress folder, you'll find a folder named something like "legends-Museum III - Turn 86-00890-01-16"
* Now open Legends Viewer
* Click the first "..." icon
* Browse to the folder that is named like "legends-Museum III - Turn 86-00890-01-16"
* Select any of the two XML files you find there (as far as I know, Legends Viewer is smart enough to take the files it needs from the folder)
* Wait for Legends Viewer to load the save (this may take at least a minute or more, depending on your computer)
* Enjoy browsing.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on September 22, 2022, 08:12:21 am

There was a bug a while ago with legends viewer with claiming Vaults so make sure your using 1.20.08 of legends viewer as well. The musuem save wont work on older versions of the legends viewer.

Glad to hear no bugs on your character

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Quantum Drop on September 22, 2022, 08:14:43 am

Good to hear there’s no bugs with your character, Maloy. I will advise that you use the dfhack method of getting a legends viewer file, though, as the standard legends mode xml tends to be missing a fair bit of detail when loaded into LV.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: WonderPsycho on September 22, 2022, 03:04:07 pm

aight free alot more again and stuff, mind i get a turn on this succession world again?, feeling in a DF mood lately again

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on September 23, 2022, 01:14:48 am

Welcome back! It might take three or four months until it gets to you, judging by the length of the turn list.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: WonderPsycho on September 23, 2022, 01:36:58 am

Quote from: Bralbaard on September 23, 2022, 01:14:48 am

Welcome back! It might take three or four months until it gets to you, judging by the length of the turn list.

ehh it's fine working on some small Dwarf Fortress mods anyways for Dwarf Fortress and stuff, tho will say i'll keep very much active to make sure i will not miss my turn and such

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Maloy on September 23, 2022, 05:10:12 pm

got it. I had been using the viewer through LNP, but I have to assume it wasn't up to date because when I downloaded it separate just now it had no trouble other than the fact that Avolition and Moldath borderline crash it when I open up their pages lol

Side note: It's nice to see that regardless of how the encounters went Maloy considers the other adventurers he has run into over the years as friends.


I'm glad I don't really identify with his personality or character too much, because I feel like I'm playing Morrowind with how much npcs just don't like me. Just universally disliked the moment I start talking and I was cursed a werebeast form that makes me weaker and aggros everyone around me lol
Maloy's quest in life is to become someone who is not pathetically weak or at least liked by others for sure

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on September 24, 2022, 05:52:51 am

That's interesting. I found too that I don't identify even with my named character, Lurker Onecbehal (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Lurker_Onecbehal). While he hates goblins and I hate goblins, he's loyal to Omon Obin first. He's loyal to Señamatem secondly. He wants a royal line from the old blood (which admittedly I want too) to rule Omon Obin. He's bitter about becoming Lord of a different town, while I liked that the AI chose him for that.

Hell my other characters are played in-character and for fun and share fewer of my ideals. I like to make them loyal to a cause if it's possible though (the only exception was that dwarf who was ordered to loot a fortress' surroundings, he was my most mercenary character in this game).

Quote from: Maloy on September 23, 2022, 05:10:12 pm

Just universally disliked the moment I start talking and I was cursed a werebeast form that makes me weaker and aggros everyone around me lol

It might be more that your character is an animal man? Just a wild guess. I don't think werebeasts are directly hated - but I never played as one. Maybe because you turn where they can see you?

The few people in a Dwarf Fortress game who are going to like you are the pets and companions you created at the start of the game. Dwarf Fortress creatures are really schizo. That goblin who killed Imic (wonder if he's still alive) is still horrified of seeing Imic's corpse over a century later. The same with the demon Pis and Bralbaard's corpse. Someone was turned into a werecreature and considered their assailant a friend and a good trading partner. I suspect the only way to legitimately be liked by someone is to be a heartperson and succeed in that place's quests multiple time.

---

I've been partially updating the Top creatures (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Orid_Xem_tops#Most_linked_characters) page. Bralbaard has shot into first place, though I'm not sure how that happened. Oddom stayed in second, Moldath also shot in fourth (understandably - if we'd have pages on the most important creatures Moldath slayed, he'd shoot in first or second definitely), the rocs are probably there to stay (they're worshiped throughout history, so whenever an article of a creature from before the 8th century will be made, there's a chance they'll be mentioned), Lonelythrall is back into the fray (Lonelythrall  was out of the top for a while, but then Avolition made those articles about his kills). Speaking of, Avolition is in the running and unlikely to ever be bumped out. Zemel and Cog are still hanging on, which is a surprise since they're my initial projects from way back when I started researching Orid Xem's 1st century. Surprisingly, Lurker Onecbehal is there, which I thought won't happen since there's not much to link to him and I hadn't made an effort to do so. The important creatures that could have been there but aren't (and will probably return) are Bewa and Islas. Bewa was one link under Lurker and she has the potential to stay up because she has a lot of relatives all the way to the 8th century (or even the 9th?) Islas is the first roc and a millennial, so again, lots of potential for a return.

As for deities, it is as I suspected: the dwarven gods definitely dominate (I suspected this because we'd concentrate on dwarves). That being said, Ala is second there, once again unsurprisingly (it's a surprise he's not first). The rest are, once again unsurprisingly, Omon Obin deities since I'd concentrated at the beginning on writing about them. What is surprising is a distinct lack of Cacame, who is about 5 links under the top 10. That means I have way too few articles on elves despite my best efforts.

Updated kills, Jamas and Jas broke through.

---

I think some of our adventurers accidentally jumped into the wrong Orid Xem...

Spoiler: Images (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/qHAkbib.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/IdkgI91.png)

Jokes aside, that's some really weird behavior from NPCs during world generation. It does confirm they don't need to be enslaved to become sapient, simply becoming refugees after a settlement was conquered was enough. It is REALLY interesting that Satheth was a Law-Giver of Omon Obin, became a mummy, was disturbed, started amassing an undead army, then went back to Omon Obin as a humble, normal (immortal) citizen. Ah, if he survived, he wouldn't have risen back to Law-Giver because he'd have been discovered as undead and forced to flee. It'd have taken some special circumstances of world gen ending, world activating and then someone playing enough time for him to rise as the undying ruler of Omon Obin.

---

I've tried to restore Mudungudon and I've had the same issue as with Orid Xem despite the fact that it's in a version before 0.40: everything that should be is there, yet history diverges somewhere even before the 1st century. I'll try to narrow things down more when I have more time for it specifically.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on September 24, 2022, 10:39:54 am

I don't identify with my charcters too much, they are ecelectic pieces forged together in chaos. Think my next one won't be crazy, i hope.

I find that if you tell jokes, giving gifts or issuing complements helps. Also assuming a new identity seems to help give you a clean slate as long as they dont recognise you. Also find that i need to assume identitys to settle into forts.

Certainly interesting to see what are on top currently and what will change come  the new century.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Unraveller on September 27, 2022, 11:19:55 am

It's come to my attention that I had not finished Jas' recent story. I'll rectify that soon. Hope everyone's doing well, haven't poked my head in for a wee bit.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Maloy on September 29, 2022, 06:15:28 am

Here is the save! https://dffd.bay12games.com/file.php?id=16095



To-Do List of Lord Maloy Craftsroars
-Travel to Elven lands and find adventurers and artists to restore Incenseorder - Great Success. Although three died in a river wrestling a Carp that could stand up
-Retrieve the Hand Was already gone. Ear was pretty upset!
-Commission a new bridge Didn't happen
-Achieve renown and likeability. -Mirai became a baronness which technically makes her my superior, but a lot of people did join my banner!
-Don't turn into a werefox in front of your friends. -Great Success! YAY!


To-Do List of Arthur
-Convince Mirai to help our wolf friend again(he's getting old) -Added bonus that I get to see her again
-Spread tales of the new "City of adventures and wonders Incenseorders" for Maloy -Massive sucess. Most of the human and dwarf villages had it's people actually living amongst dead bodies. Even some bandits from a local fort left to join.
-Find a certain adamantine bracelet Went to it's last known location of Sprayoils. Was nearly killed by a blight victim and only won through sheer numbers. Artifact wasn't there, but found a treasure trove of coins. Helping friends has it's rewards!





To-Do List of H̷̢̛̖̟̺̝͎̝͈̜͒͑̍̇̄̋̑̏͐͊̄̂̀̃̀͌̅̾̈̅̎̌̓̎͐͛͐̐̄̎͌̅́̚̕̕͝ȩ̶̡̭̻̱̻͍͈̻͎̼̼͛̀̊͆̔̊̄̉̒̇̐͋͝͝ͅ ̸̢̨̛͙̪̳̥͇̹̩̙̜̲̮̣̜̩̰̙͚͚͍͇̑̂͒̊͆͊̇̀̄̿͋̈́̑͂̂͘̚̕͝w̴̡͔̝͍̔̐ͅh̸̨̨̤̗̹͙̹̻̖̅̈́̔̒̀̐̃̅͐ò̸̡̧̢̪͚͍̙̪̻͙͕̫̹͖͉͔̰̹̎̓̋̏͋̅̓͛͛̓̅̊̆̄̚ ̴͚͔̖̖͇̞̣̬̬̫͚͈̠̯̣̮͎̯̤̦̤͚̯͚͕̞͇̦̌̽̍͆̚͜w̷͓̺̳̫̘̞̪͖̞͕͓̫̘͙̼̘̼͎͈̻͍̃̓̑̾̆͑͌̊͒̈̈́̆̎̇̊̑̑̓͒͌̌̓́̽̊̇͌͋̀́́̐̔͑͘̚͝͝͝ą̸͕̯͚̹̙͚̥̮̐̾̅͋̌̃͊̕͝͠í̶̧̡̢̗͍͉̤̖̥̺̭̘̝͚̻̬̹̰̥̭̘̠̝̗͔̺̮͔̲͎̈́̃̐̒͂̀͘̚͝ţ̷̡̥̬̼͈̪͉̀̈̅͝ͅs̸̢̧̱̟̳̠̤͖̖͔͍̼͈̥̯͔̠̭̓̌̄͐͂́̂̌̉̚ͅ:

-Claim Bral's limbs foiled by the dead king himself
-Build an army for new empire. -It shall be without end


There will be an actual entry later on!
Had a ton of fun! wanted to experiment with social and settlement stuff. Most of incenseorder's buildings are abandoned, but I swear that a few more have been occupied since I did my first turn. Here's some fun strange things I noted:

-Once guided there if I canceled our agreement to travel and entertain the followers would eventually just go home, but if told to wait they stick around(that's not new info)
-Those told to wait picked up local trades. Most were originally just regular worker jobs, but after retiring and unretiring I saw quite a few were warriors now
-Dwarves are the easiest to recruit as entertainers as dwarven civs universally love art and that is the value considered by the npc when asked
-Turns out the best way to passively train social skills is to have the character you wanna train in your party, but don't directly control them. Let them passively do social stuff with your other party members. Arthur's skills were so much better than Maloy's from doing that last turn that I actually left Maloy at Incensorder halfway through my turn.
-The Blight victim. He was the leader of a local cult as well, and the thresher who killed him in my group immediately took his job upon killing him and even kept it after we left and moved back to Incenseorder.


Even if I can't actually have Incenseorder truly reoccupied it is cool turning it into a sort of adventurer-art town. I recruited probably close to 40 people.
I also visited Razorbridges and recruited a lot of dwarves there


Throw me down for another turn. Always happens that the same week my turn comes a lot of unexpected stuff happens, but I still got the meat of what I wanted done and I'm very happy for that!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Eric Blank on September 30, 2022, 01:45:48 pm

Im downloading the save now

What the heck is the string of of characters in the description?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Paaaad on September 30, 2022, 02:08:49 pm

Copy and pasting it into Google comes out as searching for "come and serve", albeit rather messed up, as with "He who waits" in Maloy's last post

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: WonderPsycho on September 30, 2022, 02:10:11 pm

Quote from: Maloy on September 29, 2022, 06:15:28 am

To-Do List of H̷̢̛̖̟̺̝͎̝͈̜͒͑̍̇̄̋̑̏͐͊̄̂̀̃̀͌̅̾̈̅̎̌̓̎͐͛͐̐̄̎͌̅́̚̕̕͝ȩ̶̡̭̻̱̻͍͈̻͎̼̼͛̀̊͆̔̊̄̉̒̇̐͋͝͝ͅ ̸̢̨̛͙̪̳̥͇̹̩̙̜̲̮̣̜̩̰̙͚͚͍͇̑̂͒̊͆͊̇̀̄̿͋̈́̑͂̂͘̚̕͝w̴̡͔̝͍̔̐ͅh̸̨̨̤̗̹͙̹̻̖̅̈́̔̒̀̐̃̅͐ò̸̡̧̢̪͚͍̙̪̻͙͕̫̹͖͉͔̰̹̎̓̋̏͋̅̓͛͛̓̅̊̆̄̚ ̴͚͔̖̖͇̞̣̬̬̫͚͈̠̯̣̮͎̯̤̦̤͚̯͚͕̞͇̦̌̽̍͆̚͜w̷͓̺̳̫̘̞̪͖̞͕͓̫̘͙̼̘̼͎͈̻͍̃̓̑̾̆͑͌̊͒̈̈́̆̎̇̊̑̑̓͒͌̌̓́̽̊̇͌͋̀́́̐̔͑͘̚͝͝͝ą̸͕̯͚̹̙͚̥̮̐̾̅͋̌̃͊̕͝͠í̶̧̡̢̗͍͉̤̖̥̺̭̘̝͚̻̬̹̰̥̭̘̠̝̗͔̺̮͔̲͎̈́̃̐̒͂̀͘̚͝ţ̷̡̥̬̼͈̪͉̀̈̅͝ͅs̸̢̧̱̟̳̠̤͖̖͔͍̼͈̥̯͔̠̭̓̌̄͐͂́̂̌̉̚ͅ:

-Claim Bral's limbs foiled by the dead king himself
-Build an army for new empire. -It shall be without end

Z̵̡̨̡̢̢̢̢̢̧̡̨̧̨̨̨̛̛̛̛̛̳̙̤͚̰͙̱̭̳͈̺̺͍̫͈̥͕̜̲̟̯̻̼̹̖̣̯̥̣͖̮̯̜̤̙̖͎̣͉̩͎̩̟͈̘̩̭͍̗͓̩̥̗̤̰̜̹͔̭̫̫̠̭̫̟̤̤̣͍͎̥̮̦̳̘̦͕̳̜̤̟̣̘͛͌̆̉̽͊̑̓̉̔̋͌̑̌̎͊͒̽͋̈́̄̊͛̆͑͂͂̊̓̽̅̉̽̌̀̿͐̒͆̆̀̍̈́̀̒̏̋̄̀͐̿̐̿͆̌͒́̃̋̐̑̑́̂͌̈́͑̿̂̔̽̍̆͗͐͊̽͛̋͋̃̏́͑̓͊̍̿͆̾̓͆̽̂́̎̉̍̈́̑͊̎͛̈͐͒̏͗͒̉͆̃̐̉̀̌̀̈́̆̀̇̿̍̀̿̊̑̿̓̏̿̀̃̒̅͐̄͐̂̅̃́͒͛̒̒͛̒̀͌͊̓̆̇͗̏́̆̅̏̌̏̏͆̋̈́͗͘̕͘̕͘͘̚̚̕̕̚͝͠͝͝͝͠͝͠͠͝͠ͅĄ̴̢̨̨̢̛̛̛̛̛̛̼̟̤̭͓̣̟̜̻̼͍͍̝͎̰̟̠̘̘͉̫̼̣̥̭͉̜̞͍͉́̀̈͒͊͊͗̈̃̈́̽͆̈́͆̋̏̓̔͛͊̏͒͋̾̈́̔̇̈́̿̽̓̇̾̎͗̈̉̊̓̌̉̈́̍̎̌͑̈̃̊̆̈̌̓̌͗̑̆̑̿̋͐̿̔̑̒̒̓̑͛͊̾̀͑̓̒͆̀́͗̇̾͗̃̍̅̒̃̓̇͐́̾̑̋̽̾́͋͌̍̒̌̀̿͒͌̑̑̅̈́͌̀̏̎̔̌̇̍͛͐̄̉́͒̽̂̐̐̏̆͊͑̔͆͒̌̏̋̽͑̉͌̀̉̊̉͛͋͗̂̌̄͗̑̀͘͘̕̕̚̚̚͘̕̕̚͘̚͠͝͠͝͝͝͝͝͝ͅĻ̸̧̢̧̡̧̡̧͈̼̩͓̟̝̳̖̼͎͈̻͙̻͉͎̞̳̖̮̭͉͔͓̥̰̦̙͕̭͔͚͍̜̟̘̜̟̳̦̻̙͓̩͉̬͖͓͎̰̳͉͉͙͙̝̩̼̖̝͇̥̥̱̟͙̭̖̰̬̝̟̦̘̹̘̪͉̺̱̟̱̲̙͈̟̻̺̻̪̹͇̘̤̼̤̖̗̙͍̯̟̼̦͔͚̥̞̟̣̥͆͋́̈́́͗̽͌͛̒̔̂̋̄͛͊̆̈͂̀͌̉̿̾͌̑̐͂͛̀̅͑̈́͌̃̐̎͑̔̾͘͜͜͝ͅͅͅͅͅǦ̸̨̡̢̢̡̨̛̛̮̺̞̯̺͇̜͚̞̰̥̫͙̙͖̘̹̪̩̟̱̫̫̬͈̩͓̮͎̖̺̘͔̘͕͔͙̼͉̖̮̗̦̦͉̳͓̦̦͉̺̝̝͉̥̻̰̪̟̰̜͍͍̮̻̼̪͉͈̥̱̠̜̹̮̟̥̭̯̻̯͎̙͕̺̺̥͎͓͚̯͖͗̀͒̈́̏̄̉̓̽̽̍̈́̀̆̽͛̂̒̋̉̐̄͊̃̓̽́̍͑̓̈̌́̂̆̐́̃̅̅̀̂̒̾͌̽̽̓͗̓̾͌̈̈́̆͘͝͠͝͝ͅȮ̷̧̨̡̢̨̧̨̡̨͓͔͔̥͔̳̹͖̘͇̘̞͓̞̹̭̜̤̪̰̭̞̘̟͇̟̫͈͚͉̘͖͕̣̟͉̘̫̮̙̰̪̞̫̰̺͈͇̺̮̞͇̖̦̪̺͙̳͍͓͙͔̻̦̱͖͓͇͔̼̪͙̬͓̩͓̠̠̳̮̼̭͔͇͓̮͖̩͔̭͈̭͇͇̯̖̮̠̭̪̥̫̮̣̹̝͙̯͎̝̯̬͓̲̱͉̗̻͇̗͙̫͕̻̣͓͚̣̼͍͖͓̖̗̼̜͔͚̪̩̹͎̬͙͖̲̫̿̈́̑̓̆̋̔̌̓̓͆͂̉̌͂́̍̔͐͒̓͒̊͂̋̿̀͌̆̃̚̚͜͜͜͜͜͜͝ͅ

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Eric Blank on September 30, 2022, 05:31:31 pm

This is a emu parchment quire bound in emu leather and decorated with kangaroo bone. On the item is an image of a kobold in wombat bone. On the item is written "Journal of Avafi Specialmosses, Kobold orphan" in Elven script.

My name is Avafi Specialmosses. I am a kobold, but I was found and raised by the elves of Dreamzephyr, my home. They taught me how to read and write and their sign language, but I cannot speak, as all kobolds. My elven family died several years ago when night creatures, howling freaks, attacked us and dragged them away. I have been alone ever since. My mother was named Aweme Arrowpure and my father Le Faintpears. I had an older brother named Olaca Secretrivers and a younger sister named Ula Beastwatcher. All were devoured by the beasts, my siblings ripped out of the burrow beneath a tree in which we hid, but the creature never came for me, at the back of the burrow, though sometimes I wish it did. I lived in the silent retreat, quietly, eating the fruits, hunting small game with my wooden spear and drinking from the brook, until last week, when I stumbled upon an whip buried in the sand. I cleaned the rust from it with a sharpened stone and it was a chain whip made of hard metal which my stone could not scratch further. My parents didnt teach us the ways of the destroying races like the humans, goblins and elves, so I know little about this weapon, but I chose to practice with it. I gave up worship of the river spirit years ago, I live as an animal, and I have even hunted and killed rabbits and weasels with my bare hands and wood spear. But now I have a weapon better than my claws, or my sharpened rocks and sticks.

I practiced with my whip for the last six days and have killed ravens, turkey and now an emu. I made this paper from its skin and carved its bones. Its not rotting so I think it worked. I killed a kangaroo and a wombat too, and used their bones and skin to add to the quire. The best way to kill is to break their ankles with the whip and then their neck, and wait for them to suffocate.

A beast came back last night, I heard its howling and wandering through the brush, but I dared not go out to look. Its tracks ended outside my burrow and turned around. It is gone now, but I must leave, before it comes back and tries to dig me out. It probably smelled my kills and followed my tracks. I must be very careful as I leave to hide my journey, so I will go by river.

The beast has been following me despite my attempts to hide. It attacked me as I was hunting a kangaroo herd, spooking them. I ran and hid along the brookside, and eventually it wandered off while looking for me elsewhere.

Ive made a terrible mistake today. As I fled the beast, I entered an abandoned human hamlet. There at their lord hall I thought I might find tools useful to me, but when I opened the door I found one of the howling freaks. It drew its dagger and rushed towards me. I ran around the back of the building and out into the trees. It may be following me, a strange smell like so many dead bugs has lingered in the air all day. Ive smelled it before, but never this strong, and I used to pass it off as nothing. Ive turned south now. In the neighboring hamlet I found no monsters, but a cloth backpack I can carry provisions in instead of hunting something new for every meal. Im sleeping now in a wooded area by a creek.

Ive continued south, and have had no more sign of monsters. I even came upon a human-inhabited hamlet, and tried to communicate with the people there, but they do not know elven script or signs, or maybe im just so out of practice that my sign has become unintelligible. I think their hamlet is called "Singedbear." They pointed me though to a castle outside their village, and there I met a goblin "chancellor," Bengel Ikicango who can read my elven script. He even had a book written in elven, and again in human, which he let me take, and a quiver and spear. He told me of a "museum" in the far south that might have more resources for kobolds, where other wanderers go to learn and teach. I dont have anywhere else to go, and I must admit I am enjoying finally having people to talk to again, even if I must write.

Night has begun to fall. I have reached the banks of a river to the south of the castle, just outside a village. I can once again smell the dead-bug scent of the monsters, coming from the east. The rain masks my presence somewhat, but I fear the beasts are still tracking me. Perhaps I can lose them in the river.

I encountered some unicorns on the plains and slew two. Their hides make fine clothes. Ive gone further south and found a walled city named "lipbraided." It seems almost abandoned.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/W77Wsoh.png)

This journal was found on the body of a kobold and brought to the museum by a goblin who found it by the door to the keep of lipbraided, before promptly turning around.




That was a short and terror-filled adventure. I got an hour and a half of adventuring in and got strangled to death by one of those damn blighted thralls. Its hard being smol

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on September 30, 2022, 05:41:42 pm

Good story, some of the shorter ones make for a tighter interesting narrative. Poor Kobold

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on October 02, 2022, 01:07:24 pm

Oh well, more time for an epic fort!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on October 03, 2022, 03:31:49 pm

"Moldath IV", Part I, Turn 91

23rd Granite 899 - The Travels of Kodor Anvilhearth the Grim

Head to toe clad in the finest steel armour the smiths of Northmanor could produce, and wielding the legendary steel longsword Deeptyphoons, Kodor leaves his home behind and travels south. He follows the map given to him by the elders, and the journey is slow and careful. He practices his swordcraft on the wild animals in the forest that spreads out before him, even besting a huge pike, which stands up menacingly in a river.

It takes nearly two weeks of uneventful journey before Clearmasters emerges on the horizon. Entering at dusk, Kodor finds the place eerily quiet.

He almost jumps out of his skin when he bumps into a horribly disfigured dwarf! The dwarf in question is has loaded a tall body with great muscles. His hair is very long, and bone white. He is missing his nose and one ear, and several teeth. What strikes Kodor most about his dwarf is not the overwhelming stench of decay emanating in waves of miasma, or the sickening rotten flesh that hangs from his clearly dead bones, but the hollow blank eyes which seem to be both unseeing and yet pierce his soul. The hairs on his neck stand on end as he manages to stammer... "Moldath Mournsaints the Ardent... the Blind Sadist!"

With a voice like skeletal fingers clawing on a microcline tombstone, the Sadist answers, grinning malevolently. "At your service!"

The two dwarves talk for many hours. Moldath is initially deeply doubtful and untrusting of Kodors intentions. Why on earth would he want to travel to Northmanor? His interest is piqued when the younger dwarf tells him that he has vowed to release him from his oath.

I made a promise, he tells Kodor, long ago to a dwarf who might have been my friend. And now I serve here, forever. How would you break this oath? This curse?

Kodor stammers once more. He admits he does not know, only that he promised he would bring Moldath to the spire of Northmanor, a glorius tower dedicated to Moldath himself. He tells Moldath of the rise of the scorpion in his absence, and of rumours of thefts from Moldath's lair in the castle of Spicetrails.

Moldath seems enraged by this, then seems to stop and stare into the distance, his milky eyes dancing in the torchlight. Another grin forms. Moldath knows a way, but Kodor isn't going to like it. But he senses the recruit is at least honest and truly beleives in his cause.

A sacrifice, of sorts, he says. The younger dwarf feels a sense of dread. Moldath gathers his belongings, such as they are. Many trinkets and crafts from his many years of adventures, and leads Kodor north by moonlight. The unlikely pair travel to an ancient tomb of Omob Obin, known in the common tongue as Martyrlanterns.

As they travel, Moldath tells Kodor of his plan. Only death will release him from this oath, but as Moldath knows more than most, death is not always the end. Producing from his backpack a handful of dusty rolls of parchment, Moldath inscribes several scrolls. Handing this cache to Kodor, he demands the young dwarf to read. Eldritch knowledge fills Kodor's fragile mind and he is changed.

The wind howls around the squat ziggurats of Martyrlanterns, rain lashing the ancient stones. The undead dwarf's cold fingers find what grip they can as he slowly scales the tallest spire. Atop the structure, his white hair whipping around him, Moldath Mournsaints makes a leap of faith. With a profane word, Kodor raises him as a Hollow Stalker, thus freeing him from his bond with Eskon.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/7H5Skco.png)

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on October 03, 2022, 04:12:26 pm

"Moldath IV", Part 1, Turn 91

The Chronicle of the Blind Sadist, Volume IV

I may be a sadistic wight, but by Ala, I always keeps my word. In return from freeing me of this oath, I agrees to this young dwarfs inane request to travel to Northmanor. That much is all I will offer - but I yearn to travel the lands once more. For four decades I've been cooped up in that fort, and the world has changed. The terrified new necromancer is too cowed to object. We travel north.

In the castle of Entrancegrape, a lone trader hides, gibbering about vampires and ghouls. The anhydrite amulet Clearingheaven the Quiescent Heather lies on the floor amidst the entrails of a slain thrall. It soon adorns my rotten neck.

Dingos ambush in the night. Testing my new Hollow magic, I vanish in thin air. Kodor does not have time to unsheath his sword before the last corpse lies twitching on the ground.

26th Granite 899

Despite his protestations, I leave the young dwarf at the tower of Combinedinsight. I instruct him that if he is to defend Northmanor, and play his part in his stupid prophecy, he must learn the ways of the magic of death. Spend time here, read these books. He nods nervously. Freed from babysitting my young charge, I begin my travels with relish.

Questedtimes is the first village I encounter. A naked putrid ghoul ambles outside and is quickly slain. In the humble village, terrified peasants flee from a lasher blighted thrall. I vanish once more, and the thrall is relieved of his rotten head. It is good to be back.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/GAVYlIm.png)

The keep of Questedtimes is home to a handful of priests and a rather muscular lady. Something feels not quite right here. One of the priests holds an ancient iron sword of strangely elvish design, notched with many kills, and has a strange feel to his aura.

The oddly long-toothed muscular lady clutches in her hands impossible things - Morul Kan coins of blisterd metal, and a wafer of purest adamantine. Vampires! The blathering trader was right after all. The two priestly bloodsuckers are quickly dispatched.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/Ici7WVo.png)

The lady runs in fear and I chase her tirelessly through the snowy fields around Questedtimes. Finally I catch up with her, paralysing her with a flick of the wrist before rending her limb from limb. The newly minted lord, Bolli, is sanguine when I return, watching nervously as I place a blistered metal coin and the ancient elf-blade on display.

Toothsneaks is the site of some massacre, and I find a lone blighted thrall. A lot has changed since last I walked these lands... the humans are fighting back against the ghouls and the undead are far fewer in number. Swordgleamed, once a mighty bandit stronghold, lies empty, apparently sacked by the resurgent armies of the Realm of Silver. The streets are piled high with human corpses. Where once bandits walked are only empty alleys. I fear the new human king has purged this place with some reckless abandon.

On the outskirts I chance upon a human encampment. There is a band of swordsmen here, with mastercrafted weapons and shields of steel. They are heavily armoured with finely crafted steel mail. These are no bandits - perhaps a warband from the new human king? The leader, Mamgoz, says he is fleeing danger. I doubt mere bandits could cope with his masterwork steel longsword. They resist my attempts at interrogation and so I am none the wiser as to their purpose. I press on, in the direction of the rumoured human capital.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/AiYnuml.png)

In the keep The Permanancy of Chains, in Weatherpondered, I stumble into some kind of religious schism. Priests of many denominations are hacking each other to death. The abbot and the most holy riddle seem unconcerned and nobody can tell me why they fight. Strangely, I find no sign of any ghouls.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/yHfKcbM.png)

I arrive finally at this new capital of the Realm of Silver. Much has changed indeed since I last walked these lands. Silverthrone is massive, a huge granite keep straddling a great river. A stout gatehouse guards the frozen river, and the fort is teaming with humans in military garb - pikemasters, master lashers, hammer lords. In a great hall, I find the throneroom of the elusive human king. On a pedestal is an enormous black axe of unparalleled craft - Thrallrend the Destroyer of Ghouls. It seems this human has rallied Omon Obon against the blight, and created a huge army bent to his will.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/dqUtpCM.png)

I explore the vast keep but can find no sign of this new king. Atop the tower are two bedrooms, both home to small human chidren... Rimtil Minetwinkle and Irka Tinsabre. The small beardless boy-child is playing with a copper toy axe, and there is no fear in his eyes despite my rotten visage. I try to offer the child a trinket, some way of conveying my peaceful intent, but he is wary and backs away. Perhaps he is not as stupid as he seems. At the very peak of the spire is what can only be the lords chambers, and curiously, a lever... I cannot resist pulling it.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/8PGZpQB.png)

I travel further into the castle finding barracks and a great mausoleum. Artifacts amd treasures are kept in a chamber to the south, and there are pedestals with superbly ornate ceremonial silver armour. Behind two fallen bridges is the castle's most feared treasure... a book, entitled The Wizard's Guide to Doom, and atop a pedestal in its own oubliette... The slab Vopeismig, Stabbedwring!

These people seem to fear undeath but it appears they respect it too. They have kept these artifacts hidden away but have not destroyed them unlike the careless humans of old. I leave the slab here for now.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/azjuDnG.png)

A lever within the oubliette closes the bridges once more. Leaving this place untouched, I place Clearingheavens on an empty pedestal; an ancient artifact and symbol of the Realm of Silver returned to them. I hope this warmongering human remembers this deed when there are no ghouls left to slay, and his gaze wanders to the lands of the dwarves. As I retrace my steps I bump into a human scholar necromancer, Othsin Torchmirror. Perhaps this fearful king has not been so clever at hiding his forbidden knowledge, if the scholars of this place may read the books of secrets?

Sadly, I do not have to travel far to find proof of their fear and prejudice. A jail, and several of my dwarven kin in shackles. Their only crime to be scholars of the secrets of life and death. I count six in all. There is a guard outside, a recruit Onlil Bustlancer. I will not be able to free my brethren without a battle, and risk a war between The Walled Dye and the Realm. Gritting my teeth I depart for now.

As I head for the gatekeep, who should I bump into, but Jas Gloryage himself! I try to impress on him the value of mastering knowledge and power, rather than fearing it. He seems initially unconvinced but in awe of my argument. I warn him not to destroy the divine gift he has been given, or he will face the wrath of the Blind Sadist. It would be a shame if anything happened to the Heir of Silver.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/dhwPRx6.png)

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: TheFlame52 on October 03, 2022, 05:39:49 pm

Sounding good so far!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Eric Blank on October 05, 2022, 04:15:02 am

Im intrigued to know more!

Things are progressing smoothishly currently for me.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Unraveller on October 05, 2022, 09:52:50 am

Now I definitely have to get my last part out soon so I can rectify those claims of warmongering! Haha. Though. . . I cannot guarantee the next Lawgiver of Omon Obin will be so chivalrous.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Eric Blank on October 06, 2022, 03:27:48 pm

Alright, i think im done here

https://dffd.bay12games.com/file.php?id=16112

I tested the fort to make sure it could be unretired and entered in adventure mode, and it can.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on October 07, 2022, 08:50:04 am

Look forward to your writeup, good luck Tomnot

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on October 07, 2022, 02:12:54 pm

Quote from: Eric Blank on October 06, 2022, 03:27:48 pm

Alright, i think im done here

https://dffd.bay12games.com/file.php?id=16112

I tested the fort to make sure it could be unretired and entered in adventure mode, and it can.

Looking through Legends Viewer, it looks like Balancehammer received a familiar guest. Sorry.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Eric Blank on October 07, 2022, 09:58:43 pm

He only ate one fisherdwarf and I locked him in a cage for like five years, then released him into his own little library and made him write books for another three years, so its okay.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on October 11, 2022, 09:20:39 am

Has Tonnot98 started their turn?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on October 11, 2022, 09:31:05 am

Not sure, doesn't seem to have been active on the forum since september

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on October 11, 2022, 01:13:40 pm

Quote from: Eric Blank on October 07, 2022, 09:58:43 pm

He only ate one fisherdwarf and I locked him in a cage for like five years, then released him into his own little library and made him write books for another three years, so its okay.

That's a different mercy than me, I was just going to seal him in the caves on the third level until I retired the fort. But at least I merely chained him, I didn't cage him.

---

In related news:
Moldath: I shall spend months/years searching for a way to remove myself from this "promise" that has bound me to Eskôn. After all this time, I have found the solution: I will allow my body to be killed and returned to life. A necessary sacrifice I have undertaken only once before in this world, for my body may die only when I alone allow it! Mwahaha!
Also Moldath: Now that I am free, I will go to another fort. Surely I will not be bound to that fort's group as I was bound to Eskôn's!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on October 11, 2022, 02:25:42 pm

Quote from: Lurker Z on October 11, 2022, 01:13:40 pm

In related news:
Moldath: I shall spend months/years searching for a way to remove myself from this "promise" that has bound me to Eskôn. After all this time, I have found the solution: I will allow my body to be killed and returned to life. A necessary sacrifice I have undertaken only once before in this world, for my body may die only when I alone allow it! Mwahaha!
Also Moldath: Now that I am free, I will go to another fort. Surely I will not be bound to that fort's group as I was bound to Eskôn's!

It is a bit annoying. He assumed another identity and migrated to the new fort. I suspect he fooled absolutely nobody, with his cloud of miasma and speeding around three times the speed of normal dwarves. Unfortunately, he lost all of his masterwork adamantine armour, his artifact weapon(s) and some cool crafted gear including demon leather trousers and backpack.

I unretired to find him deeply grouchy wearing tattered rags after his long incarceration. I also counted that the surgeons chopped flesh off him for 101 consecutive days. At least Eric got a legendary surgeon by practising on him...

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Imic on October 11, 2022, 02:28:29 pm

I need to catch up with this, it's been so long... How is the world now, centuries now after I retired Crownhalls and burned out on DF for like a year or three lol and left youse? Did the world ever truly recover from the post-apocalypse it had become in prehistory, or has it fallen to new depths? Wow, I am... very verbose today.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on October 11, 2022, 02:50:47 pm

Welcome to 140 years into the future. The world is somewhat in flux.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on October 11, 2022, 02:57:43 pm

Quote from: Imic on October 11, 2022, 02:28:29 pm

Crownhalls

God I love that fort. It features in my most recent turn, which I will get round to writing as soon as I can...

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on October 11, 2022, 03:01:16 pm

Some interesting Blind Sadist screenshots:

(https://i.imgur.com/tYADcFB.jpg)

Moldath thinks he fooled the Page of Tiredness...

(https://i.imgur.com/Gqnhndl.jpg)

Moldath loses his legendary artifact adamantine scimitar with >2000 notable kills...

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/WiUM17D.png)

(HUGE IMAGE)

Moldath is tortured for months on end, having every part of his body repeatedly flayed, then thrown in a cage for five years.

(https://i.imgur.com/talLGSM.png)

Moldath is so good at deception that he can change his  body shape based on his assumed identity. He is pretty grouchy all things considered.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: TheFlame52 on October 11, 2022, 03:02:58 pm

Quote from: kesperan on October 11, 2022, 03:01:16 pm

He is pretty grouchy all things considered.

Understatement of the century

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on October 11, 2022, 03:35:33 pm

Is he even him or just the rot gained sapience?

Moldath is a true powerhouse of horror and strength rollled into one. Not to mention all the powers he has aqquired.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Maloy on October 11, 2022, 05:38:51 pm

NOOOOO

I can't even imagine the pain you're feeling having lost all that stuff!! WOW


I guess if we got items we wanna keep we should put them on a pedestal or something so they don't get deleted?
I'm grieving with you I couldn't imagine losing the Ear of Power

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on October 11, 2022, 05:45:06 pm

Quote from: Maloy on October 11, 2022, 05:38:51 pm

NOOOOO

I can't even imagine the pain you're feeling having lost all that stuff!! WOW


I guess if we got items we wanna keep we should put them on a pedestal or something so they don't get deleted?
I'm grieving with you I couldn't imagine losing the Ear of Power

I guess this is the problem when you become attached to your characters in a game as down right unpredictable as this!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on October 12, 2022, 09:17:00 am

Quote from: kesperan on October 11, 2022, 05:45:06 pm

Quote from: Maloy on October 11, 2022, 05:38:51 pm

NOOOOO

I can't even imagine the pain you're feeling having lost all that stuff!! WOW


I guess if we got items we wanna keep we should put them on a pedestal or something so they don't get deleted?
I'm grieving with you I couldn't imagine losing the Ear of Power

I guess this is the problem when you become attached to your characters in a game as down right unpredictable as this!

Yeah it sucks, had Avo the kobold stationed at some hamlet and he just dies in a random battle.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on October 12, 2022, 09:50:42 am

Quote from: kesperan on October 11, 2022, 03:01:16 pm

Some interesting Blind Sadist screenshots:

(https://i.imgur.com/tYADcFB.jpg)

Moldath thinks he fooled the Page of Tiredness...

(https://i.imgur.com/Gqnhndl.jpg)

Moldath loses his legendary artifact adamantine scimitar with >2000 notable kills...

How are you getting those views? Moldath is still borked on LV for me. Did LV get updated?

Quote from: AvolitionBrit on October 11, 2022, 03:35:33 pm

Is he even him or just the rot gained sapience?

Moldath is a true powerhouse of horror and strength rollled into one. Not to mention all the powers he has aqquired.

Truly, I am sorry for kesperan's losses, but the back and forth between kesperan and Moldath are entertaining. I think it's because Moldath is a vampires, because I haven't seen other necros going from fort to fort like him. Can this be confirmed?

Quote from: AvolitionBrit on October 12, 2022, 09:17:00 am

had Avo the kobold stationed at some hamlet and he just dies in a random battle.

I think that's a big mistake a lot of players do when retiring their adventurers. They retire them in places that could be attacked. The first adventurer to be killed in a battle waged by Adilatír was either Nethrez or Èrith (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Èrith Bomrekgósmer). Èrith died in the vault, so when she was brought to life and nobody took her out of there, she survived (and surprisingly wasn't killed by respawning angels like Iden (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Iden_Nazushlikot)) and just stayed there. Nethrez also made the mistake to retire in a goblin-claimed fort. From my experience, either Adilatír or Omon Obin settlements are the safest to retire, unless someone starts a serious war against Omon Obin in the future. Adilatír may still be vulnerable though, especially periphery holdings or holdings in enemy territory, as well as the danger of the creature coming to forts and dying to Fortress Mode shenanigans. Boltspumpkins seems to have been the safest so far, though Lurker Onecbehal survived well enough even as he was moved through Omon Obin holdings by the game itself. Adilatír is also dangerous because, besides each time someone visits Ilrallenod it triggers some mini-civil war between the religious leaders there,

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

I know for a fact there's at least one blighted creature there who survived Avolition's culling of 885.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on October 12, 2022, 10:26:04 am

The LV screens are from Eric Blank’s fort page, Moldath still breaks it. I don’t know if the LV thread is being maintained anymore but Avolition posted the big there.

The behaviour of taking a secret identity and migrating to forts is totally a vampire thing. It seems to be overridden if the vampire has a noble position in a fort which is why he didn’t do anything stupid when he was at Clearmasters.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on October 12, 2022, 10:35:17 am

Quote from: kesperan on October 12, 2022, 10:26:04 am

The LV screens are from Eric Blank’s fort page, Moldath still breaks it. I don’t know if the LV thread is being maintained anymore but Avolition posted the big there.

The behaviour of taking a secret identity and migrating to forts is totally a vampire thing. It seems to be overridden if the vampire has a noble position in a fort which is why he didn’t do anything stupid when he was at Clearmasters.

Yeah, it seems to be repeat behaviour. I suspect even with a noble position, he will move again when they discover he is ageless. But due to him moving around that is unlikely to occur. Might live long enough to become king of the walled dye again. But interesting to see what the blind sadist gets up to next.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on October 12, 2022, 12:29:17 pm

It’s been nearly a week since the save was uploaded and no sign of tonnot98 or Bralbaard.

Think it’s reasonable for the next person to take their turn?

That would be Avolition.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on October 12, 2022, 12:57:49 pm

Its been almost 6 days, Tomnot hasnt been on since Mid September or active since July. Will wait until its offically six days and if there are no objections pick up the save.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on October 12, 2022, 01:09:45 pm

Quote from: AvolitionBrit on October 12, 2022, 12:57:49 pm

Its been almost 6 days, Tomnot hasnt been on since Mid September or active since July. Will wait until its offically six days and if there are no objections pick up the save.

I've had no response from Tonnot, I agree we should continue.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on October 12, 2022, 01:45:32 pm

Save download. Time to get to work.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on October 18, 2022, 04:15:38 pm

Hey, Avolition, how's the turn going?

---

I've recently revisited this article (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Ngokang_Agsmôngdang), on a goblin Master of Malladang, just to finish the story and make the article complete. As I was transcribing the few glimpses from Legends Viewer, I discovered that this guy was a hidden chad. Only in hindsight can I notice that he corrupted this person and that for obscure reasons, the first time I just thought "skippable goblin plots, no big deal". I did notice at first that he started in a goblin civilization different than Malladang, but I figured there must have been *reasons* for him to ascend. Besides, he'd just been ran out of Odiuse by an undead incursion unrelated to Oddom a century after the decisive battle of Okgush Irka (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Okgush_Irka/345) after he'd been ran out of a town for being part of a dwarven religion, was writing poetry and was living in a fort. Then on Galena 22, 560 out of a sudden he coups Malladang. This is only the second ever coup I have ever found (and is likely to exist before year 700) in Orid Xem. Up until 700 he travels to the caverns and tames Voracious Cave Crawlers, Cave Crocodile, Giant Cave Toads and Giant Rats. Then, from 700 to 749, everything Malladang has done until (and during) his rule comes crashing down on him, at least 3 of the human civs try to destroy his stronghold in 12 battles which he personally leads and wins. Unscathed. He's finally killed in 780 by Nethrez (QD). But what a run did he have! The insane warrior poet whose idea of "ruling the world" started with couping the most hated civilization in Orid Xem after (or rivaling) Oddom's.

Somewhat related, is Moldath considered a coupist (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Category:Leaders_who_took_power_by_coup)? How did he even rule Adilatir without killing the ruler at the time? Is Kothvir? Is Avolition? Is Jas? Does killing the Kings/Queens until you get their throne count as a coup?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on October 18, 2022, 05:20:31 pm

The turn is well. Currently forting it up, trying out some different things with military that i havnt done much of. Additionally players with werebeast curses, learned that you can raid, had to turn off invaders as i didnt want to kill any characters but was super lucky Desli fell into a cage trap so they are currently being held prisoner. Additionally Moldath showed up twice, started the fort, he comes as a migrant wave, eats a dwarf and I expelled. I retire the fort and do another part of the adventure and then go to start the fort up and he is there again. Tried to get him in to a library and he refuses to cooperate and doesnt want to do anything. He has been sealed in a empty room for years. He is assigned engraving his new room and he refuses to do it. Just been laying there for years. Also need to post the first part of my story as i have that almost finished.

In regards to Coups, thats tricky i would say yes as Avolition took it by force even if he didnt want it.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on October 18, 2022, 06:02:44 pm

Surveyor Report - Site 23 - Entry 1 - 02/07/92

Site 23 as well as its predecessor were noted as a site of interest after the recent translation of an ancient Underdwarf scroll by the geologer scholars of our society. We believe with this we will find the site of the old worlds diamond mine. We know that diamonds exist due to the presence of certain fancy quires and carving knives made from the ellusive. The only raw sample is one blue diamond that was found hidden inside the scrolls left roller. Most of the scroll details the various geological findings of the dwarves it is amatuerist at best but this section stood out.

Ênor doren atöl, irol sital Allas Tarmid. Arak kathil. AREL UMID!
Blue diamond found, North West of The Sea of Blades. Shaft wet. WATERFALLS!

We took samples from the shore of The Merged Jungles.

Trace amounts of kimberlite present. Digging will commence shortly.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on October 19, 2022, 06:36:34 am

Surveyor Report - Site 23 - Entry 14 - 21/01/93

THOSE FOOLS!, how can they mistranslate something so obvious. The space was present between water and falls. He didn't mean waterfalls!. He meant water falls!, the shaft flooded, the presence of a nearby ocean and an aquifer have produced a deadly combination, by the time spring arrived. The ice thawed and released a torrent, we lost 7 good miners in the accident and how i have guild representatives demanding compensation. I know what they want and they aren't getting it. No matter how many thugs they send. I have hidden it somewhere they will never find it, you reading that, YOU WONT GET IT.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on October 19, 2022, 07:48:40 pm

Turn done, story soon. Good luck Bralbaard. Sign me back up please.

I submit to the museum - octagon cut black diamonds.

Save - https://dffd.bay12games.com/file.php?id=16128
Also side note. Who did this? As it plays a role in my story.

Spoiler: This (click to show/hide)

Someone cut the goblins guts and hands off. Put them on display and this poor blinded soul is still kicking. His hands and guts are on display. As Brunchsiege.
(https://i.imgur.com/sCtSSoM.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/JB8qi5D.jpg)

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on October 20, 2022, 12:24:32 pm

I don't have time to play this week. That makes it Unraveller's turn.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Unraveller on October 20, 2022, 12:26:20 pm

It's the same deal for me actually, just bump me down to bellow wherever you bump yourself. Should be good to go by then.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on October 20, 2022, 12:29:42 pm

I've bumped myself to the end of the list, so that might be a bit excessive. Just tell me how many places you want to be bumped.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Unraveller on October 20, 2022, 01:46:21 pm

Right between Lurker and Kesperan will work for me.

Actually should be ready sooner than anticipated. I could play after Noagga.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on October 20, 2022, 03:48:13 pm

Quote from: Lurker Z on October 18, 2022, 04:15:38 pm

Somewhat related, is Moldath considered a coupist (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Category:Leaders_who_took_power_by_coup)? How did he even rule Adilatir without killing the ruler at the time? Is Kothvir?

I will explain how Moldath became king, whenever I can get the time to write the last few chapters of my most recent turn. Kothvir didn't really want to be the law giver, and quickly renounced it.

Quote from: AvolitionBrit on October 18, 2022, 05:20:31 pm

Additionally Moldath showed up twice, started the fort, he comes as a migrant wave, eats a dwarf and I expelled.... He has been sealed in a empty room for years.

Poor Moldath is having a rough old time these days. Repeatedly flayed and imprisoned. Persecuted! I hope he stays in his locked cell this time. I am always concerned he is going to get himself killed with his constant misadventures...

Quote from: AvolitionBrit on October 19, 2022, 07:48:40 pm

Also side note. Who did this? As it plays a role in my story.
Someone cut the goblins guts and hands off. Put them on display and this poor blinded soul is still kicking. His hands and guts are on display. As Brunchsiege.

That would be me. Specifically, Kothvir Shadowstar the Black Raven. Blind handless goblins make superb training dummies.

I have had a look through legends viewer of the new save - looks like Avolition has done exactly what I wanted to do on my next turn - back to the drawing board I guess! Morul Kan now have a mountainhome, and the king has migrated there and had children - we have a functioning royal family for the previously extinct dwarven civilisation. There are now more Morul Kan dwarves than Walled Dye and Staff of Kissing combined... this game never ceases to amaze.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on October 20, 2022, 04:48:56 pm

I noticed Adilatír population falling vertiginously, I think the biggest problem is the capital Ilrallenod, which I don't see how we can change. We could do it to the other two civs because their capitals were ruins, but Ilrallenod is a major religious hub, among other things. The blighted thralls and attempted cullings are also major problems. I honestly don't see a solution except keep making void dwarves, fortress, babies, retiring, making new ones to fill them etc. etc. On the bright side, as I've noted and mentioned before, the game does give from time to time void dwarven historical figures, as it does even for elves or humans. But yes, in the long run, Adilatír's fall in population if nothing else is as surprising for me.

Quote from: kesperan on October 20, 2022, 03:48:13 pm

I am always concerned he is going to get himself killed with his constant misadventures...

NPC!Moldath's luck boggles my mind. One part of that luck is that he keeps running into forts of players who recognize him. Another part of luck is that wherever he goes, the place is not attacked like Bralbaard found his final death in Sethurdim Mestthos Oram (or so I suspect).

I can't believe I'm saying this, but he may have been safest as a Broker in Eskon. The only thing around Eskon was Omon Obin territory, and nobody was going to attack it soon (plus it's not at war with anyone). On the other hand, I'm glad he's out of my hair, if I ever reclaim I won't have to worry about an insane vampire eating my forced laborers precious historical figures. Well, until the migrant waves...

Since I'm posting, I have to ask: has anyone any leads on Lurker Onecbehal's corpse? At this point, I'm seriously considering making a reincarnated character - it's been a long time since then that a fresh start may be warranted - but I'd at least put his undead rear in a fort or something. I think Bomrek, the soldier of night, is having the time of his (un)life in Iroram. By the way, it hasn't been mentioned, but Moldath killed most of Bomrek's kin while Bomrek was (un)living the (un)life with the dwarves of Adilatír. Well, it was probably a release anyway. I think I'm giving up trying to restore Dalzatèzum, at least in my next turn.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Eric Blank on October 21, 2022, 03:20:20 am

To be fair, moldath got repeatedly flayed because all his flesh was rotten, to the point he was stinking up the halls just existing. He immediately went straight to the hospital and stayed there for months before the doctors finally discharged him. Really did get some surgeon experience there. Didn't help the miasma though.

In fact his urge to check himself in to the hospital is how I got him into a cage, not for the murder. I designated a cage trap as a hospital zone and he went and laid down in it and got caught. That counted as serving his sentence as well, coincidentally.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Imic on October 21, 2022, 07:24:28 am

I'm not gonna lie, I think one of the best possible moves at this point would be to reclaim Treatyseed. I suspect that until someone does that, it's gonna be a permanent drain on the Dwarven population, as well as all Dwarven Monarchs, Nobles, retired adventurers, etc. etc...

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on October 21, 2022, 08:57:02 am

The big problem is the religious buildings, I don't know if they were destroyed in the reclaiming (I think Bralbaard token-reclaimed it to get rid of the blighted thralls; I might be confusing or conflating things) or if their destruction even counts for religious people not coming to Ilrallenod anymore. As long as religious goblins or what have you come as religious figures, you'll always have a mini-civil war every time the site is activated by an adventurer. If I'm not mistaken, this is how Ledir (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Ledir Ñoriddim) died, by a mini-civil war activated by Arcturus, who actually respected the guy and didn't want him dead, so this isn't happening only in Adilatír.

The two ways I can see this being theoretically resolved is either someone makes a mountainhome where all the Kings and Queens move to from now on (Imic tried that and it didn't stick, but it worked for other civs for some reasons) or whoever reclaims Ilrallenod builds in such ways that creatures can't interact with each other, but that adventurers can traverse none-the-less. That's way beyond something I can even begin to image or design.

Edit: Even if we remove the need for adventurers to enter that theoretical fort, that's still mind-boggling to even imagine doing, considering I know there were bugs (they might have been fixed from the versions I was playing) where moved dwarves spawn inside undiscovered rock.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: TheFlame52 on October 21, 2022, 09:35:54 am

You can jump through fortifications, right? Those can be used to create adventurer-only pathways.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Unraveller on October 21, 2022, 10:16:25 am

In Realm of Silver news, Irka Tinsabre, heir of Jas Gloryage the Worshipful, Lawgiver of Omon Obin, is already now 32 years old. Jas' boy has become a man. A few years ago the young lord became Holy Eel of the Frothy Coven, leader of a cult who worships. . . Gopet the Putrid Cyst. God of death and disease.

Meanwhile Rimtil Minetwinkle, Jas and Detsis' daughter is now 30. And she has become the Holy Subtlety of The Fellowship of Light, praising Bikda god of Night, Moon, and Trees. Do we perhaps have an interesting sibling tragedy arc coming up next in Omon Obin??

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on October 21, 2022, 10:54:58 am

Certainly setting up some great division in the realm of silver. Looks like Jas' legacy could be toppled by his son. I wonder what the old timer thinks of it all. Will Jas adventure again?

If so will his son  usurp him during his travels? Wonder which religion in the realm of silver has the greatest hold within the people.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on October 21, 2022, 11:15:53 am

I think (and this is just my theory) that the one who follows to a position of power, is based on social skills. We see it in mayors in dwarf fortresses, there's no reason why this isn't code for everyone else ascending. Such as, say, these skills (taken from Kanil Xemisdi (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Kanil_Xemisdi), as I randomly had her tab open in LV):

Code: [Select]

Legendary Persuader
Legendary Flatterer
Legendary Intimidator
Legendary Liar
Legendary Consoler
Legendary Judge of intent
Legendary Pacifier
Legendary Negotiator
Legendary Writer
Proficient Schemer
Competent Dancer
So, look at who has the highest social and they may just have a better chance to rule.

Lurker Onecbehal will probably turn in his grave (if he is even buried anywhere) if Irka, another plague worshiper, gets the throne.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Unraveller on October 21, 2022, 11:41:08 am

On that note, I seem to remember seeing Lurker wandering around as a risen corpse at some point in Swordgleamed, but no idea what became of them from there.

---

Quote from: AvolitionBrit on October 21, 2022, 10:54:58 am

Certainly setting up some great division in the realm of silver. Looks like Jas' legacy could be toppled by his son. I wonder what the old timer thinks of it all. Will Jas adventure again?

If so will his son  usurp him during his travels? Wonder which religion in the realm of silver has the greatest hold within the people.

Being nearly in his eighters now, I have a feeling that Jas' glory days are behind him, a humble steward to the realm now especially that the Band of Wax' members have mostly passed on in old age. Honored they may be.

Of course, Galka yet remains, the cursed man that he is. Though injuries at present have left him incable of grasping and walking, perhaps at least he can guide the heirs to Omon Obin, to let the Realm falter into decay after all the blood, sweat, and tears they poured into it would be anathema. Perhaps I will run a duology of sorts between the two siblings.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on October 21, 2022, 12:25:41 pm

I'm away but when I'm back il dig through the save and see if I can find Lurker maybe my next turn Avolition revives him. I recall looking before but it was quite tricky.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on October 22, 2022, 11:28:49 am

"Moldath IV", Part II, Turn 91

The Chronicle of the Blind Sadist, Volume IV, Part II

28th Granite 899

Streammartyred, a wretched hive of scum and villainy, and a place I have visited before. It is famous for its bandits. Decades ago I slew scores of them, and handed control back to the local militia. The skeletons of that adventure still line the streets, among some fresher corpses.
When I arrive at the keep, it is clear that this place too has been cleansed by Jas Gloryage. Throngs of priests and an indignant lady remain loyal to the Realm of Silver, and boast of refugees fleeing from Arstruk Cruelgriffon, a goblin warlord slain by Gloryage.

1st Slate 899

A days travel south west from the bandit stronghold, among many densely packed hamlets, is Chucktrades. The smell of death on the air betrays the sign of recent ghoul activity. Two ghouls are tearing apart a goblin priest at the ransacked keep as I arrive at dusk. They are quickly put down. Many corpses litter the grounds outside. I find the corpse of Ezif Bluewave, who I recognise from many years ago. He was an adventurer, and necromancer, from whom I received a slab at the tower of Glazedriven. Gesturing with my hand I raise him as a Fell One, and he immediately runs off into the distance babbling about Twilightmolten, an artifact crossbow taken from him by the zealous Galka Kinddrummed and his Band of Wax.

2nd Slate 899

Continuing my journey to discover how the world has changed in my absence, I head further south. I arrive at the great city of Scarletbronze... epicentre of the infamous Weremammoth outbreak. I have not been here in many years, and not since the humans tried to retake this land. I have heard tales of the Band of Wax and their taking the trunks of weremammoths as grisly trophies. Despite scouring this place for several hours, I find only three weremammoth fell ones, all of whom are put to the sword. The keep has been taken over by an Abbot, who assures me things are under control. Curiously, outside the keep, site of many battles, I spot a horse corpse and raise it into undeath. Championtramples, a fine steed. A weatherworn frayed bridle hanging from the zombie horses mouth bears the inscription "Property of Rovod Clasharch" whoever that might be. This undying charger will bear me on my journey.

Leaving the city, I soon find myseld in the castle of Sensestopped. I am surprised to find a huge troll Captain, Borik, who rules this place. He is  mute and eyes me suspiciously. He is hoarding artifacts crafted by the adventurer Donas Silenttowers. This human was of Omon Obin, and famous for being the first in many centuries to brave Keyconjure where he is rumoured to have slain the last dragon of Orid Xem and plundered many treasures of the long-dead Morul Kan. I slaughter the foul troll beast where he stands.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/xZGE7Ed.png)

3rd Slate 899

I continue south for many hours, as the sun settles low in the west, and find myself at the entrance of a cave, The Deferent Abyss.
Deep in the quiet heart of the cave, I find the corpses of several humans who have died of old age in the deeps here, and strangely the mangled skeleton of Bekdil Wavetwist. This name is familiar somehow. I am ambushed by a huge blind cave bear. Its hide will make a nice cloak or backpack.
There is no great treasure here. I have no idea why humans scrabble in the dim caverns beneath the world - they are clearly unsuited to the life of the deepfolk. It does things to their minds, as Bekdil Wavetwist will attest.

4th Slate 899

In Stabbedechoed, we are attacked by magical beings of rock and flame - magma crabs! Why these strange things stalk the surface world I will never know. The zombie horse has its flesh burned off by a blast of magma, and then runs, flaming, after a terrified human merchant.
When it finally trots back to me, it is caked in the blood of several creatures.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/69Sr3VJ.png)

We press on, finding a bandit castle brimming with human soldiers. I vanish from sight, and their screams fill the air as Godenrigoth is sated.

5th Slate 899

Strifefularmor appears on the horizon at dawn. The place is eerily silent, and the full moon is high in the cloudless sky. Just northeast of the keep outside the city walls lies the inn The Lines of Silver, from where I hear the unnatural howl of a werebeast! Could this be a mammoth escaped from Scarletbronze? Entering the inn I find myseld standing before Strodno Mirroredlies the Mahogany - a goblin chieftess pikemaster, twisted into the shape of an enormous moose monster. Its eyes glow scarlet! The great moose bellows and lunges at me, as I deftly hack its hand off with Godenrigoth. I laugh, relishing a real combat challenge. Strapping the sword to my back I start punching and kicking the enormous brute and eventually smash its skull into oblivion. I stow its huge corpse in my pack.

The monastery just to the east turns out to be the hideout of a troll bandit captain. I retrieve a spectacular clear diamond slicing knife from his corpse - it is masterfully crafted and encrusted with gold cabachons. I bestow upon it the name Starblade the Fatal Whisper.

I travekl along the road eastwards towards mighty Partnerdaub, another city I visited long ago. The undead horse is increasingly making the locals nervous. One archer looks nervous as a copper bolt strikes the horse in the liver. I decide to tie the beast up outside town.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/caAfI8Q.png)

I meet Baron Cemir Fountaindesk, who has aged considerably since last I visited this place. He tells me of bone chilling horror in the fort of Sculptedshovel, a short journey to the east. Outisde the city walls are sprawling shops and humans going about their business. I spot a goblin warlord casually talking to a human axeman... the fool, fraternising with the enemy! I have no choice but to stun the naive human and jam my diamond dagger into the foul goblins skull.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/hmQkZTv.png)

In the temple to the northwest of the city is a curious sight - a troll who claims to be a priest. Keth Slidbristles. I dont abide by his insolence.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/X03H579.png)

6th Slate 899

I visit the fort of Sculptedshovel, and find only corpses. I ressurect and inspect them, seeing they were slain by a being known as a Lonelythrall many years ago... regardless, there is no chilling horror here and I press on.

Far to the south is a familiar place - The Tower of Silence. The first dwarven fort on this world that I visited, over 90 years ago. I am attacked by a crazed hammerer, and have to choke him unconscious to avoid bloodshed. I may be sadistic but I draw the line at killing innocent fellow dwarves. What has happened here since last I visited? At the fort entrance there are many great statues of Dwarves, by a band known as Wavetwist... Wavetwist? Bekdil Wavetwist? Surely not a coincidence. I great the captain of the guard and he rushes off in fear... why do the dwarves here fear me? Is it because I tried to slay a werebeast here decades ago?

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/9eoWCEu.png)

Inside I find some well appointed rooms and workshops, just as I remember. I tan some blind cave bear hides and make some garments, and find some masterwork gold bookbinings for the quires I made for Kodor.

Heading downwards into the great library I hear an odd sloshing sound... the forgotten beast Cetha has come! An enormous humanoid comnposed of water, with a bizarre spiral shell. It lurches towards me, and I punch it in the gut. It immediately explodes in a shower of fetid water. Disgusting. Still, I can't help but drink the watery corpse of the ancient beast, perhaps consuming some of its ancient essence.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/WZlVE4Z.png)

Atop the great tower is a strange sight. An ancient pitted bronze sword and a pile of objects crafted of human remains. This blade has the blood of Bekdil Wavetwist smeared upon it, slain by Galka Kinddrummed! There is an amulet formed from a lock of hair... the hair of Bekdil Wavetwist? Whatever tragedy ocurred between Galka and Bekdil obviously tore a great wound in his heart. This fort was important to him, and bore her name. It is where I first met the amiable crippled human all those years ago, now the chamberlain of the Realm of Silver, and a guiding hand of the bloodthirsty zealout Gloryage. At the summit I place Bekdil's corpse which I retrived from that dingy cave, and the sword... Galka's shame. The locket... perhaps I will keep, and return it to Galka should our paths cross again.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/C8KQ791.png)

I head southwest, to Deepvaulted. The place is still abandoned and overrun with wildlife. I descend the central staircase, engulfed in smoke. I am amused to find the flaming cat corpse still burns here, 92 years later. I continue my journey, heading northwest.

8th Slate 899

Falsetower is a haven of necromancy and depravity, a favoured haunt of the evil scorpion. Risen corpses stalk the land, and many hoarded books are scattered. I count several dwarf necromancer scholars, and encounter one human necromancer hollow stalker - I decide to put him out of his misery. As my dagger cleaves his skull, he gestures, and the corpse of the goblin pikemaster weremoose in my pack scrambles to life, and runs off at pace! I try to find the damned creature to no avail! He must have run off. I put down some shambling troglodytes, and in the catacombs and caves beneath the fortress I find some familiar treasures - weapons thieved by the scorpion, including Empirebolted the immaculate adamantine spear from Ashcinders.

10th Slate 899

To the mountains of the west, is an ancient fort. Keyconjure - seat of Morul Kan until it was destroyed by a terrible dragon eight centuries ago. I find some Adilatir dwarves here who are uninterested in talk. Mercenaries come to pick clean the treasure not already looted by Donas? I scour the twisting corridors until I find the ancient remains of the dragon. It looks to have been plundered by many adventurers int he past, but its great skull and many bones remain.

A short distance north, in Ashcinders, I forge the dragons skull into a crown, and encrust it with adamantine from the vampire I slew in the Realm of Silver. It is breathtakingly beautiful. I spend a day in the forges detailing my equipment with steel and electrum, and marvelling at the unique dragon crown. The only one in existence, since dragons are now extinct.

11th Slate 899

I travel north for many hours, seeing nary a soul, until suddenly I come across a great bird composed of feathers... a roc? The shadow of a roc at any rate. A short distance away is a human lord, his body a mess of scars. I recognise the axe he wields as my own!
I trade this thief many gems and trinkets but he refuses to return my axe. Sadly, I must take it from him by force.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/Rhehklk.png)

13th Slate 899

I travel north for two days, across the tundra to the goblin citadel of Stealmountain. I slay every goblin I can find, and descend the tower into hell. There are fresh demons to slay, of types I have not seen before.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/E7PjMG0.png)

Black Fiend - a hideous gigantic scaly fire-breathing opossum.
Specter of Soot - a great tarantula with wings of ash, beware its poisonous bite.
Elephant Fiend - enormous black-haired creatures with elephantine heads. Its mouth froths with deadly spittle.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/Pa2wDlq.png)

Leech Fiend - a great hairy leech with deadly blood. Its cardinal hair is long and straight.
Hummingbird Demon - a towering eyeless hummingbird, crowned with three spiral horns. Its lemon feathers are long and narrow. Beware its noxious secretions!
Weasel demon - a deformed beast with the head of a weasel, spraying thick gouts of webbing. Nasty.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/myGvGBr.png)

A lucky black fiend unbalances me, and I am caught in a burst of unnatural flame. The hellscape billows with smoke as the flesh is melted away from my right lower leg.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/XK1gtpz.png)

By my count, I slay three score demons in the hot ashes of hell before I run out of fiends to fight. I begin my ascent back through the slade spire under Stealmountain, my pack bulging with demon hides. A few straggling goblins are cut down as I head north out of the Dark Fortress.

15th Slate 899

I travel north, heading in the rough direction of Spicetrails - Kodor was right; if that nasty human had stolen my axe, Ala knows what else they might have plundered. I arrive in the town of Growlsuppers, and in the keep I find what is becoming thankfully a rare sight - a blighted thrall goblin Lord flanked by a heavily scarred slavering human Head Doctor of The Creamy Confederacy, Jasmuk Shakenlisten. All hell breaks loose, and I am left with no choice but to slaugter them all and let Ala sort them out. A goblin with an unnatural vigor, Tamed Bluntstill leaps at me. Vampire blood stains Godenrigoth, and the thralls are put down.

In the nearby village, I bump into an enormous muscular moose-man Lord necromancer, and his knife collection. He has two great swords caked in goblin gore. I sense a kindred spirit! He is Jamas Twistedscar the God-forsaken, and he apparently does not like goblins. A sentiment that I heartily share.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/0sFeaTI.png)

In Lawtaker, I find the old wily scorpion. I give him his hand that I stole from the elf chieftess decades ago. I never did find out how she came to have it. I also give him a copper hammer that he used to kill many goblins. We may not see eye to eye, but I respect him as a fellow warrior, and I am forbidden from harming him by the Code of the Museum.

18th Slate 899

I arrive at Secrethome, a new Dwarven fort. Sadly I find it unfinished and deserted. No trace remains of the dwarves who called this place home. I turn westwards, and head towards Treatyseed.

24th Slate 899

The long journey is uneventful. Treatyseed, capital of Adilatir, and home to many ghoul incursions. I find one blighted thrall wrestler lurking outside and quickly put him down before things get out of hand. Curiously, to the southwest of the fortress are two metal pikes, with skeletal remains skewered on them. One contains the remains of Midas Squarewheel, previously Baron of the Walled Dye and the human responsible for the horrible gremlin infestation. Someone has taken a dislike to him... I see scorpion claw marks on his bones. That evil scorpion has been here, killing the nobility. A coup! The second bronze pike has the sun bleached remains of Rovod Inkarrows, another Baroness slaughtered by the scorpion.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/6ZIjBEP.png)

Inside the fortress, skeletal remains and corpses are strewn everywhere. I try to tidy things up a bit. Of the current monarch, there is no sign. I am told of a coup some years back, and that the usurper queen is a necromancer who has taken to ruling from Ancientknowledge! That cursed place! I must right this wrong. I continue my journey, stumbling into an abandoned camp. The boss, a refugee called Dodok Showeredfortress says this place was to be known as Urnways, but it was abandoned quickly.

South west is a place I have visited before - Ironwards. The scorched plain, river of lava and scores of mangled goblin and human corpses tell me I have arrived at this once war-like citadel. I pile the corpses of the dead of Treatyseed on the lava moat bridge and consign them to the blood of the earth.

28th Slate 899

Confusedship is an abandoned dwarf fortress, though curiously has trenches outside its main gates. Could there be goblins here? Wandering at the trade depot are two blighted thrall goblins - a chamberlain and chief executioner? Exiles from some goblin civilisation? I find three goblin thralls in all, and the fort is otherwise in ruin.

1st Felsite 899

I travel north, into the territory of the High Confederacies. The villages here are densely packed, and I do encounter a handful of thralls. Despite the efforts of the humans to clear this menace, it is suprisingly hard to route out all of the ghouls.
In Embracedvices I arrive am just in time to slay the Sacred Gold blighted thrall who is attempting to murder a hammerman. As his head leaves his shoulders, the hammerman becomes the new Sacred Gold, and I notice that the ghoul has torn her tongue from her head...

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/qApzSLJ.png)

I continue north and arrive at the ancient city of Divedact. Inside the sprawling tower is a curious sight - a necromancer corpse on a pedestal flanked by artifacts and weapons. Artha Peacefulsong is raised into unlife as a Fell One, and gathers her belongings.

In Metalspread I meet a familiar face - the Witch Hunter Kothvir Shadowstar. I remember him bringing me the slab Stabbedwring many years ago. He tells me the lands of the High Confederacies are much safer now that the ghouls have been more or less purged. I continue northwards, and in Padcalls, I find a crippled lord, Juvar Scarsong, but little else of note.

3rd Felsite 899

The only inhabitant of the village of Wreathcrafts is a bobcat, called Aweme Glendye. It sleeps in the keep alone, pining for a lost master. It does not wish to accompany me. Its owner is seemingly an elf, going by the convention of his name, and no elves are found nearby. I leave the depressed cat to his solitary life.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/IfEXzqF.png)

In Incensorder, a famous town with a storied history, I find a motley crew of elves, humans, a goblin and a kobold. One of the elves introduces herself as the Baroness of Confusedship, Miaralei Shakenfurs. I wonder if she has mislaid a bobcat... In the tower is a wolf man lord, Maly Craftsoars, who's fur has greyed since last I met him in Boltspumpkin. He shares this tower with Jasmuk Styletrail, Holy Gleam of the Fatal Cult - an old religion of Sut the Tomb of Quests, seeing a resurgence thanks to the actions of Kothvir Shadowstar. Trophies adorn the back of the wall, in remembrance of the charcoal brute Pis Meadowshaft and the first death of King Bralbaard, nearly two centuries ago. Maloy is still worried about the High Confederacies taking Incenseorder back from the Impervious Wall but I remind him that Dubmith Appearedtrail died a hundred years ago.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/FJqvXVi.png)

4th Felsite 899

The fort of Shipwheeled stands as a sentinel in the Jungle of Harvesters of the far north west of Orid Xem, and it is infested with blighted thralls. A half dozen are cut down. Travelling through the night I stumble upon a creature of the night feasting on a dismembered wolverine. I bite him in the lower body and tear out his spine.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/pHqs5nv.png)

5th Felsite 899

At the edge of the water to the east, I encounter a strange bird creature - an albatross man recruit. He flies away in fear as I approach. With a flick of my wrist he is paralysed and falls from the sky with a sickening crunch. I swim east towards a familiar island... where Ancientlibrary, place of my torture and incarceration lies. The island is thickly forested. As I approach the entrance I am greeted by a scholar necromancer. Inside the fort swarms with barons, consorts and counts. Necromancer scholars seem to outnumber even them. This is the seat of the evil scorpion's power! Strangely the Queen is more interested in her library and her ancient books than ruling the Walled Dye. This is not her capital, that remains Treatyseed. But why does she linger here? The barons eye me suspiciously, and I make my retreat.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/VZXUk99.png)

I will finally head towards Northmanor as Kodor beseeched me. Travelling east I find myself once more in the lands of Mong Uthros, birthplace of Ala. This place is like a second home to me after I found my faith, and is largely free of the taint of thralldom. I encounter a bandit castle, and several night creatures stalk the land under the pale moon. All are slaughtered.

9th Felsite 899

In the abandoned monastery of Luckygriffons, I find something I thought had been lost. The slab, Frothbone. Ala's bony visage smiles upon me.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/VpMlAAv.png)

I will return this to Releaseteachers, to the new Holy Raunch. The last owner, Lubbe Cleardrank was murdered by the power-mad scorpion. Finally, Uklasut is back in the hands of the Coven of Frothing.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/exO0VYt.png)

I travel east, visiting many small hamlets. The refugee camps around Atticmuffins have not lessened any since last I walked these lands.

In the village of Breadpalm, I meet a strange elf, who claims to be a prophet of Ala. He argues the poor value of knowledge, strange for a prophet, and something which I cannot agree with. He tells me there is a nomadic group of goblin bandits and elves to the east in a town called Pleatedhorse lead by a former apprentice of his and who claim to worship Ala as he does. I will cleanse these heretics.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/aaFjHSB.png)

As I arrive at the town, all hell breaks loose. The goblins and elves start attacking each other. There are mercenaries, priests, monster hunters, and criminals all tangled together. They all claim to be members of The Communion of Parity, worshippers of Ala. Time slows down as scores of goblins and elves slaughter each other. Grinning, I pull out a spear and hammer and join them, revelling in the sadistic slaughter. Ala will be pleased! Eventually, I am ground to a halt as all the bandits try to leave through the same tiny door. I cut my losses and head towards Northmanor.

13th Felsite 899

Arriving finally at Northmanor I see a tower reaching skywards from a moat of magma, and many tame warbears prowl the base of the spire. I meet the fabled King of the Page of Tiredness, Atir Lobsterseals. He who returned from the mists of time to rally the dwarves! I gift him the crown forged from the bones of the dragon that slaughtered his kin many centuries ago. Upon it is bestowed the name Dragonbane the Crown of Dreams. I give him also an artifact iron mace, Tarnishclenches, a relic of ancient Keyconjures. This mace was left by an unknown interloper in Spicetrails. The King tells me of a new fort on an island to the north, a new home for his kin come out from centuries in hiding. I will explore this place.

I pause in the library to speak to the necromancer Kodor warned me of. I listen to his tale. I laugh at his strange theory and point out how wrong he is. It is not Shedimostar that eludes me, as the power to raise Dark Ones has long lived in me. The secret that I seek is that of Cog Wildneswork. Ironically, I struck down Cog's risen headless corpse many decades ago and with him any chance of unlocking the 12th Secret. The necromancer composes himself, and ensures me the Cult of Dishmab will not rest until the 12th Secret is uncovered. I suggest to the scholar that they might focus their efforts in the lands between Glazedriven and Palacework, where the dwarf Shieldtempests fell.

Taking my leave, I climb up the tower like Kodor asked. He said there was a gift for me, one of the few remaining monsters in this world, and a place for me to live, and keep my treasures. Above the library and tavern I find a huge steel cage behind a steel grate. Within is an enormous rotting two headed ettin, its skin putrid. This is Zoku Knightedsheen the Sensual Silk-Call, menace of The Walled Dye, who slew many at Falsetower. Who ended a forgotten beast in Northmanor. Who was responsible for striking down Bralbaard Hammerfishes the Yawning, Dark One King of the Dwarves.
He is no match for the Blind Sadist.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/1iTvtMA.png)

I pull the first lever and the beast is unleashed from his cage, and with the pulling of the second, the steel bars groan and the huge beast lumbers towards me. Zoku points a rotten finger at me and immediately I am thrown off my feet by his death magic. Saved by my dwarven armour, I leap at him with Godenrigoth, bisecting him in a single strike. I harvest his twin skulls and throw his putrid corpse into the magma.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/wdz1dEI.png)

I find the quarters the Cult of Ramparts have made for me and lay out my treasure. I tan the demon skins from hell and make an elephant fiend leather backpack. Finally, I pack the twin skulls of the undead ettin and the iron breastplate he used to kill many dwarves.

14th Felsite 899

Mounting a great war grizzly, I head north east, to the coast. Swimming for many hours, we reach the Island of Animals where I slew some gremlins many years ago. We encounter a giant hamster, and the grizzly bear takes a swipe to its leg. It recoils in terror. Even after the hamster is dead, the bear cowers on the ground in fear and refuses to move. I move on without her and am ambushed by some black bear men tribespeople. They are naked and unarmed, and are quickly dealt with.

As I head north to the coast of the island, I encounter a group of Dingo Men, lead by a muscular dingo man Lord. How strange. He seems to have no name, but he recognises the evil scorpion as his law-giver. Somehow, I think the scorpion has his pincers in this.. mobilising an army of dingo men?

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/68loFiF.png)

Swimming for most of a day, I arrive at The Romantic Island. The southern mass is dominated by a huge and sprawling fort, with clearcutting of the forest. This must be Crystalworship the Temple of Vultures. No wonder we had not heard of Morul Kan for so long, their outpost being on such a distant island, shrouded in mist. I find yet more evidence of the scorpions work. A snail man "lord" hefting an iron pick, and corpses of giant wildlife smeared in bark scorpion venom.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/qd0EuLs.png)

Entering the fort itself is challenging. It covers such a vast area that finding the entrance is gruelling, time slowing down to a standstill.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/lKAZVUs.png)

Eventually I find a modest tower and a small underground entranceway, leading to a massive engraved hall with generous bedrooms. I see conclusive evidence that the scorpion has been here - a detailed wall showing the Axe of Shade, an image of Nightmares. This is the symbol of Morul Kan... the Page of Tiredness has sleep imagery in their emblem it seems.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/5pY9Zx2.png)

I scour the fort but find no great beasts to slay. Why is the scorpion interested in this place, and why is he mobilising an army of animal bannerlords? This is deeply troubling. This and the false necromancer queen sequestered in her Ancientlibrary. I will put a stop to this.

17th Felsite 899

I complete the long swim back to the mainland, having fully explored the Romantic Island. I know what I must do - I must put a stop the false usurper Queen. I must head back to Ancientlibrary.

20th Felsite 899

On the northern end of the Island of Moistening, I encounter a small camp, with a goblin axeman and a single dwarf. I drain the goblin of blood, and inspect the dwarf, a manager. He is heavily wounded, with large parts of his body rotting. I suspect he has been in a fight with a magic wielder.
When I wake the dwarf, he treats me as an enemy despite me clearly rescuing him from this goblin! Out of nowhere the cowardly bear I left behind on the Island of Animals returns, and starts attacking the dwarf... I manage to pull the bear from the dwarf, but not before he has sustained grave injuries. This is Libash Tomekindles, and I recognise him as a manager from Free the Eggs. I cannot fathom why he is way out here on the Island of Moistening and consorting with goblins!

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/aoc4KHP.png)

7th Hematite 899

Three weeks have passed since I returned to Ancientlibrary. I have spent the time reading the books of this place, and ingratiating myself with the queen. I implore her to denounce the scorpions plots, and stay here in her library with her books. The dwarves of Adilatir deserve better.
One morning, she looks me straight in the eye and asks me if I would be king. Me! The Blind Sadist. Naturally, I accept.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/Vyq8Uia.png)

I leave this place to the scholars and sniveling barons, hopefully never to return. I will head back to Boltspumpkin and to the Museum, one last time. I gather some favoured nickel silver bars and some precious fire opals... I have a plan. It is not long before I arrive at Relicward. This long abandoned fortress is becoming over-run by wildlife. Giant squirrels prance away skittishly when I approach. Swimming under the moat, I am attacked by an alligator. It gets a nickel silver bar in its brain for its trouble.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/EpAKze0.png)

Within the grand abandoned forgehalls of Relicward I craft a nickel silver crown of exceptional quality... my favoured metal. I encrust upon it some fine emerald cut fire opals. This will be my kingly crown. Anilvir Adilatir - Glorystar the Walled Dye.

10th Hematite 899

The journey south is uneventful and I arrive at the familiar castle of Boltspumpkin after a few days travel. I submit to the Museum the iron breastplate of the Ettin Zoku and the foul beast's two skulls. The last of his kind, and responsible for one of the many deaths of Bralbaard Hammerfishes, Dark One king of Adilatir.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/4PKncXh.png)

As the moon shines in the sky I leave headed north again for Crownhall, that great royal palace from where I shall spend the rest of my days as King. The great fort is strangely quiet. I slaughter a few goblin treasure hunters, and ressurect the defenders as I find them. Curiously I find a dwarf werebeast militia commander, who protests his innocence as he is slain.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/no57Upp.png)

Finally, I sit upon my new throne and place upon my brow Glorystar the Walled Dye. The Blind Sadist sits quietly on the dwarven throne. Is this the last the world will see of Moldath Mournsaints the Ardent?

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/k0WKFzE.png)

---

Museum Submission:

51. The twin heads of the ettin Zoku Knightedsheen the Sensual Silk-Call: the last of the ettins, slain in 712 by Thon Scarone and raised as a putrid ghoul in 797, terror of many dwarven forts. Fell for the final time to the mighty Godenrigoth, by the hand of Moldath Mournsaints.
The Hateful Two-head of Menace, an iron breastplate: It is dented and caked in filth, but the blueberry bush symbol of the Walled Dye is still visible. This iron breastplate was torn from a valiant defender of the deepfolk, and used by the ettin Zoku Knightedsheen to slay five dwarves in his rampage on Falsetower.

Forts Visited (forts visited a 2nd time not listed):

Secrethome
Crystalworship the Temple of Vultures
Urnways

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on October 22, 2022, 01:28:04 pm

Quote from: kesperan on October 22, 2022, 11:28:49 am

The Chronicle of the Blind Sadist, Volume IV, Part II

Three weeks have passed since I returned to Ancientlibrary. I have spent the time reading the books of this place, and ingratiating myself with the queen. I implore her to denounce the scorpions plots, and stay here in her library with her books. The dwarves of Adilatir deserve better.
One morning, she looks me straight in the eye and asks me if I would be king. Me! The Blind Sadist. Naturally I accept.

(https://i.imgur.com/Vyq8Uia.png)

That's a hell of a story, but this... wow! I didn't know this could even happen in Dwarf Fortress! Maybe if you stayed in that place, the Kingship would have stuck? Also, was Ancientlibrary the capital for a while since you found the Queen there?

I remember that for a while with the blighted thrall massacres, some NPCs refused to move to Ilrallenod even as they ascended to nobles.

Also how are you keeping him in one piece? Did the resurrection cure whatever plague kept eating his body?

On another note, is he getting more sane, or is it just that he's very eloquent at presenting his ideas, but when you look at his actions, he's revealed for the mad sadist that he is?

By the way, the Rovod you found is Rovod Likotfeb (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Rovod_Likotfeb), Iroram's first Expedition Leader. I've been wondering what Avolition's beef with her was, since it doesn't show her as being infected. Maybe I'll try to get her to a necromancer and bring her back to life to eternally rule Iroram or something.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: TheFlame52 on October 22, 2022, 04:24:11 pm

Rumrusher is the one who found the method of stealing leadership positions from NPCs. I was gonna do that with my goblin demon adventurer, steal the master position, but... I just got hit with so many bugs that I gave up.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on October 22, 2022, 04:28:14 pm

Quote from: Lurker Z on October 22, 2022, 01:28:04 pm

Also how are you keeping him in one piece? Did the resurrection cure whatever plague kept eating his body?

There always seemed to be a bit of a disconnect between Moldath in fort mode and adventure mode. When I took over him after he was ressurected as a Hollow Hunter, he did not seem to be "mangled" as he was, but the rot still courses through him, as he then endured 101 days of being flayed by the surgeons of Balancehammer. He also survived being burnt in demonfire. His body alternates from being "incredibly skinny" in some incarnations to being "tall and muscular" in others. He does seem a bit.. broken?

Quote from: Lurker Z on October 22, 2022, 01:28:04 pm

On another note, is he getting more sane, or is it just that he's very eloquent at presenting his ideas, but when you look at his actions, he's revealed for the mad sadist that he is?

I don't claim to be a writer of any skill but I'd like to think that his internal logic has evolved organically based on the things he has experienced. He has always been an "unreliable narrator", seeing things through the lens of his own insecurities, or at least that is what I have tried to portray.

Quote from: Lurker Z on October 22, 2022, 01:28:04 pm

By the way, the Rovod you found is Rovod Likotfeb (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Rovod_Likotfeb), Iroram's first Expedition Leader. I've been wondering what Avolition's beef with her was, since it doesn't show her as being infected. Maybe I'll try to get her to a necromancer and bring her back to life to eternally rule Iroram or something.

Not sure why the evil scorpion decided to slaughter the nobility of Treatyseed. He is very evil though.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on October 22, 2022, 04:32:16 pm

Quote from: TheFlame52 on October 22, 2022, 04:24:11 pm

Rumrusher is the one who found the method of stealing leadership positions from NPCs. I was gonna do that with my goblin demon adventurer, steal the master position, but... I just got hit with so many bugs that I gave up.

I asked Unraveller how to do it... he has done such magical things with Silverthrone and Jas Gloryage. I found an alternative way on the forums, though I don't remember who exactly from. Unravellers way is a lot more complicated, and beyond my knowledge of data editing to accomplish without accidentally breaking the game!

I figured if Moldath was the undying king atop the throne of the Walled Dye, I could retire him safe in the knowledge he wouldn't turn up to anyone elses fort, eat all their dwarves and generally cause mayhem. Didn't work out though. Turns out the dirty way that I did it doesn't seem to "stick" as Moldath was deposed three weeks later.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on October 22, 2022, 04:53:40 pm

I think a quick and dirty way was to make a fortress you were comfortable of him staying in, enter fortress mode, give him a position, retire the game and he'd probably be bound like he was to Eskon. Making him King is much more dangerous, as he could get moved to Ilrallenod and killed the moment an adventurer activates the capital and the civil war starts anew.

---

I'd definitely put Moldath's eloquence on your writing skills, not only in this post, but in other posts as well. Reading your posts, Moldath seems the epitome of niceness, righteous and good manners. The only part that broke my suspense of disbelief was when he claimed he actually took those hammer blows because I knew that didn't happen, but you were working with the information from Legends Mode and you made it look so real that if I wasn't the one who played that fortress, I'd have believed Moldath/you.

On the other hand, if you just look at his actions in Legends/LV, he's completely erratic. If I lived in-world, I'd consider Avolition the hero and Moldath the boogie-man, Avolition's 885 massacre aside (which is justified by him trying to purge the Omon blight. I think). Glad you two finally interacted (I think this is the first time in-game?), that must be quite the show. Something interesting that people who delved deep in the game should know, from my understanding the game records ALL interactions between ALL creatures in ALL of history to be used for statues. So if we spam enough statues of Moldath and/or Avolition, we might immortalize that interaction. Wonder how the game sees it. Pretty cool stuff.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Maloy on October 22, 2022, 06:06:55 pm

You FOUND MIRAILEI'S BOBCAT!

I wrote that thing off for dead of old age! It ran off during the battle with the alligator two turns ago and once she became a baroness I wrote off it's existence entirely


What an epic adventure and I'm really sad kingship didn't stick.
Immortal moldath monarchy when?

Quote from: Lurker Z on October 22, 2022, 04:53:40 pm

I think a quick and dirty way was to make a fortress you were comfortable of him staying in, enter fortress mode, give him a position, retire the game and he'd probably be bound like he was to Eskon. Making him King is much more dangerous, as he could get moved to Ilrallenod and killed the moment an adventurer activates the capital and the civil war starts anew.

Immortal bookkeeper Moldath
The record books absorb his rotting stench

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Unraveller on October 22, 2022, 06:09:32 pm

Imagine thinking that Avolition Holyblood of all beings is a hero, when the heroes among heroes the Band of Wax have brought hope back to Omon Obin! Such foul words Lurker! Forsooth I say!

/s

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: TheFlame52 on October 22, 2022, 06:36:07 pm

Quote from: Maloy on October 22, 2022, 06:06:55 pm

Immortal bookkeeper Moldath
The record books absorb his rotting stench

If my experience with cardboard packaging from India is anything to go off of, those books will absorb the stink and then hold it for years.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on October 22, 2022, 06:52:30 pm

Quote from: Maloy on October 22, 2022, 06:06:55 pm

You FOUND MIRAILEI'S BOBCAT!

Yeah, unfortunately 22 years has passed since then and the bobcat has died of old age. Sorry.

I was thinking of an elf from Ribiromini for my next adventurer, or even an animal man, as I felt the story of Moldath was complete. After he's spent another 20 years in captivity, lost all his armour and weapons, and reduced to a life as a vagrant, I am not so sure. He might not even survive until my next turn.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Unraveller on October 22, 2022, 07:09:22 pm

@Lurker

'. . . Moldath. . . niceness, righteous and good manners. . .'

(Too lazy to quote on mobile)

I'll bite, I've gotta say, my perspective on Moldath has not been so kind (though I certainly enjoy the character), haha. A being without allegiance, 'least not toward anything save for his agenda; a hunger for the Secrets of Life and Death, and a steadfast will to send as many souls he deems wretched through his arbitrary moral system to Ala.

Though Moldath has certainly made some overtures towards the Dwarven kind, my personal perspective is that it's more secondary an fixation than the former mentioned. Otherwise, I glean a brutal picture of a nihilistic wanderer.

Of course in the same vein, Moldath's opinion of folks like Jas, perhaps humorously coming from him, as bloodthirsty and zealous, haha. Usurpers with no claim (true). It's all relative I suppose.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on October 22, 2022, 08:42:30 pm

Quote from: Unraveller on October 22, 2022, 06:09:32 pm

Imagine thinking that Avolition Holyblood of all beings is a hero, when the heroes among heroes the Band of Wax have brought hope back to Omon Obin! Such foul words Lurker! Forsooth I say!

/s

I said if I were to compare Moldath and Avolition (the Law-Giver). It's interesting, I was rereading the thread and they appeared about the same time and they both meteorically rose. I know it's probably subjective, especially since Moldath has done as much to clean the world of goblins, the plague and night creatures as Avolition, but to me Moldath seems more erratic when looking at him through Legends Viewer. Maybe NPC!Moldath going from fort to fort killing dwarves while Avolition doesn't (or when he did, he went to Avolition-the-player's fort, so it didn't have such an impact). There's also kesperan's frantic reactions to NPC!Moldath's actions, which make Moldath seem even more erratic.

Quote from: Unraveller on October 22, 2022, 07:09:22 pm

@Lurker

'. . . Moldath. . . niceness, righteous and good manners. . .'

(Too lazy to quote on mobile)

I said if you read his writings. He's perfectly cognizant, the perfect gentleman, everything he does makes sense (to him), he seems perfectly sane and correct in his actions. But then, he meets Queen Vafice (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Vafice_Falethefama) and attacks her out of nothing (at least that's how I interpreted it). He does the things he does while outside kesperan's control. He kills most of the rocs, but leaves one alive... which was in the same lair as the others he killed... then comes back decades later to finish the job. All this give the sense of him being erratic.

Well, if I were to have a view out-world of Moldath, since we the players (and probably mostly us) "know" Moldath is a sapient amulet which somehow can bodyjump... I'd say all his time in Mudungudon and Orid Xem are his attempts at learning and emulating life. And in that being that alien creature which somehow gained sapience, he'll interpret some things vastly different than humanoid would. Yes, he's trying to do good most of the time, but other times he shows his alien nature and just does random things either because he feels like it or that he thinks humanoid think that's either what good people should do or what people in his position should do (i.e. necromancers raising random undead). I think that could also neatly explain why Moldath loves to drink every fluid he comes across, he saw humanoids doing it and doesn't understand that the body only needs water to sustain itself, that he shouldn't gorge himself on blood or other things. That's my take on things. Quite frankly, it's pretty refreshing, this alien view of Moldath. I think only Raki was really that alien. Maybe some of the necromancer experiments, but those not as much, (as far as roleplay in this game goes) they're still beings of flesh and blood that were taught humanoid values for the most part, or are mentally just "wild" humanoids with different bodyparts than humanid.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Unraveller on October 23, 2022, 09:33:53 am

On that note, has anyone contacted Noagga? Looks as if thoigh they've been on recently so it shouldn't end up a missed turn I'd think.

Bralbaard, since you haven't bumped me down yet, on my own end, I'm free more expediently than I expected, I'll be ready to play after Noagga.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Maloy on October 23, 2022, 09:59:55 am

I'm also okay with being moved up if needed!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on October 24, 2022, 03:56:19 pm

Quote from: Unraveller on October 23, 2022, 09:33:53 am

On that note, has anyone contacted Noagga? Looks as if thoigh they've been on recently so it shouldn't end up a missed turn I'd think.

Bralbaard, since you haven't bumped me down yet, on my own end, I'm free more expediently than I expected, I'll be ready to play after Noagga.

I have send Noagga a PM, but have not heard anything, but if Noagga is active they could have picked up the save?  Let's wait a few more days?
I had not reordered the list yet, so Unraveller is now the next on the list.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on October 24, 2022, 05:14:35 pm

The Spring of Rusna Springblossom the Gulf of Liberties

Shatag be praised, i found a gem worthy of one of his crafts, it was hidden in the spine of The Student's Surveying. Such an interesting read and the research notes here have so much detail. The mountain home must hear about this. I have uncovered a blue diamond thats bitter coldness could only be of shatags will. His command of his winter condensed into such a beautiful jewel. I pocket it and continue reading what research notes are still understandible. I will send word to the mountain home for we have a fine location to build a fortress in this new world.

I have continued on to my next destination, the great smelterys of Ironwards. A truely horrific site, the entire site is mostly surrounded by lava but i managed to find safe passage across a section of land that is blackened and charred. The ground crunched as i crossed it and then i saw them. Horrific shadowy creatures contorted into horrific possitions. But they wern't some abombination of The Black. Although it screamed his handy work, they were all incased in obsidion, twisted dark statues of these creatures last moments of utter pain as their blood boiled and their bones melted. I smacked one with my golden whip and fragments of mishapen bones were all that was left. I continued in and saw the "residents". The seemed to be mostly friendly although they clearly were scavanders or lodgers of somekind. The rags and mismatched armor gave them away, i asked directions to the fortress smeltery but they just gauntly stared at me until pointing me towards the staircase. The place was littered with the bones of dwarves and something else.
(https://i.imgur.com/ykdfCNi.jpg)
I desended the depths and i found it. A grand hall of smelterys and anvils, that would make Shatag weep with joy. They had piles of finished bolts, steel, iron and BY SHATAGS BURLY BEARD, Adamantine. The metal of the gods, this is the stuff of legends. The holyiest metal forged by Shatag himself to forever seal the demons away. There is so much of it. I only find an Exceptional Adamantine sword but no other crafts. Why had such a great and prosperous fort declined. My mind quickly turned towards the deep descending staircase, i will journey further down. Soon but first i gather as many wafers as this bag can carry.
(https://i.imgur.com/fbVlm8R.jpg)
By the Spring of Shatag continue to grow my collection of materials.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Unraveller on October 24, 2022, 07:12:14 pm

---

Hate to keep flio-flopping, something has once again come up that will require my attention this week. Could I be moved below Yarlig?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on October 26, 2022, 01:06:52 pm

Interesting start Avolition.

I’m guessing by the gold whip that you started off as a dwarf outsider who got adopted by the Morul Kan and started worshipping Shatag?

Any word from Noagga?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on October 27, 2022, 05:51:25 pm

Yeah, basically i wanted to gather the best ingredients possible. Then make god tier artifacts, somewhat worked. Bones of demons were instantly trashed.

Also Nogga has been inactive for just more than a week now. Not sure if they will show. But hope they do always interesting to see what new people bring to Orid Xem

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on October 28, 2022, 06:02:48 am

Quote from: Unraveller on October 24, 2022, 07:12:14 pm

---

Hate to keep flio-flopping, something has once again come up that will require my attention this week. Could I be moved below Yarlig?

That's no problem.

It's Yarlig's turn now.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Yarlig on October 29, 2022, 07:29:50 am

OK; my time this week might be somewhat limited' but I'll try to squeeze it in.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on November 01, 2022, 11:16:45 am

I was thinking of making this a New Year Special, but it's a good date as any to see some updates on the wiki's tops (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Orid_Xem_tops), because interesting moves have been happening:

Bralbaard surprisingly remains in first place by a small margin, but Moldath has skyrocketed in second place and either he and Avolition (or likely both) will overtake our good King in the near future. This is accounted by the fact that it feels like every other historical characters I write about, Moldath had some part of their lives (more often than not slaying them or bringing them back to life). Oddom remains in third and might or might not survive the next year(s), she is a rather important historical figure and depending on how many pre-8th-century articles will be made, she might still be mentioned quite a lot. Avolition rose from 6th to 4th, but as I said, I see him as the contender with Moldath for 1st place next year. Ricote and Calovi remain in 5th and 6th and once again, it is dependent on how many historical articles I'll write. They certainly did a lot of damage throughout history for them to have a chance to stay there for a while. Lurker Onecbehal is surprisingly still hanging in there, but since there's little I'll be able to reference of him in the future, he's basically leaving an open slot there for whoever comes from below. Lonelythrall is next, but considering the articles on the megabeasts that he slayed seem to be written already, unless he unretires or ascends to a high position, I don't give him chances of remaining the next year either. Bewa remains in the tops, again dependent on how much time I'll invest in chronicling the past and Cog returned to 10 with 27 links. Zemel has plummeted, I suspect owing to the fact of the discovery of House Gethdazsug-Estbuqui (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/House_Gethdazsug-Estbuqui), as I was conflating House/dynasty links with personal links and she's likely not to return, since once again, I think I've exhausted all the articles that may be written about her.

Special mention to Raki with 25 links, a meteoric rise, probably due to the chronicles of all the people he turned into weremammoths. Fidale is relatively close to breaking into the top, if I write articles on all her companions she's likely to see the top, if just temporarily. Islas hangs on there with 24 links and Egu (the demon) and Asmel (the vampire source of most adventurer vampires bar Moldath, who did it the hard way, by personally angering a God) with 22.

I've also made a new section for top linked Houses, though the concept is still much less fleshed out than it could be.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on November 01, 2022, 07:10:02 pm

I always love reading your articles Lurker. You’ve made this world feel so much more alive!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on November 02, 2022, 07:54:29 am

The Summer of Rusna Springblossom the Gulf of Liberties

As i descend further into the depths the heat rises, I was sure we would reach the great magma see. I passed through an old trap hallway now inactive and disarmed. The corpses of alien beasts litter the ground, i even find crossbows made of an unknown creature. The passage got tighter as i reached Adamantine. By Shatags glorious beard, the vein had been hollowed out, the outside was hotter than any of Shatags scorching summers. Inside the vein a staircase of dwarven construction lead further down. below the magma sea.

It was some kind of fortress, an outpost. I looked out over the ramparts and battlements and found myself in an alien world. It was hell, the land of the demons, bolts littered the ground as the corpses of what must be the demons cascaded the landscape. The land was scattered with bright red glowing pits that seemed to descend forever, live great hungry maws consuming the land. I thought it was a myth but the demons were real. The Adamanite was indeed a holy seal. Great chunks of holy rock forged by Shatag himself to seal the demons from invading the surface world. This was most worrying indeed but the land was empty and void of life.

Heading further down i found someones bed, an outpost perhaps. Seems someone was holding back the demons. A marksman most likely judging by the bolts. I wonder if this is why the fortress is surrounded by lava perhaps one of their many measures to hold back these horrific creatures from invading the world. Yet eventually the demons will come back here and might push their luck. They must not get to the surface world. The bottom floor had a gated door, nearby it was its lever. I flicked it open and entered hell, i began to explore. Cresting the hill i saw strange weasel like demons in the distance spraying webs. Truly monstrous creatures indeed and deadly at that.

I was attacked,  animated steam in the form of a demon attacked at me. It scolded me, knocking me around, it was insanely quick and worst of all the noise of my gear being knocked around would surely lure more of them. Desperately grabbing on to my golden whip, i make several wild strikes in vein. When suddenly i hit it, the demon of steam recoiled as its arm, fell off before pooling as water upon the ground. I stuck again and again until all that was left was a formless puddle of water. I wasted no time in heading back towards the outpost. I could see that the weasels had made more ground towards the outpost. I quickly entered and sealed the gate behind me. The demons must be pushed back before they inevitably take this outpost. My mind is suddenly filled with inspiration, by Shatags mighty arms i must make a weapon of great power, with only the finest materials. Im not sure if i will use them all. I collect some of the many demon bones littering the fortress as the power contained within could make for a powerful artifact indeed. I hear Boltspumpkin is the place to go to learn about the going on in the world as well as its rich history. Its not too far south of here, i will make my journey their posthaste.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on November 02, 2022, 09:53:18 am

Wait, there's a gateway to hell in Ironwards?? I guess I never explored that far... will need to have another look!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Quantum Drop on November 02, 2022, 10:22:19 am

Quote from: kesperan on November 02, 2022, 09:53:18 am

Wait, there's a gateway to hell in Ironwards?? I guess I never explored that far... will need to have another look!

Yep, and the beginnings of an outpost down there as well (which I should really go back and finish at some point, TBH, but Abyssdeeps still needs touching up). As a hint: If you find a corridor with bridges at each end and spikes all over the place, you're on the right track to the Hellbunker.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on November 02, 2022, 11:07:44 am

Quote from: kesperan on November 02, 2022, 09:53:18 am

Wait, there's a gateway to hell in Ironwards?? I guess I never explored that far... will need to have another look!

Yes. Ironwards is where Raki accidently dodged into a glowing pit.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on November 02, 2022, 04:51:00 pm

The Forging of


Finally after months of collecting materials, raiding the ancient vaults, collecting bones and rare leathers and seeking the sight of our diamond mine i was ready to create my artifact. It took some years, working the forge. Understanding the metal, watching other dwarves make fine crafts. It came my turn. Shattags glorious vision struck me. I was to build the weapon of the gods, I grab adamantine, then... the diamonds, first a green, then a yellow, red, blue and clear. I need something else, reindeer bones. I was ready to work. I spent months laboring over this craft, shattag channeled through me and shaped it. A battle axe of course the perfect weapon of shatag. I worked the Adamantine, smelting it into a axe as i sprinkle Doom of Midor ash into the very flames. I spent weeks beveling the blade and the shape was there.

The diamonds were cut, my mind flooded with shapes and knowledge of cutting jewels. Each of the five raw diamonds took their unique shape and were inlayed with the blade. I grabbed reindeer bones and worked them amongst the red diamond spikes.

I took it towards the grindstone and began to sharped the axe. Sparks flying as i announced to the fortress i was finished. It was done. I had created Noblechopped the Persuasive Point-craft, the legendary adamantine great axe.

(https://i.imgur.com/GyV2mFa.png)

It soon was placed up a pedestal inside Shattags holy temple. His prayer will further enhance the great weapon. It remained their for many months.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: TheFlame52 on November 02, 2022, 09:10:55 pm

"It is still shrouded in mystery." I know it's because Legends aren't revealed, but what a description finisher.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on November 03, 2022, 02:34:11 pm

Doom of Midor ash... that's pretty metal. Sounds like you have been poking around a vault!

An adamantine greataxe encrusted with diamonds is pretty damn epic. Shame you couldn't get the reindeer bones swapped out for some demon bone...

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on November 03, 2022, 04:48:44 pm

I had hauled, demon and some roc bones i had found. The game didn't like those, shame as i had gathered some cool ingredients. Still a cool axe but it had the potential to be decorated with divine metal, feature fine mahogany or featherwood, forgotten beast shell or was it demon shell one of the two, if not both of them. Did raid the other vault as well and seemed to be entirely empty of any of its original divine metal gear. There was one other cool artifact that came out the fort i will share since legends mode hides it.

(https://i.imgur.com/XvpuVdg.png)

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Maloy on November 04, 2022, 08:14:49 am

What epic gear!

One of the bright spots to adventure mode being put off in the steam release is it gives us time to play this world out to it's conclusion

I look forward to seeing what great or terrifying deeds are accomplished with this!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on November 04, 2022, 08:19:54 am

Congrats, Avolition, you

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

discovered a new blight!

Unbeh blight (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Unbeh_blight).

I'm not sure if you realized it at first, or until now, but through your kill list I discovered this interesting fact myself.

---

Made notable kill section (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Moldath_Leshaltölún#Notable_kills) for Moldath's page. I added anything named that wasn't human/goblin/elf/dwarf, as well as anything with an epithet. Might have missed some from the list. They're generally listed in the order of their times of death, though I didn't go out of my way to order them completely. I added the slayed monarchs where I could find them too, obviously. Other names can be added if anyone thinks they're notable for some reason. Going try to do the same for Law-Giver Avolition soon.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on November 04, 2022, 08:46:40 am

Quote from: Lurker Z on November 04, 2022, 08:19:54 am

Congrats, Avolition, you

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

discovered a new blight!
Unbeh blight (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Unbeh_blight).

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

I didn't know that but interesting that blight is out there. Might have to vanquish that last plague bearer

Quote from: Lurker Z on November 04, 2022, 08:19:54 am

Made notable kill section (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Moldath_Leshaltölún#Notable_kills) for Moldath's page. I added anything named that wasn't human/goblin/elf/dwarf, as well as anything with an epithet. Might have missed some from the list. They're generally listed in the order of their times of death, though I didn't go out of my way to order them completely. I added the slayed monarchs where I could find them too, obviously. Other names can be added if anyone thinks they're notable for some reason. Going try to do the same for Law-Giver Avolition soon.

Absolute mad man, your hard work on the wiki never ceases to amaze. Good luck with that list.

On a side note, hope your turn is going well Yarlig

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Yarlig on November 05, 2022, 06:58:21 pm

Quote from: AvolitionBrit on November 04, 2022, 08:46:40 am

On a side note, hope your turn is going well Yarlig

Thanks' it's been going well' all things considered' although I had to spend nearly two hours holding down a left arrow to get to the island where Unraveller entombed Amala and retrieve Okirramtak' which I was fortunately successful at. Gonna put some finishing touches and upload the save tomorrow.

Also' that axe is mighty impressive' Avolition! I also like your use of gemstones as somesort recurring theme' wonder what will come of it in the end?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Salmeuk on November 05, 2022, 07:45:42 pm

I applaud this wiki project, Lurker. what a great way to explore, and concretize, this world. A Grand Record, indeed!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Eric Blank on November 06, 2022, 01:17:48 am

Oh! I would like to be added to the list again.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Maloy on November 06, 2022, 06:46:19 am

The Exiled Elf
(https://i.imgur.com/wtPsX5Z.png)
Mirai only ever left her homeland because of Arthur. Her peoples departure from their ancient religion and culture was leaving her increasingly aggressive and angry and it would likely lead to disastrous results.
Shortly after her adventure with him though she decided to go her on way and visit more dwarven lands. The silly bearded fools upon seeing her immediately gifted her a barony in their lands. Why? They wouldn't say, but her own investigations turned up that the rate of death of barons was disturbingly high.

No one wanted the job

She didn't want it either, although the challenge of surviving whatever forces seemed to hunt dwarf barons sounded exciting and she was prepared to drop the job and return home until a courier arrived.
She was no declared an official elven ambassador to the dwarves and humans of these lands, and was to retain her role as dwarven baroness until she was recalled.

"A century or two to grow and mature in these lands would do you some good" chortled Ami the courier.

They wanted her to die here
She would not. By the forces of nature that guided her she would overcome these pitiful lands and return home one day.
Until then she needed help from the two people she could trust: Arthur and Maloy

Rise of the Wolf-Lord

Maloy craftsroars did something he hadn't done since he had lost, and later regenerated, his leg.
He left home. The whole thought was drastically stressful to him and he had rarely left his keep since his curse had taken hold.
He was trying to adjust himself to the new schedule and ruling his little town, and he even had two new religious leaders staying in his keep which made it hard to find space to transform and wait. Usually he sat in one of the watch towers.
Arthur and Mirai were back and forth over the years. Arthur said he wanted to make Incenseorder the base of his small merchant operation, but he went home often
Mirai started to come around more and what's worse she had been promoted. Technically Incenseorder belonged to the dwarven kingdom even though no dwarves lived there and he had been given a human position, and Mirai had shown up one day a Baroness of the kingdom and technically his superior.
She laughed at him and lorded it over, before moving on.

She was in town waiting for Arthur's next arrival and Maloy decided it was high time to act on some things.
1. A large amount of time on the watch towers allowed him to look at his hometown. It was mostly ruined, as it had been his whole life, and he desperately wanted to rule over more than just a ruin
2.The ear insisted they go searching. It had become aware of other parts of it's body, or the body part it was inhabiting whichever, and wanted to find the other parts.
Maloy was scared to leave town, but at least he knew his body could regenerate now and his two friends, his only friends, could act as guides to their destination: The elven jungles of the far north!


They wandered the jungles for sometime. Most had no interest whatsoever in moving to the "greatest city in the world" that Maloy chalked it up to being, but some did. He also noted as to why Mirai seemed to complain about their homeland a lot.

The elves had modernized! They had woodburners, metal workers, and all the modern amenities even if they chose to still live in trees. This infuriated the traditional elven woman, but Maloy liked it. He found other cultures unfortunate and usually a sign of being less civilized and so this was a sign these people could be enlightened in the right circumstances. They recruited 6 members of the elven lands. 3 merchants and 3 laborers. Arthur recruited the merchants from his small network after enlightening the merchant about the large amount of jewels Incenseorders trades in
(https://i.imgur.com/DLEhbyw.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/yHbNNLx.png)

Sadly, Maloy's new fox form didn't elimate his need for food like if he became a vampire or necromancer and so he had to hunt the mostly empty lands. This turned out tragically as the laborers all attempted to help him fish and drowned in the nearby river. Everyone was horrified at the result, but Maloy's reaction was mostly just frustration.
(https://i.imgur.com/yltMkkx.png)
They went home the same way they came. Razorbridges. The ear remained mostly silent on the journey to, but on the way back it manifested it's power in full over Maloy. Many dwarves were swayed and all swore oaths of allegiance to him, pledging to make Incenseorder the jewel of the world.
For the ear this was to make sure the dwarves stayed out of the way as they approached the fabled pedestal: The arm. Maloy descended to it's resting place with a veritable army behind him and there was...nothing.
It was gone! GONE!
The ear screamed and howled in rage and only Maloy could hear it. For Maloy this was no great loss and without his knowing might have protected him from the ear growing more powerful and assuming control again.
They returned to Incenseorders after and Maloy retired to his keep for busines, but asked that Arthur and Mirai continue the work.
The dwarves were given a house across from the keep and the merchants were set up in the tavern.


Merchant-Prince
Arthur was glad to be of help in establishing trade and immigration between his people and Maloy's. On the selfish side this benefited him personally as a merchant, but he also truly and deeply wanted his people to prosper as well as his friend.

Only a few of his contacts back home were willing to uproot and move south though and Maloy had some sort of urgent...business he had to attend in his keep.
"Search the lands nearby! Anyone in any of the villages that we don't already trade with needs to come here."

Arthur did search the lands. Humans lived in a state of desperation constantly bordering death. They kept the bodies of their dead in their homes and slept amongst them. He was too polite to ask them why, but every home was littered with bodies and those who chose to stay and live with them. With all this desperation he had no trouble recruiting volunteers as he told the story of the great Wolf-Lord who was heralding in a new age from Incenseorders providing food, work, and clean housing to any who would come!
(https://i.imgur.com/P5vuthN.png)
By the time his circuit was complete Arthur had made many trade contacts with new towns and recruited 20 new volunteers who would stay at the tavern until they were properly settled.



The tavern in Incenseorder had been abandoned for many years. A constant reminder of bygone days, but now it was full of people chatting, singing and reciting poetry.
Arthur reclined at one of it's tables with his two dear friends and raised a glass in toast
"So, tell me my dear friend." Arthur said while motioning towards Maloy "What awaits next for the glorious wolf-lord of Incenseorders?"
Maloy looked thoughtful, or conflicted? He sometimes responded slowly as if he was in the middle of a great debate in his mind
"I want this place to become a jewel. I want adventurers and artists from all across the world to come here and for it's streets to be full of life again!"
"I want armies marching in the streets as the lands are brought to order and the gauntleted claw of my new empire stretches across all the lands" said the ear, but only Maloy could hear it.
"That is a beautiful sentiment, my friend." Arthur said "And what of you baroness?"
"I want to cleanse our homeland of it's blasphemy and take revenge on those who would imprison me in these lands" She said entirely calmly and plainly as if it was the most common thing in the world. She drained her wine and Arthur was left looking stricken and Maloy curious
"And you?" she said to Arthur
"I want peace." he said and looked down.




OOC:
Short and not super narrative, but I really did spend most of my turn just recruiting folk!

I do have a few goals for my next turn, barring something crazy happening in-game that changes it:

1.I want to claim all towns nearby that aren't adventurer ruled and acquire more actual fighters since I'm good on artists
2.I want to train Maloy's combat skills so he's useful. I want to train his social skills too, but that is so tedious and time consuming
3.Locate more of Braal's body parts. I haven't gotten around to searching wiki and legends viewer to see where others might be
4.Locate suitable offering for the museum


Also research on social stuff that people might already know, but I learned:

Many of the people I recruited and then told to wait in Incenseorder adapted. Some of them moved to other parts of town including buildings and some even took on new professions entirely! There really was a guy reciting poetry and another singing in the tavern at the end
Some did mindlessly wait around for the next set of orders though and so I'm not sure how all the game calculates that.
Taking people from their home towns and dropping them in Incenseorder and then cancelling our agreement just led to them going home instead of sticking around.
I COULD be crazy and be having memory issues, but I swear that a few more buildings in Incenseorder are no longer flagged as abandoned in the fast travel screen. If people did settle in the town that makes sense.
I suspect the ones who adapted and changed when they waited there officially settled while the ones standing around did not, either way it is nice to confirm that one can change a town through means other than killing

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Yarlig on November 06, 2022, 07:54:57 pm

Save here: https://dffd.bay12games.com/file.php?id=16144
It's worryingly large' we might end up having to move away from DFFD in the near future.

Submission is: Okirramtak' 'The Elder Execution'' the iron morningstar' retrieved from the tomb of Amala Fragrantshaft. So far used by three adventurers' wonder if it could end up being stolen from The Museum and used Stalkmatches style? The future will tell.

Also submitted to Herograves has been the corpse of Avafi Specialmosses the Kobold.

The Blight shall prevail.

Good luck' Unraveller!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on November 06, 2022, 08:12:50 pm

Quote from: Yarlig on November 06, 2022, 07:54:57 pm

The Blight shall prevail.

Well that's ominous.

Good luck Unraveller, I have a feeling we'll all need it.

I just had a thought: so there are by now quite a few adventurers of the Museum that have done terrible things (the blight was spread by a few already, then there's the vampirism and necromancy reviving creatures to run around attacking the living) and becoming an adventurer of the Museum strictly prohibits you from attacking a fellow adventurer. So how does this impact the Museum's image in Orid Xem? People already know about Raki and they probably know he went insane as a result of seeing the Museum's exhibits (Midas touched on that as well). Also, the Museum's in-game journals are theoretically open to any travelers, so anyone can read and transcribe mentions of the horrors adventurers brought on the land. How are the people of Orid Xem who know about everything regard the Museum now after almost 2 and half century of existence, the adventurers etc.? How many know? Do the courts, Kings, Queen, Law-Givers know? It's an interesting question.

We also have many of the Monarchs who ruled since the 8th century onward slayed by Museum adventurers, as well as a few who could perceived as coupists (in fact, I think Bralbaard is the only one who ascended without actions towards the title on his part).

---

Recently on the wiki: Avolition's notable kills (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Avolition_Moncadem#Notable_kills) up.

Trending pages are shaping up (unfortunately, only articles with images get pulled up):

Spoiler: Image (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/Zcypc8o.png)

---

Regarding save: did you archive it with WinRar, then set at best compression method?

Edit: The unarchived save is actually 2.00 giga vs. 2.06 giga last save. So it's probably an archiving issue.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on November 07, 2022, 09:26:27 am

Quote from: Yarlig on November 06, 2022, 07:54:57 pm

Submission is: Okirramtak' 'The Elder Execution'' the iron morningstar' retrieved from the tomb of Amala Fragrantshaft. So far used by three adventurers' wonder if it could end up being stolen from The Museum and used Stalkmatches style? The future will tell.

Now that could be interesting, especially as Stalkmatches seems to have gone quiet again. Kinda tempted to borrow the weapon and do as such. Always did want to give that weapon a swing or two.

Interesting to read through the notable kill list. Great work Lurker

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Unraveller on November 07, 2022, 09:32:32 am

I shall get started soon, possibly tomorrow. Whatever I get done, chances are this turn will be much smaller scale than my recent affairs.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on November 07, 2022, 10:21:57 am

I looked through the save file a little. This changes my playing prospects considerably. Looks like Señamatem (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Señamatem) (and a lot of other locations)were hit by a terror and massacre attack.

Yikes, somewhere around 1335 ghoulish infections.

What's done is done, but should we put some rules to stop infecting people from now on? At this rate, we'll have to unretire a thrall to be even able to survive the first day.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Maloy on November 07, 2022, 10:37:04 am

Quote from: Lurker Z on November 07, 2022, 10:21:57 am

What's done is done, but should we put some rules to stop infecting people from now on? At this rate, we'll have to unretire a thrall to be even able to survive the first day.

Perhaps a "load limit"?
Example if you're gonna unleash the blight again maybe no more than one settlement a turn?
The threat could still creep back in, but not too quickly?
I've only met three blight victims total since I started playing with you guys though so I'm not sure how big of a threat it is.

We could also just set a rule to clear such actions with someone else before doing it? New challenges are appealing after all!

I won't be infecting anyone with my werefox strain at all since werebeasts can cause game-crashing bugs by losing limbs. If I ever chose someone to pass it on to or did so unintentionally I'd let you guys know.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on November 07, 2022, 10:46:38 am

The thing is, with anything but these plague things, it's different. Werewolves only turn once a month and die of old age. Vamps generally mind their own business unless you bother them (which is probably a bug/a result of World Activation not doing the same thing as World Generation, making vampires and necros in WG complete monsters and in WA harmless until bothered/even noble non-eaters) or until they enter fortress mode. Raised undead are a little bit of a problem, but there are already plenty left from the necromancers of old and the world mostly survived them well enough.

But except werecreatures (and even those mostly in fortress mode), the infection and aggressiveness are limited. The problem with thralls/ghouls is that, aside from being as tough as night creatures (shadow/night trolls etc.), they could always infect the person who fights them. Last time I fought one, it infected at least one or two others (which interestingly doesn't show in Legends Viewer) and it's only because they can't detect this or they're locked in battle that they didn't swarm the living and killed each other. Moreover, back then it was me + a few of the living against ONE thrall, the thrall killed most of them, then my char. So I'd say ONE is pretty tough. A whole town? Suicide. Hannibal has infected over 10 towns, maybe more.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Quantum Drop on November 07, 2022, 12:17:35 pm

Yeah, I think putting a limit on the further creation of Blighted Thralls by player characters (at least until their numbers diminish) may be necessary. If they start metastasizing elsewhere as badly as they did in Señamatem over the past turn or so, it'd be a death sentence for anyone wandering into an infected town by accident; and while I'm all for a challenge, getting TPK'd by a bunch of thralls coming from nowhere midturn isn't the Fun kind of challenge.

(Considering I'm directly responsible for no small part of the current problem, I'll try to purge a few sites of thralls on my next turn if they don't go down in the meantime.)

Other than that, good luck Unraveller!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Yarlig on November 07, 2022, 02:46:49 pm

Alright' so to address the elephant in the room.

I'll be upfront about it' I did all the blight-spreading intentionally' out of belief that there is not enough peril left after the many rampages of different adventurers. There are no more necromancers' very few night creatures' not that many bandits anymore; we also don't have to deal with bogeymen in this version' which' while sometimes irritating' made the old DF experience all the more tense and exciting. Nowadays' the world felt a bit too placid' or so I thought.

However' I do understand not everyone likes this old-school' hardcore' blood-and-guts way of playing DF; hell' I wouldn't want my peaceful scholar type character to die horribly at the first town visited too. So in fairness I might have gone a little overboard. I wasn't keeping track of how many towns I infected' although the fact that I thought at the time that I was being too conservative definitely seems ridiculous now.

I'm not in favor of putting a hard rule against the further spread of blight' but I think it would be common sense to put it on hold for now. The forces of darkness have made their move' let's see how the living respond to that. The world would do best with a happy balance being perilous but not unplayable.

As for other matters also:

Quote from: AvolitionBrit on November 07, 2022, 09:26:27 am

Quote from: Yarlig on November 06, 2022, 07:54:57 pm

Submission is: Okirramtak' 'The Elder Execution'' the iron morningstar' retrieved from the tomb of Amala Fragrantshaft. So far used by three adventurers' wonder if it could end up being stolen from The Museum and used Stalkmatches style? The future will tell.

Now that could be interesting, especially as Stalkmatches seems to have gone quiet again. Kinda tempted to borrow the weapon and do as such. Always did want to give that weapon a swing or two.

Hopefully you won't be dissuaded' Avolition' but Okirramtak is not a very effective weapon. It tends to kill in a slow' messy way. It definitely has a lot of history attached to it' and a sentient' evil weapon should not be left to rust' so personally' I'd love to see it in use.

Also' if Stalkmatches is dormant' I may pick up the save' actually' do a casual run. I still have my writeups to finish though' as well as many in this very game' so I might try to overcome my chronic writer's block first.

Quote from: Lurker Z on November 06, 2022, 08:12:50 pm

Regarding save: did you archive it with WinRar, then set at best compression method?

Edit: The unarchived save is actually 2.00 giga vs. 2.06 giga last save. So it's probably an archiving issue.

Huh' can't recall' really. It was night and I was tired when I was uploading' so I may have to double-check.

Quote from: Lurker Z on November 06, 2022, 08:12:50 pm

I just had a thought: so there are by now quite a few adventurers of the Museum that have done terrible things (the blight was spread by a few already, then there's the vampirism and necromancy reviving creatures to run around attacking the living) and becoming an adventurer of the Museum strictly prohibits you from attacking a fellow adventurer. So how does this impact the Museum's image in Orid Xem? People already know about Raki and they probably know he went insane as a result of seeing the Museum's exhibits (Midas touched on that as well). Also, the Museum's in-game journals are theoretically open to any travelers, so anyone can read and transcribe mentions of the horrors adventurers brought on the land. How are the people of Orid Xem who know about everything regard the Museum now after almost 2 and half century of existence, the adventurers etc.? How many know? Do the courts, Kings, Queen, Law-Givers know? It's an interesting question.

We also have many of the Monarchs who ruled since the 8th century onward slayed by Museum adventurers, as well as a few who could perceived as coupists (in fact, I think Bralbaard is the only one who ascended without actions towards the title on his part).

It's a very interesting thing' and personally' I view The Museum as somesort Mount Olympus' and the adventurers as Greek gods. Sometimes helpful' sometimes harmful' very powerful and very' very capricious; involving themselves in the world out of amusement more than anything. So' I'd say it could be viewed as something above and beyond the normalcy of Orid Xem. In a meta way' it also ties to the conspiracy theory that Armok is actually the player' creating and discarding endless planets for their own !!FUN!!; while some adventurers are clearly driven by the world's internal logic' some seem to only want to push the borders of what can be done with their given plane of existence. Hell' Hannibal is probably one of this sort' living to reshape the world in accord with his own gruesome vision where ghouls take the place of the living.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on November 07, 2022, 03:08:20 pm

Quote from: Yarlig on November 07, 2022, 02:46:49 pm

Quote from: AvolitionBrit on November 07, 2022, 09:26:27 am

Quote from: Yarlig on November 06, 2022, 07:54:57 pm

Submission is: Okirramtak' 'The Elder Execution'' the iron morningstar' retrieved from the tomb of Amala Fragrantshaft. So far used by three adventurers' wonder if it could end up being stolen from The Museum and used Stalkmatches style? The future will tell.

Now that could be interesting, especially as Stalkmatches seems to have gone quiet again. Kinda tempted to borrow the weapon and do as such. Always did want to give that weapon a swing or two.

Hopefully you won't be dissuaded' Avolition' but Okirramtak is not a very effective weapon. It tends to kill in a slow' messy way. It definitely has a lot of history attached to it' and a sentient' evil weapon should not be left to rust' so personally' I'd love to see it in use.

Also' if Stalkmatches is dormant' I may pick up the save' actually' do a casual run. I still have my writeups to finish though' as well as many in this very game' so I might try to overcome my chronic writer's block first.

Honestly Avolition Holyblood has used books, body parts and even goblin corpses as weapons so i think it would work fine. Although he might have sights also on a certain axe. Will see how everyone elses turns play out as it tends to influence what i do that turn.

and nice

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Quantum Drop on November 07, 2022, 04:20:57 pm

Finally managed to get the first part of my turn 92 (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8409240#msg8409240) writeup done; decided to go for a bit more of a dialogue-based introduction this time.

c. 26th Hematite, 899

It was early in the morning when a group of strangers came to the hamlet of Anguishrooted. They were three in number, all of them mounted on horseback, riding from the rain-lashed plains southwards of the small village.

The first of them was dressed in the manner of a noble gentleman, his clothing bearing the seal of some noble bloodline high upon the collar. His pointed beard, arched eyebrows, and broad grin lent a faintly devilish cast to his features, sharply contrasted by the marks of integrity and strength that dominated the rest of his expression. One of his ringed hands rested lightly on the handle of a finely-crafted iron longsword, while the other held a polished copper shield bearing the seal of Omon Obin’s Law-Giver.

At his side stood a tall, hooded young lady in the clerical dress of Bikda’s devotees, her pallid skin and hair contrasted by the deep sable of her roughspun robes. The gloved fingers of her left hand rested upon the leather-wrapped grip of a simple bronze shortsword, while her right clutched a small, dented copper buckler. Her robes shifted slightly as she ticked her head from side to side, amber eyes flicking warily across the snow-dusted buildings as the group advanced into the hamlet.

The other was a broken, savage reflection of her comrade. A deep scar ran from her forehead to her jaw, like a portrait crossed out in a fit of violent temper; her nose was a smashed stump, her mouth wrenched sideways into a permanent snarl, and her single eye stared out of the wreckage, as cold and grey as mountain stone. Across her broad shoulders she carried a mighty bronze axe, the head ground to a razor-sharp edge and speckled here and there with the residue of past battles, the notched haft a testament of the past battles and hardships she had endured in her travels.

Few came from their houses to greet the newcomers; those who did approached them furtively, as though fearing one of them would suddenly lash out and strike for daring to draw too close. Only one of the hamlet’s populace dared draw closer than arm’s length: a grim, grey-haired man of some sixty seasons, his skin mottled and lined with age. He looked up into the face of the group’s leader, expression tense with nerves and the effort of moving in the freezing cold.

“Greetings, sire,” The old man intoned, bowing his head toward the newly arrived group. “You… you are the Law-Giver’s soldiers?”

The inquisitor chucked lightly and responded, his voice tinged with the rich accent of Omon Obin’s old nobility.

“That they are, sir; lady Dubmith of The Feathered Creed,” He motioned toward the young, hooded woman, who responded with a slight nod. “And lady Thadar Charcoaltwists, of The Doctrines of Wax.” The axe-wielder sneered in reply, baring her teeth in a snarling, mock-friendly grin. Her fingers drummed up and down on her axe’s shaft, impatiently.

“I – I thank the gods that you have come, sir. My letter—”

“Yes, your letter did reach us.” The tall man answered his unspoken question with an almost airy gesture of the hand, liquid black eyes affixed upon the hamlet’s lord. “But it spoke only of foul occurrences and unexplained deaths, and not of the cause. So, my good man – what have we been called here for?”

“Th– there is a sorcerer within this village, sire.” The hamlet’s master mumbled, stumbling over his words in his haste to speak. “A man who has never left his house after he first came to this place. He – our milk was soured… Our animals died in the droves, by thrall attack and disease alike. His house carries the stench of poison and rot at all hours of the day. And his herbal mixtures – all who drink them, driven to maddened bloodthirst, like a thrall of the Blight! He—”

“My good sir,” The leader of the group cut the burgomaster off mid-stream, a note of hardness coming into his voice. More of the village had gathered, now, seemingly drawn in by the dialogue and the lack of an obvious threat. “As pleasant as this discourse has been, I dare hope you did not petition our aid to merely speak of malefic things. Where in this… charming place does the creature make its dwelling?”

“Here.” The master of the hamlet raised a finger, pointing to a single house’s door. It was marked with a simple ashen cross, in the manner of a house stricken by the Blight.

Gasin exchanged a glance with Thadar and Dubmith, then smiled slightly and nodded sharply toward the door. Thadar grinned, hefted her massive bronze axe upon one shoulder, and promptly delivered a strong blow to the door with base of the weapon’s shaft, accompanied by a thunderous bellow:

“Open this door, traitor!”

Several long, tense moments passed without so much as a peep from behind the weathered wooden door. The mob of villagers shifted and seethed uncertainly behind the trio, their mutters and whispers becoming a low, hissing tide in their ears. Thadar’s fingers drummed tensely on her axe’s bronze shaft; Gasin’s hand fell to the longsword at his side; Dubmith silently tightened her hold on the leather-wrapped grip of her copper-bladed sword, her entire body tensed in readiness to strike. Moments stretched out to minutes as they continued to wait, the gathering growing even more restless all the while.

Gasin was moments from ordering Thadar to bash down the door outright when it finally opened, revealing the house’s occupant: a middle-aged man in dirty, tattered clothes, reeking of dirt and herbal mixtures. Something flashed across his face at the sight of the three of them and the half-rabid mob behind them, but it was swiftly gone, replaced with a serene, welcoming expression more than likely intended to disarm their hostility toward him.

“Good day, sirs. What business brings you to my humble abode?”

“Kosoth Heatlions. By the authority of the Law-Giver, you stand accused of the practice of necromancy, and spreading the Obin Blight; of sealing a covenant with the dark Powers, and of performing diverse acts of sorcery and corruption through which you have afflicted the hamlet of Anguishrooted.”

There was a low rumble of agreement from the gathered villagers. Kosoth did his best to appear underwhelmed.

“Forgive me, sire, but I fear you and your companions have wasted a journey. I am no more than a mere herbalist. I garden; I create remedies and herbal mixtures.” He underscored his words with a gesture to the muddy ground beside the house, where a few plants’ shoots were beginning to poke up through the wet soil.

“Aye, I can believe that,” Gasin laughed, exchanging a look with the tall, hooded woman beside him. “A mixture of lies and black corruption is what you have created, and spread most subtly throughout this village.”

Kosoth resisted the urge to roll his eyes. The man antagonising him wore his smugness so plainly that Kosoth halfway expected him to take a bow. The crowd growled and muttered around him, a few shouting out half-incomprehensible accusations that were drowned out by the murmur. One of Gasin’s eyes twitched with impatience as he waited for the crowd to calm.

“I assure you, sir, that I bear no such malice toward you or any other person of this realm. Please, do come in that we might talk like civilized men.”

“Aye, we will certainly come into your house.” His liquid black eyes narrowed to slits as he moved closer, fingers dancing upon the hilt of his longsword. Dubmith and Thadar advanced with him, circling like wolves behind their master. “Though we would be fools to accept your hospitality.”

There – a tiny shift in his face, a twitch of the eyebrow and a tightening of the jaw. Kosoth’s face hardened as he spoke, but Gasin knew his words had drawn metaphorical blood. “If it is evidence of treachery and Blight you seek, you will not find it here.”

“But of course,” Gasin hissed, eyes flashing with lethal intent. His lips curled back into a shark-toothed grin. “No doubt the dark Powers with which you traffick have taught you much of how to conceal your arts.”

 “Should you find whatever proof you seek, I am damned; should you fail, I am held to have concealed it and damned regardless?” Kosoth laughed aloud, cold and ringing. “And here I thought I was the tricksy one! Your creativity does your delusions credit, sir, if nothing else.”

“You can conceal your apparatus, traitor,” Gasin’s grin was now much colder, an element of malevolence slipping into it. He was inches away from Kosoth, now, bringing with him the scent of iron and smoke. “But not your deeds.”

Gasin suddenly lunged forward, seizing Kosoth’s wrist with a gloved hand, pulling him out through the doorway and tearing the sleeve away from his arm in one smooth motion. The crowd gasped as one, staring at the markings on Kosoth’s rapidly prickling skin.

“Look upon this, gentlefolk!” Gasin crowed, jabbing a finger toward his captive’s bare arm. “The treacherous sorcerer’s mark, seal of his dark pacts! Who is to say how many vile spells he has cast upon you all already?”

Kosoth looked toward the discoloured skin a few inches down from his wrist. It still hadn’t healed after he’d spilled some boiling water on it, nearly two weeks back.

“This is madness!” Kosoth snapped. His eyes flashed across the villagers’ faces, but there was nothing upon them but hate, fear, and simple ignorance. “That’s a burn, you fool; show me a cook or herbalist in this village without a similar mark!”

“Still he denies the truth, even with the evidence plain for all of you to see! Lies! Wicked lies!”

The mob roared at his words. Stones, mud, and animal dung began to fly, pelting Kosoth’s small cottage and spattering against his already dirtied robes. Gasin gestured grandly with a hand, his scarred compatriot stepping forward in response.

“Bind him, lady Thadar, while I search this treacherous creature’s lodgings. Whatever lies within, I fear, is to be a terrible sight indeed.” Gasin turned with those words, cloak swirling dramatically about his shoulders as he marched into Kosoth’s house. Thadar wasted no time in tightening a gauntleted hand around Kosoth’s throat, firm enough to keep him in place without cutting off his air supply. The mob seethed around them, pulsing and shifting about like a living thing.

Several long minutes passed before Gasin emerged from the house out into the wan daylight. While his grin hadn’t faded, there was now a more overtly predatory note to it, and a tightness to his features that would betray his feelings to a watchful eye as he marched toward the group again. Thadar’s grip on her prisoner’s throat tightened.

“Where is he?” Gasin asked.

Kosoth simply stared up at him, features betraying neither defiance nor panic. Gasin stepped closer, nodding sharply toward his companions. Once again, Thadar’s fingers tightened, bronze-clad fingers pressing against Kosoth’s windpipe.

“Speak,” Gasin commanded.

Kosoth merely cocked his head. Thadar let out a soft hiss of annoyance, tightening her grip once again.

“Speak.”

Kosoth did not. Thadar could feel his pulse through her fingers, now, pounding hard against the half-strangling hand wrapped around his throat.

“Perhaps, gentlefolk, this is a fool as well as a traitor!” Gasin called out to the villagers around him, seizing Kosoth by the jaw and forcing his head upright. “I will ask you again: Where. Is. He.”

It was only then that Kosoth reacted. He turned his head to stare at Thadar; his mouth opened to form words, yet not a whisper came out. She leaned in close to hear what he had to say, close enough that her breath could be felt on his impassive face. Thadar cocked her head to the side, a mocking smile coming across her face as she began to speak.

“Wh-”

Without warning the man jerked his head forward, driving a strong headbutt into the side of her head. Grunting in pain, Thadar staggered backward into Dubmith and collapsed in an ungainly tangle of limbs with an undignified yelp, head ringing like a bell from the sudden impact. Kosoth wasted no time in surging forward toward Gasin, the gleam of a wickedly sharp iron carving knife appearing in one hand as he scrambled over the debris on the floor. Gasin swore aloud and reached for his sword, fingers closing around the leather-wrapped handle the exact moment that the knife buried itself up to the handle between his ribs.

Kosoth bared his teeth in savage triumph, only for the expression to be literally wiped off his face as a hard blow from Thadar sent several teeth flying from his gums. Her features pulled into a tight mask of fury, the axewoman wasted no time in driving punches repeatedly into Kosoth’s chest and face, striking every inch of available flesh with her copper-mailed fists. Bone cracked and blood flew as the metal rings caught against exposed flesh, sending her master’s attacker sprawling to the dirt floor. She fell on him, snarling and spitting curses with every breath, rolling about in the mud as her target regained his bearings and started fighting back.

Around them, chaos reigned supreme. The villagers had been strung to the pitch of violent panic by the discovery of a Blight-making traitor in their midst; the witch-hunter’s theatrical manner and the spectacle of the whole affair had further stoked their emotions to a turbulent boil. The sudden violence was enough to pitch them wholly over the edge; within moments of Gasin’s fall the crowd devolved into a thrashing mass of bodies as people rushed this way and that, many trying to rush away from the vicious brawl and bowling one another over in their haste to get away. A few, braver citizens remained, making half-hearted motions to push through the crowd and seize Kosoth, but none truly daring to come within striking range of the thrashing pair upon the ground.

Dubmith swore aloud and pushed herself upright, shoving her way through to where Gasin was slumped on one knee. His face was fixed in a grimace of pain, jaw tightly contracted as he pressed a shred of cloth against the ragged wound in his side. Murmuring an old mantra to herself, she rapidly withdrew a medicinal poultice from one of the pockets of her robe, pressing the herb-soaked cloth gently against the weeping cut. 

A few long moments passed before Gasin pushed himself upright, gritting his teeth slightly as Dubmith moved to support him with one arm. He blinked a few times, swaying unsteadily as he tried to regain his footing. “I… It will be alright. My wound is not serious.”

Dubmith seemed sceptical, but nodded her head in the affirmative nonetheless and moved with her master, helping him limp over to where Kosoth lay on the ground, pinned in a half-strangling headlock with Thadar’s armoured knee on his back.  She looked up at his approach, giving him a tight nod before wrenching her captive’s head upright to stare at the towering figure of Gasin. Kosoth shot him a look of mingled defiance and hatred in reply, making sure to spit at him before Thadar let out an irascible growl and slammed his head back into the muddy ground.

“This creature,” He announced, some of his earlier bombast returning. “Is a plague. Left alone, he will bring blight and death down on us all. And as any physic shall tell you, gentlefolk, there is only one sure way to prevent blight.” He turned to the hamlet’s population, cautiously watching on now that the sudden fight was done. Gasin felt an involuntary smile come to his face as he spoke the next words. “Fire.”

---

The hamlet was grey with ash and smoke. The frequent rains of Omon Obin were having little effect on the stubborn coating of ash and the cloying, acrid scent of charred flesh and burnt wood, even after an hour or two of constant downpour. It was the peasants’ own damn fault – they’d been far too enthusiastic to deliver justice to the traitor in their midst, and the bonfire had been all too large. Most had returned to the safety of their simple homes by now, exhausted by the events of the day.

Four remained behind despite the constant drizzle of half-frozen rain, standing at the edge of the ashes where the pyre had stood. Gasin was upright and moving, though his midsection was wrapped with bandages and his clothes soaked through. Dubmith and Thadar flanked him, the latter standing ready to support him if the wound in his side began to trouble him. Just behind the group was the village’s mayor, who kept coughing and spluttering as the drifting grey flakes caught in his throat and nose.

“I thank the Lady you came here, ser.” The peasant mumbled, wringing water out of his tattered cap. Gasin seemed not to hear him, his eyes fixed on the charred circle where the pyre had stood.

“Odd, wasn’t he?”

“Beg pardon, ser?”

“The traitor.” Gasin placed a hand to his chin, speaking more to himself than anything else. His brow was furrowed in open consternation and thought. “Usually, they’re raving madmen bent on dying for some imaginary glory, or cowards that break in moments. But this one…” He shook his head. “Didn’t want to give up a thing, did he?”

“No, ser. Must’ve been in thick with the wicked powers, to the very end.” The old man shuddered and touched a hand to the symbol of Otu Lovelycherished hanging around his neck, whispering a prayer as he did so.

Gasin’s clenched jaw twitched. He’d hoped that his methods would have brought his quarry out of hiding, or at least provoked Heatlions into spilling his guts. The pressure of a half-crazed mob and the grand bombast of his performance was usually enough to unnerve his quarry, to the point where most were confessing long before the first fire was lit. But this one had been too stubborn, too defiant for even the threat and deed of the pyre to open his lips.

Now he was left with nothing to interrogate but a pile of cooling ashes, and no leads of proper substance to pursue. Whatever evidence might have been in the house had been hidden so well even he couldn’t find it, and the fire that had swept through the village had reduced it to a charred shell. There was nothing more he could do here.

Gasin sighed aloud, turning carefully in place to face the village’s master.

“Well, our duty here is concluded, my good sir.” He intoned, already limping away from the ashes. His compatriots trailed behind him, Dubmith hanging back to give a more polite farewell to the man, Thadar marching beside him with her axe in her hands and a belligerent scowl on her face. Clouds of grey dust and ash drifted around them with every step they took.

Once they were out of earshot and sight of the village’s remaining inhabitants, Thadar let loose with her frustrations, hammering the heavy bronze blade of her axe into a nearby tree-trunk.

“Six weeks!” She practically exploded, levering the axe free and immediately sending a second swing into the frosty bark. Chips pinged off her armour. “Six damned weeks, and our only lead goes up in flames! Poxy, worthless sons of --!”

“Calm yourself, ‘dar.” Dubmith grumbled, setting herself down on an old tree-stump and propping her head up with one hand. She shifted uncomfortably as the hard wood dug into the bruises along the back of her legs and hips. “This is a setback, nothing more.”

Thadar swung around to face her comrade-in-arms, eyes ablaze beneath her leather cap. Her furrowed face, fixed into its usual ruined scowl, was twisted with further frustration and smeared with ash from the burned houses as Thadar marched to stand nose-to-nose with the smaller woman.

“And how,” she ground out, voice thick with sarcastic bite, “do you suggest we proceed from here, little Dubmith? Can you create a trail from thin air, that we might continue to track our quarry? Have you some hidden pouch of clues, or a scroll to magically enlighten us to where we should go next?”

Dubmith closed her eyes, breath hissing out between her teeth as she fought to restrain her temper.

“No, but your anger will do nothing but delay!” She jabbed a finger toward Thadar’s ruined, snarling face as her compatriot stepped closer to her. “If the trail is lost, we must find it again.” And then, to the nobleman leading them: “Ser Crewcanyons, surely there was some clue or evidence within the traitor’s abode?”

Gasin sighed aloud. As if putting on that theatrical performance earlier was not tiring enough, there was now growing a deep, throbbing pain behind his eyes that was about the same size, shape, and volume as one Thadar Charcoaltwists.

“Aye,” He said, firmly. “We are not off their trail yet.”

 At Thadar’s incredulous look Gasin carefully reached into his pack and withdrew a thin volume, bound in tattered leather and held together with crude stitching. He tapped a finger against the cover. “We have the thread that shall lead us to the traitor’s hearts.”

“I cannot say I follow your words, sire,” Dubmith rose from her stump, peering closely at the cover. Her features creased in confusion for a few moments, before suddenly alighting in realisation. “Ah! A journal?”

“The traitor’s journal, my comrade.” The edge of Gasin’s mouth quirked into an expression that might have been mistaken for a smile. “And in it, our very next destination.” 

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on November 07, 2022, 04:57:17 pm

Quote from: kesperan on October 22, 2022, 11:28:49 am

Museum Submission:

51. The twin heads of the ettin Zoku Knightedsheen the Sensual Silk-Call: the last of the ettins, slain in 712 by Thon Scarone and raised as a putrid ghoul in 797, terror of many dwarven forts. Fell for the final time to the mighty Godenrigoth, by the hand of Moldath Mournsaints.
The Hateful Two-head of Menace, an iron breastplate: It is dented and caked in filth, but the blueberry bush symbol of the Walled Dye is still visible. This iron breastplate was torn from a valiant defender of the deepfolk, and used by the ettin Zoku Knightedsheen to slay five dwarves in his rampage on Falsetower.

Forts Visited (forts visited a 2nd time not listed):

Secrethome
Crystalworship the Temple of Vultures
Urnways

For attention of Bralbaard - I see you have updated the first page recently. I think the 4th link of my Turn 91 is not linking to my final entry on page 160, and you've missed my submission for that turn, which I have quoted above.

Love the start to your thrall-infused story QD.

Looks like there will be plenty of ghouls to slay in coming turns thanks to the Ghoul Father!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on November 07, 2022, 05:14:05 pm

Re: Not enough peril. I really think you're looking, intentionally or not, to God-tier adventurers like Moldath or Avolition. I feel most players are casuals at adventure mode. Hell, someone starting for fun/roleplaying as kobold, gremlin, weak-animal-man or even goblin will be splattered by the first angry mob in the game. Remember Imic in turn 2 got splattered by a goblin. We're not all God-tier adventurers to not be splattered at the first blighted thrall.

Another issue I see is that every time we activate a site, we'll activate another massacre. Even if we don't stay long around to see its end. You remember how bored people were by that post-apocalyptic scenery with empty villages? Well, prepare for those to multiply (by 2, 3, 5?) the next century. The blight has reduced Adilatir to 300 dwarves. How fun will it be playing in all the other nations if they're similarly depopulated? Everyone's howlering laughing at the genocide of elves. So at this rate, in the next century or so, we won't have any more elves except undead. Is that going to make the world more fun?

I remember starting playing just expecting to die in the wilderness and to start fortress mode. Lurker Onecbehal surviving gave me the interest in adventure mode, to see where he or other adventurers will go after they took something of value to the Museum. If I just play every time just to be ganked at the first encounter with a thrall, I might as well prepare myself to play my turn just for the fortress mode again. So, should I kill my interest in adventure mode again?

And, when they see that getting something to the Museum will be impossible, how many new people will join to try? How many will stay?

Your call, folks.

---

In more (uplifting?) different news, look at this insane war happening during Yarlig's turn:

https://imgur.com/a/qkzG9Rp

So the Most Sin attacks Mischieflaws and kills everyone... then this forgotten beast shows up and wrecks everybody's day! Then they go to Atticmuffins, their leader is this troll (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Urut_Mulutostgud), he kills a lot of people (mostly goblins, interestingly enough) before being wounded and imprisoned by the group Kothvir founded. This is insanity.

Edit: The forgotten beast kept the dwaven group nominally alive that 5 gremlins rose to nobles, keeping the fort going.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on November 07, 2022, 05:37:12 pm

Yay! The Greatest Attic of Muffins, rulers of Atticmuffins, stem the tide of goblin brutality!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on November 07, 2022, 06:21:57 pm

The Winter of Rusna Springblossom the Gulf of Liberties


It had been years since my original journey, i have gained the nickname the gulf of Liberies after facing and slaying many night trolls. I had made the south of Orid Xem much more safer. The tundra of heros being a great divide that most won't travel will allow the south to be secure against the night hags of the north. My axe is strong and has kept me alive thus far but the cost on my body has been quite damaging. I am littered with scars and missing half of my teeth. Fucking night hags i tell you, always going for my teeth. I decided to travel back to the museum. My bandilier of night hag skulls on tightly as i make my way towards boltspumpkin. I had planned on making a donation and nothing could be better that these diamonds. The only crop of black diamond in Orid Xem that we had dug up, they were handcraved into an octogon cut. They were truly a masterpiece of The Page of Tiredness embodying the four dwarven traits of power, charisma, certainty, and passion. The power was embodied by the toughness of the gemstone, solid and ridged like dwarven constitution. The Charisma was its beauty, its clean octagonal cuts allowed clear windows into its dark inky abyss alluring the eyes to sink into the void. Certainty is its very existance, solid, eternal and everlasting. The gems will outlive me, as i expire and become nothing. My bones crumbling to mere grains of sand as The Autumnal Desert consumes the land. They will still be there. Lastly was passion, worked on by the finest craftsdwarf, the work took several hours of detailed meticulous work to make them flawless and perfect in design.

As i wanded ever closer i thought of my journey. The world was cruel, i recall As Brunchsiege. The goblin who i should of put out of his misery but i couldn't. He was kind and welcoming. Whilst it was obvious he wasn't fully all there. It was understandible, he had gone through alot. I still recal our reaction upon seeing him, poor Agal seemed out of it.
(https://i.imgur.com/QYHC9n4.jpg)
 The dwarf regaled us with his story, once a skilled swordsman working for The Axes of Time. They were a nomadic group founded hundreds of years ago. He had joined and served under the last human commander before serving the goblin Sor Masterednotched, the two were friendly and were the last of the group. One hundred years later, whilst As was out on patrol, a friendish demon of many limbs killed her and left him the sole survivor of The Axes of Time. He was now the commander but of what. He waited for new recruits or an envoy from another civilization requesting aid but it never came. He had seen two dwarves pop in but they didn't stay long but then came a human. He did not catch his name nor recalled much about his. First his eyes were sliced, blinding him, he paniced and tried to run but felt imense pain as both his left and right hand were severed from the wrist. He was sliced several times until the human sliced his lower body open. The human yanked on his guts and with a pricise cut, removed them from the goblins body. He passed out and came too to find he couldn't hear the human presence anymore. He waited there in silence and flith desperatly trying to make it out.
(https://i.imgur.com/2aMbp08.jpg)
We felt pity, especially once we had both spotted the cruel display of both the goblins hands and guts on display like some sick artshow. We began to clean up and fed him some of our food supply. We had asked what he wanted us to do as i offered to join his group. He wanted us to clear insighthexes and promised a reward for us. We headed over to the pit expecting goblins but just six feral beak dogs. We returned with news but he had forgotten who we were. I thought it was a joke said made up a group name and pretended to claim it and he believed me. Powerless to fight back, he just slumped down and didn't fight it. I told him it was a joke before we departed to Ironwards. It was a year later before a letter from The Knowing Deceiver made me a lady of them. Poor As had been true to his word and i felt such sorrow for the goblin, such shame as he would make an excellent leader and could end the war with The Knowing Deceiver.
(https://i.imgur.com/TA598xS.jpg)
It also reminded me as Agal Sprinkleprotent, the mighty Maceman, he was a great defender. Whilst he had never killed anything he kept beasts and bay and had helped protect me numerous times. I had picked him up at Murderhelp, he was a religous traveler. He was a kind by oftem Macrbe fellow. He was on a religous journey like myself but whilst i let Shatags seasons guide me. He was searcing for answers from Kas Bannershocked, from what i learned later he was a human god of travelers, war and death. He said that he felt some pull and wanted to follow it to see what travels would Kas Bannershocked would lead him on. Ofcourse when we made it to Ironwards and desended down into hell. He broke, i don't know what happened he just ran out of the gate and instantly engaged an iguana demon. I knew they were too dangerous, i tried my beast to take down the demon to save Agal but it was no use, he was babbling like a maniac. Screaming about "A blind savior will save him" and "I will be reborn stronger" before being beaten to a plup. The demon was slain and i knew that it was too much for him, his mind and beliefs had broken his mind. It was too much, i let out a prayer to shatag to guide his spirit to peace. As i spent days culling the demons that had encrouched futher closer towards the outpost.

I will return down there and take up the post once more but for now the world is safe from a demon incursion. I have taken up residence nearby at Boltspumkin. With its close proximity and countless artifacts. Its a key place to defend if the worse is to occur.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Yarlig on November 07, 2022, 06:25:51 pm

Quote from: Lurker Z on November 07, 2022, 05:14:05 pm

Re: Not enough peril. I really think you're looking, intentionally or not, to God-tier adventurers like Moldath or Avolition. I feel most players are casuals at adventure mode. Hell, someone starting for fun/roleplaying as kobold, gremlin, weak-animal-man or even goblin will be splattered by the first angry mob in the game. Remember Imic in turn 2 got splattered by a goblin. We're not all God-tier adventurers to not be splattered at the first blighted thrall.

Another issue I see is that every time we activate a site, we'll activate another massacre. Even if we don't stay long around to see its end. You remember how bored people were by that post-apocalyptic scenery with empty villages? Well, prepare for those to multiply (by 2, 3, 5?) the next century. The blight has reduced Adilatir to 300 dwarves. How fun will it be playing in all the other nations if they're similarly depopulated? Everyone's howlering laughing at the genocide of elves. So at this rate, in the next century or so, we won't have any more elves except undead. Is that going to make the world more fun?

I remember starting playing just expecting to die in the wilderness and to start fortress mode. Lurker Onecbehal surviving gave me the interest in adventure mode, to see where he or other adventurers will go after they took something of value to the Museum. If I just play every time just to be ganked at the first encounter with a thrall, I might as well prepare myself to play my turn just for the fortress mode again. So, should I kill my interest in adventure mode again?

And, when they see that getting something to the Museum will be impossible, how many new people will join to try? How many will stay?

I do understand and respect your points; I actually remember my first adventure here in this Museum; I spent around two hours designing my character' Lic Orderblood' and planning out the basics of an adventure. Less than an hour of gameplay later' I was dead' massacred by three howling freaks. So yeah' been there' too.

To address your points more clearly though' I was actually thinking more of a challenge for mid-to-upper-mid-tier adventurers; Moldath' Avolition' et al could realistically only be threatened by other adventurers' or demons. As for the lower level characters' there's always the option of running away. And sometimes' it's the best choice' to weave around the danger. Playing as Lic' I should've avoided the fight' but I got too cocky then and it ended in my downfall.

The depopulation' well' I mostly do agree; however' I think the real beauty of Orid Xem lies in its constant' incremental evolution' and its ever-changing nature. Even if entire villages or towns were to disappear' we can always stage a repopulation attempt' like what Maloy has been doing lately. There are options to play human civilizations in fort mode screen; you can always bring more people to the world and resettle them in towns. We could have entire kingdoms brought back from the brink of destruction with adventurers as the harbingers and leaders' just as the world came back from near-death in the first place. We've worked through so many things' we can work through this too.

These are just my counterpoints' you may agree with them or not; I do appreciate your contribution and agree that I might have went too hard going full heel. Whatever has happened and happens' it's important those issues are being addressed and that we may follow a more balanced path in the future' hopefully.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on November 07, 2022, 06:34:47 pm

So outside of my past turns posting. Part of the fort i had raisied all the necromancer towers but in addition to that i had sent squads of dwarves to inhabit new sites and i had just noticed that one of the places i claimed and populated Sculptedshovel was empty so i looked at what they did and they lauched a expedtion to "reclaim" The Depths of Rasping. I didn't know they would of their own action claim these sites, interesting. I suppose dwarves would perfer a cave over an old fort. I think its because one of the dwarfs became a warlord, then made a squad of the remaining 8 dwarves to send out to reclaim the cave. If they are still around on my next turn definitly sending more dwarves her way. Melbil Copperblocks, seems to know what to do.

The other site (pits) i claimed still have the populations of dwarves unmoved. So if you are around the south its certainly got some more population and is more safer.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Unraveller on November 08, 2022, 11:14:26 am

My heart nearly skipped a beat hearing what had once again befallen the glorious Realm of Silver, can we know no peace, is this blight without end!? As I begin my turn, I pray for the safety of Omon Obin's twin heirs Irka Tinsabre and Rimtil Minetwinkle as they've been summoned from their prospective religious positions in Streammartyred to the capital castle of Silverthrone and Weatherponder. . .

Also playing up the zealous inquisition angle eh QD? Me like. Truly now we need unwavering resolve to root out this blight. . . Even if I well know the dark truths of where your characters will end up. :P

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on November 08, 2022, 11:26:22 am

Old Jas must be getting on a bit now, although I think humans can live up to 120 years old in DF. I wonder which of his progeny will take up the mantle?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on November 08, 2022, 11:36:09 am

Speaking of dark truths, I remember you considering at least once whether to kill the blighted or spread the blight yourself :P

Señamatem ironically got his hard yet not that hard. I made a throwaway fort over the north part of the site (which contains the Mead Hall) and only 3 living thralls existed. Tons of bodies though. The problem is when an adventurer approaches, those 3 will likely infect everyone in the Mead Hall.

By the way, I'm just now reading Jas' first adventure, I see you burned the blighted bodies. I was wondering, did you also burn the clothes, armor and weapons or leave them aside? If possible and you continue with the purging, could you do the latter?

One big problem is that Yarlig infected a lot of settlements, even outside of Omon Obin. Just skimming showed at least a fortress retreat infected too. We'll see who'll survive this latest atrocity.

---

So I've discovered something interesting while looking through Iroram's past. I kept reading that apparently Islas (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Islas_Thuthujeha) had destroyed some of the items in my fort at one time (!!!). More specifically, his corpse (I know at one time he was animated). My first assumption, which lasted for a long time, was that someone had brought Islas' corpse to rampage through Iroram after my last turn. I kept wondering who it could have been... but then I realized this was happening while I was doing my own turn, and I'd sure remember Islas' corpse rampaging through my fort and destroying my items... even though he can't breathe fire or have any methods to destroy my items... Then I realized it: I, the Overseer, destroyed those items. They were probably bought from the caravan and smelted for their metals.

Then I realized something else: Islas is considered by the game a deity because people worship him. I've seen in other forts that apparently the Gods "come down and destroy items" (not an actual quote). So apparently, when you, the overseer, smelt an item in your own fortress, the game records it for posterity that a God or megabeast destroyed it. That's... wild.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Unraveller on November 08, 2022, 11:51:27 am

Quote from: kesperan on November 08, 2022, 11:26:22 am

Old Jas must be getting on a bit now, although I think humans can live up to 120 years old in DF. I wonder which of his progeny will take up the mantle?

He should be 70 on the dot now, but you may be right, I don't feel like spoiling myself as to the date of his death with DF hack or anything, so I'll let it play out as is. Though I've decided he's gotten old enough that I'm mostly retiring him from adventures, he may do a little Blight cleansing here if needed though.

And @Lurker, I haven't been the best at cleaning up after the First Crusade so to speak, it takes quite a lot of time to drag the bodies and all to the fires, but yes I was burning clothes and everything. I figured it'd be better to get rid of the clutter items and all. If you don't mind me asking why'd you want me to keep that stuff around?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on November 08, 2022, 12:00:48 pm

Some weary traveler might need it or it could be moved to some fort. I'm just a hoarder in video games.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Maloy on November 08, 2022, 12:14:40 pm

Maloy and the Ear's plans to expand dominion over the lands might not pan out it seems!
We might just convert Incenseorder into the largest refugee center in the world lol

I'm here for whatever although I doubt Maloy would survive a battle against anything as tough as or tougher than a crocodile lol

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Unraveller on November 08, 2022, 01:16:09 pm

Quote from: Lurker Z on November 08, 2022, 12:00:48 pm

Some weary traveler might need it or it could be moved to some fort. I'm just a hoarder in video games.

I have a feeling endless amounts of worn llama wool underpants won't be all that useful to you, but hey, you got it boss.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Yarlig on November 08, 2022, 01:56:27 pm

To address the scale of the new blight: Omon Obin didn't really get hit that hard. In Senamatem' there's only those three thralls in the mead hall' but I don't think there is anyone left to infect there. There are a couple hamlets in the northern part of the realm which have the majority of the population infected' but not the southern regions' nor any of the five major towns.

The lands that got the worst of the disease are Dur Leru (Empire of Peeks) and Sastpesor (High Confederacies) in the central region' to a lesser extent Mong Uthros (Nations of Honoring). The northernmost reaches of Mong Uthros are relatively free of the blight' so' Maloy' if you were to find a bodyguard and try your luck in those regions' or in southern Omon Obin' you should be able to get some more settlers for Incenseorder.

The forest retreats mostly have Hands of Planegifts living in them' who are technically considered undead and therefore not inimical to the thralls. The blight should not spread across the elven lands therefore' so once the present infected are eradicated' it should stay clean.

Also' concerning fighting the thralls: most of the infected were peasants' lacking any armor and with few proper weapons. This means axes/halberds/swords should be effective' as the thralls do bleed to death. Try to kite them' take out once at a time' and avoid being swarmed. Most of them should go down relatively easily' armored ones are few and far between.

We'll see about it' I still hope it ends up mostly manageable' but if the consequences are too severe I'm ready to take a turn just to cull some of the blighters.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Unraveller on November 08, 2022, 02:06:20 pm

I don't think it should be an issue. The Band of Wax managed to mostly cleanse Omon Obin, I don't see why another adventuring party couldn't do the same elsewhere. Ultimately, it's actually quite easy to become nigh invincible in adventure mode to the tune of taking on armies alone, it's almost difficult not to exploit the systems, heheh.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on November 08, 2022, 04:18:58 pm

Quote from: kesperan on November 07, 2022, 04:57:17 pm

Quote from: kesperan on October 22, 2022, 11:28:49 am

Museum Submission:

51. The twin heads of the ettin Zoku Knightedsheen the Sensual Silk-Call: the last of the ettins, slain in 712 by Thon Scarone and raised as a putrid ghoul in 797, terror of many dwarven forts. Fell for the final time to the mighty Godenrigoth, by the hand of Moldath Mournsaints.
The Hateful Two-head of Menace, an iron breastplate: It is dented and caked in filth, but the blueberry bush symbol of the Walled Dye is still visible. This iron breastplate was torn from a valiant defender of the deepfolk, and used by the ettin Zoku Knightedsheen to slay five dwarves in his rampage on Falsetower.

Forts Visited (forts visited a 2nd time not listed):

Secrethome
Crystalworship the Temple of Vultures
Urnways

For attention of Bralbaard - I see you have updated the first page recently. I think the 4th link of my Turn 91 is not linking to my final entry on page 160, and you've missed my submission for that turn, which I have quoted above.

Love the start to your thrall-infused story QD.

Looks like there will be plenty of ghouls to slay in coming turns thanks to the Ghoul Father!

O wow. I somehow missed that part of your story, and it is quite an epic part of history for the world too, tying together a lot of loose ends. Too bad the royal title did not stick. I guess it is automatically up for grabs once you leave on further adventures.  Same thing happened when Bralbaard went on his adventures.

Anyhow, I've updated a lot of stuff, but there is a lot going on and a lot of people are writing their story lines simultaneously, so I might have missed stuff.  Let me know if that's the case, especially if the turn list is not complete.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on November 08, 2022, 05:22:55 pm

Since the plan was to retire Moldath as King and having previous examples in King Bralbaard, I don't think that's the case. In fact, I'm pretty sure it happened a few in-game days after kasperan ended his turn. The theory we're having is Moldath gaining the title by the Queen giving it to him (though I'm not sure if it was natural or dfhack-y; I've seen mentions on the wiki that Monarchs can (very?) rarely ask you to take their position; though it begs the question why an NPC necromancer would do that) made it not stick. It is also interesting and to be mentioned that of the 5 adventurers ascended (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Adventurer_of_the_Museum#The_Adventurer_Kings), King Bralbaard and depending on his methods King Moldath are the only ones who ascended without killing the previous Monarchs.

I think you missed the news either because it was mostly visible to us in Legends Viewer, it didn't stick or I put it in spoilers when I mentioned it.

If you have time, read the posts about the blight too, Bralbaard.

Since you're around, there's a question that keeps bugging me, though it'll likely not have any part in my turn: is King Bralbaard really dead? (I mean, barring the resurrected limbs). I would assume so since people have been trying to resurrect him from parts lately.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on November 09, 2022, 01:51:41 am

He could not be unretired, not even by the unretire-anyone command, I guess that means he's currently gone. The situation regarding his many deaths has gotten complicated however. It might be that there is a more complete corpse to resurrect somewhere. Offscreen deaths can also have unpredictable outcomes.

Edit: About the blight, I think we can continue without further rules. We do not have many newbies on the list. That might change december 6th when the new version is released, but the blight will be the least of their problems.
They will need a full introduction on what adventure mode is just to get them started, not to mention that they'll need to learn to play the 'old' version, and figure out the user interface, ascii and all the things we take for granted. I'll write something to point them in the right direction once the new DF version is out.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Maloy on November 09, 2022, 05:32:07 am

I checked viewer to see if I could locate more parts

According to what I was reading your main body is a zombie in the wilderness so that might explain the command issue.
Besides being a mindless zombie you're also not in a settlement. If someone wanted to comb through the region you're in and then gently lay your body to rest, carry it to a town and resurrect you with intelligence that might work?


I'm cool with no rule! I offered middle of the road option in case it was wanted, but I'm fine with whatever

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on November 09, 2022, 05:37:54 am

The detached hand is playable, which is sufficient for my next turn. Technically the game sees it as a full zombie, but there is only a hand.  Is this what you refer to as main body?

I will play the hand for my next turn, any other parts are up for grabs.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on November 09, 2022, 07:39:41 am

Hope the hand of Bralbaard roles well. Also since the head in non-intelligent undead. I wonder if fully revived if he would go feral and attack when not under player control.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on November 09, 2022, 08:30:22 am

I've taken a look at the forgotten beast who saved Mischieflaws (that's Bralbaard-as-Midas' comission gremlin fort, if I'm not mistaken). Its name is Rifi_Cèthuthacetha (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Rifi_Cèthuthacetha) and it is a blob of water. That probably means it's sadly going to get splattered the next time someone activates the site.

Its description is also hilarious.

https://i.imgur.com/KEtGsy8.png

Code: [Select]

It has a very calm demeanor.Not what I would expect from a FB.

Code: [Select]

It does not trust others.(https://i.imgur.com/o5uDaUI.jpeg)

Code: [Select]

It enjoys being in crowds.Yes, it sure liked being in that 50 troll crowd. That would not mesh well with a FB, but it does mesh with a bloodthirsty one. It also emerged in the Curious Horror's capital and ate a troll, so it appears it really likes being in crowd of trolls.

Code: [Select]

It is easily moved to mercy...............................................................

Code: [Select]

It has a tendency to go it alone, without considering the advice of others.Again, FB, you don't say.

Code: [Select]

It finds helping others emotionally rewarding.Considering the battle, maybe. Wouldn't be when it's out of abstract mode and into adventure/fortress mode.

Code: [Select]

It doesn't cling tightly to ideas and is open to changing its mind.Ah, a FB with a better trait than 50% of sapient beings, fictional or not. Says something about the world, that.

Code: [Select]

It likes a little excitement now and then. You jump into a demon capital yesterday, into a war today, sleep the half a millennium in between. Makes perfect sense.

Wonder what its fate will be.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Maloy on November 09, 2022, 09:26:29 am

Quote from: Bralbaard on November 09, 2022, 05:37:54 am

The detached hand is playable, which is sufficient for my next turn. Technically the game sees it as a full zombie, but there is only a hand.  Is this what you refer to as main body?

I don't think so? So here's a screenshot of where your hand is
(https://i.imgur.com/q3E1GSD.png)


But when I look up your main body here is what I find
(https://i.imgur.com/BDePHxY.png)


So if I am reading that right your body is wandering somewhere in the jungle

I would think that if the unit in question is not in an actual settlement of some kind, even a lair or cave, then the game wouldn't permit you to use them even through dfhack. Just conjecture

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on November 09, 2022, 10:00:32 am

Edit: removed an earlier version of this post, because I can't read. It seems there might be two bralbaards out there. The hand (raised by Bor) is definitely out in the jungle and perfectly playable. The game will just drop it in a random site when played. The Urus-raised bralbaard,I know nothing about, but I vaguely remember someone stating that a resurrection attempt failed, earlier? But indeed it might still be out there?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on November 09, 2022, 10:58:25 am

I think this implies that there are atleast three undead Bralbaards out there. The Hand, the body and the head. I know he lost his head and i did bring it to herograves so i assume the head and body were revived along with the left hand.

One day all the pieces of Bralbaard will be reunited

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Unraveller on November 09, 2022, 11:20:29 am

A relic of a bygone age.

With many mysterious rumblings in the dark,  how do you all see the future of Orid Xem as we come to enter it's 1000th year somewhat soon?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on November 09, 2022, 11:44:00 am

The next turn if my calculation is right will be the last week of the year (if no one doesn't show up) and close to the 1000 year mark. Holyblood has a big plan and i will have the time to do a lot. >:)

But i see Orid Xem fluctuating currently, flickering from twilight to golden age and what not. Eventually will come the age of fairytails or an age of goblins depending on peoples actions.

I rekon without intervention, The Staff of Kissing will return to extinction. Another human Civ is likely to fall due to low numbers. Kobolds are near extinction and will be extinct by the 80 or so years til the year 1,000. The elfs are close to the end but if left alone could slowly repopulate. The discovery of the lost 12th secret, maybe. Thats if i can find a certain backpack in the wilderness.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on November 09, 2022, 12:14:27 pm

Interesting predictions. I'm not betting on any of them. In fact, I'm hoping for the last dwarf civ (the ones whose remainder are the soldiers of night) to return from the grave. I might try it out the turn after my next one.

We could probably keep the human civs alive by using the technique Unraveller has used to play Omon Obin "forts". The goblins sending armies of trolls is worrying for the civs with fewer sites. The Armored Confederacy (the one Avolition is the Law-Giver of) is the most at risk, if an attack managed to decapitate both the remaining citizens and Law-Giver Avolition, it'll go extinct. I think your Law-Giver or one of his citizens should seriously consider either founding or reclaiming some new sites so the civ can have some momentum to do it itself.

If anything, it'll be the age of humans, so far nobody's cared that the goblins are getting extincted by adventurers, until recently I didn't even thought it would be possible, but the entire thread's ganging up on them has killed over 30,000.

I think I've said it before, but a civ's capability of survival depends on the number of settlements it has active rather than strictly the numbers of citizens (though the latter helps). Case in point, The Staff has recently reclaimed on its own a cave that belonged to Adilatir. Ribiromimi seems to have realized this early in history and retrieved most of its settlements.

I do have to wonder what this cross-reclaiming is going to do to inter-civ relation. Another question is if the wars that started or survived into the 8th century are ever going to end. I think you can end some in fortress mode, but what about nations you don't control? Are we going to end in a World War situation where everyone will fight anyone and only the dwarf nations will be able to end their own fights while the rest of the nations will exist until the end of time in perpetual war?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Unraveller on November 09, 2022, 12:35:51 pm

On that topic even if they're in states of perpetual war on paper, it doesn't seem like these wars amount to much at all after a time. Very few battles occur that actually seem to change the state of the world past Gen, or so I feel.

---

EDIT: -- SO it seems that during my short day and a half playing this save, which involved Irka and Rimtil, heirs of Omon Obin leading the next blight purge in their nation and then setting up a small fort to continue from, the game has become unplayable for me. I spent about an in-game year on said fort and intended to train troops in it for the heirs to lead, in otherwords there wasn't anything particularly special about it but regardless, now on ALL THREE of the devices in this house, none can load the save past the 'Loading Items' section, it merely hangs unresponsively while attempting to use 16gbs of memory.

There's no error log as the game does not crash, perhaps some item created during this time corrupted things. I have the choice of sussing that out or restarting, unfortunately it's fairly frustrating either way, haha.

EDIT EDIT: With some digging, found out the issue. The world.dat file in Yarlig's save is about 160,000 KB, mine is only 16,000 KB. Somehow during my play, an entire decimal got shaved off of the world.dat file. Which basically amounts to it being broken. With no known way to edit this data structure as far as I'm aware, I can't just patch the holes either, so I have no choice but to start over after some pretty good sessions too. . . A bit disheartening.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on November 09, 2022, 02:36:18 pm

That's unfortunate. It would be fine with me if it didn't count against your turn limit.
Try to save and back up often!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on November 09, 2022, 03:11:57 pm

Truly sorry to hear that. I second Bralbaard, you had some great turns and it's great to see your progress every time. I'm still in the process of reading Jas' first story.

One suggestion: make sure at least one of Jas' kids survive, move them to your fort and make sure they have kids, this is one of the things I have gripes in the current version of the game, sapients rarely have children outside fortress mode and humans not at all. All the human lines that survived from a time before time into the late 8th century are ended now, not even because of the blight, but because of this faulty mechanic.

---

Regarding the impact of wars, I'll have to disagree. I think the reason wars didn't have much effect on the world is that the world was at an effective peace since the decisive battle in 345. We see for example the consequences of the Curious Horror's wars from world generation, where several armies tried to take Shadmalzuglar several times. There are the 708-709 wars against the elven capital Vacirayali which gutted the leadership, killing the Queen, 3 Druids and 3 Princesses, leading to the rise of the Dark Queen Vafice. That's pretty important. There were some attacks against Artha Peacefulsong, who defended Odiuse several time from the Most Sin. Meanwhile, Apocalypse Bear Arcturus was ordered into battle, defeated and imprisoned by the elves. Even my Iroram (probably Eskon too) were attacked throughout history. We have the phyrric victory of Okutu Olngö which had King Bralbaard killed and could have very well ended in the fall of Sethurdim Mestthos Oram (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Sethurdim_Mestthos_Oram) with not one, but two Monarchs dying due to wars where players had no control. Now we had the recent the Battle of Cemoshtoral (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Battle_of_Cemoshtoral) which by all logic should have ended with the destruction of at least the original group of a player fortress. Now we're seeing the Most Sin going on the offensive again. All in all, I feel the wars have impacted the world enough during these over two centuries and if the Most Sin continues its aggressive expansion, with 33,000 goblins (I find it curious that those trolls aren't recognized by Legends Viewer, so they might have a lot more non-goblin troops in reserve) they're a credible threat to any they dare to challenge, especially with the blight decimating the lands.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Unraveller on November 09, 2022, 06:33:16 pm

Quote from: Lurker Z on November 09, 2022, 03:11:57 pm

One suggestion: make sure at least one of Jas' kids survive, move them to your fort and make sure they have kids, this is one of the things I have gripes in the current version of the game, sapients rarely have children outside fortress mode and humans not at all. All the human lines that survived from a time before time into the late 8th century are ended now, not even because of the blight, but because of this faulty mechanic.

Aside from clearing out the thralls that the Ghoulfather had put to Omon Obin last go-round, this is more or less my main goal, and what I'm currently in the process of doing. I don't have extremely lofty plans this turn, though perhaps I am sowing the seeds for the Realm of Silver to better defend its lands. . . Garrisons in all occupied towns! Albiet in a very roundabout way.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on November 09, 2022, 07:31:35 pm

I had a poke about the save and there are just so so many ghouls now. They are only going to spread.

I guess we will be cleansing thrall infestations for the next 100 years!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Unraveller on November 10, 2022, 01:20:12 pm

Maybe it's time to build a giant wall around the entire Realm of Silver. :p

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Eric Blank on November 10, 2022, 01:55:44 pm

That won't help. Ghouls are too crafty. Only mass slaughter will purge the plague from the infected lands

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Unraveller on November 10, 2022, 05:05:42 pm

You're correct of course, perhaps it will be the life-goal of a future mad and weak Law-Giver. But for now. . . Soldiers and Silver armor.

---

(https://i.imgur.com/bT2BnSn.png)

They had this child in their mid-seventies. I had always wondered if there was some 'fertility' stat that reduced as they aged, now I'm not too sure. I feel like I'm playing Crusader Kings over here, never would get this experience of DF without the Museum. : )

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on November 10, 2022, 05:44:45 pm

Quote from: Unraveller on November 10, 2022, 01:20:12 pm

Maybe it's time to build a giant wall around the entire Realm of Silver. :p

*tempted to spoil my next turn, tempted to spoil my turn, tempted to spoil my next turn...*

Quote from: Unraveller on November 10, 2022, 05:05:42 pm

You're correct of course, perhaps it will be the life-goal of a future mad and weak Law-Giver. But for now. . . Soldiers and Silver armor.

---

(https://i.imgur.com/bT2BnSn.png)

They had this child in their mid-seventies. I had always wondered if there was some 'fertility' stat that reduced as they aged, now I'm not too sure. I feel like I'm playing Crusader Kings over here, never would get this experience of DF without the Museum. : )

Congrats for the offspring. I also love CK almost as much as DF. Specifically "almost", including because CK was always used as a cash cow, CK2 likely won't be further updated, I hate the graphics in CK3 so I won't play it until they get out a mod for it to look like CK2 and CK is ultimately playing with only the lives of a limited number of people, in DF you control just about everything in the environment. Long life to Toady to make this game as great as can be.

Well, seeing as I've had the fortune of your turn to be shortly before mine, I continue to wish you well in completing it (save often!), maybe I won't be forced to flee like a thief in the night from my hopeful home in Señamatem, because yes I plan to start from there and I've learned my lesson to just run from the blight. Props to (off the top of my head) Bralbaard, Maloy and Leto for doing that when I foolishly rushed in to confront it last time.

Re: fertility and other matters: At least from World Generation, we see hist figures marry, give children and fight until they keel over, even if it is from old age. The legendary Tholtig (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Tholtig_Momuzidek) was fighting a war by herself and slaying elves until she dropped dead of old age and she was the only person left alive of her fortress, if not her civilization. When she died, the events for the fort died, she died during the war, she died of old age. Dwarf Fortress is the best game that humanity has ever seen.

---

Just got to read Leto and QD as Ehhu's turn, I'm surprised I'm almost up to date with the stories. Remember that troll (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Urut_Mulutostgud) that tried to take Mischieflaws, he also attacked Leto's vampire companions, apparently by his lonesome, and was repelled before the attack on Atticmuffins. Either Ol' Urut is determined to enter into (Museum adventurer) history or his superiors are, the Most Sin are hitting at our very history.

As for QD's turn, definitely loved it. It had enough mystery, enough action and moderation in making the Abyssal Cult a practically regional though story-wise world threat. I loved the fight with Jas, how it was incorporated, how Ehhu (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Ehhu_Kenomreko) died a hero. 10/10, there's always work and thoughtfulness shown in QD's stories while we run around either as scared chicken or murderhobos. Also loved the exploration of those two large and awesome forts. Maybe mine will be 1% of that after I'll complete my thousandth turn in the same world lol.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on November 10, 2022, 05:58:14 pm

I guess the Law-giver of silver has the Fecund trait. Perhaps the once two sibling war might become more muddy. I wonder what god this heir worships. Looking forward to seeing what becomes of your turn. Please save and make backups as i would hate to see you lose more progress.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Unraveller on November 10, 2022, 05:59:33 pm

Quote from: Lurker Z on November 10, 2022, 05:44:45 pm

Well, seeing as I've had the fortune of your turn to be shortly before mine, I continue to wish you well in completing it (save often!), maybe I won't be forced to flee like a thief in the night from my hopeful home in Señamatem, because yes I plan to start from there and I've learned my lesson to just run from the blight. Props to (off the top of my head) Bralbaard, Maloy and Leto for doing that when I foolishly rushed in to confront it last time.

I'll be doubly sure to make Señamatem safe! It should be after all, considering that Ralkalur (Silverthrone) is on the same map tile. I might actually expand a 'new district' for Weatherponder and just build a sprawling city like you might get in world gen at some point. I'm definitely fixated at building up the Realm of Silver from here on.

Quote from: AvolitionBrit on November 10, 2022, 05:58:14 pm

I guess the Law-giver of silver has the Fecund trait. Perhaps the once two sibling war might become more muddy. I wonder what god this heir worships. Looking forward to seeing what becomes of your turn. Please save and make backups as i would hate to see you lose more progress.

This one's a worshipper of Bikda and Loli. I haven't quite decided how I'll go about things with their succession just yet, at least not story-wise. Jas may yet live for a while longer so I suppose I'll deal with it as it comes, though Irka certainly has the ambition, I don't feel they'd straight up fell their father. Even if they take things down a darker path, they have the best intentions for the Realm in mind.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Eric Blank on November 10, 2022, 06:40:32 pm

FYI there is no measure of fertility stat, fertility is a binary, you're either fertile or sterile. So characters can absolutely give birth to a kid and then die of old age the next day. There are sexual orientations, which apply to intelligent creatures, whereupon they will not concieve a child unless they have a partner they're sexually involved with of the opposite sex, but that doesn't technically affect their fertility per se.

The only things that normally remove fertility are; being a child, getting gelded (females cannot be gelded even if they have a geldable part, I actually applied it to the lowerbody and lo and behold, it never happens for females), becoming a vampire or ghoul, dying and being resurrected/zombified, or having any other syndrome that applies the [sterile] flag or damages the geldables (in males). I could have forgotten a case of course.

Interestingly, as a recent bug pointed out, werebeast curses do not cause sterility, causing that random unpredictable/diagnosible CTD when a cursed individual gave birth while transformed.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on November 10, 2022, 06:43:07 pm

So he Bikda the male human god of Night, Moon and Trees. Additionally worshiping Loli Fairclearing the male human deity of peace. Interesting, we will watch his carrer with great interest.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Unraveller on November 11, 2022, 02:11:59 pm

Hate to be the bearer of bad news, but after my four years of fortressing, the game crashes without fail immediately when choosing to retire. . . I'll poke around for a bit and see if I can find the source of corruption. But this time it's not an issue of me forgetting to save, but something even more frustrating.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on November 11, 2022, 02:24:19 pm

Care to share the details? what is crashing?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Unraveller on November 11, 2022, 02:27:46 pm

The entire game client closes immediately as soon as 'Ending Game' appears, after choosing to either Retire or Abandon the fortress I was working on. There is no error log that is generated for this CTD either. However it can save without an issue.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on November 11, 2022, 02:55:33 pm

That's... weird. And not the worst, I suppose. You can always upload the fort once you finish your turn and people from the thread or from places with troubleshooting can look through it and see what's wrong.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Unraveller on November 11, 2022, 03:06:08 pm

Quote from: Lurker Z on November 11, 2022, 02:55:33 pm

That's... weird. And not the worst, I suppose. You can always upload the fort once you finish your turn and people from the thread or from places with troubleshooting can look through it and see what's wrong.

Not certain what you mean? It's all I was doing with my turn ultimately, and fairly awful to potentially lose it. Since I can't retire or abandon, it's not as if anyone using this save could enter adventure mode, once again potentially invalidating everything done so far.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on November 11, 2022, 03:11:31 pm

I was thinking you could upload the save as is once you finish construction in fortress mode and some people in the thread might troubleshoot how to get it working or where the problem lies? Or maybe building past a certain point in in-game time will neutralize the bugs? I'm just throwing ideas.

I remember I had issues with the FPS slowing down for no apparent reason, only to discover the game was probably calculating troop movements or war in the rest of the world, then it stabilized. Maybe it's something like that?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on November 11, 2022, 03:14:03 pm

I think what lurker is saying; uploading the save without retiring/abandoning it. So then we can see if it can be fixed/ammended. Not to toot my own horn and ive got a pretty beastly computer so if its a too much at once issue i might be able to resolve but sounding by it its encountering some other error that we might be able to solve.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Unraveller on November 11, 2022, 03:42:57 pm

It seems that won't be necessary, I have delved into df hack's most arcane lore and navigated to global.world.units and individual deleted all reference to every unit in the fort, thereafter I was able to retire. Either this means there is a corrupt unit somewhere in the giant haystack, or I suppose possible the load of retiring with all of those units is too much for my PC. I'll post/edit if I find the specific unit, but it may be a while.

EDIT: Somehow, someway. . . Five regular old Reptile Men standing in a fungiwood tree in an inaccessible part of the cavern were causing this crash. I am simply unable to rationalize how this is the case. Deleting their entries allowed me to retire.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Maloy on November 11, 2022, 04:52:13 pm

Our secret reptilian overlords strike again!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on November 11, 2022, 04:53:31 pm

It makes sense, the game hates units in occupied spaces. Atleast it was resovled. Was worried that this world was close to its end. Althought it will be interesting to see what will bring this world to its end. It has endured alot, serveal bugs, broken sites and other issues.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Unraveller on November 11, 2022, 05:02:54 pm

I feel as if though aside from the always growing data in the game, minor corruptions like these can be solved with some determination and liberal delving into the structure with DF-Hack. Although it is quite tedious, haha. That aside, Irka is begining to lead his men to garrison the many small Omon Obin towns. Beware evil-dooers!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Salmeuk on November 11, 2022, 06:03:16 pm

the reptilian god will not be pleased you deleted his minions mid-summoning ritual. prepare for the wrath of the scales

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on November 11, 2022, 06:11:17 pm

The great worm has come to feed on Orid Xem

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on November 11, 2022, 07:15:08 pm

Glad it's resolved, Unrevaller. I continue to wish you good luck in your turn, may Jas' reign and that of his heirs be eternal and benevolent over the Realm of Silver!

Hmmmmm, now that I think about it, you wouldn't even have had the problem if you just tweak makeown'd them. lol. See? I solved possible crashes during my turns without even realizing it. lol.

Quote from: Salmeuk on November 11, 2022, 06:03:16 pm

the reptilian god will not be pleased you deleted his minions mid-summoning ritual. prepare for the wrath of the scales

If people still remember, I have embraced our reptilian overlords. I have nourished them. I have brought them to the surface from the caves. I have fed and watered them. I have given them the power to gain names in the above-world's languages.* Iä! Iä! Armok fhtagn!

*I legit possessed a goblin to be brought to Iroram so a reptile person would kill it, revived the goblin, then arranged for the next reptile person to kill it until they all had names. Real ritualistic stuff. Eskôn and Iroram must be holy places to the reptile people since they're the first (and probably only, so far, in the game) to have actually made reptile people citizens.

Quote from: AvolitionBrit on November 11, 2022, 04:53:31 pm

It makes sense, the game hates units in occupied spaces. Atleast it was resovled. Was worried that this world was close to its end. Althought it will be interesting to see what will bring this world to its end. It has endured alot, serveal bugs, broken sites and other issues.

Spoiler: Hope I didn't jinx myself (click to show/hide)

_{Honestly, after all these bugs miraculously resolved that would have probably each doomed any individual game, I stopped worrying about the fate of the world. I'm not going to push it, but if it survived actions it was probably not meant to even process, until proven otherwise I'll start from the conclusion that the game can handle anything bar malicious sabotage.}

Quote from: AvolitionBrit on November 11, 2022, 06:11:17 pm

The great worm has come to feed on Orid Xem

May its teeth remain blunt and feeble for the rest of time.

---

I've made a few test reclaims and Iroram crashes the game every time I try to reclaim it. Moreover, it also crashes every time I try to get an adventurer near it. Any thoughts?

Hm, it lets me play Bomrek, but as soon as I make one move, game crashes. It lets me look around too. It only crashes when I move.

Let's try with ASCII. Result: Crashes even with ASCII.

Reveal all works.

Also, installing and uninstalling ASCII has borked my tileset in that it looks like the one in the Museum I. Have to reinstall the game I suppose.

Ok, so it lets me reclaim Falsetower. That means it's not the issue that it doesn't let me reclaim.

I give up. I'll see if it's that bad after my adventurer turn. Also, Treatyseed won't let me reclaim it either. It might be the same problem as Unraveller's. It might be that LV says there are 5 dwarves in the group, yet the group has 7 dwarves in leading positions. It may be some body parts that the game doesn't understand. F sake.

(https://i.imgur.com/gf9Z0x6.png)
You did what, mate? Oh-kay, attempting to disable dfhack, maybe that's part of the problem...

Ok, I'm getting somewhere.

Spoiler: Crash report (click to show/hide)

Code: [Select]

Problem signature:
  Problem Event Name: APPCRASH
  Application Name: Dwarf Fortress.exe
  Application Version: 0.0.0.0
  Application Timestamp: 6011fb69
  Fault Module Name: Dwarf Fortress.exe
  Fault Module Version: 0.0.0.0
  Fault Module Timestamp: 6011fb69
  Exception Code: c0000005
  Exception Offset: 00000000001785c5
  OS Version: 6.1.7601.2.1.0.256.1
  Locale ID: 1033
  Additional Information 1: 5b27
  Additional Information 2: 5b274ecac23c5800d2dd44a6bf238df0
  Additional Information 3: 3157
  Additional Information 4: 3157fe4e6d8ddee70f3a4be726703804


---

My error appears to be more mild and/or different than Alnismîvid‏‎ (Warshrieks), as trying to reclaim WS instantly crashes the game, while trying to reclaim Iroram gives me the message about reclaiming and allows me to utilize dfhack to clean objects and such before pressing enter. Hopefully Iroram can still be salvaged.

---

And to answer Unraveller (and thanks for pointing it out), yes, the error log contains mention of that error repeatedly.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Unraveller on November 12, 2022, 01:52:54 pm

My best guess would be some form of corrupt data, whether that be units, items, invaders that won't spawn on the map or any other assortment thereof. Especially if it's localized to those forts. Does the 'errorlog' text give anything? Possibly 'Succession Traveler placed out of bounds'?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on November 13, 2022, 03:29:10 pm

Hope you’re not having any more save glitches and the turn is going well Unraveller. I’m looking forward to the ongoing tales of the Lord of Silver and his descendants.

I’m also eager to see the end of your last turn!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Unraveller on November 14, 2022, 05:04:03 pm

We're getting there, nearly done expanding Weatherponder, then I'll do a wee bit more adventuring maybe and start my write-up. It's not going to be epic to be quite honest, just some set-up for a future turn. I'll try and weave some of the last bit of my previous turn back into this at some point.

EDIT: Lurker, I'll see about repairing those sites of corruption before I send my turn over to you as well.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on November 15, 2022, 06:44:07 pm

Thanks a lot, sorry so much for the bother. I hope you had a great turn and remember to backup before editing for Iroram :)

Edit: Things that I've discovered while trying myself (and failing) to fix it:
* You can reclaim the fortress and it lets you run until the reclamation black screen with white text (the part about the overseer returning). You can keep that up indefinitely and run DFhack commands and they actually affect the map, as in if you give clean all it says thousands of objects were cleaned. Again, no crashes.
** You press enter from that screen, it instantly crashes.
** I haven't tried Quicksave in dfhack from that mode, so it's probably yoke on my face if that, of all things, manages to work.
* Saving from adventure mode doesn't work. The game stays a few minutes trying to save (the progress bar does move forward), but then it crashes. This does not seem to corrupt the save further, so it's weird what it's saving and what it can't save.
* I've tried the bugfix commands from here (https://docs.dfhack.org/en/0.47.05-r6/docs/_auto/fix.html) and they don't appear to help. I've also tried things like clean all, remove wear and other things I know is close to "cleaning" in DF and they don't appear to change or help in any way the situation.

Also, DFFD hasn't worked for a few days (since the weekend or so) for me, it's not the end of the world, but is it not loading just for me or for everyone?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on November 16, 2022, 03:13:03 am

Yeah file depot has been down for a bit. I believe from what I read. It is being worked on/fixed. But it has certainly caused a community game delay.

https://www.reddit.com/r/dwarffortress/comments/ywn21b/yes_the_dffd_dwarf_fortress_file_depot_is_still/

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Unraveller on November 16, 2022, 12:42:03 pm

I'll just send my turn to Google Drive if it's not back up before I'm done. 1-2 more days, power is currently out for an indeterminate time in my area, so I may or may not get to finish it tonight.

EDIT: Power's back on, I'll finish it in the morning. Sorry about it taking a bit longer than intended.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Unraveller on November 19, 2022, 12:06:16 am

Here you are folks, turn is all done and the save is on the Google Drive - HERE (https://drive.google.com/file/d/1d-yKhVVLUjS_18sUIhj7D5Yhb6nNLIeC/view?usp=sharing) -

Please don't take this as doomerism for the future of our amazing Orid Xem, but man, I nearly tore my hair out after the amount of times my data was corrupted or my game crashed inexplicably, or worse, I'd make a bunch of progress then retire, only to find out that the game could no longer be loaded thereafter. I'm hoping these issues were mostly on my end and you'll all have a better time of it from here on. If not. . . Well I learned a lot about using DF-Hack to clear out certain types of corrupt data or to avoid seemingly impossible crashes, so we can definitely get over future instability with some elbow grease.

On that note, Lurker. I spent a couple hours trying to fix your site, Iroram. I hate to admit it, but it had me beat. There's a ton of strangeness about that site, from the bandit overlord necromancer from nearly the dawn of time, to ever traveling nobles not on the site that don't have unit entries in the data, to a seriously screwed up squad with reptile men that don't seem to exist anymore. Speaking of which, many of those Reptile men referred to throughout the data of the site have a histfig id of -1, but the many places they're referred to in such as the squad or noble positions it seemed you at some point attempted to give them have to use this id. So in other words there's a lot of very confused entries all referring to the same theoretical nonexistent histfig of -1.

Just as well I've tried disabling every unit, every position, every squad, etc, as well as various oddities throughout, but was unable to make it get past the first tick. You can get to oversee the fortress at least by using dfhack to do 'gui/gm-editor df.global' during the unretire message and setting the pause state to true, but from there the only way to probably fix the site will be some very specific data manipulation that I suppose I don't currently have the patience for. Sorry about that.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on November 19, 2022, 12:23:28 am

Firstly, thanks ever so much for the time and effort you put into everything. I had hopes, it's true, but I suppose corruption is also a risk in this game, so it is what it is. Thanks again.

Secondly, I don't have time for a lengthy reply, so I'll just resume that most of those mentions were self-inflicted (I brought the necromancer myself and the reptiles I "civilized" too, though it's weird they don't have historical records since they appear in LV and have names; ah well). I have some ideas myself, including either letting the site as is or deleting it like it was with Gor and Duskhome and starting over with the people hopefully still remaining. I'll see what I can do.

One other thing to note is that I think some adventurers did visit after my last retirement, so it probably got corrupted between saves somehow. Maybe I'll replace the site file (do you know its number?) with a version from just after I retired.

I think it's Cook's turn, good luck to him.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Unraveller on November 19, 2022, 12:46:32 am

The site's ID on the gm-editor is 1631, though I'm not fully sure if that lines up with the site files or not. It also has an index of 1602 if that ends up being the relevant number.

When it comes to making even seemingly innocuous changes without fully accounting for every possible reference thereof can have long reaching and usual crashing effects. For a less serious example, trying to use DF-hack to make your character the king of a civilization without also creating historical events and two-way entity/histfig links that also refer to the position appointment just end up making the change not stick for longer than the first retire.

Either way, I hope we can salvage your site, even if that means reverting it back a few years.

---

Ah, there are also two new sites, Weatherponder the New, an expanded district of the town between Silverthrone and the old district. And Realmspire, the heir to Omon Obin's personal spindly, ominous castle in evil mountains situated in the Tundra of Heroes.

No new submissions to the museum unfortunately.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on November 19, 2022, 03:56:59 am

Oh no, has Irka Tinsabre turned Evil???

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Unraveller on November 19, 2022, 11:27:12 am

Quote from: kesperan on November 19, 2022, 03:56:59 am

Oh no, has Irka Tinsabre turned Evil???

I suppose you'll have to wait for me to actually write to find out whether that's the case or not, if evil is the right word. ;P

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on November 19, 2022, 11:44:59 am

There appear to be some bad news, the blighted thralls in Señamatem weren't cleared, or at least some new ones replaced them.

Spoiler: Image (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/bPCyoZb.png)

Article up for Irka (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Irka_Irnatvispol), not sure how spoilery it is, it's info pulled from LV. Might want to not read it until Unraveller posts his story.

Regarding that, I do have a question. How would Jas' dynasty be named? The naming convention is between "House of Jas Anthad" shortened to "House Anthad" ("House of Jas Anthad" would be the article name, but it'd mostly be referred as "House Anthad") or "House Anthad-Laniecroh", adding his wife's last name to the dynasty.

Regarding The Mysterious Order, it wasn't mentioned, but during Hannibal's turn, they officially took over Señamatem from The Dead Band which had ruled since around the year 50.

---

Some of Hannibal's blighted thralls have married, hooooo boy, wonder if any manage to have kids before being put down.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on November 19, 2022, 11:48:10 am

Quote from: Unraveller on November 19, 2022, 11:27:12 am

Quote from: kesperan on November 19, 2022, 03:56:59 am

Oh no, has Irka Tinsabre turned Evil???

I suppose you'll have to wait for me to actually write to find out whether that's the case or not, if evil is the right word. ;P

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

He worships Gopet the Putrid Cyst. It was inevitable.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Unraveller on November 19, 2022, 11:48:47 am

Hm. That's pretty weird. I definitely cleared out all the thralls at the start of my turn, visited every town and such. Guess more appeared as you say. Come to think of it, every migrant wave I had at Realmspire brought Blighted Thralls, suppose I should have done another purge before I handed it over, but I was so beat down by all the game instability that I couldn't manage it. Looking at the time and date, yeah seems that more ghouls moved in during my fortress making. Hopefully a stalwart youngling of the Realm will rise to the challenge.

Actually just prefer Anthrad @Lurker, it's less of a mouthful. Haha.

Quote from: kesperan on November 19, 2022, 11:48:10 am

Quote from: Unraveller on November 19, 2022, 11:27:12 am

Quote from: kesperan on November 19, 2022, 03:56:59 am

Oh no, has Irka Tinsabre turned Evil???

I suppose you'll have to wait for me to actually write to find out whether that's the case or not, if evil is the right word. ;P

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

He worships Gopet the Putrid Cyst. It was inevitable.

Perhaps there are other ways to honor death. . .

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on November 19, 2022, 12:01:49 pm

So I just downloaded the save and tried to unretire Moldath to see what state he is in. Still listed as being in Avolition's fort Holykingdom, but game crashes when I try to load. I think there's something wrong with that site too now.

We may be in the End Times now...

EDIT: Managed to get it to load, but only when switching text style to TWBT. I know from previous experience that this has been a source of errors in the past (using the LNP).

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Unraveller on November 19, 2022, 12:05:10 pm

Quote from: kesperan on November 19, 2022, 12:01:49 pm

EDIT: Managed to get it to load, but only when switching text style to TWBT. I know from previous experience that this has been a source of errors in the past (using the LNP).

I've heard the same yeah, I use strictly vanilla myself and the site loads fine. Hopefully that's just a client issue rather than corruption.

I'm also far too invested in Orid Xem to let it fall with a whimper, even if it is gnarly corruption. Haha

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on November 19, 2022, 12:26:21 pm

Moldath shall rise again! Maybe!

Cook100500 should be next?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Unraveller on November 19, 2022, 03:32:45 pm

Quote from: kesperan on November 19, 2022, 12:26:21 pm

Moldath shall rise again! Maybe!

What more can Moldath get up to I wonder? The Twelfth secret? Ghoul-killing? King-making?

Oh, Bralbaard please give me another turn if you will!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on November 19, 2022, 04:12:41 pm

I send Cook100500 a PM earlier. I'll add you to the list again unraveller. Looking forward  to your writeup!

Here is the updated map, with a new cutout for the area around Silverthrone:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/3L7TZql.gif)

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on November 19, 2022, 08:32:39 pm

Quote from: Unraveller on November 19, 2022, 03:32:45 pm

The Twelfth secret?

Honestly at this stage I think it is gone forever. I am open to suggestions!

Cog Wildnesswork's butchered remains are in Glazedriven, killed by Moldath before he could appreciate his uniqueness.. I could conceivably animate his skin, but not his corporeal form, and he is the only known NPC necromancer to learn Secret_6 - his only apprentice was slain by a cyclops 800 years ago.

The slab The Fragrant Burial is lost in The Pristine Tundras, probably never to be seen again, along with the necromancer hoard of Glazedriven stolen by Th4dwarfy1 Shieldtempests.

Th4dwarfy1 Shieldtempests' body is missing so I can't ressurect him - it is not in Herograves where it was interred, and it was raised as a mindless undead many years ago in 769 - the game tends to forget about non-intelligent undead corpses.

The books and scrolls from Glazedriven are "lost" and so techinically might be sitting on some random map tile in the middle of the glacier, but it would take months to search them all...

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Unraveller on November 19, 2022, 11:41:25 pm

GLORYAGE

Silver did gleam. The warmth of the morning sun beamed down, cutting through the disparate clouds and cutting aside the dense winter fog, it found its way upon the shining mail of the man with golden hair, a worn brow, and eyes that gazed only toward the future. From the precipice of the great hill that loomed over Silverthrone and Weatherponder he stood, swaddled in his arms a shimmering cloth not unlike the color of the morning sky. And therein, the tiniest little insinuation of a baby, drifting in and out of vestigial dreams in their father's arms. The man nudged a finger as gently as he could manage into the child's cheek, rousing it from it's sleep. "Look boy. . . Look Irka." He whispers before turning his eyes back across the Realm. "It's Omon Obin, my boy, it's our home. It's the home we fought for. The home we sweat, bled, and died for."

The young-ling responded with a resounding infantile cry electing their father to chuckle, "Irka Tinsabre." He spoke softly, holding the whining boy up in their adamantine wrap. ". . . The blade that should never be swung. I'll make those words ring true. . !"

---

". . . Some call it Sut, Tomb of Quests. Some say, Ala. The Dwarves say Tithleth or The Black. We know it as Gopet, the Putrid Cyst. . ."

Enrobed figures are gathered in the temples of Streammartyred, the Holy Eel, whom stands pontificating from the high altar splays both arms to either side as he speaks, the tall pointed shroud upon his head sways as he gestures so.

". . . But, my brothers, we know well that these great names are merely the personification of one unifying concept, one immutable truth, inescapable even in our glorious Realm of Silver. Yes. . ." He lowers his arms, leaning forth to place both palms upon the podium from which he speaks. The Holy Eel's occluded eyes pierce through the blackened veil to see his flock, to see the acknowledgement in their own eyes. He grips it tightly, delicate fingers across the rough stone. "Look to the Blights! Can we call this a gift of from the heavens? Can we call it punishment? For lack of virtue? For the stagnation of our old court? For. . ."

Another figure enters the temple, this one enwrapped by colors that mimic the bright moon in dark azure skies. That tall worshiper of Bikda made their way up toward the high altar, and leaned close to the Holy Eel. "Brother. . ." She spoke. "The Lord of Silver beckons for our presence. . ."

---

(https://i.imgur.com/mR43Q6P.png)

There they stood in the great hall of Silverthrone, three generations of Anthrad blood. Upon the titual Silverthrones sat the Law-Giver, Jas Anthrad and his dear wife and companion, Destis Sisterbreeches, both aged of face and greyed of hair. Humbly gathered too were the first-born son and daughter to the aforementioned two, Irka Tinsabre and Rimtil Minetwinkle neither having had a moment to cast off the garb denoting their religious stations. Then, without much in the way of manners to their parents' chagrin, three young children frolicked and danced across the hall of the Mirocline keep, Asri Boldpoked, Upek Yawnbearded, and Am Garnishedtulips all children to the Holy Subtlety, Rimtil.

"Children, please." She spoke, her voice as resounding as her stout body, taking well after her mother. Of course, the kids were off in their own world, playing Soldiers and Thralls or some other such game as they darted between statues of dwarfen-make, all chiseled in the image of the fallen members of the Band of Wax.

Just before Rimtil slammed her boot down, the Lord of Silver spoke, his voice was gentle, worn by four decades of stewardship. "Let them be." He mused, the law-giver couldn't help but smile as he gazed toward his willful daughter, "Never could I have imagined, when Jol, Eman, and I set out from sleepy ol' Waxfight on a fool's errand that I'd be sitting 'pon a throne watching my grandchildren laugh and play in our very own castle." He lets out a good and proper laugh, followed by a quick wheezing hack.

"Speaking of children. . ." Destis prodded in, jabbing her husband in the side with an elbow.

"Yes. . . Speaking of children. . ." The man repeated, tugging at his own collar with a certain whimsy.

"Irka, Rimtil." She addressed them with a flutter in her voice before lifiting up the cyan-clothed bundle in her arms "Meet your new brother, Luki. Luki Systemtowns, we like to think he'll be the great administrator." Cries suddenly filled the hall as Asri, Upek, and Am rushed to the source of the sound letting out a collective 'ooh' and 'aaah' as they met their own new uncle.

Irka merely raised a brow, electing to remain quiet as his sister's lips pursed into a mischievous smile. "You sly devil!" She manages to burst out, unable to keep back a giggle and an accusatory finger toward her seven-decades old father.

Jas raises both hands to defend himself, "D-Don't look at me. . !"

Only for his wife to laugh herself, drowning out Luki's cries, "I didn't think the old man still had it in him, bwahahah!"

---

Those of the Anthrad bloodline share that moment in earnest, a gentle peace in the seat of Omon Obin that their patriarch and his fellows suffered for. It was last moment of shared joy that they would have. . .

"Honored father. . ." Spoke Irka, breaking his solemnity. "Forgive my crassness, but is this the only reason you have called us from our work?"

The peace washed away from Jas' face, replaced with its old ferocity. "Irka, Rimtil. Join me in my chamber." He said alone, rising from his throne and ascending the central stair. His children followed.

---

(https://i.imgur.com/qvr3mth.png)

". . . Over the last few months, certain reports have come back to my attention." The old Law-Giver begins, lighting a candle as moonlight filters in through the cut-gem windows. As he sat, so too did he beckon his children to draw in close, his brows furrowed and eyes narrowed, "Another outbreak of the Blight." 

"How could that be?" Rimtil asks, leaning close to her father, "Were you and your band not as thorough as the stories admit?" Despite the severity, she jeers.

Jas takes in a deep breath, he isn't smiling, "I cannot control the world past our borders. Other nations struggle still with the rise of those thralls. It isn't impossible that the disease has snuck back into our Realm." He sizes up his children, the expressions that their faces take in response. "It has only touched our northern holdings and it's no-doubt a far-cry from the Band of Wax days, but it must be stopped before it can fester like the old lords allowed it to."

"And what exactly do you want of us, honored father?" Irka wears a dubious look, he need not ask the question to understand the Law-Giver's intent. "You have men specifically trained for this, do you not?"

"Yes of course I do my boy. But men need leaders. Strong ones. Though I am old, still I could do it." Jas replies.

"Still you could do it. . ?" Irka raises a brow in incredulity, "Then again I ask, what need of us have you?"

"Listen to me child. I could do it, I could lead another crusade across this Realm. But my eyes are on the future. . . You see. I was not strong enough to put an end to the Blight, far from it. All I could do was excise and keep it from our little tract of land, but even that goal fails me. I was weak. I am weak. And in these inperfect times, the sins of the father fall upon the shoulders of his children. You must be strong - the both of you, together. One day soon Omon Obin will fall to your hands, show me then what you can do for our people."

There is a moment of silence between the three of them, the sound of wax droplets hitting the table and the distant cries of their newest brother are all that remain. "We are no soldiers!" Calls Irka, a frustration in his voice from the sudden expectations.

"Irka. . . We'll do as our father-- As the Lord of Silver asks. That's our duty--" Rimtil places a hand upon her brother's shoulder only to be rebuked.

"No! What fairness is there in this decision? Must the circumstance of our birth mean we've no agency? Must we be thrust into the maws of whatever danger you deem fit?"

Jas nods his head, retaining his demeanor, "You're right boy, 'tis not fair at all. That is why you must be stronger than I, and create a truly fair world. Do this. . . Or do not call yourselves my children any longer. . ."

---

---

IMPORTANT: At some point during my turn Silverthrone seemed to have broken, when I attempted to reclaim it just now it was crashing my game. So I'm in the middle of fixing that and will reupload the save before the end of the night. Hopefully you haven't started yet Cook.

EDIT: HERE'S THE UPDATED SAVE (https://drive.google.com/file/d/1d-yKhVVLUjS_18sUIhj7D5Yhb6nNLIeC/view?usp=sharing) -- I will also message Cook.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on November 20, 2022, 02:37:53 pm

Hmm, ominous. I sense much anger in young Irka! Anger leads to hate….

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on November 21, 2022, 05:54:20 am

Quote from: kesperan on November 20, 2022, 02:37:53 pm

Hmm, ominous. I sense much anger in young Irka! Anger leads to hate….

Hate leads to suffering

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Cook100500 on November 21, 2022, 08:59:50 am

Starting the game later today, missed the date a little bit, i do hope there will be enough time to do something cool or die trying

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on November 21, 2022, 09:12:51 am

Don't worry about it, as far as I'm concerned your turn starts when you posted, and I'm next on the list and I don't mind you having a whole week from today. Good luck, glad you could take your turn.

Quote from: Unraveller on November 19, 2022, 11:41:25 pm

GLORYAGE

Jas nods his head, retaining his demeanor, "You're right boy, 'tis not fair at all. That is why you must be stronger than I, and create a truly fair world. Do this. . . Or do not call yourselves my children any longer. . ."

That's harsh. On the other hand, fitting from a medieval point of view, and especially after the harsh life Jas led which made him royalty. Irka's also pretty whiny, all things considered. It appears Jas didn't teach him how he had to get by in the wilderness or how he had to see his entire hometown dead, undead, redead and put to the flame to stop the spread of the blight.

Also, I noticed from Legends Viewer that the implication is

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Irka made his own necro tower in the middle of an evil biome and made a coven of necromancers who keep learning the secrets of life and death from his own hand-written scroll. So I'm guessing he went full Arthas Menethil?

---

DFFD up, with file and user loss from 2015 upwards.

Quote

Long story very short: the site database was lost, the server didn't have automated backups like we thought, and the database had to be rolled back to one from 2015 (yes, I know). File listings for file IDs 10461 - 16147 could only be partially recovered but have fully intact and up to date file downloads. User accounts were obviously rolled back too; accounts newer than the time of the database backup will need to be recreated. A lot of other data (comments, votes, so forth) was likewise rolled back.

Thankfully all file downloads themselves were unaffected. All of the files that were orphaned are now in the new Orphaned Files category at the bottom of the category list.

Sincere apologies, this should never have happened. Automated backups will definitely be in place now, like we thought they were before.

---

My account (https://dffd.bay12games.com/who.php?id=5724) on DFFD, I know some people were following it. I've uploaded first version of The Museum, as well as Orid Xem Arban Nitig (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Orid_Xem_Arban_Nitig).

---

Bomrek (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Bomrek_Otadònul) was taken out by a goblin of the Creamy Confederacy in 927... also, it appears Iroram has many goblin visitors. Maybe one of them broke the site?

(https://i.imgur.com/SuIgQMQ.png)

Spoiler: Image, defenders (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/YYqml45.png)

---

Meanwhile, in my troubleshooting for Iroram:

(https://i.imgur.com/BtGm3ld.png)

The site was definitely modified after I played it. Let's see what replacing it does.

So replacing the site (and I can confirm it's site 1631.dat) with the one I left at the end of my own turn doesn't help. I think I'll have to reveal-all, then kill those filthy gobs, maybe one of them is frakking my save, maybe delete some items.

So, those filthy goblins don't show up, but Bomrek appears as... existing. He's following in Bralbaard's footprints of being killed in battle, but still existing in site.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on November 22, 2022, 05:24:25 pm

I intend to try and fix some of the broken sites myself as well, but I'm not sure if deleting units is the way to go. If they are referenced elsewhere in the save game it might break more stuff? Killing them using old fashioned methods might be worth a try though.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on November 22, 2022, 05:28:28 pm

It's not my turn anyway, so I'm just testing so far. I haven't yet found a way to permanently delete an unit, the exterminate command just makes them pale, which necessitates a tick must pass for them to die, which crashes the game. I'm looking for a tool to instantly erase an item off the map, maybe that'll help. Also, it appears most of the visitors/freeloaders spawn in my tunnels rather than on the surface, which is interesting as well.

Hope you have better luck than me, Bralbaard.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Unraveller on November 22, 2022, 05:39:48 pm

Quote from: Lurker Z on November 22, 2022, 05:28:28 pm

It's not my turn anyway, so I'm just testing so far. I haven't yet found a way to permanently delete an unit, the exterminate command just makes them pale, which necessitates a tick must pass for them to die, which crashes the game. I'm looking for a tool to instantly erase an item off the map, maybe that'll help. Also, it appears most of the visitors/freeloaders spawn in my tunnels rather than on the surface, which is interesting as well.

Hope you have better luck than me, Bralbaard.

gui/gm-editor world.units

This will bring you up the data where they are stored in the game's memory. When it comes to your site Lurker, ot does crash even with all unit entries completely deleted, or so it did during my testing.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on November 25, 2022, 07:18:44 pm

Quote from: Cook100500 on November 21, 2022, 08:59:50 am

Starting the game later today, missed the date a little bit, i do hope there will be enough time to do something cool or die trying

How are things going with your turn, Cook? I hope you aren't experiencing too many crashes or bugs. It is quite a ... creaky old world now!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Cook100500 on November 25, 2022, 10:20:47 pm

Quote from: kesperan on November 25, 2022, 07:18:44 pm

How are things going with your turn, Cook? I hope you aren't experiencing too many crashes or bugs. It is quite a ... creaky old world now!

have seen worse. My 1000000 custom world that made out of curiosity took more than two days to create and half a hour to skip the first adventure week on start. Needless to say it was practically unplayable afterwards. pains myself still that couldnt load legends in legend viewer because it took away all mine RAM.
 Couple crashes and lag spikes here and there is not a big deal, do hope will be able to end in time, because my have been laying wery ill for a few days, and couldnt really play much

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on November 25, 2022, 10:48:55 pm

Get well soon and good luck with your turn. There's still plenty of time for you to adventure.

---

Regarding that world, if you still have it and still want to play, you should try using

Code: [Select]

set-timeskip-duration -ticks 0which instantly lets you play the game instead of doing the two weeks crawl.

And did I read that right? Is that a one million year world? If at all possible, would you mind uploading it? I doubt my RAM could see Legends, but I sure hope it could.

My closest world to epicness was a 3k+ year pocket world I was genning out of curiosity, I had it set to 10k, but it was total war for all its history, with at least 3 races involved (gobs, humans and elves) with border settlements exchanging owner every few years. In most other worlds, there comes a point where things go static (or the necro wins), but this kept going... then gen crashed on me and I could never regen that particular world or one like it (it was relying on skipping and not skipping worlds and for some reason it didn't get to that world anymore). I keep regretting I didn't hit enter/escape and save the world in that 3k year.

---

So I've been experimenting a little, trying to familiarize myself with Señamatem, and I've discovered interesting things. It seems the blighted thralls aren't in the mead hall when I claim the site in fortress mode (that might change when I play Adv mode, but I haven't tested that yet). Additionally, some of the legendary mercenaries seem to be in the mead hall, so they might make fast work of them if they all find themselves in the same place. I've also taken a glance at the new districts and what I've seen is awesome. I've also noticed that most of the items associated with Lurker Onecbehal have been "stored"... did your humans find my stash, Unravaller, and then put everything from it in storage stockpiles? Because if so... I might take some loot back myself, hmmmmm?

Other interesting things is that there seem to be persistent citizens that haven't nominally come in contact with adventurers and are not proper historical characters either in LM or LV, but continue to exist under the same name between saves as far apart as the 7 years between 922 and 929. They have the same names, the same features, they even live in the same houses, but interestingly, different dates of births depending on the time I reclaim. They are also not considered as part of ANY group, including of any civ. This "semi-stability" seems to be once more the hand of adventurers. When I reclaimed the 700 save several times, it had hundreds of monks, but their name would change at each reclaim, which means they were purely "abstract". But it appears as the first adventurer reached Señamatem, the "quantum uncertainty" of the site coalesced (mostly) into a few dozen citizens at most. The blight of course weathered that number lower still.

---

One more thing, I have most of the archived saves from turn 53 upwards, but could someone who has them all (Bralbaard maybe?) upload all the saves on DFFD for posterity and testing purposes if possible?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Cook100500 on November 25, 2022, 11:36:56 pm

Quote from: Lurker Z on November 25, 2022, 10:48:55 pm

And did I read that right? Is that a one million year world? If at all possible, would you mind uploading it? I doubt my RAM could see Legends, but I sure hope it could.

Sadly, all that is left is a screenshot i posted on reddit two years ago. Surprised even remembered that,  thought lost everything about it. It also was in earlier version of the game
(https://img-host.ru/2iQvt.jpg)
Also there is few screenshots of legends viewer of 100000 years pocket world and 999998 y.o empty world that took just a few hours to generate because it was dead in a beat, with hungereds of rocs dragons and hydras used for just training to kill them.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://img-host.ru/REWB2.png)
(https://img-host.ru/01t7x.png)

Sadly both worlds are deleted, took too much space, but new ones are easly made if one wants to  ;)

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Cook100500 on November 26, 2022, 03:37:02 am

some deep lore from the last dwarf of the pure spear (dwarf nomads)
(https://img-host.ru/zw5Gu.jpg)

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on November 26, 2022, 07:02:11 am

Lol yeah. That's even tame compared to some other conversations I've witnessed. They go something like this:

Expedition leader: We reclaimed Tattoocracked etc. etc.
You: Can you tell me the way to Tattoocracked?
Expedition leader: I don't know the way and I don't know anyone who knows the way.
You: *looks at map*
Map: *You are in Tattoocracked*

Maloy (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Maloy_Rigòthumåm) is still haunted for over half a century by the message that a dead General is coming to Mabkor (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/File:Visions_plaguing_Maloy.png). I got that print post-900 and Maloy had mentioned it all the way in the 800s.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Cook100500 on November 26, 2022, 09:17:55 am

Even tho there is a mission to accomplish here, cant help but feel the urge to do some random quests
(https://img-host.ru/0n5r6.jpg)
This person's family is very interesting, also! His brother was a weremamonth and his son was a baron. Idk should or shouldnt my dwarf go and search for a leather hood, but the feeling that he should go and help everyone wouldnt go avay

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on November 26, 2022, 09:45:29 am

Depends on the person I suppose, I haven't went after quest items so far. I find it tedious as hell and I don't know if whoever I'd give them to would be worth it. I just go from place to place, loot as much as I can before it becomes tedious, then go to a base and leave the items there (if I survive that long). But, if that's an interesting family and you feel up to it, why not?

---

Remember that castle with 5000 people? This is so much worse than other sites, at least they're 16x16, this is in a 3x3 tile. Gods be good, they've lived like that for almost 600 years!

https://imgur.com/a/VYFiDa9

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Cook100500 on November 26, 2022, 10:04:03 am

Well... The game breaks at 6-7th hematite, and there is nothing i can do. Tried retiring and continuing, didnt help. That's not a full moon date also, so idk what happened

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on November 26, 2022, 12:35:25 pm

Can you post the save? If we can't fix it it's fine with me if  we reset the time on your turn.

The game seems to have gone very unstable over the last few turns..

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on November 26, 2022, 12:38:25 pm

I suggest trying to use questport to teleport on the farthest part of the map, maybe that jogs something in the save. Maybe it's something in the adventurer's area that breaks the game. Other than that, maybe clean-all and remove-wear?

Strangely enough, I've found the last 10 or so saves run much smoother in test games despite me not changing in any way my computer configuration. Even the filesize seems to have stopped at 2GB.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on November 26, 2022, 01:03:51 pm

That doesn't sound good. Is there a particular location that causes the crash? - there are quite a few of those for some reason or another.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Cook100500 on November 26, 2022, 01:07:49 pm

Quote from: Lurker Z on November 26, 2022, 12:38:25 pm

I suggest trying to use questport to teleport on the farthest part of the map, maybe that jogs something in the save. Maybe it's something in the adventurer's area that break the game.

Sadly forgot to make a backup before i retired, so it is impossible. Also, traveled every way possible, so doubt that. Here is the save:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/15vnSeOx6s3kAz2fYxSODmH963THMeR8k/view?usp=sharing (https://drive.google.com/file/d/15vnSeOx6s3kAz2fYxSODmH963THMeR8k/view?usp=sharing)

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on November 26, 2022, 01:32:56 pm

You don't want to make a fortress? You still have a few days in your turn.

And what's the status of the save? Did you manage to retire?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Cook100500 on November 26, 2022, 01:56:34 pm

Quote from: Lurker Z on November 26, 2022, 01:32:56 pm

You don't want to make a fortress? You still have a few days in your turn.

And what's the status of the save? Did you manage to retire?

Edit: Hmm, you mean you had these issues in fortress mode? A shame. I hope I won't have that problem.

retired trying to fix the crash, it kept occuring. Havent finished adventuring yet

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on November 26, 2022, 02:02:01 pm

Ah, you uploaded it for troubleshooting.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on November 26, 2022, 03:06:15 pm

I see what you mean with the bug. The world will not progress beyond 6th Hematite 929 when re-starting adventure mode. That is very weird.

Hope one of the Big Brains can figure this one out!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Eric Blank on November 26, 2022, 04:17:28 pm

Will it let you progress beyond that date in fort mode and then unretire your adventurer?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Cook100500 on November 26, 2022, 04:35:26 pm

Quote from: Eric Blank on November 26, 2022, 04:17:28 pm

Will it let you progress beyond that date in fort mode and then unretire your adventurer?

Tried that, won't work

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on November 26, 2022, 05:56:42 pm

Yeah I think you might have to restart your turn. And make plenty backup saves.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on November 27, 2022, 08:40:44 am

This poor world seems to be getting quite the numerous amount of bugs these days.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: TheFlame52 on November 27, 2022, 02:46:05 pm

I mean, this succession is basically a test to see how far a single world can be stretched.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on November 27, 2022, 04:21:26 pm

Let’s hope it’s just a temporary blip.

I am looking forward to playing the 100th turn!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Noagga76 on November 27, 2022, 04:49:37 pm

Yeeeah I’m gonna blame college for making me miss my turn. Very sorry for that!

Not gonna sign up for a new one yet, until I’m sure that I won’t get swamped by college work and/or distracted with other things. Hopefully that’s soon

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on November 27, 2022, 05:12:58 pm

I can't find a cause, but then I'm not very proficient with Dfhack and other tools. By sorting the filenames in the save by date it is possible to get an idea which sites and units have been updated and are possibly broken in the current save, but experimenting with that has not gotten me anything.

Probably best to restart from the last save ? (and reset the timer)

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Cook100500 on November 27, 2022, 05:24:37 pm

Quote from: Bralbaard on November 27, 2022, 05:12:58 pm

Probably best to restart from the last save ? (and reset the timer)

Got it. Also will first test it and if it breaks on some date anyway, and if it does, try playing not on unraveller's fixed save, but on unfixed one

UPDATE: It does crash, at exact same date, 6th hematite. Time to check an unfixed save

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on November 27, 2022, 05:48:05 pm

Notice there's an over 2 month difference between the last save and the one you uploaded. You should use something like

Code: [Select]

set-timeskip-duration
to see if Unraveller's latest save goes beyond that cursed date so you won't risk playing for nothing. Or maybe reclaim one of the NPC forts to play a few months to see there are no issues.

A shame for all that lost progress.

---

Quote from: kesperan on November 27, 2022, 04:21:26 pm

Let’s hope it’s just a temporary blip.

I am looking forward to playing the 100th turn!

I'll be turn 99, so that's also nice. I also caught year 800 in fort mode last time, one century since the founding of the Museum.

---

House Anthad-Laniecroh (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/House Anthad-Laniecroh) article is up. Jas, Irka, Destis and Rimtil have their own articles. I'm working on Eman's now.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Cook100500 on November 27, 2022, 05:56:00 pm

Quote from: Lurker Z on November 27, 2022, 05:48:05 pm

Notice there's an over 2 month difference between the last save and the one you uploaded. You should use something like

Code: [Select]

set-timeskip-duration
to see if Unraveller's latest save goes beyond that cursed date so you won't risk playing for nothing. Or maybe reclaim one of the NPC forts to play a few months to see there are no issues.

FUn, did exacly that, it does break every time! Wanted to download an unmodified, unfixed save, but it seems like unraveller updated whole google drive file, so i cant find it anywhere in this topic. Ill try earlier save just for a test

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on November 27, 2022, 06:06:48 pm

Oh dear. Does that mean that Unraveller’s last turn is corrupted? Would hate to lose Realmspire and all the character development of Irka. I really hope this is fixable but I’m afraid I don’t know enough about the intricacies of data editing to be able to help!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on November 27, 2022, 06:14:55 pm

I think this (https://dffd.bay12games.com/file.php?id=16169) is it? I have three different Museum III turn 97 archives, this is the oldest. Hope it's not corrupted. Maybe something broke in the archiving?

Edit: Yes, that has to be it, files in it are only modified until Nov 19, the other one has files modified on Nov 20 and the last is Cook's that I renamed the folder into Turn 98 myself. Hoping the corruption didn't happen in this one.

---

Hey, Bralbaard, what's your take of uploading the turn archives, if you have them?

---

Eman Sedastishas (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Eman Sedastishas), one of Jas' first companions, is now on the wiki.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Cook100500 on November 27, 2022, 07:00:23 pm

Quote from: Lurker Z on November 27, 2022, 06:14:55 pm

I think this (https://dffd.bay12games.com/file.php?id=16169) is it? I have three different Museum III turn 97 archives, this is the oldest. Hope it's not corrupted. Maybe something broke in the archiving?

It is corrupted. Checking turn 96...

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Unraveller on November 27, 2022, 07:03:16 pm

Two solutions:

One, if you can get into the game whether that be fortress or adventure mode, 'gui/gm-editor df.global'
Find the current year, and current year tick. Jump them ahead enough to pass the date by some arbitrary amount.

Two, if you are trying to unretire or load the save in anyway where the calender shows up before play, even from the main menu before loading, 'set-timeskip-duration -ticks 0' this will cause no time to pass whatsoever and bypass the specific date crash. Then you can use the first solution to skip time past the date of the crash.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Cook100500 on November 27, 2022, 08:26:29 pm

Quote from: Unraveller on November 27, 2022, 07:03:16 pm

Two solutions:

One, if you can get into the game whether that be fortress or adventure mode, 'gui/gm-editor df.global'
Find the current year, and current year tick. Jump them ahead enough to pass the date by some arbitrary amount.

Two, if you are trying to unretire or load the save in anyway where the calender shows up before play, even from the main menu before loading, 'set-timeskip-duration -ticks 0' this will cause no time to pass whatsoever and bypass the specific date crash. Then you can use the first solution to skip time past the date of the crash.

Thank you, that worked!
will post my save in two days, after i finish adventuring.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on November 27, 2022, 08:56:28 pm

.................................so it really was a cursed date.

Wow.

I knew DF gained sapience, but it still blows my mind each time it gets confirmed.

Glad that worked, good luck Cook!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Cook100500 on November 27, 2022, 09:33:35 pm

Truly, a chad goblin commander.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://img-host.ru/qSo53.png)
(https://img-host.ru/XM7Bd.png)
he says he is on important mission, tho he is probably just stuck here, blinded. AvolitionBrit already met him, but damn, he is stoic

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Cook100500 on November 27, 2022, 10:48:42 pm

Well, it happend again. Now its 7th hematite that causes the crash. dont even know why and how its 7th hematite, considering few days have passed. Luckly we have a solution, but still hope it wont happen again

After testing can say for sure: something bad happens every few days, causing a crash. we can dodge that date with gui/gm-editor df.global, but there should be a long-term solution

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Unraveller on November 27, 2022, 10:58:37 pm

Without delving too deep at the moment, I have to omagine it's an event. Could be something like an army attempting to march on a site but the data is corrupt somehow, but it could truly be any number of things, such as a histfig settling in a corrupt site, etc. It would be quite difficult to pin this one down.

For now, try and save as often as possible, easier said than done when it takes 20 minutes to save, but such is the way of Orid Xem these days.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Cook100500 on November 27, 2022, 11:29:44 pm

Whatever happens is probably related to your fort or your character. Skipped about 20 years on turn 96 and nothing happend

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on November 28, 2022, 01:06:52 pm

That’s a bit of a conundrum. I think Bralbaard needs to make a decision on what to do next if the last turn has somehow corrupted the game file. Would be shame for this to be the end!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on November 28, 2022, 04:29:28 pm

Worst case we can go back to turn 96, but I'd hate to lose all that was done in turn 97..from what i remember Unraveller already had quite some issues and fixed a lot of stuff at the end of that turn, so it might be related. Let's take a few days to try and narrow down the issue.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Unraveller on November 28, 2022, 05:13:30 pm

Hm. Narrowing it down to what I actually saved in terms of hackery during my turn wasn't all that much. I had to disable a few reptile men in Silverthrone that were giving me crashes on load.

When making Weatherponder the New, I had to activate embark-anywhere, and I also used the command that has slipped my mind to start with a few extra humans, again not something I imagine would cause such an instability.

And then later I had to disable a dwarf or two from the original settling party in Silverthrone for the same reason, but I can't precisely figure out why that would be.

There might be something else I'm not thinking of at this moment.

I'm struggling to think if I did anything other than that. . . I'm fairly certain I did not use any df-hacking during my short adventure other than the occaisional 'reveal'. And while I was creating Realmspire, I did the same to embark on top of a mountain, which has already happened a few times in our game here.

I'm not trying to pass off all the blame or anything, assuming Cook's had no problems at all with turn 96 during the passage of time like they've said, clearly something during my turn was messed up. I'm just not certain where to start looking, or whether it was indeed from any specific action I took aforementioned, or some confluence of things.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Cook100500 on November 29, 2022, 05:21:32 am

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1q12T50MrzvvfTBPL07dMajZLdRECMI_f/view?usp=sharing
Saved exacly 1 tick before the disaster. Maybe that will somehow help
EDIT: Maybe, the exact tick it happens. When retired and set timeskip to 0 tick it crashes

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Cook100500 on November 29, 2022, 07:19:43 am

Tried to clear some sites out to test if someone is causing it. For some reason every time trying to exterminate every dwarf/human in silverthrone it causes a crash. Could be unrelated. New Weatherponder seems fine, and even after clearing it crashes still occur

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Unraveller on November 29, 2022, 07:52:28 am

I'll see what I can see after I get home today.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on November 29, 2022, 03:13:20 pm

One thing I noticed is that when you embark with a new group, you currently have the possibility to start with a bunch of humans instead of dwarves and you also receive a ridiculous amount of embark points. I guess that means some raw changes have been made that still affect the game. I'm not sure if any of that could be related,  (replacing the raws with an older version does not fix it, and possibly only makes it worse, the game appears to only get stuck faster, not sure what is going on there..)

Also on another copy of the save I've forwarded the clock by a ridiculous amount to the year 1000, and the game appears stable (or at least doesn't crash every few days as reported earlier) I've progressed a month or four without crashes, presumably because whatever causes the crash might have died of old age. Not sure if that will last but I'm out of testing time for today (and will not have further time to test this week)

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Cook100500 on November 29, 2022, 04:53:54 pm

Quote from: Bralbaard on November 29, 2022, 03:13:20 pm

Also on another copy of the save I've forwarded the clock by a ridiculous amount to the year 1000, and the game appears stable (or at least doesn't crash every few days as reported earlier) I've progressed a month or four without crashes, presumably because whatever causes the crash might have died of old age. Not sure if that will last but I'm out of testing time for today (and will not have further time to test this week)

If you skipped less than 4 months it could not crash just because crashes begin about 3-4 months playing into the save, after 6th hematite. But if it actually works thats narrows it down a little

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on November 29, 2022, 05:13:56 pm

So, I'm not much in a hurry to play, but I have time for the foreseeable future. Do I leave it a few days for some more troubleshooting? I'd do the year 1000 thing, but there are issues I'm worried about:
* Most mortal historical figures would die of old age, either as soon as my turn started or after encountering them. Hell, we might lose all but one of the dwarven civs from playing, and even that might be random. We might even lose all the human civs.
* Is it just tricking the game with a fake date? I don't know how to do that. Bralbaard would either have to guide me or give me the test save he made - or to make the skip himself and upload the save.
* As we are, I think the year 1000 solution might be even worse as turning the clock two turns back.
As it is, neither of the two options seem appealing and year 1000 solution might actually be the most apocalyptic of the two. I'm willing to wait as long as it takes for either this to be fixed or to hear out Bralbaard's opinion on what option we should use. I personally strongly suggest against using the year 1000 solution.

Quote from: Cook100500 on November 29, 2022, 04:53:54 pm

If you skipped less than 4 months it could not crash just because crashes begin about 3-4 months playing into the save, after 6th hematite. But if it actually works thats narrows it down a little

The way I understand it, he used a dfhack command to trick the game that it's in the year 1000 without progressing the game the normal way through the calendar screen. The game keeps track of historical figures' death age and likely killed the offending unit before it could move wherever it wanted to. So, 4 months was an arbitrary time to test if it runs smoothly, I figure it would have worked with 4 years or more too.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on November 29, 2022, 05:28:09 pm

You are right on all those issues Lurker, for now the year 1000 thing was just for the purpose of testing. It is certainly not how I would want to move forward since almost all historical figures would die of old age. I have also definitely not tested long enough to know if it is actually stable, I think the four months without crashes could still be random luck.
Also before you start playing we still need to resolve Cook100500's turn.

@Cook100500; I moved to the year 1000 from your troubleshooting save, so basically on the same date as the crash. 

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Cook100500 on November 29, 2022, 05:40:50 pm

Quote from: Lurker Z on November 29, 2022, 05:13:56 pm

The way I understand it, he used a dfhack command to trick the game that it's in the year 1000 without progressing the game the normal way through the calendar screen. The game keeps track of historical figures' death age and likely killed the offending unit before it could move wherever it wanted to. So, 4 months was an arbitrary time to test if it runs smoothly, I figure it would have worked with 4 years or more too.

Didnt know the game would do that, huh. So everyone has their natural age of death already? Sinister.
Will try massacring few forts and sites in test runs to see if that will somehow help, but that's like searching for a needle in a hay stack. There is a chance of fixing by blind luck but i hope someone knowlegable enough finds the solution

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on November 29, 2022, 05:57:09 pm

Quote from: Cook100500 on November 29, 2022, 05:40:50 pm

So everyone has their natural age of death already? Sinister.

https://dwarffortresswiki.org/index.php/DF2014:Immortality#DFHack
I made this section myself.

Spoiler: Off-topic reply (click to show/hide)

With this method, you can see their natural age of death, as well as modify it. Immortal creatures, including gobs and elves, have -1. That's how I made some creatures immortal, but some don't stick between saves for some reason (thankfully, it doesn't seem to have harmed the game; I did it on the logic that -1 is a natural value to goblins and if you go vamp or necro, the game changes the value to -1 so this is a natural part of the game). There's even a section under the year death for what I suspect is the exact month and day, presumably even the exact tick, but I can't make heads or tails of the number, so I leave it alone.

I've also discovered that creatures like trolls and I think trogs and some other semi-megabeasts like sasquatches are not immortal, but can live between 500 and 1000 years. We actually have at least one sasquatch, Guardsorrow the Insensitive, who had an age of about 800 years and died of old age in Orid Xem. There's also Balancesenses the Single and Enteredbraided the Wooden Trial.

There's an interesting effect where this affects this, if you full-heal -r an animal (or probably any creature) who died of old age in fortress mode, it'll keel over the next few seconds, because the game checks date of death and insta-kills the creature. You can do this as many times as you want, the game will keep killing that creature until you modify the date of death.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on December 01, 2022, 10:29:01 am

Catching up with these developments….

As I understand it, one of the NPCs in Silverthrone is causing the bug, and if time is advanced into the future when they are presumably dead, the bug is fixed?

So I guess the solution is to time skip by the smallest possible amount to minimise disruption and unnecessary NPC deaths? That sounds like a trial/error solution. What’s everyone thinking?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on December 01, 2022, 10:37:46 am

Kill everyone in Señamatem except Jas and his line, they're family-less unimportant creatures anyway, see if that fixes it. If not, kill everyone or just Jas' line to see if one of Jas' line is responsible for this. If it's someone from Jas' line, narrow it down until we know who we have to kill to get the game running again.

I honestly hope it'd be that simple, but I'm worried it's related to someone in Señamatem going to a site nobody else would go to, and that this would trigger the problem again.

I kept thinking this, but I keep forget to mention it, but Warshrieks and Newworld breaking should be alarm bells, because they worked including to be retired by their founders, yet they broke between turns. That means the worm there's a mechanism which breaks sites and/or creatures during turns, which is very worrying.

Suggestion to easily kill creatures: use the exterminate command, but before, locate Jas' line, so you know where they are to resurrect them (full-heal -r) after the purge.

Edit: Is there a dfhack command that outright erases a creature/item off the map? Exterminate still requires a click for the creature to keel over, still leaves a body and only works on living creatures.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on December 01, 2022, 01:31:17 pm

Quote from: Bralbaard on November 29, 2022, 03:13:20 pm

One thing I noticed is that when you embark with a new group, you currently have the possibility to start with a bunch of humans instead of dwarves and you also receive a ridiculous amount of embark points. I guess that means some raw changes have been made that still affect the game. I'm not sure if any of that could be related,  (replacing the raws with an older version does not fix it, and possibly only makes it worse, the game appears to only get stuck faster, not sure what is going on there..)

I've tried to follow up on this. It's weird that going back to the original raws makes the game even more unstable. With the original raws the game just seems to crash instantly, even when timeskipping to the year 1000, or whenever. It's almost as if the save game now depends on modded raws, even when it was started in vanilla.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on December 01, 2022, 01:57:50 pm

Since you don't use Legends Viewer, this might be of interest to you in troubleshooting:

https://i.imgur.com/dNOI5RI.png

From what I understand, these people have the title of Commander, but they're listed in the Law-Giver list for Omon Obin. I initially took it as a curious, but ultimately irrelevant little quirk of whatever mod was used. Whether it has some significance in what you describe, I can't say, but we may as well explore all avenues.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Eric Blank on December 01, 2022, 01:58:43 pm

yeah, its generally inadvisable to make any major changes to the raws of a world. Especially since a lot of the modifications were additions, like adding all the weapons to the dwarf civ and making humans playable. You start taking things away that the save assumes were available, that can cause a crash.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: nogoodnames on December 01, 2022, 02:41:37 pm

If it is in fact related to Silverthrone, I wonder if it's something to do with The Realm Of Silver itself owning Silverthrone, instead of a site government? I don't think civilizations can normally own sites directly.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on December 01, 2022, 02:41:53 pm

Quote from: Bralbaard on December 01, 2022, 01:31:17 pm

I've tried to follow up on this. It's weird that going back to the original raws makes the game even more unstable. With the original raws the game just seems to crash instantly, even when timeskipping to the year 1000, or whenever. It's almost as if the save game now depends on modded raws, even when it was started in vanilla.

This again must be a recent change. In each of my turns I have reinstated the base raws before starting so I could change graphics packs without issue. The ability to play as humans was not there until recently either.

I must confess to adding all recipes to dwarves using dfhack as the Walled Dye didn’t have access to high boots!

I’m afraid the game has mutated by multiple people tinkering with it. I hope it’s salvagable.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: nogoodnames on December 01, 2022, 03:49:28 pm

I might have narrowed down the cause. After unretiring Silverthrone, I noticed that a number of dwarves humans were marked as "Travelling". With how buggy the raid/mission system can be, that immediately struck me as a prime suspect. I disbanded the entire military, except one where I couldn't because the commander was travelling. The nobles screen still showed two travellers (that commander and one other) so I killed them through dfhack. After that, I was able to advance time a few days past the 6th, but then it froze again.

It seems like these travellers returning is the cause of the freeze, so if they're all killed that could fix it. I don't know if there's a quicker way to do it than manually looking up their histfig IDs and running `devel/kill-hf`. Since they're off-site I don't think exterminate will work. It's a bit of a pain needing to cross-reference the language files since the names are displayed in humanish in-game but English in the legends files.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on December 01, 2022, 03:59:26 pm

Would using the Masonry Method (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Orid_Xem#The_Masonry_Method) be easier? Do you want help? I can start making a list with their original names if it helps.

I'm noticing something else strange, some (if not all) of these Commanders have goblin last names. Not only this, but the original is even the same as in the goblin languages, even if the original in the human language should be different. What the hell is happening here? As I was making the list, I noticed only the first half of Commanders have goblin names. The second half have dwaven names. For some weird reason.

Spoiler: Commanders - raw list (click to show/hide)

24  897 the human Xenmu Spideryghoul Osmosposnun
25  888 the human Umung Stealseduce Uksosamxu
26  898 the human Nol Fellmalign Slaxuurar
27  890 the human Tobog Flymonster Atuolngo
28  889 the human Osmze Sinjackal Zolakem
29  889 the human Xenmu Doommenaced Ngomkutsmob
30  899 the human Asmuk Fiendhorror Zomdang
31  899 the human Bor Dungeonbad Bosastotho
32  892 the human Xenmu Nightmaresinful Baxzolak
33  893 the human Ustrok Stolenstolen Uksosuksos
34  900 the human Ok Tormentscorpion Nakostrodno
35  898 the human Nol Demonstolen Arstrukuksos
36  898 the human Sputo Malignedsin Urarzolak
37  893 the human Urdu Monstrouswicked Olngongerxung
38  896 the human Zoslu Malicesinful Xuspgaszolak
39  891 the human Asmuk Scourgehate Songstosbub
40  895 the human Uxzo Hatedread Stosbubngebzo
41  894 the human Roz Horrorhorror Dangdang
42  893 the human Ron Plaguehell Snodubgozru
43  889 the human Urdu Malignedblack Urarogur
44  893 the human Nolsmu Doomtorment Ngomnako
45  892 the human Lubu Badmalice Stothoxuspgas
46  895 the human Ost Hexsteal Aslotuksos
47  903 the human Strog Malignedwicked Urarngerxung
48  898 the human Enu Hatewitch Stosbubosta
49  895 the human Osm Scourgehatred Songsnamoz
50  898 the human Smug Doomedstolen Ngomuksos
51  899 the human Nolsmu Witchstolen Ostauksos
52  892 the human Ustrok Menacedevil Kutsmobusbu
53  889 the human Sasne Profanemaligned Ukgeurar
54  898 the human Zak Horrorwraith Dangmato
55  901 the human Nol Fiendtick Zomstasost
56  903 the human Stol Demonwere Arstrukbem
57  897 the human Stol Evilruthless Usbuozud
58  903 the human Asmuk Cruelvile Dostngospomosp
59  896 the human Urdu Profanedevil Ukgeazstrog
60  895 the human Oxsa Vilefiend Omospzom
61  902 the human Ostad Malignsteal Uraruksos
62  902 the human Ozse Flymalign Atuurar
63  895 the human Enu Fiendseduced Zomamxu
64  893 the human Smug Plaguehex Snodubaslot
65  888 the human Ustrok Vilewraith Omospmato
66  902 the human Ulu Seducedungeon Amxubosa
67  903 the human Dab Malignedcurse Urarngokang
68  900 the human Zak Tormentprofane Nakoukge
69  891 the human Ngub Ruthlessmalice Ozudxuspgas
70  896 the human Ugas Menacescourge Kutsmobsong
71  893 the human Nolsmu Malignedlie Urarsmunstu
72  895 the human Bor Hexvice Aslotngoso
73  893 the human Urdu Witchspidery Ostaosmosp
74  895 the human Ucat Channeledwhip Cattenbomrek
75  900 the human Cagith Stakeconstruct Atîsaban
76  893 the human Othsin Rocksbridge Idsazir
77  901 the human Fak Bronzewalled Kilrudadil
78  901 the human Asen Knifeblockade Zasitmedtob
79  893 the human Lodel Ochreochre Nokimnokim
80  897 the human Dostob Swordpaged Dastotmorul
81  889 the human Alud Cloisteredstandard Oddomlorbam
82  903 the human Gost Arrowcopper Febgusil
83  891 the human Alath Painttraded Logemnish
84  901 the human Tilgil Keyroof Edemcilob
85  901 the human Cos Whippedmine Bomrekavuz
86  899 the human Metul Daggerfountain Uristzefon
87  899 the human Bukog Shootglove Keskalreg
88  899 the human Okag Treatystake Ilralatîs
89  903 the human As Cobaltfloor Letmosdakost
90  896 the human Lurak Castletown Rimtaramost
91  889 the human Denush Glazedmine Fikodavuz
92  890 the human Nokzam Tinrelic Akrulzaneg
93  905 the human Stidest Pillargloved Obokreg
94  894 the human Thol Attictrade Endoknish
95  895 the human Erong Helmshandle Zonerush
96  901 the human Shadkik Tombspainted Rakustlogem
97  897 the human Oril Pillarhall Obokîton
98  897 the human Berath Craftgate Rigothinod
99  896 the human As Channeledtreaty Cattenilral
100  892 the human Lakish Minebronze Avuzkilrud
101  896 the human Itdun Salveworked Sibrekducim
102  905 the human Ethbesh Paintcoal Logemrîsen
103  899 the human Egdoth Machinegilt Stâkudoltar

Spoiler: Commanders v.2 (click to show/hide)

24  Xenmu Spideryghoul Osmosposnun
25  Umung Stealseduce Uksosamxu
26  Nol Fellmalign Slaxuurar
27  Tobog Flymonster Atuolngo
28  Osmze Sinjackal Zolakem
29  Xenmu Doommenaced Ngomkutsmob
30  Asmuk Fiendhorror Zomdang
31  Bor Dungeonbad Bosastotho
32  Xenmu Nightmaresinful Baxzolak
33  Ustrok Stolenstolen Uksosuksos
34  Ok Tormentscorpion Nakostrodno
35  Nol Demonstolen Arstrukuksos
36  Sputo Malignedsin Urarzolak
37  Urdu Monstrouswicked Olngongerxung
38  Zoslu Malicesinful Xuspgaszolak
39  Asmuk Scourgehate Songstosbub
40  Uxzo Hatedread Stosbubngebzo
41  Roz Horrorhorror Dangdang
42  Ron Plaguehell Snodubgozru
43  Urdu Malignedblack Urarogur
44  Nolsmu Doomtorment Ngomnako
45  Lubu Badmalice Stothoxuspgas
46  Ost Hexsteal Aslotuksos
47  Strog Malignedwicked Urarngerxung
48  Enu Hatewitch Stosbubosta
49  Osm Scourgehatred Songsnamoz
50  Smug Doomedstolen Ngomuksos
51  Nolsmu Witchstolen Ostauksos
52  Ustrok Menacedevil Kutsmobusbu
53  Sasne Profanemaligned Ukgeurar
54  Zak Horrorwraith Dangmato
55  Nol Fiendtick Zomstasost
56  Stol Demonwere Arstrukbem
57  Stol Evilruthless Usbuozud
58  Asmuk Cruelvile Dostngospomosp
59  Urdu Profanedevil Ukgeazstrog
60  Oxsa Vilefiend Omospzom
61  Ostad Malignsteal Uraruksos
62  Ozse Flymalign Atuurar
63  Enu Fiendseduced Zomamxu
64  Smug Plaguehex Snodubaslot
65  Ustrok Vilewraith Omospmato
66  Ulu Seducedungeon Amxubosa
67  Dab Malignedcurse Urarngokang
68  Zak Tormentprofane Nakoukge
69  Ngub Ruthlessmalice Ozudxuspgas
70  Ugas Menacescourge Kutsmobsong
71  Nolsmu Malignedlie Urarsmunstu
72  Bor Hexvice Aslotngoso
73  Urdu Witchspidery Ostaosmosp
74  Ucat Channeledwhip Cattenbomrek
75  Cagith Stakeconstruct Atîsaban
76  Othsin Rocksbridge Idsazir
77  Fak Bronzewalled Kilrudadil
78  Asen Knifeblockade Zasitmedtob
79  Lodel Ochreochre Nokimnokim
80  Dostob Swordpaged Dastotmorul
81  Alud Cloisteredstandard Oddomlorbam
82  Gost Arrowcopper Febgusil
83  Alath Painttraded Logemnish
84  Tilgil Keyroof Edemcilob
85  Cos Whippedmine Bomrekavuz
86  Metul Daggerfountain Uristzefon
87  Bukog Shootglove Keskalreg
88  Okag Treatystake Ilralatîs
89  As Cobaltfloor Letmosdakost
90  Lurak Castletown Rimtaramost
91  Denush Glazedmine Fikodavuz
92  Nokzam Tinrelic Akrulzaneg
93  Stidest Pillargloved Obokreg
94  Thol Attictrade Endoknish
95  Erong Helmshandle Zonerush
96  Shadkik Tombspainted Rakustlogem
97  Oril Pillarhall Obokîton
98  Berath Craftgate Rigothinod
99  As Channeledtreaty Cattenilral
100  Lakish Minebronze Avuzkilrud
101  Itdun Salveworked Sibrekducim
102  Ethbesh Paintcoal Logemrîsen
103  Egdoth Machinegilt Stâkudoltar

Spoiler: Commanders v.3 (click to show/hide)

# Xenmu Spideryghoul Osmosposnun
# Umung Stealseduce Uksosamxu
# Nol Fellmalign Slaxuurar
# Tobog Flymonster Atuolngo
# Osmze Sinjackal Zolakem
# Xenmu Doommenaced Ngomkutsmob
# Asmuk Fiendhorror Zomdang
# Bor Dungeonbad Bosastotho
# Xenmu Nightmaresinful Baxzolak
# Ustrok Stolenstolen Uksosuksos
# Ok Tormentscorpion Nakostrodno
# Nol Demonstolen Arstrukuksos
# Sputo Malignedsin Urarzolak
# Urdu Monstrouswicked Olngongerxung
# Zoslu Malicesinful Xuspgaszolak
# Asmuk Scourgehate Songstosbub
# Uxzo Hatedread Stosbubngebzo
# Roz Horrorhorror Dangdang
# Ron Plaguehell Snodubgozru
# Urdu Malignedblack Urarogur
# Nolsmu Doomtorment Ngomnako
# Lubu Badmalice Stothoxuspgas
# Ost Hexsteal Aslotuksos
# Strog Malignedwicked Urarngerxung
# Enu Hatewitch Stosbubosta
# Osm Scourgehatred Songsnamoz
# Smug Doomedstolen Ngomuksos
# Nolsmu Witchstolen Ostauksos
# Ustrok Menacedevil Kutsmobusbu
# Sasne Profanemaligned Ukgeurar
# Zak Horrorwraith Dangmato
# Nol Fiendtick Zomstasost
# Stol Demonwere Arstrukbem
# Stol Evilruthless Usbuozud
# Asmuk Cruelvile Dostngospomosp
# Urdu Profanedevil Ukgeazstrog
# Oxsa Vilefiend Omospzom
# Ostad Malignsteal Uraruksos
# Ozse Flymalign Atuurar
# Enu Fiendseduced Zomamxu
# Smug Plaguehex Snodubaslot
# Ustrok Vilewraith Omospmato
# Ulu Seducedungeon Amxubosa
# Dab Malignedcurse Urarngokang
# Zak Tormentprofane Nakoukge
# Ngub Ruthlessmalice Ozudxuspgas
# Ugas Menacescourge Kutsmobsong
# Nolsmu Malignedlie Urarsmunstu
# Bor Hexvice Aslotngoso
# Urdu Witchspidery Ostaosmosp
# Ucat Channeledwhip Cattenbomrek
# Cagith Stakeconstruct Atîsaban
# Othsin Rocksbridge Idsazir
# Fak Bronzewalled Kilrudadil
# Asen Knifeblockade Zasitmedtob
# Lodel Ochreochre Nokimnokim
# Dostob Swordpaged Dastotmorul
# Alud Cloisteredstandard Oddomlorbam
# Gost Arrowcopper Febgusil
# Alath Painttraded Logemnish
# Tilgil Keyroof Edemcilob
# Cos Whippedmine Bomrekavuz
# Metul Daggerfountain Uristzefon
# Bukog Shootglove Keskalreg
# Okag Treatystake Ilralatîs
# As Cobaltfloor Letmosdakost
# Lurak Castletown Rimtaramost
# Denush Glazedmine Fikodavuz
# Nokzam Tinrelic Akrulzaneg
# Stidest Pillargloved Obokreg
# Thol Attictrade Endoknish
# Erong Helmshandle Zonerush
# Shadkik Tombspainted Rakustlogem
# Oril Pillarhall Obokîton
# Berath Craftgate Rigothinod
# As Channeledtreaty Cattenilral
# Lakish Minebronze Avuzkilrud
# Itdun Salveworked Sibrekducim
# Ethbesh Paintcoal Logemrîsen
# Egdoth Machinegilt Stâkudoltar

Spoiler: Commanders v.4 (only original last names) (click to show/hide)

# Xenmu Osmosposnun
# Umung Uksosamxu
# Nol Slaxuurar
# Tobog Atuolngo
# Osmze Zolakem
# Xenmu Ngomkutsmob
# Asmuk Zomdang
# Bor Bosastotho
# Xenmu Baxzolak
# Ustrok Uksosuksos
# Ok Nakostrodno
# Nol Arstrukuksos
# Sputo Urarzolak
# Urdu Olngongerxung
# Zoslu Xuspgaszolak
# Asmuk Songstosbub
# Uxzo Stosbubngebzo
# Roz Dangdang
# Ron Snodubgozru
# Urdu Urarogur
# Nolsmu Ngomnako
# Lubu Stothoxuspgas
# Ost Aslotuksos
# Strog Urarngerxung
# Enu Stosbubosta
# Osm Songsnamoz
# Smug Ngomuksos
# Nolsmu Ostauksos
# Ustrok Kutsmobusbu
# Sasne Ukgeurar
# Zak Dangmato
# Nol Zomstasost
# Stol Arstrukbem
# Stol Usbuozud
# Asmuk Dostngospomosp
# Urdu Ukgeazstrog
# Oxsa Omospzom
# Ostad Uraruksos
# Ozse Atuurar
# Enu Zomamxu
# Smug Snodubaslot
# Ustrok Omospmato
# Ulu Amxubosa
# Dab Urarngokang
# Zak Nakoukge
# Ngub Ozudxuspgas
# Ugas Kutsmobsong
# Nolsmu Urarsmunstu
# Bor Aslotngoso
# Urdu Ostaosmosp
# Ucat Cattenbomrek
# Cagith Atîsaban
# Othsin Idsazir
# Fak Kilrudadil
# Asen Zasitmedtob
# Lodel Nokimnokim
# Dostob Dastotmorul
# Alud Oddomlorbam
# Gost Febgusil
# Alath Logemnish
# Tilgil Edemcilob
# Cos Bomrekavuz
# Metul Uristzefon
# Bukog Keskalreg
# Okag Ilralatîs
# As Letmosdakost
# Lurak Rimtaramost
# Denush Fikodavuz
# Nokzam Akrulzaneg
# Stidest Obokreg
# Thol Endoknish
# Erong Zonerush
# Shadkik Rakustlogem
# Oril Obokîton
# Berath Rigothinod
# As Cattenilral
# Lakish Avuzkilrud
# Itdun Sibrekducim
# Ethbesh Logemrîsen
# Egdoth Stâkudoltar

---

Spoiler: Commanders part 2 (click to show/hide)

# the human Lanlar Citypulley Inethbesmar
# the human Egdoth Machinegilt Stakudoltar
# the human Suthmam Brassgravel Konosasen
# the human Mithreb Fisherales Edinkasmko
# the human Ontak Townpick Amosttekkud
# the human Tokri Trustcurl Monolluki
# the human Elot Bridgedwire Sazirnabar
# the human Berath Giltsmith Oltareshtân
# the human Vukcas Bellstin Rithakrul
# the human necromancer Nithros Planeentered Ramulneni
# the human Izeg Diamondpulley Dorenbesmar
# the human Minran Inkysabre Likotast
# the human Ilush Glovedroom Regmosus
# the human Bucsu Sealbakers Quenirhiner
# the human Fak Tombnet Rakustkib
# the human Urdu Witchspidery Ostaosmosp
# the human Bor Hexvice Aslotngoso
# the human Nolsmu Malignedlie Urarsmunstu
# the human Ugas Menacescourge Kutsmobsong
# the human Ngub Ruthlessmalice Ozudkutsmob
# the human Zak Tormentprofane Nakoukge
# the human Lubu Badmalice Stothoxuspgas
# the human Enir Daggerrock Uristid
# the human Amkash Sculptedsnuggles Uthraworu

Spoiler: Commanders part 2 v2 (click to show/hide)

# Lanlar Inethbesmar
# Egdoth Stakudoltar
# Suthmam Konosasen
# Mithreb Edinkasmko
# Ontak Amosttekkud
# Tokri Monolluki
# Elot Sazirnabar
# Berath Oltareshtân
# Vukcas Rithakrul
# Nithros Ramulneni
# Izeg Dorenbesmar
# Minran Likotast
# Ilush Regmosus
# Bucsu Quenirhiner
# Fak Rakustkib
# Urdu Ostaosmosp
# Bor Aslotngoso
# Nolsmu Urarsmunstu
# Ugas Kutsmobsong
# Ngub Ozudkutsmob
# Zak Nakoukge
# Lubu Stothoxuspgas
# Enir Uristid
# Amkash Uthraworu

---

Spoiler: Commanders part 1 and 2 all names (click to show/hide)

# Xenmu Spideryghoul Osmosposnun
# Umung Stealseduce Uksosamxu
# Nol Fellmalign Slaxuurar
# Tobog Flymonster Atuolngo
# Osmze Sinjackal Zolakem
# Xenmu Doommenaced Ngomkutsmob
# Asmuk Fiendhorror Zomdang
# Bor Dungeonbad Bosastotho
# Xenmu Nightmaresinful Baxzolak
# Ustrok Stolenstolen Uksosuksos
# Ok Tormentscorpion Nakostrodno
# Nol Demonstolen Arstrukuksos
# Sputo Malignedsin Urarzolak
# Urdu Monstrouswicked Olngongerxung
# Zoslu Malicesinful Xuspgaszolak
# Asmuk Scourgehate Songstosbub
# Uxzo Hatedread Stosbubngebzo
# Roz Horrorhorror Dangdang
# Ron Plaguehell Snodubgozru
# Urdu Malignedblack Urarogur
# Nolsmu Doomtorment Ngomnako
# Lubu Badmalice Stothoxuspgas
# Ost Hexsteal Aslotuksos
# Strog Malignedwicked Urarngerxung
# Enu Hatewitch Stosbubosta
# Osm Scourgehatred Songsnamoz
# Smug Doomedstolen Ngomuksos
# Nolsmu Witchstolen Ostauksos
# Ustrok Menacedevil Kutsmobusbu
# Sasne Profanemaligned Ukgeurar
# Zak Horrorwraith Dangmato
# Nol Fiendtick Zomstasost
# Stol Demonwere Arstrukbem
# Stol Evilruthless Usbuozud
# Asmuk Cruelvile Dostngospomosp
# Urdu Profanedevil Ukgeazstrog
# Oxsa Vilefiend Omospzom
# Ostad Malignsteal Uraruksos
# Ozse Flymalign Atuurar
# Enu Fiendseduced Zomamxu
# Smug Plaguehex Snodubaslot
# Ustrok Vilewraith Omospmato
# Ulu Seducedungeon Amxubosa
# Dab Malignedcurse Urarngokang
# Zak Tormentprofane Nakoukge
# Ngub Ruthlessmalice Ozudxuspgas
# Ugas Menacescourge Kutsmobsong
# Nolsmu Malignedlie Urarsmunstu
# Bor Hexvice Aslotngoso
# Urdu Witchspidery Ostaosmosp
# Ucat Channeledwhip Cattenbomrek
# Cagith Stakeconstruct Atîsaban
# Othsin Rocksbridge Idsazir
# Fak Bronzewalled Kilrudadil
# Asen Knifeblockade Zasitmedtob
# Lodel Ochreochre Nokimnokim
# Dostob Swordpaged Dastotmorul
# Alud Cloisteredstandard Oddomlorbam
# Gost Arrowcopper Febgusil
# Alath Painttraded Logemnish
# Tilgil Keyroof Edemcilob
# Cos Whippedmine Bomrekavuz
# Metul Daggerfountain Uristzefon
# Bukog Shootglove Keskalreg
# Okag Treatystake Ilralatîs
# As Cobaltfloor Letmosdakost
# Lurak Castletown Rimtaramost
# Denush Glazedmine Fikodavuz
# Nokzam Tinrelic Akrulzaneg
# Stidest Pillargloved Obokreg
# Thol Attictrade Endoknish
# Erong Helmshandle Zonerush
# Shadkik Tombspainted Rakustlogem
# Oril Pillarhall Obokîton
# Berath Craftgate Rigothinod
# As Channeledtreaty Cattenilral
# Lakish Minebronze Avuzkilrud
# Itdun Salveworked Sibrekducim
# Ethbesh Paintcoal Logemrîsen
# Egdoth Machinegilt Stâkudoltar
# Lanlar Citypulley Inethbesmar
# Egdoth Machinegilt Stakudoltar
# Suthmam Brassgravel Konosasen
# Mithreb Fisherales Edinkasmko
# Ontak Townpick Amosttekkud
# Tokri Trustcurl Monolluki
# Elot Bridgedwire Sazirnabar
# Berath Giltsmith Oltareshtân
# Vukcas Bellstin Rithakrul
# Nithros Planeentered Ramulneni
# Izeg Diamondpulley Dorenbesmar
# Minran Inkysabre Likotast
# Ilush Glovedroom Regmosus
# Bucsu Sealbakers Quenirhiner
# Fak Tombnet Rakustkib
# Urdu Witchspidery Ostaosmosp
# Bor Hexvice Aslotngoso
# Nolsmu Malignedlie Urarsmunstu
# Ugas Menacescourge Kutsmobsong
# Ngub Ruthlessmalice Ozudkutsmob
# Zak Tormentprofane Nakoukge
# Lubu Badmalice Stothoxuspgas
# Enir Daggerrock Uristid
# Amkash Sculptedsnuggles Uthraworu

Spoiler: Commanders part 1 and 2 only original language last names (click to show/hide)

# Xenmu Osmosposnun
# Umung Uksosamxu
# Nol Slaxuurar
# Tobog Atuolngo
# Osmze Zolakem
# Xenmu Ngomkutsmob
# Asmuk Zomdang
# Bor Bosastotho
# Xenmu Baxzolak
# Ustrok Uksosuksos
# Ok Nakostrodno
# Nol Arstrukuksos
# Sputo Urarzolak
# Urdu Olngongerxung
# Zoslu Xuspgaszolak
# Asmuk Songstosbub
# Uxzo Stosbubngebzo
# Roz Dangdang
# Ron Snodubgozru
# Urdu Urarogur
# Nolsmu Ngomnako
# Lubu Stothoxuspgas
# Ost Aslotuksos
# Strog Urarngerxung
# Enu Stosbubosta
# Osm Songsnamoz
# Smug Ngomuksos
# Nolsmu Ostauksos
# Ustrok Kutsmobusbu
# Sasne Ukgeurar
# Zak Dangmato
# Nol Zomstasost
# Stol Arstrukbem
# Stol Usbuozud
# Asmuk Dostngospomosp
# Urdu Ukgeazstrog
# Oxsa Omospzom
# Ostad Uraruksos
# Ozse Atuurar
# Enu Zomamxu
# Smug Snodubaslot
# Ustrok Omospmato
# Ulu Amxubosa
# Dab Urarngokang
# Zak Nakoukge
# Ngub Ozudxuspgas
# Ugas Kutsmobsong
# Nolsmu Urarsmunstu
# Bor Aslotngoso
# Urdu Ostaosmosp
# Ucat Cattenbomrek
# Cagith Atîsaban
# Othsin Idsazir
# Fak Kilrudadil
# Asen Zasitmedtob
# Lodel Nokimnokim
# Dostob Dastotmorul
# Alud Oddomlorbam
# Gost Febgusil
# Alath Logemnish
# Tilgil Edemcilob
# Cos Bomrekavuz
# Metul Uristzefon
# Bukog Keskalreg
# Okag Ilralatîs
# As Letmosdakost
# Lurak Rimtaramost
# Denush Fikodavuz
# Nokzam Akrulzaneg
# Stidest Obokreg
# Thol Endoknish
# Erong Zonerush
# Shadkik Rakustlogem
# Oril Obokîton
# Berath Rigothinod
# As Cattenilral
# Lakish Avuzkilrud
# Itdun Sibrekducim
# Ethbesh Logemrîsen
# Egdoth Stâkudoltar
# Lanlar Inethbesmar
# Egdoth Stakudoltar
# Suthmam Konosasen
# Mithreb Edinkasmko
# Ontak Amosttekkud
# Tokri Monolluki
# Elot Sazirnabar
# Berath Oltareshtân
# Vukcas Rithakrul
# Nithros Ramulneni
# Izeg Dorenbesmar
# Minran Likotast
# Ilush Regmosus
# Bucsu Quenirhiner
# Fak Rakustkib
# Urdu Ostaosmosp
# Bor Aslotngoso
# Nolsmu Urarsmunstu
# Ugas Kutsmobsong
# Ngub Ozudkutsmob
# Zak Nakoukge
# Lubu Stothoxuspgas
# Enir Uristid
# Amkash Uthraworu

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: nogoodnames on December 01, 2022, 04:43:15 pm

Quote from: Lurker Z on December 01, 2022, 03:59:26 pm

Would using the Masonry Method (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Orid_Xem#The_Masonry_Method) be easier? Do you want help? I can start making a list with their original names if it helps.

I don't know what that is, and I couldn't see any explanation of how to do it through the link.

Quote from: Lurker Z on December 01, 2022, 03:59:26 pm

Spoiler: Commanders - raw list (click to show/hide)

24  897 the human Xenmu Spideryghoul Osmosposnun
25  888 the human Umung Stealseduce Uksosamxu
26  898 the human Nol Fellmalign Slaxuurar
27  890 the human Tobog Flymonster Atuolngo
28  889 the human Osmze Sinjackal Zolakem
29  889 the human Xenmu Doommenaced Ngomkutsmob
30  899 the human Asmuk Fiendhorror Zomdang
31  899 the human Bor Dungeonbad Bosastotho
32  892 the human Xenmu Nightmaresinful Baxzolak
33  893 the human Ustrok Stolenstolen Uksosuksos
34  900 the human Ok Tormentscorpion Nakostrodno
35  898 the human Nol Demonstolen Arstrukuksos
36  898 the human Sputo Malignedsin Urarzolak
37  893 the human Urdu Monstrouswicked Olngongerxung
38  896 the human Zoslu Malicesinful Xuspgaszolak
39  891 the human Asmuk Scourgehate Songstosbub
40  895 the human Uxzo Hatedread Stosbubngebzo
41  894 the human Roz Horrorhorror Dangdang
42  893 the human Ron Plaguehell Snodubgozru
43  889 the human Urdu Malignedblack Urarogur
44  893 the human Nolsmu Doomtorment Ngomnako
45  892 the human Lubu Badmalice Stothoxuspgas
46  895 the human Ost Hexsteal Aslotuksos
47  903 the human Strog Malignedwicked Urarngerxung
48  898 the human Enu Hatewitch Stosbubosta
49  895 the human Osm Scourgehatred Songsnamoz
50  898 the human Smug Doomedstolen Ngomuksos
51  899 the human Nolsmu Witchstolen Ostauksos
52  892 the human Ustrok Menacedevil Kutsmobusbu
53  889 the human Sasne Profanemaligned Ukgeurar
54  898 the human Zak Horrorwraith Dangmato
55  901 the human Nol Fiendtick Zomstasost
56  903 the human Stol Demonwere Arstrukbem
57  897 the human Stol Evilruthless Usbuozud
58  903 the human Asmuk Cruelvile Dostngospomosp
59  896 the human Urdu Profanedevil Ukgeazstrog
60  895 the human Oxsa Vilefiend Omospzom
61  902 the human Ostad Malignsteal Uraruksos
62  902 the human Ozse Flymalign Atuurar
63  895 the human Enu Fiendseduced Zomamxu
64  893 the human Smug Plaguehex Snodubaslot
65  888 the human Ustrok Vilewraith Omospmato
66  902 the human Ulu Seducedungeon Amxubosa
67  903 the human Dab Malignedcurse Urarngokang
68  900 the human Zak Tormentprofane Nakoukge
69  891 the human Ngub Ruthlessmalice Ozudxuspgas
70  896 the human Ugas Menacescourge Kutsmobsong
71  893 the human Nolsmu Malignedlie Urarsmunstu
72  895 the human Bor Hexvice Aslotngoso
73  893 the human Urdu Witchspidery Ostaosmosp
74  895 the human Ucat Channeledwhip Cattenbomrek
75  900 the human Cagith Stakeconstruct Atîsaban
76  893 the human Othsin Rocksbridge Idsazir
77  901 the human Fak Bronzewalled Kilrudadil
78  901 the human Asen Knifeblockade Zasitmedtob
79  893 the human Lodel Ochreochre Nokimnokim
80  897 the human Dostob Swordpaged Dastotmorul
81  889 the human Alud Cloisteredstandard Oddomlorbam
82  903 the human Gost Arrowcopper Febgusil
83  891 the human Alath Painttraded Logemnish
84  901 the human Tilgil Keyroof Edemcilob
85  901 the human Cos Whippedmine Bomrekavuz
86  899 the human Metul Daggerfountain Uristzefon
87  899 the human Bukog Shootglove Keskalreg
88  899 the human Okag Treatystake Ilralatîs
89  903 the human As Cobaltfloor Letmosdakost
90  896 the human Lurak Castletown Rimtaramost
91  889 the human Denush Glazedmine Fikodavuz
92  890 the human Nokzam Tinrelic Akrulzaneg
93  905 the human Stidest Pillargloved Obokreg
94  894 the human Thol Attictrade Endoknish
95  895 the human Erong Helmshandle Zonerush
96  901 the human Shadkik Tombspainted Rakustlogem
97  897 the human Oril Pillarhall Obokîton
98  897 the human Berath Craftgate Rigothinod
99  896 the human As Channeledtreaty Cattenilral
100  892 the human Lakish Minebronze Avuzkilrud
101  896 the human Itdun Salveworked Sibrekducim
102  905 the human Ethbesh Paintcoal Logemrîsen
103  899 the human Egdoth Machinegilt Stâkudoltar

Spoiler: Commanders v.2 (click to show/hide)

24  Xenmu Spideryghoul Osmosposnun
25  Umung Stealseduce Uksosamxu
26  Nol Fellmalign Slaxuurar
27  Tobog Flymonster Atuolngo
28  Osmze Sinjackal Zolakem
29  Xenmu Doommenaced Ngomkutsmob
30  Asmuk Fiendhorror Zomdang
31  Bor Dungeonbad Bosastotho
32  Xenmu Nightmaresinful Baxzolak
33  Ustrok Stolenstolen Uksosuksos
34  Ok Tormentscorpion Nakostrodno
35  Nol Demonstolen Arstrukuksos
36  Sputo Malignedsin Urarzolak
37  Urdu Monstrouswicked Olngongerxung
38  Zoslu Malicesinful Xuspgaszolak
39  Asmuk Scourgehate Songstosbub
40  Uxzo Hatedread Stosbubngebzo
41  Roz Horrorhorror Dangdang
42  Ron Plaguehell Snodubgozru
43  Urdu Malignedblack Urarogur
44  Nolsmu Doomtorment Ngomnako
45  Lubu Badmalice Stothoxuspgas
46  Ost Hexsteal Aslotuksos
47  Strog Malignedwicked Urarngerxung
48  Enu Hatewitch Stosbubosta
49  Osm Scourgehatred Songsnamoz
50  Smug Doomedstolen Ngomuksos
51  Nolsmu Witchstolen Ostauksos
52  Ustrok Menacedevil Kutsmobusbu
53  Sasne Profanemaligned Ukgeurar
54  Zak Horrorwraith Dangmato
55  Nol Fiendtick Zomstasost
56  Stol Demonwere Arstrukbem
57  Stol Evilruthless Usbuozud
58  Asmuk Cruelvile Dostngospomosp
59  Urdu Profanedevil Ukgeazstrog
60  Oxsa Vilefiend Omospzom
61  Ostad Malignsteal Uraruksos
62  Ozse Flymalign Atuurar
63  Enu Fiendseduced Zomamxu
64  Smug Plaguehex Snodubaslot
65  Ustrok Vilewraith Omospmato
66  Ulu Seducedungeon Amxubosa
67  Dab Malignedcurse Urarngokang
68  Zak Tormentprofane Nakoukge
69  Ngub Ruthlessmalice Ozudxuspgas
70  Ugas Menacescourge Kutsmobsong
71  Nolsmu Malignedlie Urarsmunstu
72  Bor Hexvice Aslotngoso
73  Urdu Witchspidery Ostaosmosp
74  Ucat Channeledwhip Cattenbomrek
75  Cagith Stakeconstruct Atîsaban
76  Othsin Rocksbridge Idsazir
77  Fak Bronzewalled Kilrudadil
78  Asen Knifeblockade Zasitmedtob
79  Lodel Ochreochre Nokimnokim
80  Dostob Swordpaged Dastotmorul
81  Alud Cloisteredstandard Oddomlorbam
82  Gost Arrowcopper Febgusil
83  Alath Painttraded Logemnish
84  Tilgil Keyroof Edemcilob
85  Cos Whippedmine Bomrekavuz
86  Metul Daggerfountain Uristzefon
87  Bukog Shootglove Keskalreg
88  Okag Treatystake Ilralatîs
89  As Cobaltfloor Letmosdakost
90  Lurak Castletown Rimtaramost
91  Denush Glazedmine Fikodavuz
92  Nokzam Tinrelic Akrulzaneg
93  Stidest Pillargloved Obokreg
94  Thol Attictrade Endoknish
95  Erong Helmshandle Zonerush
96  Shadkik Tombspainted Rakustlogem
97  Oril Pillarhall Obokîton
98  Berath Craftgate Rigothinod
99  As Channeledtreaty Cattenilral
100  Lakish Minebronze Avuzkilrud
101  Itdun Salveworked Sibrekducim
102  Ethbesh Paintcoal Logemrîsen
103  Egdoth Machinegilt Stâkudoltar

Spoiler: Commanders v.3 (click to show/hide)

# Xenmu Spideryghoul Osmosposnun
# Umung Stealseduce Uksosamxu
# Nol Fellmalign Slaxuurar
# Tobog Flymonster Atuolngo
# Osmze Sinjackal Zolakem
# Xenmu Doommenaced Ngomkutsmob
# Asmuk Fiendhorror Zomdang
# Bor Dungeonbad Bosastotho
# Xenmu Nightmaresinful Baxzolak
# Ustrok Stolenstolen Uksosuksos
# Ok Tormentscorpion Nakostrodno
# Nol Demonstolen Arstrukuksos
# Sputo Malignedsin Urarzolak
# Urdu Monstrouswicked Olngongerxung
# Zoslu Malicesinful Xuspgaszolak
# Asmuk Scourgehate Songstosbub
# Uxzo Hatedread Stosbubngebzo
# Roz Horrorhorror Dangdang
# Ron Plaguehell Snodubgozru
# Urdu Malignedblack Urarogur
# Nolsmu Doomtorment Ngomnako
# Lubu Badmalice Stothoxuspgas
# Ost Hexsteal Aslotuksos
# Strog Malignedwicked Urarngerxung
# Enu Hatewitch Stosbubosta
# Osm Scourgehatred Songsnamoz
# Smug Doomedstolen Ngomuksos
# Nolsmu Witchstolen Ostauksos
# Ustrok Menacedevil Kutsmobusbu
# Sasne Profanemaligned Ukgeurar
# Zak Horrorwraith Dangmato
# Nol Fiendtick Zomstasost
# Stol Demonwere Arstrukbem
# Stol Evilruthless Usbuozud
# Asmuk Cruelvile Dostngospomosp
# Urdu Profanedevil Ukgeazstrog
# Oxsa Vilefiend Omospzom
# Ostad Malignsteal Uraruksos
# Ozse Flymalign Atuurar
# Enu Fiendseduced Zomamxu
# Smug Plaguehex Snodubaslot
# Ustrok Vilewraith Omospmato
# Ulu Seducedungeon Amxubosa
# Dab Malignedcurse Urarngokang
# Zak Tormentprofane Nakoukge
# Ngub Ruthlessmalice Ozudxuspgas
# Ugas Menacescourge Kutsmobsong
# Nolsmu Malignedlie Urarsmunstu
# Bor Hexvice Aslotngoso
# Urdu Witchspidery Ostaosmosp
# Ucat Channeledwhip Cattenbomrek
# Cagith Stakeconstruct Atîsaban
# Othsin Rocksbridge Idsazir
# Fak Bronzewalled Kilrudadil
# Asen Knifeblockade Zasitmedtob
# Lodel Ochreochre Nokimnokim
# Dostob Swordpaged Dastotmorul
# Alud Cloisteredstandard Oddomlorbam
# Gost Arrowcopper Febgusil
# Alath Painttraded Logemnish
# Tilgil Keyroof Edemcilob
# Cos Whippedmine Bomrekavuz
# Metul Daggerfountain Uristzefon
# Bukog Shootglove Keskalreg
# Okag Treatystake Ilralatîs
# As Cobaltfloor Letmosdakost
# Lurak Castletown Rimtaramost
# Denush Glazedmine Fikodavuz
# Nokzam Tinrelic Akrulzaneg
# Stidest Pillargloved Obokreg
# Thol Attictrade Endoknish
# Erong Helmshandle Zonerush
# Shadkik Tombspainted Rakustlogem
# Oril Pillarhall Obokîton
# Berath Craftgate Rigothinod
# As Channeledtreaty Cattenilral
# Lakish Minebronze Avuzkilrud
# Itdun Salveworked Sibrekducim
# Ethbesh Paintcoal Logemrîsen
# Egdoth Machinegilt Stâkudoltar

Spoiler: Commanders v.4 (only original last names) (click to show/hide)

# Xenmu Osmosposnun
# Umung Uksosamxu
# Nol Slaxuurar
# Tobog Atuolngo
# Osmze Zolakem
# Xenmu Ngomkutsmob
# Asmuk Zomdang
# Bor Bosastotho
# Xenmu Baxzolak
# Ustrok Uksosuksos
# Ok Nakostrodno
# Nol Arstrukuksos
# Sputo Urarzolak
# Urdu Olngongerxung
# Zoslu Xuspgaszolak
# Asmuk Songstosbub
# Uxzo Stosbubngebzo
# Roz Dangdang
# Ron Snodubgozru
# Urdu Urarogur
# Nolsmu Ngomnako
# Lubu Stothoxuspgas
# Ost Aslotuksos
# Strog Urarngerxung
# Enu Stosbubosta
# Osm Songsnamoz
# Smug Ngomuksos
# Nolsmu Ostauksos
# Ustrok Kutsmobusbu
# Sasne Ukgeurar
# Zak Dangmato
# Nol Zomstasost
# Stol Arstrukbem
# Stol Usbuozud
# Asmuk Dostngospomosp
# Urdu Ukgeazstrog
# Oxsa Omospzom
# Ostad Uraruksos
# Ozse Atuurar
# Enu Zomamxu
# Smug Snodubaslot
# Ustrok Omospmato
# Ulu Amxubosa
# Dab Urarngokang
# Zak Nakoukge
# Ngub Ozudxuspgas
# Ugas Kutsmobsong
# Nolsmu Urarsmunstu
# Bor Aslotngoso
# Urdu Ostaosmosp
# Ucat Cattenbomrek
# Cagith Atîsaban
# Othsin Idsazir
# Fak Kilrudadil
# Asen Zasitmedtob
# Lodel Nokimnokim
# Dostob Dastotmorul
# Alud Oddomlorbam
# Gost Febgusil
# Alath Logemnish
# Tilgil Edemcilob
# Cos Bomrekavuz
# Metul Uristzefon
# Bukog Keskalreg
# Okag Ilralatîs
# As Letmosdakost
# Lurak Rimtaramost
# Denush Fikodavuz
# Nokzam Akrulzaneg
# Stidest Obokreg
# Thol Endoknish
# Erong Zonerush
# Shadkik Rakustlogem
# Oril Obokîton
# Berath Rigothinod
# As Cattenilral
# Lakish Avuzkilrud
# Itdun Sibrekducim
# Ethbesh Logemrîsen
# Egdoth Stâkudoltar

Where are these names coming from? Are they all the commanders of the Realm of Silver? Most of the commanders aren't traveling, I'm looking for the soldiers that are.
Edit: Oh, they are there. Yes, that's helpful.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on December 01, 2022, 05:04:30 pm

Quote from: nogoodnames on December 01, 2022, 04:43:15 pm

I don't know what that is, and I couldn't see any explanation of how to do it through the link.

Huh, I was sure the reddit link was around there. Try this more mundane explanation.
https://www.reddit.com/r/dwarffortress/comments/sd7r9w/comment/hupo8x7/?utm_source=reddit&utm_medium=web2x&context=3

Quote

Go to a workshop (I use Mason's Workshop). Queue up a statue (q → u) then specify details (d) → Specify image → Related to historical figure → f → Write the last name and you'll find the name of the creature in its original language.

Quote from: nogoodnames on December 01, 2022, 04:43:15 pm

Where are these names coming from? Are they all the commanders of the Realm of Silver? Most of the commanders aren't traveling, I'm looking for the soldiers that are.

They're all the names of the Commanders that Legends Viewer has assimilated with Law-Givers:

https://i.imgur.com/dNOI5RI.png

All 80 of them. Some might be dead, I haven't checked.

Aaaaaaand it looks like those aren't all of them, there's more than a dozen listed here (which are not the same as those assimilated to Law-Givers:

https://i.imgur.com/E7dvJpr.png

FFS, game...

Edit: I updated my previous post with these new commanders. FFS game...

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: nogoodnames on December 01, 2022, 05:21:58 pm

Well I snapped the travellers out of existence, but it's back to freezing on the 6th so that wasn't it. One other thing I did earlier that I didn't mention was controlling Jas and having him give in to starvation. Maybe his death was what let it advance a few days.

Spoiler: Travellers and their histfig IDs (click to show/hide)

Imo Ivytunnel - 112488
Nithros Planeentered - 124089
Ibruk Windattic the Strangers of Legend - 118244
Metul Minelash – 118261
Onor Armorboulder – 118285
Ingish Pillarmine – 118284
Ub Tombwheel – 118280
Ibruk Bookbust – 118279
Shegum Bootcloister – 118276
Ustrok Vilewraith – 124252
Ethbesh Paintcoal – 124323
Ostad Malignsteal – 124248
Stol Demonwere – 124243
Zak Horrorwraith – 124241
Shadkik Tombspainted – 124315
Ustrok Menacedevil – 124239
Nolsmu Witchstolen – 124238
Smug Doomedstolen – 124237
Xenmu Nightmaresinful – 124219
Uxzo Hatedread – 124227
Ustrok Stolenstolen - 124220
Elot Bridgedwire - 124302

There’s also a second Elot Bridgedwire (118195) but I think he just has the same name by coincidence so I left him alone.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on December 01, 2022, 05:27:34 pm

Quote from: nogoodnames on December 01, 2022, 05:21:58 pm

Well I snapped the travellers out of existence, but it's back to freezing on the 6th so that wasn't it.

That's a shame.

Would it be too tedious to just kill all the commanders and see if it works? There's something about all of them that's obviously borking the game.

Quote from: nogoodnames on December 01, 2022, 05:21:58 pm

There’s also a second Elot Bridgedwire (118195) but I think he just has the same name by coincidence so I left him alone.

There's a lot of that going on, it's even worse with goblins. I've found a bunch of goblins with identical first and last names in both languages. There are at least... off the top of my head... only from what I've just found, mind you, at least 20 pairs of 2 creatures with identical names, as well as around (and possibly at least) 5 pairs of 3 creatures with identical names.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: nogoodnames on December 01, 2022, 05:54:24 pm

Hmm... well, I tried again and it got to the 15th on the timeskip screen before freezing, which I think is about where it got on the earlier try. I had set it to skip a full year last time so that may have complicated things.

It's progress at least, but there's still something else going on. I'll try poking at a few more things...
Nope, no luck.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on December 03, 2022, 01:57:45 pm

Do you think there is enough progress to keep trying? At some point we may have to revert to when the save was working and continue from there?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on December 03, 2022, 04:29:14 pm

I hope it doesn't come to that, but if it does, how would we do it? Would Unrevaller and Cook do their turns again?

Quote from: Cook100500 on November 29, 2022, 05:21:32 am

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1q12T50MrzvvfTBPL07dMajZLdRECMI_f/view?usp=sharing
Saved exacly 1 tick before the disaster. Maybe that will somehow help
EDIT: Maybe, the exact tick it happens. When retired and set timeskip to 0 tick it crashes

While this save lets me retire, it gets stuck on fortress mode even with tick 0.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: nogoodnames on December 03, 2022, 06:52:22 pm

Quote from: Bralbaard on December 03, 2022, 01:57:45 pm

Do you think there is enough progress to keep trying? At some point we may have to revert to when the save was working and continue from there?

Well, I'm out of ideas. Unless someone better at debugging DF can figure out what's going on, reverting might be the only option. Do we know for sure the old save is safe and won't break when it gets to same point, though?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on December 03, 2022, 06:58:30 pm

Cook said Turn 96 has no problems.

Quote from: Cook100500 on November 27, 2022, 11:29:44 pm

Whatever happens is probably related to your fort or your character. Skipped about 20 years on turn 96 and nothing happend

What save did you work on, NGN? Because when I retire and try to start up the newest save (the one I quoted above), it stalls before even showing the calendar.

Ok, I'll test for a while. Killed everyone but Jas and Luki. Now let's see what happens.

Nope, still stuck. Let's kill everyone in the other districts too.

There's definitely something strange happening with the commanders. They're all dead, and yet.

(https://i.imgur.com/nmi9EaM.png)

The positions just don't want to be emptied. I have 3 full positions with very dead people that the game doesn't want to empty.

...well, let's kill Jas and see what happens.

Nope, no luck. I'm out of ideas.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: nogoodnames on December 03, 2022, 07:19:26 pm

Quote from: Lurker Z on December 03, 2022, 06:58:30 pm

What save did you work on, NGN? Because when I retire and try to start up the newest save (the one I quoted above), it stalls before even showing the calendar.

The first one posted that freezes in about a day/

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: nogoodnames on December 04, 2022, 12:44:46 am

Well, it’s been a while, but now seems as good a time as any to finish writing up Leto’s adventure. Expect a few of these. Previous posts: 1, (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8377123#msg8377123) 2, (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8380499#msg8380499) 3, (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8384362#msg8384362)

Spoiler: Quick recap for those who don’t want to go back over the old posts (click to show/hide)

Leto, having finally given up weaseling out of field work for his historian’s guild dissertation, set off to find some piece of unrecorded history.

For protection, he hired Dana Hailmurders, a dwarven miner/thief, and Juvar Scarsung, a mercenary from the distant Realm of Silver.

Disaster struck in the town of Padcalls, where the trio encountered two victims of the Omon Blight. Leto fled while the other two fought for their lives. All three managed to escape, but Juvar was left paralyzed and on the edge of death. Leto revealed that there might be a cure for his condition in the Museum, and he and Dana set off.

Along the way, they stopped at IronWards. Finding it mostly abandoned, Dana happily looted the place.

After reaching the Museum, Leto located the barrels that held the blood of the “last” vampire and surreptitiously filled a goblet with it.

After they left, Dana made Leto practise hunting in the hopes that he could be something other than completely useless in combat. During that, he accidentally took a swig of vampire blood and was infected by the curse. (That actually was a total accident on my part. I was just trying to make him eat, and then the red blood markers started showing up and I realized he was still holding a piece of meat.)

Returning to Juvar, they gave him the vampire blood. It saved him from death, but he was still paralyzed. As revenge, Dana and Leto killed the blighted thralls. The fight was tough, but with Dana’s looted armour and Leto’s supernatural strength they prevailed. Juvar took lordship over the town and the other two returned to their main quest.

---

From the desk of Leto Searchpraise, Senior Apprentice to the Historian’s Guild
10th Timber, 879

As dawn swept over the land, I felt a bit more hopeful than I had the previous night. So what if I’m a vampire? Is that really such a bad thing? They say the gods created the vampire curse to punish blasphemers, but if this is their idea of a punishment then the gods are even less in touch with the world than I thought. I feel great! Stronger, faster, untiring, no need for food, drink or sleep! The only downsides I’ve noticed are a slight aversion to sunlight (which, to be honest, I already had to some degree) and the blood thirst. So far I have been able to control it. And then there’s the weremammoth in the room: immortality! No longer must my scholarly pursuits be limited to a meagre human lifetime. I will have all the time in the world! Not only to study history, but to watch the march of ages bring it about! I will be the best historian this world has ever seen!!

Dana and I made quick progress back south. She even complimented me on my improved vitality (oh if she only knew the half of it!) But as the day wore on, the blood thirst became more and more of an impediment. It was in that hungry state that we came upon a lone campfire in the hills. Dana sat herself down for a quick meal while I offered to find whoever had set it up. I found the camper just beyond the hill, a robust and well-armed dwarf blissfully napping in the sun. I must confess, seeing them there, so strong yet so helpless, sensing the gentle thrum of their heart as warm blood ebbed and flowed through bulging muscles, I lost control, just for a moment. When I returned to my senses, the dwarf was noticeably paler, but still breathing. Satiated and ashamed, I returned to Dana. I sheepishly suggested that whoever made the fire had left to go hunting, and we returned to our journey.

(https://i.imgur.com/6bpMcYM.png)

As we neared the Museum again, Dana asked me where exactly we were headed. I was a bit taken aback. In truth, with all that had happened I hadn’t really been thinking of our destination. After a moments thought, I replied that we would first be headed east, towards Patternedbegun. I still wanted to confirm my theories of the fate of Pictham Contestlabored and prove it to those doubters back in the guild.

“I know a place near ‘ere. It’s in Diptramples. Might be some there who know the lay o’ the land bett’r than yer books.” Dana told me.

I agreed to let her lead the way. We arrived in the town of Diptramples, and beheld a field of gems. The most I’ve ever seen, just out in the open!

(https://i.imgur.com/ERVrQam.png)

“Follow my lead, keep yer head down and don’t. Touch. Anything.” Said Dana.

She carefully traced her way to an unassuming tavern, knocked on the wall three times and stepped inside. I gingerly followed her, but stopped when my foot met something soft and squishy. It was a tiny humanoid creature, dead in the doorway. A gremlin, if I know my subterranean taxonomy.

I poked my head inside. The smell was indescribable. The sight was not at all what I expected. A half-dozen gremlins gathered around a dwarf and reciting bizarre jokes while the dwarf passed judgment. Was this some kind of insane amateur comedy club? And perhaps the body I was standing on belonged to someone who couldn’t hack it.

(https://i.imgur.com/SDxASE0.png)

Dana got the attention of the other dwarf and they started conversing rapidly in a language I didn’t recognize. I busied myself by looking around the room, avoiding eye contact with any of the gremlins. A hatch on the floor caught my glance. Anything seemed better than more gremlin humour, so while no one was looking, I opened the hatch and slipped inside. I thought it would just be a root cellar, but instead I found some kind of secret living area. More gems were stored here, as well as weapons armour, and of course more gremlins. For whatever reason, the ones down here all bore serious expressions. Combined with their grotesque facial features, the overall impression evoked a cross between a severely gassy baby and a pug.

(https://i.imgur.com/3nc0bxy.png)

I was about to inspect some of the gems when a hand from above grabbed me by the scruff of the neck.

“The hell ye think you’re doing?! Didja ignore everything I said?!” Hissed Dana, “C’mon, the guildmaster says there’s a scholar or summat stayin’ in the keep. Should know somethin’ ‘bout what we’re after.”

I raised a finger to defend myself, but in the end I did most of all want to get out of that place, so I went quietly. We casually strolled through the streets until we reached the keep at the town centre. No guards seemed to be around, so we walked right in. Inside the keep were a number of treasures and trophies, displayed proudly. There were also gremlins, of course. At the back of the room, nearly hidden in a pile of loot was an ancient-looking gorlak. Quite a rare sight on the surface, but the dwarves say they are highly amiable. I introduced myself, and he answered.

(https://i.imgur.com/Iw794Wp.png)

Recognition washed over me. Nom the Cheese, of course! The famous gorlak gourmand! He was one of the earlier adventurers of the Museum, and contributed much of what we know on gorlak culture. By my guess, he would have been born around the same time as my great-great-grandfather, Leto the First! I don’t know how long gorlaks generally live, but that did strike me as exceptional. However, given my recent affliction, I declined to pry.

Nom admitted that he hasn’t done much travelling recently. However, upon hearing my intent to find Pictham’s grave, he laughed and pointed me in the direction of Herograves. I had heard mention of the place, of course, but never in relation to Pictham. I silently swore an oath. If all this time, Pictham had been unceremoniously interred just a short walk away... Well, we had our next stop. I thanked Nom and we went on our way.

The walk to Herograves, was, as expected, quick and easy. To my dismay, even this place of solemn remembrance was infested by gremlins. I blocked them out as best I could and found my way to the main graveyard.

(https://i.imgur.com/3t0SCt8.png)

Many coffins lay here, engraved with names I recognized. I suppose a distaste for the macabre had kept me from visiting this place in the past. I cursed my former cowardice. Then I saw it, plain as day. Emblazoned on one coffin, in the runes of the south, there it was: “Pictham Contestlabored”. I knew what I must do. Hands trembling, I reached out and pried back the lid. It came loose with dull thud and...

Nothing.

The coffin was completely barren. Not even some commemorative trinket inside. A strange mixture of relief and bitter disappointment washed over me, and even now I cannot say which was stronger. Was this empty grave left here as tribute? Or did her body really lie here only to be... No. That possibility is too horrible to even contemplate.

I left Herograves with more questions than answers. There is but one place left to search. We must brave the vile necropolis of Patternedbegun!


11th Timber


I am happy to report that our journey to Patternedbegun was relatively uneventful. Despite trudging through leagues of goblin-infested wastelands we made it through unmolested. The sun was getting low in the sky as the great tower came into view, a black scar violating the pre-dusk horizon. I didn’t relish the prospect of night falling while we explored the place, but my desire for vindication urged me on.

(https://i.imgur.com/vc5FCmt.png)

It wasn’t long before we spotted the first zombie. A shambling half-rotted goblin, just like the old stories say. It had already spotted us and was slowly approaching. I tried to push back the panic creeping up my throat. Dana gripped her pick and whispered, “Ready?” I could only give a quick nod in reply.

(https://i.imgur.com/QCazyRY.png)

To my surprise, the monstrosity paid me no heed and went straight for Dana. In retrospect, the implication is obvious. These abominations hunt the living, a group I am no longer among. I knew this intellectually, of course, but having it confirmed has still had an impact on me. Regardless, I struck at the zombie with my dagger. I can’t risk Dana making the connection, who knows how she might react to learning I (and Juvar!) are now vampires.

(https://i.imgur.com/flkn5Zy.png)

Dana had little trouble dispatching that zombie, or the handful of others we encountered. It was a far cry from the endless hordes of legend. After the first few, my terror began to subside a little. Then we saw the reason for the sparse population. Dana pointed them out to me first, trails of ancient half-buried goblin corpses.

(https://i.imgur.com/0brlg87.png)

This had to be the trail carved out by Pictham and her companions ages back! We followed it northward. The trail broke up at the base of the great tower. The tower itself appeared to be abandoned, so I decided to risk a look inside. As expected, the necromancers who once lived here lay long dead, slain in the purges of the past. However, the place hadn’t been cleansed as thoroughly as Largetempest to the east. It’s known that necromancers sometimes record the secrets of mastery over death in their books, and I found several with suspect titles. But I dare not read them to confirm my suspicions! I am already damned once over, best not tempt the gods any further. I have all of eternity to let curiosity get the better of me.

There wasn’t much else in the tower beyond books and corpses, so we left and found the trail again. We followed it to the edge of the necropolis. And then I saw it, gleaming on a hill in the setting sunlight...

(https://i.imgur.com/T5lzy0p.png)

Pictham’s halberd! The very same she looted from an ancient tomb, so long ago! Her other belongings were there as well. Bits of armour and scattered items, all on that hill and surrounded by goblin corpses. And yet, still no body... Then it is as I feared. Her corpse must have been stolen by grave robbers, or worse, used for foul necromancy!

I took the halberd with me. Proof of my convictions, at last! Oh sweet, sweet vindication! Lets see those fools at the guild doubt me now! But there must be more to it. What of her companions?

We followed the trail back, looking more carefully now. The encroaching darkness made things difficult for me, although Dana fared better with her dwarven eyes. I had almost given up, but then I spotted something under a pile of desiccated goblin guts. An enormous iron greatsword, rusted from neglect but still imposing. This could only be the weapon of Ngethac the sword dancer! But her body was not nearby. Perhaps she was disarmed here but fell elsewhere? Alas, the sword was too heavy to bring with us. Even with my supernatural strength I could barely wield it.

(https://i.imgur.com/aPkwWLF.png)

We carried on until Dana spotted a human corpse amidst the butchered goblins, along with a war hammer. Ases, Pictham’s first companion.

(https://i.imgur.com/NA71Qms.png)

We never managed to find Ngethac’s body. Maybe she lies in one of the ziggurats, but going through all of those would be too risky. For Ases though, we dragged his body away from the tower and built a funeral pyre. The necromancers may be gone from here, but who knows what fiendish pilgrims may still visit.

Dana and I set up camp a little further upwind. We sat down for a rest and started discussing what to do next. It was with mixed emotions that I admitted I still needed something new for my dissertation. Proving my earlier work is a great relief, but I doubt the sticklers back home would accept it as original research.

“Well, ye did tell Juvar we’d check out those rumours from ‘is homeland. Seems like a fine place to start. I figure we owe it to ‘im anyway.” ventured Dana.

As much as I would like to argue, she was right. Whatever was going on with this new Law Giver down south, it would be a ripe breeding ground for historic happenings. I tried to stifle the dread I felt at at the prospect of trekking through the freezing tundra and the lawless wastes beyond. Alas, these are the things I must endure if I am to return to the guild triumphant. Onward!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Unraveller on December 05, 2022, 12:30:59 pm

I'm starting my investigation, sorry for the long wait, I've been quite busy, unexpectedly so. If I cannot find a solution, we can either delete my last turn and move on, or simply pass time ahead the smallest unit of time until the issue resolves itself. I don't see too much issue with the latter solution, but I understand if we would rather not take that tact. Regardless, I'll report back tonight as I've set aside today to do this.

---

Currently I've retraced to my uploaded save, originally Cook was unable to progress past the 7th of Hematite in their game. I've run Silverthrone for a few months now past this date without any crashes. What I did notice however is that on the 7th of Hematite, this occurred.

(https://i.imgur.com/Ulya8Kx.png)

However, when we take a look at our nobles screen.

(https://i.imgur.com/xpWhaRp.png)

Our field marshal is a different unit at least by noble screen's standards. This could all be a coincidence of it happening on the 7th, but obviously the mixed up noble appointment is wrong. Perhaps if this event occurs while offsite, that could cause a crash. Should I set the position of Field Marshal to vacant, the game will immediately crash, so I'll have to use DF-Hack to fix the assignment. Regardless, it's something to start with. My investigation continues.

---

Aftrer fixing the wierd double field marshal position, I have now played a full year at Silverthrone without any crashes whatsoever. Next I will check out untiring for different lengths of time.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Eric Blank on December 05, 2022, 01:50:37 pm

Oof, and you can't get rid of noble positions once you've created them. Making humans playable may have created a timebomb

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Unraveller on December 05, 2022, 01:53:05 pm

Quote from: Eric Blank on December 05, 2022, 01:50:37 pm

Oof, and you can't get rid of noble positions once you've created them. Making humans playable may have created a timebomb

DF-hack is the key to many doors, removing the assignment in the gm-editor, as well as the historical event related to the ascension to said position and finally the the histfig's entity link pointed to said position is all one needs to do to remove that. Seems to have worked on my end, now I have one field marshal without any noticeable issue. Of course, I will need to do much more testing to know if this was where the issue is.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on December 05, 2022, 02:06:50 pm

Interestingly, when I killed all but Jas and Luki in Cook's save, all but the commander slots emptied, so it's strange that it didn't do that for you.

What command are you using to remove nobles from positions?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Unraveller on December 05, 2022, 02:08:34 pm

Quote from: Lurker Z on December 05, 2022, 02:06:50 pm

Interestingly, when I killed all but Jas and Luki in Cook's save, all but the commander slots emptied, so it's strange that it didn't do that for you.

What command are you using to remove nobles from positions?

gui/gm-editor

I am explicitly delving through the data structure rather than using any commands, the necessary functions to fix many of these issues simply do not exist as DF-hack scripts.

---

Still working on the investigation, things are progressing interestingly. There seem to be currently two types of crashes I can experience. The first is that if I'm on the timeskipping calendar screen, such as when you start adventure mode or fort mode without a current game in progress, if the date reaches the 6-7th of Hematite, the game will crash. Even at a later year. So every year, something happens about at the start of summer that will crash the game, but ONLY when the game is not currently in progress, as this crash does not occur during fortress mode. Human caravans do arrive at about that date, so that might have relevance,

Secondly, both in fort mode and during the timeskip screen, at the very end of the year, the game will freeze/crash.

These could be related, but also could be separate. Currently I'm testing every single year from 929 (current) to 1000 to see if there is a moment in time where the crashes end. I will hopefully use that information to find a solution from there, or, if the crash subsides at a resonable time, perhaps recommend we move forward to it. I've got plenty of day left, so I will do my best to right the save.

---

Another interesting finding in time passage. When only Jas is left as an active unit in Silverthrone, any amount of time can pass without crashes, leading me to once again believe there is a corrupt unit or units in the site. This may be related, as NGN suggests to the many traveling units in the site. During my turn I made liberal use of the squad off-map raiding mechanic to grab all the books in the surrounding abandoned monasteries, I did not realize at the time how buggy that feature was. The testing continues.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: TheFlame52 on December 05, 2022, 05:13:58 pm

The dedication here is stunning.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Unraveller on December 05, 2022, 05:31:04 pm

Quote from: TheFlame52 on December 05, 2022, 05:13:58 pm

The dedication here is stunning.

Well, I feel especially at fault, as it seems my recent turn caused this. Trying my hardest to rectify it without having to just give up all the progress I made that turn. I'm genuinely not certain what I could have turn to screw things up so hard, but I'm on the case! I feel as if I'm getting closer regardless.

ALSO: Sorry NGN for moving the thread past your great continuation of Leto's story, everyone go read that (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8431828#msg8431828) instead of my techno-rambling.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on December 05, 2022, 05:34:34 pm

Quote from: nogoodnames on December 04, 2022, 12:44:46 am

I found the camper just beyond the hill, a robust and well-armed dwarf blissfully napping in the sun.

I am intrigued by the dwarf you ... snacked upon. Is Demon Slayer a custom title? Was it a player character? Perhaps Rekthor?

Loving the story so far NGN. I actually visited Leto in one of my turns, he's a baron now. I gifted him a book about magic that he might enjoy...

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: nogoodnames on December 05, 2022, 06:09:35 pm

I think it might have been another adventurer, but their name isn't in my notes and it's been too long to check.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Unraveller on December 05, 2022, 10:18:15 pm

And so, I have discovered the cause of our crashes on both the change of year, as well as at the start of summer. In the current iteration of the save I have created, I have allowed time to pass for five years without any form of crashing, freezing, or instability. As far as I can tell, the problem has been solved and Orid Xem has been saved (from my own hands).

Regarding the issue; it appears that it was exclusively related to Silverthrone, specifically position assignments. More specifically, military position assignments. At some point during my turn, or perhaps even before, a few of the assignment IDs for squad commanders were thrown off by about two positions. This was enough to have multiple histfigs be pointed to as the leader of multiple different squads or even overlapping simultaneously. Due to this, using the ingame UI to change squad leaders or nobles crashed the tick after they were used, no doubt due to the strangeity of that overlapping data. I have used gui/gm-editor to rectify that specific issue, and from my internal testing, it was the sole cause of the problem.

For your viewing displeasure, here are some notes thereon that will probably not have any value to you.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Code: [Select]

SQUADS
728 - Bridgemen
leadAss - 11
currentOcc - 118224
ID'S MATCH-UP

729 - NE Towermen
leadAss - 12
currentOcc - 124324
ID'S MATCH-UP

730 - Gateguards
leadAss - 13
currentOcc - 118248
ID'S MATCH

731 - SE Rivermen
leadAss - 14
currentOcc - 118170
histFig did not have Entity Link assignment, FIXED

732 - S Outer Towermen
leadAss - 12 (SAME AS NE Towermen!!)
currentOcc - 118198 (Has tons of former positions as ass 12, and also currently assigned as 12 in their links. Despite 124324 correctly assigned in entity positions. Due to this number being skipped, it screwed the rest of the squads)
Fixed by changing 118198's position assignment to be 34, and fixed the squad and their military data accordingly.

733 - S Towermen
leadAss - 15
currentOcc - 118199 (Does not have entity links, has been assigned to position 15, as the rest of the data suggests should be.)

734 - Inner Gateguard
leadAss - 16
currentOcc - 118160 (Currently linked to position 14 rather than 16.)
Fixed by setting fig's assignment to 16.

735 - Highest Tower
leadAss - 17
currentOcc - 118195 (Linked to position 15 rather than 17)
Fixed by setting fig's assignment to 17

736 - NE Rivermen
leadAss - 18
currentOcc - 118234 (Linked to position 16 rather than 18)
Fixed by setting fig's assignment to 18

737 - SE Inner Towermen
leadAss - 19
currentOcc - 118235 (Linked to position 17 rather than 19)
Fixed by setting fig's assignment to 19

738 - E Inner Towermen
leadAss - 20
currentOcc - 124089 (Currently this figure is travelling, may need to circle back and change them out for another histfig)
ALL ID'S MATCH

739 - NE Inner Towermen
leadAss - 21
currentOcc - 118230 (Linked to position 19 rather than 21)
Fixed by setting fig's assignment to 21

740 - Inner Castle Guard
leadAss - 22
currentOcc - -1 (Does not have a leader, previous leader seems to have died in 927, will fill position after fixing rest.)
newOcc - 124292

741 - River Gateguard
leadAss - 23
currentOcc - 118247 (Linked to position 21 rather than 23)

742 - Gate Towermen
leadAss - 24s
currentOcc - 118168 (Currently dead, but was still somehow considered a squad occupant and has position in the entity assignments. squad needs a new leader)
newOcc - 124281

743 - Fieldsmen
leadAss - 25
currentOcc - 118283 (Linked to position 23 rather than 25)

807 - Realmsmen I
leadAss - 26
currentOcc - 124260
ID'S MATCH

808 - Realmsmen II
leadAss 27
currentOcc - 124259
ID'S MATCH

809 - Realmsmen III
leadAss - 28
currentOcc - 124258
ID's MATCH

810 - Realmsmen IV
leadAss - 29
currentOcc - 124257
ID's MATCH

811 - Realmsmen V
leadAss - 30
currentOcc - 124256
ID'S Match

812 - Realmsmen VI
leadAss - 31
currentOcc - 124255
ID'S MATCH

813 - Realmsmen VII
leadAss - 32
currentOcc - 124232
ID'S MATCH

814 - Questors
leadAss - 33
currentOcc - 118242
ID'S MATCH

.
IMPORTANT: HERE IS THE NEW SAVE AFTER THE END OF MY TURN. (https://dffd.bay12games.com/file.php?id=16184)
I IMPLORE you all to go ahead and do some extensive testing, just because I had no crashes after this fix doesn't mean it wasn't a fluke or only a temporary patch.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on December 05, 2022, 10:40:49 pm

I hope this works and I applaud your effort. It seems the commanders were at fault after all (is the way I understood it). Did you remove the commanders from Silverthrone before saving? Hopefully they don't replenish.

My big issue is where these problems came from and why now. You used a human fort mod many turns ago and nothing broke. Is this a new fort mod? Do you have any idea why, when Bralbaard had tried replacing the raws with vanilla ones, the game immediately crashes on him?

I don't want to play the blaming game, as far as I'm concerned nobody cares about that. I just want to be sure these issue that are somehow tied to positions that shouldn't exist in the vanilla game don't resurface and to find a way to remove them.

---

Re: Bralbaard, how long should we test and who gets the save? Will Cook continue his turn?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Unraveller on December 05, 2022, 11:35:24 pm

It was not the units themselves that were at fault, they did not need to be removed. It was the way the position assignment data was off by a few placements. Nothing has changed between those turns with regards to how human fortresses work, so as to why the issue appeared, it was likely my own fumbling trying to get military working in New Weatherponder. You see, the way the human military positions are stored is not the same as dwarven ones, so assigning new commander positions between sites of the same Human civ needs to be handled carefully.

Now that I know how to avoid it, this specific issue will not return.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: kesperan on December 06, 2022, 04:09:54 am

This is great news Unraveller. Thanks for all your hard work.

Does this fix all the multiple law givers issue?

Hope Cook gets a good turn now!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Unraveller on December 06, 2022, 06:50:30 am

Quote from: kesperan on December 06, 2022, 04:09:54 am

This is great news Unraveller. Thanks for all your hard work.

Does this fix all the multiple law givers issue?

Hope Cook gets a good turn now!

Yeah, that should be fixed as well, however someone should take a look and make sure. I would, but about to head to work.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on December 06, 2022, 07:04:32 am

Great news! Maybe we should allow for testing up to Friday? I guess people may be busy playing the new version however....

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Lurker Z on December 09, 2022, 10:43:58 am

So, it's Friday. How do we proceed?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on December 09, 2022, 10:47:04 am

I've had absolutely no time to check anything, but I have not heard anything alarming either, so I say we continue!

I'll PM Cook, and advise them to make plenty of backups..

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on December 09, 2022, 11:12:02 am

Yeah... my limited free time has been consumed by both the Dwarf Fortress steam release and the coinciding WoW Dragonflight release!

Good luck Cook!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: TheFlame52 on December 09, 2022, 03:25:06 pm

Quote from: kesperan on December 09, 2022, 11:12:02 am

Yeah... my limited free time has been consumed by both the Dwarf Fortress steam release and the coinciding WoW Dragonflight release!

That's rough, buddy. ;D

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: WonderPsycho on December 09, 2022, 03:57:10 pm

for me i have been still active here and there on the forums just making sure that i don't miss my turn or anything, i have plans of buying the steam release soon but i am currently focusing on normal classic DF for now until i feel ready to buy the steam release and other games on steam with my steam wallet

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on December 11, 2022, 09:55:01 am

I’ve had a poke around in adventure mode and had no crashes. Seems stable enough.

I guess if Cook doesn’t have time to do their turn again, it would be Lurker next?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: AvolitionBrit on December 11, 2022, 02:57:09 pm

Yeah, hopefully the world is more stable for Lurkers turn.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Lurker Z on December 11, 2022, 03:13:04 pm

Waiting for word from Bralbaard before I start. I hope Cook finishes his turn, but I can see why all the wait might have put him off playing. It's bad enough for anyone playing their turn, but it's even worse when it's your very first turn.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Bralbaard on December 13, 2022, 01:35:38 pm

I've heard nothing from Cook. It's a bit rough that he ran into so much bad luck, and I'd have loved to see him complete a turn, but I think we need to move on.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Lurker Z on December 13, 2022, 01:44:37 pm

Alright. I don't think I have the fixed save yet, but I'll look it up now. I think Unraveller posted it.

Found it, download in progress. And updating LNP to r11.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Bralbaard on December 13, 2022, 02:03:48 pm

Save often!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Lurker Z on December 14, 2022, 08:04:34 am

Well, that was unexpected... and easy.

(https://i.imgur.com/l8Od9Iq.png)

Now let's see where the hell am I. I think I set to spawn in Señamatem and that this is a book looted by Unraveller, but I'm just starting looking around. Lots of coins around too, a proper welcome. Now let's hope no (literal) blighters are around.

(https://i.imgur.com/u4gtRit.png)

Uh, whoops? Wrong starting site I guess. Well, this is an adventure alright. I suppose I can roleplay that I woke up here from Señamatem without an idea on how I get there and want to return home. Let's see where this goes.

(https://i.imgur.com/UU4WbNX.png)
Yes, that sounds about right. XD I just woke up in your house, took your coins and read your immortality books. Let's be all reasonable fellow necromancers here. XD

He won't talk to me, but I found his artifacts scattered around the place. I was a good guest and put them all in his chest. I took a masterful iron short sword (but not an actual artifact) and let some of my starter gear there.

He still doesn't answer. Maybe I've outstayed my welcome. I'm saving now. This is not what I expected, but I hope it'll be interesting. I'll try to find civilization so they can guide me to Señamatem and then to the Museum.

I'd like to emphasize that this was not planned.

Carminedonkey. What a quaint town name... I'm so frakkin' lost...

(https://i.imgur.com/h0hIn5U.png)
Fitting for a necro start...
(https://i.imgur.com/pK57HwH.png)
Yay I guess? This is so meta...

Found my bearings, looks like I'm not that far after all. I guess I'll go to the Museum first, get that out of the way. Lots of low-level loot around here (I'm not taking it; I'm talking cheap goblinite knockoffs here), I'm not sure if it's randomly generated or some adventurer furnished this place out.

(https://i.imgur.com/KtoriFs.png)
Please be an actual necromancer and not a thrall, please be an actual necromancer, p-

Wait, now that I'm a necromancer, shouldn't they leave me alone? I hope so.

Saved before interaction.

Hey, this is cool. Desli created that book herself. I wonder where she is.

(https://i.imgur.com/qKk8WXf.png).

Holy cow, that's a chosen necromancer of Kas. I love my random unintended adventure!

(https://i.imgur.com/XA5YDm1.png)
He's dead though. Another bad rumor.

Found first laggy site, a petrified wood castle (Spicetrails). I'm worried. Saving. LV says it's empty. I wonder what causes the lag, then.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Eric Blank on December 14, 2022, 11:49:05 am

Well that's cool! I don't actually remember writing any books on my turn, maybe Desli wrote that herself!

And yeah, undead thrills don't talk. They're still intelligent and can speak and everything, but only if a player is controlling them. To get Pik and Desli to interact I had to take control of one, start a conversation topic, then switch to the other to reply and so on. They won't speak on their own.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on December 14, 2022, 12:08:59 pm

Quote from: Lurker Z on December 14, 2022, 08:04:34 am

Found first laggy site, a petrified wood castle (Spicetrails). I'm worried. Saving. LV says it's empty. I wonder what causes the lag, then.

Spicetrails used to be Moldath's castle! It was usually overrun with wildlife. Stored all Moldath's treasure there but some sneaky thieves kept pinching it, so he moved it to Iroldeduk. There might still be some interesting stuff there, I can't fully remember.

Pik and Desli got split up - Desli was captured and imprisoned by the Page of Tiredness. She should still be at Holykingdom.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Lurker Z on December 14, 2022, 01:04:22 pm

Quote from: kesperan on December 14, 2022, 12:08:59 pm

Spicetrails used to be Moldath's castle!

It had a few books, but I left them there. The lag was only at the eastern entrance, so I don't know why that happened.

Also, I killed a few animals and my first goblins. Damn, that *iron sword* cuts nice (at least through animals), good one on Pik for leaving it there. Maybe I'll return something to him if I survive to the Museum and Señamatem.

---

I'm in Ironwards. Who made the fort and what do I have the permission to take? I found an adamantine sword, so I'm keeping that, but the rest I think I'll put what I don't need in the trade depot. There's a lot of stuff lying around, mostly good quality and for dwarves. What about the corpses? Do I dump them in the trade depot too? Or do I give them a magma burial? Lag is not as horrible as I expected, so that's good at least. Still a slog.

Spoiler: Spoilers ahead (click to show/hide)

Oh frak, I'm starting to find HFS bones... Danger, Lurker Wogeathis, danger!

Yeah, I've seen enough. Ironwards' dwarves were beasts. Demon parts all over the place, I'll take some to the Museum, then hopefully return to Señamatem and start my fort, then see if I'll have time for some more adventure.

Quote

In 915, midsummer, (7th of Malachite) Fath was struck down by the marmot brute Witchseduced in Ironwards the Strifeful Hollows.

Yep, running away now really fast.

Edit: Thanks, I had a weird moment where I forgot there were actual spoiler tags on this forum.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: AvolitionBrit on December 14, 2022, 03:22:17 pm

your spoiler tag is broken btw

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Cook100500 on December 14, 2022, 04:07:28 pm

Thought week isnt over yet, damn, guess lost track of time.
Havent acomplished anything on the turn anyway, everything is either done already or near-impossible to do, and havent learned how to play fortress mode in 5 years of playing DF, so good luck lurkerZ

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Lurker Z on December 14, 2022, 04:17:48 pm

Thanks, sorry we couldn't wait for you.

Well, I arrived at the Museum. I'm using the cinnabar pedestal on the other side of Murder Monster, the feather and added demon unrottable parts, as well as 5 rough moonstones from deep in the mines of Ironwards. Not the greatest, perhaps, but since hopefully I'm immortal, I'm keeping that adamantine sword. Maybe I'll find something better by the time December 20 comes around.

I've also moved Urdim's copy of the book (which was also my character) to the same pedestal to free space for other adventurers.

Quote from: Cook100500 on December 14, 2022, 04:07:28 pm

Thought week isnt over yet, damn, guess lost track of time.
Havent acomplished anything on the turn anyway, everything is either done already or near-impossible to do, and havent learned how to play fortress mode in 5 years of playing DF, so good luck lurkerZ

Don't worry about what you should do, there's always something that might take your fancy in the world. It's a large world after all.

---

Lag is pretty bad around here. There are Egu (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Egu_Odanez_Exzas_Otsmor)'s rotting bodyparts lying on the floor, maybe someone should do something about it.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Bralbaard on December 14, 2022, 05:26:20 pm

Quote from: Cook100500 on December 14, 2022, 04:07:28 pm

Thought week isnt over yet, damn, guess lost track of time.
Havent acomplished anything on the turn anyway, everything is either done already or near-impossible to do, and havent learned how to play fortress mode in 5 years of playing DF, so good luck lurkerZ

The week was not over actually. We thought you weren't playing! Sorry for that. Can I put you anywhere on the list?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on December 14, 2022, 06:00:44 pm

I’d be happy to postpone my turn after Lurker to let Cook have another crack, although appreciate it is heading into festive season.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Lurker Z on December 14, 2022, 06:01:27 pm

I'm close to Realmspire, my FPS is terrible, I get by just by jumping and...

(https://i.imgur.com/G0lwkm5.png)
I am quite concerned my presence may have seen the end of one of the Royal line (or, I suspect, the reenactment of what I saw in LV after Unraveller's turn).

There's also a rotten slayer killing kea around there for the fun of it. As expected from Irka (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Irka_Irnatvispol)'s realm I suppose.

(https://i.imgur.com/VhnMas2.png)
That... most definitely wasn't me. XD

(https://i.imgur.com/SO1lSXk.png)
And they're hostile. I may be in trouble...

Had an epic fight with that undead horse who had 2 names and then the Lady just came from outside and helped me. I even dealt the last blow. The other undead don't attack me, which is a good thing, considering there are blind cave ogres around.

I loved the hall, but between the lag and the threats, I suppose I'll be out of here.

What's with the coins laying around though? Is Irka giving reward for each "level" you manage to get through, like a gaming dungeon?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: AvolitionBrit on December 14, 2022, 06:55:37 pm

If your talking in boltspumpkin i did collect a shit ton of coins and stored them there last turn.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Lurker Z on December 14, 2022, 07:07:20 pm

No, Realmspire has coins in places that suspiciously look like dungeon RPG checkpoints. It also has a LOT of iron shields at the entrance and some basic iron armor (I left it there). I'm just wondering if Unraveller planned this or if the game has gained even more sapience to spawn this things on its own.

---

Ah, home sweet home. I visited Swordgleamed too, it's the massacre anyone would expect it to be. Completely deserted too.

Spoiler: Home sweet home (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/eRgtRPr.png)

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Eric Blank on December 14, 2022, 10:08:25 pm

You know, I thought about building a dungeon crawl challenge. I've never done it before.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Lurker Z on December 15, 2022, 10:21:46 am

I found my old stuff, Jas didn't take them! I'm surprised, I'd have thought over so much time my cache would have been raided a long time ago. It's not like I had a sign on them saying "Lurker's house". That being said, if anyone finds their way through Señamatem, they're welcomed to equip themselves from there, obviously.

Wow, I'd even forgotten I'd even sorted them by metal. This is so cool. They're not great, mind, but they're good for melting I suppose. Lore-wise, Lurker left them for the villagers to arm themselves against outside threats even before knowing about the blight (obviously, it didn't work out).

(https://i.imgur.com/h6C9HNN.png)

My teeth bin! I was sure those things would be purged or rot by now.

Yeah, if I let myself, I'll probably waste my whole day putting the stuff I have in bins. I'm not sure if this is something I should do or not.

Hm, this changes things again. I suppose I'll keep this as a personal stash and give to Señamatem a share of the spoils.

Armok above and below, Señamatem has become a lag machine! I can barely make my way by jumping and I'm at the outskirts of the player made sites. I'll see about throwing away some junk that's probably clogging the area, the mason shops are chock full of unused material.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Lurker Z on December 16, 2022, 03:02:12 pm

Spoiler: Hmmmm (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/chUmjOA.png)

I hope it's not as bad as it looks and not too much "fun" occurs. The background isn't that strange, just had a crundle horde come out from the caves and I have a few necros who learned their craft in some player forts, a crundle or two died, the necro gestured and the rest is history. There's a cave crocodile in the stairways, I hope it doesn't rise because that'd be actually bad.

Game's running great, all things considered. Had a hiccup on the 1st of the 3rd month of a year, but that's likely because some event happened in the world. Between 50 and 75 FPS with almost 100 dwarves and around the same number of animals.

I'm hillock spammed. At least 5 hillocks were built so far. The elves might be annoyed, considering where I settled...

(https://i.imgur.com/Y0vinOA.png)

And some of those names...

(https://i.imgur.com/wIXDMx8.png)

They're full of humans too. I don't know what's causing this behavior (it's not unique, there are forts full of humans as far as last century at the least). Adilatír is hanging steady at 400ish dwarves and 2000ish humans, I wonder what happened with the other humans, since it was about the same number in other saves, maybe even a higher number. I'll see if I can get my char to explore the region, it's way in the north-western edge of the map though.

Ah, and I only got an Omon Obin caravan aside from Adilatír, ironic that, and this is likely thanks to Pik & Desli's camp at the edge of the world. They sure are the gift that keep on giving.

By the way, I started in 931. I think this was a part of Unraveller's fixes (or he played the game to make sure it's stable).

Eskôn really is a hole in the ground with nothing for it but lots of boulders in lots of open caves. It's amazing that it's developed its own history, it has sentimental reason more than anything, what with the diamond pedestal, Kikrost having grown on me, Moldath's prison and chain still exist there. It's interestingly how it has a visibly grandiose history, but when I look at it, I have no idea what to do with it.

I'm putting out there, I guess, if anyone wants to do anything with Lurker Onecbehal's legacy there, they're welcomed to it. I'd have much preferred to move on with Iroram, but with it still broke, I guess I'll turn my sights to the north. Maybe I'll visit Eskôn with my adventurer for old times' sake.

(https://i.imgur.com/oGDsfCV.png)

I'm skeptical... They gave me a house though, that's nice. It is interesting that this indicates that Omon Obin's war with the goblins may have gone hot.

Ah, nevermind. They booted me on the bridge. During nighttime. XD I still have my stuff on me.

So all my key controls died in this hillock except the one for Question Mark and Escape. I can retire here though. I also have a backup saved in case things turn out bad. Hmmmmm... let's save first. Aaaaaah, it's that stupid "press Enter to get all the conversation" bug. Ugh.

I found Jackalhide, glory to Pik & Desli! Now I know what I'm going to do, I'm going to make them a shrine, they deserve at least a few ☼statues☼. Then I'll see if I can move the humans from the hillocks to the camps. Such an awesome adventure.

I'm saving, then I'll see how the game handles me going to the edge of the world. I think I read in this thread that the game crashes, but I'll give it a try.

(https://i.imgur.com/95LpFoy.png)

Ladies and gentlemen, probably for the first time in the Museum, the Edge of the World in all its glory!

...that is me not being centered anymore and not being to move, as if there was an invisible wall to the west. That's it. Kinda underwhelming. At least it didn't crash.

Yep, my new fort is a proper lag machine. 13FPS in adventure mode. Yay. Jumping jumping jumping (careful not to jump in the ocean, I jumped through Jas' throneroom and there were semi-hidden stairs and I fell down his mine shaft; got a few more teeth in my backpack from that. Also yay, I found the artifact statue that I had constructed, thrown on the ground where anyone can take it. Ugh. And the artifact desk that I ALSO constructed. Ugh. It better not be in the ocean, I'm not dredging it up for them.

I think when I retire him for the turn, I'll retire him to Jackalhide. I'm not sure I want my char to be caught in the slaughterfest that is the Adilatír nobility.

This could be an interesting experiment if I can pull it off. Get humans to the Realm of Silver, if I have too many dwarves, move them to one of the hillocks.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on December 17, 2022, 02:23:07 am

Sounds like you’ve been having fun adventures, and the game seems pretty stable.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Lurker Z on December 17, 2022, 08:21:04 am

So I've reclaimed Ilrallenod. Known issues:
* Cannot reclaim if the current session of the game didn't have an adventure mode. So if you just opened the game, you must first play an adventurer, retire him, then reclaim.
* Before reclaiming, bring with your adventurer at least a few barrels of food and booze. Hunting does NOT feed you and it's settled on mostly desert, so good luck with farming.
* The game locks about once a month. I don't know what it finds, but thankfully it gets over it.
* I'm running at 100FPS most of the time, so there's a miracle for that somewhere considering all the items laying around.
* There is now a huge mountain of corpses, body parts and other items to the north of the walls. Enjoy.
* You should probably bring with your adventurer some snazy clothes, since all they have is the basic.
* Most of the dwarves are useless. I found a lvl16 weaver. Weaver! That is NOT a vital trade. Mining and woodcutting maxes are 4-5 (Dwarf Therapist values).
* At some point, dwarves refused to cut trees, so wood is limited. I'll see what I can do about that. Maybe they lost the ONLY axe they had (just a speculation), but considering all the stuff lying around, I cannot believe there is only one axe in the capital.
* A noble makes a demand every day. This means all Ilrallenod citizens are criminals. Do NOT appoint any justice position.
* Nobody has the whereabouts to claim one of the many rooms in the bowels, so everyone is sleeping on the floor. I don't care.
* Adilatír traders arrived, but without a caravan. I've changed the entranceway to hopefully allow a full caravan to enter for the next poor soul who chooses to be this place's overseer.
* Even with all these problems, since I'm stubborn, I at least stayed enough to make a slate 3x3 stairway for the first 10 levels. I'll probably retire it either later today or when they finish emptying the bowels of bodies and other junk. This may take a while.

Edit: I think I fixed the woodcutting. I do suspect some job rights get unassigned without player input. Yeah, looks like Dwarf Therapist has had enough of Ilrallenod's insanity and its job orders don't stick.

(https://i.imgur.com/puIEeit.png)

This is my workforce, folks. Almost 60 years old and he learned nothng.

(https://i.imgur.com/XuQndWD.png)

This is decent for half a day's work. Most of the corpses and body parts in the depths have been surfaced. I think I won't push my luck anymore and be grateful the world hasn't broken yet. Going back to adventuring.

---

I'm at the Shelter of Adventurers. It's as laggy as I remembered. Jumping helps, but it's still slower than jumping even in Ilrallenod. Actual walking is a crisp 4FPS. I got to meet Urus, Ketas and others, so that's nice. I left some of the leftover items from Ironwards in the eastern chest if anyone wants to brave the lag.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Eric Blank on December 17, 2022, 01:46:06 pm

I didn't visit the shelter of adventurers either because of the lag. It was truly astoundingly awful, and I usually tolerate goblin pits and towers. I think the creature spam issue with adventurer camps is the main blame in many cases. The caverns fill up with critters you can't reach/find to kill and another group spawns each time you reload the site, whether sleeping or travelling or building. Pik and Desli's camps included, but I didn't do much with them and made a new one every time and they don't get visited often.

It would be better having a small player fort for players to retire in. One linked to a civ that doesn't have a bunch of civilians we care about losing if werebeast or vampire characters migrate to one of their other sites.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: AvolitionBrit on December 17, 2022, 02:13:37 pm

Oh god the shelter of adventure, it was laggy for me during my first turn. Was a nice site but took ages.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Paaaad on December 17, 2022, 02:46:38 pm

Quote from: Eric Blank on December 17, 2022, 01:46:06 pm

I didn't visit the shelter of adventurers either because of the lag. It was truly astoundingly awful, and I usually tolerate goblin pits and towers. I think the creature spam issue with adventurer camps is the main blame in many cases. The caverns fill up with critters you can't reach/find to kill and another group spawns each time you reload the site, whether sleeping or travelling or building. Pik and Desli's camps included, but I didn't do much with them and made a new one every time and they don't get visited often.

It would be better having a small player fort for players to retire in. One linked to a civ that doesn't have a bunch of civilians we care about losing if werebeast or vampire characters migrate to one of their other sites.

If the problem is lots of creatures, why not just hit them with DF Hack’s Exterminate command? In combination with Reveal naturally…

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Noagga76 on December 19, 2022, 09:07:14 pm

With college banished temporarily I think I’m ready to once more ask for a turn. I promise no disappearing this time!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Lurker Z on December 20, 2022, 05:16:24 am

Welcome, Noagga. It'll take about 2 months until your turn, just something to keep in mind.

Here's the wiki article for Lurker (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Lurker_Wogeathis), I was originally going to make the story, but I don't see the use. Between that and the forum posts, there's already two POVs and while I'd bring a third with Lurker's exploits, I'd just rehash the same info.

And speaking of, add me to the turn list too, Bralbaard. I've accomplished most of what I wanted, I suppose, more than I expected, at any rate.

Final tally and/or some extra notes:
* One good thing of reclaiming the capital is that the nobles suddenly become fertile and pop up offspring left and right, making some interesting historical figures.
* I forgot how annoying it is to retire and unretire a fort, it's even worse for one next to the ocean. It randomly floods your rooms and stairs next to the water tiles even if those tiles never had water on them before.
* The Lady I talked about was Jas' wife, Destis Laniecroh (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Destis_Laniecroh). Apparently, her "crashing into something" is how the game acts when someone has to die of old age in adventure mode (LM says a troll killed her; maybe it's true, I'm not sure I trust what message means what; and if so, why didn't the troll attack me when the horse did?). She died (again) of old age a few months later in Realmspire. I think that's actually better than me rezzing her with in-game necro, especially with King Bralbaard's lore that (some) dead do not want to be brought back, or the game mechanics where some undead attack everything living and need to be put down.
** Her position as Sacred Sun stayed vacant until her granddaughter Asri Ringcobi came of age and took it. Interesting.
* Rusna "died of starvation" in Treatyseed. This is a bug I've mentioned before, where adventurers die of dehydration (or in this case starvation) when the capital is reclaimed (it had happened to me so far only in test saves).
** When I reclaim Treatyseed as a test, there are 7 blighted thralls. Looks like the cleansing still has a way to go.
* I haven't managed to clean up anything loose around Señamatem, it's taken me literally days just to clean up my inventory. In fact, my own new fort may be more laggy in adventure mode than Unraveller's at this point, so... apologies, I suppose.
* I've retired my adventurer in Jackalhide.
* Game remains at 1,97GB size compressed and 479MB archived.

And that's about it. Now let me just get to uploading.

---

I'm seeing on the first page of the thread:

Quote

98a: Cook100500 post 1 (lost timeline)
98b: Lurker Z ( current turn)

Didn't Cook get 3 months in before the game broke? I'm pretty sure Unraveller fixed Cook's current game? That'd make Cook's turn 98 and mine 99.

Quote from: Cook100500 on November 26, 2022, 03:37:02 am

some deep lore from the last dwarf of the pure spear (dwarf nomads)
(https://img-host.ru/zw5Gu.jpg)

Looks like Larina Longscale doesn't exist in the save (Cook's character or their companion). Damn, looks like the progress really was lost.

---

(https://i.imgur.com/2HEpGgi.png)

How am I a bowman? I haven't fired an actual bow in my entire life as this character. Yes, I carried a bow and lots and arrows with me, but I don't see the sense. I used swords and axes.

Quote

1. the forgotten beast Thudel Umbranights (Visual), Trust (25)
2. the forgotten beast Omethu (Visual), Trust (25)
3. the forgotten beast Ralu the Mongrel of Baiting (Visual), Trust (25)
4. the forgotten beast Reignlittle the Bait of Brilliance (Visual), Trust (25)
5. the forgotten beast Sosmil Glandcurse the Pulpy Sin (Visual), Trust (25)

Ok, where? This has to be a bug, Rimtil (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Rimtil_Boraistra) has the same supposed sightings.

---

Here's the save:

https://dffd.bay12games.com/file.php?id=16253

Good luck, kesperan.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Quantum Drop on December 20, 2022, 08:39:13 am

Good luck with your turn, Kesperan.

As a side note I'm going to have to ask that I be dropped a few places down the turn list.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Bralbaard on December 20, 2022, 11:27:58 am

The turn list has been updated, as have some of the other posts.
Three sites have been added to the map: Blueoceans and Deephalls (WTF is this?!) are new sites in the North-Western corner of the world. We are all familiar with Treatyseed/Ilrallenod, but it has been added to the map now that it has been reclaimed. I wonder what influence that will have on it's stability, and the future of the kingdom. It is somewhat promising that the number of dwarves in the world is finally back above a thousand, after 130-140 years.

I enjoyed reading your updates, Lurker and Nogoodnames.
Good luck on your turn Kesperan!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Lurker Z on December 20, 2022, 12:16:52 pm

lol your reaction, Bralbaard. I debated whether to ask you to hold off on announcing/putting Deephalls on the map, but I figured it'd show anyway and people would wonder and badger you about it.

Anyway, the method was thanks to Unraveller. I'd tried it in test saves before, but it doesn't let me

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

embark in the ocean/caves. For some reason, it doesn't reveal caves and teleports dwarves in the rock, where they get crushed in the first ticks. Gruesome deaths, instant settlement withering. So I did the following:
* deep-embark --depth CAVERN_1
* gui/gm-editor df.global
* pause_state true
* reveal
* First the cavern closest to the surface.
* Find its coordinates, then teleport the dwarves there, as well as the animals (I thought the animals would be crashed in rock for some reason, so I only accidentally took two yaks; accidentally because I didn't want to take them at all).
** In case this isn't clear, animals can be teleported as easily as dwarves, so if ever building under the ocean, use those points for animals!
* Create pickaxe and actual axe via createitem (https://dwarffortresswiki.org/Utility:DFHack/createitem) because all the tools on embark are lost; if they can be teleported, I don't know how to, and at this point I don't know where they are or if they are destroyed like tools are destroyed in obsidian.
* Mine a part of the caves close to the miner.
(The game so far should not be unpaused)
* Unpause until the miner equips the pick and the wall to be mined starts blinking.
* Pause and then unreveal.
* When the first wall is mined, the caves are "discovered".
* Play as usual.

Noticed issues:
* Farming is a MUST. Cave plants have run out really fast.
* It's like playing a micro-fort. The caves are compressed together that there's relatively little height to play with.
* Caravans and even the second dwarf wave don't arrive while the map is flooded. Who'd have guessed? I was stuck with 7 dwarves that I planned to take some from Blueocean, but then I realized how far and treacherous it would be through the caves, so I just let it exist there.
* Another note is what I've done some other time in a frozen ocean biome, you can make a 5x5 obsidian pillar via DFhack to get to the surface; I didn't, because it'd be flooded on reclaim.
* Water is relatively easy to find, I found some in the first layer.
* One issue is that it's not really rich. It doesn't even have granite. Well, there's some granite below magma, but that's really hard to get to. Thankfully, it does have above-magma marble.
* There's an interesting thing on cave generation where they actually end before the western and northern map ends, so that's cool.

It looks like I have 2 months to learn how to build roads in Adventure Mode so I can make a road between the two. And maybe even more roads elsewhere.

PS: I propose Treatyseed by considered a community fort, I'm not especially attached, I did it for testing/curiosity purposes, as well as to get some of the shinies to the surface. There's still stuff in the depths, I specifically didn't bring to the surface the stuff on the pedestals, which might be valuable (steel? adamantine? gem axes? I honestly don't know, I left them there). Also to clear the corpses and thralls. Corpses still exist in caves, but not in the fortress proper (until the next adventurer or overseer arrives, at least).

Also, fun thing, some might not know or notice, all or most of the NPC fortresses around Treatyseed do not have an above entrance, only Treatyseed does. They're only connected by the deep roads. That's pretty cool, but also annoying as an adventurer both above and below, because you can't access them from above and you can't escape the deep roads from below unless it's through the capital.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on December 20, 2022, 03:58:44 pm

I've downloaded the save.

I am not sure how much time I will have with work and Christmas. Could I be cheeky and request an extended turn over festive period?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Bralbaard on December 20, 2022, 04:49:03 pm

Fine with me.
And enjoy the festivities!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Lurker Z on December 21, 2022, 11:26:31 am

This (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/House_Talindoren-Shuthrazolin) is an interesting family, I don't remember them being in Iroram at all, but apparently the patriarch made an artifact statue there. I just appointed Kumil in all the positions because I needed a bookkeeper and trader, then gave her that villa that I built on a whim when she became a mayor. They even had time to make a baby in my new fort. It's really interesting that they survived both Iroram and Northmanor to live in luxury now. If I knew her whole story, I'd have made her daughter (who came on her own) a floor on the villa for her and her husband to sleep there.

---

What... is this?
(https://i.imgur.com/JrTc5Wt.png)

Re: Moldath kesperan: It would be interesting if characters could adopt.

To me, at least, it looks like a weird experiment someone did. But now that I think about it, I think you can link creature family ties through gui/gm-editor. I never tried it, but I think I could see the concept could be implemented through one of its options.

---

I've noticed a curious thing with the hillock humans Lurker interacted with. About half of them owed their allegiance solely to the High Confederacies. So there are these hundred of humans, half of them going "Adilatír hillocks? What's that, mate? I'm a confederate fellar, no two ways about it." living in an Adilatír hillock. Some few others do consider themselves part of Adilatír, but have High Confederacies roots (best seen through religions spawned in THC).

---

And the butterflies are flapping their wings. Tiqua Rilstudori (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Tiqua_Rilstudori) was infected by Hannibal, became Sacred Evenness, was called to the capital, married and got culled by me.

Something else I can't explain at this moment is that many Sacred Evenness of Evost Dèg (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Evost Dèg) come from the High Confederacies. This is weird, because you'd expect they'd grab from the Adilatír pool, like it happens with Barons etc.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on December 21, 2022, 12:19:43 pm

Quote from: Bralbaard on December 20, 2022, 04:49:03 pm

Fine with me.
And enjoy the festivities!

Thanks Bralbaard. I’ve played for a couple of hours and no crashes. Saving often!

Quote from: Lurker Z on December 21, 2022, 11:26:31 am

What... is this?
(https://i.imgur.com/JrTc5Wt.png)

Umm, nothing to see here, just a human couple who adopted a reptile man baby who wanted to bring peace to the world! Interestingly, Gezt had four totally regular human siblings. Before he was horribly burned to death.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Lurker Z on December 26, 2022, 09:33:29 am

I've found some incidental information. Warshrieks has not been visited in Legends Viewer since 904 even as it has 30 resident dwarves, while Iroram continues to be visited (and visitable). So does Duskhome, so that's not much to go on, but it's an interesting lead if nothing else.

Well, here's article 1001, the lizard girl's family (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/House_D%C3%AEshmabdoren-Mutherud). I suspect much modding was put into this. I also suspect Spibsa and Ulde are twins (does vanilla even have twins?). Two of them worship Gopet, so that's going to progress interestingly.

---

How's the turn going, kesperan?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Eric Blank on December 26, 2022, 01:32:22 pm

Vanilla has twins, they're just not common among the playable races.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: TheFlame52 on December 26, 2022, 11:04:54 pm

Like a year later IRL and probably a hundred in game, I just realized that I can use unretire-anyone to snag the law-giver of the Knowing Deceiver from the glitched camp where she currently resides. That means I can complete Dreamypuzzled's quest to complete his soul and reclaim the title of law-giver. Is Dreamypuzzled still alive after all this time? If so, can I have a turn?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Lurker Z on December 26, 2022, 11:27:18 pm

What glitched camp are you talking about?

Quote

0769-07-27 In 769, early autumn, (27th of Limestone) Ngoso started working from The Intricate Fortress of  The Knowing Deceiver in Stealmountain.

Ah, it looks like the one you're talking about was killed by one of Fidale (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Fidale_Rabeavathe)'s traveling companions.

Dreamypuzzled is still alive in Dreadruled. She/"He" fought in 8 battles defending it.

Quote

0754-11-26 In 754, midwinter, (26th of Opal) Dreamypuzzled settled in Dreadruled. change hf state
0757-04-16 In 757, early summer, (16th of Hematite) Dreamypuzzled fought in The Dangerous Assaults an assault on Dreadruled. battle fought
0759-07-24 In 759, early autumn, (24th of Limestone) Dreamypuzzled fought in The Violent Onslaught of Chucking an assault on Dreadruled. battle fought
0769-07-08 In 769, early autumn, (8th of Limestone) Dreamypuzzled fought in The Attack of Searing an assault on Dreadruled. battle fought
0770-10-10 In 770, early winter, (10th of Moonstone) Dreamypuzzled fought in The Fist-onslaught of Gripping an assault on Dreadruled. battle fought
0798-03-08 In 798, late spring, (8th of Felsite) Dreamypuzzled fought in The Squeezing Onslaught an assault on Dreadruled. battle fought
0798-12-06 In 798, late winter, (6th of Obsidian) Dreamypuzzled fought in The Scorching Assault an assault on Dreadruled. battle fought
0859-12-02 In 859, late winter, (2nd of Obsidian) Dreamypuzzled fought in The Siege of Disemboweling an assault on Dreadruled. battle fought
0877-10-21 In 877, early winter, (21st of Moonstone) Dreamypuzzled fought in The Onslaught of Screams an assault on Dreadruled.

It looks like some of these glitches wax and wane. For about a century in-game, I had to start an adventure and retire them before I could access Eskôn in throwaway saves, same for the capital Ilrallenod. Now I can do it regularly. I even managed to visit the Shelter of Adventurers in my last turn, even if I was too afraid to do so because of the lag in my first turns.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on December 27, 2022, 12:31:04 am

Quote from: Lurker Z on December 26, 2022, 09:33:29 am

How's the turn going, kesperan?

Playing time been limited with Christmas and work, which is why I am glad Bralbaard has granted me an extension...

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Funnily enough I have just arrived at your Blueoceans fort and I cannot for the life of me work out how to get inside. Using /reveal I can see a central staircase but its been paved over from above, and large parts of it are flodded. Am I missing something, or do I have to teleport in?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Lurker Z on December 27, 2022, 02:00:13 am

Quote from: kesperan on December 27, 2022, 12:31:04 am

Quote from: Lurker Z on December 26, 2022, 09:33:29 am

How's the turn going, kesperan?

Playing time been limited with Christmas and work, which is why I am glad Bralbaard has granted me an extension...

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Funnily enough I have just arrived at your Blueoceans fort and I cannot for the life of me work out how to get inside. Using /reveal I can see a central staircase but its been paved over from above, and large parts of it are flodded. Am I missing something, or do I have to teleport in?

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

That was the whole trick of Blueoceans. The point was for it to be a secret entrance and road to Deephalls, and for Deephalls to not be noticed (or accessed) by the rest of civilization. That's why I was planning to make surface buildings to cover the fact that I'm working underground at all.

This plan somewhat fell when I realized I'd have to brave with my adventurer the road to Deephalls through untamed caverns under the ocean. The fact that Deephalls received no new settlers after the first 7 also put a dampner on my plans. Still, I'll try to work it out.

But yes, you're not supposed to know there's anything under the surface of Blueoceans or go there. That being said, you're welcome to teleport there and explore, if you really want, but maybe put it into spoiler tags if you introduce it in your adventurer's story.

As for the flooding, that's the pain of building next to a water source (sea, ocean etc.), your underground constructions get flooded after your retire. The flooding is most certainly not intentional. I'll have to put some grates and draining systems around there.

Speaking of Blueoceans, how do you like the structures? I just managed to make two three-stories villa and two lighthouses. Are the lighthouse roofs the right color? Schist is all I had around, I could manually transport microcline or the like from other sites if it doesn't fit or if it's an eye-sore. For the "light" part, I used as much gold as I had, then compensated with orthoclase.

Now that I think about it, I'll probably make an open temple between the lighthouses. Gotta fill that map with something. Maybe some farms too...

I'll also probably have to import via adventurer other materials too, because while I have plenty of granite, marble and some orthoclase, I don't have the nice stuff like kaolinite or microcline.

---

Here's something else that's weird. I jumped with my necro character in a river, and it said drowning. Now, I'd read somewhere that necros can't procreate (though I've seen them do it in Legends Mode even hundred of years after they became necro, i.e. Goden Ìtùnedëm (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Goden_Ìtùnedëm)) because they can't breathe, but if my adventurer was drowning, that means he could breathe... which means necros could have children? That'd be awesome.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: TheFlame52 on December 27, 2022, 10:28:12 am

Quote from: Lurker Z on December 26, 2022, 11:27:18 pm

What glitched camp are you talking about?

Quote

0769-07-27 In 769, early autumn, (27th of Limestone) Ngoso started working from The Intricate Fortress of  The Knowing Deceiver in Stealmountain.

Ah, it looks like the one you're talking about was killed by one of Fidale (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Fidale_Rabeavathe)'s traveling companions.

Dreamypuzzled is still alive in Dreadruled. She/"He" fought in 8 battles defending it.

Quote

0754-11-26 In 754, midwinter, (26th of Opal) Dreamypuzzled settled in Dreadruled. change hf state
0757-04-16 In 757, early summer, (16th of Hematite) Dreamypuzzled fought in The Dangerous Assaults an assault on Dreadruled. battle fought
0759-07-24 In 759, early autumn, (24th of Limestone) Dreamypuzzled fought in The Violent Onslaught of Chucking an assault on Dreadruled. battle fought
0769-07-08 In 769, early autumn, (8th of Limestone) Dreamypuzzled fought in The Attack of Searing an assault on Dreadruled. battle fought
0770-10-10 In 770, early winter, (10th of Moonstone) Dreamypuzzled fought in The Fist-onslaught of Gripping an assault on Dreadruled. battle fought
0798-03-08 In 798, late spring, (8th of Felsite) Dreamypuzzled fought in The Squeezing Onslaught an assault on Dreadruled. battle fought
0798-12-06 In 798, late winter, (6th of Obsidian) Dreamypuzzled fought in The Scorching Assault an assault on Dreadruled. battle fought
0859-12-02 In 859, late winter, (2nd of Obsidian) Dreamypuzzled fought in The Siege of Disemboweling an assault on Dreadruled. battle fought
0877-10-21 In 877, early winter, (21st of Moonstone) Dreamypuzzled fought in The Onslaught of Screams an assault on Dreadruled.

It looks like some of these glitches wax and wane. For about a century in-game, I had to start an adventure and retire them before I could access Eskôn in throwaway saves, same for the capital Ilrallenod. Now I can do it regularly. I even managed to visit the Shelter of Adventurers in my last turn, even if I was too afraid to do so because of the lag in my first turns.

There's a refugee camp near Dreadruled that crashes(?) if you get near it. If that's no longer the case, great. If it's still that way, I'll just snag the lawgiver with unretire-anyone. It doesn't matter if the law-giver died in the mean time, since it's only a position that I need, not a person. Good to see that Dreamypuzzled is still alive, though.

The confusion over Dreamypuzzled's gender amuses me, as Dreamypuzzled was originally a genderless demon. I will continue to spread more confusion.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Bralbaard on December 27, 2022, 12:30:38 pm

You're added to the list. I look forward to whatever you are up to.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Bralbaard on January 01, 2023, 03:15:56 am

Happy new year everyone!

How is progress on the save Kesperan? You have had a number of days over the usual amount as agreed, and I think we should move on.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on January 01, 2023, 11:04:41 am

I will post the save today.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: AvolitionBrit on January 01, 2023, 11:50:32 am

hope you were able to do what you wanted during the holidays

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: WonderPsycho on January 01, 2023, 01:01:49 pm

today I am gonna be working on a video of mine, so I may not get started on working on my turn today for when the save comes out, but I will probably get started on my turn tomorrow and such

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on January 01, 2023, 11:59:50 pm

I have finished my turn. I appreciate the extra time - any time I wasn't working or sleeping I was trying to get a decent turn done!

Edit:

Thanks to Lurker - save is hosted on DFFD:

https://dffd.bay12games.com/file.php?id=16305

Please sign me up for another turn.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Lurker Z on January 02, 2023, 07:03:28 am

Happy New Year everybody!

---

Regarding save: it's your archiving method/program. I've managed to compressed it to 488 mega. The unarchived save is still 1.97Giga. I was afraid for a while that the game had bloated, but thankfully that's not the case.

It is curious why the archive can compress it less and less, turn 98 was 457MB while mine was 479MB.

(https://i.imgur.com/MdxS1P6.png)

Save on DFFD (https://dffd.bay12games.com/file.php?id=16305) for posterity.

So who did you play as? Because Moldath is still not visible in LV and Kothvir seems to have remained inactive.

In other, but worrying, news, The Staff of Kissing continues to be dying at now 19 dwarves. It needs to be saved ASAP. I'm sorry I didn't notice it during my turn.

Ah, well, not sure how much of a spoiler it is, regarding Jas, but...

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Jas died of old age. His son, the necromancer vampire Irka is the new Law-Giver. Will he rule forever? Will a noble adventurer break Bralbaard's decree and kill him? Will he die from an insurrection, being teleported by the game into the caverns and forced to fight his way out, or simply deposed by being taken over and moved for adventures? Stay tuned!

---

And since it's the New Year, I've updated the stats on Orid Xem tops (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Orid_Xem_tops). The wiki has had its 1000th article on December 23, Enôrmigrur influence area (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Enôrmigrur influence area), which basically chronicles those 7 hillocks which popped up around Enôrmigrur.

As for the tops, Moldath became the most linked creature someone in November and is now... still neck-and-neck with Bralbaard, surprisingly. Avolition is in 3, at 11 links from the first places (but realistically, from Moldath). The most spectacular jump was Hannibal, who in only two months jumped to 7th place, because of all the ghouls he created and all the death left in his wake.

The stats seem to have stabilized in other places as well. The only surprise in most linked civs is that Quogubpesor‏‎ (The Creamy Confederacy) is more linked than Mong Uthros (The Nations of Honoring), though I've granted before that Quogubpesor‏‎ was a force to be reckoned with before it was taken over by a goblin and marched into forever wars with the rest of the world.

In deities, Avuz Thukkan (The Mine of Ambers) is detached in the first place, which does not necessarily reflect world-wide realities, as Ala is in my opinion still the most worshiped in the world, but it probably does reflect dwarven realities. As noted before, where Ala infiltrated the goblins and the elves, Avuz Thukkan has infiltrated human civilizations, from which Evost Dèg (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Evost Dèg) regularly calls to the capital in positions of power within Avuz's most influential religion. Bikda is second and Ala third, the rest mostly Adilatir deities, with Mata Kosenor and Gopet bringing up the rear, but there it's anyone's guess (though likely half the spots will always be filled with Adilatir deities if the trend continues).

The house/dynasty tops have not changed at all from last month, which is surprising. Hannibal also jumped in most notable kills to take the 8th place.

The most eventful settlements have changed considerably, since this list wasn't updated since the year 780. I've tried to remove the bugged entries where the same creature does the same action for 70 pages. A player dwarf fortress infiltrated there, Datanzalìs Stinugosh (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Datanzalìs Stinugosh) (Ironwards) into the 5th place.

The most linked settlements once again hasn't changed by much. Zustashmisttar Koshosh Nekut (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Zustashmisttar_Koshosh_Nekut) (Ancientknowledge) was already there last month, though it ascended a place. Iroram is also surprisingly at 7th now, slightly understandable since I fleshed it out some time ago, but still surprisingly considering all the ancient and eventful settlements in the list.

Longest pages has also changed its configuration, but I don't know what significance to give to that, if any.

These stats were taken from the January 1 Most Linked Pages and in-game effectively at the end of turn 99.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on January 02, 2023, 08:58:36 am

Quote from: Lurker Z on January 02, 2023, 07:03:28 am

Save on DFFD (https://dffd.bay12games.com/file.php?id=16305) for posterity.

Thanks, I never even thought of that. I have edited my post to link to your DFFD copy of the save, which is the one Wonderpsycho should download for the momentous Turn 100!

Quote from: Lurker Z on January 02, 2023, 07:03:28 am

So who did you play as? Because Moldath is still not visible in LV and Kothvir seems to have remained inactive.

Yes, I played as Moldath, once again. He is now the Baron of Keyconjure and Champion of The Eternal Citadel. Maybe that will stop his vampiric nomadic urges?

He arrived at my new Page of Tiredness fort in a migrant wave on 28th Limestone 940 as a "hunter necromancer" pretending to be called Bembul and convincing absolutely nobody, spent several months in the hospital giving me two legendary surgeons, before eating four dwarves. I anticipated issues with sleuthing due to lack of LV so took a few screenshots which I will post later.

I don't know why he continues to crash LV and it looks like the addon isn't supported any more. Nobody responded to Avolition's post highlighting the issue, and with the move to 0.50, it's obsolete now?

Quote from: Lurker Z on January 02, 2023, 07:03:28 am

In other, but worrying, news, The Staff of Kissing continues to be dying at now 19 dwarves. It needs to be saved ASAP. I'm sorry I didn't notice it during my turn.

Well, Queen Vucar Axesafety is a vampire, so they won't die out...

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: AvolitionBrit on January 02, 2023, 09:21:08 am

Ah judging from what you are saying, i take it you ported the save to 0.50

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Lurker Z on January 02, 2023, 09:23:36 am

I've heard the saves are incompatible, as there was work done outside the UI in 0.50.

More about Jas' line:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Irka has a Queen, a necromancer who learned the secrets of life and death from one of his own books. She also has 6 lovers on the side and she lives in a different town than him, so that's going to be fun. Also, he's moved the capital to the death pits... ahem, his necromantic tower Omonpapos.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on January 02, 2023, 09:32:38 am

Quote from: AvolitionBrit on January 02, 2023, 09:21:08 am

Ah judging from what you are saying, i take it you ported the save to 0.50

No, I haven't done that. I didn't think the new version had adventure mode, and is not compatible with older saves.

What I meant was that with all the focus on the new version, updating addons/mods for 0.47 is going to be less likely.

Some assorted curios and highlights:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/DjpnlVw.png)

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/9DfxDC7.png)

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/z45zbOZ.png)

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Bralbaard on January 02, 2023, 11:29:45 am

Turn 100! Quite an achievement for us all.
I've updated the map with the Citadel.
It seems Wonderpsycho is already aware that his turn is up.

Also it seems Moldath has been busy. It will be interesting to see what the new generation will be up to.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: TheFlame52 on January 02, 2023, 11:59:56 am

There must have been some hackery there, since vampires are sterile.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Maloy on January 02, 2023, 01:10:03 pm

Are they sterile specifically or is it that they simply don't "sleep" and thus rendered sterile by result?

Also can I be moved down one spot? New year is kicking my butt and I'm sure I won't be caught up by next week

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: TheFlame52 on January 02, 2023, 02:13:50 pm

Quote from: Maloy on January 02, 2023, 01:10:03 pm

Are they sterile specifically or is it that they simply don't "sleep" and thus rendered sterile by result?

Also can I be moved down one spot? New year is kicking my butt and I'm sure I won't be caught up by next week

Specifically sterilized by the curse.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: AvolitionBrit on January 02, 2023, 02:21:10 pm

It might have been when i made Rusna fertile, i might of accidently made the entire fortress fertile which may have included the imprisioned blind sadist

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: WonderPsycho on January 02, 2023, 02:23:54 pm

downloading the new save and stuff gonna get to my turn in a bit, also for some reason DFFD is giving me a error of my username being incorrect for me to even log into it so i'll try logging in again later or whatever, I hope this error stops happening to me to prevent me from logging into my account and stuff otherwise i have to make a new DFFD account or maybe I might be misremembering the password or idk, but yeah

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Lurker Z on January 02, 2023, 02:30:00 pm

Look on DFFD main page, accounts from after 2015 were lost. There's a guide and links on what to do to recover your files and/or account.

Also good luck on your turn!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Bralbaard on January 02, 2023, 02:31:00 pm

Edit : Ninjas strike again... anyhow:

DFFD has had some serious issues with their database recently. There is a post about it on the forums, also on what is recoverable, and what is not:
 link  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=180566.0)

Good luck with your turn!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: AvolitionBrit on January 02, 2023, 02:41:44 pm

Good luck with your turn

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on January 02, 2023, 02:51:03 pm

Quote from: AvolitionBrit on January 02, 2023, 02:21:10 pm

It might have been when i made Rusna fertile, i might of accidently made the entire fortress fertile which may have included the imprisioned blind sadist

No, it wasn't you. I tend to rely on eggs for my food in early years of a fortress and I always use "/fixster all" and it has never worked on vampires before.

I found a script somewhere to instantly make any creature pregnant. I used it to make sure the King and Queen would have an heir born in my fort, even though they have some children in Holykingdom/Balancehammer. I wondered if it would also work on Moldath.

I used DwarfTherapist to find the female dwarf with the best stats and used it on her. Thing is, she is already married... I used the military to reclaim Keyconjure after the last dwarf from the Staff of Kissing died and the team of 10 soldiers then occupied it.

Moldath was then made the Baron of Keyconjure, and made the move on one of those soldier's wives, an axe lord. It seemed like a Blind Sadist kind of thing to do.

Anyway, here is the script. As long as one of the targets is female, it will produce a child in fort mode. No idea if it works in adventure mode.

Courtesy of Nolimit.

Quote from: Nolimit on September 27, 2017, 04:32:28 am

Code: [Select]

pregUnits=pregUnits or {unit1=nil, unit2=nil}

local unit = dfhack.gui.getSelectedUnit(true)
if unit then
if pregUnits.unit1==nil then
pregUnits.unit1=unit
print("First unit selected")
else
pregUnits.unit2=unit
print("Second unit selected")
preg(pregUnits.unit1, pregUnits.unit2)
pregUnits.unit1=nil
pregUnits.unit2=nil
end
else
print("No unit")
end

function preg(u1, u2)
local mother
local father
local genes
if u1.sex==0 then
mother=u1
father=u2
elseif u2.sex==0 then
mother=u2
father=u1
else
print("At least one unit should be female")
return
end
genes=father.appearance.genes:new()
mother.pregnancy_timer=1
mother.pregnancy_caste=father.caste
mother.pregnancy_spouse=father.hist_figure_id
mother.pregnancy_genes=genes
print("Seed planted")
end

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: AvolitionBrit on January 02, 2023, 03:24:40 pm

Cheers for the script was looking for something like this to create some grand dwarven lineages

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on January 02, 2023, 04:07:27 pm

Quote from: kesperan on January 01, 2023, 11:59:50 pm

Please sign me up for another turn.

Quoting for visibilty in case Bralbaard forgets.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Bralbaard on January 02, 2023, 05:51:49 pm

Done! Also moved Maloy down one spot, as requested.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: WonderPsycho on January 02, 2023, 09:21:35 pm

Quote from: Lurker Z on January 02, 2023, 02:30:00 pm

Look on DFFD main page, accounts from after 2015 were lost. There's a guide and links on what to do to recover your files and/or account.

Also good luck on your turn!

alright, that explains it I believe

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: WonderPsycho on January 02, 2023, 09:23:25 pm

Also downloaded the save played it a bit, and been writing some of the stuff of what's been happening in my turn in notepad and taking screenshots here and there, will post my full experiences after my turn is, done, so far things are going kind of well

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on January 03, 2023, 02:34:19 am

That’s good to hear!

Save often and make backups. There are some areas that continue to cause crashes. Nothing worse than losing lots of progress. 

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: WonderPsycho on January 03, 2023, 05:42:27 pm

a bit busy today so i may not have the time to play more of my turn today, however I will most definitely play it more tomorrow so yeah

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: WonderPsycho on January 03, 2023, 07:14:42 pm

Quote from: WonderPsycho on January 03, 2023, 05:42:27 pm

a bit busy today so i may not have the time to play more of my turn today, however I will most definitely play it more tomorrow so yeah

scratch that, I actually may have some time to play some of my turn more today

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: AvolitionBrit on January 03, 2023, 07:59:52 pm

Only just saw that Rusna had starved in Treatyside. But atleast she had become a baroness and she lives on through Noblechopped.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Lurker Z on January 03, 2023, 08:24:41 pm

I did mention in my past posts. I noticed a Rusna had died when I reclaimed Treatyseed, but I didn't check since Rusna is a common DF first name. It's a bug that starves all (mortal?) adventurers when you reclaim in Fortress Mode a site they were in. Sorry about that. As for her body...

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

It's likely in one of three piles. There's a pile in Treatyseed, if someone doesn't mess with it. There's one in Herograves and one in one of the hillocks that spawned around Blueoceans.

I'm about 99% sure I didn't chop her up, because I only butchered gobs. The chances of chopping her up are infinitesimal, but they might still exist if I did it by accident. But I'd have had her skull, so she's probably still in one piece.

Also the caverns around Treatyseed are likely littered with bodied of blighted thralls I killed. I only cleared the inside of the fortress of corpses, after all.

Since I'm posting, kesperan, what's with the gifts you gave my character? Did you trade with him or were they outright gifts?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on January 03, 2023, 08:53:36 pm

Quote from: Lurker Z on January 03, 2023, 08:24:41 pm

I did mention in my past posts. I noticed a Rusna had died when I reclaimed Treatyseed, but I didn't check since Rusna is a common DF first name. It's a bug that starves all (mortal?) adventurers when you reclaim in Fortress Mode a site they were in. Sorry about that. As for her body...

I will explain the fate of Rusna’s body and of Noblechopped in my story.

Quote from: Lurker Z on January 03, 2023, 08:24:41 pm

Since I'm posting, kesperan, what's with the gifts you gave my character? Did you trade with him or were they outright gifts?

Spoilers! I’ll explain in my turn, when I can. I have 60 pics and copious notes to work through. But they’re yours to do with as you wish.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: WonderPsycho on January 03, 2023, 09:12:18 pm

also curious I should ask, my adventurer is a hero and they have a pet bear for the start since they started (i'll spoil that much), I am wondering if heroes having pets for their adventurers for their start is fine, since all I know from the rule thing is from the start heroes can't have any companions from the start but can get companions over time when playing in game so yeah

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Lurker Z on January 03, 2023, 09:16:54 pm

From what I remember of the rules, a Museum adventurer can start with 2 peasant companions, but can gain as many as they can/want during the course of adventure.

Pets of any type is fine. Raki (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Raki_Shedoshgabat), which was Bralbaard's character, started with a giant grizzly bear and there was no issue.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: WonderPsycho on January 03, 2023, 10:02:44 pm

Quote from: Lurker Z on January 03, 2023, 09:16:54 pm

From what I remember of the rules, a Museum adventurer can start with 2 peasant companions, but can gain as many as they can/want during the course of adventure.

Pets of any type is fine. Raki (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Raki_Shedoshgabat), which was Bralbaard's character, started with a giant grizzly bear and there was no issue.

ah aight good to know thanks

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Bralbaard on January 04, 2023, 02:04:28 am

Yes, that giant Grizzly was expensive though. Raki had to sell all of the clothes of his back during generation to afford it. Some civs have gremlin pets and they only cost one Urist, you can start with hundreds of those if you're feeling masochistic.

Also a clarification of the rules mentioned above; peasants can start with two peasants, heroes start on their own.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on January 04, 2023, 04:34:08 pm

Elves have access to the best variety of animals. Outsiders can have any animal, but do not start with enough points to get the juciest ones. War hydra, anyone?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Eric Blank on January 04, 2023, 05:28:13 pm

Hydras and other megabeasts shouldn't show up for any civ tho

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Bralbaard on January 04, 2023, 05:39:23 pm

Not for Civs but they are on the list for outsider adventurers. Not affordable, however.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on January 04, 2023, 07:19:54 pm

Quote from: Bralbaard on January 04, 2023, 05:39:23 pm

Not for Civs but they are on the list for outsider adventurers. Not affordable, however.

Indeed, you would need 10001 points to get one :D

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: AvolitionBrit on January 04, 2023, 07:24:10 pm

Just walking in and punching a dingo, causing your wardragon to shoot fire at the goblin, melting the both of you.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Lurker Z on January 05, 2023, 04:00:41 am

One more reason why I'll probably never take companions (except to take them from one place to another). My main issue is that they fly off the handle (just seen this quote rereading the first Museum on Monom Âmidthîkut (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Monom Âmidthîkut)):

Quote from: Argonnek on June 19, 2012, 01:31:19 am

Monom âmidthîkut, axedwarf.

Journal. Felsite 28.
We awaken to a cougar. It shows no valor. My fellow shatters its skull. It moves no more. My fellow has charged the hippos in
the river. He desires to prove valor. There is no valor in suicide. I no longer have a fellow.

Not to mention some just run away from night creatures. Remember King Bralbaard's first companion nearly killed him and ran off with his quality weapon and/or armor.

They're good for inserting drama and spice into the game, I suppose, and Bralbaard has become good at managing them as cannon fodder (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Traveling_companion), but other than that or to tell a story, they're not really worth it to me.

I can just imagine an adventurer visiting Señamatem with a hydra in tow, a grizzly bear smacking the hydra and the hydra outright depopulating it for the transgression. Better yet, the adventurer being killed in the process. Or a blighted hydra and/or dragon and/or pack of grizzly bears. Ah joy.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on January 05, 2023, 09:51:49 am

I’ve experimented a bit with buying mounts rather than companions. They’re still fun. One of my horses got something like 18 kills.

Elves can get flying mounts!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Maloy on January 05, 2023, 10:22:24 am

In a different adventure I used all my points to get a regular elephant. Couldn't afford a war one and I feared it wouldn't be very good if it wasn't a war elephant

It basically has been a more legendary fighter than I was. Any thing it touched just exploded and it only rarely got scared out of combat

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: WonderPsycho on January 05, 2023, 08:03:33 pm

playing more of my turn and writing for it more and such now that I am much more free today

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: WonderPsycho on January 05, 2023, 11:25:05 pm

i think i am getting near to my turn being over, finished playing my turn a little bit for today

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on January 06, 2023, 02:21:46 am

Remember you have a whole week and you can make a fort, if you want.

I hope to get the first chapter of Moldath’s record 5th adventure up soon…

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on January 06, 2023, 11:28:58 am

"Moldath V", Part I, Turn 99

The Fractured Mind of Deler Laboredclutch


15th Slate 937

The wind whips my long bone-white hair though I feel no cold. I... do not know this place. I do not know who I am.

Flashes of memory. A stench of rotten flesh, a glimpse of a blue sword, impossibly sharp. The tang of brimstone and burning bones. A metal crown in a hall of stone. Am I losing my mind?

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/kQHAKdz.png)

I am standing in a bamboo forest, my back against a cool dolomite wall. A craftsdwarf waves at me nervously, some flicker of recognition on his face? He tells me I am Deler Laboredclutched, a ranger. My skinny, emaciated frame is pocked with disease and a mess of scars, and a miasma of pestillence engulfs me. Am I ... dead? What am I? My head spins, fragments and bursts of memories clashing and coming in waves.

I am not from this place. I do not belong. I am eternal but my purpose is unfilled. I stumble... my eyes are rotten husks but I sense the heartbeats of the living around me. Am I a monster? I pull my <bobcat leather dress> around me instinctively and head towards a grand building to the southeast, great doors of burnished gold set into finely worked stone. A cathedral? A crypt?

This church is bathed in a warm pink glow as sunlight streams through rose-quartz windows. Within is a miner, of noble disposition. I know he is Goden, and he looks concerned. Goden Papercleared the Slick Speechlessness of Shaking. He seems to know me and tries to dissuade me. From what? What is my purpose?

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/4F373Ib.png)

Coins litter the floor ... Morul Kan.. 912. The names mean something. The year? How long have I...

The church opens out into a grand museum. A merchant eyes many artifacts on grand pedestals. Something catches my eye.. An ancient axe, of unparalleled craft, its steel blade undulled by centuries of war. Osturist Obot Zaled feels like it belongs in my grasp. The merchant eyes me quietly, his thoughts his own. Through the rose-quartz window I can make out the waves of a great sea. We are perched on the banks of some ocean, or perhaps a lake? The Sea of Blades! The name coalesces from nothing. This fort is perched on the Sea of Blades, in Orid Xem. These are dwarves of Morul Kan.

Atop the church/museum are many statues carved of the same dolomite as these halls. They depict the Angelic Seasons of Light founding Holykingdom. This must be where we are. A seat of power for the Morul Kan?

I leave the museum and enter the fort proper down a wide walkway, many masterwork engravings of The Awe-Inspiring Mark of Warriors line the way - an image of the God Shatag embracing nine longswords. This must be the symbol of the Angelic Seasons of Light. Suddenly I arrive at the trade depot, filled with many crafts and equipment, knee deep in freezing salty water.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/J5QYtNt.png)

The corridor leads to a grand meeting hall, completely flooded with brackish seawater. What calamity has befallen this place? Why did the dwarves here dig under the Sea of Blades?

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/H2PnW6F.png)

I search this drowned folly and retrieve some waterlogged arms and armour from the forgehalls, before making my escape as dusk falls. These dwarves drowned fate will not be mine. I stumble westward, wandering on instinct alone. The moon is high in the sky and I find myself wandering, staggering, west... perhaps pulled to something familiar?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Lurker Z on January 06, 2023, 11:33:29 am

Oh no... Treatyseed got broken in Legends Viewer...

MOLDAAAAAAAAAAAAAAATH! What in Orid Xem's ungodly rocks are you doing, dorf?!?!

I know for certain that it's not directly after my turn, because I could see Treatyseed just fine. I really wish it's just an extraction error or something that happens only on this XML, but I'm not holding out my hope here...

I'm still surprised his fell curses didn't fall on Eskôn, what a force of chaotic nature he is...

It is actually a coincidence the forum tells me kesperan just replied. I'll read the post after I try to figure this out.

---

I'm noticing from Legends Mode that the curse of Eskôn didn't actually break. He was recalled to be the Manager between 890 and 899. With his entry in LV broken, I only saw it now.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Untrustedlife on January 06, 2023, 11:59:11 am

Quote from: Lurker Z on January 06, 2023, 11:33:29 am

Oh no... Treatyseed got broken in Legends Viewer...

MOLDAAAAAAAAAAAAAAATH! What in Orid Xem's ungodly rocks are you doing, dorf?!?!

I know for certain that it's not directly after my turn, because I could see Treatyseed just fine. I really wish it's just an extraction error or something that happens only on this XML, but I'm not holding out my hope here...

I'm still surprised his fell curses didn't fall on Eskôn, what a force of chaotic nature he is...

It is actually a coincidence the forum tells me kesperan just replied. I'll read the post after I try to figure this out.

---

I'm noticing from Legends Mode that the curse of Eskôn didn't actually break. He was recalled to be the Manager between 890 and 899. With his entry in LV broken, I only saw it now.

I honestly cannot wait foor v 50 to get adventure mode back.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on January 06, 2023, 12:05:51 pm

Quote from: Lurker Z on January 06, 2023, 11:33:29 am

Oh no... Treatyseed got broken in Legends Viewer...

MOLDAAAAAAAAAAAAAAATH! What in Orid Xem's ungodly rocks are you doing, dorf?!?!

Treatseed and Holykingdom are not viewable in Legend's Viewer any more. Moldath visited both on my last turn. I have no idea what is corrupting these sites but the creator of LV doesn't seem to be updating it any more.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: WonderPsycho on January 06, 2023, 05:05:00 pm

Quote from: kesperan on January 06, 2023, 02:21:46 am

Remember you have a whole week and you can make a fort, if you want.

I hope to get the first chapter of Moldath’s record 5th adventure up soon…

yeah I know that, just in the weekend I am going to be busy with working on a video of mine with friends so yeah

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: WonderPsycho on January 06, 2023, 09:48:55 pm

Ocna's Journal Log 1

And So I have finally awake, ready to start up my first journal to document my journey forward.
As a sort of "Hero" of this local Castle I decided to want to go on my own journey to not only want to
set things right in this world on the break of a apocalypse (or as some may say is already in a apocalypse)
and to master my writing skills a bit more as I sort of have a fond interest in writing as a "Writing Goblin"
as some may call me.

Of course and of course there maybe many dangers but I would like to maybe recruit some others with me on my conquest to bring order
back into this world hopefully, as today starts my journey to document the current day world's happenings and to
finally make things right in this world by finally bringing back order to it!

Ocna's Journal Log 2

Off onto my next log, or writings into my journal, I have decided that before I start my journey,
I decided to ask about any isssues that maybe troubling this Castle or rather this part of the civilization.

A certain "Aquov Dirluabli" was one who I asked and inquire about any troubles... to my surprise it was nothing
much but a war... about disputes being made over torture.... huhm  doesn't seem something too out of the ordinary then
what other crazy stuff maybe happening in the world and such, but the disputes maybe a little bit more then whatever
they may seem, not quite sure, and really not liking this baron's attitude here too..

(https://imgur.com/ZonjUS0.png)

(https://imgur.com/OMBEv33.png)

(https://imgur.com/RXNkNBH.png)

(https://imgur.com/Suqpokc.png)

(https://imgur.com/AsyhNPf.png)


but I figured, why not, I'll have him be on my adventures to change that attitude of his, but he rejected!

(https://imgur.com/ZsKbZhB.png)

(https://imgur.com/uU30asU.png)

well if he is gonna act like that I'll probably just have him lead the way for something else... but enough of that I need to hire some
people to go along my journey of returning order to Orid Xem, out of the blistering chaos it's now stuck in.

Tried looking for some others in the castle who maybe able to help me onto my journey and such besides just the castle head counciler and the baron,
but unfortunately there doesn't seem to be any more others, so forget that baron he can stay where he is at and such

so now it's just me and my bear Nathob..

(https://imgur.com/C3Eou1b.png)

And so we're off to traverse this world and recruit some people into a great new army to help bring order to these lands as they have became now...

Ocna's Journal Log 3

And so me and Nathob had arrived at a small town we have found after traveling away from the Castle, my only hope is to find some
others who maybe interested in joining my army that I will form hopefully, as we have arrived at it's town or hamlet hall, hopefully this town or hamlet is completely
safe, considering the disasters that are happening with the many "Obin Blight" outbreaks across certain areas of the world,
so hopefully I won't find any infected that maybe in the halls or nearby..

(https://imgur.com/Rx859LA.png)

So hopefully this won't turn into a mess when trying to get this army's founding grounds in place!

(https://imgur.com/AHSmvb3.png)

actually, I really do not like the sound of that....

(https://imgur.com/8SWEJSN.png)


YEP NOPE!!! WE'RE OUT!!

(https://imgur.com/ScOYzVk.png)

We are never gonna come back to that town again..

(https://imgur.com/1Q9NS1K.png)

found a new hamlet, hopefully this one is safe, but my hopes aren't high, but will explore this place to the best of my ability and find anyone who maybe be interested
in supporting my conquest

(https://imgur.com/6mKQ8Iv.png)

going to that hamlet was a mistake, it was infested with the infected, I lost Nathob while I escaped, I don't know where to go now.. it seems to be getting dark..

(https://imgur.com/N4xm7bo.png)

So so dark.... I am left but with two choices... die out here in the nightly wilderness by boogeymen... or die fighting in one of the infected hamlets or towns... so I went with the latter and turned back... I
may regret dying here in this hamlet with the infected, and who knows I wind up infected like the rest of them, but atleast that's better then suffering a death at the hands of a boogeyman, where even after death, your pain of being killed in the same agonizing way at the hands of said boogeyman
will last for eternity for many many many centuries... I do not want to die in a eternal pain of suffering..

(https://imgur.com/07P7VHz.png)

Welp... time to fight the infected to the death or till the sun rises, I may never return but if I return... that isn't me, that is the shambling corpse shell of who I originally was, whoever finds my journal shall warn more spread of the Blight are going to be coming, cause I heard rumors of
the adventurers who have fallen to the blight are more active on spreading the blight more then normal infected, be warned! this is my final message..

(https://imgur.com/wLqpNnr.png)

OH GODS NATHOB FOLLOWED ME NOO!!

(https://imgur.com/2JLtnGU.png)

let this be our last stand!!

(https://imgur.com/b4xo0VO.png)

(https://imgur.com/MMuwr1L.png)

(https://imgur.com/YCUDtzz.png)

(https://imgur.com/P02XvXZ.png)

(https://imgur.com/BcCZ2hL.png)


That was all that remained of the writings of one of the Obin Blight outbreak survivors Ocna Cirouja, a goblin hero of Omon Obin, now turned into a shambling infected corpse..... all while
trying to put their beloved Nathob to rest, Nathob would bite them, spreading the blight to them now, as Nathob and the young hero were now nothing but shambling infected corpses of their former selves
now only existing to spread more and more of the blight itself...

(https://imgur.com/1j9BQQ6.png)

(https://imgur.com/PgGnjUi.png)

(https://imgur.com/tMSUPoT.png)

the corpse would come across it's first non-infected town amidst the many other infected hamlets and began attacking and infecting many by biting them and such to spread the blight even more....

(https://imgur.com/K8nYW7O.png)


(https://imgur.com/xdnU9hq.png)

(https://imgur.com/E49fEfh.png)

(https://imgur.com/upkSqgd.png)

(https://imgur.com/LVjnMPN.png)

(https://imgur.com/sTyv3ey.png)


the corpse of Ocna has discvered a town hall full of dead bodies and a bunch of church members all gathered about on having a massive undead battle in this hall
many of these religious members seem to be on a crusade against the undead it seems but the infected Ocna went in to try and bite and infect them all..

(https://imgur.com/oFovghi.png)

(https://imgur.com/yDB7pyg.png)

(https://imgur.com/tmHPRQQ.png)

(https://imgur.com/QPeECVC.png)

(https://imgur.com/yZyTAs5.png)

(https://imgur.com/PyQtBkW.png)

(https://imgur.com/XTLoVeC.png)

the fight would continue as Ocna the thrall would infect two of the people in this hall turning them into thralls.. spreading the infection further, focusing more on biting others and injuring others in the procress by fighting them with their sword the corpse still had..

(https://imgur.com/tHXIdnK.png)

(https://imgur.com/OKqzI0b.png)

until ocna's undead goblin corpse was finally laid to rest after having infected two other sacred dungs...

Out Of Character: Turn done, here's the next turn to whoever is playing here next but yeah
https://dffd.bay12games.com/file.php?id=16323 (https://dffd.bay12games.com/file.php?id=16323) (been while since i used hyperlinks on this forum so I forgot how to name the hyperlinks or whatever)

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on January 07, 2023, 01:13:58 am

Well, that was brief and violent as sadly many lives in Orid Xem are!

Hopefully a brave adventurer will avenge your goblin and clear the Blight once more.

Looks like it is Quantum Drop’s turn to rid this land of evil…. Or create more? 😈😈😈

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: WonderPsycho on January 07, 2023, 03:29:39 am

Quote from: kesperan on January 07, 2023, 01:13:58 am

Well, that was brief and violent as sadly many lives in Orid Xem are!

Hopefully a brave adventurer will avenge your goblin and clear the Blight once more.

Looks like it is Quantum Drop’s turn to rid this land of evil…. Or create more? 😈😈😈

yeah, may the name of Ocna be avenged!!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Quantum Drop on January 07, 2023, 09:29:50 am

Sadly, I'm going to have to request that I be bumped down one turn in the list. Got exams in the next week, so I'll be occupied through to the 14th. My... plans for Orid Xem will have to wait a little longer. (Curse you, university!)

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on January 07, 2023, 11:27:04 am

That makes it the turn of everyone’s favourite werefox-controlled-by-an-undead-ear: Maloy!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Lurker Z on January 07, 2023, 12:10:02 pm

I've read Moldath's latest entry. I think this is the first part I actually feel sad for him. Yes, he was a rotting corpse for a long time, but much of that was his own doing and the way of Orid Xem. Yes, he lost items, but some of that was his own fault for not putting named items in chests or something. But that death of personality was probably the worst fate I can see for poor Moldath. From knowing how the story ends, it's pretty clear that

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

he's lost all connections with Adilatír, though maybe he regains any good memories from his time with them.

For better or worse, Moldath has always tried to do his best to improve Orid Xem and I wish him the best of (un? quasi?) life.

The fact that I can't find that name means that he went by another fake name by now, doesn't it? I'm looking forward for his adventures and what he makes of Enôrmigrur, if it's left an impression on him at all.

---

As for our second valorous goblin as far as I remember, damn, that has some Raki (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Raki_Shedoshgabat) and Ehhu (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Ehhu_Kenomreko) memories from it, from idealist hero to plague-spreading monster. Interested turn, you've adapted the turning of the blight very well and that last stand was not something I was expecting, reminds me of Urist (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Urist_Pumiksuwu)'s last stand in Señamatem. Great story, all events considered! Thankfully LV says he only infected goblins, though considering he started from a human civilization, that might be inaccurate.

---

QD, sorry to hear that, hopefully, those plans don't involved another plague. XD Looking forward for your turn when you have the time.

---

Good luck, Maloy! I look forward to your turn!

---

Ocna (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Ocna_Cirouja) article is up.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: WonderPsycho on January 07, 2023, 01:29:08 pm

thanks Lurker Z and also i didn't know the world was generated without boogeymen so yeah, sorry for the confusion

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Bralbaard on January 07, 2023, 04:46:02 pm

It is certainly possible that the world has bogeymen somewhere, but I have yet to see them, I think they are confined to evil areas in recent versions. I'll send Maloy a PM, but from what I remember Maloy might also be short on time right now. We'll see.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: AvolitionBrit on January 07, 2023, 04:52:41 pm

The legends viewer lists dark gnomes and no one has encounter them either. Wonder if the evil folk of the mountains will be seen. Also Great story Kesperan

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Lurker Z on January 07, 2023, 05:06:47 pm

I based my comment on the fact that I saw no mentions of bogeymen in adventurers' logs, either those on this thread or while looking through kill lists in Legends Mode (do note that while Legends Mode does note all kills, Legends Viewer only notes the named, unculled kills, so always take the former as a definite source). I had assumed (and heard) that bogeymen were completely removed from v.40 upwards. The wiki says what Bralbaard says through. That being said, I might be technically correct in that Orid Xem might not have bogeymen since I never saw any reference to them (and realistically, out of almost 100 adventurers someone should have at least encountered them, if not outright killed them. Nirmek (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Nirmek_Balusen), the only one of his kind in the world, somehow had chance encounters with not one, but two adventurers, yet nobody was bothered by a bogeyman). I've also looked into Orid Xem events log, which lists all known populations (gotta admit Troglodytes: 65728 and Trolls: 65509 worry me, to say the least) and it doesn't list one bogeyman (I tried the alternate spelling version boogey too).

That being said, they definitely existed in Mudungudon. I found two so far (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Category:Bogeyman_slayers) in adventurers' kill logs.

In relation to the character though, it makes sense. He's a random goblin in the middle of a zombie apocalypse who think he'll be the hero. That tales of bogeymen came from other worlds, or that night creatures are still believed to be bogeymen, makes perfect sense in-story. So you have no reason to apologize, Ocna's fears make perfect sense in-story.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Bralbaard on January 07, 2023, 05:21:50 pm

Bogeymen are one of the great untold mysteries of this world. It could be a nice theme for an adventure to try and find these elusive creatures by spending a night in each of the evil areas. I think there is a good chance they are out there somewhere.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on January 07, 2023, 06:18:58 pm

Quote from: Bralbaard on January 07, 2023, 05:21:50 pm

Bogeymen are one of the great untold mysteries of this world. It could be a nice theme for an adventure to try and find these elusive creatures by spending a night in each of the evil areas. I think there is a good chance they are out there somewhere.

I’ve certainly seen bogeyman leather pouches - one was submitted as a museum piece. Does that mean they exist in Orid Xem?

Saying that, I’ve also seen some really weird leather pouches - merperson, werejackal etc… maybe it’s totally randomised?

Thanks for the kind words Lurker and Avolition. Trying to come up with an explanation in game for why Moldath goes rogue for decades at a time with new identities, and why he always ends up “incredibly skinny.” Having a rotten brain might explain it…

His changing physiology/anatomy is odd too. I think it might be something to do with months of surgery chopping his flesh off and him not being able to drink blood, but when he reverts to his prime personality he is incredibly muscular again.

I really find him a fascinating character, like he has a mind of his own and I have to come up with explanations for the weird shit he does…

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: WonderPsycho on January 07, 2023, 07:28:14 pm

Quote from: Lurker Z on January 07, 2023, 05:06:47 pm

I based my comment on the fact that I saw no mentions of bogeymen in adventurers' logs, either those on this thread or while looking through kill lists in Legends Mode (do note that while Legends Mode does note all kills, Legends Viewer only notes the named, unculled kills, so always take the former as a definite source). I had assumed (and heard) that bogeymen were completely removed from v.40 upwards. The wiki says what Bralbaard says through. That being said, I might be technically correct in that Orid Xem might not have bogeymen since I never saw any reference to them (and realistically, out of almost 100 adventurers someone should have at least encountered them, if not outright killed them. Nirmek (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Nirmek_Balusen), the only one of his kind in the world, somehow had chance encounters with not one, but two adventurers, yet nobody was bothered by a bogeyman). I've also looked into Orid Xem events log, which lists all known populations (gotta admit Troglodytes: 65728 and Trolls: 65509 worry me, to say the least) and it doesn't list one bogeyman (I tried the alternate spelling version boogey too).

That being said, they definitely existed in Mudungudon. I found two so far (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Category:Bogeyman_slayers) in adventurers' kill logs.

In relation to the character though, it makes sense. He's a random goblin in the middle of a zombie apocalypse who think he'll be the hero. That tales of bogeymen came from other worlds, or that night creatures are still believed to be bogeymen, makes perfect sense in-story. So you have no reason to apologize, Ocna's fears make perfect sense in-story.

oh thanks

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Maloy on January 07, 2023, 09:07:21 pm

With the Ear's dream of a new empire on the verge of ruin and being surrounded by a plague of undeath there is only one thing to do:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgflip.com/59s760.jpg)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Lb3MTlIrC4

Question: Do you think being talented as a fighter and swordswolf would make me able to stand my own against blight folk?


Currently punching a deer while it vomits on me

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Lurker Z on January 07, 2023, 09:24:50 pm

Quote from: kesperan on January 07, 2023, 06:18:58 pm

I’ve certainly seen bogeyman leather pouches - one was submitted as a museum piece. Does that mean they exist in Orid Xem?

Saying that, I’ve also seen some really weird leather pouches - merperson, werejackal etc… maybe it’s totally randomised?

I've seen way more forgotten beast pouches that were probably RNG'd than any forgotten beasts have been slayed in world generation.

As for the others, check Legends Viewer, it says how many of any species there are (which includes no mention of bogeymen). On the other hand, it says there are over 5,000 cave dragons, which... I am very skeptical about.

Another weird thing (in Orid Xem) I saw was a dwarf in early world generation being taken by a mood and actually failing to create the artifact, resulting in their death by starvation (I assume melancholy was simulated). Does that mean world generation actually simulates moods, including what the materials that the civilization has access to? Does it even simulate what was mined or butchered to give the mood dwarf their items? I always assumed world generation just takes random dwarves and puts artifacts in their hands.

I've also seen statues generating with Museum adventurers stories on them in sites that had been abandoned centuries before world activation.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Bralbaard on January 08, 2023, 04:47:49 am

Yes, the way the game refers to, and uses populations and creatures needs some work. Also were bogeyman populations tracked in  legends viewer files of the first museum games? I have never thought of them as real creatures, but rather as dangerous imaginative beings that are created in the minds of lonely stranded adventurers. They dissapear without a trace if you find other people, or if the sun rises. The game might not track their numbers at all.

@Maloy Blight creatures are dangerous, and have skill levels as well, I think. Fighting a master swordsman thrall would be a challenge. Unarmed peasants are easier, but not easy. Wear good armor to protect you from catching the plague yourselves, and run when needed.There are other players far more skilled in combat than me though. Most of my characters just avoid anything mildly dangerous and only have a few kills, Raki excluded.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Quantum Drop on January 08, 2023, 06:41:10 am

Quote from: Maloy on January 07, 2023, 09:07:21 pm

With the Ear's dream of a new empire on the verge of ruin and being surrounded by a plague of undeath there is only one thing to do:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgflip.com/59s760.jpg)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Lb3MTlIrC4

Question: Do you think being talented as a fighter and swordswolf would make me able to stand my own against blight folk?


Currently punching a deer while it vomits on me

Blighted creatures retain their skill levels and can use whatever gear they have on them at the time, including armor and weapons. They still bleed and I think they're still affected by nerve damage/limb integrity. Newly-created thralls may also be hostile to one another until you travel off-site (and maybe beyond, can't remember off the top of my head), but that occurs sporadically enough that I wouldn't count on it. 

My personal advice: train dodge, shield, fighter, your weapon skill, and possibly observation before you go thrall-hunting. I personally suggest "Expert" to "Accomplished" levels on at least the first two if you're feeling risk averse, or "Adept/Talented" if you're in a hurry. Make sure that you have armor on all parts of your body - preferably metal, since that seems harder for thralls' teeth to get through - and are holding at least one shield (so even if you fail to dodge, you might automatically block the attack.) Pass time between movements by pressing the ',' key -- this'll make timings easier, and minimizes the chance of a thrall hitting you during the usual movement/waiting period.

When facing a thrall, check them out by pressing l and selecting them first. If they've got an arm or leg uncovered, focus on hitting that part whenever there's a good chance of doing so; if you get lucky you might cause them to drop their weapon, or cripple their mobility. When a thrall attacks you, your best bet is to dodge outright due to their strength and potential skill levels. Observation comes in handy here: if your opponent has 'Starting' or 'Recovering' anywhere in their attack menu description, they're usually easier to hit and you might be able to guess how they're about to attack you (e.x.: if their right arm is "Hard/can't land squarely" but their left is "Easier/Solid", they're probably about to punch you with their left hand.)

Like Bralbaard said, Peasant Thralls are easier to fight than armoured ones due to the lack of weapons/armor; your best bet against them is to go for the neck and head, or the limbs if you can't hit either easily. Armored ones are difficult, so I'd advise trying quickly attacking for unarmoured limbs then dodging (multi-attack will be your friend for this) to bleed them out over time. If you find yourself injured or getting tired, running away and fast-travelling to heal yourself is definitely advisable.

Oh, and if they have "master", "elite", or anything similar in the name -- run.

I hope this helps in your Blight-hunting endeavours.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Maloy on January 08, 2023, 07:23:27 am

Thanks guys! I'm hoping most will just be converted peasants!

Yarlig mentioned there were a lot near my town and so I am just preparing
Plus I've been meaning to train my character for awhile. One of the main reasons I haven't accomplished a ton per turn is because of caution. He's a dabbling swordsman despite decades of existence

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Lurker Z on January 08, 2023, 07:45:24 am

Yes, dabbling swordsman will probably miss a lot. Though I suggest maces or axes. I had a lot of trouble with that undead horse, and counter-intuitively I used an axe at the end and it was actually effective, so I stuck to that (poor unnamed ☼adamantine sword☼, it stayed in my inventory since then unused, unless Moldath traded for it).

My view on it (despite one of my characters dying to one of them) is you should just consider them as night creatures and undead. They're even less dangerous than undead because they don't have line-of-sight spells. The BIGGEST problems are, in my opinion:
* being infected, which was covered above
* being attacked by more than one, which also means they activate all undead/necros/possibly vampires against you and on their side. If that happens, RUN!
* leaving them to fight uninfected; they WILL infect them; I have seen it
* another problem is that they'll start fighting and infecting inhabitants as soon as you load the site, regardless of how long you scout around town; in that case, you'll find yourself in the situation of points 2 & 3, in which case, RUN!

As QD pointed out, recently infected will still fight the thralls, but you'll have to leave the site and return to deal with the infected that nominally remained on your side, otherwise there might be the risk of the rest of the UNINFECTED townspeople will brand you an enemy. If you leave and return, it will mean basically resetting the fight and running through the above points again.

They're not insurmountable odds, but if they have weapons and get a lucky hit in...

My advice is to follow QD's training montage, go into the wilderness around a town you know is safe, kill animals, sleep, repeat until you get good stats.

---

Re: Bralbaard, you have a point, I just checked Mudungudon's stats at turn 77 and it mentions no bogeymen. That being said, they're definitely real. They appear in Legends Mode kill list, which means the world itself acknowledges their existence. The problem is they're not named. This is also the case with some yeti, trolls and even goblins. I'm curious if a bogeyman gets a kill, do they get named? That'd make it undoubtable that the world recognizes them as existing.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Bralbaard on January 08, 2023, 08:44:10 am

Yes I remember they gain names when they kill someone, but I doubt if those named bogeyman can be encountered again due to the mechanism by which they spawn.  Their general populations are at least not getting tracked. In the current museum game the conditions for them to spawn will be very rare. I doubt many adventurers have spend the night alone in an evil region, we only have a few of those) I also think the evil region needs a specific sphere as well (nightmares?).

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: AvolitionBrit on January 08, 2023, 09:39:02 am

Think you might be right there, i spent many nights alone in The Ugly Forests and encountered no nightmares just foul blendec. Not sure how to see evil biome sphere. But the wiki says they need either nightmares or darkness

Also the fact they are ellusive makes:

42: A bogeyman leather pouch Few, if any reliable sightings of bogeymen exist, and they and their corpses are said to dissapear in daylight. Somehow Yawo Rainstir managed to obtain this pouch made of bogeyman leather that is stable in the light. Submitted by Tonnot 98

That much more interersting. Certainly seen a few crafts like that.

Seems Avolition might have something to do after seeing this on the wiki.

Quote

Interestingly, bogeymen will be friendly towards creatures with the [NOFEAR] token. Playing as one of those will make you totally safe from bogeymen; in the vanilla game, the (three currently) available creatures with this token are humanoid arachnid people: the bark scorpion man, the brown recluse spider man, and the jumping spider man. It doesn't prevent bogeyman encounters, however; sleeping in the wilderness may still result in getting surrounded by cackling, and the bogeymen will still teleport towards you, as well as prevent you from sleeping or traveling.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Maloy on January 08, 2023, 09:27:12 pm

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://www.davidrevoy.com/data/images/blog/2010/sintel/Sintel-Concept-Art/environments-10-sintel-bedroom.jpg)

Even after these many years of rulership Maloy still preferred to conduct his meetings in the small hovel he originally shared with several other locals. He usually only chose to go to his keep at night in order to be alone, but as far as anyone was aware did not sleep there or even keep a bed.

Still Arthur personally found it appealing that somethings didn't change. They were sat in a circle on on the dirty floor: Maloy the Lord of ruined Incenseorder, Mirailei former baroness of the Walled Dye and Arthur the merchant living in a world without trade.

Maloy seemed to be listening to something with his head cocked to the side, a common form of pondering for him, and then he turned his head toward me "I need a favor to-" He paused as if scolded "I mean I have orders for you!"
Mirai chuckled viciously "Don't forget that I used outrank you. I'll be listening to this favor"
Maloy gave an annoyed glance to her "Yes. Well, I need you both to go south and find something for me"
Arthur had his arms crossed as he spoke "This isn't really a safe time to travel, friend. Everywhere around Incenseorder has been hit with the blight. Trade is non-existent now and there's been sightings of that 'Blind Sadist' all over the place"
"Not that we have reason to be afraid, but it seems like we could just wait a few decades until someone clears the area for us" Mirai interjected
Maloy shook his head vigorously "No! I won't wait decades! I'm not letting Incenseorder go back to being a backwater farming village!"

Arthur sighed. The situation was depressing for him. Trade was non-existent in these lands now. It seemed the only group capable of getting a carvan out was the Walled Dye and he had no interest in joining with them. Arthur had his own stash of treasures and goods, but it meant nothing in a world where people lacked the basic means of survival. Mirai gave the wolf-man a look of pity
"It's already over. All your villages are wiped out and without them to provide food and raw materials it means the folk around here will have to, which means no one in Incenseorder has any time to do anything but farm" She stood up and began to walk towards the window "Several of the artists we convinced to come here to build the 'art capital of the world' have already quit and left. Welcome to the same boat our people were trapped in"

Maloy's tail was wagging vigorously as he shouted "That's why you two are going to go south! I know how to turn this around!"
Arthur spoke up "What are we looking for and how far south?" He was crestfallen about his loss of career, but maybe a journey to new lands might open his heart to new opportunities.
"A place called the Merged Jungles. It's south. Far south. Well past the Tundra of Heroes in lands I've never even heard of before this. I need you to find a dwarf. More specifically his body"
Silence ensued. It was madness. Even if the pair could avoid danger along the way the distance was ridiculous. It was like being asked to jump off the edge of the map and hope you land on something soft.
Mirai responded with total and uncharacteristic calm "Where in the Merged Jungles?"
"I don't know." Maloy paused a moment and crooked his head to the side "Before you reach the far southern mountains you should look for a camp called The Shelter of Adventures"
Arthur bolted up
"HUH!? Our only thing to go on is to find a camp before the mountains? Who is in the camp? How big are these jungles? How does this stop the blight?!"

Mirai put an arm in front of Arthur "Will this be a guaranteed way to stop the blight?"
Maloy looked down eyes closed "Yes."
"Will it let you build the world you have been dreaming of"
"Yes."
"I was tired of watching these stupid humans get new wrinkles anyway. We were gonna head south anyway, but if we run into your cadaver we'll see if we have time to come back with it" Mirai grabbed the sleeve of Arthur's coat and began to drag him along
"Thank you" Maloy whispered and then crooked his head to the side again "Why didn't you mention that earlier?!" He reached a paw out towards the two elves "Wait wait wait! Sorry the...dwarf. He might not be fully dead. He's not blighted, but he might not be resting peacefully either. Uhm. If you find him and he's still walking around don't fight him just let me know where he is!"

Arthur was concerned at the strange reaction and this new information
"Sorry to waste more of your time Mirai, but I simply must know. Maloy what are you going to be doing while we're gone?"
"It's a secret, but it's just as essential!"


and with that the friends parted ways.


OOC: Obv not done with turn, but I wanted to write out the beginning only because I wanted to tease the purpose of my turn lol

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: WonderPsycho on January 08, 2023, 11:08:04 pm

Quote from: Maloy on January 08, 2023, 09:27:12 pm

OOC: Obv not done with turn, but I wanted to write out the beginning only because I wanted to tease the purpose of my turn lol

ooooooooh very interesting first post of the turn, very interested in seeing where things go

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Bralbaard on January 09, 2023, 03:13:25 am

Ah...very interesting. I'll be playing my right hand next turn, but will certainly make use of whatever this will lead to.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Maloy on January 09, 2023, 12:47:51 pm

Okay so I’m narrowing in on our dwarf friend I think.
I’ve found the random odor of a dwarf in the jungle and am circling it like a vulture currently.

I am inclined to think I can find this from my own research. Bodies in the wilderness don’t disappear outright they just have to be found manually. In fact on the way to the jungles I passed by several animal corpses that other previous adventurers had butchered. So this isn’t impossible just very difficult.

So questions I wanna ask:
1.who played Bor Mazeconstruct? I’d love to get as much info as possible from them on their last sighting of the dwarf
2.does anyone know which story entries cover his last sighting? The body not the hand!
3. Can we narrow down WHERE in the jungle he was seen?

Ironically I trained Maloy to a high combat level, but Arthur has accomplished some legendary stuff on this journey with only competency at using the spear

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Bralbaard on January 09, 2023, 01:11:51 pm

I played Bor but he was only involved with raising the hand from death. It was stored in Razorbridge but had been separated from the body centuries ago. We did have a discussion on the other parts of Bralbaard before, he died many times. I'll check the wiki.

Edit: have not found much on the location of his main body yet.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Lurker Z on January 09, 2023, 03:17:30 pm

Interesting, King Bralbaard is turning into some demented version of the God-Emperor of Man, a mind split into several body parts. I can imagine playing a hand will be a chore. Did you fix that issue where body parts were constantly suffocating while played by adventurers? Or was that an unrelated issue?

One thing to note, Mirai (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Miaralei_Nuraminarena) is no longer Baron since 901. When I saw your post, I double-checked LV just to be sure. I think adventuring lost her position just as King Bralbaard adventuring lost his.

---

I found something bothersome, it seems in the latest save some (but not all) the diacritics are missing. For example, words containing Edëm (i.e. Edëmtusung/Keyconjure) are now written in LM as Edem and those containing Olngö are now written as Olngo. Á still seems to exist. Ah, Û is also affected in words such as Stosbûb. Anyone knows what that's about or if we should be worried?

---

Remember those people attacked by werecreature way more often than statistical believable? Well, I probably found the most abducted sapient in the history of Orid Xem, if not all of Armok's worlds, with 12 abductions. Athel Udistmafol (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Athel_Udistmafol) was the son of a General and a Countess of Adilatír and he was bounced around goblin settlements like a ping-pong ball. This reminds me that Ribiromimi actually abducted too, I wonder what happened to those creatures.

---

Anaÿa Eyietini (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Anaÿa Eyietini) was the most musical troll, with I think over 10 musical compositions. She only had two rampages too! Granted, there are civilized trolls with 0 rampages, but I think the musicality compensates it. Her teacher in bard-dom dispels the myth that Omon Obin was completely cut off from the rest of the world, as he was a goblin from the Most Sin who lived in Scarletbronze since 579.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on January 10, 2023, 08:38:58 am

"Moldath V", Part II, Turn 99

The End of Deler Laboredclutched

16th Slate 937

I travel west for half a day, through temperate scrubland. On the horizon is a forboding mountain range, the western border of this great valley. A fort is dug into the mountain here, overlooked by a great volcano capped by obsidian. This place looks oddly familiar. The tugging fingers of memory grasp at my neck as my dead eyes dart across the landscape. I have been here before, I am sure of it. I spot a retreating goblin and hail him. He eyes me with fear. Does he know me?

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/r9AqrrB.png)

Moldath Mournsaints the Ardent! The name clicks like a cog in my rotten brain. I am not a mere ranger from Holykingdom, I am eternal! Now you will know why you fear the night!

Deler Laborclutched. Erithsholid.

A rotten hand grips the surprised goblin by the neck. "You know, another translation of Erithsholid is Throatclutched," I rasp. My long teeth dig deep into the struggling goblins exposed throat and I drink deeply. I feel alive again! Sinews of muscle burst from my weakened body and I am enrobed with flesh once more.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/NnAwho3.png)

Renewed, I take in my surroundings. Ashcinders, the Molten Scar. I have been here before. There are many goblins infesting this place, filthy mercenaries picking over the treasures of dwarven sweat and blood. I will purge them. Many of the goblins flee in terror... it will not save them. On their corpses I find coins - glinting metal bearing the sneering visage of Avolition Holyblood the scorpion man. Assassins? Sent to slay me?

Scouring this place, I find dusty armour of adamantine, steel and blistered metal to replace my tattered rags. I also retrieve Empirebolted, the adamantine spear. I will continue on my journey now that glimpses of my past return. I was to be the eternal king of the Walled Dye, and yet I was thrown out of Crownhall, disposed by an unknown usurper. I spent decades in rags and chains, under the woke of the dwarves who forsake me.

I will find the false king who abdandoned me to this fate once again. Speaking to the few dwarves who remain here, it appears he hails from Free the Eggs, a frozen fort to the north that I have visited before. The pretender's name is Libash Tomekindles... he is familiar to me it seems. I met him before when he was wandering the wilds, nearly 40 years ago. I stifle a chuckle as I recall my pet grizzly bear goring him when he caught me feasting on a hapless goblin. Consorting with goblins, and had his spine torn by a cowardly bear. How did this pathetic dwarf steal my crown?

As I leave Ashcinders, I stumble into the reptile man skeleton I ressurected many years ago. He is now decked in the armour of a Walled Dye guardsman. He tries to attack me... perhaps he does not recall I restored him to life many decades ago? I head north, towards Free the Eggs, with a sense of renewed purpose.

18th Slate 937

Glazedriven. A sinister tower I have been to many times before. I find the headless butchered corpse of Cog Wildnesswork where I let it fall. Gesturing, the necromancers skin flops into a sick parody of unlife. Headless and with no way of whispering its secrets, it shambles off. I scour the tower as I have many times before, looking for the slab or any book that Cog may have left behind. To no avail.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/M41MbyT.png)

I arrive at Free the Eggs in the midst of a blizzard. My vampire senses can feel the warm blood of a creature a short distance to the east and it turns out to be a goblin recruit. I find several hours among the frozen ovoid corridors of this strange fort, slaying many olms and crocodiles, and a handful of goblin looters. I eventually find the sole remaining dwarf, the mayor Thikut Youthpaddle. Sadly he claims to have never heard of the so-called King Libash, and is more interested admiring a cave swallow, as I casually slaughter a goblin. I suppose the sensible thing would be to continue north and visit Treatyseed - if the usurper has left his icy fort, that is surely where he would head?

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/JNjuq1h.png)

20th Slate 937

Palacework lies a short travel north east, the ruined citadel of the Matched Hame. Crossbow bolts litter the surroundings of this dead place. The Hollow Hunter Zuntir patrols the walls as she has for centuries, the legacy of Cog Wildnesswork raising her from undeath when the Matched Hame still ruled these lands. She is silent as ever, not willing to part with her secrets.

22nd Slate 937

Chilledhate, a goblin pit I have attacked before. Many goblins flee in terror at the sight of me, but strangely I find dwarven recruits living in the warren of tunnels below the spires. These dwarves hail from the Angelic Seasons of Light, from Holykingdom, and are trying to hold this pit from the goblin onslaught. I gladly assist them. Many goblins fall to spear and axe and the dwarves rejoice.

I head south, towards an eerie tower the dwarves tell me has appeared in recent years. Rumours of a necromancer cult are whispered. I do not have to travel far into the snowy foothills before I am ambushed!

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/IOIRsfT.png)

Rotten slayers and their undead thralls! Some are missing limbs, and spattered with blood. Rotten, blistered flesh pokes from rent armour. One wears a tattered grackle leather armour bearing the torn symbol of the Creamy Confederacy. The undead shamble towards me and I leap into action. Hefting a silver warhammer I looted from Free the Eggs, the first rotten slayers head is crushed in a shower of blackened bone.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/5Tkw1y0.png)

The others cast their death magic on me... it has no effect. You cannot rot the rotted.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/nA2eHUL.png)

I butcher the slaughtered corpses and head to the obsidian spire atop the snowy peak. I find it among snow smeared with frozen dwarf blood. It is a sinister place indeed.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/X8dWJga.png)

It is not long before I encounter a necromancer... a jovial human farmer. What is going on here? He clasps a scroll entitled "Better Annihilation" and I know enough about the secrets of death to recognise it when I see it. He tells me The Faithful Group reside here... I must investigate.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/KC13gYk.png)

In the bowels of this place I finally find who is responsible... a gaunt human in priestly garb is raising crundle remains as I hack them apart. There is a glimmer of recognition in his eyes. Irka Tinsabre?!

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/ma1uSwP.png)

Could this be the bright-eyed child of Jas Anthrad I met so many years ago? He is fallen to darkness. How his father would lament. I find out from him that his mother, Destis, is dead as is his sister, but his neice and nephew have taken holy vows as he once did - it seems indeed that young Asri Boldpoked is following in her grandmothers footsteps. I sense in Tinsabre a fellow vampire necromancer, and I am bound by the creed of the Museum to leave him unharmed. I leave his charnel house in disgust.

I find out from the locals that this place, Realmspire, is not the only new human city to have appeared in my enforced absence. Whispers abound of a resurgance of The Abyssal Cult who seek to propagate and harness the Blight, in a fort to the north east of the tundra by the name of Abyssdeeps. I must travel here too. Treatyseed can wait.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Lurker Z on January 10, 2023, 10:07:19 am

I was expecting you to run the gauntlet. Or was it that easy to get to Irka? When I entered the halls, there were crundles, blind cave ogres and trolls reanimating left and right, so I skeddadled.

Also, finding Irka in the process of petting the crundle (probably decapitated) head seems so spot-on for Irka.

I'm glad Moldath at least remembers the Museum and its creed. Irka forgot to tell you that by remaining in Realmspire, he's made it the capital. Interesting times ahead.

Quote from: kesperan on January 06, 2023, 11:28:58 am

Goden Papercleared the Slick Speechlessness of Shaking. He seems to know me and tries to dissuade me. From what? What is my purpose?

I knew I recognized that name. That's Goden Monomes (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Goden Monomes), he had a three-year term as Mayor of Holykingdom.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on January 10, 2023, 10:20:47 am

Quote from: Lurker Z on January 10, 2023, 10:07:19 am

I'm glad Moldath at least remembers the Museum and its creed. Irka forgot to tell you that by remaining in Realmspire, he's made it the capital. Interesting times ahead.

When I last saw Irka, in 937, he wasn’t yet the law-giver. He wasn’t hard to find. The undead ignore Moldath.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Unraveller on January 10, 2023, 03:22:34 pm

It is most definitely time for me to continue my tale. I've put it off too long. What became of Irka and Rimtil that led him here. . ?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Maloy on January 10, 2023, 03:23:09 pm

That was a pretty epic confrontation! Also I love reading the blind fear your instill into goblins and what happens to those who don't feel it.

Thanks for catching that Lurker! I will update my post soon to reflect that!


Also I've found a new obsession: Whenever exploring sites of interest that are just wilderness I pull up an embark of it on fortress mode just so I can more easily tear through the map and I found an artifact coffin. Made of dacite just lying in the middle of the woods!
I go back to adventure mode version of the save to look and I can't find it!
Back to fortress mode? Same spot. Still there.
Driving me mad! I will reach you artifact coffin!
Middle of the woods. Why is it there? Idk


Also some fascinating developments I'm very excited to share, but I wanna wait to release it properly with story

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Lurker Z on January 10, 2023, 03:31:01 pm

Hey Unraveller, glad to see you back. Not much, really. Jas died of old age and Irka moved his capital to Realmspire (as he never moved out of there). Jas' wife also died of old age... twice. I'm probably the first to visit Realmspire, Moldath probably the second. I had a nice adventure with Jas' wife against an undead horse, I haven't wrote a proper story but I left cliff notes, then realized there wasn't much more to say than them so I never made a journal.

Hey, Maloy, glad I could help. The interactions between your char and his companions is interesting indeed. I'll have to give your past posts a reread to fully immerse in them. Same with Moldath's journey, and what a journey it was!

Speaking of, I'm 99% convinced Moldath also borked the diacritics. I checked the archive for my turn that I uploaded and it had diacritics, kesperan's didn't. I hope this is just a visual glitch.

Ah, about the artifacts, yes, they do that. Fortress Mode retiring-unretiring, visiting in adventure mode or both removes artifacts from their proper place, even the built ones (or maybe especially the built ones) and throws them randomly around the map. I retired and unretired Enôrmigrur once or maybe twice and each time I had to rebuild the artifacts (statues, hatch etc.). If there's a way for that not to happen, hopefully someone can share.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Unraveller on January 10, 2023, 03:44:17 pm

To your points about it Lurker, I did want to make Realmspire a little more dungeony for future adventures to explore, more traps, more monsters, etc. But time and perhaps lack of creative spark kept me from really getting its full potential.

Regardless, we shall have to have a great funeral for Jas Gloryage the Worshipful! Perhaps even construct a tomb like the great Lawgivers of old? Though his heir Irka seems to have had his fate dictated by the cruel hand of fate, Gloryage blood yet remains, untainted and virtuous. Silverthrone will be the capital once more, and this dark shadow that has long lurked over Omon Obin will at last be cast aside. Or perhaps. . . It will be a prelude to yet more tragedy.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Maloy on January 12, 2023, 08:01:48 am

I'm gonna go ahead and make my LAST story entry(There'll be two in-between) I know that's weird, but I got a really good reason I'll bring up at the end of it. My turn isn't over and I'm still doing some other stuff, but this is my adventure museum story for sure.


Entry Five
Arthur had returned. His scouting mission which was intended to avoid combat and gather information instead turned into a vicious battle with the blight, a cave dragon, forgotten beast, and ancient undead guardians. To Maloy he was an entirely new man: He was Arthur the Light Eagle.

All the pieces were gathered. Here in Maloy's paws was the final item needed, borrowed from the museum in exchange for Arthur's submission and official joining of the museum, Mortality:
(https://i.imgur.com/6n5up31.png)

"Read the book" The ear whispered
"What happens to me after this is all over?" The wolf man quietly questioned as he looked upon the dark tome
"I shall finally tell you my name, wolf-lord." The ear said in a tone that seemed to mimic trust and comradery "I am your predecessor. Pis Meadowshaft the Mucuses of Raunch"
For Maloy in his heart this was a moment that was both completely shocking and completely expected
"Then it's not your body I am rebuilding? Arthur was right that something was wrong with all this."

The ear continued in an uncharacteristically soothing tone "No, not mine, but I need it. When two spirits join together so do their destinies. Yours and mine. This body you see before you is destined to do unimaginable things. To wrestle with the gods themselves, and I shall take this future for myself"
This made little sense to the wolf man, but was not what was bothering him anyway "So. If I do this ritual you just end up killing me and moving on."
Pis was shocked "Why would I do that? I find the day to day ruling of filthy mortals taxing and unnecessary. I need a herald and a ruler over those who shall worship me, Wolf-King. You will rule a great empire with Incenseorder as it's capital"
After so long this only mildly sounded appealing to Maloy, but in truth he was simply ready to end things now. "Let's get this over with" he opened the book. Learning the secrets of necromancy was like swallowing a bitter tonic whose taste never leaves the back of your mouth.
It was time. They had returned to Couragespray to the very altar that Maloy was cursed to his werefox form at. It's statue had somehow supernaturally morphed and was now a statue mocking him and showing his true appearance as a werefox. As if the goddess wanted all the world to know his secret. Goddess of misery and torture indeed. The altar waited beneath the statue.
(https://i.imgur.com/1VOsDZL.png)

Music for Ambience: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DzHwj1azypA

(https://i.imgur.com/p062CCg.png)
All the pieces of the dwarf were laid upon the altar. Four candles: North, west, east, south. The directions gathered the powers of the winds and nature which were connected to the wolf-man and his species.
One candle for the powers of the underworld commanded through Pis and channeled through the ear
One candle for the powers of undeath and the negative plane which would bridge the gap
One candle for the powers of the goddess whose powers were connected to Maloy through the curse and so accessible here against her will
One candle for Bral's spirit. Lured through the presence of his body and the armor and weapons of his comrades worn by Maloy the ritual conductor.

The ear provided a simultaneous connection between Bral, Pis, and the ritual conductor Maloy. Allowing the dead tyrant to invade the dwarf as he returned to reclaim his body.
The ritual went on for a long time. Maloy had to all but beg Arthur and Mirailei to stay and protect him after all the things Arthur had seen on his journey, but they were needed for the ritual too.

"First was the power of undeath." Maloy raised the carcass of Bralbaard. Arthur and Mirai gasped and readied their weapons.

"Then the gods" Maloy reached forth as Pis had instructed him and he saw something. The entirety of the world and everyone in it was mere words in a language that seemed nonsensical to him. This ground, himself and even bralbaard were all words strung together. The world seemed cracked as if it was breaking apart and just barely held together. He pulled the strange letters he was instructed to find together and recited them. The carcass, still mindless, regenerated. Bralbaard was physical restored naked in all his glory. Despite the seriousness of the ritual this made Maloy uncomfortable seeing the fully naked king standing upon an altar in all his kingly glory.
(https://i.imgur.com/cSpzuY5.png)
"But the power of death entered to keep us in balance" Maloy removed one arm from his use in the ritual and signaled for Arthur to kill the former king. Arthur walked up and a swift thrust to the brain ended bralbaard once more. He fell upon the altar again, but substantially more put together than before.

"Then the power of the betrayers. Those of the underworld who not even the gods could contain!" He held up the tome and faced it towards Bralbaard and a presence entered the area. The king had been summoned to his body. It rose as a Hollow Zombie fully restored. Bralbaard returned.

"But who shall be the one to return truly?" The ear spoke. The spirit of the monster flung itself from the ear traveling upon the link between Maloy and Bral and flung itself at the dwarf. A titanic battle was happening in the spirit that none present could see, but could feel the conflicting changes in the atmosphere.
Maloy felt an urging being pressed upon him, but not by the ear and he reached in his backpack for the artifact Arthur had found in Bralbaard's tomb. This plain looking iron axe called to him. Return me. Maloy felt more than knew that this axe was bralbaard's. He looked up and could see that Pis was very close to winning. Return me Maloy was tired of being the pawn of so many for so long and he was ready for it to end.
He walked up passed the candles to the dwarf who stood perfectly still. He offered the axe to the dwarf and the dwarf took it.


The atmosphere changed immediately. What was a one-sided battle to dominate was now a battle of equals. Who would win it? Maloy was sick of it all. Other people's dreams, other people's plans and lives. He had outlived all his neighbors and still only ever do what others wanted.
Perhaps if Pis won it would keep it's deal. Perhaps it would kill Maloy. More than likely it would leave him alone as the insignificant wolf-man that he truly was deep down.
If bralbaard won he had no reason to remember the wolf-man or seek him out. Either way his role was over and he was done with it as well.
The ritual was incomplete
Maloy left anyway
Who would win and change the world as we know it? He truly didn't care anymore.

The dark ritual was the final straw on the relationship between Maloy and the two elves and they left him shortly after.
Arthur began a life of adventure with his love Mirailei. His first submission to the museum was the corpse of a cave dragon in pristine condition.
Maloy after spending some days in the wilderness also returned to the museum to submit what he had left. The head and tooth of Bralbaard. He laid it with the dragon.


Let's talk about these profane acts

So I went on a long long long long long long journey finding every piece of Bralbaard. It feels like I tore through the map.

1. Bralbaard's tooth was in Falsetower alongside the axe, but not the body
2. Bralbaard's reanimated corpse WAS wandering the Merged Jungles like legends said, but it wasn't the main body. It was the hand. For some reason it wandered off and was just chilling in the jungle. Took forever to find it and Arthur ran into some crazy stuff the other posts will detail.
3. His head WAS in herograves. Several artifacts including the sarcophagus it was in teleport constantly. Seriously the chance of finding the head was incredibly small, but even then if I lost sight of it at all by turning a corner around a tree it would teleport and I'd start over. The head was mangled.

So profane acts:
To get the head I embarked a fortress on top of Herograves the same size as the camp. This ended the teleportation and then I had the dwarves place the head on a pedestal for me to go and claim. It was mangled.
Realizing that the only viable part of Bralbaard left in the world seems to be the hand I went and got it and took it with me back.
I took bral's hand back, which is a no-no I know because he isn't my character.
I restored him using full-heal to give him the entirety of his body back. Killed him and raised him as an intelligent undead and restored him again.

It still reads as Bralbaard's hand name wise which is funny and makes sense, but it is the full body restored with intelligence! Technically this would either be a clone of Bralbaard or a reincarnation depending on how you perceive it

I committed three profane acts
1. I embarked on someone else's site
2. I took someone else's character and used them
3. I used dfhack commands

If what I have done is unacceptable to you all I want you to know this: I have a copy of this save that takes place BEFORE the ritual and so if everyone hates what I did(I hope you don't) we are not stuck with this timeline. The copy takes place before the ritual and before I embarked on top of herograves and so it's still safely an adventurer camp only

I left the ending of the ritual open ended, because IT'S NOT MY CHARACTER. If we do stick with this version of the story I've done then this will probably end me playing Maloy for the forseeable future. He has what he wants and the other posts will detail what he has achieved and why he doesn't have a motive anymore.

EDIT: ALSO the cave dragon is free game. I purposely made sure it's body was in great condition, stored in a bag to slow decay, and left it in the museum because I know we have necromancers who might want a pet cave dragon!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: AvolitionBrit on January 12, 2023, 08:36:50 am

I see, you managed to piece him back together. Bralbaard is returned. Glad to see you got the head, that coffin was certainly annoying. After bringing it to Herograves i could never find it again. Will be interesting to see what happens of Bralbaard now.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on January 12, 2023, 08:43:07 am

I was wondering if the cave dragons would come up.

I assume Arthur got one from The Eternal Citadel? I captured a breeding pair! War cave dragons for everyone! (Assuming adventurers don’t murder them all).

I don’t mind personally using DFHack for narrative stuff like this, especially to fix things that happen out with out control. Interested to see what Bralbaard makes of it!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Bralbaard on January 12, 2023, 08:53:54 am

Quote from: Maloy on January 12, 2023, 08:01:48 am

It still reads as Bralbaard's hand name wise which is funny and makes sense, but it is the full body restored with intelligence! Technically this would either be a clone of Bralbaard or a reincarnation depending on how you perceive it

I committed three profane acts
1. I embarked on someone else's site
2. I took someone else's character and used them
3. I used dfhack commands

If what I have done is unacceptable to you all I want you to know this: I have a copy of this save that takes place BEFORE the ritual and so if everyone hates what I did(I hope you don't) we are not stuck with this timeline. The copy takes place before the ritual and before I embarked on top of herograves and so it's still safely an adventurer camp only

I left the ending of the ritual open ended, because IT'S NOT MY CHARACTER. If we do stick with this version of the story I've done then this will probably end me playing Maloy for the forseeable future. He has what he wants and the other posts will detail what he has achieved and why he doesn't have a motive anymore.

It is fine with me, the result is the same as what would have been the outcome of my own turn (if succesful), though arrived at through different methods. I have further plans with Bralbaard though, and I can definitely work with what the current outcome is.

For the record, my plans were:
-Play the hand, taking everything very carefully because its vulnerable, and attacked on sight by nearly everything. 
-A detached hand can still roll dice, this would be my ticket out of my unfortunate condition.
-Rolling dice and waiting inbetween should have, at some point, resulted in full healing, alternatively I could have gambled and roled dice for a were curse, which might have cured me (but I think werecreatures might only be formed from a body that has a head?).

So the situation is the same, in the end. Good to know my head is somewhere as well. I wonder where my body is.
Look forward to the rest of your story.  Good you left the outcome open, it will play a role in my adventure.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: AvolitionBrit on January 12, 2023, 08:57:05 am

Not sure, i thought i put it all in the coffin. Minus a tooth aparently. But the rest of Bralbaard is out there. Likewise looking forward to see where this turn goes.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on January 12, 2023, 11:54:53 am

I’ve had a look into how to heal corpse parts for ….reasons.

Intelligent undead cannot be cursed with vampirism or were-curse from a shrine. You get the “Hubris!” message then nothing happens.

Your only bet is “miraculous healing” from a shrine.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Bralbaard on January 12, 2023, 12:04:25 pm

Quote from: kesperan on January 12, 2023, 11:54:53 am

I’ve had a look into how to heal corpse parts for ….reasons.

Intelligent undead cannot be cursed with vampirism or were-curse from a shrine. You get the “Hubris!” message then nothing happens.

Your only bet is “miraculous healing” from a shrine.

Besides that the curse route would be a one way gamble. Could easily get vampirism instead and that would be the end of it.
I actually thought that they also have restricted werecreatures to only grow only from a part with a head, because there was this bug in the past where were creatures were duplicated on undead maps, because when hacked apart and reanimanted each bodypart would grow into a new were creature.

I was planning to camp out at an altar for a long, long time. I'm sure that playing that could easily have been more mindnumbing than my gremlin infested adventures, so it is probably a good thing that Maloy saved me from that path.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on January 12, 2023, 12:32:23 pm

I think the !science! around these things is intriguing.

Like, if someone decapitated Maloy, and raised his body as a Fell One, would he then regenerate his head next time he turned into a were-fox? Then you could end up with infinite Maloy heads!

From what I can tell, you have to become a cursed before you die and are raised. It must be something to do with how the game interprets your “soul.”

This is all valuable information for my next turn 😁

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: AvolitionBrit on January 12, 2023, 12:59:11 pm

Speaking of next turns, did Moldath write any books during his last turn? Want to find a way to learn the secrets of Roastfierce as i cannot find that pesky slab.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Bralbaard on January 12, 2023, 01:01:27 pm

@ Kesperan, I think you would need his head, and a headless corpse would do nothing but it needs to be checked. You could have an endless number of headless corpses then, instead of the other way around. On the other hand, there are now two Bralbaard heads in play, for more you need altar healing.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on January 12, 2023, 02:38:59 pm

Quote from: AvolitionBrit on January 12, 2023, 12:59:11 pm

Speaking of next turns, did Moldath write any books during his last turn? Want to find a way to learn the secrets of Roastfierce as i cannot find that pesky slab.

He wrote quite a lot of books on my last turn. I don’t know if that specific secret was one of them. More info when I write the rest of my story!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Lurker Z on January 12, 2023, 02:44:02 pm

I, for one, am fine with Maloy's heresies, both in and out of the game. In fact, I find it rather fitting. Maloy's fall seems interesting, sad but in character with the world he lives in.

The souls thing is interesting too. How will the game track creatures with multiple "souls"? Will it crash? Will it say X is both in place 1 and in place 2 at the same time? When X rises to a position of leadership, are both body parts sent to the same place?

If I had tried to resurrected Bralbaard, I'd have done it differently. I'd have went to Turn 1, taken his char ID, then put it on a more or less history-less dwarf. That'd force the game to recognize the dwarf as the real Bralbaard, though completely different in everything but the char ID. He'd have a different soul, different tastes etc. (unless I took the time to tediously edit them) and then obviously I'd have renamed the dwarf into Bralbaard's name.

Alternately, I'd try to find if some of those unit.dat files contain a single creature, and I'd have tried to find Bralbaard's old file and replace it with the new. I don't know what the results would be, though.

The ID part would also let me bypass User Bralbaard's request that the hand is his to play, as the hand obviously has a different ID than the original Bralbaard, so the two wouldn't interfere.

In other news, I'm sad to see Wolf King Maloy departing the game, he gave us a hell of a ride. I am looking forward to see that the User Maloy has for us in next turns, if he still wishes for them. Though who knows, if nobody kills him off, maybe he and the world will live long enough to see him a Law-Giver of his civ.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Unraveller on January 12, 2023, 03:39:38 pm

I appreciate the tone of nihilism in Maloy the Wolf-Man's final written thoughts. His insecurities. Among the many stoic war-gods of the Museum, he strikes me as incredibly human.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Lurker Z on January 12, 2023, 05:56:58 pm

Quote

Bralbaard's headless, earless, handless and likely toothless body was found by Maloy's traveling companion, Arthur Vemaakera [...]

Excerpt from Successors of Bralbaard Nilthatlosh (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Successors_of_Bralbaard_Nilthatlosh)
by Lurker Wogeathis

I've outdone myself in ghastlyness. Cheers for me. Fitting for a necromancer, I suppose. Article on the body parts I've seen mentioned in the thread and how they relate. It's like I'm watching a butcher shop in Dwarf Fortress that's been used for over a century, then trying to figure out where all the bones come from.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Maloy on January 12, 2023, 09:26:28 pm

I'm very grateful that you guys enjoyed my narrative decision! I found myself at a wall adventure wise where either I went forward with my plan or admit defeat so glad it was well received

and also appreciate that you all like the wolf-lord's personality! Communicating personality and feeling has been a really high priority for me with him and so it means a lot to hear it was achieved!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Lurker Z on January 13, 2023, 05:02:29 pm

I just had a Who was phone? (https://creepypasta.fandom.com/wiki/WHO_WAS_PHONE?) moment. If the hand's ID is different than Bralbaard's body... then how did the game know how to make a body for it?! That's definitely a clone. There must be some DNA equivalent that it used to recreate the body. That's just... wow.

I also had an idea, if you chop off (a) Bralbaard's hand, raise it as undead, full-heal -r it, then repeat indefinitely... you'll have an infinite number of Bralbaard. Probably the weirdest duplication glitch (next to the infinite undead werecreature duplication glitch mentioned recently).

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Unraveller on January 13, 2023, 07:20:52 pm

LINK TO PART I (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8428876#msg8428876)

[/size]

---

(https://i.imgur.com/fR1gPDg.png)

"Behind me brother!" Rimtil's voice beckoned out over the dead-choked snow, it echoed through the solemn town where naught was left but the dull moans of thralls and their shrieks of mortal wounds. As the soldiers that the two Heirs led dispersed into the quiet homes, marked in ash, together they approached the Lord's hall. It was the scene of grisly crime, a scene for which the spawn thereof yet lurked, lingered, awaited their demise.

Outstretched, Rimtil's spear pointed ahead, dripping the crimson filth that oozed out of her foes, two yet more of which approached, trudging through the frosty slurry. Behind Rimtil, Irka stood in dazed silence, he leant upon the pike in both arms, bloodless and pristine, eyes cascading across the lumps in the snowfields, and then to the Lord and their attendant first shambling, and then charging forth. Was it fear that struck his heart. . ?

Rimtil met with the attendant who haphazardly surged her way, she put the point of her spear through the thing's neck and drawing it to the ground, embedding it so despite the creature's continued thrashing. The blighted nobleman was next, despite its discordant movements it was nearly upon her. "Irka! Your pike!" She gestured toward her brother, yet nary a response came as the thrall slammed against her. Its jagged teeth gnashed and slavered, desperate to sink themselves into the Heir's fresh, warm flesh. "Damn it. . . IRKA!" The woman bellowed, wrestling with the unnaturally strong monster, each clamp of its jaws getting closer.

Rimtil twists the beast, kicking away its ankle, at last a half-hearted, "H-Here." Heralds the pike into her hands. With a flourish, she batters the skull of the once-lord, smashing and smashing away with the half of the weapon 'til there's naught left but a red spot in the snow. Catching her breath, the Heir huffs and puffs, stepping over to the still raving one, flat on its back. She finishes it with a single weighty stab through the forehead.

Together, the siblings merely stood and watched as the thrall's viscera leaked out into the earth. Uncomfortable silence had befallen them, Rimtil turns toward her brother to break it, "If only uncle Eman hadn't kicked the bucket, he'd be proud to see us showing the skills he taught eh?" She sucks at her teeth, Irka doesn't so much as budge, fixated on the field of battle. Rimtil tosses her brother the pike, shocking him to life before retrieving her own spear.

"I never realized. . ." The young heir begins, his fist gripping tight the haft of his weapon, "I knew the Blight twisted the bodies and minds of men to its dark bidding, but this. . ? It's as if their souls are trapped inside, just behind those eyes, screaming and begging for an end to their walking nightmare. It's horrifying, looks no different than killing a man in cold blood."

His sister puts a firm hand to his shoulder, "A swift end is all we can give 'em Irka."

"Yes, you are right."

(https://i.imgur.com/JyHY5lK.png)

The Holy Eel and the Holy Subtlety of Streammartyr both say their respective prayers for the deceased, no doubt wholly different than the other's. The Soldiers of the realm carry bodies upon their shoulders, casting them into great piles, whale fat oil from the Sea of Blades is cast upon them, and soon thereafter they're set alight. "Thank you, men of Silver, your services are legendary, and will be aptly rewarded." Rimtil's voice befalls on the haggard warriors, each of them dealing with their own demons in the aftermath. "We'll rest here for now, 'fore we move on." She adds, sitting beside her brother 'neathe the boughs of an oak tree as they look over the town. Between the two heirs, the soldiers, and remnants of the site's citizens, a contemplative silence had blanketed the area, beside from sizzling blighted flesh.

---

(https://i.imgur.com/3NQfOuZ.png)

In the footsteps of their forebears, Irka, Rimtil, and the young soldiers of Omon Obin traverse the realm. Picking through the ghastly ruins between its bastions of civilization, they march on. Yet unlike their forebears in the Band of Wax, emboldened with each victory over their blighted foes to rescue their realm from the jaws of oblivion, only a greater and greater disquiet fell over the heirs to the Realm of Silver. A low dirge clung to their hearts and grew with each infected citizen's demise, no truths whether objective or otherwise could keep the horror of the Blighted Thralls' sentient eyes.

In one such town the pair trudged, their shimmering cyan cloaks marked them as their soldiers followed suit, each with their own unspoken turmoil as well. In the empty roads that heralded their mud-caked boots, Irka drew closer to his sister, hoping to find some solace in their shared spirituality as he spoke. "This. . . This cannot be the truth of Gopet's will." He mutters, his head hung low. An eye catches the rotting skeleton of an unfortunate soul that once perhaps lived among these homes. "This blanket of death is not the harvest that my lord sets into motion. It is not the fallowing of Orid Xem for the fertility of the next generation of crop. It is death only for the sake of death - A perversion, anathema to what I know and believe. . ."

"Keep your head up dear brother." Rimtil beats a fist in Irka's shoulder blade, breaking some of the dreariness from his mind. "The gods are no petulant as man is."

"Are they not. . ?" She receives in whispered kind.

Rimtil smirks, patting her brother firmly again, "There is purpose in the trials they present, just think Omon Obin would not have flourished so under father's even hand had the Blight not come."

"Hmph." Irka thinks on that reality for only a moment. "Perhaps that is true, but I defy you to find a man or woman alive that would not have chosen the old rule a thousand fold over before the scourge of the Thralls - The suffering that it wrought."

She sighs, knowing that her words will fall on deaf ears. "Have you not considered that the suffering will only make us stronger? It will lead the Realm to greater heights, that I believe. . ."

"What malevolence then our deities must hold. For theirs is the power over all. Suffering need not be."

---

Three weeks pass by marked by a haze of blood and doubt, the northern holdings of the Realm of Silver are cleansed once more from the menace of the Blight that had made its way through the harsh Tundra of Heroes.

(https://i.imgur.com/BPqIik4.png)

The populace of New Weatherponder welcome the returned heirs and their retinue with mighty applause, and though some revel in the appreciation, many of the soldiers cannot help but feel they are being cheered on for base acts of murder, Irka is no different. When they come before the gates of Silverthrone, they are lauded by the sounds of bellowous cecs and saluted by the guard.

(https://i.imgur.com/ko7EWvx.png)

Before the eponymous Silverthrone, they kneel, their men and women abaft as the great Jas Gloryage the Worshipful, descends from above to hold court. In the 23rd Law-Giver's arms is the young babe Luki, his third and most certainly final child. "My son, my daughter. I expect you would not have returned without completing your task -- To you and to all the valiant warriors here today, I am humbled by your perseverance." The elder Lord of Silver bows his head gently, he cannot help but break his veneer of statesmanship to creak a wide smile at his children. "Soldiers of Omon Obin, please, rest and make merry, I would speak with my progeny alone."

Their sabatons bound across the masoned grounds leaving the great hall of Silverthrone empty save for their flesh and blood. "Father." Rimtil speaks at once, but is quickly cut off by Jas.

"Irka. Rimtil. Now that you have gone into the Realm and lived the life that I once had, tell me - What have you seen?"

Irka is the first to answer, his head remains down, gazing at the tiles beneath him. "Pain. Our people's pain. The pain of Orid Xem. The Blight has taken hold of it, more than a century ago, and it has not let go. We were sheltered by your band's exploits, and made weaker for it, for I know only cowardice in the face of this woe."

"Rimtil?" Jas prods without responding to his son.

"Hope and strength. The will of our peoples are strong." She locks gaze with her father, speaking firm. "Though they have suffered greatly at the hands of the Obin Blight, they are resolute that we as stewards of the Realm will shield them from the darkest of days."

"How would either of you confront this threat?" The Law-Giver asks.

The daughter is quick to answer, "Whatever the cost we must fortify our holdings. Arms and training to our common folk, commission the dwarven masons to build us forts and defenses. We must fund a night-watch all the same that we will not have another incursion as such again."

"Bold." Jas remarks, "I would have done so at the moment of my ascension had we the funds and manpower. But the Realm has prospered this last decade, perhaps your vision is achievable. My son, what would you do?"

Irka breathes deeply, looking still at the cobbles, "In my heart of hearts I know that I would flee from such menace. I am not a warrior as Rimtil. . ." He gazes up, meeting his father, "But if you must press me so cruelly, I would have us learn all that we can about this Blight, only then can we effectively counter it."

The elder man ruminates, considering both his children, their hearts, and their words, stroking away at his silver beard.

"Honored Father!" Irka bursts forth, "For the sake of succession there is only one choice among us--"

"It is Irka." Rimtil finishes her brother's sentence to his surprise. "For he will have the level head and deepest thoughts between us. His actions will be purposeful each and all, and there shant be a misstep when it comes to matters regarding our people, this I know. And I will be his general, valiant and true." She doesn't mince her words, beaming a wide grin toward her stupefied sibling.

Jas Gloryage lets out a wheezing laugh. "I am not dead and gone yet, little sprouts!" He stands, third child Luki waking in his arms, "Whose to say your younger brother won't succeed me, eh?" Despite his words, and despite his trepidation, Jas feels a sense of pride in his children welling up in those eyes, though he quickly blinks it away and states thus, "Irka, Rimtil, come. There are portents for your future that I must show you at once."

With that, the three descend into the castle's belly, where dark shadows lie. . .

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on January 14, 2023, 02:47:40 am

Ooh ominous!

I love your writing Unraveller; keep it up!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Bralbaard on January 14, 2023, 03:25:02 am

Great story unraveller, I love all the effort you put into developing the characters!

Quote from: Lurker Z on January 13, 2023, 05:02:29 pm

I just had a Who was phone? (https://creepypasta.fandom.com/wiki/WHO_WAS_PHONE?) moment. If the hand's ID is different than Bralbaard's body... then how did the game know how to make a body for it?! That's definitely a clone. There must be some DNA equivalent that it used to recreate the body. That's just... wow.

I also had an idea, if you chop off (a) Bralbaard's hand, raise it as undead, full-heal -r it, then repeat indefinitely... you'll have an infinite number of Bralbaard. Probably the weirdest duplication glitch (next to the infinite undead werecreature duplication glitch mentioned recently).

Well it needs dfhack so it is hardly a glitch. Theoretically you could get the same thing through altar healing, but that is very difficult to achieve and might not work the same way. Also it remains untested.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Maloy on January 14, 2023, 06:10:54 am

The saga of Jas and his family are exciting for me to read I'm always impressed by how much you can get done especially with how much time passes inbetween turns.

Addendum to my turn:
I had to replay the cloning of Bralbaard and it went all the same except for the fact that Arthur cut off his left hand
so now I have Bralbaard's (right hand) left hand

So Arthur's museum submission is the cave dragon
Maloy's is the following
Bralbaard's tooth
Bralbaard's mangled head
His Right hand's left hand
as well as the brain and heart of the charcoal brute Pis who was speaking through the ear all along
Mortality is also stored in the same bag with them, but obviously it's not mine to submit

Also I took some gremlins to help with repopulating
Also interesting to note on my experiment to repopulate Incenseorders: SUCCESS
SOME of the people I recruited got fed up and left the area citing that I did not fulfill my promise to take them to entertain the world, etc.

Others have taken up roles as guards(hearthpersons) and patrol the lands or work in one of the major buildings
Some of the buildings are also no longer listed as abandoned after I specifically left people in them.

It seems possible, but not guaranteed that you can move npcs like that and they'll just accept their new living situation while some won't.

SAVE: Okay so I'm having the same problem the last two players did where I'm not properly compressing the save down to where it fits on dfiledepot. What do I do besides just the regular compressing of the file?

I'm gonna go ahead and try to write out the rest of my turn, because I've discovered about myself that if I don't go ahead and prioritize it will get put off a long time lol

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Maloy on January 14, 2023, 07:00:35 am

Where Few Have Dared to Tread
Entry Two
http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8444410#msg8444410


Arthur and Mirai continued their usual bickering and arguing on the journey south although it became substantially less frequent the further they got away from civilization. Mirai found humor and flattery annoying while Arthur considered the two par for the course in conversation, but as they spent time watching animals in the wild or just enjoying the stars it allowed them to disregard the differences present in personalities and values.

This mission was nigh impossible, and even if they were to prioritize avoiding conflict they'd still likely end up in some tough battles and so they agreed to a risk: They would sneak into the blight infested human lands of the south and look for survivors. Any warrior who wanted to escape the land or go on an adventure would do. It was dangerous. Both the elves wore patchwork armor that barely covered their bodies leaving them exposed to infection and much of that armor was traditional elvish wood.

They crept low and quiet into the village. Even Arthur as culturally humanized as he was still was incredibly adept at stealth according to his people's talents. Mirai was something else. Arthur could literally not see her at all as he crept forward and had to trust that she was near him and watching his back.

The village, like most human villages they'd seen in recent decades, was mostly collapsed. This wasn't telling though. Even inhabited ones were so devastated that survivors simply lived in fallen in buildings.
They heard noise in the southern most house on the street.
Arthur crept close and put an ear to the door. The sound of walking.

He slowly pushed the door open and laid eyes on the resident: The human's head turned at supernatural speed and at an unnatural angle. The desiccated corpse like face twisted in utter rage as it saw something it just had to murder. Arthur quickly jumped back into the bushes hoping the creature hadn't truly seen them.
It bolted through the door nearly throwing it off the hinges.

It was fast...too fast. Arthur could barely block any blows with his shield and had to rely on rolling out of the way. Mirai got a lucky shot on the monster and broke his leg with an arrow slowing him considerably, but not enough for an escape.

It crawled at a near sprint to Mirai and attacked her and hurt her leg where she could not stand. She fired another arrow.
Arthur ran at full speed: Stabbing, kicking and even biting the beast
(https://i.imgur.com/KX13DMB.png)

It was beating him with it's fists too and snapped his leg out of place before the elf finally got a lucky shot with the spear and put it straight through it's brain.
(https://i.imgur.com/XiqWYXz.png)
The two elves were unable to walk and had to crawl to a small dip in the fields to try and hide and heal.
Arthur spoke first after gasping for breath "How are we alive?"
"I don't know. That was my first time seeing one of those. That was just a farmer Arthur!"
"And he only lost because we were more lucky" said Arthur
Mirai suddenly laughed "Did you BITE him?"
Arthur was both embarrassed and disgusted when he now noticed the taste in his mouth "Oh...uh"
She continued to laugh "You still got some real elf in you" She playfully hit his shoulder
"I wonder what Maloy is doing?"

Meanwhile
"So you're trying to tell me that all the great heroes of legend became strong by bullying defenseless animals in the wilderness?" Maloy and the Ear were in the woods north of Incenseorder which had served as a previous shelter for Maloy during both his existential crisis and a regular haunt for him during his werefox transformations
"Absolutely" The ear said with total confidence
"There is not a single part of me that believes that" Maloy said, but in fact there was a small part that wondered.
"Shut up. We got work to do and so the kid gloves are coming off" The ear retorted it's voice deepening
"Kid's gloves? What kind of expression is that?" Maloy wondered, but did not let the ear hear. He had learned to cut off certain parts of his mind and thoughts to it allowing some privacy these days.

The first target was a turkey and as the ear instructed Maloy cut it's leg off and proceeded to beat it endlessly with the flat end of the blade, but it turns out they have little blood so it bled out from the leg wound shortly.
Next he tried his luck with a rattlesnake
"Hit harder you mangy abandoned mutt!!" The ear said having eagerly accepted it's new role
"You can't even hit a snake hard it's no wonder you lost your leg all those years ago! Hit harder!"
He actually hit the rattlesnake so many times that it broke all it's bones and did eventually kill it.
Next was a deer. This was harder as he had to actually cut two legs off a deer to keep it from standing, but he continued to beat the deer until a massive stag came bolting through the trees. If the forest had a guardian this one was it!
"Alright let's see if you can beat a helpless deer, you slug"
The battle was actually interesting. The stag gored Maloy multiple times and he continued to beat it endlessly. Eventually it gave up in fear attempting to crawl away as he beating it again and again
"Alright no more swords. Put your hands up" The ear declared
He began to pummel the deer in the lower body and it vomited and retched and retched as Maloy beat it relentlessly for hours in the stomach.
"Keep those hands up" Maloy didn't sweat being a wolf-man and so was panting wildly as he continued to beat this helpless creature.
Finally, as he rested and the deer laid unconscious on the ground he looked at himself.
In one day he had gotten physically bigger! "I'm huge now! It really does work!" He jumped up excited with a fist in the air
"I'm actually infusing you with my powers as you fight, but yeah you did good kid." The ear said quietly, but then shouted "Alright on your feet, trash! I want you to do shuffles!"
"Shuffles?"
"Move side to side around the deer practicing your dodging! Move those legs!!"
The stag had awoken and was attempting to crawl away again and Maloy aggressively shuffled in circles around the confused and still retching deer.

Meanwhile
(https://i.imgur.com/Ggsii9Y.png)
Arthur and Mirai were in a field in a mirthful wilderness enjoying the stars. The moon was almost full this night. In the distance was a herd of unicorns. Beautiful and magical creatures deeply valued by elves, but not native to their homeland. This journey might just be worth it for this sight alone.
The two held hands and Arthur considered her. She had lost her barony and ambassadorship. She had nearly beaten the courier who had told her that their homeland was sentencing her to the ambassadorship and sent back a strongly worded letter telling them off. This was not tolerated and they sent a letter back to the dwarves letting them know that she was all, but outright exiled from her homeland now which led to the barony being revoked.
She never seemed to care and gladly took up wandering the wilds. She herself became more wild and vicious than ever while Arthur stayed with Maloy and helped work out the economy and structure of Incenseorder. The two had been drifting away for years now, but with the blight Arthur's future was now gone and here he was with her at rock bottom. He was happy.


In the following days they had to flee another blight victim. an elf, presumably also an exile, who had fallen to it. Then they found a castle still inhabited by a military and convinced three of them to join the group. Arthur promised an unimaginable adventure and then a place of glory in the stable and recovering city of Incenseorder. Mirailei backed him up by vocally questioning whether the slow humans could keep up and this both insulted and challenged some to join.


The journey across the southern mountains were miserable. The two elves had never seen so much snow and couldn't see in front of them as the blizzards were relentless. This was further than any map Arthur owned could detail and they had long past the furthest south he had ever been. They were entering a whole new world as they crested over the tallest peak and saw the beautiful land below.

As they finished leaving the mountains Arthur picked up a scent. Dwarf. They wandered the base of the mountains for a long while searching for the quarry, but with no luck. If this was the corpse it wasn't going anywhere and they would need to pursue more relevant leads and so they left.

Now they were in the jungles and explored. The humans found nature somewhat disturbing which led to a gap between them and the elves relationally for Arthur and Mirai were experiencing a new paradise.
They found a trail that was too large for a dwarf, but Arthur smelt a dwarf somewhere near. So they took up the trail.
They turned a corner after some hours and found the one that had made it:
(https://i.imgur.com/07T2sUW.png)
Arthur's heart was stricken with fear and heartbreak. Fear at the mighty beast that had not yet seen them and heartbreak over what had been done to this poor creature. They fled quietly, but now it had their trail.
It stalked them for hours before they were caught cornered and sleeping and were given no choice but to fight.
(https://i.imgur.com/604Vm7U.png)
It was a vicious battle as Arthur and the axeman Uvash dodged back and forth from the dragon's blows. Arthur was a former merchant who simply had a steel spear from an ancient dwarven fortress and Uvash was an acceptable warrior at best, but still they dodged to and fro as Mirai fired and the other two humans fled like cowards.

The dragon slammed Arthur into a tree after raking a claw on Uvash's leg to knock him over.
The dragon stalked forward to Arthur as he tried to stand with his back to the tree. Finally, it lunged mouth gaping to crush the small elf. Arthur thrust his dwarven spear out and it struck true! Straight to the brain of the dragon! It shuddered and fell back. Dead.


OOC:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

TO answer an earlier question from Kesperan: I THINK it was one of yours? If so it was totally wild and I tried to flee I'm sorry

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on January 14, 2023, 07:22:12 am

Interesting!

I caught two cave dragons in the caverns below The Eternal Citadel and tries to train them while chained next to a nest box.

They had three children to my knowledge who were (trained) but not domesticated. I’m assuming that’s one of those children you found as the adults should still be chained. I’m guessing the training cases with time.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Bralbaard on January 14, 2023, 08:32:14 am

Quote from: Maloy on January 14, 2023, 06:10:54 am

The saga of Jas and his family are exciting for me to read I'm always impressed by how much you can get done especially with how much time passes inbetween turns.

Addendum to my turn:
I had to replay the cloning of Bralbaard and it went all the same except for the fact that Arthur cut off his left hand
so now I have Bralbaard's (right hand) left hand

So Arthur's museum submission is the cave dragon
Maloy's is the following
Bralbaard's tooth
Bralbaard's mangled head
His Right hand's left hand
as well as the brain and heart of the charcoal brute Pis who was speaking through the ear all along
Mortality is also stored in the same bag with them, but obviously it's not mine to submit

You have a favourite from those submissions?  I'd like to keep it to one submission if possible to not confuse things too far.
Also I see I'm missing my other hand now, at this rate I'll never be a spell caster.  ;D

Quote from: Maloy on January 14, 2023, 06:10:54 am

SAVE: Okay so I'm having the same problem the last two players did where I'm not properly compressing the save down to where it fits on dfiledepot. What do I do besides just the regular compressing of the file?

Last time that happened there was a setting that needed to be clicked in the archiving software to use more advanced compression, but that is likely software specific?
You could check if your archiving software has that. If not, upload elsewhere.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: AvolitionBrit on January 14, 2023, 08:38:22 am

What was previously used was Win Rar and setting compression to best.

Also looks like Bralbaard will be rolling dice to regain the lost hand.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Maloy on January 14, 2023, 09:01:59 am

Hm can I have a submission for Arthur and one for Maloy? If not its fine

Arthur's would be the cave dragon
Maloy's would be the Right Hand's Left Hand

If only one of those the right hand's left hand!
Since I have a feeling all those other items are gonna be claimed by someone else at some point anyway hahaha


So you do have the hand! The ritual included two full-heals
First your zombified self was fully healed and then killed
and then when resurrected with intelligence you were fully-healed again.
I haven't read all of bralbaard's story entries, but I'd hazard to say you're at your most powerful now as an intelligent undead with no injuries. I also saw you gesture and send a helpless animal flying and bleeding across the map.

Also I suppose someone COULD test the clone theory now using the right hand's left hand. I was wanting to test that with your mangled head, but it was mangled. I have a feeling you can only get your whole body back because we dfhacked your hand into being a unique entity, but someone can test that.

Save: We're at 490mb now with best compression
https://dffd.bay12games.com/file.php?id=16349

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on January 14, 2023, 10:57:53 am

Quote from: Maloy on January 14, 2023, 07:00:35 am

OOC: To answer an earlier question from Kesperan: I THINK it was one of yours? If so it was totally wild and I tried to flee I'm sorry :(

I checked legends mode - the cave dragon which was killed was the mother of the three hatched in The Eternal Citadel. How strange. That means there should still be four male cave dragons kicking about but they may have scattered to the winds, and without the female, no chance of getting more...

Edit: Is Confinedsabres the new Herograves?

Edit 2: How did Arthur become a necromancer? I thought Elves couldn't be necromancers because they are immortal?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Lurker Z on January 14, 2023, 11:08:00 am

I haven't read the rest of the posts, but to answer kesperan, I think elves and goblins don't become necromancers in World Generation because they're immortal, thus can't become obsessed by their own mortality, thus don't worship death deities to get slabs. I don't see why an elf, goblin or anything else for that matter that can read can't read a slab or book and thus become a necromancer, in either adventure mode or fort mode. In fact, that's a good !!science!! project, get an elf or goblin to read a book with the secrets of life and death and see if they become necromancer, though I suspect they indeed would.

Edit: I thought Athama, Irthu's elf companion, was a necromancer too, but it looks like he is only a vampire and undead. So Arthur might be the first necromancer elf in the history of Orid Xem. Cool!

Has anyone taken any look on the missing diacritics, what it affects, if it can be reversed and if it's worth bothering to do? I suspect the translation files that hold words in English and in fantasy races' tongue (human, dwarf, elf, goblin etc.) got borked.

Regarding file size: it looks like at this rate we'll hit 500+MB sooner or later, there's no problem in uploading in other places than DFFD, the only condition for a save file that I know of is that the person whose turn is next have access to it at the time they take their turn.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Maloy on January 14, 2023, 11:18:50 am

Quote from: kesperan on January 14, 2023, 10:57:53 am

Quote from: Maloy on January 14, 2023, 07:00:35 am

OOC: To answer an earlier question from Kesperan: I THINK it was one of yours? If so it was totally wild and I tried to flee I'm sorry :(

I checked legends mode - the cave dragon which was killed was the mother of the three hatched in The Eternal Citadel. How strange. That means there should still be four male cave dragons kicking about but they may have scattered to the winds, and without the female, no chance of getting more...

OH NO I'm really sorry I really did do my best to escape the dragon. Would it be possible if you reembarked on that fortress to use dfhack to restore the wild cave dragon population? Thus causing more to migrate into the caverns? I had to do something like that on my generational fort because we wiped out all the local animal populations over the years


Normally elves don't turn necromancer that's why I felt comfortable letting Arthur hunt for Mortality for me. I'm actually kind of bummed to see he is a necromancer as when I was playing him it didn't say he became one.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on January 14, 2023, 12:12:03 pm

Quote from: Maloy on January 14, 2023, 11:18:50 am

Quote from: kesperan on January 14, 2023, 10:57:53 am

Quote from: Maloy on January 14, 2023, 07:00:35 am

OOC: To answer an earlier question from Kesperan: I THINK it was one of yours? If so it was totally wild and I tried to flee I'm sorry :(

I checked legends mode - the cave dragon which was killed was the mother of the three hatched in The Eternal Citadel. How strange. That means there should still be four male cave dragons kicking about but they may have scattered to the winds, and without the female, no chance of getting more...

OH NO I'm really sorry I really did do my best to escape the dragon. Would it be possible if you reembarked on that fortress to use dfhack to restore the wild cave dragon population? Thus causing more to migrate into the caverns? I had to do something like that on my generational fort because we wiped out all the local animal populations over the years


Normally elves don't turn necromancer that's why I felt comfortable letting Arthur hunt for Mortality for me. I'm actually kind of bummed to see he is a necromancer as when I was playing him it didn't say he became one.

Don't worry about it Maloy. The female cave dragon obviously reverted to wild state and left my fort, which is why you encountered her in the wilds. I can always reclaim the fort in my next turn and hunt for more, but I might do something else entirely!

Legends Viewer classes Arthur as a necromancer because he read the book and learned the secrets of life and death. However, he cannot actually use any necromantic powers as he is an elf, and already immortal. I confirmed this by unretiring Arthur to have a look - in his description it says "he doesn't feel anything after learning the secrets of life and death" but he has no option to raise corpses as an acquired power. It must be a LV quirk.

I have tried learning secrets as elf adventurers before and it doesn't matter if they are raised in human civs etc; it isn't anything to do with values/ethics; somehow the physiology of immortality makes you immune from actually using death magic even if you "learn" the secrets.

It kind of puts me off ever playing as an elf in adventure mode - always having to lug food and water around. Suppose vampirism is always an option...

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: AvolitionBrit on January 14, 2023, 01:30:16 pm

Yeah, elfs are too pure. Its much in the same vein as plump helments outside of world generation chaos they never can become necromancers or any immortal really.

Also good luck Quantum drop. Hopefully third times the charm and your able to play this week.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Quantum Drop on January 14, 2023, 08:01:08 pm

Thanks AvolitionBrit. I should be able to play starting from tomorrow (Sunday 15th), assuming nothing goes horribly wrong. I'd also like to express my appreciation for Maloy and Unraveller's latest writeups; I love the character development and writing of them both.

Speaking of writeups: here's part two of turn 92, leading on from part 1 (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8425735#msg8425735). Hopefully I'll be able to write up the rest of the turn before another two months go by and I lose half my screencaps again :V.

---

3rd Malachite, 899

The sun was low in the western sky by the time Gasin, Thadar, and Dubmith neared their destination. The diaries that Gasin had confiscated from Kosoth Heatlions’ house had been less than useful, many of their pages torn out by its owner’s hand or purposefully obfuscated with ink. They had given only a name – Channeltwigs. A small castle, not too far westward from the hamlet they had been called to.

Gasin slowed his pace, the hair on the back of his neck prickling up. The chitter of birds and animals in the grass, present throughout their travels, was now absent. Not a thing stirred as the three of them made their way across the grassy slopes that lay ahead of the castle. Eyes narrowed to wary slits, his fingers tightened on the hilt of his sword. A look to his side confirmed it – Thadar had sensed the same oddities, and was looking to him with an expression to match his own.

“Stand ready, my comrades,” He murmured, feeling his skin crawl strangely. “There is devilry in the air here.”

Thadar and Dubmith obeyed, their hands dropping to the hilts of their respective weapons. The party of three crept forward at a slow, alert pace, expecting some Blight-bearing creature to spring from the thin air in ambush. None of them expected what lay beyond the crest of the last hill.

“By the shadows…”

The field before the castle was carpeted with the dead. Very few of them were whole; even fewer were fully human. Most bore the blisters and weeping sores of the Blight-infected, beside the terrible wounds that had killed them; others were bloated or desiccated, as though they had laid exposed for seasons before the group’s arrival.

The castle itself was in ill condition, as well. The walls were pitted and stained, while the main gates hung in ruin on their broken hinges. More bodies were piled at the gatehouse’s entrance, left to rot in the dirt where they had fallen. These corpses were new, some still leaking blood from their mortal wounds; more disturbingly, all but a few lacked any sign of the Blight’s foul influence. Gasin felt his face crease into a frown as he bent down to study one of the bodies, turning it over with the assistance of his sword to get a better look.

“Wait –” Gasin’s eyes narrowed, then widened sharply as he turned another of the bodies over. Upon its broken breastplate, it bore the crest of the Realm of Silver, half-obscured by blood and dirt. “These bodies are fresh.”

Thadar swore aloud at that, marching over to stand beside him. “You’re right, ser. Hours old, at least. And here –” She raised a gauntlet-clad finger to point down at the nearest corpse. Its hands were still wrapped around the throat of another, this one with a bloodied, blistered face twisted into a mask of fury.  “This one was no thrall.”

“Aye,” Gasin leaned down to look closer. “And these wounds, too... blade and bludgeon, but too severe for a human’s hand.”

Inquisitor and soldier looked to one another with a scare. Neither dared speak what they feared, however, instead turning back to Dubmith – the priestess of Bikda had not spoken a word since they arrived, standing amidst the bodies with her head cocked to the side as though listening for something. Before Gasin could speak, she raised a finger for silence.

“Wait,” Dubmith ordered. “Do you hear that?”

Gasin and Thadar stopped to match their comrade, ears straining to catch whatever distant sound the priestess of Bikda had sensed. At first, there was nothing but the slow whistle of the wind and the rustle of small creatures in the undergrowth to be heard. Slowly, however, there came another noise – a voice, rendered near-unintelligible by distance and distortion, but unmistakably human. And, if the tones were any indication, quite thoroughly distressed.

“Life? In this place?” Thadar rumbled, turning her good eye to look askance at Dubmith. Though her doubt was clear in her voice, the ill-concealed twitching of her fingers toward her axe and the glint to her eye put the lie to her scepticism. 

“It would sound as much, aye!” Dubmith cried, wheeling to face Gasin. “Lord C –”

But Gasin was already in motion, traveller’s cloak billowing out behind him as he sprinted across the gore-spattered field, sword in hand and shield raised. Thadar couldn’t help but let out an amused laugh at the sight, unlimbering her great axe and storming after him with a grin on her ruined face. It had been too long since her last proper fight, and even longer since she’d seen Gasin of all people rushing in ahead of her.

“Try to keep up, ‘Mith!” She yelled back, grinning wider at her comrade’s half-poleaxed expression. “Don’t want you to miss out on this!”

---

The castle of Channeltwigs was under siege. The thralls had come in the night, shambling out of the darkness at the head of a horde of the dead. Gaunt, emaciated creatures weeping blood from reddened sores; grotesquely over-muscled brutes, their flesh splitting open with every movement; forms so mangled that they were little more than lumps of flesh and bone, dragging themselves through the dirt through sheer will – all had come out of the dark like the boogeymen of old tales, to batter at the gates of the castle in search of the living souls within.

They had fought them. They had hurled arrows and stones down at the shambling horde, fought them with blade and bludgeon when they sought to break through the gatehouse and enter the main body of the castle.

But it hadn’t been enough. The thralls were persistent and patient, and the defenders could only hold them back for so long. Every thrall lost was replaced by another; every defender lost swelled their ranks. The shambolic horde of refuse following in their wake had only tipped the balance further, until their lines had finally disintegrated under the pressure and the gates had come crashing in.

“Back to the keep, damn you all! Fall back!” Hathur Craftedmirrored roared, her voice carrying across the courtyard despite the snarls and groans of the blighted horde that now surrounded it on all sides. The broad-shouldered axewoman shoved one of the fleeing castle staff behind her, twisting her arm about to slam a shambling corpse full in the face with her shield. It collapsed with a spray of blood and a muffled groan, letting her partner finish it off with a sharp downward blow of his hammer.

“How the hell… are we meant to hold them back… captain?” Luki, their archer, wheezed. Her features were lined with exhaustion, blood dripping from her fingers where her bowstring had cut into the skin. She had barely made it back into the courtyard when the thralls and the undead broke through into the barracks, making it out moments before the doors were barred.

“We don’t. Lusko -” She turned to face their hammerman, from his position beside the keep’s doors. “There’s a passage in the cellar - a tunnel. Get everyone you can out, and go south. Get to Speechrags and ask them for shelter.”

“Yes – but… what about you?”

Hathur shook her head. “I stay. I can buy us a few minutes if I can give them something to hunt.”

She was midway through walking forward, her axe and shield raised in readiness for one last fight, when she felt a hand grip her shoulder.

“Then I can double that time.” Mori raised her shield and war hammer, a smile spreading across her face. Others joined her in moments, the few remaining members of Channeltwigs’ military stepping forward in wordless agreement, their features set into masks of grim determination. “All of us can. What do you say?”

“You take the dozen on the left, and I’ll take those on right.” Sizet drawled, a note of amusement entering her tone as she nodded toward the horde of thralls lumbering across the grass toward them. “Shouldn’t be too hard. If these careless bastards were stupid enough to get bit, even we should be able to put ‘em down.”

Hathur and a few of the others laughed, though there was little true levity in the sound.

“Thank you. All of you.” Hathur gripped the leather-bound handle of her weapon, trying to ignore the leaden weight in her gut and the painful tightness rising in her chest. She turned back toward the keep, forcing her features into something like a smile. “May we meet again around a hearth in Loli’s halls.”

The barrier they had erected to try and block off the thrall-infested barracks gave way with a crash, the dead spilling out into the castle’s grounds. Hathur’s head whipped around to face the source of the sound, and felt her blood run cold. She recognised the thrall standing there, towering and hatchet eyed, a spear clutched in her blistered fingers.

Ramet had always been one of the best of them, tall and heavily muscled from years of practice with the spear. She could wield her polearm like an extension of her own body, flitting in between the arcing blows of enemy soldier and wild beast alike with a fey grace before delivering a pin-point blow that would send her foe’s body crashing to the ground, struck dead or crippled in a single strike. When the thralls had come, Ramet had been one of the first to the walls, a key figure in the castle’s defence. She’d danced between the lethal, snapping jaws and raking bone talons of their former comrades to deliver precise stabs and broad swings with her spear, cutting through blighted flesh to send the lifeless bodies of thrall after thrall crashing to the red-stained ground. She’d been tireless, saving the lives of her companions a dozen times over in the course of the bloody battles that defined the past few days.

She was a hero, and a friend. Now, with the Blight burning through her blood, that power was amplified and turned against them all.

Ramet’s spear pinned Ves to the wall like an insect on a board before she could even blink, her stout plate providing little protection against the thrall’s diabolical strength. Jasro had only a moment to shout in denial before Ramet was upon her, tearing her spear loose from Ves’ collapsing body and practically vaulting over the corpse of her once-friend to lunge at the crossbowman, howling like an animal.

Jasro managed to get her bow up halfway before the spear’s head took her through the jaw, and Ramet’s free hand was clawing at her face. Thrall and archer alike went over in a tangle of limbs, rolling along the ground and vanishing into the tide of bodies that had spilled from the gatehouse. For an instant, Hathur dared to hope that she might just see Jasro emerge – then Ramet burst free a few moments later, mouth smeared with bright red gore and her eyes ablaze with insatiable hunger.

For a single, terrible moment, the defenders faltered. Then, as the horde began to charge, one of them let out a shout in a voice of thunder and slammed their weapon against their shield.

“For Omon Obin!”

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/lnKHHHz.png)

(https://i.imgur.com/jCsg5Fd.png)

Within seconds, it was a melee once again. Hathur waded into the tide of bodies, her greataxe sounding heavily upon the limbs of thrall and reanimated corpse alike. Metal split and leather tore under the force of her strikes, baring diseased flesh for her fellows to tear into with their own weapons, sending limbs flying in every direction. Sizet and Mori occupied themselves with keeping Ramet away from the keep, desperately countering the wild, jerking creature’s blows and trying to strike back with their own. Luki snapped off a couple quick shots from her bow, only for the arrows to harmlessly bounce from Ramet's iron shield; the thrall responded with customary brutality, raking her across the arm with claw-like nails before driving the point of her spear through the archer's cheek. While it did not penetrate too deeply, it was still enough to rip several teeth from the gums and send Luki lurching back toward the wooden doors of the keep.

Oce was not so lucky. A wild charge from the thralls caught the dwindling party in the flank. Hathur managed to keep them at bay with several desperate swings of her axe, but Oce ended up being sent to the ground by the weight of one walking corpse; within moments, he was in the jaws of half a dozen thralls, screaming as the blighted creatures set to their bloody work. The iron plate and mail that had preserved his life in their previous battles was now turned against him, turning the knives and teeth of the thralls away from his most vital areas.

Hathur was close, almost in arm’s reach. She could see his head turning to face her, blood running in rivulets down his face. His mouth moved, soundlessly, but the request was clear enough.

Hathur made the only decision she could.

She gritted her teeth, drew back her arm, and continued to fight. Under any other circumstance, she would have granted the mercy-stroke in a heartbeat; as it stood, to grant it would be to die. And so Hathur Craftedmirrored fought on, even as her fallen friend’s agonised screams rose and fell and finally cut off amidst a set of wet crunching noises, even as her limbs began to burn with the effort of moving and sweat soaked through her padded tunic, even as her vision began to sting and blur with unshed moisture.

The thralls pressed their attack once again. They seemed almost organised in their aggression, now that they had tasted blood – Ramet and the stronger thralls hung back from the pack, circling the trapped soldiers like wolves, while the walking corpses and weaker thralls threw themselves against the dwindling group’s defences in mindless, shrieking hunger. They paid dearly for each inch of ground taken, but the dead were as numerous as they were aggressive. Inch by painful inch, they were being driven backward toward the gates of the castle’s keep.

And then the battle would be over. It was a miracle they had held out this long, but desperation and determination could only hold the dead at bay so long. Soon, there would be none of them left to defend the few wounded and non-combatants left in the keep, and then the horde would feast.

A ripple ran through the horde. Blind, mutilated creatures turned their heads back toward the ruined gates; thralls swung about, their nostrils flaring as they sniffed the air. There – in the gatehouse’s ruins! Three soldiers in unfamiliar garb stood, looking upon the field of carnage that greeted them.

The thrall that had once been Ugan howled in fury and lunged for the trio of new arrivals, her bloodied maul swinging in a wild arc. Before it could strike against flesh or metal, the leader of the group was already in motion; he strode confidently toward the seething press of broken bodies and twisted flesh, longsword sweeping up to cut the heavy, broad head of the maul away from the shaft with almost contemptuous ease before whipping about into a reverse-stroke that cut most of Ugan’s arm from her body. A third slash, and the once noble hammerwoman was freed from the Blight’s grasp.

His fellows wasted no time in following the first’s lead; scarcely had Ugan’s body fallen when it was joined by two others, a pair of the resurrected corpses falling in pieces as the swordswoman and her axe-bearing counterpart hammered their weapons into their rotting forms. The three strode on into the battle, blades sweeping around their forms as they began to tear a bloody swathe through the undead horde. Thralls and corpses alike fell with every blow, to be replaced by more as the horde switched its attention to the new threat in its midst.

Hathur felt something bloom in her chest at the sight, something light and hot. Energy she didn’t know she had surged back into her leaden limbs, and she swung her axe back over her shoulder, screaming a war-cry as she plunged into the battle once again. The other surviving soldiers echoed her gesture, plunging into the battle with furious shouts and renewed energy. Thrall after thrall fell in arcing sprays of scarlet blood until only Ramet remained, the blistered thrall locked in a furious three-on-one duel against the newcomers.

The leader of the three met a lunge from Ramet’s spear with one of his own, narrowly deflecting the copper head from his side. The thrall followed up the repelled lunge with a hard punch to the face, sending him back in a burst of blood and spittle, before wheeling about to kick the black-clad swordswoman full in the chest as she scrambled forward to try and strike at Ramet’s exposed back. Only the axewoman managed to land a blow, her axe’s head tearing a broad gash into the metal and wood of Ramet’s shield.

Snarling, the infected spearwoman turned to face the new threat, her spear looping about in a arc to neatly skewer the axewoman’s right shoulder; only a desperate dodge saved her from a serious blow, and even then it was strong enough to slice a fingerwidth through her bronze plate and draw a thin line of blood.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/gTl3R5b.png)

Seizing the opportunity, Gasin rushed forward and drove his longsword forward, the blade tearing a bloody gash across Ramet’s face that laid her head open to the bone. Ramet let out a thunderous roar of rage and wheeled about to retaliate, driving her spear at her attacker with enough ferocity to jar his arms painfully on the very first parry; the second and third slipped past his guard to draw blood from his shoulder and side, sending him scrambling backwards as Dubmith rushed forward to draw Ramet’s attention.

Ignoring the burning in her limbs, Hathur forced herself to move toward the duel. The others were holding back uncertainly, circling warily outside the reach of Ramet’s spear and clawed fingers, but she had no such compunctions. Whatever she could do to help them against the once-great spearwoman, she would do without hesitation.

Ramet’s spear met the axewoman’s bronze shield, deflecting off the rim in a shower of fat sparks. The grizzled warrior responded with a blow of her own, a blow from her shield’s edge sending a thin line of spittle and blood spraying from Ramet’s mouth. The thrall staggered, snarling, and in her distraction, she failed to see the form of Mori limping toward her from behind. As Ramet drew back her arm to strike, Mori lurched forward, seizing Ramet’s arm from behind with an iron-hard grip; the thrall staggered mid-lunge, unbalanced by the sudden weight.

And as Mori wrenched Ramet’s arm backward, preventing her from moving or punching at her latest target, Hathur charged full force against her former friend. Something tore its way out of her throat as she swung her axe down, a noise halfway between grief and rage joining the cacophony of the battle. The thrall that had once been her comrade looked up at the murderous cry; for a single moment its eyes met with hers, and in the moments before the heavy blade of Hathur’s axe shattered Ramet’s shoulderguard and cleaved her friend in half from collar to pelvis, she could see the relief in her friend’s eyes.
“That seems to be the last of them,” The nobleman intoned, turning toward Hathur and her surviving comrades. “You fought well.”

“Not well enough,” Hathur muttered, before she could stop herself. A bone-deep weariness was settling over her, and it took all her remaining will not to slump to her knees.

“Nonetheless, to hold against such odds speaks much of your prowess.” He remarked, peering past her to where the rest of the survivors stood. A mixture of wary, exhausted, and outright fearful gazes met his, the survivors still stuck in the haze of blood and death that had hung over them for the past days. The nobleman’s features quirked into an almost apologetic smile. “Ah, but where are my manners? I am Gasin Crewcanyons, of The Order of Butterflies.”

“Hathur Craftedmirrored of Channeltwigs,” She managed to wheeze, before her legs finally gave out. Only a quick grab by Mori stopped her falling face-first into the dirt, the hammerwoman keeping her upright with a grunt of effort. Grimacing, Hathur tried to force herself to speak again, only to be cut off by a look from Mori. The grim-faced hammerwoman turned to the inquisitor, teeth bared in a grimace.

“Can this wait, sire?” She growled, heaving Hathur back to a semi-upright position against her shoulder. "

“Indeed, this can wait.” Gasin nodded toward the keep. “We should see to the wounded, first.”

“Wait…” Hathur managed to wheeze, heart lurching sharply in her chest. She turned her head to face her comrades, adrenaline flooding into her as she recognised that they were one short. “Sizet! Where-!”

“There!” Mori growled, raising a hand to point to where a slumped figure lay in the dirt. Dubmith was kneeling beside her, fingers pressed to the side of Sizet’s neck. With Mori’s support, Hathur managed to limp over to the pair, heart hammering painfully in her chest.

Dubmith must have seen the question on Hathur’s face before it was asked, for her features tightened and she made a grim shake of her head.

“Sizet…” Hathur whispered to herself. It felt almost unreal to see her like this, the smirking, light-hearted entertainer of the castle’s militia now silent and still on the bloodied grass. Three good friends, now, she had lost to the depredations of the living dead, and all in one day. “…Rest well, my friend, and may the Light welcome you home.”

She reached out with a shaking hand to close her friend’s eyes.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/ZZ7laWc.png)

And then, impossibly, the axewoman’s bleeding body twitched. One glassy eye snapped into focus, the whites stained almost completely red by some internal rupture. It flickered across the gathered warriors. Blood bubbled up from her throat as she tried to speak, breaking off into a sickly, wet cough that sprayed scarlet spittle across the dirt around her.

“Blood of the gods!” Dubmith gasped. Almost instinctually, her hands snapped to the pouch containing her medicinal tools. “Lord Gasin! Thadar! I need help over here!”

---

The courtyard of castle Channeltwigs was an inferno. A pyre burned in the flat space before the keep, filing the air with the noxious scent of cremation and burnt fabric. Well over a dozen good men and women had fallen to the depredations of the undead horde this day, half of them to the horror of the Blight, and the survivors had chosen to honour them in the only way they could.

The survivors of the thralls’ assault had gathered in a rough circle around the pyre, watching in silence as the fire consumed the visceral evidence of the bloody siege. Dubmith was absent, currently ensconced within the keep as she sought to ensure the survival of the terribly wounded axewoman; any effort to enter had been rebuffed sharply by the scarred, vicious figure of Thadar, who stood guard beside the iron-studded doors. Gasin was standing with the group, though his features were lined with pain as the gesture tugged the stitched wound in his side; the phial of murky liquid he had downed seemed to do little to dull the sensations.

The silence was broken as Dubmith emerged from the keep, plodding across the grass toward the great pyre. Her face was lined with exertion and her arms covered to the elbow in blood, but she bore a triumphant light in her eye as she and Thadar drew up beside the pyre.

“She’s stable,” Dubmith wheezed, her voice barely above a hoarse whisper. She tossed a scrap of blood-soaked cloth into the fire, watching with a half-unfocused eye as it caught light and twisted in the heat. “Weak, but stable. The Fields may be fighting for her soul, but she’s fighting them every step of the way.”

“Thank the gods.” Hathur murmured, letting out a breath she wasn’t aware she’d been holding in, almost sinking to her knees in relief. Despite everything they had lost, she wouldn’t have to bury another of her friends today; as little of a comfort as that was, it was all she could bring to mind. Mori rested her hand awkwardly on her shoulder - what passed for a comforting motion for the dour, hard-faced hammerwoman – before turning to face the new arrivals.

“Much as I respect you for saving our lives,” Mori intoned, staring Gasin and his comrades down across the pyre with something between wariness and hostility. “You are yet to speak of why you came to this forsaken place.”

“We were sent by the Law-Giver to investigate rumours of a Blight resurgent.” Thadar growled, carefully drawing a whetstone across her axe’s blade with every few words. “We found it. What more d’you need to know?”

“Eloquent as ever, Thadar,” Dubmith rolled her eyes, shaking her head in annoyance at her comrade’s blunt ways. She turned to face Mori, voice taking on an almost conciliatory tone. “The Law-Giver received word from the southwest hamlets – tales of foul occurrences and unexplained deaths, travellers going missing and people vanishing in the night. He feared it might be the work of a Blight-spreading creature, and so we were sent to investigate.”

“Nigh upon a century since the Blight began, and still the wounds it has wrought fester.” Gasin mused, rising from his position beside the fire, pacing about before his fellows. His shadow flickered and shifted in the pyre-light, casting jittery knife-slashes around them “But now – now, we might just be able to remove its source.”

“Its source!” One of the younger soldiers cried, her temper finally reaching its limit and her irritation rising in consequence. “What source! What does the man mean?”

“The Sage.” Gasin growled. He paused a moment to spit, as though wishing to clear his mouth of the word’s foul aftertaste. Dubmith and Thadar exchanged equally dark expressions, hands tightening on their weapons at the mention of the name. At the visible confusion on his audience’s faces, the inquisitor hastened to explain. “He’s a sorcerer – a wielder of foul magicks, who defiles the dead to serve his own dark purposes. A traitor, to our Realm and to the Lady of Healing both. And the originator of this accursed Blight.”

That drew the reaction he had hoped for. Hathur was pale with sudden fury or horror; beside her, Luki and Mori looked outright sickened. Dubmith and Thadar, long ago informed of their quarry, seemed relatively unperturbed, though a closer look would reveal the way their fingers had tightened almost painfully around the grips of their weapons. Gasin resumed his pacing before the fire, speaking more quickly now that he had their undivided attention.

“He was a healer, to begin with – a position giving access to the vulnerable and the weak, whom he sought to aid by whatever means were necessary. But as the Silver Plague raged, and the numbers of the dead and the dying rose, he began to despair in the face of his task’s enormity, and a dark seed was planted within his heart. He worked day and night to aid the sick and comfort the dying, burning through remedy after remedy in his desperate search for a panacea to the Plague – and then, on one fateful night, the Plague spread to him.

“Fearing for his life, the Sage abandoned his home and hearth and fled into the great Tundra of Heroes, that he might die alone and spread the Plague no further. He would wander through the snow and ice for days before collapsing, his skin dark with his own blood, his mind wracked with feverish visions. And it was in this madness that dark Powers whispered to him, speaking of futures yet to be and paths that the Sage could yet walk – if only he would drink from their poisoned chalice, and become a servant of pestilence until his last days.”

“A strange and terrible tale indeed,” Mori mused, and then, sharply: “How might you have come to know of it in such detail?”

Gasin smiled once more, but now it seemed hollow and solemn.  “My lady, I once belonged to the same brotherhood as he.” Something flashed over his face, a strange mixture of pain and discomfort clouding his noble features. There had come a darkness about his eyes, and when he spoke again, his voice was surprisingly tremulous. “That we could not turn him from the path of darkness; that he has wrought such terrible chaos… our greatest shames, passed down the years that we might never forget what we failed to prevent – and that we might ensure they are never repeated.”

He ceased his pacing for a moment to stare at them all, the firelight casting rippling shadows across his features. He looked pale, worn, strained by the terrible wound in his side – but his eyes blazed with the force of his determination, and there was an undeniable ferocity in his words. 

“I and my brethren failed the Realm of Silver once. We will not do so again.”

For  a long time, silence reigned among the group. Weary, dark eyes exchanged uncertain glances. At last, though, Mori rose to her feet and strode forward to where Gasin stood silhouetted against the pyre’s flames.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/vBTQpQl.png)

“There is nothing left for me here.” She said, shortly, bowing her head slightly. “I will join your cause, master Crewcanyons, if it will see our Realm restored.”

By way of answer, Gasin drew his sword and planted it point-down into the dirt. He bent to one knee, features barely twitching as a sharp thunderbolt of pain lanced up his injured leg, before placing a palm against the blade and drawing it sharply downwards. Carefully, he raised his bleeding palm aloft, letting a few drops of crimson blood fall from the shallow cut in the skin into the burning pyre as he spoke.

“Until justice has been served unto those responsible for what happened today; until the dead of this place know peace, my cause shall be as yours.” Gasin intoned. The firelight cast rippling shadows across his features, but they were as earnest and firm as ever. “So do I swear, on my life and blood.”

The motion seemed to embolden the others. One by one, each of the castle’s survivors walked forward to join Mori by the pyre and speak with Gasin, the nobleman sealing each pact with a single drop of his own blood. Once the last of them was finished and the small cut closed, he returned to his position beside Dubmith and Thadar, weary eyes gazing across the group as the former began to bind the cut in his hand, grumbling under her breath as she went.

“We can do no more tonight.” Gasin murmured, staring into the flames with his liquid black eyes. “Rest, my comrades. We begin early tomorrow – we must continue on this trail before it grows cold.”

“And what of you, lord Crewcanyons?”

“I will take first watch.” He shook his head, staring off into the distance with a dark eye. Though his countenance had scarcely changed, the look in his eyes belied the troubled thoughts behind them. “The night holds no comfort for me.”

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Maloy on January 15, 2023, 05:17:11 pm

I think what I love most about the tension in your entry QD is

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

that the whole time I thought the guys in the siege were just gonna be the expendable side characters that die gruesomely to set the tone and make way for the heroes, especially once I saw that one of the thralls was a spearmaster so the fact that that they survive actually had me like woah lol

Also a SPEARMASTER? I fought a professional surgeon who had dual knives and he cut off half my extremities before I finally overcame him!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Quantum Drop on January 15, 2023, 05:34:24 pm

Quote from: Maloy on January 15, 2023, 05:17:11 pm

I think what I love most about the tension in your entry QD is

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

that the whole time I thought the guys in the siege were just gonna be the expendable side characters that die gruesomely to set the tone and make way for the heroes, especially once I saw that one of the thralls was a spearmaster so the fact that that they survive actually had me like woah lol

That was the sort of atmosphere I was aiming for in that entry, so I'm glad I managed to do it right! Thought it was a bit long, but I suppose it worked out pretty well.

Quote from: Maloy on January 15, 2023, 05:17:11 pm

Also a SPEARMASTER? I fought a professional surgeon who had dual knives and he cut off half my extremities before I finally overcame him!

Yeah, that spearmaster was nasty (as in, "nearly caused a TPK" nasty) in the original fight - pretty sure it would've wiped the surviving guys there if it'd been left there. That professional surgeon sounds like it was quite the scary opponent as well, if it was tearing your guy up through armor with nothing but knives.

(Also, I must thank you. That line about the surgeon is giving me ideas for my current turn's character.)

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Maloy on January 16, 2023, 06:06:54 am

Entry Three
Maloy arrived in Homeagemoons. The Western most village surrounding Incenseorder's domain. He went door to door searching for survivors and found thralls instead. He knew every single one. He knew every member of the village by name and they had known his and they were all thralls now.


He fought viciously, but not nearly as much as those victims of the blight. His new skill with blade, shield and armor covered the distance of sheer willpower though and he was able to kill each victim after fighting for some time with each. Except for one: The Thresher Alath.
Undeath had made him something to be reckoned with as he danced and swung around at Maloy. His twin daggers gleaming. One was gem and the other was metal and every village had knives like this.


Alath would punch Maloy into a wall or force him to roll out of the way of blows that went around his shield. "Can you not even kill a peasant zombie?" The ear cried in disdain.
Maloy grit his teeth "You know Alath I didn't think it was possible for you to get any uglier or more hideous to look at so could you just die already so I can stop looking at you?"
The creature didn't respond, but bolted swinging fists. Maloy parried both and sliced it's chest, but only managed to cut his clothes open. Alath's second swing with his knife took off Maloy's nose and the wolf-man screamed as blood spurted from his face.
He was angry. His dreams had gone up in flames and were smoldering here before him with the ruins of this village and this enemy was a continuous reminder of loss.
"Alath where's that pig-faced wife of yours at these days anyway?"
The creature crooked it's head slightly and then bolted forth again and they exchanged blows and another shallow blow was dealt to the thrall's chest, but a fist took out Maloy's teeth.
It seemed like he was getting a reaction out of the monster. The blight didn't seem to remove all intelligence just corrupted it entirely "He's opening himself up more. Keep getting him angry" His ear-coach advised. "I don't care if he's angry I just want him to know how much of an improvement this is for him" Maloy responded


"I bet you killed that pig-face wife of yours, didn't you, Alath? Probably couldn't wait you worthless muck-eating murderer" Maloy laughed at him. The thrall screamed and charged at Maloy. It sliced with the metal knife and cut Maloy's tongue out as he laughed and slammed him into the wall of the shack. It descended immediately to deliver a killing blow. Maloy would've roared in rage if not doing his utmost to not choke on the blood pouring from his mouth, but he swung his sword with all his might. Alath's chest was cloven asunder.


His face was in agony as Maloy stumbled out of the house. He was cursed by Mirding the goddess of Misery, torture and valor. He would regenerate in time and regain his parts. It was agony to have your body broken over and over, but return to normal. He saw a statue in town of himself. It was Mirding cursing him to his beastial form. How had it gotten here? Did the goddess have worshipers still in this land? He had done his best to cover the news of the tale up, but the goddess seemed intent on making sure his suffering was total.
(https://i.imgur.com/mCBEQJT.png)

To finish Homeagemoons he went and found the religious brotherhood that ruled it. Worshipers of the trade god and dressed much more gaudily than a normal monk. The last surviving monk was being chased and beaten by the two blighted ones. Maloy saved him and killed the others. His response was to spit at Maloy and curse his name "Why did you kill my friends?! What if they could have been saved? What if we could have restrained them? Everyone will know you for what you are, murderer!"


"He will destroy what little image we have left if we let him leave" The ear whispered. "I heard it's hard to tell the infected from regular people when they first turn. They get real aggressive, but that's it" Maloy responded mentally
The ear sensed where he was going with the line of thought "Yes, you're right and this one is particularly aggressive isn't he?" The monk looked nervous as well as angry now "Are you going to say anything?"


Maloy piled all the bodies in Homeagemoons up including the entire religious brotherhood and burned them. The brotherhood was a good source of income it was sad that there were no survivors there, but one villager still lived in Homeagemoons. The village was now under Maloy's personal rulership and administration.




MEANWHILE
The dragon was dead, but Mirai picked up something new on the wind.
"We need to leave soon." Mirai called to Arthur
"But the dwarves are nearby we need to look for the corpse!"
"We follow another lead. Whatever is nearby will make this thing look pleasant and easy"
They found a weathered and beaten wagon nearby and used rope to load the body up before continuing.
(https://i.imgur.com/DmUgUNI.png)

Some weeks ago they had successfully come to the Shelter of Adventures, but the one very menacing looking human explained to them that the last dead dwarf there had been raised and led away long ago. He spoke of a place called Eldergraves that happened to be in the Merged Jungles where Maloy had sent them. Just how did that wolf know where these things would be?


The tower of Eldergraves was menacing and they only found one resident: A strange and old looking man
Arthur recited the words he left with them as they went due south
"Seek the great dwarf bralbaard, do you? Two places you must go. One where you have never tread and one where you have already been. Far far south past the coast, turning east and the north of the great desert is Falsetower. You will find part of what you seek and something that you do not know you need. Then north far far north. East of the Shelter of Adventures is Herograves where a powerful enchantment hides great treasures. Go due south and do not tarry to the west at all until you reach the coast."


They spent many days searching for it. Mirai and Arthur often went off alone to hunt and their arguments were non-existent now.
Finally they could see the great base of a stone structure in the distance and the two elves picked up the scent of a dwarf whom they found in the forest just out of the settlement.
"Hail and well met noble dwarf!" Arthur called
The dwarf turned. His face was covered with a bronze mask and he immediately dashed towards them all and attacked with frightening speed and power. The dwarf successfully fought all five of them. He would parry Arthur's spear and deliver a crippling punch one direction and spin and beat someone else. He parried Arthur's spear once more and punched Uvash in the throat so hard his throat was cloven asunder. Uvash dropped his great axe and the dwarf picked it up spinning, swinging and punching. Arthur jumped out of the way. The dwarf ran after the crossbow woman Pode and swung the axe again and again cutting a major gash in her thigh. She finished reloading just as the dwarf brought the axe above his head and swung again. The bolt flew true and went straight to the dwarf's brain and he slumped over.
The party rested in the trees to bandage wounds. The dwarf had been a type of intelligent undead. Likely this whole fortress was filled with hostile guardians. What were they protecting that was so important? What was Arthur and Mirai looking for in truth?
Arthur considered dragging the dwarf to the settlement for his fellows to find, but Uvash couldn't be saved and suffocated. He left both there in the forest just south-east of the fortress for nature or the guardians to tend to.


They snuck in and relied on their tracking skills to avoid the dwarves. Multiple times they actually saw dwarves and crept around them. The tower seemed the obvious entrance, but Mirai signaled and pointed towards an unnatural looking cave west of it. That was likely the service entrance for workers. They found the entire service entrance covered in traps.
The clumsy humans could not safely navigate this and didn't even see the traps until it was pointed out. Arthur instructed them to wait by this entrance. If the elves ran into trouble in the fort they would die without support, but it was a risk that had to be taken.


They crept forward through the tunnels as daylight faded. Fungus and mud had to be navigated carefully to avoid loud squelching sounds. The darkness was uncomfortable. These two children of the forests were entirely out of their element. They found the staircase leading down, but at it's top rested something strange.
(https://i.imgur.com/OTVzvLM.png) An axe discarded and left at the top as if it didn't have a proper place in an armory. The axe was good quality dwarven iron, but neither elves used axes and so would have left it, but something about the axe deeply called to Arthur. Recalling the old man's words he heeded caution and took the axe and placed it in his bag.
(https://i.imgur.com/siEoneJ.png)

The longer they were here the more they saw of debris, scattered treasures and bodies. What happened here? It looked as if a great battle had happened. Perhaps the guardians are the only survivors? Or perhaps a defense system gone wrong? Or right?

(https://i.imgur.com/JhRxUZM.png)
They found a cavern like set of tunnels and in each was placed a wooden casket with names. This confirmed that something had happened as dwarves would make a cemetery much more ornate. They picked through the tunnels and found the casket named for Bralbaard. He opened it and it was...empty. A large wooden casket with nothing in it, except for a small tooth at the bottom barely visible to the elves non-cave adapted eyes.
This was frustrating, but they were both too scared to tarry long and decided to leave with what little acquisition they had. As they reached the staircase Arthur stepped out and a couple of flights above them was a guardian
(https://i.imgur.com/290UX1A.png)
Mirai grabbed Arthur and yanked him back. The elves waited quietly in terror. If the dwarf saw them it would have no trouble ending them both. Arthur fearing the end turned towards Mirai and kissed her. Through what dim light there was she mouthed the words "Now?!" Arthur shrugged. After a few minutes they heard footsteps ascending the stairs. The dwarf was likely still in their way, but how long before someone came to patrol this graveyard? They had to risk it and hope the dwarf turned down one of the side passages on the way to the surface.
They crept back up and found the situation more grim. A second guardian was on the staircase. Both were heading to the surface.

The elves hugged a wall and waited. The dwarves left and went down the mud tunnel where the human warriors had been left. Both were shocked completely when they also left the tunnel and found both humans alive and well!
Pode had pretended to be another body on the floor of the tunnel and and Uja had ran out and waited on the hill above it.

They left quietly, but all more than eager to escape when coming from the exact direction they were going was another guardian. It saw them. It's entrails dragging behind it as it fought them relentlessly.
(https://i.imgur.com/zarrTso.png)
The battle was fierce and Mirai was savaged and almost killed before Arthur planted his spear through the dwarf's skull ending it. They fled quietly.
(https://i.imgur.com/LbaVnV7.png)
For a time they could smell dwarves in pursuit, but the guardians eventually gave up the chase to return to their duties.




OOC:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Okay so I am actually gonna go back and edit the ritual entry and make it ENTRY FIVE, because I need to make one more post about as long as this one, but I feel like if this post was twice it's length its too long to read in one sitting imo. There's more action to come as well as dialogue and exposition to wrap up where everyone is going after this adventure especially Maloy

Also Avolition I'm sorry I killed two of your citizens. They were No Quarter hostile as soon as they saw me. Spear and bolt deaths leave bodies in good condition though if you wanna go revive them!

Arthur left Incenseorders at the start of this a competent spearman and I made him that way because he was supposed to be a merchant who just had some basic skills in self defense. Mirai was a skilled bow woman.
So the fact that we have survived all this was just amazing to me.
Arthur has been in a state of focus on this adventure thanks to the happy thoughts he gets from nature, socializing, and abstract thinking. So funny way in-game lines itself up with his narrative character progress

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Unraveller on January 17, 2023, 09:46:10 am

I don't believe anyone among us eclipses your detail writing QD. The battle scene was incredibly articulate, masterful as always.

---

---

- PART 1 - (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8428876#msg8428876)- PART 2 - (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8446034#msg8446034)

---

(https://i.imgur.com/eiV9psx.png)

'Midst the darkness below the keep of Silverthrone, the old Law-Giver led the march, his two oldest children closely behind. Neither Rimtil nor Irka uttered a word, for they did not know what they were heading towards. An uneasiness had befallen them despite the safety of their home, little more than the continuous clack of their heels against stone and the flicker of their father's torch comforted them. Jas halted at some arbitrary place, he affixed the torch to an empty sconce and took hold of another, with a quick pull, the wall-mount came forth, and so too did a rumble. The wall ahead shook, dust sifted down from the low ceiling obscuring the shifting brick and mortar, in moments the stone all but ground away, leaving an opening to small alcove to the heirs' widening eyes.

A loathsome thing there huddled, idly picking away at a crack in the cobbles of their dingy cell, the likes of which lacked any furnishings save for a squat bed. The thing was skeletal, yet broad ever still, a ragged beard descended from its gnarled chin, and its gangly limbs were held close to its body. Even now the siblings were stunned, they simply could not see why their father had brought them before this begotten prisoner, nor why its cell had been hidden so. Jas at last brought the light of flame to bear, searing the pale eyes of the creature within, which in turn twisted itself eerily their way. With a grin ear-to-ear, the prisoner spoke in a guttural tone, words incomprehensible to the heirs.

"Father. . . What is this?" Irka at last questioned, his words almost accusatory.

Jas raises his chin, gazing downward at the being. "It was a thief, once." He replied, "In the Dwarfen tongue it spoke, something to the effect of, 'Finally, fresh flesh to flay.' At least, I think."

Rimtil bears a worrisome countenance unbefitting of her, "Why have we imprisoned a clearly mad dwarf below the castle?" She asks, wholly justified in her line of thinking.

"Oh no, they're quite sane, I believe." The Law-Maker replied, switching his tongue to that of a low-rumble he speaks a few words to the being before turning back to his children, "There you see, I've asked it who I am -- 'Jas Gloryage, 23rd Law-Giver of Omon Obin, of course.'" Jas continues, realizing that they'd require a bit more explaining. "About forty years ago now this particular tragedy struck. . . As winter was at its height that year, I found myself in the snowdrifts before Silverthrone, speaking with the late Eman, rest his soul. Twas a peculiarly foggy day, the mist hanging low above the half-frozen river. There from the swirling fog beyond the castle walls a figure emerged, saddled atop a great steed and marked by their emerald eyes and locks of jet-black that fell from their head. Kothvir Shadowstar the Black Raven or so the man introduced himself, for me he was effusive with praise despite our meeting just, and countless gifts he showered me with. This Kothvir came from the High Confederacies to the north, and sought to quell the Blight, for it had struck there as well. . . It has been long since I have heard news of the north, I pray that valiant warrior was successful indeed."

Both Irka and Rimtil gazed on, watching their father swim in little-thought on memories, as did the dwarfen prisoner who had not blinked even a moment. Jas continued, "One such gift that the Black Raven bequeathed to us was a great slab of blackened rock, a curious artefact draped ever in a shroud. It seemed that a group of the dwarves that yet lived in Silverthrone coveted the thing, they seemed to have a knowledge of it or perhaps it merely struck their fancy. Whatever the case, soon after we interred the thing in our vault, they moved to action, but the thieves did not get far before they were irrevocably changed. . ."

Suddenly the prisoner snapped, throwing out dwarfish insults with abandon, yet was held back by the old-king's flame. Taking in a deep breath, Rimtil asks, "Well what did they say?"

"Er. . . Its asking for food, mostly. I suppose that makes sense given that it hasn't eaten in forty years." The elder let out a harrumph, beaming a glare at the disgruntled prisoner.

"Forty years? How could that be? Nothing could survive so long without sustenance." Irka correctly identified, certainly suspicious of his father's statements.

Jas nods, yet his face is solemn, "Without a doubt my boy. Anything living could not survive, but this thing? It does not live."

"What do you imply?" Irka responded, an eyebrow raised.

The law-giver merely sighs before snapping back, "You know damn well what I imply child, this thing is no more living than the filth it wallows in. It is enraptured in some kind of false-life, some mockery, the passage of time is irrelevant to it." Jas nearly bites his tongue, his fervor getting the better of him as he considers his life-long confidant and advisor who shares a similar fate.

"Some rock did this?" Rimtil questions, but is met with silence, and soon after the sliding of stone against stone once more. The old man gestures for the pair to follow him once more, deeper and deeper still.

---

Each step drew them closer, colder and colder the air became as they moved. Each step made clear the beating of their hearts faster and faster, telling them to begone from this place until before them was a great shroud. Upon a dais the slab stood tall, only one surface of which could be seen, a rough texture yet unmarred by wear,  and unknown to the ignorant they - hewn by the gods.

"Keeping an old invalid waiting. . . Shame on thee." The Royal Chamberlain's voice emerged from the deepest shadows of the vault, though the trio's dourness had warded them from the shock of exceedingly rare levity from the almost-fully paralyzed Galka Kindrummed.

"Master Galka." The old Law-Giver bowed his head in respect, as did his two children.

Without raising his gaze from the floor, Irka spoke, "Are our lives not in danger in the presence of this thing?"

"Thy mortality?" Galka replies, laying propped against a wall. "Not as such, an inscription of some length lay on the opposite side, that is where the bleak magic of the thing resides. Though it cannot be guaranteed that its presence alone will not have deleterious affects on thy mind."

Jas speaks again "Those who partake of that inscription are twisted, the life exhumed from their bodies, replace by some dark and wretched otherness. With a gesture and a thought they can raise the dead from their graves to do their bidding, need not drink, they need not eat, neither exhaustion or drowsiness can stay their hands. It would not shock me  if they did not even have need of breath." A scowl grew on the Law-Givers face as his raised Irka's chin with a knuckle, "Worst yet of all, should they will it, the dark hands of the slab may curse living men into slavering hungry beasts that desire only to sink their teeth into flesh and propagate their kind."

Rimtil gasps, "You don't mean. . . This thing?"

"Tis the origin of the Blight." Irka completes his sister's thought.

"My son, you once asked me as tiny lad if the Obin Blight was punishment from on high. . . Nay, tis the hubris of men cut from no different a cloth than you or I whom wrought these plagues upon Orid Xem." Jas places a hand upon his son's shoulder to steady him.

Galka continues, "Men are born to live and die, it is the way of things, it is the cycle. To pervert it is a grave sin that not only corrupts the sinner's own heart, but the lives of all other common folk. Perhaps you have heard apocryphal legends of a great war that drew in much of the land - a battle of shadow and light. In my time spent 'midst dwarfen holds I've found there to be some truth to it, over eight hundred years ago a cabal of rogues were some of the first to fall to this magic, even now we feel the shock-waves of those events - The very Blight we have fought tooth and nail against is merely a side-effect of those times."

At first Rimtil is stupefied and then anger builds on her brow, "How could you?" she bellows. "You keep such a vile thing here where my children live! Why have you not destroyed it!?" Irka solemnly nods along with his sister"s exclamation.

"Of course we have tried!" Jas responds in kind "The thing resists all blows, great heat, and the erosion of water - nothing leaves its mark. But there is perhaps a hope -"

"In the abandoned Dwarfen fortress of Relicward, far North-west of Omon Obin I once found myself. . ." Galka does his best with those shattered limbs, raising himself up against the wall. "The Dwarfs there had delved so deeply and so completely that they had breached another world entirely. There before me a chasm stretched unlike any other, 'twas no mere descent, but oblivion itself. A place that nothing can return from!"

A moment of silence comes between the four. Irka then breaks it, "So the duty then falls to us, once more. . ."

"My son." Jas grips the young man's shoulder tight, "I haven't many years left you know. And Master Galka can barely move. . ." He then puts his remaining hadn upon his daughter, bringing the two of them together, "You are the stewards of Omon Obin, though you did not choose this life, it is the one you are given. We must do all that we can with these lives, too many go wasted." He sighs, bringing his forehead to theirs. "Time passes so quickly, and we lose sight of the important things. I am sorry, this is the last thing I ask of you as your father. . ."

"It must be done." Rimtil agrees without delay.

"Yes. . . An end to this madness." Murmurs Irka.

"This will be no end." The Chamberlain's words drip with venom, "This is only the beginning I'm afraid. I have delved the most secret of libraries - this is not one of a kind, but rather it is part of a set. Either eleven or twelve more slabs much like the one before us exist in this world, perhaps even others. This is not a battle that we alone can win, thou must keep the flame alive and hand thy torch to thy progeny. . ."

"This is the fate of Gloryage blood."

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Quantum Drop on January 17, 2023, 03:20:51 pm

Great writeups as ever, both of you. Unraveller, I particularly like the tone crafted in that last chapter and love the implication of that last line, considering the picture LV paints of the Gloryage children. It'll certainly be interesting to see how things develop from this point...

I've also noticed that the graphics for the save seem to have gone a little wonky. (Goblins going from 'g' tiles to 'ù', wall tiles changing colours and symbols, etc.) Anyone know what's up with that and how to fix it?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Bralbaard on January 17, 2023, 04:13:00 pm

Usually that happens when someone has altered the raws by using a graphic set, but has not brought it back to it's original state before uploading.
This makes it look broken for everyone without the same graphics set.
There are probably online instructions for the specific files that need to be changed, but using the blunt method of replacing the whole raws with a recent working version should also correct the problem (but make a backup, before messing with this)

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Eric Blank on January 17, 2023, 04:16:58 pm

Nah i tried that and it resulted in crashing on loading. You're going to want to replace them with the raws from the turn prior.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Lurker Z on January 17, 2023, 04:38:42 pm

Try my raws or the ones before me, the diacritics got borked after my turn (but they were ok in the save I uploaded), maybe this fixes them.

I haven't read everything, but I loved Maloy's training montage, since I was an adventure mode newb before I joined this thread (I more or less still am), I learned the "kill animals" montage from QD, so thanks for that. I've done it with necro-Lurker, but it was more or less half-hearted. Since I woke up with the necromancer "I win" button (honestly, I hadn't intended to wake up in Pik's cabin, let alone expected a necro book to be literally the first thing I'd read), I could hold my own pretty well (the worst time I had was against some wolves, but gobs were easy; the last one I beheaded in one strike; well, obviously the horse skeleton was hard).

I'm also glad to see Arthur's story and Jas' line being expanded, I'm really curious how Rimtil died. As for great story posts, at least in terms of syntax, off the top of my head I'd put QD, Unraveller and Kesperan on top in no particular order. I've had an idea for an "Interlude" text for the time before the 922 infection, when my plans were completely different, but I never got around to writing it.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on January 17, 2023, 04:59:45 pm

Quote from: Lurker Z on January 17, 2023, 04:38:42 pm

As for great story posts, at least in terms of syntax, off the top of my head I'd put QD, Unraveller and Kesperan on top in no particular order.

Nah, I am hackish compared to QD and Unraveller. Masterful as always. Sitting here with a grin because you mentioned ol' Kothvir, and how his gift of the slab Stabbedwring has set the Gloryage dynasty down a dark, dark path!

I have so many ideas for my next turn that I don't think I will be able to fit them in, thanks to the inspiration of you all. Who'd have thought that would be the case in a world so mature as this.

I also can't wait until Adventure mode is available for Steam DF... Museum IV will be glorius indeed!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Unraveller on January 17, 2023, 05:43:31 pm

Quote from: kesperan on January 17, 2023, 04:59:45 pm

I also can't wait until Adventure mode is available for Steam DF... Museum IV will be glorius indeed!

Orid Xem has much potential left in it! I know that I wish to see its distant future yet still.

And no need to compare us all there's great writing from every corner in the Museum games. No matter the theme or prose.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Quantum Drop on January 17, 2023, 07:10:26 pm

I agree with Unraveller, TBH; there's been excellent writing from all quarters over the course of the Museum games, regardless of the theme or prose chosen for the story.

Quote from: kesperan on January 17, 2023, 04:59:45 pm

I also can't wait until Adventure mode is available for Steam DF... Museum IV will be glorius indeed!

It'll certainly be interesting to see how Museum IV plays out, considering the amount of adventures we've managed to fit into this one. Hopefully, though, Orid Xem will keep on giving for a good long while yet.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: AvolitionBrit on January 17, 2023, 08:22:54 pm

Well said, i enjoy the variety of tone and storytelling we have had. I hope it continues to be a fruitful world.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Maloy on January 17, 2023, 08:23:17 pm

Your writing is smooth like butter, Unraveller. I really enjoyed your post.

Also fun to read this along with others paired in different time periods but dealing with the same issue.

Made me realize that the High Confederacies Kothvir was from is where the wolf-lord's story mostly takes place and changed a lot at the end of my turn.

I enjoy this adventure game so much and honestly I have the most selfish desire when it comes to steam release:
That by the time steam release has come out we've totally used up this world in every way and it simply could not continue anyway!

Is there an expected release date for that update already?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Lurker Z on January 17, 2023, 08:52:52 pm

Nobody stops us from having two Museums in parallel. All of us might not buy the Steam version either (I haven't so far).

I think there's still a lot to do in Orid Xem, especially since it's a living world, our characters can have heirs with a little tweaking, which makes us be even more invested. Plus there's a lot of places we haven't investigated and a lot which can be created. I want this to last years at the least.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on January 18, 2023, 05:30:44 pm

"Moldath V", Part III, Turn 99

The Deep Abyss

28th Slate 937

I travel east for some time, leaving Realmspire behind... I arrive in the sinister foothills of the Hill of Bogs, north-easterly of the great tundra. Zombie ravens ignore me as I travel, and I make out an imposing obsidian structure on the horizon. Could this be the work of the rumoured Abyssal Cult? Snow-caked hideous wormy tendrils grasp from the earth... foul lidless eyes unblinking before me.  I spot what appear to be pressure plate traps all around me.. what is this place? Half-submerged iron grates are scattered haphazardly, belching the unmistakeable brimstone stench of magma. What infernal structure could they lead to?

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/I3cp56v.png)

I explore the snow-covered landscape; it seems there are no living souls to be found. There are dozens of similar iron grates, all surrounded by pressure plates. Some kind of complex trap system designed to douse the unwary in hot spurts of molten rock?
I arrive at a huge large delta-shaped building hewn of black stone, surrounded by the remains of many dingoes and long-dead human skeletons. It looks oddly familiar, like the vault of Coverashes? Something very grim is going on here and I intend to find out exactly what it is.
The well crafted iron door is strangely unlocked, and creaks ominously as I push it open.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/XYW3xlr.png)

The first sight that greets my rotten eyes is a well crafted statue of Cog Wildnesswork, entitled The Goal of Sweltering. Cog is holding aloft the slab Shadowbury. This is all wrong. Shadowbury was gifted to Oddom Girdergrove. Cog was gifted The Fragrant Burial.
How curious - the same mistake was made by the necromancer scholar I met in Northmanor four decades ago, Catten Elderbasements. Could these two places be related? I hope the Cult of Ramparts are not in league with these lunatics.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/Wf0rlp9.png)

(Large image)

The other two statues are no less intriguing, if macabre. The second is dedicated to Gopet the Putrid Cyst, human deity of death of Omon Obin, entitled The Vision of Blighting - Gopet is striking down the human God of healing Otu Lovelycherished. The victory of blight over life? Thrall worshippers? The third is most concerning - it depcits in vivid detail the noble law-giver Jas Gloryage being devoured by humans, entitled The Permanent Doom of Silver. It seems I have stumbled upon yet another necromancer coven. This must be the shadowy Abyssal Cult I have heard furtive whispers of. It is said they even launched an ill-fated assault on Silverthrone many years ago. There is a cancer at the heart of the Realm of Silver, both this place and Realmspire are proof. I press forward.

I travel through the eerily quiet obsidian corridors, until I chance upon a lever, marked Solitary Confinement. Of course, I pull it. I forge onwards through the endless maze. Deeper into the structure the walls are hastily hewn from black sand, or marble, or sandstone. Dank mushrooms sprout in the silence.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/jqdU8ZG.png)

I sense lifeblood pulsing through the cold, damp walls... but I have reached a dead end. How frustrating. I must retrace my steps or be lost in this labyrinth forever.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/KLvaF65.png)

Finally I find another being - I almost tumble into a human thresher blighted thrall! I have discovered the so-called "solitary confinement" - rough hewn cells where thralls have been kept prisoner! I put the beasts out of their misery. I retrace my steps through this huge complex. The thrum of machinery is everywhere, and the few peasants I find cannot answer my questions. I leave this place none the wiser.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/S7u8fSS.png)

The Journey North

1st Felsite 937

Leaving Abyssdeeps, I continue on my travels in the rough northwesterly direction, intending to visit Treatyseed in my search for the false King. I decide to pay my old green friends in Dreadruled a visit. The place is teaming with trolls and beak dogs but atop the keep, I find a few goblins and some strange weapons - Fedlilacs the bronze axe and Oceanbald the Decision of Teeth. These weapons have been wielded by the demon Dreamypuzzled the Tenebrous Obscurity centuries ago...

2nd Felsite 937

Travelling west I find myself in the scattered hamlets around Growlsuppers. Arriving at noon in Moltenpelts, I hear a commotion in the mead hall. Heavily armed goblin bandits are being attacked by blighted thralls. There is only one solution here.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/2JwF5X1.png)

4th Felsite 937

I skim past Boltspumpkin and head towards Ironwards - rumours of another demon incursion triggered by foolhardy adventurers are confirmed when I am ambushed by Flygrave the weasel demon. Its flesh is rotten and it is spattered with dwarf blood. I leap towards it as it begins spewing webs. A flick of my wrist paralyses it, and the artifact steel battle axe Osturist Obot Zaled cleaves its skull.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/V4EbOw1.png)

I have not travelled far when I feel a searing heat! An enormous boulder of flames strikes me and I am engulfed in unnatural demonfire! A clear brute has ambushed me and I am unable to block the fire with my shield. My flesh bubbles and crackles as I leap towards the threat, its enormous skull sundered by my axe as I fell.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/eWa6oPI.png)

I spot a murky pool to the south and rush towards it to douse the unholy fire consuming my body. I jump into the pool and am consumed in a burst of steam. The water around me boils and erupts as the flames are quenched.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/n0Hi5KP.png)

Dragging my sodden body out of the murky pool, I see a huge swathe of fire where the demon fell. Metal.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/VO68S3t.gif)

Arriving at Ironwards, I sense something is different. The lava moat runs dry, cold ash pocked with demon corpses where once the lifeblood of the moutain flowed. What has happened here?

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/9raLADB.png)

I pace the silent halls, gathering the skeletons of the dwarves who fell here. The forges run cold. I place the fallen kin in their cold coffins and descend to the steps where I first noticed the Rot. I forge ahead through a chokepoint of steel spears. I arrive at an iron staging ground on the slade caverns of hell, and venturing forth I seek out demons to slay.

A lizard devil sees through my stealth and grasps my skull in its great jaws! I feel the rank heat of his breath on my rotten skin as I paralyze him and cut myself free by slashing off his head. His hide will make a fine cloak!

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/aTLvM4T.png)

I spend some time crafting and embellishing my gear. I now have a masterwork adamantine short sword, which I took from Ashcinders, encircled by bands of masterfully worked weasel demon teeth. I bestow upon it the name Demonfang the Bloody Feast of Slaughter, and it will drink its fill of blood.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/oyv1Zl7.png)

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: AvolitionBrit on January 18, 2023, 06:16:20 pm

Another great post Kesperan, what a lovely adamantine sword. The more writting of Moldath the more of a legend he becomes. Is nothing but rot on bones, catches on fire but just goes for a quick dip. Looking forward to where this is going.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on January 18, 2023, 07:08:31 pm

Quote from: AvolitionBrit on January 18, 2023, 06:16:20 pm

Another great post Kesperan, what a lovely adamantine sword. The more writting of Moldath the more of a legend he becomes. Is nothing but rot on bones, catches on fire but just goes for a quick dip. Looking forward to where this is going.

I was lucky there was water nearby. For some reason I could not walk while on fire. I kept getting "You are melting!" messages, but I was able to jump. Jumped into the murky pool and the water started evaporating due to the heat. Thats why there are 5s and 6s in the water pool. Not something I had experienced before but very cool!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Unraveller on January 18, 2023, 07:32:00 pm

Wow. . . Now I wish I went to Abyssdeeps on any of my adventures, there's gotta be more sinister stuff to find.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: TheFlame52 on January 18, 2023, 08:53:09 pm

The weapons wielded by Dreamypuzzled should be in the Museum, but they teleported back there after I retired my adventurer.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Maloy on January 19, 2023, 04:38:31 am

Reading you having to fling yourself into water was funny, but also fighting a demon while being on fire yourself and leaving a blazing inferno behind you was epic!


Also I forgot to say that I wanted back on the turn rotation, Bralbaard!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on January 19, 2023, 07:59:59 am

Quote from: Unraveller on January 18, 2023, 07:32:00 pm

Wow. . . Now I wish I went to Abyssdeeps on any of my adventures, there's gotta be more sinister stuff to find.

Yeah, I suspect there’s even more going on that I didn’t get a chance to explore.

I’d imagine an adventurer with a lower Observer skill might have had a more !!FUN!! experience with those pressure plates…

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: AvolitionBrit on January 20, 2023, 02:02:09 pm

So came across this interesting event. Kasat Decentcherish the Angelic Consideration (The Armored Confederacy goddess of consolation)  had destroyed a masterwork iron low boot. Not sure who was playing at the time but anyone know what is up?

(https://i.imgur.com/kMjAYYq.png)

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on January 20, 2023, 02:10:29 pm

I've seen a few references in LV to gods destroying various things. I think it is a weird LV bug.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: AvolitionBrit on January 20, 2023, 02:18:07 pm

Ah, well i think its funny to think that the gods are just doing minor acts like that to mess with people. Imagine your almost 200 year old masterwork shoe getting destoryed by seemingly nothing.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Lurker Z on January 20, 2023, 02:22:06 pm

I've mentioned this a few months ago, it seems when someone melts a masterwork item in fortress mode, or destroys one in any other way, or probably even muddies a masterwork engraving, some part of the code (I assume it's part of Dwarf Fortress proper rather than LV) assigns a creature that has been worshiped to its destruction: this includes dragons or rocs. My theory is that it's supposed to be the overseer blaming worshiped creatures so the overseer doesn't get lynched themselves.

It's a weird mechanic regardless. Maybe it's just some duct-tape improvisation to stop the game from crashing when a masterwork item is destroyed, who knows.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on January 21, 2023, 05:31:05 am

Quote from: Quantum Drop on January 17, 2023, 03:20:51 pm

I've also noticed that the graphics for the save seem to have gone a little wonky. (Goblins going from 'g' tiles to 'ù', wall tiles changing colours and symbols, etc.) Anyone know what's up with that and how to fix it?

How’s the turn going QD? Did you solve the raw corruption?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Quantum Drop on January 21, 2023, 08:03:39 am

Quote from: kesperan on January 21, 2023, 05:31:05 am

How’s the turn going QD? Did you solve the raw corruption?

Finished off the adventure mode bit, now going to do some things in fort mode. Should have the save up by Monday 23rd at the latest. As for the graphics issue, I managed to solve it by replacing the turn 102 (current turn) raw folder with turn 97's raw folder - tried with those from turns 101-98 on a backup save and those didn't seem to solve it.

A quick note, though: while visiting Boltspumpkin late in my turn I found a bunch of items - including Museum exhibits - had scattered around/outside the site. I've done what I can to get them back in place (collected them, put them back on pedestals or in containers on pedestals), but I'm not sure why they scattered or if I got them all. Might be something to keep an eye out for in case it happens again.

EDIT: It also seems that any scattered containers' contents have been scattered as well - Skullcarried, Stargaze the Knowledge of Worlds, Heartstolen, and Aril's backpack with the 13 books in are all empty, though their books are almost certainly somewhere in the soup of scattered items.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on January 21, 2023, 09:08:36 am

This happened on my last turn too! I spent a long time putting everything I could find back on pedestals and containers, so it’s not unique to your turn.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: AvolitionBrit on January 21, 2023, 09:35:49 am

Yeah i had the same, found several exhibits just lying out in the front of the musuem.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Quantum Drop on January 21, 2023, 09:40:14 am

Okay, that was weird. Moment I left the area the exhibits were stored, they seemingly re-scattered. I definitely put Okirramtak, Ruination Within Reason, and the figure of THE WORM on constructed pedestals, but when I left Boltspumpkin to pick up the rest of the scattered artefacts they'd scattered again (though containers seemed unaffected this time; books were still in the chest I used to store them all.)

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: TheFlame52 on January 21, 2023, 09:53:34 am

Is Galka's bag of rocks empty? Finding all those small rocks is going to be pretty hard.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Unraveller on January 21, 2023, 10:26:35 am

Hm. No one embarked over Boltspumkin or Reclaimed it in there turn?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Quantum Drop on January 21, 2023, 10:34:15 am

Quote from: Unraveller on January 21, 2023, 10:26:35 am

Hm. No one embarked over Boltspumkin or Reclaimed it in there turn?

Looking at it in LV, there's something labelled "Important Location" on the same map tile as the Museum, with almost the same position (X 274, Y 1970 for Boltspumpkin, X 273 Y 1970 for "Important Location".) And since all the items seem to consistently scatter about one screen north-west of Boltspumpkin, I'm guessing that's where the "Important Location" is.

EDIT: For a bit of context, here's an image I took when finding this out:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/yF3vAuj.png)

(That tower down in the bottom right is Boltspumpkin's north-west corner. Okirramtak is on the lower z-level.)

Quote from: TheFlame52 on January 21, 2023, 09:53:34 am

Is Galka's bag of rocks empty? Finding all those small rocks is going to be pretty hard.

Yeah, the Revered Rock-Sack is empty. I've had a long look around the place and I can't find where the rocks have gone, same as Heartstolen's contents (which is now empty, no demon hearts in it).

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Unraveller on January 21, 2023, 10:49:02 am

There might be a flag one can flip in gui/gm-editor should one be able to navigate to the specific site. However I'm certain that it would be unlabeled.

'Important Locations' seem like they often come up around player-made camps. Maybe someone attempted that at the castle?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Bralbaard on January 21, 2023, 12:06:36 pm

Dfhack has the " lair" command to prevent item scatter, we used it a lot in the previous games. Not sure if it works from adventure mode.

I remember we had item scatter on the very first turn as well, but after that it was gone for a long time.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Maloy on January 21, 2023, 02:05:21 pm

Yeah they were in a similar spot on my turn as well. I just presumed it was normal.

I was hoping if I left all the items I dropped off there INSIDE the backpack then they'd be safe. I hope bral's parts are alright

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on January 21, 2023, 08:45:10 pm

Quote from: Quantum Drop on January 21, 2023, 10:34:15 am

Quote from: Unraveller on January 21, 2023, 10:26:35 am

Hm. No one embarked over Boltspumkin or Reclaimed it in there turn?

Looking at it in LV, there's something labelled "Important Location" on the same map tile as the Museum, with almost the same position (X 274, Y 1970 for Boltspumpkin, X 273 Y 1970 for "Important Location".) And since all the items seem to consistently scatter about one screen north-west of Boltspumpkin, I'm guessing that's where the "Important Location" is.

Does this mean someone turned Boltspumpkin into a camp? If so, does that make it easier to toggle the Lair command?

If anyone knows how to fix it I would bet on Unraveller. Their DFHack kung fu is strong.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Lurker Z on January 22, 2023, 08:26:45 am

It must be a bug, surely. I didn't experience any problems during my turn and everything was where I remembered it being. That leaves kesperan, who obviously didn't do it, otherwise he wouldn't ask, Maloy, who was surprised as us all, and Wonderpsycho, who I think never even reached Boltspumpkin. And my two forts were literally on the other side of the world, I never even made a camp, I just took over Pik and Desli's one to the far north-west.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Maloy on January 22, 2023, 09:24:35 am

Entry Four

The stockroom was rundown and had a couple of holes in it's ceiling. It wasn't really a stockroom either. It was a house that had been abandoned since even before Maloy had been in the town and so he decided to claim it for his purposes. Sacks of gold, silver and copper coins laid in neat piles across the room with the occasional gemstone knife amongst them: It was all the loot from the villages he had cleaned out.

They had no use in a world in collapse. Society had retreated entirely into a trade and barter system and most people kept the coins as mementos and collectibles, but Arthur had an idea: Keep the coins and hand them out to anybody at all. Soldiers, workers, even people just looking for a loan and just keep giving it out to reforge it's value and use as a tradeable item.
Course Arthur wasn't here and he was the one good with economics and numbers. So Maloy was scrawling on paper all the numbers messily. It severely hurt his brain to do this sort of work, but there was no one else and he had really called on Arthur too much over the years.

"This is the sort of work for an underling" The ear groaned interrupting Maloy's math and requiring him to start over on a particular line.
"Can't keep handing everything I hate doing off to somebody else" He responded simply
"One day our treasures will fill an entire castle" Maloy grimaced at the thought of that although the ear seemed to be in one of it's dreamy wanderings of the future. Who could blame it?
"That sounds like far too much work" Maloy said and the Ear jumped on the comment "That's why you give this to underlings! You think I did bookkeeping?"
Maloy put the quill down "Did you ever lose anything?"
"Absolutely not!" The ear beamed triumphantly
"How do you know you didn't?"
"What?"
"How do you know you didn't lose anything? Someone else did your books and could have just been stealing from you the whole time or making mistakes."
"Th-That would never happen!" The ear continued with a tirade about the absolute loyalty of it's subjects while Maloy was able to ignore him now. Maloy had won the round even if the ear insisted on the final word.

From there the wolf and ear settled into a routine: They'd spend the first half of the day in a village clearing it of blight victims. Maloy would lose extremities that would regenerate later. It seemed the goddess of torture was getting her wish with him.

The second half of the day was spent burning bodies and gathering treasure before sleeping in the forest at night to pick up the same routine the next day. Villages that were totally destroyed were claimed by the wolf-lord to be administered and resettled personally through him. This was the case for practically every village, but a few notable exceptions.
Clenchedportent was the new capital of the High Confederacies. The lawmaker and all other nobles were present in it's mead hall although they seemed to have no military. It was a cordial meeting.
Incenseorder was an entirely human town that had no dwarf presence, but it was actually historically a Walled Dye settlement. Legally speaking Maloy was a Dwarf-Lord.
Of course the High Confederacies relied on the town for essential trade and so could do nothing and with the blight and the destruction of their military? Maloy had no reason to not leave these men to rule this village.
Lakestrot was still vibrant. The blight had only just reached it and Maloy cut it out, at the cost of his teeth again, but it was good to know Incenseorder wasn't alone.
Busyshank was occupied by a military force that had rooted out the blight in the area. This was exciting for both the ear and Maloy who needed more manpower desperately. He was only able to convince one warrior to join him for the time being though.


Wandering empty villages was depressing. dirt roads long undisturbed, collapsed houses and just quiet. Was there anyone alive for this future kingdom the ear prattled on about? He saw a pack of wolves digging through a house and decided to see if they'd receive a distant cousin

(https://i.imgur.com/Cmr5cpj.png)
they did not.

Another castle was found, although abandoned now. Corpses strewn all about "They died before they could turn" whispered the Ear
Within the castle was a terrifying creature sitting upon a throne:
(https://i.imgur.com/JUcrZD3.png)

Maloy had not fought a blight victim yet that had been a warrior and had armor. They fought speed for speed. The empowered wolf-lord and the thrall-warrior would each trade five blows before the warrior behind Maloy could even land one. The thrall would swing slamming a blow into her and pushing her back while Maloy kept swinging and blocking, but she never gave up. Likely the only reason Maloy won was because of the woman taking attacks from the thrall meant for Maloy, but alas both thrall and warrior died to blood loss.
"There's far too few people left in this world for the loss of this woman's life to be acceptable" Maloy lamented as he carried bodies to the soon to be pyre
"Until I am restored and can stop it you must do anything you can to slow it's advance"
"How does one stop the blight?"
"One spreads it. We've seen his personal thralls. Those missing heads or other parts that should not have survived their transformation. They were infected after death being brought back"
"Is that what we're doing with you? Are we releasing something else on the world?"
"There's no joy in ruling a destroyed world, otherwise I would have returned home. That should comfort you more than any promise I make"
surprisingly, it did.

From there Maloy fought alone. Beachstood was his last village and it had a pair of surgeons with knives having turned a house into a mess of gore. They seemed to be operating on a blight victim that had lost it's head at this point. Maloy creeped into view for them and they turned. Also blight victims.
This was the closest battle. The creatures were substantially faster than any other victims and would spin and dodge out of every hit despite the fact that Maloy had no mastered swordsmanship. One would dodge out of the way and the other surgeon surged in and sliced and forced Maloy to block or dodge himself. It took him an hour to kill one through a repeated stabs to her liver until she bled out.
The second had cut out one of Maloy's eyes. Maloy stabbed again and again taking out the heart and lung as blood gushed from the creature's foul chest.
A flash. Maloy saw his right arm go flying off still holding his sword. For a moment he could see the alligator that swallowed his foot.

He fell to the ground with blood spurting everywhere as the surgeon closed. It would soon die and it might even know that as it moved to end him.
Maloy rolled and crawled away totally helpless. The floor already covered in blood received a new layer as he crawled across helplessly dodging the faster creature as it stabbed him in his spine and cut one of his feet off. It raised the knife and he wondered if this was where his dream ended.

It collapsed on top of him from blood loss.

Census Report:
Mastered Griffon: 5 Survivors
Homeagemoons: 2 1
CrushedSmile: 0
ClenchedPortent: 8 (all nobles of the High Confederacies)
Bindviper: 0
Rubbeddwelling: 0
Brightnessmatches: 0 (resettled with 10 gremlins)
Granitehoods: 0
Suitorroom: 0
Lakestrot: 16 survivors
Dimplesubmerge: 0
Fountainnamed: 0
Partnerankle: 3
Raintouched: 0
Wrathcrafts: 0
Beachstood: 2
The new "Kingdom" of the wolf-lord was a mere 37 survivors(not including the nobles of the High Confederacies who would never be part of his reign)
It all seemed so vain to Maloy and so pointless. Following his many triumphs he gained a title: The Barricaded
The southern border would be the castle of Lord Juvar who was to be left undisturbed and would serve as a reasonable buffer to southern invasion
The eastern border was the hillocks of Granitehood
North-western was the monastery of Couragespray where Maloy was cursed
(https://i.imgur.com/AQlu4gP.jpg)


Meanwhile
The return trip was filled with much excitement between the four and was still full of cheer despite the many detours their wagon carrying the dragon had to make.
Arthur and Mirai didn't address the change in their relationship and they might well wait decades before they did, as such was a relaxing amount of time for elves, or maybe never? They were some of the only elves in this part of the world. What was between the two of them seemed like it didn't need to be said to anyone else.

 On their way back north they found something interesting. A hand sat in the jungle by a river and did...nothing? But it was clearly reanimated as it occasionally motioned things with it's fingers.
Mirai had an arrow at the ready as Arthur recalled "This is the way the hermit from the tower asked us not to go when going southways. He must have known about this creature"
"I've had enough undead to last a life time. Let's shoot this one and be on our way" Said the she-elf
"No. I think this might be important. Let's take it with us" The team spent a good hour chasing the hand across the jungle before finally stuffing it into a cage and putting it into the wagon.
At one particular junction as the jungle gave way for the northern tundra Mirai asked the two humans to take over the wagon as she went forward to join Arthur at the front of the group
"This adventure has been exciting, hasn't it?" she said as he placed a hand on his back
"It really has although I'm surprised we are still alive!"
"Yes, the whole thing is...morbid isn't it? Why are we gathering the parts of this dead dwarf? It can't be for anything other than necromancy"
"I fear you're correct and it seems as if a lot of effort was put forth to prevent this dwarf from being brought back."
"It's an abomination, Arthur. We've seen with our own eyes the horrors necromancy has done to this world. I have stuck close to our friend over the years and he has always been strange, but what if he truly has lost it? How long are wolf-men supposed to live anyway? He's far too old"
Arthur assumed a pensive posture "I don't want to turn against Maloy. Let's just trust he has the best of intentions and be ready to support him if something goes wrong"
Arthur expected a sharp retort from Mirai, but instead she seemed calm as she spoke "I trust you. When this is over can we keep doing this?"
"I'm sure Maloy will have any number of half-mad tasks for us to help with" Arthur laughed, but Mirai remained serious "No I don't wanna wander the lands unearthing bodies or doing such questionable things. I want to explore with you and see all the beautiful sights in this world."
They were both quiet for awhile "We'll see" Arthur said. In the distance ahead of them a blizzard loomed


Herograves was a serene sight. The many burial sites were well-placed and maintained despite the location seeming uninhabited. Whoever built it seemed to be a kind soul. The coffin they sought was not amongst them nor the pile of empty ones in the adjacent building. The forest had books lying around and after looking at one or two Arthur decided they didn't interest him and left them, but as they turned the corner they saw the books disappear!
They wandered the forest for hours and whenever they'd see a book, or weapon on the ground and turn the corner it would disappear completely! "This is the enchantment that old human mentioned!" Arthur exclaimed
They spent hours wandering the forest before finding a stone sarcophagus, but they had to go around a tree to reach it and then it disappeared. Hours turned into days as they wandered the forest only finding the sarcophagus once more before it disappeared again.
Arthur decided to call on his merchant contacts in the form of the Walled Dye who had many connections and citizens in the region. Seven dwarves agreed to help them search the forest together for free in fact, which immediately aroused suspicion in Arthur but none of the others. In fact, there was only one price. The dwarves would take over Herograves.
While suspicious to Arthur's merchant senses it also wasn't a loss for him so he accepted.
Mirai and Arthur climbed to the top of trees and helped spot the many treasures lost to Herograves magic. Weapons, armor, books and the sarcophagus and finally a dwarf caught it. He opened it and saw the mangled head of a dwarf. If the head was in better condition he might recognize whose grave he just defiled, but the dwarf did not and placed the head upon a pedestal for the elves to find.
This and Arthur's deftness with the spear earned him a title: The Light Eagle

Meanwhile

Maloy did not know where he was. It was a dwarven city and that much was clear, but it was long abandoned and covered in dust. How did he arrive here?
He wandered halls for hours and found only the occasional spiderweb made by some giant beast. He feared encountering that beast here and redoubled his efforts to find a way out. He did not know the time, but eventually he became too tired and rested.
(https://i.imgur.com/cedg6hj.png)

He awoke and totally forgot where he was. The halls he had wandered and memorized the day before were forgotten and now he had to start over trying to narrow down the way through. He was sprinting up and down halls desperate to find the way out. He found a dwarf and had to chase him around the fortress before the dwarf stopped to rest and noticed him.

The dwarf seemed blissfully unaware of the fact that they were both trapped in a maze. The mad dwarf prattled away about his mayorship, but when asked about anything about the outside world or access denied any knowledge!
(https://i.imgur.com/zB55eDh.png)

Maloy left him eager to find a way out and not waste too much time. He began to grow tired but pressed on and did so for many hours until he was on the verge of collapse. If he didn't sleep soon he would simply fall over.
He found one of the countless empty bedrooms. No beds so it looked more like a cell. He ate more of his dwindling food supply and passed out.

The next day he had forgotten the whole design again and had to start over.
This time he spent his day chasing the mad dwarf around thinking "Surely this mad man will pass an exit at some point?" the ear was silent and refused to speak with him no matter how urgently he pressed at it.
He chased the dwarf all day and eventually the dwarf simply laid down in the hallway and fell asleep. Maloy sat and seriously considered ending the dwarf, but then he would be alone. He went to sleep too with only enough food left for two more days.

When he awoke the dwarf was gone. He wandered the maze all day and the next ending his food supply and he was at the edge of sanity. Locked in total darkness with the webs of some giant beast filling the corners and a mad dwarf running about.
He sat and wept. He did not hear the dwarf approach, but the dwarf spoke in a different far deeper voice. "Why do you seek to leave?"
"I'm going to die here. I want to just go home"
"Home?" the creature paused "This is your home. You've never left this place before nor will you"
Maloy looked up "No. I'm Maloy Craftsroars Lord of Incenseorder. That is my home!"
"No. You've always been here. You've always been here with me and you always will be"
Maloy woke up
He was in the forest north of Incenseorders. Memory returned. He had fallen asleep in his werefox form and must have transformed back while sleeping. He got up and retrieved his equipment from the tree left it in.


The Most Sin had attempted to move into the abandoned villages in the recent weeks. One chief wandered right into a placed filled with blight and he and his men were all turned. They killed the villagers, but began pillaging the area and put Maloy through a miserable battle before he killed them and claimed the village.
Another had moved in leading an expedition of monks to conquer his far south-eastern border.
Maloy killed the chieftess and the monks acknowledged his rulership leading him to spare them.

His real excitement though was his own idea he was implementing. He showed up at the tavern to see. Humans and the occasional dwarf were prattling stories and the occasional song here at the location of the new Bard's College!
There were practically no artists left alive in the world and it would be many years before anyone could do anything other than farm and fight, but he could still do this.

Those who dreamed of creativity would have their chance to train here. It suited him more to help other artists since his own skills were sorely lacking.

He assumed his roost at the southern watchtower, a remnant of a previous goblin occupation centuries previous, and saw travelers in the distance heading to the town. Two elves.

"They're here!" Maloy was ecstatic to see his friends
"Yes, in a matter of days I will be free" the ear purred
Maloy grew solemn "Yes. free."





OOC:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

So recall that Maloy has a bug related to his werefox form. If he loses a limb, becomes a werefox and then turns back it initiates a game breaking bug that affects anyone in the same area as him. So I have to regenerate after battles if I'm 100% sure I'll survive it! This roleplay wise turned out to work great because he was cursed by the goddess of torture and he suffers intense physical agony regularly in his blight purging


The census is accurate according to Maloy's experience and not the legendsviewer and so the blight has been culled in that area, but I would not venture to say that it is entirely gone.

Those surgeons gave me a heart attack. It was the LAST VILLAGE before I was done and there I was about to die on the ground spurting blood everywhere

I thought that Maloy was unable to get hearthpersons due to a glitch since he is the undisputed lord of multiple places now and everyone would tell me no. I realize now in retrospect it's because I had already reached the maximum number! I regularly found patrols of people coming from Incenseorder and patrolling the lands. They're my hearthpersons even though I did not recruit them myself! So I can't recruit more, because of that. It was great and encouraging seeing! Incenseorder is a very diverse place now species wise

One of Moldath's legendary weapons is in Herograves and teleports by the way

I switched between Arthur and Maloy basically whenever one story started to seem dull to me, and so when I unretired Maloy for some reason he was in that fortress that I couldn't find an exit. I don't know why he was there or what he was doing, but he really was there!
It worked though because everything there was pretty symbolic of his story to me

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Lurker Z on January 22, 2023, 10:39:00 am

I really need to get up to speed with the posts, I've read your OOC but I haven't read the story. It sounds like the regenerating makes for an interesting effect story-wise.

As for not finding an exit from the inside of the fortress, yes, I've encountered that. In fact, there are only a few NPC dwarf fortresses that actually have an exit. I can confirm at least the capital Ilrallenod and the Curios Horror-claimed Shadmalzuglar (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Shadmalzuglar) have one. I'm not sure if this is a bug or if it's how Toady wanted it to be.

From my observations, it seems events that happen during World Generation/World Activation don't take into account elevation, that's why the invading army in the Battle of Cemoshtoral (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Battle_of_Cemoshtoral) got mauled by a forgotten beast that's not on the map when you reclaim Cemoshtoral, because the fortress only has 5 levels and never hit the caves.

The big problem with keeping Mabkor populated (or any settlement, for that matter) is the age of the creatures who you bring in. If the world lives for at least 50 more years, most of the people you brought in will die of old age and the replenishment of historical figures is random across the world. A lot of groups and religions died out because the game didn't care to give them historical figures to replace their dead rulers. Only the big religions survive, which I suppose is a step in the right direction. Even if you bring immortal creatures, that's not a guarantee the town will remain populated, as they'll be called to the capital in the Law-Giver/King/Queen's court and depopulate your town. Even immortal creatures will leave - and not even to the capital. The two immortal elves I brought to Iroram went on their own not even to a player fort, but to found a hillock, along with some of the reptile people.

There is the major issue that the breeding in World Activation is abysmal. Outside fortress mode, there are born at most 10 creatures per decade, and that's my highest estimate. Humans born outside fortress mode are all but nonexistent, the only two examples I've seen were of traveling companions of adventurers. Goblins are even bugged that they birth (Unnamed) children, like animals.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Quantum Drop on January 22, 2023, 11:04:19 am

Save: https://dffd.bay12games.com/file.php?id=16379. Currently sized at 417 MB using the ‘Best’ compression setting on WinRAR.

As a side note, does anyone know if there’s a way of creating noble positions at a human fortress? I kept running into problems due to there being no positions there and no way to create them or assign people to them.

Spoiler: Misc. Notes (click to show/hide)

Abyssdeeps has a couple new bits for those curious about it, but I’m probably not going to build it up much more due to several factors causing my PC to become a potato whenever I try to work on it.  (TL;DR: Holes in the magma pipe leading to the caverns + flawed Magma landmine system across an oversized embark = https://i.imgur.com/OdLMSfR.jpg). Going to try building a new Abyssdeeps as an 'add-on' to the existing one next turn as a result.

After some testing in a backup save, DFHack’s Lair command seems to be executable in adventure mode, so hopefully that can be used to deal with the item scattering issue at Boltspumpkin.

The Heir of Silver briefly visited Abyssdeeps before “leaving unhappy”, presumably due to the fort being inaccessible to caravans.

Good luck with your turn, AvolitionBrit!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Lurker Z on January 22, 2023, 11:13:33 am

You recovered the diacritics! That means it was from the borked raws after all.

Did you try to export it to LV? Because I have some problems...

(https://i.imgur.com/fdROI0S.png)
Do I have to export these things separately now?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Quantum Drop on January 22, 2023, 11:43:38 am

Quote from: Lurker Z on January 22, 2023, 11:13:33 am

You recovered the diacritics! That means it was from the borked raws after all.

Did you try to export it to LV? Because I have some problems...

(https://i.imgur.com/fdROI0S.png)
Do I have to export these things separately now?

I didn't try exporting it to legends. Give me a second and I'll have a crack at doing an exportlegends all on the copy I have here.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: AvolitionBrit on January 22, 2023, 12:00:21 pm

that sometimes happens if you aren't on the legends homescreen and you are in a subarea like artifacts, of x era. Downloading and giving it a look

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Lurker Z on January 22, 2023, 12:20:02 pm

You're right, I was in the Sites menu. I re-extracted and it worked, thanks.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Unraveller on January 22, 2023, 02:30:06 pm

Quote from: Quantum Drop on January 22, 2023, 11:04:19 am

As a side note, does anyone know if there’s a way of creating noble positions at a human fortress? I kept running into problems due to there being no positions there and no way to create them or assign people to them.

So the way the game handles human positions is by way of a hardcoded internal generation. I had to do some complex maneuvering with df-hack to create the top-level 'Realm of Silver' type positions. Hence why if you look at the civ on Legends Viewer it will display all of Silverthrone's 'commanders'.

The issue is that child groups underneath a civ - site governenments and the like, don't inherit these positions due to the way they're handled. You can give these groups positions by editing the entity_default raws and adding them in, there's tutorials all over that explain how to do this, however, I'm not certain if the world having already been generated will care about any of those changes. If not, you'll have to add positions to a group individually with dfhack, and that's a whole can of worms using the gm-editor.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: AvolitionBrit on January 22, 2023, 04:02:03 pm

Entry 1 - The Discovery

It had been years i spent in the darkness of lawtaker, few visitors. A strange hammer i vaguly recalled from a blind sadist and humans have started to return. A group of seven came to me and told me that they would do anything to rebuild the empire. I sent them to a site, to find the two lost secrets. It had been some weeks since then when a greasy haired girl came to me.
(https://i.imgur.com/k1V40OW.jpg)
She spoke of one of my missing secrets, it had been discovered. A series of writtings made by a husk of a necromancer. I instructed her to lead me to them, a few days travel and we had reached the site.

She and her companions had done it, they had collected all the writtings i need and then i saw it.

I read from it, one more secret left.

Spoiler: Secrets have awoken (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/OBfA2Ih.jpg)

But unfortunatly my condition deteriorates. I felt myself weaking, i lost myself in the moment. Another outburst. My poor guide Jeha, such a loyal and noble citizen.

I hope she makes it. But severe blood loss in The Pristine Tundras is a leathal combination for sure. But im wasting time, the celestial alignment is fast approaching.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on January 22, 2023, 04:42:06 pm

Argh dammit Avolition you beat me to it!

I think I know what you’ve done because I was going to do it too!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Bralbaard on January 22, 2023, 06:04:04 pm

Ah interesting to read in Unraveller's latest entry that his adventurers are preparing to finally throw these dark secrets in the abyss, only to have the work come undone before it is started by other adventurers. Another dark secret has been unleashed.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Unraveller on January 22, 2023, 07:35:45 pm

Quote from: Bralbaard on January 22, 2023, 06:04:04 pm

Ah interesting to read in Unraveller's latest entry that his adventurers are preparing to finally throw these dark secrets in the abyss, only to have the work come undone before it is started by other adventurers. Another dark secret has been unleashed.

It was entirely my plan to locate the missing two slabs and cast them into the abysm that Raki Umberclans disappeared in before they could be realized. Alas!

Doesn't make me any less curious to see what will come of these discoveries!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Maloy on January 22, 2023, 08:55:15 pm

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Quote from: Lurker Z on January 22, 2023, 10:39:00 am

The big problem with keeping Mabkor populated (or any settlement, for that matter) is the age of the creatures who you bring in. If the world lives for at least 50 more years, most of the people you brought in will die of old age and the replenishment of historical figures is random across the world. A lot of groups and religions died out because the game didn't care to give them historical figures to replace their dead rulers. Only the big religions survive, which I suppose is a step in the right direction. Even if you bring immortal creatures, that's not a guarantee the town will remain populated, as they'll be called to the capital in the Law-Giver/King/Queen's court and depopulate your town.

Yeah you right! My last turn I started in the elven forest retreats because I was hoping to populate the town with immortals, but literally everyone said no except like three guys
Contrast that with the dwarves who all said something along the lines of "Anything is better than this hell hole. Let's go!"

I've seen new natural residents in Incenseorder simply through that Maloy has now lived past a human life-span. I've even dragged the old timers bodies to a nearby watch tower as an unofficial graveyard, but they seemed to have been replaced.

IDK how that'll work with my hand-picked migrants though. Odds are high that they'll just die and the town is empty like you said, but they did already shock me with how many of them picked up jobs and positions in my domain while some simply left. Still don't know how the AI reasons that

I may start a small fort near the wolf-kingdom(I think that is what I'll call it) and just make it a population sink for me to go and recruit migrants from.
Also if you pull up the Impervious Wall(the government Maloy rules) the population is HUGE for this world. Kind of neat to me

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Lurker Z on January 22, 2023, 09:12:59 pm

I haven't looked in Mabkor's history specifically, but from my experience it goes something like this:
* You either bring in people or you talk to the "abstract" ones already in town and make them historical figures.
* Those people make no children, die of old age or leave.
* They usually leave for two reasons: either they're travelers (some AI seem to have that coded into them, up to the point it's almost a glitch; most of those are scholars by the way, I think Avolition, Kesperan and Unraveller have unleashed the most of those who just won't sit in one place and spam a location's entry until they die one way or another) or the game gives them group rulership titles. The game does this because it's too lazy to make new historical figures for those rulership titles.
* This is how, by the way, the damn thralls spread so far and wide. An abstract unimportant number gets infected by an adventurer (say, Hannibal). Until then they either didn't exist more than abstract numbers or existed in some quantum flux (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Quantum_flux) state. A historical creature who had a position in a group dies, and the game forces an existing historical figure (usually, but not always, from the same civilization) into that position. Cue blighted thralls in all populated places of the world.

Well, there's no harm in trying. Maybe something great will come of it. It's an interesting mechanic to explore, if nothing else.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Unraveller on January 22, 2023, 09:26:54 pm

It may be some df-hackery, but this tends to be why I use it to marry many residents of my fortresses, and have a few children. Hoping that doing so will increase the chance of continued population.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Eric Blank on January 22, 2023, 10:58:40 pm

What is the df-hackery for that, by the way?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on January 22, 2023, 11:28:08 pm

I think it’s down to modifying entity relationships in gm-editor rather than a specific script in DFhack.

I did find a very effective pregnancy generator script though. It works in adventure mode too, and the parents don’t even have to be the same species…

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Unraveller on January 23, 2023, 03:36:25 am

Quote from: Eric Blank on January 22, 2023, 10:58:40 pm

What is the df-hackery for that, by the way?

'gui/family-affairs' is a quick and painless way to marry units in fortress mode.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Sockmit2007 on January 25, 2023, 11:23:47 am

Does this have an open slot, am currently reading through the first one and got curious if the new one was still accepting.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Unraveller on January 25, 2023, 03:09:35 pm

Quote from: Sockmit2007 on January 25, 2023, 11:23:47 am

Does this have an open slot, am currently reading through the first one and got curious if the new one was still accepting.

Always accepting! Welcome aboard as far as I'm concerned,  though it might be a few weeks befoee your turn arrives.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Bralbaard on January 25, 2023, 03:26:01 pm

Might be a few months actually, looking at the list. But welcome aboard!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Sockmit2007 on January 25, 2023, 04:40:36 pm

I can wait a few months to contribute to the legend of the Museum, even if it is another corpse.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on January 26, 2023, 03:17:22 pm

Quote from: Sockmit2007 on January 25, 2023, 11:23:47 am

Does this have an open slot, am currently reading through the first one and got curious if the new one was still accepting.

Welcome to the Museum! Hope you enjoy the stories in the first game too!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: dikbutdagrate on January 26, 2023, 03:43:14 pm

Read through the rules, and am now down for a turn.

Presumably theres still stuff to find, yeah?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: AvolitionBrit on January 26, 2023, 03:55:38 pm

glad to see new faces wishing to join. Welcome

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Bralbaard on January 26, 2023, 06:11:46 pm

Quote from: dikbutdagrate on January 26, 2023, 03:43:14 pm

Read through the rules, and am now down for a turn.

Presumably theres still stuff to find, yeah?

There's plenty to do. World seems to stumbling from one crisis to the next, and there are dozens of player forts to explore. You're added to the list.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Quantum Drop on January 26, 2023, 06:24:21 pm

Great to see some new faces around here. Welcome to the Museum, and I hope your turns go well when they come around.

Also, that reminds me: I'd like to sign up for another turn, Bralbaard.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Bralbaard on January 27, 2023, 03:35:25 am

Done!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Sockmit2007 on January 27, 2023, 08:40:53 am

@kesperan
deus fusilis mors/dea?!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: AvolitionBrit on January 29, 2023, 01:17:49 pm

Even with best compression its still over the file size limit. Uploading onto google drive atm. Didn't you get the file size increased previously Bralbaard?

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Ykg6MkbaSL5pn-Z-ymU85Iy029HbsPcf/view?usp=sharing

Also chuck me back onto the list please.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Bralbaard on January 29, 2023, 02:18:03 pm

Quote from: AvolitionBrit on January 29, 2023, 01:17:49 pm

Even with best compression its still over the file size limit. Uploading onto google drive atm. Didn't you get the file size increased previously Bralbaard?

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Ykg6MkbaSL5pn-Z-ymU85Iy029HbsPcf/view?usp=sharing

Also chuck me back onto the list please.

I've got the save. If I compress the just extracted file using my own copy of Winrar (RAR format at best compression) it is only 423 mb, so it appears to be very software specific.
I have a possibly decades old freeware copy of winrar that expired long ago, but apparently it still does it's job . Aack scratch that, it does not do it's job, that archive it created was broken.

Anyhow that makes it my turn.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Lurker Z on January 29, 2023, 02:46:03 pm

Good luck, Bralbaard. Looking forward to what changed during Avolition's turn.

From my understanding, QD maximized compression by... saving the game without the LNP automatic compression... then actually archiving 3+giga... which somehow made the archive 420ish mega. Because Dwarf Fortress has gained sapience, we've talked about this, right? Anyway, that's a technique to use for those who don't have access to upload to other sites than DFFD for some reason.

Welcome to the newcomers, yes, I suppose there's still plenty to discover in the world. At the very least, there are the adventures to go from fortress to fortress admiring the artifacts, constructions etc. there. But we still have around half our forgotten beasts alive, so that might mean something.

Spoiler: Offtopic on diacritics. (click to show/hide)

I've narrowed down what breaks at least some diacritics. I've found the Name (https://dwarffortresswiki.org/index.php/DF2014:Name) page on the wiki and I've been able to successfully import Museum raws to an Archcrystal save that I suspected lost its diacritics (and I was right). I couldn't replace all the raws because they're not compatible with how old Archcrystal was in terms of real-life time, and also because some of the raws had been further manually modified to have the options in the newer versions (which culminated with LNP not working on the last save). Olngo for some reason still has no diacritics, so I can't confirm I found all the broken files. But besides the files listed in "Name", I also replaced

Code: [Select]

language_DWARF
language_ELF
language_GOBLIN
language_HUMAN
language_SYM
language_words
both in the "objects" folder and in "objects graphics".

Mind, this isn't a problem in the current game since QD fixed it, but since we've been discussing it some pages earlier, I thought I'd put this here for anyone interested.

Re: Filename is Museum III - Turn 102 - Complete - Copy in the 103 archive and I'm naming it Turn 104 for my own numbering convention.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Quantum Drop on January 29, 2023, 04:23:43 pm

I'll freely admit I might be wrong, but I think the LNP or something affiliated with it was indeed causing the archive growth.

Based on screenshots in the thread and my efforts to de-bork the graphics during turn 102, turn 97 seemed to be the most recent save without the LNP, with the saves after showing a mostly-consistent upward trend in archive size¹; this was followed by a sharp drop-off once I overwrote turn 102's raw folder with the (pre LNP) turn 97 raws.

Then again, I just did some testing with my turn 102 saves and all of them (both pre and post-raw overwrite) came out at about the same size (417-420 meg, using free WinRAR at "Best" compression and .RAR format), so it could just be Dwarf Fortress screwing with us again.

¹: Turn 97 - 457 MB (https://dffd.bay12games.com/file.php?id=16184); Turn 98 - *shrug*; Turn 99 - 479 MB (https://dffd.bay12games.com/file.php?id=16253); Turn 100  - 488 MB (https://dffd.bay12games.com/file.php?id=16305); Turn 101 - 479 MB (https://dffd.bay12games.com/file.php?id=16349); Turn 102 (raws overwritten w/ turn 97 raws) - 420 MB.

---

Other than that, I wish Bralbaard good luck in the upcoming turn and look forward to learning what Avolition did during theirs!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Maloy on January 29, 2023, 04:38:13 pm

I'm excited for avolition's report
and also excited to see what bralbaard get's up to especially since my turn was about getting him rolling again

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Lurker Z on January 29, 2023, 05:00:12 pm

QD, my take from this wasn't the raws, but the archiving methods LNP uses. The 457-488 leap is consistent, but the 420 is out there. We'll see how Bralbaard's will be, he plays with the game directly from Toady if I remember right, so there'll be no archiving-by-LNP.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Quantum Drop on January 29, 2023, 05:01:25 pm

Quote from: Lurker Z on January 29, 2023, 05:00:12 pm

QD, my take from this wasn't the raws, but the archiving methods LNP uses. The 457-488 leap is consistent, but the 420 is out there. We'll see how Bralbaard's will be, he plays with the game directly from Toady if I remember right, so there'll be no archiving-by-LNP.

Ah, right. I get where you were going now.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Bralbaard on January 29, 2023, 05:40:14 pm

I don't know about whatever LNP does for compression, but DF itself has a setting in init.txt, at the very end.
Setting it to [COMPRESSED_SAVES:NO] seems to allow for somewhat better archiving by WinRAR on my end.
With compression I'm over 530 mb on my current backup, without compression in init.txt it is about 463 MB.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on January 29, 2023, 07:32:57 pm

Congratulations on learning the 11th and 12th secrets you needed, Avolition!

I can see from the save that somehow you are now affiliated with the elves, and are no longer the law-giver of The Armored Confederacy.

I hope to get the rest of my story up this week and I look forward to hearing of your exploits!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on January 30, 2023, 11:44:14 am

"Moldath V", Part IV, Turn 99

The Trek to Treatyseed

5th Felsite 937

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/jNLAsIu.png)

I clear the final dregs of demonic filth from the hellish outpost in Ironwards - some surprisingly chatty clear brutes fall to my axe. I inhale a thick cloud of boiling iguana demon extract, and I retch up blood from my rotten lungs. It will take more than that to lay me low.

I travel north towards Treatyseed, picking off a few goblins on the way.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/4ZWKtkt.png)

On the outskirts of the capital, I am assailed by a headless blighted thrall fell one. It raises a fog and then promptly collapses when I drive my adamantine sword into its leg. Within Treatyseed itself, there has been some clean up since last I visited. Human militia commanders now patrol the corridors. I search for any sign of the king, but I find that he has died long ago! A new king sits on the throne of the Walled Dye.

In one of the many forgehalls, I find the skeleton of a great warrior clad in adamantine. Between her hands is an enormous adamantine runeaxe, encrusted with multicoloured diamonds!

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/6q2eRqX.png)

Sadly the warrior's corpse is too shattered for my death magic to reanimate. I take her skeleton and armour and vow to find a fitting place to put her to rest. The axe is light as a feather and sharp as death. It will be a fine weapon.

I finally catch up with the so-called new king and interrogate him on his values. He cries for a drink, and that his hands are restless from lack of crafting. Strong dwarvish traits. He values knowledge and martial prowess, that much we agree on, but baulks at the importance of power. I discover from the chittering nobles that the Walled Dye are beset on all sides by war.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/NNaZkBT.png)

War against the humans of the Creamy Confederacy and The Empire of Peeks, not to mention the ever present threat of the goblins. Perhaps a king who valued power would not have allowed this to come to pass. But I will spill no blood here. I am not like the evil scorpion and his subterfuge and coups!

I leave through the central staircase to some commotion. A necromancer baron has ressurected the corpse pile! After I have cleaned up the mess, and raised a few unfortunate bystanders into a new productive life, I press on. I think it might be time to pay the Empire of Peeks a visit.

8th Felsite 937

I arrive at Faithtalk, capital of the Empire of Peeks, to have a polite chat with their law-giver. Several gaunt zombies roam the surrounds and are quickly dispatched. Arriving at the mead hall, I find it in disarray - goblin skeletons and blighted thralls are slaughtering the humans. I heft the huge adamantine greataxe over my shoulder and wade in.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/ULHIQGS.png)

A muscular head advisor necromancer - Ashi Slidsoapy - makes things even more confusing by ressurecting yet more corpses! The guild-representative is indeed a blighted thrall, as is the law-giver.

He has a blank look on his face as he pets the severed head of a goblin, before his own joins it on the floor. In the commotion I hear another necromancer squealing. I shall cleanse this corrupt place. I step down the stairs and suddenly the room is teaming with Gaunt Zombies. Slibtu Helplearns the necromancer is to blame.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/jg4N6f1.png)

It takes several hours before all the corpses are burning on a funeral pyre. I find evidence of the handiwork of Jamas the elk man. I wonder if the Ghoul-Father has anything to do with the infiltration of the Empire of Peeks? A short distance northeast is the town of Councilenjoyed, where goblin priests are being feasted on by blighted thralls. More work for me.

10th Felsite 937

After a short jaunt through some dark pits, I head westward and arrive at the town of Bitemother. Unsurprisingly it is infested with blighted thralls. It is another town of The Empire of Peeks, recently fallen to the Creamy Confederacy. Both are enemies of the dwarves, so I take grim satisfaction in cleansing this place.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/RViWpM1.png)

In one small house I am surprised to see two giant wolves fighting with blighted thralls. The wolves are bitten by the thralls and succumb to the ghoulish plague, but their assault is unrelenting. I am forced to slay them all.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/xjIU07k.gif)

A short distance away from Bitemother, I am ambushed. There are three completely naked human wrestlers who seem a little sheepish and reluctant to attack, when out of nowhere a huge giant wolf appears. Another one? This wolf makes short work of the first wrestler as I look on dumbfounded. This is a seriously weird town.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/1Wzqqfc.png)

The great wolf kills all three of my would be nude assassins, and I try to calm it to no avail. I am forced to strangle it. Raising into undeath, it will make a fine steed to carry me over the great mountains to the north. We travel over the mountains by night, the wolf's stride untiring, before arriving in the sinister desert of The Waste of Strangeness. We have reached our destination and I silently snap the wolfs neck, the magic animating it vanishing.

11th Felsite 937

Arriving at the foul cave of The Doom of Murk I spot many slaughtered elves, some of the skeletons bear the marks of a bear-like creature. One such elf claims to be a prisoner and begs to return home to his wife in Glacialtempests, capital of the Squeezing Ford. I have never seen eye to eye with elves but this could be intriguing. If the elf doesnt mind slaughtering some goblins on the way. Sure, we will visit Glacialtempests, eventually. Apparently his wife, Eliye Mobbean, is the diplomat for the queen of the elves. That could be interesting leverage!

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/Zzn8lYM.png)

We press on north through the evil desert. Thick pools of dwarf blood pock the landscape, raining from the sky of this horrible place. Animals skitter away leaving trails of dwarf blood in their wake; it coats our flesh and dribbles into our eyes. What a miserable land.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/82R9jub.png)

Less than half a day north, the land sprawls with dark pits. We stumble on a camp of troll and goblin blighted thralls. The skinny elf does not last long. He is bitten by a troll and his face twists as the ghoulish curse takes hold. It is not safe to return him home now. I take no pleasure in ending his suffering - he could have been a valuable asset in ending the war between the Squeezing Fords and the Nations of Honoring.

The closest Dark Fortress is a short distance to the west, Dreadyouth. I begin scouring the goblin filth. One particularly unfortunate fellow has his arm ripped off, jammed into his chest and then his skull bitten in half. I do relish in the suffering of goblins!

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/8gskXtG.png)

A particular favourite is using my death magic to propel the snivelling beasts from atop their wicked towers. How satisfying.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/u0KHJyL.gif)

The goblins huddle in the centre of their fortress but the adamantine tide is relentless. Nothing is coming to save them. The walls are smeared in blood when I am finished. The hordes are unrelenting, and eventually I decide to leave this place. I do not have the patience to slaughter five thousand beak dogs.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/yKEkMIL.png)

13th Felsite 937

Posionuttered is the capital of the Most Sin, but it is mostly deserted. The Dark Tower is infested with trolls and I find only a handful of goblins. I do take the skull of their fat master, Ngom Profaneslugs. I leave and am chased by curious defenders. A named beak dog assaults me and is hacked down, followed by a group of troll soldiers in copper armour lead by Doxon Phraseveiled the troll hefting a copper morningstar. The goblins must be truly desperate to allow these dull creatures to lead their armies.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/pw4Ife9.png)

14th Felsite 937

I head north in the direction of the Mong Uthros territories. On the outskirts of Lipbraided I am accosted by blighted thralls. The blight has never taken hold this far north before. This is troubling news. Lipbraided's main keep is also infested, as are a few local villages. This whole land must be purged.

16th Felsite 937

Several goblins, thralls and howling freaks have been put down and eventually I arrive at Drillshrine. This town is the secondary capital of Mong Uthros, with all the constant upheaval in Atticmuffins. The new law giver, amusingly, is an elf disguised as a frail criminal. He greets me as a fellow worshipper of Ala, so he can keep his head for now. The facade is ruined by his justicar asking for him by his real name.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/EyjwxTu.png)

A polititian masquerading as a criminal... finally, an honest law-giver. At least the plague has not reached here yet. I am not so certain about Atticmuffins, which is my next stop.

Sadly, Atticmuffins is overrun by hand of planesgift priests, and half of them are blighted thralls. The group that Kothvir installed, the Greatest Attic of Muffins, are nowhere to be seen. I slaughter the thralls, and leave the other priests untouched. They greet me coldly - even as a legend, they cannot forgive my mercy killing.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/RPTacPP.png)

In the refugee camps I meet the Lady of Atticmuffins, Siti Seizegorged. She seems happy to see me. Perhaps now the thralls are dealt with, she can return to her keep. It certainly seems that Erod Ambercrows was a... divisive figure. The thrall threat near Atticmuffins seems neutralised at least, and I spend a day or two checking nearby villages.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/U87FVSZ.png)

18th Felsite 937

I arrive at Releaseteachers, home of the Coven of Frothing. When I enter the hall, a blighted thrall priest is attacking the Holy Raunch, who quickly dispatches it with his iron pike. This grim priest is heavily armoured and has a short, muscular body. I entrusted the bronze slab Uklasut to the Holy Raunch Sushsath Routeenbraced here nearly forty years ago. Of her, there is no sign, and the new priest is not forthcoming. More worringly, there is no trace of the slab to be found. What has happened to it?

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/hly5K9q.png)

I travel eastwards, and arrive at Northmanor the Unholy Cathedral. To my dismay, it is crawling with goblin soldiers, mercenaries, and bizarrely a goblin who claims to be a tavern keeper. On his corpse is yet more evidence of the scorpion's vile plots.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/jNO83lX.png)

By the time I have purged the goblins from this dwarven fort, I have 11 pouches full of coins bearing the grinning visage of the pincered menace.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/igskFzb.png)

20th Felsite 937

I leave Northmanor and head east, a very short distance away is a fort that I am familiar with. Fragmented memories come flooding back as I arrive on the outskirts of Balancehammer, where I was imprisoned and flayed alive for many years. The dwarves here hail from the resurgent Page of Tiredness.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/Rb0BlI2.png)

They have clearcutted a huge swathe of bamboo forest and a proud basalt fortress rises from the earth. I meet a frail hammerer who claims not to know me. Entering the fort, I am confronted by a series of well crafted bridges which seem designed to drop unwelcome visitors into the icy depths below - surely enough to rid the fort of any goblin vermin who might drop by!

The flowing water is used expertly to create a waterfall of mist through the central spire - I cannot help grinning as my rotten flesh is washed by the caress of the river, and steam envelopes me instead of miasma. Fine adamantine and steel weapons litter the hallways, a sign of this places wealth and power. I remember little of this... only fleeting glimpses in my shattered mind of being chained to the "surgeon's" table. I spend some time exploring.

In the central courtyard, an enormous basalt spire juts skyward; truly an impressive sight. In one of the bedrooms is a familiar looking object. A rope reed quire that was written by my own hand! I quickly place it within my pack.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/ih4dU3M.png)

I fully explore the fortress. It is well stocked and well defended, and there are no beasts to slay. I stumble into a room which makes my head spin. A statue of my own twisted form stands before me, next to one of heroic dwarves and a final edifice of the dread wyrm Faci, destroyer of Keyconjure. Memories flood my rotten brain in an unwelcome torrent. Imprisoned, tortured like some plaything. In one corner is a room with a bed, throne and table, leading to a corridor with a loathsome trapped floor. One pull of a lever will drop whoever stands upon it into a cage trap. Is this how they kept me prisoner?

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/GZSifF2.png)

Somehow I feel this is not the only secret here. I am compelled to retrace my steps to the entrance, and high above the goblin-drowning trap I stumble along a precarious set of bridges into a quiet, cold stone room. Bookcases line the wall and the remnnants of a cage trap are visible in the centre of the prison. A statue leers at me, a reproduction of the event that forced me into servitude for many decades in Eskon. This place was my jail. It takes every ounce of my superdwarven willpower not to lay waste to the cowards who call this place home. I leave before my will breaks.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/S7fXDg9.png)

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: TheFlame52 on January 30, 2023, 09:40:37 pm

Got a bit concerned about you killing the goblin master, but it's the Knowing Deceiver I'm worried about, not the Most Sin.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: AvolitionBrit on January 31, 2023, 03:02:45 am

Don't think The Known Deceiver are gonna be much of a problem anymore. Sorry for delay in my posts, be riding out a stomach bug part of the weekend til now.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: AvolitionBrit on January 31, 2023, 11:11:30 am

Avolition Log

The world continues to tip towards disaster, in my absence the goblins have returned to what they once were, it's like all I'm doing is slowly down the inevitable. What's more worrying is that someone is using the goblins' high population density as a catalyst to spread the blighted plague once more. Knowledgepalms was a massacre, most were beaten to death or ghouls. It would seem the late king Jas and his merry band's work had been undone in a matter of years. I guess Irka’s prayers have been answered. No doubt a child of Gopet.
(https://i.imgur.com/uyv8BB1.jpg)
This blighted affliction enhances the abilities of the inflicted, these goblins seem faster and stronger. Some are dodging my blows and one even managed to land a hit. My ichor of life spilling upon the group. The aggression to anything with a pulse unless provoked. I must hasten my work, a goblin army of blighted thralls will bring around the end of Orid Xem.
(https://i.imgur.com/ydQodYu.jpg)
It’s as i have feared i have encountered more specimens infected with the pits, it seemed dormant within them. Perhaps stress is a factor, seeing a bark scorpion man decapitate your mates might make for a stressful environment.
(https://i.imgur.com/V6Tsb8B.jpg)
I have steamed the flow of goblins, I think I got them all. I have taken refuge in the dilapidated remains of Lashedjade, passing the time between raiding goblin pits and goblin attack squads hunting me down. Cleaned the place up, dug up and intombed the half burried corpses in the mud.

I have almost  mastered carpentry and bone carving. These hobbies haven't stopped my mind dwelling upon my monumental task that lies before me. The goblins' numbers are almost back to where they were previously.

I have decided to head north, I need to find ways to deal with the goblins once and for all. I need to visit an old friend, hundreds of years old. Perhaps she knows or has books on such a topic.

This isn’t healthy, I hadn't realised how much I had deteriorated. I have lost some much of who or what I once was before. I relapsed again into killing goblins, had my submission not felt my acknowledgement. I have decided to retire in Splashbeige. I have lost sight of myself, consumed by death and its infulence. Afe warned me of the path, how my conquest of pits and eradication of goblins has brought me closer and closer to death itself. Each kill further tainting my aura, corrupting me into an aspect of death.

She was right, the world has already one aspect of death roaming its rotting carcass around. It doesn’t need another, I have eternity to heal my soul and myself. End my curse and purify my blood. Asked what if there were any troubles in the area, she discloses one.
(https://i.imgur.com/nwyxKOe.jpg)
It is no more, my journey starts now. I feel good.
(https://i.imgur.com/uTvuwoJ.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/eHxl0mM.jpg)
Learn that Afe seeks an artifact bow of her family returned to her. I am surprised, i open my pack and hand it to her. She is estatic with its return. I feel a warmth that i have not felt in years.
(https://i.imgur.com/78EHAU7.jpg)
She finally accepted me to The Malignant greeds. We are practicing our performances ready to travel the world to perform. Just a few more years of practice. We will become the greatest performance troupe around.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Bralbaard on January 31, 2023, 03:45:17 pm

The scorpion king in a performance troupe? I imagine he'll be fun at parties, or at least that his crowd will be too scared to not applaud.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: AvolitionBrit on January 31, 2023, 07:50:17 pm

Quote from: Bralbaard on January 31, 2023, 03:45:17 pm

The scorpion king in a performance troupe? I imagine he'll be fun at parties, or at least that his crowd will be too scared to not applaud.

He is a legendary dancer

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Superdorf on January 31, 2023, 09:23:39 pm

I've found that adventurers tend to be really good at dancing, because the skill is so dependent on physical attributes.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on February 01, 2023, 03:16:09 am

To be fair, the evil scorpion menace is legendary at almost everything…

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: AvolitionBrit on February 02, 2023, 06:53:20 pm

A loose collection of logs

Six years since I retired here, to think we are finally ready to go out and perform to the world, it seems the world is doing well. The dwarves of the south are pushing the known receiver back and they are being whittled down. Might not survive the 10th century.

The Armored Confederacy government has been rebuilt under lawgiver Kudpa currently married and living in Sacklures. We head out for good venues. Onwards we go.

I spotted something in the distance during the night, a humanoid figure. Afe was long asleep when they approached. Whilst concealed they were obviously human. I inquired about their name and they told me they were Kas. We spoke briefly, I shared the news of the world seeming to get better. Everything is on the up. He was much like myself, a warrior of wars traveling Orid Xem. The news he shared with me was troubling, warnings of goblins repopulating quicker than ever, the blight running rampant, the elves dying out mysteriously. It’s shocking to learn that the state of the world is still in flux. My absence during a quieter period I might have been able to stave it off. A few more conquests through the pits. He told me of a rotten dwarf setting up in a dwarven fortress nearby, a town of the underground where humans hid secrets and of the beast long forgotten and their powers to enhance oneself. It was fascinating, he must be talking of that walking rot on a skeleton Moldath, he might have written about roastfierce, more secrets within a town i didn’t understand and the powers of a forgotten beast. I wanted to ask more but he was already walking away from the campfire.

What Kaz has said has been flooding my mind, i need to see what he said was true, consulting our map. The nearest two were Balancehammer and Northmanor. We are going to head to Balancehammer, I convinced Afe that a large fort would certainly attract a loud crowd.

No sign of him in Balancehammer. Just need to check Northmanor to assure myself that he isn’t here.

He was right, the blind sadist must have been here, the library was barren until I came across a strange, interesting tower. Sure enough lavish accommodation and decorations that scream; Ala worshiping dwarf. There were three books upon the pedestal, the first two were useless but the third, he had detailed secrets of Roastfiere, the missing link. It will all come together, I know it all. I have much more to research, lifetimes of mastery of these links, rituals, spells and knowledge. It floods my mind. I headed to leave his tower before I stopped. While we are on different paths we are both adventurers of the museum and for what it's worth he had helped kill many goblins. Besides, someone else with all twelve secrets might find more knowledge that I can learn. I leave a note detailing the location of the slab in Lawtaker upon a pedestal. I take my leave and inform Afe that the dwarves of Northmanor don’t want to see us perform.
(https://i.imgur.com/ACmr0Jb.jpg)

That night I was consumed by these new ideas and new thoughts. I have a greater understanding of it all and yet I have only begun my journey. A campfire in the distance peaks my interest as I head over to investigate. A dwarf, she was adorned in cobbled together shoddy armor but equipped with such a fine blade, she was an administrator and didn’t disclose why she was traveling but was open to trade. I offered the artifact steel blowgun The Obeisant Growl-league for it and she accepted. This masterwork of adamantine, such a fine blade, truly made of dwarven hands. Quicki, light and well balanced this shall do nicely.
(https://i.imgur.com/ht4P5MN.jpg)
I asked Afe to wait, although I don't think I'm gonna return, I need to cull every small pit around here, push them back into their four megapits and then continue my decimation of The Most Sin. Each pit is reclaimed in honor of the elfs, they are going extinct as the goblins continue their expansion in the north.

The blight is still present, more infected within the pits, nothing Wanningmoon cannot handle, cuts through them like butter.

Panic must be setting in for them, entire pits empty and reclaimed, they have resumed sending raiding parties to attack me but they continue to fail.

I'm heading south, The Known Deceiver are at their weakest and I might be able to eliminate the southern goblins for good. As for the most Sin, I alone struggle as my dents are undone in a matter of years. I need help.

This town is strange, the citizens of the world below are fascinating. There is a temple with statues that float, held up by some form of magic. I must learn more.

Goblins, even here i cannot escape them, see them dragging a corpse towards the sewers, i need to find out what they are doing.

The sewers are a mass grave, hundreds of skeletons litter the place, parts of it even entering an ancient tomb. The majority of them are the underground races of reptile, olm and cave fish alike. Its my chance, it won’t go wrong this time. I have all the knowledge and understanding.

Hundreds of skeletons and corpses arise as intelligent undead, most of them so ancient they are blank slates unable to retain a basic semblance of who they once were. This town will flourish and grow.

The pits are decimated and then word of a beast long forgotten, roaming the halls of an old fortress. This is my chance, more power. A blessing from the power of an ancient one.
(https://i.imgur.com/G93HNlD.jpg)
I slayed the creature, its dust coats my chitin as I feast upon its blood, I haul it towards the surface as my eyes begin to cloud, I lose the sensation of touch. I have surpassed this mortal sight that burdened my studies, it held me back. I see with new eyes.
(https://i.imgur.com/9OFl0AZ.jpg)
Before the end of my journey I had to check a few things out, I finally explored hell. The demons were certainly tough but their blood tasted so rich and flavorful it was practically intoxicating.

The once harsh tundra is nothing to me, I return to my tower. New ideas flow from my mind, the world knows not of death. I have been so blind in my hate and aversion of death I had denied my part as a weapon of death, slaying immortal souls who knew not of their wrath. Was this why Moldath gave me the hammer? Did he know?

It doesn’t matter anymore, I have come to embrace it. I am one of the twelve aspects of death that will keep the world of Orid Xem from Stagnating. I already have plans in motion, I have stirred up quite a war and in the name of the elfs no less. I wonder how The Most Sin will retaliate. Of Course i cannot forget The Walled Dye. Falsetower was my project, pulling strings in the shadows, paying off the right dwarves and removing the ones that got in the way. So glad I can finally return to using my name, no need to hide who I am. Given as the last bark scorpion it's a wonder how the dwarves would continue to be fooled by the same old trick. Now with my lords in place, this shall get a lot more interesting.

Praise be Kas Bannershocked, holy creator of Stabbedwring and the highly elusive Roastfiere. May the wars sate your almighty hunger

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Bralbaard on February 03, 2023, 08:28:10 am

All 12 secrets! It is without doubt that the world had not been the same without the Scorpion King, I wonder what he will be up to next. Was there a museum submission?

---

Here is the first entry of my story.
For context, the story of Bralbaard continues from where Maloy’s story  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8445568#msg8445568)ended. Maloy had searched the world for the many missing parts of Bralbaard’s corpse and performed dark magic to forge the pieces together, thereby infusing it with a terrible corruption. The result was an undead monstrosity made out of Bralbaard’s original right hand and some other bits and pieces, most importantly a part corrupted by a certain demon. Due to some misfortune this new form is missing it’s new left hand (it has been submitted to the museum). Large parts of Bralbaard’s original body are unaccounted for and are thought to roam the wilderness somewhere in undead form. 

The story continues with the discovery of a new book, written by the once respected historian. The title is cause for concern. Will you open it?



(https://i.imgur.com/Cu1JWRQ.gif)


The Secrets of Life and Death
by Bralbaard Hammerfishes

Preface

Fool.
You should have known better than to open this book.
You should have known better to read beyond the title.
What were you looking for?
Power?
Immortality?
What made you think you were ready for the consequences?
You have crossed the line and now there is no turning back.
There will only be regret.

Regret on how the secrets that were promised to you are all terribly wrong.
Yes, many authors have claimed to have put the secrets to paper. But the secrets, in all their forms, are the greatest lie ever told. They certainly have nothing to do with Life. They also have nothing to do with what Death should be. Death should be a peaceful state reached at the end of Life, with no more strife or suffering. An acceptable end.
The secrets corrupt this into a horrible nightmare, Necromancers only corrupt Life and Death, spreading terrible afflictions and suffering. They have never understood the true mysteries, what they are really about, why Life and Death exist, why they matter, how they are balanced.
Those that wield the secrets are not blessed by divine power, no they are deeply cursed.
Necromancy is a corruption, a disease, a cancer on this world.
The claim “the secrets of Life” is the most blasphemous of all.

Surprised to read this opinion in a book on Life and Death?
Have I planted a seed of doubt, some hope within you that this book will not contain these secrets? That your soul might escape eternal damnation?
No. It is too late to pull your eyes away; you are condemned to read these pages, and absorb the curses within, as with al books on necromancy. You have already crossed the line.

You are at the mercy of the author. 
An author that is himself cursed and corrupted to the bone.
Yes, long have I fought against reading and understanding the secrets myself, but that time is gone now.
I have died countless times, becoming more corrupted with each passing, and my last passing will be my undoing.
Maloy the Moonlit Fox. I can not blame him, but his name is bound to my fate, and to yours, dear reader. Maloy suffered from his own curses, including one linked to me: My ear, with a demons corruption cast upon it. It should not have been his curse to bear, but he poor brave wolf-man did, and only when he could no longer carry it, he threw the curse back at me.

The Demon. Pis Meadowshaft the Mucuses of Raunch. It has reached me, become part of me when Maloy raised me from death once more. It’s corruption tainting my shattered mind. There is no hope now, the only path forward is the secrets. I NEED them to avoid being taken by the demon. One doom to avoid another.

This will not be a cursory glance at the secrets, that will not be enough to stop Pis.
I do not know how it will end, but I will find the secrets, and you, dear reader, have signed up to suffer this doom with me, let us pray it is not as bad as the one we are trying to avoid.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Maloy on February 03, 2023, 01:11:34 pm

@ Avolition's entry
I love how Moldath and Avolition seem to have this relationship of being grizzled old veterans who don't like each other, but don't hate each other

got that bond of respect forged from living way too long and seeing way too much

I'm curious what you'll be up to from here now that you've achieved your lofty goal! I wonder how the completion of yours plays into bral's new goal.

Also the elf thing is why I made Arthur and Mirai elves. I noticed that even if their culture is making a comeback the species isn't. The religion is also almost all gone. Most forest retreats didn't even permit me to select it and thus I had to be very choosy on one where the two elves could have it, and therefore preserve it.



@bralbaard's entry

I've been hyped for your turn since mine ended lol the many hours I put into reassembling your character has seriously engaged me in your story

It's neat seeing how the curse is incorporated in the story. A sort of halted blending of personalities! Really curious how the secrets will play a role in it.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Bralbaard on February 03, 2023, 01:50:42 pm

Chapter I: A maze of broken bodies

After being experimented upon, murdered and then raised again as a hollow zombie by Maloy, I found myself naked and abandoned at the monastery of Couragespray. The only thing I had was the glove I was wearing when I had been reduced to being just a right hand. I was in a more complete body now, but a lot of things were terribly wrong.

(https://i.imgur.com/ZlfIMmF.gif)

It was not just the headache that reminded me of the battle for control of my mind with the demon. The final outcome was undecided, but the first round won by Pis. my mind was truly broken now, the demon controlled part of it, I only had control of what remained. I could not remember the most basic things. All the skills I had learned in life, or should I say death, the things I loved, liked and hated, those parts of my mind were just gone. I could remember I was a dwarf, but details escaped me. And the demon was still lurking there in the dark places of my mind, I could hear it’s laughter.

Worse, I could not trust the few memories that I still had access to. I was going mad. I distinctly remember my left hand being cut of after Maloy raised me from death again, I even remember the wolf man squeeling that he’d submit it to the museum. But then, here I was with both hands firmly attached, in another undead body. The axe that I remember he gave me to fight the demon was not there either, I was sure it did give me the strength to drive the demon from my current form, but it was gone without explanation.  I also vividly remember running to incenseorder where Maloy lives, to ask an explanation, to asks for help, an apology, anything. But when I entered the keep where the demon killed me centuries ago, and opened my mouth to speak to Maloy, the world fell apart around me and I was thrown back in time, back to this cursed monastery. Nothing makes sense.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

So a lot of things related to my character are broken. Skills, descriptions and preferences are gone, and when I talk to people the game crashes. I will role-play around it for now, and have some ideas for fixing it later.
 

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/pQrY0kh.gif)
 

Not only does the demon control most of my mind, in a way it also controls most of my body. My current body was made from my right hand and some bits and pieces, but the majority of my body was lost long ago. I still had a spiritual connection to it, and know the demon has taken it. It is out there, hunting for me, both in the flesh, and from the dark corners of my own mind.

I contemplated traveling to Incenseorder to confront Maloy again, but concluded that it would achieve nothing, there was no time. The situation was hopeless.  But then another plan formed in what was left of my mind, one that would include the secrets, and the tower of Eldergraves.

I would have to travel far, but I first decided to stop by at the museum, to check if my left hand was truly there. When I entered the keep I was immediately attacked by the residents, including the lady. Had the Demon corrupted them, and set them up against me? He must have known I would visit this place sooner or later. With no memory of any combat skill, and apparently no ability to learn new skills all I could do was run. The museum staff was faster, and started beating me up. Only with all hope lost, I finally realised that I had both my hands, and access to undead powers. Powers that had always been denied to me. With a flick of the wrist I propelled the assailants away from me.
But there was little time to search.
The museum was a mess. I was never going to find the hand, and the staff kept attacking no matter how many times I flung them away.

(https://i.imgur.com/5fAJvOi.gif)

I decided to continue my journey to Eldergraves.  The plan was to meet up with Bor Mazeconstruct. He was one of the necromancers that brought me back from death over the years, and in possession of the secrets.

After several days of travel, Bor greeted me at the foot of the tower of Eldergraves

"Bralbaard, is that you? You look more complete than the last time I saw you, and only slightly rotten! In fact , let me apologize for the unfortunate situation where I could only raise your hand from death!"
 
"Bor, If I look more complete, that is an illusion. I am more broken than before.
My mind is shattered beyond repair, but there is a glimmer of hope. You MUST teach me the secrets! "

"You barge in and the first thing you ask for is the secrets? Do you have any idea what you are asking for?"

“I have no time! A demon is laying siege to my shattered mind, there is no way to exorcise it, but I might hide. The only reason I can hold on yet, is because there are more parts of my body out there. The Demon, it controls the other parts, but it seeks me, it knows I am somewhere out here. If I know the secrets, I can shatter my body further, and raise the separated parts from death. With altar healing I can raise full new bodies from those parts when I need one. I can hide from the demon in those bodies, repeating the process when he gets too close.
There will be so many parts of me that my fragmented mind will form a maze. I will imprison the demon in that maze, trap it with no hope for escape!”

“That is insanity!”
“Are you trying to escape from the demon by hiding your self in ever deeper layers of filth? Each time you create a new body through the secrets you will corrupt yourself further. There is no hope when you take that path, do you expect to hold on to any form of sanity doing this? It is madness!”

"But what am I to do? If I kill the parts of my body that are out there that are already possessed, it will drive the demon straight into my own mind because it will be the only part of my former body that survives. The demon is now bound to my body like my own soul is. Likewise if my current body dies it will be no escape;  my soul will eventually drift into whatever demon possessed parts are out there.
I have to act fast, there is no time."
"I need the secrets to escape, and I need them NOW!" Bralbaard was not sure if the demon had spoken that last sentence, or if he did himself.

"I will not tell you the secrets, I see your pain, but also your madness. Your arguments are selfish. You fail to see the consequences. You, or the demon would become a terrible power, not unlike Moldath or that damned scorpion king if you learn those secrets.
Bor continued: Word has it that the Scorpion king has uncovered all the 12 secrets now. Bralbaard, you are possibly more familiar with death than I am. You know as well as I do that this scorpion king will not have found what he was looking for. The secrets are a lie, and you know it! "

"But you have raised me from death as a disembodied hand decades ago, this is your doing! You must help me!"

"The secrets are no salvation. They have doomed me, and they will doom anyone they touch, they can not save you. You will not have the secrets, but I swear I will help you."

"Then how are we going to do this?"

"By forgetting everything you thought you knew about Necromancy."
We are going to wake up the Worm

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Eric Blank on February 03, 2023, 03:31:47 pm

I like the way this is going.

The games probably crashing because of an error with the hand being resurrected. I experienced crashes from similar stunts while playing with interactions to resurrect and fully heal, dismember, kill, resurrect and full-heal people, especially if a body part was reanimated, fully healed, killed and then resurrected. In fact, i used to use, for summoning interactions, a transformation into a creature with extra arms that would fall off which could then be reanimated and immediately transformed. If they were transformed into a sapient creature, and the player tried to talk to them, the game would crash. I figure it's something about zombified body parts not having a proper soul/hist fig ID, but I never used DFHack to test that theory.

Tl;Dr your "character" might be cursed explicitly because of the way they were reanimated, healed and resurrected.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Bralbaard on February 03, 2023, 05:47:18 pm

Yes that is the case. I took the liberty of pretending I could talk to Bor, in reality the game would just crash. I' ll fix the worst of it before posting the save.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on February 04, 2023, 11:19:59 am

"Moldath V", Part V, Turn 99

The Blind Scholar

21st Felsite 937

Gathering my thoughts, I leave Balancehammer behind. I am familiar with the northern lands but I head westward - I overheard the militia talk of a new fort, far to the northwest of the known lands, which I intend to visit. No sooner have I left then I bump into a skinny dwarven lord who immediately attacks me for no reason. Despite agreeing to stop this madness, he continues to flail weakly. I attempt to calm then bribe him with trinkets, to no avail. I am forced to put him out of his crazed misery.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/VQ0UCA6.png)

I travel for several hours before spotting a small campfire in the distance. A sleeping goblin makes a quick snack.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/U4jhWGh.png)

The camp is also home to another goblin in fine cloth raiment; a muscular warlord! Without warning, out of nowhere, a howling freak appears, caked in the blood of kangaroos and other creatures. The freak slaughters the sleeping goblin and leaps upon me! I pull out my axe and carve its belly open, and the night creature quickly bleeds out.

Mong Uthros lies to the west, and I am sure more howling freaks will fall before I traverse their lands. By nightfall, another lies mutilated before me.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/hR15331.png)

22nd Felsite 937

Having traversed the lands of the Nations of Honoring mostly without incident, I swim westwards across the peaceful waters by night. I travel northwest, an area I have never visited before. Suddenly I am attacked by two naked human expedition leaders. How bewildering.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/f01zgO6.png)

More naked humans stalk the lands south of the new fort, and I also encounter a troll recruit. Just outside the curious fort the dwarves of Balancehammer alluded to, I am attacked by an enormous arachnid, spraying webs. I am caught up in the sticky strands and the vicious beast lunges for me. I use my magic to launch the beast in the air. It smashes into a tree with a sickening thud, gouting ichor from its ruined leg. It is caught in its own web and struggles to get free. I too struggle against the webs as its slavering mandibles close round my head. Finally I am free of the web, and the glittering runeaxe describes a wide arc as it shatters the spiders body. These creatures are deadly, and I must be careful! My neck is torn, the nerves shredded - fortunately for me, I am animated by dark magic and rot rather than feeble flesh!

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/NLi12IK.png)

23rd Felsite 937

The fort itself appears very traditional on the surface, and is teaming with life. Over a hundred dwarves and many dogs crowd the surface and yet there seems no deeper structures.  I can sense their heartbeats, below the ground. Two finely crafted lighthouses guard the coast, and two well-appointed buildings look out over the western coast. Where do these dwarves sleep? It certainly seems a secluded and peaceful place, apart from the vicious spiders...

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/FV9A4TV.png)

I leave to explore the remainder of this peninsula. A short distance south east is a sturdy wooden hut, and inside are coffers brimming with skulls and bones. How sinister. A thin jittery human bowman necromancer approaches, petting a giant bear head. He tells me tales of Desli Wanedhummed the Beautiful Intricacies. This is the same wolf woman whose axe I found at Holykingdom. She is nowhere to be seen. He seems loyal to this wolf lady and so I gift to this lurking necromancer Desli's axe, retrieved from Holykingdom. Hopefully he can return it one day to is rightful owner. I also give him a perfect masterwork tanzanite crown I found in Balancehammer, and bestow upon it the name Ancientcrown the Noble Knowledge of Lurking. I hope it brings him good luck in his adventures. I bid Lurker Ancientcrown good day.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/BfSTDlc.png)

26th Felsite 937

A long journey south brings me to the abandoned fort of Relicward. It is eerily still but I hear something scrabbling in the depths. Just beyond the trade depot is an enormous zombie giant black bear! I end this threat immediately. I leave the fort, silent once more, and head south.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/fr7N2ga.png)

In the dead of night I am ambushed by dingomen. Foolish creatures.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/ATUoWWL.gif)

1st Hematite 937

I have travelled south for many days. It is still night when I arrive in Mabkor, Incenseorder. This town is alleged to have thrived in recent decades under the undying stewardship of Maloy Craftsoars, the wolf man werefox Lord. The town does seem alive, my vampiric senses telling of many heartbeats. However, the first door I open is home to a blighted thrall. I scour the city and find no more ghouls. Maloy seems unconcerned but I travel south to Clenchportent, where the cabinet sits in exile since the Walled Dye took this city. It is, indeed, crawling with thralls. The law-giver is first to fall, the adamantine greataxe separates his head from his shoulders cleanly. The rest soon follow.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/Hy6oZZx.png)

I spend a few days clearing the villages south of here of putrid ghouls and blighted thralls. Before long I have arrived at Divedact. I spend some time in the fabled Palace of Brains library, learning many interesting things. I discover how to write Biographies! I even attempt writing a few essays of myself, although my wordsmithery leaves much to desire.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/rnyiSzE.png)

3rd Hematitie 937

The town of Borncats is crawling with thralls and putrid ghouls, no doubt the handiwork of the Ghoul-Father. I found a scroll of his hand containing the secrets of life and death in Clenchportents! I slaughter all that I can find.

6th Hematite 937

I have travelled south through the lands of the High Confederacies and find myself close once more to the fabled Museum of Boltspumpkin. I stop off at Ironwards craft some scrolls and quires, and bump into a forgotten beast. It is composed of vomit and has poison vapours. I hope they don't have any nasty side effects.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/NUeQkPF.png)

I head to the Shelter of Adventures, where Irthu Bladebroken, Ragnar Ironjaw and the elf Athama Stalkhandled still reside, over a century since their last adventure. I leave some hearty food for aspiring adventures, hot from the kitchens of Ironwards.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/O4J9U6T.png)

At the camp of Herograves, I find caskets dedicated to the Adventurers of The Museum. In one empty coffin, I place the remains of Rusna Springblossom the Gulf of Liberties and her adamantine armour and atop her skeleton the massive greataxe Noblechopped. Long may it rest with her.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/AIBgmFW.png)

17th Hematite 937

I spend several weeks amassing a great collection of my own knowledge, and this will be my submission to the Museum. I crafte a nickel silver coffer to house my works, and stow the scrolls and squires in exotic pouches. There are some books here which would grant unnatural life to those foolhardy enough to read them, among some more esoteric works. I find the Museum sadly in disarray, with exhibits scattered far and wide. I spend a day or two gathering and sorting over two centuries of artifacts and attempt to restore them to their previous positions.

Upon a pedestal, I leave The Black Library of Moldath.

In addition, I leave the corpse of the giant cave spider which almost killed me for the third time - Scouredlaud the Number of Dreaming.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/d3gPGeo.png)

I decide to retire to Kikrostzar, a sparsely populated frozen wasteland, where hopefully I can stay out of trouble for the next few decases or so of my infinite existance... although as I feel the rot take hold of my senses once more, I suspect It has other plans.

---

OOC:

Forts visited:
Holykingdom
Balancehammer
Abyssdeeps
Realmspire
Blueoceans

Museum submission: The Black Library - the collected ramblings of the Blind Sadist, in a casket of his favoured metal. I think this should be submission number 55, before Braalbard's hand-inception?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Bralbaard on February 04, 2023, 04:50:11 pm

Posts have been updated, thanks for the summary at the end!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Bralbaard on February 04, 2023, 05:31:53 pm

Chapter two: Worm Food

After Bor had announced he was going to wake up the Worm, he had refused to elaborate, and Bralbaard had not tried to bring up the subject, knowing that it would get him nowhere.

It had been a long journey. They had traveled south from Eldergraves, around the mountain range, and then back up North. They had mostly stayed away from civilisation, but by chance had passed through the camp where the cave dragon Nirmek had lived. After that they had crossed frozen wastes of the tundra of heroes. The fog had been as thick as pudding, and they could not see two feet ahead of them.
The Demon had been quiet. It was preparing a new attack, Bralbaard was certain of it, but for now it did not stir.
Finally they had made it to the other end of the tundra, where they emerged in a strange alien landscape. Stalked eyeballs grew from the ground among strange pinkish tendrils that tried to grasp and hold your feet when you walked across them.
Bralbaards mind was drawn to the subject of the worm again.

He of course knew about the Worm. There had even been a museum submission, way back in the year 825 by Ezif Aroirum:  Slinspa Esh, “The Worm of Emptiness” The figurine that depicted humans worshipping a Worm, while the sun withered away. Ezif claimed that the Worm, an entity that lived in the space beyond, or perhaps inside our world, was responsible for the unexplained complete destruction of Gor and Duskhome.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/Cpi5Lck.png)

Ezif had gone mad during his research, and this was not unusual among those who had seriously studied the Worm. It was a question among philosophers if the Worm was the cause of madness, or that only truly mad people believed in the Worm. Bralbaard doubted the sanity of any necromancer but Bor had appeared reasonably stable until he had brought up the worm. He was glad the necromancer had not brought it up again, and had nearly forgotten about it when suddenly Bor stopped and spoke.

“We are there. Once we are out of this glumprong forest you will be able to see it.”

"See what?"

"You probably think that worshipping of the Worm started with Ezif, in the ninth century. Well it goes back much further than that, this site is at least two centuries old. Beyond this hill lies the Charcoal Pit. Here reality can be broken or altered. This is where we will wake up the Worm."

(https://i.imgur.com/AsDbpPF.gif)

(https://i.imgur.com/icVdhM1.gif)
 
When Bralbaard emerged from the forest his shattered mind had great difficulty to comprehend the scene before him.
8 pilars of fire rose from the ground, burning as fiercely as dragon fire. Within each pilar was a pedestal, and on top of each of them there was a worm, convulsing in the fire in spastic movements, while screeching noises filled the air. The eight roaring columns of fire were build around a structure that housed a shallow pit. For some reason Bralbaard immediately knew the names of all the eight worms.

(https://i.imgur.com/f8h0Z2y.gif)

Eight worms to summon the power of Slinspa Esh, The Worm of Emptiness!” Bor spoke with a feverish look in his eyes.

The tone of Bor's voice frightened Bralbaard, but he decided to pose his question regardless “What exactly is the Worm?”

Bor seemed to calm down. "Yes.. I need to explain.."
“It is hard to say, it is associated with corruption, not the usual kind of corruption, but a rot of time and space itself. Many think the Worm is the cause of this corruption, but I think this is not right. I think it cleanses corruption, or tries to, even if it causes a lot of destruction in the process. The world is being torn apart by the forces that control us, forces more powerful than the gods. The worm is there to fix the damage they have done to our world. Ezif, who published about the Worm before,  indicated that the initial time-corruption was much larger than Gor and Duskhome, but the worm seems to have fixed it by taking these two sites, sparing the rest.”
“The area around us is of interest to the worm. This evil land is infused with the power of necromancy, but in an incomplete form. Any creature raised by this power is inherently broken, corrupted.  This is the time-corruption the worm feeds on. I discovered this when I used this land to raise a Roc from death, long ago. Calovi the roc was taken by the worm after I raised it, whereas a roc I raised later was not, as it was raised by normal necromancy. I did not fully understand at the time, but I think Calovi was not actually killed by the Worm, only cleansed of it’s corruption. This is what we are here for. Now that I know what is going on we can exploit it. “

They came to the centre of the pit, and to Bralbaard’s shock, he was staring at the corpse of a charcoal brute. A near exact copy of Pis the Mucuses of Raunch. The beast lay to the side of the pit, a massive form, with menacing horns and teeth.
Bor saw the shock on Bralbaard’s face and tried to reassure him; “This is the corpse of the demon that founded this site; Handbane the Legendary Slayer of Bugs. He has been dead for centuries and is of no concern.”
But this was not the demon Bralbaard was worried about, that was the demon in his head, and seeing the corpse had been a trigger. Suddenly he could feel the presence in his mind, pain and terrible visions overcame him, blurring everything else.

(https://i.imgur.com/2sGJOQj.gif)

This was a battle he could not win,  but he had understood enough from Bor’s words to know what had to be done. The demon now took full shape in Bralbaard’s mind,  it roared at Bralbaard, and spoke; It is done! There is no escape. GIVE IN TO ME. WE WILL BECOME ONE.  But Bralbaard did not give in to the demon, he gave in to death, his lifeless body falling to the cursed ground of the charcoal pit. A bloodied dagger clattering to the ground next to him

Bor had been left behind in shock. He had planned for Bralbaard to be reanimated by the powers of this land, but had been unable to explain it properly. Something was terribly wrong for Bralbaard to take his life like that, and Bor suspected the demon was involved, but there was no way to know what was going on on the other side.  Bor had to act but he could do …. nothing.
Bralbaard had to be raised by the ambient necromancy, or the Worm would not wake up. If it happened soon he might have a chance against the demon, but time passed and nothing happened. Bor performed all the rituals he had heard of and some more, but the body failed to move. For two full days he waited, other corpses at the site had shuddered into life in a matter of hours, and were stalking the site now, but Bralbaard’s corpse had not moved. Bor raised the corpse form death using his own magic but saw the effect was wrong, the zombie was too perfect. The Worm would never come for it.  He killed the corpse again and waited. Another day passed and he gave up. Bralbaard’s body would just not reanimate. It was in good enough condition, but perhaps there was a limit to how many times a creature could be brought back to life? If anyone had reached it, it would be Bralbaard. He packed up his belongins and dragged the body away from the pit, through the Hill of Bogs. It was only then that the body twitched and came back to life.

It was clear immediately that the battle between Bralbaard and the demon had continued in the afterlife. Worse, the demon had won. What stared back at Bor from the reanimated corpse was pure evil. The undead are naturally friendly to necromancers, but he felt the demon was breaking through this resistance at great speed,  he could only keep him in check for a brief time. But there was hope. The reanimation had worked, and the corpse before him was unmistakably broken and in breach of the laws of proper necromancy.

Bor walked up to the corpse and looked it deep in the eyes. It took great mental effort to stop it from attacking him. Bor spoke, with tears in his eyes;  I know a part of you is still in there Bralbaard. I have to leave now! Hang on, the Worm will find you soon...
 
With tears in his eyes he fled the scene. Slinspa Esh had been awoken, and it would come to feast on the corruption, as it had done before at Gor and Duskhome.   

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Bralbaard on February 04, 2023, 07:01:39 pm

Chapter three: The secret of Life

Two weeks later I woke up. No I did not just wake up, I truly woke up. For centuries I had no need for sleep or rest, but now I felt like I woke from a deep sleep. I could feel air flowing through my lungs, I could feel the cold from the stone floor beneath me.

I was ALIVE…?
I checked my pulse, and found one.
I held my breath, and found out I couldn't
I felt tears stream down my cheeks.
I truly was alive!
A miracle had happened, and the demon was gone!

I was alone in an abondoned dwarven fortress. When I found a mirror it was a surprise. I looked nothing like the dwarf I once was. This body could have belonged to a stranger, but it was unmistakably me. I gathered some gear from the abandoned fortress and went out into the world, it felt like being reborn.
 
(https://i.imgur.com/nK2DPcc.gif)
(https://i.imgur.com/eMgPBO7.gif)

Several weeks later I met up with Bor, he once again waited for me at the foot of the tower of Eldergraves

Like me, he could not really believe it had worked.
With my changed appearance he first did not believe it was me, but a few questions confirmed it.
Tears streamed down his face, abandoning me at the charcoal pit had left him a terrible feeling of guilt.
Later, in the tower with a cup of tea, we tried to understand what had happened.
Bor tried to explain it to me.
The Worm must have taken away the corruption, but my body was so broken and corrupted, that the Worm could not restore it. It did the only thing it could do, the worm of emptiness just filled in the blanks. it made a new body, uncorrupted, untainted and alive.  Bor and I  could not figure out the details of how it works, but we understand the majority of it. It’s not like the traditional secrets, those only turn the dead in unholy monstrosities, no this is something bigger.This may be THE secret. The secret of Life. Not only does it restore someone to life, but it also grants immortality. I am far older than any dwarf should be, but I feel absolutely fine.

The dark warnings with which I started this book have not come to pass, the secrets I now pass on seem benign, but I have to warn it will still come at a cost, which will be explained in the technical part below. beyond that I have little to add for now, but it will come. Is immortality really the secret life is about, or is it another lie? If anything, I think it is not the most important secret. The important secrets in life are in the simple things. It can be found in how you live a life that matters, in friendship, in love. This new life has given me a second chance to explore those things, and I hope the secret of life described below will be a second chance for many others out there, no matter how corrupted they are, this will give anyone a chance at a fresh start. 

Yes, there is hope. We can fight the twelve false secrets, we can save those that have gone to the dark side. The blight can be stopped.
 
------
From here the book goes into the arcane formulae and instructions that describe how to learn the secret of life:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

The secret of life.
To restore someone to life, and grant them immortality, follow the instructions below.
Dfhack is only needed to make sure the character is playable after being revived, the rest of the mechanisms are strictly vanilla.

Before continuing first learn of the costs involved:
You will forget most of what you have learned in life, your skills, but also all your powers, (and the following remains untested, any necromantic arts you have learned. They are not easily retrieved either, as you will lose the skill to read. Your appearance and stats will be randomized. Still this is a small price to pay for the secrets of life.

Instructions:
These assume you have a character to help the character that you want to restore to life.
First:

1) back up your save. You are intentionally messing with bugs in the code, and it may well go wrong.
2) go to an area that animates the dead naturally. This will not work with player cast reanimation.
3) Place the corpse on the ground. If the subject is not dead yet you know what to do, but take care:
Make sure the body is in good condition, mangled corpses can not be raised.
Bodyparts can be raised, but if you return to life as a living detached hand, you will just bleed out in seconds.
4) When the body is placed you have to wait until it is animated by the surroundings. You have to wait in real time (sleeping or waiting will not do). This can take many in game days, but usually a few hours will do. It helps to overburden yourself and crawl, to make as much time as possible pass between each step. 
5) When the body comes to life as a zombie, you have to make sure it is playable, because the game will have forgotten it was a player character. Use the Dfhack bodyswap command to control the character, and swap back again.
6) now you can abandon the fresh zombie, and retire your helper character.
7) unretire the revived character. This has some weird bugs and glitches! The character will be in the list of old adventurers, but not in the place you expect, and with a false name, because the game has forgotten their real name. It should be the very last name in the list, which is usually partially copied from the name above, see the picture below:

(https://i.imgur.com/C163Iwx.gif)

8 ) after unretiring, rename your character.
9 ) check for obvious bugs or problems. In the list of adventurers above there is another strange entry "Señamatem from Cassastuta" that appears to take part of it's name from the entries above. In this case it is was an old pet of the helper adventurer. Somehow the game has also upgraded it into an active adventurer. It's best to unretire these characters and kill/rename them.

For reference, here are the DFhack stats of the character after it is revived. Some things like the age are untouched, and the character retains it's immortality from when it was an undead. Many other things appear to be randomized:

(https://i.imgur.com/Yu4O07Y.gif)

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: AvolitionBrit on February 04, 2023, 07:21:44 pm

Interesting to see how the stories of late are really exploring the mythos of this world. With the worm being explored by Bralbaard, the rise of a ghoulish plague after the death of lawgiver Jas and the twelve secrets fully restored to the world.

Really interested to see where these stories go and how the newer ones will turn out?

Wondering if my mass ressurection of the cave dwelling folk will come back up. See if anyone encounters intelligent undead reptilemen.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on February 05, 2023, 01:48:14 pm

Quote from: Bralbaard on February 04, 2023, 07:01:39 pm

(https://i.imgur.com/nK2DPcc.gif)

I don't want to alarm you Braalbard, but you have no beard.

Interestingly, this seems to happen to dwarves who are generated as outsiders rather than attached to a civ ID, as it is the civ cultural rules that define facial hair etc. I am pretty sure Moldath is beardless too. I haven't as yet been able to find any way to mod beards back in using DFHack, but you should be able to restore your ability to read using gui/gm-unit.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Bralbaard on February 05, 2023, 01:56:26 pm

Quote from: kesperan on February 05, 2023, 01:48:14 pm

I don't want to alarm you Braalbard, but you have no beard.

Actually, you have alarmed me.
I did notice it subconciously when reading that text, and my brain went "no it's fine, he has a beard, they just don't mention it because every dwarf has one" so I never picked up on it, but you might be right. I blame the worm for the missing beard, would never shave it myself, of course. 

I think I might stick with the inability to read. it seems a fair trade for immortality. (the missing beard is not, of course)

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: AvolitionBrit on February 05, 2023, 02:28:40 pm

His jaw be as bald as the worm that birthed him

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Bralbaard on February 05, 2023, 04:30:02 pm

The save game can be found here: DFFD link, (447 mb)  (https://dffd.bay12games.com/file.php?id=16428)

I have updated the map with:
-Scorpiontower the lost vault of Books (AvolitionBrit)
-The Charcoal Pit (constructed centuries ago by Nogoodnames, quite interesting for an adventure mode site)
-Eldergraves (build by me, decades ago. Not much of a site, but plays a role in stories)

I also have a museum submission, found it somewhere on my adventure; the figurine seems to imply that the secret of life may have been known before and that it was lost early in the age of adventurers:

(https://i.imgur.com/Uhatb48.gif)

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on February 05, 2023, 05:12:19 pm

How fitting!

Good luck on your turn, Eric!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: AvolitionBrit on February 05, 2023, 05:37:08 pm

Seems holyblood has gathered an army of serpent men, a giant rat and a troll during your turn. Very interesting.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on February 05, 2023, 06:26:53 pm

Quote from: AvolitionBrit on February 05, 2023, 05:37:08 pm

Seems holyblood has gathered an army of serpent men, a giant rat and a troll during your turn. Very interesting.

I am guessing that you made a fort the same size as the entire map tile that included Glazedriven and /revealed all the contents to find the slab? It turns out after I experimented on this exact same technique that you only need to uncover the small zone on the right of the map tile where the tower stands to uncover the slab. I was going to build a fort underneath there including the forest to the south on my turn, but you beat me to it!

In any case, when you go near to the site of the tower in adventure mode, there are now huge numbers of asterisks all around it, and when you encounter them it is cavern creatures. Somehow every creature that was on that entire map tile has been scattered around, which might include the serpent men? Either way, the sheer size of the fort means it will be very difficult to actually explore what you have built there due to the lag, but I am sure Moldath is up for the challenge!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: AvolitionBrit on February 05, 2023, 06:46:22 pm

I had/have grander plans for the site but just didn't allocate enough time for it.

The serpent men were not there before and i thought they might of been the ones i revived as intelligent undead

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Eric Blank on February 06, 2023, 02:44:22 am

It has begun.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Maloy on February 06, 2023, 05:48:10 am

wow wow wow I had a lot of reading to catch up on lol

Thanks for clearing some of the area around Incenseorder Kesperan. I'm not sure if I missed certain thralls or they just moved into the area to fill in gaps from deaths.

Also on my turn the government leaders in Clenchportent weren't thralls so that is a new development! I spared them because of that



Wild turn of event's for bralbaard! An actual literal reincarnation!
So question. If your appearance is that out an outsider, no beard, are you not part of the Walled Dye now? I'm just wondering if it is now impossible for you to become king AGAIN

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Bralbaard on February 06, 2023, 06:08:16 am

I think I have not joined a civ yet, but his new stats show that he is ambitious and dreams of attaining rank in society...
I have not decided on the path Bralbaard the Beardless will take.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on February 06, 2023, 10:35:14 am

Right, we clearly need our top minds working out how to mod in beards for outsider dwarves. I’ve checked and confirmed Moldath also has a bald chin. Unacceptable.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Eric Blank on February 06, 2023, 03:01:50 pm

Well, my adventure didn't last long.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

The Second Journey of Suril Copperscarred "the Bloated"
By Suril Copperscarred "the Bloated," 951

In the century since my first journey to document the will and history of my own people, the Hands of Planegifts, I have endeavored to delve deep into the history of the world at large, documenting history that is known to the peoples around Wheatbrands. This led me to make many trips to the hamlets surrounding Wheatbrands. though mostly deserted, many of the surviving residents are goblins and Hands of Planegifts of great age. One of these I encountered recently on the road outside the hamlet of Swimgrotto; Ras Zealflickers. However, he was not as I had last met him only 50 years earlier. Dead, now, and reanimated as a zombie. Not only that, he was infected with the wicked taint of putrid ghoul blight. Ras ignored me, having lost all faculty but the urge to kill the living, until I put him down.

Ive decided to seek scholarly advice on this from the Museum, where other historical records are to be found, and donate my collection of histories and figurines depicting events. This quire will be my journal for the journey. I first visited orbsnarled, and gifted to the lord there, Led, a figurine each of him and his late wife Iden. Then I visited Enjoydinners, where I came upon a horrible massacre in the keep, again perpetrated by blighted thralls. I slew several of them there, but other goblins attacked me as well. More blighted thralls awaited me at Filledfastened, but they were easy to put down. Hslf s dozen more were present in the keep at Snarlstrayed. The infectiond spread through all of the hearthpersons, a black bear, and the monsters were chasing down the lord.

The grasslands of the Quick Steppes are home to hundreds of stray Hands of Planegifts. As I tried to cross the goblin lands I was accosted by dozens of patrols and was forced to turn south across the mountains. I encountered another goblin patrol, sleeping in the deserts on the edge of the Couple=s (the smeared ink trails off)

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Bralbaard on February 06, 2023, 03:08:00 pm

That is unfortunate  :(

Quote from: kesperan on February 06, 2023, 10:35:14 am

Right, we clearly need our top minds working out how to mod in beards for outsider dwarves. I’ve checked and confirmed Moldath also has a bald chin. Unacceptable.

hmmm

(https://i.imgur.com/EoagqSl.gif)

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Maloy on February 06, 2023, 03:17:55 pm

You're essentially gnomes at this point!


That's terribly unfortunate. Blight really is out of hand isn't it?
Guess I'm glad Maloy became a necromancer for the sake of the ritual, but I'm worried about my next turn with Arthur and Mirailei

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Eric Blank on February 07, 2023, 02:35:32 pm

Thankfully it wasn't the blight, it was a demon expedition leader. The sauropod one I think. Breathed fire. Beat it over the head multiple times, but lost a leg immediately and then an arm, and then my spine...

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Bralbaard on February 07, 2023, 04:11:20 pm

Quote from: Eric Blank on February 07, 2023, 02:35:32 pm

Thankfully it wasn't the blight, it was a demon expedition leader. The sauropod one I think. Breathed fire. Beat it over the head multiple times, but lost a leg immediately and then an arm, and then my spine...

Ah, a Charcoal Brute. I can symphatize. Somehow out of all the demons they seem to cause all the problems.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on February 07, 2023, 06:15:05 pm

Ah, yes, the strange story of  The Impervious Wall.

In 704, Pis Meadowshaft the Mucous of Raunch and his demon buddies from The Curious Horror sacked Incenseorder, routing the rightful owners The High Confederacies. Many years later, a human warrior raised by dwarves, Iden Bloodinked the Mire of Cities (Glloyd), killed Pis with a wooden crutch, and claimed Incenseorder for the dwarves of The Walled Dye. The new group was called The Impervious Wall, and it seemingly incorporated Pis Meadowshaft's charcoal brute lieutenants. They are considered by the game to be members of The Impervious Wall, and the expedition leader who killed you was one of several still meandering about. Because they are a race incorporated into The Walled Dye, they appear as a possible race for new adventurers (although as fire-breathing sauropods with no opposable thumbs they tend to make terrible adventurers, seeing as they cannot open doors...)

As for The Curious Horror - they were driven back over the years by the resurgent dwarves and The High Confederacies, and now number only five snivelling goblins, holed up in the captured dwarf fortress of Confusedship.

Meanwhile, The Impervious Wall itself started to reclaim other sites - they now control three other settlements in the mountains east of the lands of The High Confederacies.

As soon as they are encountered in adventure mode, they seem to forget they are dwarven subjects and revert to being demons, with FUN consequences. The one who killed Suril is likely to be Letha Whisperedheaven, but there are at least four other unnamed charcoal brutes chilling out in the mountain halls of Sabreclench...

Interestingly, the Lord of The Impervious Wall is none other than Maloy Craftsoars. Perhaps he should put a stop to the charcoal brutes under his jurisdiction once and for all?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Lurker Z on February 07, 2023, 06:33:04 pm

Quote from: kesperan on February 07, 2023, 06:15:05 pm

The new group was called The Impervious Wall, and it seemingly incorporated Pis Meadowshaft's charcoal brute lieutenants.

Now this is new information for me. I thought the charcoal brutes were just scattered about.

Another curious part about The Impervious Wall (Kadänadil (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Kadänadil)) is that, while a player-created group, it appears that it had offshots outside of a player's input. That is to say, it was part of the "Bandit King" Iden Nazushlikot (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Iden_Nazushlikot)'s territory without specifically being his core group, it just grew as such. Another curious part is that, of many player-created groups, most died along with the player who created it, but Kadänadil kept having people appear as Lord/Lady once the previous one died. Maloy rising to Lord actually makes sense, since the game thinks he was "born" there (it's in Mabkor that he starts his adventures from).

Another adjacent interesting story is that of Bralbaard's surviving companions, which included Kem Kilaura (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Kem_Kilaura), who remained in Mabkor until they died of old age and who fought for Pis without actually joining Pis' group, The Shaken Seducer/Tuzasno (of which I suspect only Pis was a member of, because I never saw another member of it).

But yes, the root problem appears to be that while the map is not loaded, yet the world is active, the demons have been integrated as active and productive members of dwarven society, when the map is loaded, they revert to "Roar! Kill everything!". Also it's a miracle that there are still demons roaming Orid Xem that didn't fall to adventurer blades yet (especially Moldath or Avolition).

Also something that's probably unique in World Activation in Orid Xem; at least, I haven't seen anything like it before or since:

(https://i.imgur.com/jZOOj4n.png)

The High Confederacies had attacked Pis' group while he was in charge. I wonder what would have happened if the group accepted the agreement. Would it have remained under Adilatír or would it have switched to THC? Is something like that even possible? THC was never at war with Adilatír, but it has been at war with The Staff of Kissing since 867 (and, worryingly, looking at this LV page, it seems my forever war theory is proven there: no war they have started after the year 700 has been extinguished so far; even that with the Curious Horror, who are officially extinct).

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: AvolitionBrit on February 07, 2023, 06:49:04 pm

The curious horrors are still alive, they are just so few in numbers, a small group of goblins hidding in some fortress. Can't recall where. I have left them alone as i wanted to see if they would rebuild and return to a living civ.

Edit: Seems most the royal court were turned to ghouls.

Master Olngo Furpoisions has been imprisoned for nearly two hundred years, becoming defacto master.

(https://i.imgur.com/8eIAV8n.png)

She has lived so long "imprisoned" in Throatletters that her capturers. Early in the 9th century, the main populace died out only leaving the odd religious figure of The Sect of Evenness spending a day working from the site. Before leaving to Treatyside to join the main congregation. Perhaps its a rite of passage for members of The Sect of Evenness, to visit such a historical site dating back hundreds of years to its construction in 129. Also being the first structure of worship to be built since the construction of The Chapel of Canyons within Treatyseed.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Lurker Z on February 07, 2023, 07:04:16 pm

I think they need at least 2 settlements of their own to revive. Also, The Curious Horror had curiosities of its own, as during World Generation, it generally refused to conquer settlements and mostly razed them. I assume this is because their origins was not slab demons who made deals with Gods, but a demon who took over a dwarf fortress after the dwarves dug too deep, calling other demons, trolls and goblins in that civ. I suspect their death knell was when Shadmalzuglar (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Shadmalzuglar) was taken from them. Funnily enough, Shadmalzuglar can be reclaimed in Fortress Mode, since it was originally a 3x3 Adilatír dwarf fortress. This also implies that if anyone is ruthless enough to do it, 3x3 dwarf fortresses can be reclaimed as "Ruins" if everyone living in it is killed in adventure mode.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: AvolitionBrit on February 07, 2023, 07:13:54 pm

They are certainly curious horrors. Was just digging into the story of them. Getting some ideas for a new group of adventurers for my next turn.

In terms of the Cinnamon brute, i am curious but during other generations of Orid Xem, have they had a vault with their slab. Since its a custom world shape, i wonder if it intended to have a vault but would of generated in a position off the map we have currently. Might need to check to wiki and check out the alternative universes.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on February 07, 2023, 07:23:00 pm

Quote from: AvolitionBrit on February 07, 2023, 07:13:54 pm

They are certainly curious horrors. Was just digging into the story of them. Getting some ideas for a new group of adventurers for my next turn.

There are about five Malladang goblins left, in Confusedship, and they're all blighted thralls. The fort has been plundered by adventurers before - there's an elephant fiend corpse there slain by the alligator man Nethrez.

Charcoal Brutes are nasty. In my experience the only demons that cause trouble are the web shooters and fire breathers. Your regular mortal is going to have next to no chance of avenging Suril.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Lurker Z on February 07, 2023, 07:31:42 pm

Quote from: AvolitionBrit on February 07, 2023, 07:13:54 pm

They are certainly curious horrors. Was just digging into the story of them. Getting some ideas for a new group of adventurers for my next turn.

In terms of the Cinnamon brute, i am curious but during other generations of Orid Xem, have they had a vault with their slab. Since its a custom world shape, i wonder if it intended to have a vault but would of generated in a position off the map we have currently. Might need to check to wiki and check out the alternative universes.

As I said, Malladang is spawned in year 101 by dwarves digging too deep. Regenerating the world doesn't generate Malladang at all, while it does generate the Most Sin and the Knowing Deceiver. Instead of Malladang, one or two other goblin civs led by demons which were released by demons in dwarf fortresses where dwarves dug too deep are created. So they're definitely not tied by slabs, they're more like Pis in that aspect.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: AvolitionBrit on February 07, 2023, 07:42:43 pm

Quote from: kesperan on February 07, 2023, 07:23:00 pm

Quote from: AvolitionBrit on February 07, 2023, 07:13:54 pm

They are certainly curious horrors. Was just digging into the story of them. Getting some ideas for a new group of adventurers for my next turn.

There are about five Malladang goblins left, in Confusedship, and they're all blighted thralls. The fort has been plundered by adventurers before - there's an elephant fiend corpse there slain by the alligator man Nethrez.

Charcoal Brutes are nasty. In my experience the only demons that cause trouble are the web shooters and fire breathers. Your regular mortal is going to have next to no chance of avenging Suril.

The next characters have no intention on fighting demons ahahah. I fought some demons as Holyblood and yeah they are certainly tough. Firebreathers will need good shield use to block the flames. Webs are instant death unitl your a brown recluse spider man or another web immune race.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Broken on February 08, 2023, 07:32:58 am

I am currently reading through the full backlog (Up to page 71 now). It's taking me a while, there is just so much stuff.

Still, please sign me up for a turn.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: AvolitionBrit on February 08, 2023, 07:57:17 am

Welcome to the game

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on February 08, 2023, 09:47:32 am

Quote from: Broken on February 08, 2023, 07:32:58 am

I am currently reading through the full backlog (Up to page 71 now). It's taking me a while, there is just so much stuff.

Still, please sign me up for a turn.

It will be about three months before your turn comes up, plenty of time to research the world of Orid Xem!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Quantum Drop on February 08, 2023, 09:57:31 am

Quote from: kesperan on February 07, 2023, 07:23:00 pm

There are about five Malladang goblins left, in Confusedship, and they're all blighted thralls. The fort has been plundered by adventurers before - there's an elephant fiend corpse there slain by the alligator man Nethrez.

Oh yeah, now I remember that. Thought I'd dealt with them for good back during that turn; definitely remember taking out some goblins over there, at least. (Also, beating a demon to death bare-handed is not something I recommend, power-trained alligator man or not.)

Quote from: kesperan on February 07, 2023, 07:23:00 pm

Charcoal Brutes are nasty. In my experience the only demons that cause trouble are the web shooters and fire breathers. Your regular mortal is going to have next to no chance of avenging Suril.

Yeah, this is about right. Firebreathers are OK-ish to handle if you've strong skills and don't get screwed by attack timings. Web-shooting demons are just plain nasty; IME, only way to take them is being a [WEBIMMUNE] creature or abusing the intelligent undead paralysis ability.

Quote from: Broken on February 08, 2023, 07:32:58 am

I am currently reading through the full backlog (Up to page 71 now). It's taking me a while, there is just so much stuff.

Still, please sign me up for a turn.

Welcome to to the game! I hope you enjoy the stories so far, and that your turn goes well when it comes around!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Maloy on February 08, 2023, 12:30:32 pm

Is there a scenario where the wolf king can tame demons? Sounds like a fascinating turn that would almost definitely end in my death lol

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Lurker Z on February 08, 2023, 01:06:06 pm

They'd probably need to be modded to be tamable, like I read at some point was done for elves; and is technically what happens with some necromancer experiments. As far as our vanilla-ish game is concerned, demons appear to be recognized as sapient. The final proof was one of Moldath's recent prints where they were killing each other, yet used stock sapient creatures dialogue (i.e. "It was inevitable" etc.) Although I suppose nobody !!science!!d a demon in fortress mode, but again, they'd probably behave differently from adventure mode (for example, that ancient troll I invited in my fortress was all nice and good, but when encountering Moldath, attacked him on sight).

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on February 08, 2023, 03:44:41 pm

Amusingly the demons were moaning about being caught in smoke underground, caused by their own fireballs…

I wouldn’t advise taking on a charcoal brute, Maloy. As QD says, you really need paralysis spells to defeat them. Even with a shield, Moldath was getting caught on fire because their fire attacks ignite the scenery!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Unraveller on February 08, 2023, 04:42:43 pm

Time to pit Weremammoth Fell Ones against Charcoal Brutes to see who the true uber bosses of Orid Xem are.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Maloy on February 08, 2023, 04:55:33 pm

Oh no I wasn't serious I was just thinking since someone mentioned that Maloy craftsroars is technically their lord

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Broken on February 08, 2023, 06:08:15 pm

So i am seeing multiple cases where artifacts dissapeared from the museum and teleported back to their original locations - which is something i suffered myself a few times in adventure mode, but i think there is a possible workaround?

Just gift the artifact to the museum curator instead of leaving it in a pedestal and it should stay in place - I have never seen the teleport bug affect items inside someone inventory.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on February 08, 2023, 06:34:22 pm

Quote from: Broken on February 08, 2023, 06:08:15 pm

So i am seeing multiple cases where artifacts dissapeared from the museum and teleported back to their original locations - which is something i suffered myself a few times in adventure mode, but i think there is a possible workaround?

Just gift the artifact to the museum curator instead of leaving it in a pedestal and it should stay in place - I have never seen the teleport bug affect items inside someone inventory.

This technically works, presuming the person taking the gift never dies of old age. If NPCs die of old age "off screen" everything in their inventory vanishes. Not much of an issue if the NPC in question is a goblin for example.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Bralbaard on February 09, 2023, 02:12:03 am

The current lady of the museum is a goblin, but the last few times I visited the museum she and other staff were randomly attacking visitors, so I doubt she'll live long.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: TheFlame52 on February 09, 2023, 06:20:34 am

Good thing counterstrikes aren't still in the game, or she would have already punched the wrong demigod and been decapitated on reflex.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: AvolitionBrit on February 09, 2023, 07:06:22 am

Seeing all this talk of fighting demons im gonna give my advice.

Was fighting a demon as an undead in another world, it got stuck in a combat loop gouging my rhinomans eyes out after ripping a leg and an hand off him. Slowly kept punching the demon with the good hand until it bleed out. Sometimes you get lucky like that, most the time its you being shreaded. You need some god tier stats to stand a chance. Always go for the legs, a good hit to bring them down to the ground and slow them.

Pray, pray the demon doesn't just decapitate you turn one.

Shooting from a distance whilst stealthed is a good method to kill a demon although less fun. Counters demons abilities, can't use them against you if they can't see you.

If you want to be pure melee demon fighter here is my ultimate warrior plan:
Brown Recluse Spider Man 
- No pain so you can keep fighting til the bitter end
- Web immune - turns the worst ability to face in combat into nothing at all. Plus you can collect thread from them
- Six arms - one weapon either one or two handed and then 5 or 4 shields. This makes for good defense against hits and fire balls. Trains shield use faster.

Vampirsm
- No need for breathing, can't be strangled and removes the weakness of cannot swim. Just walking through rivers with ease.
- No exert, this plus no pain turns endurance and willpower into a pointless stat so you can assign the points elsewhere just ensure you get vampirism as you will get tired quick without it
- Doubles physical stats, hit harder, dodge faster and take less damage
- No need for food and drink, on the battlefield blood is your only snack
- Immortal, you can keep doing this for years

Training
- Fight lesser foes before facing the demons, might i recomend goblins

Issues
- Will need to use a fort to comission some fitting armor for added protection but that is easily done
- Infertile once you become a vampire so no spider family after you become a vampire

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Eric Blank on February 09, 2023, 01:43:38 pm

Vampires also won't recieve any stat gains (or losses thankfully) so you'll have to train up your stats before becoming one.

And you have to find the blood. Hopefully there's still some in the Museum.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: AvolitionBrit on February 09, 2023, 01:52:54 pm

Quote from: Eric Blank on February 09, 2023, 01:43:38 pm

And you have to find the blood. Hopefully there's still some in the Museum.

Barrels of the stuff

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on February 12, 2023, 09:48:09 pm

Quote from: Eric Blank on February 09, 2023, 01:43:38 pm

Vampires also won't recieve any stat gains (or losses thankfully) so you'll have to train up your stats before becoming one.

And you have to find the blood. Hopefully there's still some in the Museum.

I wonder if the blood of newly-cursed adventurers works at passing on the curse?

How is the turn coming along Eric? Building a new fort?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Eric Blank on February 12, 2023, 10:02:27 pm

Forts going well/boringly, lacking vampire blood unfortunately. Will upload tomorrow.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Broken on February 13, 2023, 01:39:19 pm

I finally ended my read of the full backlog.

Seeing Godenrioght being destroyed by 10331 (http://www.bay12games.com/dwarves/mantisbt/view.php?id=10331) pained by heart

Such an ignoble end for such an awesome weapon.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on February 13, 2023, 05:02:22 pm

Yes it was pretty weak losing an artifact adamantine scimitar with over 2000 kills to a combination of a stupid bug and a greedy dwarf vampire, but not to worry.

In atonement, Moldath spent several years as a broken rotten half-corpse trapped in a special chamber of the weaponsmith guild of The Eternal Citadel until he had watched enough demonstrations to become a legendary weaponsmith, and then he crafted Ugutasleth, Tautaches, an adamantine long sword.

Interestingly that guild was the most popular hangout in that fort to the extent that a huge number of the population got exceedingly good at weaponsmithing.

The (goblin) guild representative of the Creamy Confederacy spent so much time socialising there that they are now a legendary +5 weaponsmith.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Eric Blank on February 13, 2023, 05:46:08 pm

I'd that where all these metals metalsmiths came from then... like half my migrants were metalsmiths

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: TheFlame52 on February 13, 2023, 09:15:58 pm

Guild snowballing can turn 8 dwarves with one legendary skill each into 20 dwarves with 8 legendary skills each in very little time.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Eric Blank on February 13, 2023, 10:30:19 pm

I never had such luck with guilds. Only a bunch of dabbling fools.

Anyway, here is the save:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1f3iJnqcUHnu-Q0uz3ECtqplBMwtmRnK3/view?usp=sharing

Unfortunately, i couldnt reduce it down below 500mb, hence its now on my google drive.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Bralbaard on February 14, 2023, 03:52:38 pm

I seems indeed that the save is now reliably above 500 MB, I can't reduce it either.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Unraveller on February 15, 2023, 01:27:07 pm

Afraid I can't quite get started for two-ish days. Hopefully that's alright! I also need to write the rest of my last adventure. . . How time moves by so quick.

EDIT
Unfortunately it's not going to be until after the weekend due to obligations. Sorry for the delay everyone.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on February 18, 2023, 08:47:57 am

If you’re struggling for time you could bump down the queue a week or two?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Unraveller on February 18, 2023, 11:13:56 pm

That would probably be best, please forgive the indecision. I really like to allocate a full week into the museum when possible, this one's just rocky, one position down should give me enough time to get the deadlines I have out of the way and free up space. Truth be told this turn crept up on me really quick.

Again, sorry for delaying the game for everyone.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on February 19, 2023, 05:18:04 am

Guess that’s Noagga76’s turn then.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Bralbaard on February 19, 2023, 10:02:56 am

Yes, I've just sent a message.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on February 23, 2023, 06:20:25 am

Any update from Noagga76 - did they take the save?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Bralbaard on February 23, 2023, 05:31:02 pm

I have not had a response, but this is Noagga's second attempt to take a turn, I'm willing to wait a bit more.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Bralbaard on February 26, 2023, 06:22:07 pm

No news, we'll move on. That makes it unraveller's turn again.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Broken on February 28, 2023, 07:06:02 am

Oh well.

Quite a shame.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Maloy on February 28, 2023, 07:35:20 am

Here I was brain storming what all I might do when I get to play in May

Happy about it coming sooner although I hate it for the ones who missed their turns!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Unraveller on February 28, 2023, 01:22:34 pm

Alrighty. Guess it's my turn after all. I'll get started first thing tomorrow. The Realm of Silver needs some fixing since my absence!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on March 01, 2023, 04:12:49 pm

Good luck with your belated turn Unraveller!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Unraveller on March 01, 2023, 04:29:16 pm

Aye, I'll do my best to weave in the rest of Irka and Rimtil's tale. Once more unto the Realm of Silver!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Eric Blank on March 02, 2023, 01:36:09 am

I suppose i should ask to be added to the list again

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Unraveller on March 02, 2023, 11:01:24 pm

@Kesperan I don't suppose the King of the Page of Tiredness might offer Luki, the young Lordling of Omon Obin a boon or two in the approximate shape of a cave dragon and adamantine two-handed sword to share the new life and glory of their nation reborn with the rest of Orid Xem? ;)

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on March 02, 2023, 11:46:05 pm

Quote from: Unraveller on March 02, 2023, 11:01:24 pm

@Kesperan I don't suppose the King of the Page of Tiredness might offer Luki, the young Lordling of Omon Obin a boon or two in the approximate shape of a cave dragon and adamantine two-handed sword to share the new life and glory of their nation reborn with the rest of Orid Xem? ;)

There are several artifact weapons in The Eternal Citadel due to an insane abundance of weaponsmiths. Please help yourself! However, I’d ask that you leave alone the one that Moldath himself crafted…

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Unraveller on March 03, 2023, 02:15:59 pm

Excellent. Just wantes to make sure before I absconded with it! The cave dragon pup shall be a fine symbol for the future of Omon Obin! Too young to ride yet, but perhaps if Luki survives and has children, they will have that luxury.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on March 04, 2023, 11:08:06 am

Interestingly, the artifact adamantine two-handed sword "Mozireshom" - The Routed Silences - is claimed by no less than 62 people, many of them humans of the Realm of Silver.

One in particular who lays claim to this unparalleled work of the dwarven smith Lor Seablockade is the human Upek Yawnbearded. Upek is the grandson of Jas Gloryage through his daughter Rimtil, and therefore nephew of young Luki Systemtowns despite being two years older.

I sense this weapon could drive a rift between the competing bloodlines of the royal family!

It seems that for his own part, Luki has laid claim to the steel blade Tameimpaled, crafted in Balancehammer far to the north... may Bikda bless his hand.

Regarding the cave dragon - I think there should be three tame male dragons still resident in The Eternal Citadel. It might be a while before they can be riden into battle though.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Unraveller on March 06, 2023, 11:47:21 pm

Ahh yes, in one thousand years the famed Dragon Rider of Omon Obin will be born.

Almost done with the save, just doing some sinister fortress shenanigans, a little busy tomorrow so I might need two days to get things sent in! Someone please hold me to completing the story this time around. Haha.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on March 08, 2023, 08:31:32 am

Looking forward to seeing what you've done. Feels like ages since we have had an update!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: AvolitionBrit on March 08, 2023, 10:45:23 am

It certainly has been a while

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Unraveller on March 08, 2023, 05:38:37 pm

Wasn't able to do as much as I'd like but got a few fun things accomplished. Hopefully I'll start writing soon, haha. As usual I'd like to be put back on the turn list Braal.

EDIT!!!!: Gotta fix a quick bug will edit this when the save is right.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Broken on March 08, 2023, 06:18:24 pm

Quote from: Unraveller on March 08, 2023, 05:38:37 pm

EDIT!!!!: Gotta fix a quick bug will edit this when the save is right.

THEWORMTHEWORMTHEWORMTHEWORMTHEWORMTHEWORMTHEWORMTHEWORMTHEWORMTHEWORMTHEWORMTHEWORMTHEWORMTHEWORMTHEWORMTHEWORMTHEWORMTHEWORMTHEWORMTHEWORMTHEWORMTHEWORMTHEWORMTHEWORMTHEWORMTHEWORMTHEWORMTHEWORMTHEWORMTHEWORMTHEWORMTHEWORMTHEWORMTHEWORMTHEWORMTHEWORMTHEWORMTHEWORMTHEWORMTHEWORMTHEWORMTHEWORMTHEWORMTHEWORMTHEWORMTHEWORMTHEWORMTHEWORMTHEWORMTHEWORMTHEWORMTHEWORMTHEWORMTHEWORMTHEWORMTHEWORMTHEWORMTHEWORMTHEWORMTHEWORMTHEWORMTHEWORMTHEWORMTHEWORMTHEWORMTHEWORMTHEWORMTHEWORMTHEWORMTHEWORMTHEWORMTHEWORMTHEWORMTHEWORMTHEWORMTHEWORMTHEWORMTHEWORMTHEWORMTHEWORMTHEWORMTHEWORMTHEWORMTHEWORMTHEWORMTHEWORMTHEWORMTHEWORMTHEWORMTHEWORMTHEWORMTHEWORMTHEWORMTHEWORMTHEWORM

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Unraveller on March 08, 2023, 10:13:08 pm

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Xl8fggdG1AIzcwDWg-IO0SdJzrJCvrgS/view?usp=sharing (https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Xl8fggdG1AIzcwDWg-IO0SdJzrJCvrgS/view?usp=sharing)

And here it is, forgive the wait. Had to iron out THE WORM. Should be de-grungled now.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Lurker Z on March 09, 2023, 11:47:26 am

Getting the save now, looking forward to the adventures of the Anthads.

Question about save: if the archive becomes above 500 mega, can I try uploading in parts?

(https://i.imgur.com/9irC0ib.png)

Regarding the two saves... I'm supposed to use the Turn 106 end, right?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Unraveller on March 09, 2023, 01:21:51 pm

Two saves? Ah did I accidentally package pn of my backups? But yes 106 END should be the correct file.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on March 09, 2023, 01:50:42 pm

Good luck on your turn, Lurker.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Lurker Z on March 09, 2023, 02:06:55 pm

Thanks, guys. I'm just touring the Realm for now, gathering corpses, putting them to rest, that kind of thing. I'll see if I find something interesting.

I found a great axe (in all its meanings) that Moldath gave me. I'll see about giving it a few kills. Question though, did you give bone jewelry or did they spawn because my char is a necromancer?

One of the first things I noticed was that I'm wearing three different mail shirts, but I'm not complaining.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Bralbaard on March 09, 2023, 05:50:24 pm

Quote from: Lurker Z on March 09, 2023, 11:47:26 am

Question about save: if the archive becomes above 500 mega, can I try uploading in parts?

(https://i.imgur.com/9irC0ib.png)

That is a good workaround to keep using DFFD and would be fine with me. Never thought that function would become usefull again. I remember it from when you had to zip a game and transport it on like, eight floppy disks. "please insert disk 6".
I'm showing my age, I guess.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Lurker Z on March 09, 2023, 07:21:52 pm

Was doing the same. I was actually a little nervous that it's no longer there, I'm pleasantly surprised they kept it.

Well, I went to visit the elves, but I might turn out to kill a blighted Law-Giver. Hope I survive to tell the tale.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on March 09, 2023, 08:26:53 pm

Quote from: Lurker Z on March 09, 2023, 02:06:55 pm

Thanks, guys. I'm just touring the Realm for now, gathering corpses, putting them to rest, that kind of thing. I'll see if I find something interesting.

I found a great axe (in all its meanings) that Moldath gave me. I'll see about giving it a few kills. Question though, did you give bone jewelry or did they spawn because my char is a necromancer?

One of the first things I noticed was that I'm wearing three different mail shirts, but I'm not complaining.

I gave you an axe which was looted from Keyconjure by Pik and Desli many years ago. She lost it when she was captured in one of Avolition’s forts, and I gave you a gem crown which I named in your honour.

The bone crafts will be generated by the game based on creatures in your kill list. It sometimes adds these things and random embellishments to your equipped gear when you retire and resume a character.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Unraveller on March 09, 2023, 08:49:05 pm

Unfortunately I have founs that clothing items are not saved through retirement. Even adamantine cloaks. . . All of mine have disappeared from my adventurers. This will even happen if you ask a companion to wait and move a screen/chunk away from them and back. Even Irka's original named adamantine cloak made by Galka was lost.

Though I think propwr artifacts are fine.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Lurker Z on March 09, 2023, 09:54:29 pm

Well, I died to a blighted thrall with an ☼adamantine axe☼. Never met an elf, but at least I killed a Law-Giver.

Interesting information about necros being generated with bone items. As for the crown Moldath gave me, I think the game killed it, I never found it on my char.

Quote from: Unraveller on March 09, 2023, 08:49:05 pm

Even Irka's original named adamantine cloak made by Galka was lost.

I think I remember seeing an adamantine cloak on a pedestal in the capital in my previous run. I'm not sure it's the one you're talking about.

---

I've been having a disturbing bug where the game crashes just after it saves. Now, thankfully, it does save, so hopefully nothing gets corrupted, but it's still worrying.

---

Some things I learned during my run:
* It appears killed reanimated limbs counts as full "zombie humans", since I don't remember killing any undead.
* Do NOT run around reanimation areas with body parts or skin. Though the skin was easy to put down, it just keeps reanimating by itself and jumping out of bags.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on March 10, 2023, 03:19:23 am

I think the crown probably vanished as your character wasn’t wearing it when you reclaimed him. Sad to hear you died… thralls with adamantine weapons sounds like FUN.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Broken on March 10, 2023, 07:58:45 pm

Quote from: Unraveller on March 09, 2023, 08:49:05 pm

Unfortunately I have founs that clothing items are not saved through retirement. Even adamantine cloaks. . . All of mine have disappeared from my adventurers. This will even happen if you ask a companion to wait and move a screen/chunk away from them and back. Even Irka's original named adamantine cloak made by Galka was lost.

Though I think propwr artifacts are fine.

Well, the trick is to turn the things you want to conserve into named items.

Even in fort mode, you can turn items into named items at will by making them symbols of a noble position.

(For clothing, this makes it invulnerable to wear damage, which is a really nice extra).

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: brewer bob on March 10, 2023, 11:50:04 pm

Quote from: Broken on March 10, 2023, 07:58:45 pm

Even in fort mode, you can turn items into named items at will by making them symbols of a noble position.

Wait. Since when has that been possible or is it a new thing that came with 0.50?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Eric Blank on March 11, 2023, 03:08:35 am

Its definitely possible in .50, I dont recall being able to do that before though.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on March 11, 2023, 12:37:19 pm

The last turn file is now over one Gigabyte??

Also - the crown was named. It was a masterwork tanzanite crown made by a dwarf in Balancehammer that I named in honour of Lurker and traded with him. I suspect when we look at legends mode after Lurker's turn it will say the object was destroyed. Quite annoying.

EDIT: I downloaded the save and unretired Lurker's character - the crown is in his backpack along with the artifact steel battle-axe, so I am not sure how it managed to vanish in Lurker's turn...

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Lurker Z on March 11, 2023, 06:50:28 pm

No, last turn is 2 giga unarchived. Unraveller accidentally put two saves in there.

It's been going well, I've brought Eskôn back to life, but half the settlers were either undead or necros. Things sure changed since my last turns.

I've also started an Omon Obin fort, but it crashed when the first settlers arrived. I wonder what's that about. Sadly, that means I lost in-game around 2 months of progress. I'll save tomorrow around the date the migrants arrived before it crashed. Or I'll save every in-game month, better do that.

---

Re: Crown, I just said I wasn't wearing it. I'm not sure if it's in the bag. Whoever finds the body might find out.

In interesting unrelated news, someone made an artifact parse crown during a mood. I thought gem setters just made perfect gems, so that's a pleasant surprise.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on March 12, 2023, 10:33:10 am

Human forts seem to cause a variety of weirdness. Hope it is going OK.

Out of interest, which Law-Giver did you kill?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Lurker Z on March 12, 2023, 11:43:36 am

I didn't check, but the one who was blighted, along with his (or her, I'm not sure) cabinet by Hannibal. Unsurprisingly, the thrall that killed me was also one of the 922 infected directly by Hannibal.

---

My forts worked well until the crash. Eskôn never crashed. The Omon Obin fort survived two caravans (the first from the elves) without issue. When the migrants arrived, the Omon Obin caravan was about to depart, so I'm not sure if it was simply from the migrants coming or some weird interaction with the caravan.

I also had some weirdness in Eskôn, where the dwarven caravan scared my necros, presumably by firing at wild life, who raised undead, who presumably destroyed the wagons, which made the dwarven caravan not leave for an entire year, which resulted in an explicit message that no migrants would arrive and which also stopped another dwarven caravan from coming. I was going to retire the fort anyway for the Omon Obin one, but that was an annoying cascade failure.

---

Well, I've somehow passed the issue. It was probably a weird interaction, the merchants left and the migrants arrived some days later with no issues.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Unraveller on March 12, 2023, 02:05:38 pm

I suppose it's also possible that a corrupt unit of some kind attempted to settle in your fort the first time.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on March 12, 2023, 06:23:59 pm

Quote from: Lurker Z on March 12, 2023, 11:43:36 am

I didn't check, but the one who was blighted, along with his (or her, I'm not sure) cabinet by Hannibal. Unsurprisingly, the thrall that killed me was also one of the 922 infected directly by Hannibal.

Ah... sounds like you got ganked in Clenchportent then. Will need to see if I can find your body... for reasons. :D

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Lurker Z on March 12, 2023, 09:15:02 pm

Quote from: kesperan on March 12, 2023, 06:23:59 pm

Quote from: Lurker Z on March 12, 2023, 11:43:36 am

I didn't check, but the one who was blighted, along with his (or her, I'm not sure) cabinet by Hannibal. Unsurprisingly, the thrall that killed me was also one of the 922 infected directly by Hannibal.

Ah... sounds like you got ganked in Clenchportent then. Will need to see if I can find your body... for reasons. :D

Actually, it was Cilbaenna / Faithtalk of Dur Leru/The Empire of Peeks. I mostly ran around blindly, so I only found out now after checking Legends Viewer. Aaand I might have destroyed the bodies. My character had an epiphany along the way and we were supposed to do great things after he retired. Ah well.

---

Things working well enough, other than some small setbacks:
* Thralls now enter the map as creatures with all their body-parts grey, as in lost. Three pages of them. They still do get attacked by the random passer-by until they don't, and sometimes they can be one-shot. They don't die to exterminate this, but they can be fully healed. A few mistakes made me discover that if I full heal them, then exterminate, THEN they thankfully die. This is very very strange indeed, since I very much remember the first time the Omon Obin caravan in a previous turn came with a blighted thrall, that thrall was very active.
* Luki has arrived at least once with the caravan and left unhappy.
* On that note, I can't give positions to anyone. It's not insurmountable and thankfully I have a trader who trades by default. That does mean that I can't see the prices, so I have to guestimate. Last time I sent a trader packing ecstatic, so I probably gave them way too much.
* The work is trudging along. I've tied myself to a bit of a megaproject without realizing it, but it's going along as well as I could hope, I suppose.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Lurker Z on March 15, 2023, 05:10:44 am

Some updates, my mystery fort is Ulosothro (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Ulosothro) (Entrancegrape), the castle-capital of Omon Obin since Señamatem's fall and until Jas' rise. And it was... not fun; it was work. The castle has several issues, including that at least 3 levels are buried in the hill. This forced me to raise the courtyard two levels above the usual pedestal building. I might be exaggerating, but the courtyard is about one third of a 3x3 map, which is... a lot. I've finally completed the courtyard around Monday and made a few buildings out of marble. I've also had to make some small walls around so the "basement" isn't seen by adventurers, but I didn't check how it looks from an adventurer level. On the other hand, I've seen the hummies use the up-down ramps, so hopefully adventurers can too; at least one entrance is accessible; I've remade the really plain entrance of two simple ancient wood double doors. Speaking of ramps, they break (become "unusuable") in real finicky ways, including as a result of a roof. I had to keep the tiles above the ramps open to the sky.

My plan to replace the entire castle in either granite or marble has died a painful death. Not only did it take me a few days just to make the courtyard, but only a few buildings besides and I had to leave the "basement" in that Minecraft covered-up way. And I loath seeing that in others' build; as much as I respect people's work on projects, it just breaks my immersion seeing grass for miles under the foundation.

I've counted a whooping 16 thralls that came to Ulosothro's outskirts as migrants with a soft cap of 50 migrants, so that does not bode well for Omon Obin at all. Not having a bookkeeper or broker were annoying too, but what put the lid on it was the lag, FPS falling to 50. In hindsight, it was probably the animals running around the castle being blocked by all the doors, but at that point, I felt I'd burn out, so just as I finished the courtyard, I retired.

On that note, is rutile useful for anything other than walls or crafts? I wanted to make a "purple room" from rutile, but was one wall short (which I replaced with marble) as I didn't turn it into blocks in case I needed it for something else.

After all that trouble, I thought to check out Ilrallenod... and surprisingly, I actually had fun with it. There was only one thrall in the NPC buildings above the lava lake, which I promptly exterminated. Somehow, the capital even has less necros + undead than Eskôn received from migrants alone. And, again somehow, I'm at 100 colonists with 100 FPS. I think it's that I either kill any non-fur non-milk giving animal or that I pastured them outside and out of the way. The elves are being uppity as usual, but they give me wood and gem pedestals, so it's fine. Wood is actually a problem, since there's nothing on the surface and I emptied out the caves. I am serious, any tree in the caves that's not under water has been chopped. I'm observing also a variety in comparison with Eskôn, where there are a LOT of blood thorn in comparison to other types. There were the usual bugs, the dwarves (and a human I suspect died of old age) refused to get about anything done in the first year, but I hope I fixed it now. Now the capital has actual stairs, though there are "redundant" stairs as a few of the nobles were teleported on reclaim in the cave and dehydrated around there while next to the lake. Nobles.

And that's another thing, or a series of things: there's only one or maybe two water sources waaaaay in the third cavern layer. The layer that wasn't discovered in nearly a millennium and was a wall away from being so. The layer between where the NPC bedrooms and the other layer of caverns are located. Also, the Low Roads run EXACTLY over the bedrooms. That's some shoddy design. I'm surprised they didn't just build over the lava directly and opened a few holes to smoke the fumes too. I've also rebuilt some of the Low Roads, they still go where they were supposed to, but I blocked a part of it both from the adjacent caverns and the (no longer) open ceiling. All in ominous slate, because by the time I found some good chunks of granite, this had become a style.

I'm also one year from playing over 10 years in fort mod in Orid Xem, which I hope I'll manage by tomorrow, then I'll put the save up.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on March 15, 2023, 11:29:48 am

Sounds like you’ve been very busy. I’m interested to see how the world has changed!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Lurker Z on March 15, 2023, 12:02:02 pm

I think I passed the ten year mark! Ilrallenod is really fun. I've started testing pumps, I both want to thank and apologize for Avolition because I assume the Ancientknoledge Scholor [sic] is one of yours, for giving me a level 13 necromancer scholar pump operator. I apologize that, while I didn't get him killed, he's had some rough months. I'm pretty sure I'm doing it wrong and he's not supposed to be thrown in the 6/7 water each time he pumps, but on the other hand I'm getting what I wanted, which was a tree farm. He's also already a competent swimmer and a dabbling climber, I wonder how high I'll be able to rise him until tomorrow. Who knows when a necromancer will need to use a legendary swimming skill.

The elves, tree hungers aside, are very lucrative. Beyond the gem items that I can't normally create and the wood they're berating me for burning and chopping, now they're selling me grown cages and barrels. That means, unless the game removes the "grown" tag once they're full, I can finally sell them booze and trapped animals (I'm not going to waste metal on them... or I could have made them out of glass, since I'm surrounded by sand. D'oh! Ah well, live and learn). They also gave me two giant leopards and it's a pair too! Maybe they'll have time to have cubs.

I'm also starting to get hillocks spammed, 3 so far. My noble necromancers have also had several children, 4 of them in the same day (though I suspect one of them was lost to as-of-yet-unknown cause). I had a weird moment when I reclaimed and I was wondering where all the dorflings that were born during my previous Ilrallenod turn had gone to, then suspected they were lost in some purge (though I wouldn't be surprised if that actually happened). Then I remembered that was over half a century ago, they must have grown and went on their way.

I'm also surprised on how I found Ilrallenod basically as I left it. From the hints from kesperan, I was expecting all the undead pile to have been raised and the map to be full of bodyparts. I've had several dark humorous moments when some of the dwarves fell asleep right on the corpse pile. I tried to figure why that was, then realized dragging bodies was a long and tedious affair, they did their job, but were too tired to move and just collapsed there.

I haven't mentioned the wiki for a while, I've mostly been letting it be, but most of my worried are over. With over 1000 pages of content, it has more pages (with actual content) than many wikis on mainstream media (movies, videogame etc.) so I doubt it'll be ever taken down for inactivity. I'll get back to it after my turn.

While reclaiming a castle has left me with mixed reactions, would anyone mind if I tried to reclaim another castle in future turns? I have no exact plans right now, but us going around reclaiming abandoned settlements sounds like a fun idea. Or I might try to do with Shadmalzuglar (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Shadmalzuglar) what I've done with Ilrallenod. I've mentioned some months ago, but if anyone is ruthless enough, killing everyone in a 3x3 NPC dwarf fortress (doesn't work for human settlements or such, but with Shadmalzuglar having been occupied until the end of the 8th century and being able to resettled, this probably means any 3x3 NPC dwarf fortress is up for grabs if it gets emptied) can make it eligible for player reclaiming without putting a different settlement over it.

I'll give before and after pictures of my main modifications to Ulosothro and Ilrallenod. I'm not sure if I have that much to say about my actual adventure, my killing of the Law-Giver and his cabinet was relatively a breeze, which surprises me even more that I got downed by that dwarf thrall in the middle of nowhere.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: AvolitionBrit on March 15, 2023, 12:40:16 pm

Ah glad to see the isle of ancientknowledge isn't issolated and on occasion the odd scholor leaves to pursit the rest of Orid Xem. Living forever in an early 9th century fortress with an entrance overgrown with years of poor upkeep its any wonder why you wouldn't go out and explore the world. The ones that remain seem to keep writing every hundred years or so. I often do a quick reclaim, make an newcomers a scholar and retire it.

I think building upon these forts is a good idea, breaths life back into a rather dead settlement. Its what i have done by sending populations to occupy abandoned forts. Plus who knows what you will find. Glad to see Entrancegrape being brought new life after 900+ years of its founding. It has an interesting history and i look forward to exploring what you have done.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Bralbaard on March 15, 2023, 12:52:20 pm

I unretired a few of my old fortresses as well in my recent turns. Razorbridge was especially fun. It immediately crumbled to ruin upon unretiring because all the inhabitants had died of old age, I had to reclaim immediately. I did not have time for major updates however.

I look forward to see what you did with Treatyseed. 10 years is a long time!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Lurker Z on March 15, 2023, 01:18:39 pm

Yes, but so are megaprojects and I dedicated 3 days or so to Ilrallenod and most of that was for the semi-mega-project of the deep road. It's not that visible, only in contrast with the dilapidation left in the rest of the deep roads. Also a central stairway instead of a direct hole in the ground. Aside from that, I more or less let the game run so the barons can procreate. I have had at max even 70 idlers at some times. A large population is good for building, but not for much else and I didn't want to make excess production which would lag.

I can't believe I forgot this, but I am happy to report that since the initial thrall, there was no new thrall.

As for your fellow, well... he is in the unfortunate position for him and fortunate for me to never need food, drink or sleep, which means he'll be approaching the year of continuous pumping in the caverns by now.

(https://i.imgur.com/cY8jB7V.png)

Already proficient swimmer (he didn't even start with dabbling, I don't think), though still dabbling climber though I saw him jump around cave-cliffs like crazy.

I'm already at the fifth hillock too.

All that being said, thanks for the positive feedback. Just don't expect miracles, building big takes time and it feels there's little to show for it when it's done, but it's nice to leave something better than what you found when you went in.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: AvolitionBrit on March 15, 2023, 02:18:19 pm

Ah Urist Basement pride, yeah they are certainly of Ancientknowledge. They are a double necromancer with both secret_5 and secret_22, they studied under the late Ustuth Dusttombs before his death to old age in 869. Seems he surpassed his masters knowledge and then some. Urist is the Author of Classic Screws and Dialogue For the beginning Practitioner. Settled in Falsetower then Treatyseed. They have been around and i recall their master had be in many player forts doing different things each time so im glad to see that he has carried his masters tradition of doing something new and different. A lifetime of knowledge spending 10 years pumping. He might master all skills one day.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on March 15, 2023, 04:15:51 pm

After more than 10 years I suspect Moldath’s son will have come of age, if he hasn’t befallen some terrible accident. This could be very interesting for future turns!

You don’t happen to have seen Stukos Orbshaken anywhere on your travels? :P

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Unraveller on March 15, 2023, 08:29:18 pm

Moldath's Son? Gods, who was the mother. . ?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Lurker Z on March 15, 2023, 09:24:38 pm

Someone unfortunate enough to be Zeus'd. Kesperan just df-hacked a baby on the poor lass.

Quote from: kesperan on March 15, 2023, 04:15:51 pm

After more than 10 years I suspect Moldath’s son will have come of age, if he hasn’t befallen some terrible accident. This could be very interesting for future turns!

You don’t happen to have seen Stukos Orbshaken anywhere on your travels? :P

Funnily enough, I both have a Stukos and a baby Moldath in Ilrallenod. As for my adventures, I don't think I'd run into Moldath's son into elven or human-adjacent lands.

---

That pool I pictured killed two people since I've started the works. At this point, I don't even need the mud because trees are regrowing all over the caves, but there are two necromancers now having fun pumping the water. The second one is short and muscular, which means he's literally a dwarf among dwarves. In a few in-game months, he is barely a novice swimmer because he literally did not need to learn to swim. He was thrown in the water? He just grabbed the wall and threw himself out. I had to teleport Urist between 3 and 5 times to save his life before he accommodated with water. Truly, Urist is a scholar at heart.

(https://i.imgur.com/jV9qsB0.png)

---

Success! It's likely they'll just die there of old age, but at least they have a family now!

(https://i.imgur.com/mIVbM1W.png)

I think I can confirm animals are the main cause of lag, beyond even having many items. After slaughtering about 5, FPS went up from 90 back to almost 100.

---

We are now on Hematite 18, 967. I plan to wait for the fall caravan, trade with them, save then upload. I have 122 people, that means around 25 noble born were born in Ilrallenod since I reclaimed. Sadly, the laws of dorf kind are not as those of Terra, and if not given titles, they grow up into useless peasants (but they can inherit their parents' position after their death, so that's something).

Our current King is a spry 130ish old, he doesn't have much to live. I think the cap is 150. He made an artifact while possessed. I had a lot of dorves possessed, for that matter, which is weird, since it's not like I was running a horror charnel house or anything. (I wouldn't have 122 citizens with a soft cap of 100 if that was the case.)

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Unraveller on March 15, 2023, 10:03:26 pm

Year 1000 beckons soon. What will it bring for Orix Xem I wonder? Hopefully I get to starting my turn's story tomorrow, we need to check up on good old Omon Obin after Irka sequestered himself away in a dark castle.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Lurker Z on March 15, 2023, 11:12:40 pm

I remember when we were 100, then 150 years in, I thought that was much. Now we're at almost double, 300 years since the year 700 of the rashaping of Orid Xem's very rules of nature and the arrival of the adventurers of the Museum. What a ride!

https://dffd.bay12games.com/file.php?id=16529

Anyway, here's the save. I've turned compression off and it seems to save a lot faster. With it on, it saves in over 5 minutes, with it off in around a minute, but for autosaves I think the compression is worth it to have plenty of backups all in all.

Note that since I don't know how compatible the files between the uncompressed and compressed versions are, I left the raws as they were modified by LNP with the Phoebus tileset. If there's problems, consider trying to use the raws from the last turn.

Good luck, Flame!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Bralbaard on March 16, 2023, 02:25:02 am

Good luck Flame!

There's a fortress still loaded when you unpack the save, so you will have to retire it first.

Interesting that the save is below 500MB again. Well over 11 years have passed since the last turn, impressive.
I'll update the maps later.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Lurker Z on March 16, 2023, 03:39:13 am

Sorry about that, I just remembered I didn't retire because of my uncompressed test.

Speaking of maps, I've updated mine apparently in January. I was going to polish it, but by then I might as well update what I have.

https://i.imgur.com/9y2oEqu.png

The secret of reducing the size is obvious by now: save uncompressed, then archive.

---

By the way, kesperan, that axe you give me is supposedly created by "an unknown creature", but it was created before the year 50, which means the name of its creator can be recovered through regening the world. I'll look into it in the future.

LV update: Stukos lives! I don't think I ever encountered anything related to the Page of Tiredness in my adventures.

---

Adventure mode tip: if you die, you don't have to immediately press "Finish game". When you press ESC, you can save the current session, go into your save folder, copy that save, then finish the game. This is how I recovered my death log.

(https://i.imgur.com/rYFGQ81.png)

---

Luki (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Luki_Histekricgo) and Lurker Wogeathis (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Lurker_Wogeathis) articles updated.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on March 16, 2023, 11:34:30 am

I am glad young Stukos yet lives. Perhaps we will see more of him in the future….

Regarding Luki: I see his son, grandson of Jas, has the name Gloryage. That cannot be mere chance! Unraveller is dazzling us yet again with his DFHack skills.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Broken on March 16, 2023, 12:38:52 pm

Quote from: Lurker Z on March 16, 2023, 03:39:13 am

Adventure mode tip: if you die, you don't have to immediately press "Finish game". When you press ESC, you can save the current session, go into your save folder, copy that save, then finish the game. This is how I recovered my death log.

Doing that may trigger the Transmigration (https://www.reddit.com/r/dwarffortress/comments/54r3hh/came_back_to_life_as_a_plump_helmet/) bug (https://www.reddit.com/r/dwarffortress/comments/8vzlde/weird_but_mildly_awesome_adventure_mode_bug/), so be careful if you don't want that to happen.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Lurker Z on March 16, 2023, 01:03:52 pm

Quote from: Broken on March 16, 2023, 12:38:52 pm

Quote from: Lurker Z on March 16, 2023, 03:39:13 am

Adventure mode tip: if you die, you don't have to immediately press "Finish game". When you press ESC, you can save the current session, go into your save folder, copy that save, then finish the game. This is how I recovered my death log.

Doing that may trigger the Transmigration (https://www.reddit.com/r/dwarffortress/comments/54r3hh/came_back_to_life_as_a_plump_helmet/) bug (https://www.reddit.com/r/dwarffortress/comments/8vzlde/weird_but_mildly_awesome_adventure_mode_bug/), so be careful if you don't want that to happen.

Thanks for the warning. That looks both way cool and was scary. I seem to have escaped the dreaded isekai of horror and unworldlyness.

This reminds me of a story from a friend from the 2000s about two forum users from two different cities somehow sharing the same IP and one receiving PMs meant for the other. Freaky stuff.

---

But thinking more on that, is it that bad? That sounds like a quirk more than something game-breaking. Would the original character still exist in save? That'd mean the adventures would be recorded by the game and the player could just retire and use their adventurer the next turn. It's not like we have a shortage of dead players being playable through necro shenanigans between turns.

I haven't read the whole bug report, but I can see some reasons why this happened:
* Bogeymen's involvement may be a reason.
* Bogeymen are a pre-40 monsters, so this is probably fixed, either intentionally or by all the piled-up modifications, since.
* There are strong implications in the post that the player closed the game, then opened it again. I did not, I saved, backed up the save while the session was still running, then continued the save. I've seen that closing and opening the game has effects on the game being played, usually to the effect that a longer open session increases the chances for the game to randomly crash because of what I guess is some "strain" accumulation.

P.S.: There's also a DF hack command that directs this possession in-game. Beyond unretire-anyone, there are, from memory, commands for you to posses your killer or your companion, body-snatching Fallen (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fallen_(1998_film)) style. Yes, friends, not only are we Armok, but we are the demons.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: AvolitionBrit on March 16, 2023, 01:16:21 pm

Quote from: Lurker Z on March 16, 2023, 01:03:52 pm

Quote from: Broken on March 16, 2023, 12:38:52 pm

Quote from: Lurker Z on March 16, 2023, 03:39:13 am

Adventure mode tip: if you die, you don't have to immediately press "Finish game". When you press ESC, you can save the current session, go into your save folder, copy that save, then finish the game. This is how I recovered my death log.

Doing that may trigger the Transmigration (https://www.reddit.com/r/dwarffortress/comments/54r3hh/came_back_to_life_as_a_plump_helmet/) bug (https://www.reddit.com/r/dwarffortress/comments/8vzlde/weird_but_mildly_awesome_adventure_mode_bug/), so be careful if you don't want that to happen.

Thanks for the warning. That looks both way cool and was scary. I seem to have escaped the dreaded isekai of horror and unworldlyness.

This reminds me of a story from a friend from the 2000s about two forum users from two different cities somehow sharing the same IP and one receiving PMs meant for the other. Freaky stuff.

---

But thinking more on that, is it that bad? That sounds like a quirk more than something game-breaking. Would the original character still exist in save? That'd mean the adventures would be recorded by the game and the player could just retire and use their adventurer the next turn. It's not like we have a shortage of dead players being playable through necro shenanigans between turns.

I have encountered this bug before, it is interesting. Might be an interesting thing to play around with. My life as a reincarnated as a plump helmet man. Even if you came back as something that could speak and somehow made it back to the surface you would be unrecognised by everyone.

That story Lurker reminds me of that time an IP geolocating service kept pointing to some poor couples house as the origin of various ips in America. As they used that location as the default this is coming from America location.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: TheFlame52 on March 16, 2023, 02:46:48 pm

Oh man, it's been a while. I have no idea what is happening. I don't even have my notes from my last session any more. Something about killing things with certain weapons. Those went missing when I retired my adventurer, by the way. Does anyone know where the slab binding Dreamypuzzled currently is? That's the slab that Lonelythrall took from the vault near the museum.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Lurker Z on March 16, 2023, 03:00:26 pm

LV says it lies undisturbed in Boltspumpink since 718.

---

I've noticed something about the 16 or so blighted thralls that arrived in Ulosothro (now also called Siminsothro‎; I tried to use similar sounding names for the "new" human settlement and group so as to not confuse with the old ones (not those Old Ones), but also to keep their memory alive), that some or more were headless or worse and yet considered "undead", yet LV does not say they died when I very much killed them with the exterminate command. So now blighted thralls are canonically and for all game mechanics, immortal ghouls and possibly ring wraiths (https://lotr.fandom.com/wiki/Nazgûl). Add to that how Moldath's state keeps changing between mostly functional to rotting mess and back between game modes and I don't even know what this adds up to. Wonderful.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: AvolitionBrit on March 16, 2023, 03:02:25 pm

It should be in Boltspumpkin but items get often displaced there. I spent two previous turns looking for a certain necromatic slab. The one you are looking for is The Lord of Riddling. The slab that bound Dreamypuzzled the Tenebrous Obscurity to the mortal plane. I recall it was there some time ago as Avolition has the secret to banish the demon.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Lurker Z on March 16, 2023, 03:12:54 pm

How did the item scattering at the Museum got resolved, if at all? I'd even forgotten about that during my turn, too preoccupied with finding a worthy item to give to the Museum after I visited the elven capital.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Bralbaard on March 16, 2023, 03:17:41 pm

I invoked the dfhack 'lair' command at some point. Not sure if that works

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on March 16, 2023, 03:56:11 pm

I notice TheFlame52 is starting their turn today which should put me next in line.

I’m on holiday next week and won’t have time to play so was hoping I could be bumped down one space?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Lurker Z on March 16, 2023, 04:51:24 pm

Shiiiiiiesh, I just looked at the map and I noticed something that is probably obvious to many, but that I don't remember it being discussed in the thread: Ilrallenod is in a (politically) heated position. It's relatively close to Boltspumpkin, all things considered, sorrunded by human-claimed lands and very close neighbors with the former Curious Horror capital/lost dwarf fortress to demons since the year 101, really close to Crownhall for that matter and now those 6 spawning hillocks during my turn have encroached on the Plain Hill, green places where dwarves historically before the year 700 didn't venture in settling. It is in fact surprising that they have relations with the elves, as the entire mountain range bars them from elven lands and elves never settled north of the mountain range Ilrallenod exists in. It also rests dangerously, very, very close to what I call a "dark river", a diagonal row of goblin settlements (it isn't even the only one in Orid Xem) at only 3 world tile distance, containing 26 goblin settlements. There's also a relative close necro tower built by a very NOT chosen necromancer that's about as close as that Oddom's. Ilrallenod is in a very crowded place in all the meaning of the word.

---

Now isn't this interesting:

(https://i.imgur.com/NQ5osuV.png)

I had assumed this guild hall would be extinct, especially since I was never asked to make (or reinstate) new guilds (I cranked up the numbers required to petition for guilds/religions to levels impractical to be achieved) or told that Meng (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Meng_Rovodegom) joined a guild. In fact, I have no spaces for guild after reclaiming. I think the first one who reclaimed was Bralbaard and he deleted all the site zones? Or were they all gone upon reclaiming?

I did make a library and I mildly regret it since instead of being idle and making babies, half my idlers (and some who I actually needed to work) went to read books instead. Does reading books increase their in-game skills or are they just mood buffs?

Now that I think about it, it's pretty metal (or, considering the circumstances, stony) that the fortress' only legendary mason comes to the capital hoping for his skills to be noticed, asks around about making a guild, is told the Overseer forbid even the petitioning of guild halls, goes searching for a loophole, finds ancient accountings of a guild created in the year 81 and boldly tells everyone he meets that he's a member of that guild. Extra points for the Overseers not hearing about this until he leaves the fortress.

---

Osturist Obot Zaled (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Osturist_Obot_Zaled) article is up. It was created by Prince Sarvesh "Spearstrength" Lokumemen of Mörul Kan, grandson of the first King of the civ. It has over 430 kills.

It even has an interesting history in Orid Xem Arban Nitig, where Sarvesh escaped Mörul Kan's destruction, which happened 12 years later than canon, to the elven capital where he lived the rest of his life. Then it made its way to a market, found by an elf, given to the Queen (who ruled since year 126 until present), who made it the symbol of the Diplomat and remains there, unbloodied, to this day.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Bralbaard on March 17, 2023, 04:14:59 am

I'll move Kesperan a spot down, enjoy the vacation!
I've also updated the maps including the one by Lurker.

Quote from: Lurker Z on March 16, 2023, 03:39:13 am

https://i.imgur.com/9y2oEqu.png

The secret of reducing the size is obvious by now: save uncompressed, then archive.

That does not always work, the previous saves were above the limit, despite using that method. There seems to be a bit of randomness involved depending on the areas that were updated and stored during an adventure.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Broken on March 18, 2023, 01:07:46 pm

Quote from: Lurker Z on March 16, 2023, 04:51:24 pm

I had assumed this guild hall would be extinct, especially since I was never asked to make (or reinstate) new guilds (I cranked up the numbers required to petition for guilds/religions to levels impractical to be achieved) or told that Meng (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Meng_Rovodegom) joined a guild. In fact, I have no spaces for guild after reclaiming. I think the first one who reclaimed was Bralbaard and he deleted all the site zones? Or were they all gone upon reclaiming?

Now that I think about it, it's pretty metal (or, considering the circumstances, stony) that the fortress' only legendary mason comes to the capital hoping for his skills to be noticed, asks around about making a guild, is told the Overseer forbid even the petitioning of guild halls, goes searching for a loophole, finds ancient accountings of a guild created in the year 81 and boldly tells everyone he meets that he's a member of that guild. Extra points for the Overseers not hearing about this until he leaves the fortress.

Guilds don't need zones to exist - guilds will keep existing forever, even if they don't have any guildhalls or members.

I was a bit curious so i checked the save.

We can clearly see than the guild exists in fort mode, despite being created in worldgen.

(https://i.imgur.com/NsYrfVe.png)

And we can asign a new guildhall to it, if we so desire.

(https://i.imgur.com/JfMSLeX.png)

The Hall of Steam it's not the only ancient guild in Treatyseed, either:

(https://i.imgur.com/AErdki0.png)

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Lurker Z on March 18, 2023, 02:38:36 pm

Huh, thanks for the information. I hadn't played around with guilds too much, I mostly saw them as nuances and disabled them by putting ridiculous numbers of petitioners needed to ask for them.

I can also confirm that I checked the Year 700 save and there were no more locations for guilds since then. I think they were wiped out in 346 when the capital was "liberated" by The Knowing Deceiver. Either that or World Generation locations don't transition at all into reclaimed fortresses.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Maloy on March 18, 2023, 03:37:19 pm

I'm looking forward to my turn to come!

Although I'm not even sure what I'm gonna do! I feel like I reached the cap of experiences by resurrecting Bral lol

I'm thankful that all my characters are immortal now I'm always wondering how much time will pass in the world before I next jump in

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: TheFlame52 on March 18, 2023, 05:19:31 pm

Started my adventure.

With the number of CTDs I have experienced, it might be a rather vague adventure.

EDIT: Who owns Falsetower? You took over a couple of sites of the Knowing Deceiver, so as past and future law-giver, Dreamypuzzled feels bound to retake those sites. She may also attack Falsetower itself. Up to you on that one.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: AvolitionBrit on March 18, 2023, 06:07:40 pm

I did, Falsetower was were the dwarves were "inspired" by a certain bark scorpion preaching his anti goblin sentiments hence the many battles against the goblins. I am sure you will see the statue in the centre of the tower dedicated to this. Feel free to do so, interested to see what comes of this. Hope you can face the undead of Falsetower.

Also Avolition Holyblood decimated The Knowing Deceivers population to half of what it was during my last turn if that helps you plans.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Lurker Z on March 18, 2023, 07:33:06 pm

Quote from: TheFlame52 on March 18, 2023, 05:19:31 pm

Started my adventure.

With the number of CTDs I have experienced, it might be a rather vague adventure.

Don't take this the wrong way, but I just don't get how it crashes that much for many people but not me. I breezed through Orid Xem from the Cradle of Omon Obin (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/The_Cradle_of_Omon_Obin) to Vacirayali (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Vacirayali) and back and I haven't had one crash. Granted, I haven't explored the south, but the biggest concentration of settlements and, presumably, creatures is to the north. The only crash I had was in fortress mode in that weird interaction between human caravan leaving and migrants arriving while playing a human fort. The only confirmed static crash site I know is Iroram, and that's because I've been trying repeatedly to see how can I unbork it.

Anyway, I hope the rest of the game is a lot more fun and un-crashy for you. Good luck.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: TheFlame52 on March 19, 2023, 11:15:19 am

Quote from: AvolitionBrit on March 18, 2023, 06:07:40 pm

I did, Falsetower was were the dwarves were "inspired" by a certain bark scorpion preaching his anti goblin sentiments hence the many battles against the goblins. I am sure you will see the statue in the centre of the tower dedicated to this. Feel free to do so, interested to see what comes of this. Hope you can face the undead of Falsetower.

Also Avolition Holyblood decimated The Knowing Deceivers population to half of what it was during my last turn if that helps you plans.

I need to kill like ~250 creatures in order to "fill" my weapons, so it seems I know where those kills are coming from. However, two of those weapons are crossbows. They aren't very effective against the undead. I'll figure something out.

EDIT: I have arrived in Falsetower. I am going to murder and rob my way through the entire dwarven population. I'm also going to be using reveal, because I don't have the RL time to search every single exploratory tunnel for dwarves and artifacts. :(

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on March 19, 2023, 06:55:41 pm

Quote from: TheFlame52 on March 19, 2023, 11:15:19 am

EDIT: I have arrived in Falsetower. I am going to murder and rob my way through the entire dwarven population. I'm also going to be using reveal, because I don't have the RL time to search every single exploratory tunnel for dwarves and artifacts. :(

Good luck, that place is swarming with intelligent undead and necromancers. Have fun!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: AvolitionBrit on March 19, 2023, 06:55:51 pm

Good luck!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: TheFlame52 on March 19, 2023, 07:02:31 pm

Quote from: kesperan on March 19, 2023, 06:55:41 pm

Quote from: TheFlame52 on March 19, 2023, 11:15:19 am

EDIT: I have arrived in Falsetower. I am going to murder and rob my way through the entire dwarven population. I'm also going to be using reveal, because I don't have the RL time to search every single exploratory tunnel for dwarves and artifacts. :(

Good luck, that place is swarming with intelligent undead and necromancers. Have fun!

They have no skill or equipment, and Dreamypuzzled is an experienced adventurer. I've yet to be struck on this turn. Also, I found an artifact bronze morningstar that Avolition used to kill like 270 things laying in a random exploratory tunnel? Isn't that important? I'm going to grab it.

There will be a formal write up later. I have been taking screenshots.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: AvolitionBrit on March 19, 2023, 07:09:15 pm

I mean, if i recall there are some military trained ones but they might have moved away from the site. Additionally necromancers might raise eachover to fight but if they are spread out then that makes sense. Ah that was a weapon left behind during my last stay there. Who knows what it will bring.

It menaces with goblin souls.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: TheFlame52 on March 20, 2023, 05:48:49 pm

I killed everyone in Falsetower. I even went around and killed the patrols. Except one dwarf. The chief medical dwarf, now mayor. He is indestructible. I barely escaped with my life.

I still need about 200 more kills. Now what? Should I continue my grudge against the dwarves of the Walled Dye? Against Avolition? What needs killing in this world?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Lurker Z on March 20, 2023, 06:08:25 pm

The blight is probably still a problem. That Law-Giver I killed was replaced by yet another blighter thrall. Then there's the thrall that killed my last character. As for monsters... I don't know. It depends how close Dreamypuzzled is to his own kind, if not, he could always make his way to the depths of the world through several means to get demon kills. Datanzalìs Stinugosh (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Datanzalìs_Stinugosh) likely has an open gateway to hell and adventurers have reported going to hell through underworld spires in goblin capitals. Then there are of course vaults where he could farm angel souls.

Quote from: TheFlame52 on March 20, 2023, 05:48:49 pm

Except one dwarf. The chief medical dwarf, now mayor. He is indestructible. I barely escaped with my life.

Dreamypuzzled: My powers rise with each kill while these useless mortals remain as weak as ever! I am invincible!
Dreamypuzzled some time later: What... what is that creature?! It cannot be a mere dirt-born! Get away! G-get away from meeeeee!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: AvolitionBrit on March 20, 2023, 06:28:17 pm

Ah interesting, wonder what the name of that dwarf is. He must be studied.

Really curious to see what you decide to do. 200 hundred Walled Dye dwarves would be half of the living population of the walled dye and would be around 1/5 of the total dwarven population

Yeah. Always demons to fight. All i will say is The Most Sin have an ongoing war with The Knowing Deceiver with them being the far large goblin civilization they had taken pot shots at his civilization.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: TheFlame52 on March 20, 2023, 06:41:19 pm

If you've never played Adventure Mode with light armor and no shield, I definitely recommend it. The battles are legendary.

Quote from: Lurker Z on March 20, 2023, 06:08:25 pm

The blight is probably still a problem. That Law-Giver I killed was replaced by yet another blighter thrall. Then there's the thrall that killed my last character. As for monsters... I don't know. It depends how close Dreamypuzzled is to his own kind, if not, he could always make his way to the depths of the world through several means to get demon kills. Datanzalìs Stinugosh (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Datanzalìs_Stinugosh) likely has an open gateway to hell and adventurers have reported going to hell through underworld spires in goblin capitals. Then there are of course vaults where he could farm angel souls.

Blight... there's an idea. I'm in the far south. Is it down there? I didn't stop in any human settlements on my trip, because the one time I did my game crashed. As far as demons, Deepvaulted isn't too far from here. Dreamypuzzled basically hates everyone who isn't willing to follow them, so demons are fair game. I robbed Falsetower blind on my way out... I'll stash the treasures there. Perfect. 8)

Quote from: Lurker Z on March 20, 2023, 06:08:25 pm

Quote from: TheFlame52 on March 20, 2023, 05:48:49 pm

Except one dwarf. The chief medical dwarf, now mayor. He is indestructible. I barely escaped with my life.

Dreamypuzzled: My powers rise with each kill while these useless mortals remain as weak as ever! I am invincible!
Dreamypuzzled some time later: What... what is that creature?! It cannot be a mere dirt-born! Get away! G-get away from meeeeee!

Quote from: AvolitionBrit on March 20, 2023, 06:28:17 pm

Ah interesting, wonder what the name of that dwarf is. He must be studied.

Really curious to see what you decide to do. 200 hundred Walled Dye dwarves would be half of the living population of the walled dye and would be around 1/5 of the total dwarven population

Yeah. Always demons to fight. All i will say is The Most Sin have an ongoing war with The Knowing Deceiver with them being the far large goblin civilization they had taken pot shots at his civilization.

He was a dark one, and those have the propel effect. Which means I was constantly stunned and getting thrown into walls. He also had an iron mail shirt and steel helm. I got him to drop his hammer, but couldn't pull off his armor. He didn't even have combat skills! At least to start with. He just WOULD NOT DIE.

Also there were only like 30 dwarves there. Not exactly a massive, bustling fortress. I haven't done too much damage to the Walled Dye.

EDIT: oh god what is happening at deepvaulted i have 1 fps

Spoiler: wtf (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/yk4I1iR.png)

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Lurker Z on March 20, 2023, 07:05:09 pm

The blight's tricky, you'll find it when you're not looking for it and if you go randomly, you can go through dozens of deserted settlements without finding any.

Two certain hot spots are the capitals of two human civilizations, one of the Empire of Peaks, not sure of the other.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on March 20, 2023, 07:34:05 pm

I have been to Deepvaulted a couple of times and it is always absolutely overrun with animals. Seems to happen to some forts. Eagle men might be friendly?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Quantum Drop on March 20, 2023, 08:46:38 pm

Quote from: TheFlame52 on March 20, 2023, 06:41:19 pm

snip for length

Yeah, Deepvaulted has been overrun with animals for quite a while. I was getting FPS issues there as far back as Lonelythrall's rampage, and I recall there were a *lot* of keas or other animals kicking around the surface there.

For the Blight: Try looking a bit further north. From what I recall (been a while), The High Confederacies, The Empire of Peaks, and The Nations of Honouring all have thralls scattered throughout their sites, with at least half of the Empire of Peaks' leadership being full-fledged thralls. Oh, and maybe have a look at the Goblin pits near the northern edge of the Tundra of Heroes. Menaceworshipped has about half a dozen there, last time I checked, and the others might be either full of undead (reanimated corpses) or just plain dead - can't remember which.

That said, I'm pretty sure the Realm of Silver has a good number of thralls still lurking around in the hamlets and less-populated villages. Can't remember how many, but LV may be able to help you find the clusters if you don't want to spend time picking through every hamlet you come across.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Lurker Z on March 20, 2023, 08:56:00 pm

I explored most of these. I actually had a Realm of Silver human fort the turn before Flame and I got 16 thralls in a 50 cap fort. That being said, I'm not particularly sure where the game got those thralls, as as far as I know, Unraveler made a good showing of exterminating most of them, and all 16 came with basically missing everything, but somehow still alive. Even after I killed them, they still appear as alive in Legends Viewer, so that's a really weird bug.

The Empire of Peaks' ghoul problem I also ended in my turn, but at least a blighted thrall replaced the dead Law-Giver. Not sure about the other places. The Nations of Honoring has been led by an (unblighted) elf (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Alatha Ÿonalitiÿipo) since the 900s for those who don't know this tidbit yet. Mong Uthros-elf relationship have gone a long way when in the 1st century, they were the first nations in the world to war upon each other. Oddom brought together human, elf and even goblin in relative peace and alliance against her attempt at world domination. And I've walked from Omon Obin lands all the way to the elven capital and back and found not an elf, even if LV says there are still around 800 living elves.

Edit: There appear to be at least two thralls in Law-Giver Alatha's court.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: TheFlame52 on March 21, 2023, 08:24:53 pm

Quote from: Lurker Z on March 20, 2023, 08:56:00 pm

The Empire of Peaks' ghoul problem I also ended in my turn, but at least a blighted thrall replaced the dead Law-Giver.

Edit: There appear to be at least two thralls in Law-Giver Alatha's court.

There were a lot more than that. Not any more.

(https://i.imgur.com/AVJH3Rt.png)

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on March 21, 2023, 08:45:38 pm

Is that Alatha dead then? That is a shame - I had an idea for a story involving him for my next turn.

Will need to see who the new law-giver is now!

I also came across an interesting tidbit. Boltspumpkin is ruled by a bandit gang, The Work of Phrasing, and the previous ringleader was a goblin slave called Ngokang Strangecurses. He was "freed" by Avolition many years ago. It appears that Lurker killed Ngokang in 956 in a village in the Realm of Silver - so Boltspumpkin has a new ruler - a human female ringleader called Rope Mobbedwilt. They don't seem to reside in Boltspumpkin, though, and were last seen in Championvault...

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Lurker Z on March 21, 2023, 09:32:54 pm

Quote from: kesperan on March 21, 2023, 08:45:38 pm

Is that Alatha dead then? That is a shame - I had an idea for a story involving him for my next turn.

Alatha's the elf and he wasn't blighted last time I checked. Don't know about the ears.

Quote from: kesperan on March 21, 2023, 08:45:38 pm

I also came across an interesting tidbit. Boltspumpkin is ruled by a bandit gang, The Work of Phrasing, and the previous ringleader was a goblin slave called Ngokang Strangecurses. He was "freed" by Avolition many years ago. It appears that Lurker killed Ngokang in 956 in a village in the Realm of Silver - so Boltspumpkin has a new ruler - a human female ringleader called Rope Mobbedwilt. They don't seem to reside in Boltspumpkin, though, and were last seen in Championvault...

Ah snap, I killed Ngokang (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Ngokang_Gutngokang)?! I didn't realize it, as far as I knew he was under adventurer truce and I don't remember killing goblins near Boltspumpkin. At least the group didn't die. Ngokang was Bralbaard's co-founder of the Museum, he's the goblin bandit he's talking about in his first adventure post in this thread.

Let me boot up Legends Viewer and take a look for myself. I know I killed some goblins, but I'm pretty sure it was from Entrancegrape to Glacialtempest.

Hm, yes, not my fault, Boltspumpkin is to the west and Ngokang was in a town to the east. Specifically in an Omon Obin town. There's not even a mention in LV that Ngokang settled in Getakocgi. I didn't have a reason to check the names of the gobs I was killing (assuming it even gave me the name and not just a description).

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Eric Blank on March 22, 2023, 02:50:43 am

Were you just engaging in indescriminant slaughter of any and all goblins?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Lurker Z on March 22, 2023, 05:18:30 am

Yes. But I've met Ngokang (and that goblin lady, I forgot her name, but she's considered "Museum staff" too) with other characters and I left alone any goblin in good relations with the Museum.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Broken on March 22, 2023, 05:21:30 am

Well, this is hardly the first time an adventurer kills a noteworthy historical figure without noticing it.

Honestly, this is a good thing. We didn't knew where Ngotang was, so he was effectively lost to the game, but now we now where the corpse is, so somebody can go resurrect him. (Or at least recover the corpse for burial).

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on March 22, 2023, 09:57:54 am

I tried unretire-anyone on Rope Mobbedwilt, and she is hanging out in Championvault. Not sure why she hasn't been summoned to Boltspumpkin.

Checked out the Museum too and the item scattering is still there. The only way to fix it might be to embark a fort on top of Boltspumpkin, but that would be a risky move.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Lurker Z on March 22, 2023, 10:09:43 am

I don't agree with Bralbaard's worries that a fort would attract invasions more than usual, since we've seen in 707-708 the elf capital was sacked without any player interference or fault, which to me means that enemy civilizations do not target settlements based on them having been a player fort or not.

That being said, I do worry about other technical issues should a fort be built on top of Boltspumpkin. That being said, me building a fort on top two NPC towns so far has not resulted in any problems. If built, the fortress should probably never be unretired, because that once again causes all sorts of technical issues (item scattering, items dumped out of bins etc.).

Quote from: kesperan on March 22, 2023, 09:57:54 am

I tried unretire-anyone on Rope Mobbedwilt, and she is hanging out in Championvault. Not sure why she hasn't been summoned to Boltspumpkin.

In that vein, there were some dwarves who ascended to Barons and simply refused to leave for the capital. I don't know if the behavior is random, tied to something random (i.e. dwarf has weapon on, dwarf is hauling etc.) or if they're smart enough to realize the massacres happening in Ilrallenod and not wanting to be part of that.

Ah, when it comes to "outcast"/bandit groups, I think most ascended leaders remain in the town they lived in. For example, Kem Kilaura (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Kem_Kilaura) should have probably moved to Odiuse once he ascended as the leader of the large outcast group, but remained in Mabkor.

In contrast, Ngokang left because Avolition freed him, which I suspected messed up his AI pathing (around the world).

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: TheFlame52 on March 22, 2023, 04:22:11 pm

I've been wandering the central plains, checking whether wanderers are hostile or not. In between putting down Hannibal's ghouls, I've also been fighting (and getting nearly murdered by) Raki's hollow zombies. My left arm is ruined. I have a bolt in my cheek. The only reason I escaped is because my steel greaves are impenetrable and we happened to be fighting next to a dark pits.

Ulux Lusmza the silver two-handed sword only has 84 kills. I'll have to wield it one-handed from now on.

Then I have two crossbows that need about 160 kills between them.

:'(

Then I traveled over the tundra to hunt more ghouls, and found some of Irka's companions, and this ABSOLUTE CHAD

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/5aPlOUL.png)

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: AvolitionBrit on March 22, 2023, 04:43:11 pm

The year of 927 was a romantic year for the humans of the realm of silver, alot of short flings. Seems he wanted to find the one, which was a chance when he decided to become a scholar and then 4 days latter read Demise: A brief History and learned the secrets of lift and death. He married Ngahen Earlygrooves who had a simular pattern of romances during 927. Who became a scholar.

Also he joined a religious order called The Cult of Kindness, a religous group of humans centered around the worship of the human deity Otu lovelycherished. The Realm of Silver deity of healing. Infact he is the holy peace of the religion. Which is the leader of the religon.

Interesting for sure.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Lurker Z on March 22, 2023, 05:21:16 pm

The little goblin that could is more of a chad than most (or all) NPCs in Orid Xem just from the glimpses you're giving us.

As for the Omon Obin and/or Irka's necros, I've noticed the same as Avolition, that they had relations with anything in their close proximity that moved. I blame it on some low-key bug with human forts, just like how the Señamatem districts had humans with goblin names instead of the usual naming convention of at least Omon Obin, if not some other general human civilization.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: AvolitionBrit on March 22, 2023, 05:58:31 pm

Most likely but its interesting to see that almost 300 years on and alot of history the world is still throwing up some interesting occurances. Looking forward to seeing what the reincarnation of the demon has been up to

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: TheFlame52 on March 22, 2023, 07:39:12 pm

UUUUGGGGHHHH I forgot to save, crashed, and lost like 4 hours of progress.

Spoiler: didn't happen (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/WmT4ihK.png)

(https://i.imgur.com/jXFbed9.png)

(https://i.imgur.com/xJY3Pqb.png)

(https://i.imgur.com/MJJGb3J.png)

(https://i.imgur.com/4jmorKE.png)

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on March 23, 2023, 08:03:00 am

So… you killed a dwarf with a fish?

Then you were granted a divine giant polar bear, which then got ghoulified?

That’s pretty metal. Shame it crashed. Save often!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: TheFlame52 on March 23, 2023, 08:08:12 pm

Made back some of my progress. I'm currently trying to track down where my soul weapons teleported to - I have 6 of them. Three I kept on me, two teleported back to the throne room of Dreadruled (twice actually: someone else grabbed them and brought them back, and they teleported away again), one stayed at the Museum, and one is still missing. I think it's at a temple somewhere in Dreadruled.

Still no sign of the slab. I searched the Museum from top to bottom, I don't think it's there.

EDIT: I think the slab The Lord of Riddling and the artifact steel battle axe The Lost Tattoos are both completely lost. I have checked everywhere that they could possibly be, multiple times. Such a shame, too, since that's one of the first artifacts of the Museum and my best weapon, respectively.

I have made up almost all of my progress. After some save-scumming, I was blessed with a black bear as a pet. It's no giant polar bear, but it'll have to do. Time to kill some thralls.

EDIT2: Cave crocodile, and I remembered to save this time. Remember kids, always save your game before dropping out of fast travel.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: TheFlame52 on March 25, 2023, 04:15:07 pm

(https://i.imgur.com/IfJjXpF.png)

Dreamypuzzled submits her remaining three ensouled weapons, as well as the slab bearing her true name. The artifact brass slab The Lord of Riddling and the artifact steel battle axe The Lost Tattoos are supposed to be part of this submission. Please mark them down as being there. The fake slab is just a placeholder. :P If anyone finds these two artifacts, please return them to the Museum.

Also, I did this:

(https://i.imgur.com/nrrC6QI.png)

Please leave The Knowing Deceiver alone. It is under my protection.

SAVE: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Va1zEClMJ31Q_aFutWvBkKlr_OjHtxG8/view?usp=share_link

Writeup to come.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Maloy on March 26, 2023, 06:08:38 am

I've picked the save up and can start on it later today! (this past week was the busiest I've had this year so I'm looking forward to a break via DF)


Real quick questions:

1) How will I and should I upload the save when done
2)Do other players with mortally-challenged characters want me to do anything? I remember having a minor sense of anxiety between turns for fear of my wolf man turning to dust in the mean time

I intend to actually do a bit of fortress stuff at the end although I'm not planning to pass much time, but still wanna be respectful(normally I just don't and do the adventures)

Arthur and Mirailei officially begin their adventures independent from the wolf lord!


Also if you're looking for great writing music for putting fingers to keyboard on writing up your turn I love this video and the suggested ones that often go with it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_BroK8h0eZg&t=3852s

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Lurker Z on March 26, 2023, 06:31:53 am

I just noticed the Law-Giver I killed, Mispi Smomahibor (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Mispi_Smomahibor) was into some thematically named situations:

(https://i.imgur.com/pfkFgyU.png)

Re: Maloy, upload in any way that works best for you, which means either GoogleDrive, this:

Quote from: Lurker Z on March 09, 2023, 11:47:26 am

(https://i.imgur.com/9irC0ib.png)

or save with the compression turned off and maybe after archiving it'll be under 500 MB so you can easily upload to DFFD. Or you could search for any other file hosting sites.

For resurrecting, if it's in your way, I wouldn't mind you doing so for Lurker Wogeathis (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Lurker_Wogeathis), but the body is more towards the elven north than I expected. The article holds more or less the exact location of the body, since I saved before finishing adventure mode. Ah, and if you see a dwarf with an ☼adamantine battle axe☼ (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Tulon Tatmedtob's axe), either run or snipe her and don't let her get close enough to cleave you in half. Otherwise, don't worry about it, I have plans regardless.

Good luck with your turn!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Maloy on March 26, 2023, 08:19:20 am

I WILL be out that way actually!

Do you remember which part of town you died in? Just to narrow my search.
Hopefully the thrall won't wanna throw down with me since I'll be coming as a necromancer and fellow(ish) undead

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Lurker Z on March 26, 2023, 08:29:07 am

It's outside town, look at the gallery in the article. It's just to the south-east of the town.

I'm not sure if the thrall was going to attack me if I left it alone, as I too was a necromancer. If I have one regret (besides dying) is that I didn't meet the dwarven conquerors who are likely in the town (and hopefully unblighted).

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on March 27, 2023, 03:07:16 am

Good luck with your turn, Maloy!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Maloy on March 29, 2023, 05:12:11 am

Entry One
Music for ambience: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AawLM81gIHo


Before you lay a collection of preserved documents all surrounding this one strange and brief time period in the Rounded Land


Within the Walled Dye is a strange phenomenon: Parallel systems of nobility. While the dwarves have their traditional system they are known for the many humans and other groups that have been assimilated over the centuries have maintained some semblance of independent advancement through a traditional system of lords. Now, what's in question is whether a dwarven lord would be recognized nobility and one day might be made king under the right circumstances? The idea that my former friend Maloy might one day become king is greatly concerning although I can't bring myself to do anything against him due to our long history, but imagine: The wolf-king builder of cities and creator of demons
Regardless this system of lords might be exactly what this beaten land needs right now
-Journal entry of Arthur Mossdiamonds the Light eagle

"Enri, our chance for a new life has finally come! No more hiding in these cramped dwarven tunnels waiting for the blight to come and claim us! That merchant we've known since we were children came into Stoneclasps today, but he had no wares! He was wearing armor covered in holes and dents and had mercenaries with him. He came before crowds and declared all the lands between here and Razorbridge were up for grabs! All you had to do was go there and hold it and you'd be it's lord! It's been so many years since we had to flee here from the blight, and I don't care what that wolf says I don't believe our lands are safe again or they ever will be, but we can build a new life now! I'm taking him up on his offer and I'll become a lord and build homes for all of us and our old neighbors! Just you wait and see!"
-Letter from a human refugee living in Stoneclasps


"Thanks to your generous donations, work proceeds smoothly. The new buildings have been constructed and more migrants show up by the month! each checked for blight and made sure to be clean. We have a number coming from locations such as falsetowers as well. They have a haggard look in their eyes and a strange pallor to their skin, but I can assure you, sir, they have no blight in them! You'll have plenty of colonists to settle in your new lands in no time. Plague doesn't scare dwarves like it does humans! Following instructions with your previous letter we have provided any and all accommodations possible to your companions Arthur and Miaralei. All Arthur asked for was a place to worship his god and a pint and that made me laugh something good, but that Miaralei one has been distant and avoiding most of the citizens here. I think she's hiding something. If you want us to arm the citizens here like you asked you'll need to send another caravan with a generous amount of coin to cover the costs of the work and we will be glad to do it. Razorbridge hit hard times over the years and so we are honored by your patronage"
-A letter from Expedition Leader Momuz to the Lord of Incenseorder


Pictured below:
A shrine to the great forest spirit Cacame covered in pear blossoms
(https://i.imgur.com/nFjVFen.png)





OOC:
I asked Bral for permission before touching Razorbridge and this is sort of a teaser post of much larger works

Fun strange happenings
(https://i.imgur.com/Regkwq7.png)
I'm not in the Quiet Plank

(https://i.imgur.com/0CSfsoJ.png)
Do dwarves get pregnant off screen? I thought they only did in fortress mode. She showed up and gave birth like a week later, and so considering how much time has passed since the last player fort there's no way she got pregnant at her previous fort before she became a necromancer

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Lurker Z on March 29, 2023, 09:14:53 am

Quote from: Maloy on March 29, 2023, 05:12:11 am

Do dwarves get pregnant off screen? I thought they only did in fortress mode. She showed up and gave birth like a week later, and so considering how much time has passed since the last player fort there's no way she got pregnant at her previous fort before she became a necromancer

I'm not sure of dwarves and pregnancy, but I do know at least in Orid Xem, NPCs do sometimes procreate offscreen, but this is very rare and apparently only reserved for the immortal races i.e. elves and goblins. By rare, I mean about once every 50 in-game years. The goblins appear to even be bugged, with them birthing (Unnamed) creatures sometimes.

That being said, creatures tend to "freeze" between player actions i.e. a megabeast waited over 50 years to die from fatal wounds between killing the adventurer that almost killed it and being visited by a new adventurer, and companions remain in the same place their adventurer was killed until special circumstances. So it wouldn't be surprising if a dwarf's pregnancy could "freeze" between forts for decades at a time.

I'm merely speculating, of course. Thanks for the content update.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Maloy on March 31, 2023, 09:46:44 pm

"It said in fortress mode that this camp belonged to the Realm of Silver! I wonder who has a camp out here?"

-Drops out of fast travel to find a camp full of legendary blighted warriors butchering random animals in their full armor and weaponry-

Yarlig got me it seems. Or we'll see lol. I saved the moment I landed because I wanted to take the time to process all of that and decide what to do.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Lurker Z on March 31, 2023, 10:14:59 pm

Well, that happened.

RUN, MALOY, RUN!

Good luck getting out of there. Maybe jumping helps?

Yeah, frakking Hannibal and Ketas & Kosoth. I wonder how many of us they got killed. I definitely lost two characters to the blight so far.

I think I remember that camp from Legends Viewer, where a lot of thralls gathered for no obvious reason. Nasty place to fast-travel in, indeed.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on April 01, 2023, 06:15:36 am

Where is it? Sounds like a job for a blind sadist.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Quantum Drop on April 01, 2023, 08:31:29 am

Oh god, please don't say you landed in Ghoulcreek of all places.

If it is: fast travel as soon as you get the chance, run and jump like hell until you do if you can't immediately GTFO. Maybe try sneaking; I don't know if it works that well against high observation characters, but it might do something at least.

(Context: That's where I was storing most of my ghouilifed PCs from last turn in, until Abyssdeeps was finished; forgot to move them there before uploading the save. So that's maybe six or seven thralls, all trained to great at minimum in combat skills.)

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Maloy on April 02, 2023, 07:51:01 am

Arthur made it out of Ghoulcreek! They were all conveniently distracted butchering woodland creatures, and slowly I might add. They'd cut off every single appendage and beat the creatures in non-vital areas for as long as they could

One did see me, but was already at a full charge chasing some creature another direction before I disappeared behind a tree long enough to fast travel

Save: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1cvgLlztJnBmB62AY1qjJDPGEs7XlG6L1/view?usp=sharing

Lurker I resurrected you in Tongstreat which is near south of Incenseorder and North of padcalls. Your character was generally shocked and had a strong dislike of me and so refused to trade. I set your gear on a pedestal on the top floor. There's two branching paths in the tomb that lead to two different rooms on the top floor so don't get lost! Also mind the other patients!


I think from here my plan is to develop Arthur up to legendary in leader skill. I notice that a lot of places get raided inbetween turns so I think that fits his character development to grow in the military skills.

If I continue to have permission I'll also continue to update Razorbridge and develop it.

I think Incenseorder is protected by a glitch. Because that one army is said to still be marching there, even though they are all dead, no one else can invade it or does. So Incenseorders enjoys a stasis of peace.

Ghoulcreek and the blight had me thinking: What if one of us made a super dungeon basically designed to kill players? Traps, demons, intelligent undead. The full works. Ghoulcreek was looking like the most challenging thing I've seen and if it wasn't for the fact that they were PC's I was considering making overcoming them Arthur's arc.



EDIT: Also funny thing I actually WAS in the neighborhood to resurrect Lurker lol. Maloy is always teleporting all over the map. I can exit sessions without saving and start again and he is in a totally different one.
I think it's because he's nobility, belongs to two civs, and is lord of like 15 settlements.

EDIT 2: sign me up for another turn

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Lurker Z on April 02, 2023, 07:57:27 am

Thanks for the ressurect! I'm glad that at least he didn't attack on sight like when Avolition resurrected Lurker Onecbehal (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Lurker Onecbehal). Good luck with Arthur. I didn't notice the honking save file, lol.

I think a big problem with making a challenging fort is that creatures will be randomly spawned on the map, including in caverns and other unrelated/unfriendly environments. There was a bug (I'm not sure if it got removed by the version we're playing) where upon reclaiming, fort population would spawn inside solid rock. Another issue is that if they live long enough, they'll be called as nobles when someone dies of old age in the civilization they belong in.

As for Mabkor, I'm not sure about that. Yes, there's the centuries-long army with the centuries-long dead leaders "forever marching" on it, but I'm not sure that will stop other armies from being sent. Remember even as lore, that's a "rumor" and rumors travel slowly through Dwarf Fortress worlds. I think there are options for an adventurer to decided what rumor to create or not based on their achievements, or outright invent a new rumor. So that army is still a rumor, maybe at some time the game decided to get there, but detoured to somewhere else. I wouldn't count on it being a definite protection. I transcribed the "vision" about the invading army (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/File:Visions_plaguing_Maloy.png) and its members, and following the links to the members shows their fate.

So at the very least, take these issues into consideration.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: TheFlame52 on April 02, 2023, 10:21:45 am

Oh yeah, sign me up for another turn too.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Maloy on April 02, 2023, 01:33:30 pm

I apologize but here is the new save the old link won't work.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1uvNpJeFJNKvwb90C54rGfcm5qCQ1HJ5z/view?usp=sharing

I realize I uploaded it with my graphics pack and that would cause issues so I reuploaded it back to ASCII

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Lurker Z on April 02, 2023, 03:13:43 pm

Two things:
* A respectable 5 years in-game have passed.
* Dreamypuzzled (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Tharamacuquimo Ememare) got ousted two days after taking the title. What will it do next?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: TheFlame52 on April 02, 2023, 03:18:43 pm

I am very angry and discouraged, because nothing I try to do ever goes right, and at this point, why bother trying? I came here to start working on my write up. Now, I'm not sure if it's worth the effort.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Lurker Z on April 02, 2023, 03:22:13 pm

It appears to be the same issue as when Moldath tried to become King of Adilatír. I think the story was great and well-researched, in comparison with me who I just ran around the world until I got killed by a thrall. Dreamypuzzled is still in the capital, I think its story is very interesting. I'm sure a lot of us are looking forward to the reincarnated demon's story. And who knows, maybe the game will advance Dreamypuzzled to interesting positions on its own.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: AvolitionBrit on April 02, 2023, 03:37:00 pm

Certainly story potential there for sure. Not everything works out, had my plump helmets get killed by an invisible intelligent undead and my peinguin woman merced by a goblin. Stuff happens work around it. Failure is a great source of motivation for a charcter. Why were they not recognised as overlord? Was their a coop? Is there anything else going on in the world? Do they even want to be overlord?

Up to you. Looking forward to seeing what you produce.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on April 02, 2023, 05:58:30 pm

It seems that leadership which is handed over through dialogue options doesn’t stick. You have to use a lot of dfhackery to become the genuine leader. Unraveller managed it with Jas Gloryage through memory editing. I suspected the same fate as Moldath might happen to Dreamy and so it did.

Unraveller might be able to explain how to do it properly but I don’t think it’s very easy.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: TheFlame52 on April 02, 2023, 08:30:49 pm

I am writing.

It has come to my attention that due to one of the crashes I experienced, Dreamypuzzed did not, in fact, slay the last shadow troll. Ayanu Tombmurk the Dead Funeral still lives. I encourage anyone who wishes to improve Orid Xem to slay this creature and make a name for themselves.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Maloy on April 03, 2023, 04:00:24 am

Entry Two
Part 1 of the Saga of the Light Eagle
If I had a Master...
Year 267
Source:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

https://www.deviantart.com/ferdinandladera/art/Dorham-Plains-568644501

(https://i.imgur.com/NPS4ba1.jpg)
The field stood open to receive it's latest users. Who knows how many it had seen over the centuries and how much blood it had drank. How many bones had lain here for it's beasts and bugs to feast upon, but today it welcomed even more.
An elf stood resolute one hand behind him holding a spear at the ready and the other out palm forward ready to counter. His armor was patchwork wood with cracks and splinters throughout. A desirable target for any weapon
Facing him stood a goblin swordsman in a patchwork assembly of all metal armors and weapon likely scavenged from wielders who had scavenged
it themselves. Perhaps some who would have even fought on this very field, if it cared to express such history to it's users.

The goblin menacingly swung it's sword mocking and jeering as the elf calmly waited. The two faced off for a long time before the goblin realized the elf would not take the bait. A moment of quiet tension fell upon them instead until finally screaming the goblin charged forward swinging at the vulnerable elf. As blade came down the elf was already out of the way and stabbed out as the goblin in turn quickly jumped back.
The goblin swings again as the elf catches blade upon spear and shoves the goblin aside and stabs at an opening in the chest piece, but doesn't score deeply enough. Goblin swings again as the elf dodges around it and stabs again at the foot and then swings knocking the goblin over. The creature roared in pain and swung again as the elf continued to dodge and waited for his opening. Finally after enough thrashing by his opponent the spearman saw his chance and stabbed out impaling the goblin through the face and ending it's life.
The goblins companions looked at the elf and charged forward shouting and bearing weapons. As they neared an arrow flew from behind the spearman and struck one goblin in the stomach slowing it.
From behind the spearman a wild eyed and laughing goblin ran forward and met the first of the oncomers brutally cutting him to pieces while laughing. The other goblins saw this and began to ran in simplistic fear as the new mad goblin chased one down and began slashing and beating it with it's sword. He made bloody notches using a blade as a club as the spearman approached from behind.
The mad swordsgoblin was stretching out the kill as he beat the other screaming goblin to death and the spearman in pity ended the victim's life with a quick thrust as he walked by.
The field stoically welcomed it's new blood and bones as always.




"No better killing than killing your own!" Uvel the mad laughed walking towards Arthur dripping with the blood of his kin. His own companion Birello and Arthur's Miaralei walked up to join the two. Arthur was still new to this adventurer experience and considered what he should say that would sound appropriate. "You should not waste a weapon by misusing it" He decided on saying
The blood-covered goblin tilted it's head to the side in confusion looking more beastial than his kind normally did. "Eh? I can get a new one if this one breaks. Plenty of dead ones out here who won't be missing theirs. Been good hunting these last few days!"
Miara cut in "Next time stand to the side a little more when you go mad or my arrow might cut you down next"
Birello was calmer, but no less vicious than Uvel "They're sending out patrols after us now, but out here I wouldn't expect anything more than what we saw today."
(https://i.imgur.com/a3sMZrz.png)
The two goblin mercenaries barely qualified for the term. When the elves met them they were both working for bandits, but agreed they'd rather join up with the elves who were clearing this region of threats to travelers and traders. Neither elf trusted them, but they quickly proved true to their word as Uvel shortly after spotted a goblin ambush and killed the members himself. They had no loyalty to anything other than a good battle.

Arthur looked pensive, which he learned as a trader made people think you were thinking a lot more deeply than you actually were, and spoke "How long does this go on exactly though? I've been using this trade route between Razorbridge and Incenseorder for over a century. We clear a town of Nusmzolak goblins and then it later fills with bandits or blight victims. Clear them out and someone else shows up."

"That is the way of things" Birello said calmly whip now put away.
"Yes and isn't it grand?" Uvel laughed basking in his own carnage
"What are you getting at, Arthur?" Miaralei asked
At times like this being a leader he wished he had a mentor like most of the great heroes had. Jas, the warriors after him, the great king Arthur had helped dig up and more. All had that one wise man who would give those clever nuggets of wisdom that kept everyone moving towards progress. Arthur had to improvise the role "I think our answer will be revealed as we continue to press forward" he said
Miara frowned. She found such lines from him annoying, but didn't care to express it in their current company.
Over the next few days as they had done in previous they continued to scour the regions attacking each dark pit, camp, and township for Nusmzolak presence. It bothered Miara that Birello and Uvel didn't care about killing their own kin, but the goblins felt no sense of hypocrisy hindering the efforts of their own.
(https://i.imgur.com/BjICic0.png)
One day as the two elves sought a moment alone by a nearby brook they spoke at length at the situation
"I'm quite content hunting these defiling filth for another decade or two, love" she said as she sat admiring a flower near her. The beauty of nature softened her features which more often than not were contorted in disgust or malice these days.
"Then after we leave more will show up"
"And? We don't have an army to go and wipe them all out. So we must be content to hunt them like the rabid beasts they are or move on" she said incredibly calmly as she gently stroked the stem of the flower. She was careful not to break it, and therefore kill it, as humans were inclined to.
"This tradeway is used by our people too. If I came through with a human caravan I would have guards otherwise myself and the others would be hiding in the trees with our animals whenever a patrol came near. They often range north past Razorbridge to raid our own people's land as well"
"Yes, poor Razorbridge. Shame that the dwarves stopped holding that giant corpse made of nature"
"Shame indeed, but it's not totally empty. There are a few dwarves there, but they hide when people pass through for the sheer amount of raiding parties from different groups"
Miara waited patiently for her companion to reach his point.
"If I had a master he would say....Look behind you to see the opportunities to come"
Miara giggled "That sounds like nonsense"
"Miara, why can't our people just conquer these lands and protect them?"
"You serious? There's hardly any of us left. There was only three other elves living in your home forest and that's a normal number"
It was true. The elves had expanded aggressively to reclaim lost forests, but had no people to manage them. One family might oversee an entire forest that a hundred elves had protected in previous centuries
"So look behind us instead" Arthur said and Miara gave him an annoyed look again as he continued "The blight is back west towards Incenseorders. Entire towns have picked up and are fleeing in all directions to get out of the tainted lands. 'Cursed' they call it!"
"Likely is, love. What about it though? You wanna infect the goblins with the blight so they'll eat each other? That'd be funny"
"No no, they'd become a worse problem. We need the refugees fleeing the blight! These folk need a home, and it's right here!"
Miara laughed now "Right. A home filled with bandits and goblins and completed devastated by war and raiding?"
"Yes, but it would be their land! Anyone making a trade wants to feel like their in control of it and the same is true for life even if the deal isn't great. Same way for power too. Food runs low and so merchants seek to bring more sensing the opportunity. Goblins get cleared out? Bandits find a new home and so what if instead of trying to stop that we brought the refugees here and let them be lords of their own lands?"
"Sounds like a bad deal"
"Yes, but they'd be in control of their lives again. Since it's their land they'd also fight to protect it and they'd help keep the route safe! I think this is it!"
"Sounds silly, love, but I won't deny that humans have a foolish need to be in control. Where do we start?"

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Lurker Z on April 03, 2023, 02:03:34 pm

Ah, Arthur's becoming more and more interesting. After his last adventures, I expected him to be a toughened warrior, but it appears he's still rather insecure. Great action sequence and I'm starting to like Uvel. I didn't know metal gear could wear down. Wow. Thanks for the story.

As for the elves, I don't know what to tell you about them. I went from the Tundra of Heroes to the most northern part of the world and back and met not a single elf, and yet LV at least says there are more now than in other times. Where the HFS are they hiding?

Ah, I was going to ask, how much stuff did my character had on him? I'm pretty sure I had a pile of a few hundred items, so I hope it wasn't too much trouble to get the important parts on that pedestal. And did you run into the blighted dwarf?

It's kesperan's turn now, right? Is Moldath's story finally finished in eternal rest or will he brought back for another go? And if not him, then who will be our new brave adventurer? Good luck, kesperan.

Edit: Someone managed to remove playing in fortress mode as non-dwarves? Hmmmmmm... It also removed the possibility to reclaim non-dwarven holds. And it borked the diacritics again. FFS.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Maloy on April 03, 2023, 02:32:36 pm

Is it possible my using a graphics pack caused that? I don't imagine it would affect things like human civ embarks. I can stop using entirely for the future if we think that might be a cause

Yeah LV tells me the elves are often just two or three people a retreat and usually those are actually just Hands of Planegifts
It's weird. I haven't been there, but in the forests in the far north-east there's a couple retreats that have high populations according to LV

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Lurker Z on April 03, 2023, 02:42:35 pm

I always use Pheobus and to my memory, I have never given away a borked save. Something weird is going on.

Turn 108 end has these things, they are missing in 109. Hmmmmmm... Maybe your graphics reversal fixed it? I have the save that you deleted, but not the newest one.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Bralbaard on April 03, 2023, 03:03:55 pm

Quote from: Lurker Z on April 03, 2023, 02:03:34 pm

Edit: Someone managed to remove playing in fortress mode as non-dwarves? Hmmmmmm... It also removed the possibility to reclaim non-dwarven holds. And it borked the diacritics again. FFS.

I download and see most of the saves, people use different graphics and settings, and the save gets borked all the time, especially the diacretics thing. In general people manage to fix it, but sometimes this removes preferences or changes earlier players made. There's no good way to prevent that, since everyone prefers different settings, and we just have to live with it happening every now and then.

I don't really want to restrict use of graphics packs or quality of life hacks during play, or force all people to use the same changes on their save.  The only thing I can advice is that you make a backup of the changes that you prefer so you can apply them again for your next turn. Also, when making changes, try to test saves for issues before uploading, and try to upload it in a state that is compatible with vanilla and vanilla graphics. Still I fear mod and graphics conflicts and problems are unavoidable.

I've send Kesperan a message.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on April 03, 2023, 04:09:02 pm

Quote from: Lurker Z on April 03, 2023, 02:03:34 pm

It's kesperan's turn now, right? Is Moldath's story finally finished in eternal rest or will he brought back for another go? And if not him, then who will be our new brave adventurer? Good luck, kesperan.

Edit: Someone managed to remove playing in fortress mode as non-dwarves? Hmmmmmm... It also removed the possibility to reclaim non-dwarven holds. And it borked the diacritics again. FFS.

I have downloaded the save and still undecided on what to do - the options I have are taking Moldath out again, forging a career for this erstwhile illegitimate son, or something completely different.... perhaps all of those at once?

I tend to resinstall the basic RAWs every time I take over the save. You lose the modifications like outsider Dwarves/Kobolds but they are easy to fix if needed. That probably also removed any changes to the RAWs which allow non-dwarven forts.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: TheFlame52 on April 03, 2023, 04:35:01 pm

Quote from: Maloy on April 03, 2023, 04:00:24 am

I was preparing to get really mad while I looked up which goblin nation you were exterminating. :P

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: TheFlame52 on April 03, 2023, 08:00:30 pm

How... long... has it been?

(https://i.imgur.com/SsaUGZV.png)

How did I get here... where is the exit?

(https://i.imgur.com/slFvHJS.png)

Ah! Stairs!

After surfacing, I made my way to the nearest tavern. There, I spoke with my fellow goblins.

The world has been sliding towards nonexistence for hundreds of years. This world's destruction is inevitable, but there are some who insist on greasing the slide. I have decided, I will not be one of those.

What? A demon, siding with order? Just because Midor brought me into this world, does not mean she owns me. I choose my own path. I choose to preserve my own corner of this failing world. Those who seek life will be given life. Those who seek death WILL BE GIVEN DEATH.

There will be a reckoning for the dwarves of Falsetower. These foul necromancers seek to destroy my kingdom!

I set off south at once. A goblin does not need food, water, or shelter, so long as hate burns in its heart. On my way, I stopped at several dwarven settlements. Those I found with necromancers or undead, I purged.

(https://i.imgur.com/Yl9sNAY.png)

Ulux Lusmza, the silver two-handed sword, is a brutal weapon. More a club than a sword. With my size so reduced, I must wield it two-handed, forgoing a shield. However, there is an advantage to fighting shieldless.

(https://i.imgur.com/fZj38x7.png)

With sufficient skill, a bare hand can be better than any shield. I call this art "Esh Ac", or "Empty Fist" in the common tongue. It was far easier as a massive demon, but can be applied almost as well as a strapping goblin.

At one dwarven settlement, a goblin stood idly by as I slaughtered the twisted inhabitants.

(https://i.imgur.com/XdhPQSh.png)

Gisep proved to be a valuable guide on the way south. After we had reached the far side of the Tundra of Heroes, the Purged Loot stood in our way. Following it to the downriver, we hoped to find a bridge. But there wasn't a single one! What else are humans good for, besides building bridges? We walked all the way to the Sea of Blades without a safe place to cross. We were forced to cross the river at its widest part! Thankfully, the estuary was quite shallow, and we were able to ford it safely.

(https://i.imgur.com/PvDhQhP.png)

After weeks of travel, we reached Falsetower. There, I slew each and every dwarf, human, and undead. NO QUARTER ASKED. NO QUARTER GIVEN. All except one.

(https://i.imgur.com/PVaZDep.png)

An undead of a different kind, he threw me into walls, floors, and ceilings with invisible force. His steel shell protected his vitals. He did not bleed. He did not tire. I barely escaped with my life.

I will return.

During the destruction of Falsetower, I stole everything of value. I also lost Gisep. She fled when the necromancers raised their hordes. Her path is now her own. Alone, I traveled east. I slew several demons and undead at Deepvaulted.

(https://i.imgur.com/0IFuAhp.png)

I delivered the treasure of Falsetower to the Tower of Silence.

(https://i.imgur.com/4cw1Duj.png)

Now I return north to the lands of the Knowing Deceiver, to seek out other threats.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Maloy on April 03, 2023, 08:32:35 pm

Quote from: TheFlame52 on April 03, 2023, 04:35:01 pm

Quote from: Maloy on April 03, 2023, 04:00:24 am

I was preparing to get really mad while I looked up which goblin nation you were exterminating. :P

oh you good lol between Arthur's general optimism and the fact that his exposure to heroes and adventurers is through stories I don't think he'd ever exterminate any group unless something crazy happened!
He just wants to bring security in lands he frequents

I love the berserk reference with the silver two-handed sword. False tower has fallen! It took all my stealth and very specialy placed battles to get through their alive!
I just realized that Midor brought your character into this world and also is the same goddess who cursed Maloy the wolf lord, and insists on planting statues of his transformation in every town he visits, so our characters have a common thread!


@Kesperan I like the idea of following the illegitimate heir, but that's also because I feel more time pressure when it comes to mortal characters. I'm very happy all three of my current people are immortal

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Unraveller on April 03, 2023, 09:42:26 pm

In response to an earlier mention, I could write a short guide about how to properly become a monarch through df-hack and have it stick one of these days should it be desired.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on April 04, 2023, 05:35:34 am

Quote from: Unraveller on April 03, 2023, 09:42:26 pm

In response to an earlier mention, I could write a short guide about how to properly become a monarch through df-hack and have it stick one of these days should it be desired.

If it’s noob friendly and won’t break the game, I’m down for this.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: TheFlame52 on April 04, 2023, 03:40:17 pm

Quote from: Unraveller on April 03, 2023, 09:42:26 pm

In response to an earlier mention, I could write a short guide about how to properly become a monarch through df-hack and have it stick one of these days should it be desired.

Please do.

Quote from: Maloy on April 03, 2023, 08:32:35 pm

I love the berserk reference with the silver two-handed sword. False tower has fallen! It took all my stealth and very specialy placed battles to get through their alive!
I just realized that Midor brought your character into this world and also is the same goddess who cursed Maloy the wolf lord, and insists on planting statues of his transformation in every town he visits, so our characters have a common thread!

I didn't even notice the Berserk parallels until now. Now that you mention it, Dreamypuzzled's left arm is permanently disabled. First it was some undead, but it seemed like every single enemy would only go for her left arm. Dreamypuzzled has like, 7-10 crippling injuries to her left arm by now. Somehow, it was never severed by even the most violent attacks. By this point, her arm is nothing more than a mass of scars, and she uses it like a fleshy shield. She has a lot of other scars too, but oddly, only on the neck and face. A crossbowman shot her through the left cheek. She has only like half her teeth left. Her right thumb was cut off during my first turn. Her head and neck have been twisted by deflected blows many times. She's kind of a mess. :D She's also tall and incredibly muscular.

(https://i.imgur.com/WsaBzQ2.png)

Green-skinned Guts, anyone?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: TheFlame52 on April 04, 2023, 08:30:34 pm

The goblins tell me of a far more urgent threat, right at our doorstep. The Creamy Confederacy has been infected by an undead plague.

I scour each hamlet. I stop every traveller. Ulux Lusmza takes the undead.

Just north of Fondledhatred, I come upon three skeletal undead. An axeman, a pikeman, and a crossbowman. Like the dwarf, they are armored. Unlike the dwarf, they lack flesh. I hack at their limbs. Two pommel strikes of Ulux Lusmza sever the axeman's arms. The pikeman's copper chain leggings tear, and I take his legs. I am growing tired. The axeman bites my left arm, tearing away a mouthful of flesh. The pikeman snaps my right arm. I drop Ulux Lusmza. The crossbowman puts a bolt through my left cheek. My steel greaves keep my legs intact. I flee into Fondlehatred.

An hour later, my right arm has regenerated. My left arm will never recover. I will wield Ulux Lusmza one-handed now, as I did in my prime.

I take a copper maul from Fondlehatred. The maul crushes the skeletons' armor, then their bodies. I retrieve Ulux Lusmza from the pool of my congealing blood.

One hamlet at a time, I strike down the ghouls. Fighting my way through hordes of infected. Finally, the mead hall of the capital.

Even with one arm, none can stand against me. The dull blade of Ulux Lusmza sends limbs and heads flying. My right arm is broken again. The sword clatters to the blood-slicked floor. A DEMON NEEDS NO WEAPON!

(https://i.imgur.com/MgQ5R3t.png)

(https://i.imgur.com/AVJH3Rt.png)

The Creamy Confederacy is cleansed of the ghoul plague... for now.

Then, I travel east, and destroy the dwarven conquerers of the pits there. The Knowing Deceiver does not have enough goblins to fill these pits, but better that they remain empty than for the dwarves to have them.

Ulux Lusmza still requires souls. I walk northeast, into the High Confederacies.

On a whim, I roll a die at a village shrine. I am blessed with a pet cave crocodile!

(https://i.imgur.com/jXFbed9.png)

This reminds me of when I made a journey to the depths of the world and tamed the cave crocodiles there.

What greets us at the mead hall is a scene from a human's nightmares - but not mine.

(https://i.imgur.com/ZaimHYh.png)

Blades are drawn.

(https://i.imgur.com/ZOpgGJQ.png)

The ensuing bloodbath spills out of the door, flowing downhill. The cave crocodile is killed in the chaos. Ulux Lusmza feels as light as a feather in my hand.

(https://i.imgur.com/9btBEDo.png)

In the end, only I am left standing.

(https://i.imgur.com/MJJGb3J.png)

I have a grudge to settle.

South. Alone this time.

(https://i.imgur.com/PVaZDep.png)

One on one. A contest to prove, once and for all, who is the true demon. I may not have two arms. But this time, I brought a can opener.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/H605x8R.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/CKrvJ6r.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/Kd3rWWI.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/K4PCtRl.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/npms5pb.png)

Spear in hand, I stand victorious over the mangled corpse. My work here is done.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Maloy on April 05, 2023, 05:49:06 am

Part Three

The four found themselves within a dark pit bordering the lands of Nusmzolak. Who knows how many times it had been cleared out previously, but now it was being done again. As a spearman Arthur's advantage was his reach, and so advanced slowly through the tunnels as the occasional goblin would come charging out to attack the elf. Soon though Uvel and Birrello lost interest in waiting and charged past as the duo butchered their way through tunnels into the main pit.
Arthur would walk behind and spear fallen goblins through the head as they continued to brutalize the pitiable creatures. Miara couldn't get a shot in the cramped space and so followed mostly.
The last few goblins in the main pit were unarmed civilians and Arthur could see his two mercenaries laughing and jeering at them. Miara prepared for her first open shot since they arrived before Arthur laid a hand on her bow to push it down
"Stop you two!" He shouted "No unnecessary killing"
Uvel, covered in blood and viscera again frowned at Arthur only turning his head toward the elf, said "There's no such thing as unnecessary killing with us. These guys will be picking up weapons in a matter of days"
"No we won't! we would never!" the trio of goblins exclaimed begging for their lives
Arthur knew that heroes didn't kill people on what they might do.
"Who rules here?" he asked
They looked between each other still visibly afraid of the terrible four "They're called the Misty Vice. I don't know who leads them I swear!"
Uvel screamed and and shook his blade in the air "Pathetic liars! I'll eat your entrails!"
"We swear we don't know! We swear!"
"Where are their forces at?" Arthur continued
"I do not know. You killed all the ones we've seen here!"
Uvel snarled at the goblins again as they whimpered. Arthur considered this. Some of the pits they went to had still been abandoned since the last adventurer or army had come through, but according to research it was still ruled by Nusmzolak. Perhaps they had decided to prevent their leaders from dying by not stationing them at the pits themselves? It would be a sure way to ensure only unimportant goblins ever died. Either way he had to stop his companions before they butchered these creatures before them.

Arthur reached into his pack and gently unfolded the torso sized leaf he had retrieved and attached it to the extra spear he brought and planted it before the goblins. Upon the leaf was a large sigil drawn in blood. "This land belongs to the fields of liberation now! If anyone has a problem with it tell them to come and fight me: Arthur Mossdiamonds the Light Eagle!"
"the land is yours! It's yours! We don't care who rules here!"
"You may stay here and you will serve the ones who are to come here under my direction, are we clear?"
"Yes, Lord!" they said groveling.

The four departed the pits, but not before Uvel snarled one last time at them and made them jump again.
From there they went to the border city of Tormentlives. In it's heyday capable of fitting thousands of goblins, but now completely abandoned. They explored every nook and cranny of the dark fortress and found no one, but did stop in it's dungeons which had enough weapons and armor lying around to outfit an army.
(https://i.imgur.com/uYDwcji.png)
The goblins seemed disinterested in the location completely. Uvel kicked a helmet while Birrello admired a statue.
"Do you care nothing to see your people's lands lay in ruin?" Miara said. Arthur could feel the cold in her tone
"The weak deserve to die" Birrello said without even turning.
Miara went expressionless which usually indicated an explosion was coming so Arthur cut in "Uvel, you wanted to kill those civilians at the last pit. Why? I feel like I somewhat understand your bloodlust when fighting soldiers, but they had nothing to do with it"
Uvel didn't seem upset at the question, but more the expression when someone asks a question even a child should know "There's no such thing as goblin civilians. Just bad soldiers."
"Then why kill them? Why don't you help your people get stronger?" Miara cut in
Uvel laughed as Birrello fingered her whip "You want us to turn on you? Is that it?"
"It would make my day actually" She retorted coldly
Uvel was not shaken "All goblins should look out for themselves. If we all focus on making ourselves greater than we will all become stronger."
"And the weak shall perish" Birrello muttered
"That too!" he chuckled
"The weak should be lifted up and made stronger by the strong. Not butchered as you would" Arthur interjected
"That doesn't work and your own people are proof of it" Miara bristled, but Uvel continued "Look at all of you! You're almost all died out from wars and plagues while we've prospered. Sure you got those adventurers, but half the time they end up releasing some stupid plague or monster, but we're still here!"
Miara shouted "We're still here and we aren't done yet!" Arthur stayed quiet considering this insight into goblin perspective.
Source:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

https://www.artstation.com/artwork/JmlXz

(https://i.imgur.com/hOoqG9b.jpg)
Uvel pointed one finger upwards "I'm going to keep doing what works best for me, and one day when I reach the top everyone will fall in line or their heads will fall onto the ground!"
"Even us?" Arthur asked calmly
"Even you!" Uvel grinned while saying. Birrello spoke up "We are all this way. Unlike the humans and dwarves we have all the time in the world and all of us dream of taking the top"
"Your dreams are pathetic" Miara muttered. Birrello looked at her now "Are yours any different?"
Arthur put up a hand "Let's just mark this place as a new holding and move on. We need to get to Stoneclasps"
The next few days of travel were quiet indeed.


(https://i.imgur.com/VMdATGS.jpg)
Stoneclasps was south-east of Incenseorder by some days. An old dwarven city, but now almost empty of any dwarves. Instead it was populated almost entirely by humans, many of which were fleeing the blight. Despite the protection of a fortress and presence of work humans did not find comfort in going days without sunlight. Arthur was a known merchant in this city and so as he walked through it's gates some men came up to him to shake his hand and greet him. He hadn't seen them since they were children, time really did fly for this species, and they would talk.
(https://i.imgur.com/BQyU560.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/HWuNkm6.png)
Arthur made his way to the population centers of the city and would speak to the crowds, but his main interest was in hunters and warriors in the city. He spoke of lands between here and Razorbridge that he had laid claim to and was opening for anyone to live in.
"All you need is the strength to take it with your own two hands!" he said enthusiastically
"But what about the goblins?" One man from the crowd called
"But what about the blight?!" Arthur responded "Everywhere you go in this age there is great trials, but how many places are there where you can say 'This is my land! This is my wealth!'?"
The man quieted, but another spoke up "Will it be safe though?"
"My companions and I struck through those lands these last few weeks and fought bandits and goblins alike to clear it and claim the land I am now giving away to you" Arthur responded "But no. It's not safe. Taking control of your own life and future is never safe. There will be great trials to overcome and ruined lands to restore, but it will be your land to restore and your life to build!"
The people murmured interest. Arthur was excited.

Afterwords he would catch individual warriors or hunters he saw separately and offer them lordship of different sites in the region. Not a single one told him no.
The future of the Jungle of Dents would be decided by honest men and women who would fight to build their own future. "and" arthur reasoned. the governments of this world would be inclined to help these people for they would be the only buffer between the Most Sin and the rest of civilization to the north and west.


OOC:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Sorry for a talking heavy portion. The combat that did happen quickly ended because of how fast and brutal Uvel and Birrello were, but from here things get way more interesting.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: TheFlame52 on April 05, 2023, 01:58:43 pm

That's an interesting perspective of goblinkind.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Maloy on April 05, 2023, 04:49:19 pm

Thank you!
I was trying to reason with the stated personalities of the two goblins.
They're both still active members of the Most Sin, have all normal goblin personality traits and values, including wanting to rule the world.
So why are they helping me? Especially when they are the ones who start all the battles not me!

So trying to reason why they might sent me down a whole philosophical spiral with stated civ values lol

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on April 05, 2023, 06:56:55 pm

Wasn't expecting a TED talk on goblin philosophy but I am here for it, Maloy.

And really like the persona of the demon-trapped-in-a-goblin Flame.

My story is progressing well. A slight departure from my previous escapades so far...

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: TheFlame52 on April 05, 2023, 07:47:33 pm

Back north, to Boltspumpkin. I retrieve my ensouled weapons and The Lord of Riddling. West, to my despoiled vault. Deep beneath the earth, surrounded by the stone of hell, I lay out my accoutrements.

(https://i.imgur.com/SuXQyZk.png)

Human, goblin, dwarf, and elf
By their blood I bind myself
Hydra tooth, snow of fiend
Fragments of power gleaned
Shadow creature, howling freak
Darkness grant me what I seek
Necromancer, endless dead
Given death, bloody and red
Hand of Planegifts, created race!
Free my soul from death's embrace!
BY MIDOR, I BIND MYSELF TO THIS PLACE!

...

It didn't work.

I resign myself to my fate. What is lost is lost, and not even the most powerful magic can return it.

This vault is no longer safe. However, the Lord of Riddling sat unmolested for hundreds of years enshrined in the Museum of Boltspumpkin. There is no safer place to keep treasure on Omon Obin.

(https://i.imgur.com/IfJjXpF.png)

I submit the slab bearing my true name and the weapons bearing my true soul to the Museum. May they remain there forevermore. I will return to Dreadruled.

I will rest my broken body.

(https://i.imgur.com/WsaBzQ2.png)

And rule forevermore.

(https://i.imgur.com/nrrC6QI.png)

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: TheFlame52 on April 05, 2023, 08:00:35 pm

Post-script: Bralbaard, thank you for running the Museum series for over 10 years now. So many stories have been made because of your efforts. According to the last monthly report, Toady One has been hard at work on adventure mode for v50. I eagerly await the Museum IV, and I hope it's you at the helm. Consider this a request for turn slot #2. ;D

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Lurker Z on April 05, 2023, 08:22:00 pm

I've read a part so far, but I like what I read. Thanks for the update, Flame and Maloy!

Quote from: TheFlame52 on April 03, 2023, 08:00:30 pm

A demon, siding with order? Just because Midor brought me into this world, does not mean she owns me. I choose my own path. I choose to preserve my own corner of this failing world. Those who seek life will be given life. Those who seek death WILL BE GIVEN DEATH.

I'll use this for Dreamypuzzle's introduction in the wiki. It's awesome. It also explains why you (Flame) declared the protection of your civilization.

Quote from: TheFlame52 on April 03, 2023, 08:00:30 pm

At one dwarven settlement, a goblin stood idly by as I slaughtered the twisted inhabitants.

Gisep proved to be a valuable guide on the way south. After we had reached the far side of the Tundra of Heroes, the Purged Loot stood in our way. Following it to the downriver, we hoped to find a bridge. But there wasn't a single one! What else are humans good for, besides building bridges? We walked all the way to the Sea of Blades without a safe place to cross. We were forced to cross the river at its widest part! Thankfully, the estuary was quite shallow, and we were able to ford it safely.[/color]

That's an interesting goblin. Did he change his mind after you slaughtered everyone around him? At first he didn't want to, then he was immediately on board joining.

As for the Purged Loot, I was just thinking about that during my turn. I was actually thinking about how many adventurers must have had problems with the Purged Loot and never mentioned it... just like me. The damn thing is between 10 and 20 tiles of 7-full water, it's insane! Usually, I'd go on and off fast travel until I either found a settlement with bridges or a place where the water was frozen or where it'll let me cross in fast travel. Someone mentioned that the Purged Loot has no elevation and that's also insane because yes, I've encountered sheer cliffs that are probably 20 Zs tall and are probably certain death if jumped. The Purged Loot isn't just a massive river, it's an amazing obstacle for travelers and basically reshaped the lands themselves wherever it crosses.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: TheFlame52 on April 05, 2023, 08:31:11 pm

Gisep was apparently just a visitor that got generated out of thin air. I was surprised that she joined me. I'm really not sure what happened to her. At Falsetower, she was helping me with the fights on the surface, but I lost her in the tunnels. Legends Viewer says she's alive.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: dikbutdagrate on April 07, 2023, 06:52:42 pm

Since my turn appears to be coming up, I figure now might be a good time to clarify some of the rules. I've read over the OP a couple times, and some of the accountings of various deeds, but I wanna make sure I fully understand what constitutes fair play.

• 1.) Is the week we're given an in game week, or an IRL week?
  .         I thought about this, and while I suspect it's the latter, the former would certainly be interesting.
            The prerequisite planning to nab something in only one week's worth of game time would be really neat.
• 2.) What items am I not allowed to pick up? Precisely.
• 3.) After taking a trial run, just to test the save's waters, I have found this thing to be a buggy unholy mess. Are there any sites or areas in particular that I should stay away from, in order to minimize the number of crashes?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: TheFlame52 on April 07, 2023, 06:59:15 pm

Two weeks real time, return anything you take from the Museum, and save frequently. Especially save before dropping out of fast travel next to one of those * things! I probably lost about six hours of my life to bugged *s, just last turn.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: AvolitionBrit on April 07, 2023, 07:34:18 pm

Quote from: TheFlame52 on April 07, 2023, 06:59:15 pm

Two weeks real time, return anything you take from the Museum, and save frequently. Especially save before dropping out of fast travel next to one of those * things! I probably lost about six hours of my life to bugged *s, just last turn.

Its one week real time, some people get more if bugs/issues with the save are encountered.

Quote from: dikbutdagrate on April 07, 2023, 06:52:42 pm

Since my turn appears to be coming up, I figure now might be a good time to clarify some of the rules. I've read over the OP a couple times, and some of the accountings of various deeds, but I wanna make sure I fully understand what constitutes fair play.

• 1.) Is the week we're given an in game week, or an IRL week?
  .         I thought about this, and while I suspect it's the latter, the former would certainly be interesting.
            The prerequisite planning to nab something in only one week's worth of game time would be really neat.
• 2.) What items am I not allowed to pick up? Precisely.
• 3.) After taking a trial run, just to test the save's waters, I have found this thing to be a buggy unholy mess. Are there any sites or areas in particular that I should stay away from, in order to minimize the number of crashes?

1. One week IRL
2. Everything minus museum submissions are up for grabs see the main post for museum submissions but they are all (should all) be in boltspumpkin.
3. See the main post of sites, the ones in red are crash sites. Additionally it can be trial and error so save often.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Maloy on April 08, 2023, 01:29:34 pm

Entry Four
The band had spent the next week wrapping up final locations that needed to be checked. Pits that no one had heard hide nor hair out of in years, but still needed checking.

Most were entirely empty and so Arthur created sigils that he would graffiti onto the towers to indicate the new government he was creating to hand off, but one place was occupied.
An outcast group of goblin warriors wandered it's depths all armed to the teeth. Arthur had quickly thrown up a hand to stop his companions from immediately killing them all.
Upon interrogating them the goblins explained that the land was owned by the Most Sin still, but they had seen no one in these pits since they arrived and did not care.
When Arthur said he was claiming this land for a new government the warriors merely shrugged and accepted it.


Upon leaving is when the incident happened:
They had to cross a river to start the trek to Razorbridges and had crossed many rivers since they had set out weeks ago. Arthur plunged in first and although the current was pushing him he made it to the other side, although it made him suddenly aware how exhausted he was from the day's labors.
Miara was next as she jumped in, but she began to flounder and struggle as the river quickly pushed her downstream towards the waterfall.
Arthur did not know what to do seeing his love endangered and started to run alongside to catch up. Unsure of what to do he jumped in himself and that was when he realized he truly didn't have enough energy left to cross it. He began to flounder and choke on water. He could barely continue to swing his arms as he drowned, but just barely crawled back on land sputtering and choking.
"Miara" he tried to yell, but it only came out as a croak.
Birello crossed this time. She had little trouble and seemed to ride the current to the other side before pulling herself up.
"Miara!" Arthur yelled as he began running to the edge of the waterfall desperate to find her.
Uvel jumped in the water shouting enthusiastically and did not come up for a long time.
Arthur was still looking for Miara as Uvel finally popped his head out from the water. He was precariously close to the waterfall and his laughter and enthusiasm ended as he realized his peril. He began swimming as hard as he could for the other side as he neared the edge.
Arthur paused his search and leaped thrust out a hand to reach for uvel as the goblin gripped the side as hard as he could. He was hanging over the edge of the waterfall now!
He roared defiance against nature itself as he forced one hand forward to grab a handhold, but as he did his grip was lost and in a moment Uvel was flung over and out of sight.
Time froze as Arthur laid there, hand still outstretched, looking where the goblin had been and now was not.

"Arthur!" he heard a voice yell and then cough violently after.
He turned to see Miara climbing the hill where the waterfall led down. She was soaked and coughing. Arthur ran and hugged her as Birello creeped behind and looked over the waterfall. "I was able to grab onto some roots as I fell and pulled myself up" she said after he calmed
"Did you see, Uvel?"
"No? He fell too?"
"Come on let's go find him!"

They had to go roundabout to get down to where they could get into the river and swim to the base of the waterfall.
(https://i.imgur.com/5OsGXJl.png)
There he was. Dead in the water.
They all stared silently for a time not sure what to say.
"I've never met a goblin who could be so honest about himself or so optimistic about life" said Arthur
"He dreamed of the top only to fall to the bottom" Miara muttered
"And the weak shall perish" Birello stated sending a shiver down Arthur's spine. How could these creatures be so cold?

They briefly detoured from Razorbridges to stop by a camp of outcast warriors Birello knew of to find Uvel's replacement. Another goblin warrior named Nita gladly joined the party in exchange for battle and entertainment, but Nita lacked the chattiness of Uvel and his enthusiasm.

(https://i.imgur.com/Lpnf7dc.png)
Arthur and the team were welcomed to Razorbridges by the seven dwarves left living there. For being one of the most important locations in the world, a literal bridge between many nations, the settlement had seen intense decay.
Only seven dwarves remained, some of whom had come here when they were infants. While the bridge itself was still plenty of sturdy age had left moss growing in places. Buildings and furniture looked as if one strong gust of wind would destroy it forever.
So when Arthur asked if they could live in the area for a time as it's protectors the dwarves agreed excitedly
"It beats having to hide in the mines any time an army comes through!" Shouted one.
They offered the four wealth and amenities, but Arthur declined as he felt bad demanding too much of the poverty stricken dwarves: All he and Miara would need is a good platform in the trees to sleep in and dedicate to the great spirit, and many some wine. Although the wine part was questionable as the barrels had more holes in them than barrel!
Within two weeks of their settling a wagon showed up.
It was filled to the brim with coin and a missive from the Lord of Incenseorder requesting that the dwarves make use of his wealth to repair the bridge and prepare for a large influx of new residents. The duo of elves were suspicious, but preferred to simply have nothing to do with their former friend and allowed what would happen to happen.

Years would pass...
In this time the population crept from 7 to near 200
Many Dark Ones and probable necromancers arrived. Arthur and Miara avoided them recalling the horrifying image of the human Uvash being punched in the throat by one and suffocating after.
A massive boarding house was built onto the bridge to provide a common sleeping room
Guild halls, new work platforms, and more were built on the level below the bridge.
(https://i.imgur.com/yLJbAow.png)
An old dwarven invention, thought lost, was built onto the bridge. The purifying well: A well that purified salt water and allowed dwarves to access water without leaving the safety of the bridge.
A square was built on the south side with a large iron statue of Maloy striking down a Blighted Thrall
(https://i.imgur.com/c1ahoQ0.png)
Arthur and his companions acted as the town's defenders and eventually were handed honored titles given to great warriors relative to their fighting style:
Arthur - Spearmaster
Miara - Bowmaster
Birello - Master Lasher
Nite - Swordmaster

The Most Sin was fought off multiple times in this time, and the only time any civilians truly died was when an undead weremoose invaded. Before the four could arrive it got onto the bridge and fought with a weaponsmith colonist. The dwarf was knocked clean over the bridge, but not before dragging the beast with him. The dwarf drowned, but the werebeast could not breath. Instead unable to swim it was trapped at the bottom of the ocean for years.
(https://i.imgur.com/rdJQW88.png)

and a certain other surprise greeted the elven couple...
(https://i.imgur.com/ZmT44pA.png)

Elven births in this day and age were incredibly rare, but triplets? Many thought it impossible.
"This is Cacame's favor. The great spirit is letting us know that we are chosen" Miara opined
Arthur was not nearly as devoted as she, but he could at least say that he was incredibly grateful.

Caring for babies also led to them missing an important battle. The Most Sin attacked from the north for once. Whether this was a strategy or merely an army wanting to shortcut back from attacking elsewhere was anyone's guess.
Nita, Birello and some dwarven warriors went forward to meet them.
Birello hung upon the branches of a tree over top a pond lashing at goblins as they attempted to do the same to attack her. They shot her down and she fell into the pond and drowned soaking the pool red.
Nita died in the same battle surrounded and beaten to death


Year 272
Arthur awoke from his sleep in his tree house. His family was already out and about, because today was the big day.
His children had celebrated their first birthday two weeks before and Miara and Arthur agreed that one of them could now leave to continue their work across the land while the other stayed to parent.
Dwarves believed in communal raising and so offered to allow them both to leave, but this sounded as nonsense to the elves. No, just Arthur would leave.

When he crossed the bridge south, spear in hand, and waterskin filled with wine for once instead of water, he found his precious daughter pretending to be a great warrior in the barracks.
(https://i.imgur.com/jEV6Pwt.png)
He hugged her and kissed her forehead before leaving.
He said goodbye to the others and began to finish his crossing to head south when his wife sprinting down calling to Arthur "Wait wait!"
She fell to the ground as she reached him and he picked her up and hugged her.
(https://i.imgur.com/S39jl8p.png)

For all it's challenges and evil present in it; life in this world was good for Arthur.

He was a new man compared to when he came here 5 years ago. Before he was in patchwork wooden armor and torn clothes.
Now he left in fully exceptional and custom made iron and bronze armor.
He was now a father whose physical strength and muscles made him stronger and faster than most mortal creatures, even with armor on.
It was time. He would finish securing the border lands for the citizens on this land, alone.


OOC:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

ACH! I really thought I'd be done by Entry Four. So sorry it's taking up to 5 entries to finish this! It's just long enough where I need to break it up into one last final part to come!

Also I love that Spacefox has sprites for elven children.

Razorbridges was a ton of fun to work on. If bral let's me keep working on it I think I wanna add a village around the square in the south and maybe one on the northern end of the bridge to really give it the appearance of being lived in.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Bralbaard on April 08, 2023, 02:45:23 pm

Quote from: Maloy on April 08, 2023, 01:29:34 pm

Razorbridges was a ton of fun to work on. If bral let's me keep working on it I think I wanna add a village around the square in the south and maybe one on the northern end of the bridge to really give it the appearance of being lived in.

I love what you did to the place, feel free to work on it further!
It looks like the bridge is now a bit too crowded to safely use the railway system  :D
It's good to see that some of the other adventurers are starting families, and to even see elven triplets! Never knew that was even possible.

Quote from: TheFlame52 on April 05, 2023, 08:00:35 pm

Post-script: Bralbaard, thank you for running the Museum series for over 10 years now. So many stories have been made because of your efforts. According to the last monthly report, Toady One has been hard at work on adventure mode for v50. I eagerly await the Museum IV, and I hope it's you at the helm. Consider this a request for turn slot #2. ;D

Ten years already! I certainly intend to start a fourth installment, I'm also eagerly looking forward to an updated adventure mode. :-) 

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on April 09, 2023, 06:12:47 am

This is great work Maloy. Taking an old fort and rejuvenating it is a great idea.

11 years since Museum I!

I’ve completed my adventure and going to spend a few days on fort mode and upload hopefully on Tuesday.

Did we agree on best way to compress and upload the save?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Bralbaard on April 09, 2023, 04:11:53 pm

Now that the size seems to be reliably above 500mb, no matter the compression method, I'd say it has become less important.
You can either upload it on google drive, or use the winrar option to package it in two volumes, that way you could still upload it to DFFD. Most people have been using google drive.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on April 09, 2023, 05:01:33 pm

Funny thing just happened.

I have reclaimed The Eternal Citadal, and Avolition's reclaimed necromancer tower is now my closest human civilisation. The diplomat is also the Chief Treasurer and Royal Chamberlain - Sekur Metalscolded.

It appears he was a miner in Avolition's fort because he has turned up for a meeting with my King hauling an obsidian boulder across the map veeeeerrrrrrryyyy slllllooooowwwwly. This could take a while...

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: AvolitionBrit on April 09, 2023, 05:17:18 pm

Ah that is pretty funny, i wonder if Avolition will show themselves as part of a caravan or something. Not many members of that civilization around. The humans are pretty old as well. Looking forward to seeing what you do with The Eternal Citadal.

Honestly curious how The Armored Confederacy will develop in the future.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on April 09, 2023, 08:53:59 pm

Oh god, I really hope Avolition Holyblood doesn't turn up. He'd run amok!

It's bad enough trying to contain Moldath's urges - he still seems to be the defacto diplomat so I have to release him for meetings using a series of airlocks... he's still managed to eat a few Fish Dissectors.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Bralbaard on April 10, 2023, 01:12:52 am

Actually when a civ is that small, caravan guards are often created out of thin air (repeated for each caravan). This is likely to increase the population for the armored confederacy.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: AvolitionBrit on April 10, 2023, 05:59:40 am

Well thats good to hear, they kinda need the population.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Lurker Z on April 10, 2023, 08:33:25 am

Quote from: Bralbaard on April 10, 2023, 01:12:52 am

Actually when a civ is that small, caravan guards are often created out of thin air (repeated for each caravan). This is likely to increase the population for the armored confederacy.

But they're not historical figures unless they kill something or you force them into becoming part of your fort. So once they're off the map, they disappear into the same thin air.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: AvolitionBrit on April 10, 2023, 08:50:09 am

Quote from: Lurker Z on April 10, 2023, 08:33:25 am

Quote from: Bralbaard on April 10, 2023, 01:12:52 am

Actually when a civ is that small, caravan guards are often created out of thin air (repeated for each caravan). This is likely to increase the population for the armored confederacy.

But they're not historical figures unless they kill something or you force them into becoming part of your fort. So once they're off the map, they disappear into the same thin air.

Ghost guards

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Bralbaard on April 10, 2023, 09:00:08 am

Quote from: Lurker Z on April 10, 2023, 08:33:25 am

Quote from: Bralbaard on April 10, 2023, 01:12:52 am

Actually when a civ is that small, caravan guards are often created out of thin air (repeated for each caravan). This is likely to increase the population for the armored confederacy.

But they're not historical figures unless they kill something or you force them into becoming part of your fort. So once they're off the map, they disappear into the same thin air.

They do increase the population numbers for the civ. I've seen nearly extinct civs rise from two or three pops to a hundred this way, also caravan guards often kill wildlife or invaders and often become histfigs.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Maloy on April 10, 2023, 09:37:48 am

I respect the patience to manage Moldath in fort mode to prevent your fort from getting wiped out lol


Also on the elven triplets I had to do some dfhack and inserting a new script to make them have kids.

Despite making sure they were heterosexual and married no amount of sleeping together was producing children(I think they have the sterile tag) so I got in touch with unraveller and got it figured

But making those two eventually have children was one of my original goals for them. I noticed that Cacame worship is slowly dying out and most new elves or hands of planesgifts are just irreligious in general and so I wanted to preserve it

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Broken on April 10, 2023, 01:40:50 pm

What year are we at?

Did we reach 1000 yet?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: AvolitionBrit on April 10, 2023, 01:48:39 pm

I believe from the last save 972. Not sure how many years Kesperan has played yet.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on April 11, 2023, 07:12:16 pm

Sorry for the delay, been busy at work.

Will get the save up tomorrow.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Sockmit2007 on April 12, 2023, 10:33:55 am

Magna exspectatione expecto.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on April 12, 2023, 05:46:40 pm

My apologies for the delay.

Here is the save, archived with "best" on WinRAR, uncompressed saves turned on, file size 466Mb extracting to ~3.37Gb.

The default RAWs are in place, with the outsider tag added to Dwarf and Kobold.

Good luck with your turn Sockmit2007!

https://dffd.bay12games.com/file.php?id=16572

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Sockmit2007 on April 12, 2023, 05:56:55 pm

I shall attempt to weave a story, and hopefully, it shall be satisfactory.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Maloy on April 13, 2023, 06:26:05 am

Part 5 - Finale
Epilogue
(https://i.imgur.com/63jnjY5.png)
Arthur went on to spend some weeks west of the border lands fighting blight outbreaks. Following this he led groups of refugees into abandoned settlements along the trade route between Incenseorder and Razorbridge. He gave many titles of lordship away although many of these lords would abandon these groups in favor of founding their own that would rule the lands.
These erstwhile lords would be known as border princes. Some would join with the goblins of the Most Sin and rule for them while others would be backed by different human or dwarven governments and attempt to hold their claim.
The lands Arthur fought for fell into petty infighting that would last a lifetime, and while not the ending he sought he at the very least brought much more security to the region as governments that wanted nothing to do with the region previously fought to ensure the survival of the new border princes to ensure the safety of their own lands.
People living in this region recalled an ancient period of time where no power held sway and anything could go. Some in the border lands would begin to refer to things simply as Slazatu which in modern phrasing was often used to indicate that the speaker had no clue how things would turn out.
This was a harsh land, but one where you could make your own fate... Slazatu
(https://i.imgur.com/fEAFs6r.png)

The dwarves of Razorbridge made an artifact to commemorate the original building of Razorbridge and gifted it to Arthur to thank him and his companions for all they did for the dwarves. Arthur considered this a more than worthy gift to the museum
(https://i.imgur.com/81RdC7d.png)

Upon his final return to Razorbridges he found that a large chunk of the population had gone missing. The wolf lord had arrived and taken them to their new homes in his domain. The cemetery was also missing a large amount of its bodies.

Miara had also disappeared although her children remained at Razorbridge. Dwarves saw her heading north although no one knew why.
Soon the huntress would rise...




OOC:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

So this is the actual map of the area. Razorbridges being the dwarf fort that is literally on water and the tiny plus sign in the bottom left being Incenseorder so I decided to take a shot at a map. It's not perfectly accurate, but that means it just fits into how old timey maps were lol.
(https://i.imgur.com/teQN6Cp.png)
So really cool thing!  My appointed lords practically all abandoned their groups that Arthur made them lords over. Instead they became lords of older governments that were long extinct. If you go to Arthur's legends and go through his former noble positions you can track down who he gave it to and what they are now lords of.
Fascinating! If you enter fortress mode some of the locations are now considered Dark Human Pits
some remain goblin pits and those are the humans who decided to found a Most Sin government and betray their civilization.


In lieu of long final epic conclusion to story I settled on epilogue, because I really felt like this was all going on for way too long. I never got to get to my plans for Miara so it will have to wait until next time. Maloy will continue his shenanigans in the background and shouldn't narratively appear in any of mine for awhile.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on April 13, 2023, 06:45:45 am

What a really nice write up Maloy. You’ve done a great job with that map!

I travelled through New Razorbridge on my adventure. I’ll need to start writing from all my notes and get a story up soon.

Can I be added to the turn lost again please?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on April 13, 2023, 09:24:01 am

"Tirin I", Prologue, Turn 110

Prologue: Baron Bembul and the Ballad of the Belarded.

Things were going as well as they had for many decades, thought Baron Bembul Whipseason of Keyconjure. The being known as Moldath Mournsaints was a complicated character, not of this world, not really a dwarf. The Rot that had plagued him for two centuries was now working more in harmony with his other fractured fragments in as much was possible for a death magic psychic construct, and together they had settled into a nice routine. For thirty years he had resided at The Eternal Citadel in a spectacular living complex with a temple dedicated to the Lord of Blight, Ala. 

The Rot itself seemed quiet, dormant even. There were no roiling clouds of miasma and he hadn’t needed a trip to the legendary surgeons in many years. Part of this was due to his habit of very, very rarely leaving his marble sepulchure. The feeling of safety that Moldath/Bembul gained from this solemn sanctum was more directed at... the other dwarves, safe from the primal urges of his vampire personality. 

One fly in the ointment, a splinter in his rotten mind, was the fate of his illegitimate bastard son, Stukos Orbshaken.

Moldath couldn’t really remember why he had so desired to have a son. Perhaps some way of feeling like a real dwarf? Someone to carry on his legacy.

Regardless it was clear that Stukos was a massive disappointment.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/2SoUAje.png)

Stukos was 29 years old, enormously obese, and rolled around the fortress aimlessly with a glazed expression on his face. It was a poorly kept secret that he was the child of the Baron and that afforded him the luxury of no shifts in the smelting halls or glass furnaces, or hauling gorlak corpses, or the thousand other jobs that kept The Eternal Citadel thrumming away.

In fact, he had not gained a single scrap of skill in all of his life. 29 years of supping on apricot wine and devouring masterwork ☼grizzly bear heart roasts☼ had produced a spectacularly corpulent frame. 

The other dwarves giggled as he wheezed slowly past them on his way to the Inn.

Moldath knew that someone had to whip his boy into shape, but he was reluctant for that person to be him. He would devise a plan.

He sent words and rumours to various agents around the world in the hope of ensnaring some poor adventurer to come to the Citadel and take Stukos under his wing. 

Soon enough, his plan started to reap benefits, as he received word from an elf chieftess in the far north that some bumbling idiot had been convinced to steal from his personal vault in Northmanor. 

Moldath grinned a long-toothed grin. Leverage.   

---

OOC:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

I initially had planned to use Stukos as my adventurer but on loading him up in adventure mode I was horrified by how utterly useless and slow he is. His base gait was 0.149 as he waddled across the map, and he had literally zero skills.
So my plan for this adventurer was to find someone to mentor Stukos, and then in Fortress mode, build him up into someone who could survive a fight with a dingo.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: AvolitionBrit on April 13, 2023, 11:15:50 am

Interesting, looked at legends so i was curious on what you were up to. Looking forward to seeing what comes next.

Also the description of Stukos within the story just made me picture this.
Stukos vs goblins (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q_jRi-zptA4)

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Sockmit2007 on April 13, 2023, 11:38:30 am

A Hand of Plaguegifts shakes for but a second, before a mind as old as the world itself takes command of their body, Zorark, the kobold Myugaur of old, has returned, and with that, the dead stir, for the echoes of old are returning, and they shall take what is due.

Excerpt from Reflections of a Myugaur, written by the insane scholar in 10.
Beware the Myugaur, translated to the common tongue Mind Eater, a type of undead that upon their creation removes their living self from reality, erasing everything they did and having them completely forgotten. Myugaurs are not the most powerful of undead, they are unable to affect reality in any way, except for their most dangerous trait, possession. A Myugaur can possess any entity, leaving the entity’s mind under the Myugaurs’ control, the Myugaur is subject to the needs of the entity's body, and upon the death of the entity the Myugaur returns to its ethereal form.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on April 13, 2023, 12:13:32 pm

It would appear that my adventures have had some repercussions on the race/civ combinations which can be selected at character creation.

You can no longer play as an Elf from Mong Uthros, and no longer play as a goblin from Ribiromini, or of any kind for that matter. The reasons for this are not exactly clear. My adventures did involve both of these civilisations but these were unanticipated results for which I apologise.

It is easy enough to enable Elf and Goblin outsiders as a workaround if this change affects anyone's future plans.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Bralbaard on April 13, 2023, 12:33:16 pm

Quote from: kesperan on April 13, 2023, 12:13:32 pm

It would appear that my adventures have had some repercussions on the race/civ combinations which can be selected at character creation.

You can no longer play as an Elf from Mong Uthros, and no longer play as a goblin from Ribiromini, or of any kind for that matter. The reasons for this are not exactly clear. My adventures did involve both of these civilisations but these were unanticipated results for which I apologise.

It is easy enough to enable Elf and Goblin outsiders as a workaround if this change affects anyone's future plans.

The same thing happened earlier with dwarves, if I recall correctly. Probably some weird effect of the age of this world, and the original historical figures dying out.

It seems young Stukos has a long way to go to live up to his legacy  :).
Definitely an unexpected but fun twist, I wonder what his future will be. 

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: dikbutdagrate on April 13, 2023, 01:09:46 pm

"His once thin frame is now belarded."
I've never seen a physical description like this before.

I've given it some though, and I'm very torn on what I should go for on my turn next week.

It seems like most of the artifacts in the museum are not actual historical artifacts, but are instead comprised largely of strange non-artifact items of immense novelty, corpse parts in particular. The eyes of a cave dragon, and the undead sea serpent corpse Yarlig brought in, as examples. Like, I've searched before, and I have never found anything of interest in the sea while in adv-mode. Like, Captain Ahab doesn't have shit on Yarlig.

Tracking down actual artifacts seems a reasonable enough thing to do. But I keep wanting to make something really strange for the museum via a combination of adv-mode and fort mode involving both a macabre mood and a primary regent of a certain demon's bones, which possess a unique, and very hot, fixed mat temperature.

The ideal artifact would be a warhammer, I think, which is made from this demon's bones which are as hot as magma. Additionally, for decorations, it'll be covered in something strange and exotic like bands of demon rat skin, or spikes of pixie bone, and perhaps maybe like diamond cut bituminous coal cabochons. Decorations aren't considered and tracked by the game engine, so the coal won't just spontaneously ignite and continue to be perpetually on fire, but it's fun to imagine.

Sadly, considering the poor frame-rate I'd have to trudge through, and just how difficult macabre moods are to trigger, and thus likely requiring to have to run a fort into the ground for at least a minimum 6 years, I'd be looking at spending the majority of my turn cultivating an artifact rather than searching for one, just so my actual reported turn as a mailman adventurer can be to walk over and deliver the artifact, rather than roaming around as adventurer and questing for one. Although, the acquisition of the demon bones could certainly be notable. This approach largely seems to defeat the whole point of a turn on this save though.

I should probably just scrap the idea of making an artifact and come up with a single quest to go on instead.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: TheFlame52 on April 13, 2023, 02:26:30 pm

Perhaps a slightly less complicated artifact?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: AvolitionBrit on April 13, 2023, 02:47:40 pm

One of my turns was spent gathering items to forge the perfect artifact. Advice, bones collected in adventure mode don't like getting used so demon bones harvested by a fortress. If we are talking terms of value, jewels like diamonds. Depending on alignment good or evil woods like feather and Glumprong. If you want you can unretire my fortress i used to make it. Might need to use some dfhackery to drain it.

It has one of the two vault metal, diamonds, adamantine and shell of a demon. Its called Holykingdom has 100 dwarves currently so the workforce is there.

Here is the artifact I got my dwarf to forge.

(https://i.imgur.com/GyV2mFa.png)

Could be something to do. Gather more materials and retire there.
E.G adventure mode chop a tree down for its wood.

Regardless on what you decide to do. Look forward to seeing what your turn brings.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Maloy on April 13, 2023, 03:28:10 pm

Avolitions artifact quest was one of my favorite stories I've read since I started playing in the museum so I think it's a cool idea!

Maybe start smaller? That's an epic quest that would probably take multiple turns to accomplish I think, but it would indeed be glorious!
My very first turn I literally only made it from my starting town to the museum and then back because I was so weak.

Almost killed and almost starved multiple times and it was more of a sad story of a regular peasant trying to make it.


Also Stukos is hilarious. You know if you get his strength attribute to max, but allow him to still never work he will be both belarded and absolutely ripped too
(belarded is hilarious)

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on April 13, 2023, 06:17:08 pm

Belarded isn’t even a real word. But it’s so descriptive. I can just imagine the massive rolls of lard suffocating his tiny skeleton.

I wouldn’t worry about making something so epic for your first turn. Just surviving the blighted hordes would be an achievement!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Lurker Z on April 13, 2023, 06:52:05 pm

Quote from: kesperan on April 13, 2023, 06:17:08 pm

Belarded isn’t even a real word. But it’s so descriptive. I can just imagine the massive rolls of lard suffocating his tiny skeleton.

I wouldn’t worry about making something so epic for your first turn. Just surviving the blighted hordes would be an achievement!

Some Google finangling has shown that "belarded" has been used at the very least several times throughout the 20th century, though the context seems to be (not all, but somewhat) over the place. The context puts it somewhere close to "burdened" or "encumbered" if I'm not mistaken.

https://www.google.com/search?q=%22Belarded%22

Good luck, Sockmit! As for what submission to get, mostly the journey matters. I once planned to submit a perfect gem that I intentionally got for that purpose in character creation and named it in-game (my char died before I could deliver it to the Museum). You could just say it was a family heirloom. With another character, I submitted the copy of a book with an interesting sounding name. But as was pointed out, it's important to survive first.

And yes, thanks for reminding me, Avolition, that artifact of yours was a monster (in the good meaning) of a submission. A great idea in hindsight, to use Fortress Mode to craft a submission, but something I hadn't thought before you did it.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: AvolitionBrit on April 13, 2023, 07:28:39 pm

It's not a submission currently, I submitted black diamonds. My plan was to have Rusna submit it the 2nd time around after getting kills on it. But she starved so it's passed a few hands like other artifact weapons.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on April 13, 2023, 07:42:42 pm

Quote from: AvolitionBrit on April 13, 2023, 07:28:39 pm

It's not a submission currently, I submitted black diamonds. My plan was to have Rusna submit it the 2nd time around after getting kills on it. But she starved so it's passed a few hands like other artifact weapons.

Yes that was a shame she died to a weird bug. Moldath tried to revive her but she was just a mangled skeleton. I assume the scorpion has that axe now?

Quote from: Lurker Z on April 13, 2023, 06:52:05 pm

Some Google finangling has shown that "belarded" has been used at the very least several times throughout the 20th century, though the context seems to be (not all, but somewhat) over the place. The context puts it somewhere close to "burdened" or "encumbered" if I'm not mistaken.

https://www.google.com/search?q=%22Belarded%22

Most of the references in that search of belarded are from DF. I’m pretty sure it’s a toadyism.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Broken on April 14, 2023, 10:06:27 am

Quote from: kesperan on April 30, 1975, 09:28:16 pm

Yes that was a shame she died to a weird bug. Moldath tried to revive her but she was just a mangled skeleton. I assume the scorpion has that axe now?

I thought that Axe was in Rusna tomb? I remember reading Moldath burying Rusna with the axe and a full suit of masterwork adamantine armor.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: AvolitionBrit on April 14, 2023, 10:22:55 am

The Scorpion might have done a cheeky little bit of grave digging :) . I wanted to revive Rusna but found she was mangled.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Sockmit2007 on April 14, 2023, 11:44:42 am

I am slightly worried that it has been easy to survive so far, I fear that it may be the calm before the storm.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Lurker Z on April 14, 2023, 12:12:33 pm

Much of the world has been depopulated by death of old age and more recently, the cyclical infection of the inhabitants with the blight and their culling. You might find some action in capitals and in dwarf fortresses.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on April 14, 2023, 01:46:22 pm

Quote from: Sockmit2007 on April 14, 2023, 11:44:42 am

I am slightly worried that it has been easy to survive so far, I fear that it may be the calm before the storm.

Where did you start? We could maybe give you some pointers.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Sockmit2007 on April 14, 2023, 04:06:45 pm

I have moved all the way down to Morninglion and went to explore some untraveled land, there is basically nothing.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on April 14, 2023, 05:48:13 pm

Tirin I, Part I, Turn 110

The Travails of Tirin Nightwhisper, Elven Ranger

Mong Uthros, my home. A special place, if you ask me. Unlike the sprawling blight infested Realm of Silver far to the south separated by the Tundra of Heroes, we are a more civilised place. Centuries of harmony with our elven neighbours to the northwest has created a cultural melting pot, often due to shared worshop of the Lord of Balance, Blight and Death - Ala, a counterpoint to the force of nature that is Cacame.

I am one such example of this fusion. My name is Tirin Nightwhisper, an elf born in Weakenglimmers to parents who lived their own lives as Uthrosi citizens. But in recent years, cracks have begun to appear. In a few generations of the short-lived humans, I have seen this relationship sour. The elves of the Ribiromini sue for war!

Old Weakenglimmers. A town of apparent harmony where humans, elves and goblins reside together under the banner of Mong Uthros. But discontent brews, and has done since the election of an elven law giver. I am a ranger by trade, and I am fed up of the glances and whispers of "knife-ears" taking our jobs. The muttered whispers that Alatha Lakestactics is loyal more to the forest lands than his own people. And now, the threat of the blight rears its head. For so long, protected by the waters of the great bay of the Peaceful Waters to the south, we have been shielded from the infectious Ghoulfather's cancer, but now there are rumours of entire villages slaughtered, and of thralls infesting local governments. The humans see this threat rising in line with the new elven leadership and conflate the two. How could elves be responsible for this? We have no need of necromancy. I will put a stop to this insidious threat before civil war erupts, and first I will petition the law-giver himself. Within the town is a shrine to the Pulpy Creed, a sect who worship Ala. A common God of both humans and elves alike in this land, the elven forests lying a few days travel north, but I worship the Rumor of Caves - deity of the stars and night. It is a fitting god for a ranger who spends many night beneath the blanket stars.

It is the start of summer as I begin my journey to my intended destination of Drillshrine, passing through the village of Sternhold. Drillshrine is the seat of the govermemt, although mighty Atticmuffins is a much larger city it has changed hands so many times that the various factions who claim it constantly battle each other for supremacy. Years ago the bandit group The Late Specks was thrown out by a strange human from the far south known as The Black Raven, and since then the Greatest Attic of Muffins has laid claim. Rumours of a cult of planegifts are more recent.
In the monastery of Voiceorgan on the outskirts of Sprinklefloors, I meet a familiar looking elven warrior - a chieftess of some renown of the Squeezing Ford, as old as time itself. A spy perhaps?

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/RDkntJR.png)

This ancient elf, Afe Sparkledfill, bids me quiet and tells that the monsastery is a bandit camp! Within the monastery I find the chieftess, a squat dingy beast. A Dwarf? I draw my dull bronze blade and leap upon this foul bandit, its hand sails off in an arc!
Instead of fighting, the cowardly bandit runs off screaming, straight past the bemused Afe Sparkledfill. I make chase and finally my blade finds it's mark. I report the death of this creature to the elf chieftess, and she agrees it was indeed inevitable. I spend the night in the abandoned mead hall of Sprinkledfloors, wondering what I have gotten myself into. Drillshrine is a days travel to the north but there a few castles and forts nearby where I may check for more signs of bandit activity.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/rVMlUIe.png)

6th Hematite 972

In the castle of Playfulbeds I do indeed stumble into some bandits... a huge camp! I enter what appears to be the barracks and immediately stop in my tracks. I am surrounded by humans, goblins and even a few elves. A sly-looking elven Chieftess by the name of Mistir Toastsgirl introduces herself and The Old Walls.

She quickly allays my fears - the Old Walls she assures me are a site of government, not a mere camp of bandits! Discussing rumours with her I learn of something intriguing. The princess of Ribiromini, Adela Skirtfords, seeks an artifact of dwarven provenance - The Scholarly Scorn. This is a zinc figurine of one of the old dwarven kings and I have no idea what an elven princess could possibly want with it. Perhaps if I could retrieve this figurine and return it to the princess, it could soothe the gulf between our great nations, and once and for all end all the tension? Unfortunately, the great learned chieftess has no idea where the item could be, nor even where the princess resides. I suspect she must surely live still in ancient treetop capital of Glacialtempests? Mistir has given me much to think upon - a plan of sorts is crystallising.

I can almost convince myself I see Mistir winking slyly at one of her elven couriers...

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/ozBHGv1.png)

10th Hematite 972

I arrive at The Man of Curling in Drillshrine to scenes of utter carnage. I struggle to hold the rabbit and muskmelon stew in my throat as I survey dismembered goblin and elf corpses strewn over a wide area. What on Orid Xem has happened here, where the law-giver holds court? Rising the hill I hear the clash of iron, and see many goblin priests tearing each other apart.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/ilmtbZS.png)

The law-giver Alatha the elf appears gravely wounded! I rush to his aid. One goblin has an unnatural pallor to his skin and shambles forward despite grievous injuries. The priests are too busy biting and stabbing each other to notice him but I manage to put myself between them, blade at the ready. The lumbering undead goblin quickly loses his head. So it is true... the dreaded blight has indeed reached our shores.

In the ensuing chaos it quickly becomes apparent that whatever malady the goblin was suffering from is spread by biting. Several of the cabinet are twisted into ravening ghouls before my eyes. When the din of battle ends, there are only three remain standing, panting ragged breaths. The law giver, the planegiftian lord Threbe, his silver crown splashed with gore, and myself. Pale and bloodied, Alatha hails me a hero, and bestows upon me the title "The Autumnal Watch of Glades" - a fine and honourable elvish epithet. A shortwhile later a heavily wounded goblin Holy Bile limps back to the hall, having fled for his life. He is dismayed by the scene of devastation.

We talk at length. It transpires there is a plague of undeath spreading in the heart of our noble kingdom. Alatha bids I investigate, as he does not know who to trust in his cabinet. He suggests I search in Atticmuffins, for a religious cult has taken hold there of zealous Hands of Planegifts. Perhaps it could be related? He bids me to to search the crypts under the temples, undisturbed for many years. I tell him of my plan to find The Scholarly Scorn, and he tells me he thinks it was seen in a dwarven fort to the east. He agrees it is a noble plan to return this to Adela Skirtfords as a gesture of goodwill from Mong Uthros. I help the law-giver and lord clean some of the carnage from this place and we work for hours burning the corpses of the infected dead. It is only when the hall is cleared that I notice Alatha slumped against the wall, a peaceful expression on his face. I place his corpse in his throne room, vowing to complete the task he has given me. I will scour Atticmuffins, I will try to mend the fractures between our people, I will rout the undead. I suspect the title will now fall to Alatha's only son, Ile Glitterlace.

15th Hematite 972

I have spent a lot of time in Drillshrine, trying to honour the dead and clean up the mass of corpses and ragged armour. I have taken to camping on the outskirts of town - I am wary of being ambushed by the undead. The goblin, Gozru, turned thrall out of nowhere and we had to put him down. I am waiting for the new law-giver to arrive that I may tell him of how his father died. There is no sign of him so far.

18th Hematite 972

Some new politicians and priests appeared. A few of them were undead - what the others have been calling Blighted Thralls. The guild representative is an elf, and the new abbot a goblin. It is disconcerting how the thralls appear to leave the Hand of Planegift Lord Threbe unmolested. There is still no sign of the new law-giver.

19th Hematite 972

The new law-giver has arrived, along with two more thralls who are put to the sword. He introduces himself as Ile Glitterlace, son of Alatha Lakestactics. He is sorry to hear of his father's demise but thanks me for my help in avenging him. We discuss the situation with The Squeezing Ford. Ile has few solutions. He mentions a star chart, Commentary on Citadels, but nobody has seen an object such as this in many centuries. He agrees my plan to investigate Atticmuffins is sound, and that if I was miraculously to find the Scholarly Scorn, I have his blessing to approach the Elven Princess on his behalf.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/GK84OYl.png)

I leave Drillshrine finally after many days, thanking Ile for his hospitality, and travel west past another monastery, where I am accosted by a strange unnatural dwarf. He has a Gaunt appearance and lunges at me silently. My now rather notched and bent bronze short sword shatters his skull and he slumps unmoving. To the immediate north is a dwarven settlement... Shiptrails. I find elven merchants here among the dusty skeletons of many dwarves. Sadly despite a thorough search I can find no weapons, armour or provisions better than my own.

20th Hematite 972

In Urnpoker, I find a bronze longsword, its blade still unpitted and sharp. It will be a slight improvement. I head towards Atticmuffins. In the long abandonded tomb of Naquuv, I find a well-crafted iron short sword. My provisions are running low. I soon find myself in the refugee camps on the outskirts of Atticmuffins. Somewhat disconcertingly, the first linen tent contains the remains of several humans and an elf of regal bearing. The remains here are of Are Rockdsusks the Riddled Beauty - former spouse of the Dark Queen Vafice Lutecover.

Further south are a great many tents. I find an elven abbot, Gido, and many elven diplomats and politicians. They have been usurped from Atticmuffins by many threats over the centuries. Ather Wisdomwhands tells me he is the Keeper of the Seal under Alatha Lakestactics. I have to tell him of Alatha's demise. He looks crestfallen. The camps are in a sorry state, many skeletons lie bleaching in the sun. Goblins, humans and elves.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/mvTcbls.png)

I enter Atticmuffins at last and arrive at the Inn The Raptor of Wealths, where I help myself to their stores of fruit. In the central courtyard, I hear the sounds of battle! Many hand of Planesgifts thralls burst from the keep. I draw my sword. The beasts are unarmoured and use ceremonial daggers, but their ferocity makes up for their lack of skill. Many fall before me. The remaining unafflicted priests shout insults and shoot bolts from their crossbows. This must be the religious cult which has taken hold of Atticmuffins. Thrall worshippers? Finally the jeers and bolts stop. The remaining priests glower at me. The lord of this place is Bemta Scoldedflames of the Greatest Attic of Muffins. They have ruled this place for nearly a hundred years, since the necromancer Kothvir Shadowstar laid siege to the keep and ousted the bandits.

This outside influence ends today. As the lord's head leaves his shoulders, a new dawn begins. I return to the elves in the camp, and bestow upon the War Leader Galir Lovedtreaties the title of Lady of Silverspires.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/mGMzVsU.png)

21st Hematite 972

At the far north of the city is a huge temple known as The Harmonius Sanctum, a temple of Ala dedicated by the Pulpy Creed. It is allegedly under this temple that the bandits who really run the city have their lair. I will flush them out.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/G502dNP.png)

Goblins! A round-chin axegoblin lieutenant's red eyes glint in the darkness. I heft an iron scimitar looted from the temple and leap upon him. I find a steel helm and a horrifying <elf leather pouch> while searching through the catacombs beneath the temple. Soon enough I find the ringleader of this bandit group, Zolak Devilsquat. I end his reign of terror. A short while later I almost bump into an enormous lumbering troll! The tusked creature bellows in rage as I carve its furry flesh. The troll Godan Paintgleam falls, its shattered human bone crown clattering the rocky catacomb floor. Deeper into the dank murk I travel, down sewerways and dripping corridors. Suddenly, I open a door to a room full of horrible creatures. Amphibian men, serpent men, olm men, cave fish men as well as goblins!

A surprisingly chatty serpent man named Thothil tells me this place is known as Soundedmurk. He agrees to be my guide. He is a worshipper of Ase Glistenedseed, the God of dusk, twilight and dawn - a God similar to my own. He looks nervous when I tell him I am here to clear this place of bandits.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/xsu7gXS.png)

We spend many hours cleansing this place, and Thothil true to his word slays many of the denizens of the dark either with his copper pike or his sharp fangs. His demeanour soon changes, though, once the last of the goblin lieutenants dies. He refers to himself as Lieutenant Thothil and turns on me! I dodge from his attacks and leave him here to wallow in the corpses of his brethren.

22nd Hematite 972

I decide to return to Drillshrine to tell Ile of my success in Atticmuffins. Sadly when I arrive, it appears the thralls have returned in greater numbers. The master of beasts and cup bearers are dispatched, but to my dismay I find Ile's broken corpse in a corner of the hall. I place his body with that of his father. Who next will take the poisoned chalice of law-giver? Did Ile bear any kin?

24th Hematite 972

I wait for a few days. More thralls come to the hall to stake their claim as members of the cabinet, and are struck down. There is no sign of a new law-giver. I grow tired of this taint on my land. I leave Drillshrine to its fate for now and head east. I must continue my quest to find the Scholarly Scorn. We cannot afford to be at war with the elves while the undead feast on us from within, and I have done all I can for now to stem the tide of blighted thralls. I travel through the abandoned tower of Mysterydressed and find no treasure. The mountains to the north are home to several dwarven settlements. Perhaps one of these is the one Alatha mentioned, or at least they may have rumours of the Sholarly Scorn.

25th Hematite 972

Curses! I am ambushed in the night by a thrall. A dwarf administrator. She holds aloft an axe of unusual construction, the metal blue and almost translucent. This foe may be more than my match!

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/u952kHl.png)

The beast is slow and I manage to dodge its attacks. I grab the axe and struggle with the thralls unnatural vigor to rest it from her grasp! Finally, my battered scimitar cleaves her rotten skull. I have avenged whomever's blood stains this fantastical axe.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/k7mtX7F.png)

I have no skill with this type of weapon, preferring the grace of a sword, but there is no doubt it is of masterful craft and would be a boon should I learn to wield it. I leave the undead where she fell and continue northwards to the mountains of The Fingers of Affliction, an evil and foreboding place.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on April 14, 2023, 05:49:23 pm

Quote from: Sockmit2007 on April 14, 2023, 04:06:45 pm

I have moved all the way down to Morninglion and went to explore some untraveled land, there is basically nothing.

Head for the player forts and cities. There are still plenty of thralls to kill. They tend to congregate in the towns which are the seats of power for the civilisations.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Maloy on April 14, 2023, 06:43:58 pm

Ah sad that law-giver died I was reading up on him some before my turn
a Pre-history elf who was alive in this day and age and leading a human kingdom? Really cool.
I also really like your take on the Nations of Honoring. It's similar to how I imagined them to be

Also wow impressive you took down that thrall at the end! I didn't even wanna risk it

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on April 14, 2023, 07:25:51 pm

Quote from: Maloy on April 14, 2023, 06:43:58 pm

Ah sad that law-giver died I was reading up on him some before my turn
a Pre-history elf who was alive in this day and age and leading a human kingdom? Really cool.
I also really like your take on the Nations of Honoring. It's similar to how I imagined them to be

Also wow impressive you took down that thrall at the end! I didn't even wanna risk it

I was pretty bummed too. I thought he was going to make it. I killed all the thralls and he was "pale" but still chatting. I literally go off to throw some corpses on a fire, come back and he is dead...

Loads more to come when I can get the time to sort through it all.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Sockmit2007 on April 15, 2023, 03:11:23 pm

I found that the real fun of the museum is finding a fort in a city and using that fort with adv-fort to craft things.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: dikbutdagrate on April 17, 2023, 01:44:18 pm

After some thorough testing, I 'beelieve' I have found a suitable contribution to make, heh heh heh.

I guess you could say, I'll be real 'buzzy' on my turn, heh heh heh.

Gotta wait till Sockmit's turn is over though. Although having to wait kind of 'stings', hah!
*Finger-guns*

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Eric Blank on April 17, 2023, 04:39:08 pm

Are you going to drip a hive of bees in the Museum?

Please leave it outside on the lawn at the least!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: dikbutdagrate on April 17, 2023, 10:27:10 pm

The time of the milk and honey is nigh.

Soon, very soon. Yes, it won't 'bee' long now...

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Maloy on April 19, 2023, 04:36:47 pm

Hmm I’ll try not to bee suspicious!

Is there any region or town or fort you guys think would be cool to have a map of? I’d like an excuse to practice with inkarnate

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on April 20, 2023, 03:18:21 am

Any update on the turn Sockmit2007?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Sockmit2007 on April 20, 2023, 06:54:20 am

Yeah its just taking a second to actually zip.
edit: we are now at 551 mbs

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on April 20, 2023, 08:48:45 am

Quote from: kesperan on April 12, 2023, 05:46:40 pm

Here is the save, archived with "best" on WinRAR, uncompressed saves turned on.

With WinRAR "best" compression and uncompressed saves turned on (LNP option) I got it safely under 500. Worth trying?

Alternatively you can upload it as it is using google drive.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Broken on April 20, 2023, 09:10:49 am

Well, Imgur has decided to delete themselves:


(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FuICh2QaYAMy6Vy?format=png&name=900x900)

This can potentially destroy a lot of the museum archives, so it may be a good idea to try to preserve the images before they go puff.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: AvolitionBrit on April 20, 2023, 09:18:38 am

Any luck compressing it down Sockmit?

Another image host site doing a purge, so much information lost. A real shame

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Sockmit2007 on April 20, 2023, 10:24:49 am

After some convincing a friend agreed to let me put it on his drive, so here is the link: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1dToDljmkVNPkhTQYxsN9TyNc7ODHzIji/view?usp=sharing
edit: also due to a mistake the outsider playable tag needs to be readded, sorry about that.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Bralbaard on April 20, 2023, 01:45:24 pm

Quote from: Broken on April 20, 2023, 09:10:49 am

Well, Imgur has decided to delete themselves:


(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FuICh2QaYAMy6Vy?format=png&name=900x900)

This can potentially destroy a lot of the museum archives, so it may be a good idea to try to preserve the images before they go puff.

 :(
I hope this is aimed at the NSFW content, and that they will go easy on the other stuff. Is there a further explanation on what non-account bound stuff they will delete?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: dikbutdagrate on April 20, 2023, 09:29:28 pm

Quote from: Sockmit2007 on April 20, 2023, 10:24:49 am

After some convincing a friend agreed to let me put it on his drive, so here is the link: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1dToDljmkVNPkhTQYxsN9TyNc7ODHzIji/view?usp=sharing
edit: also due to a mistake the outsider playable tag needs to be readded, sorry about that.

What? How did you even manage to do that?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Lurker Z on April 20, 2023, 09:57:08 pm

I think it's been bugging out and people keep adding it manually. It was brought up a few times in the thread.

Glad you finished your turn successfully, Sockmit (or so I assume). Good luck on your turn, Dikbutdagrate.

Quote from: Maloy on April 19, 2023, 04:36:47 pm

Hmm I’ll try not to bee suspicious!

Is there any region or town or fort you guys think would be cool to have a map of? I’d like an excuse to practice with inkarnate

Well, I don't have a definite idea. Señamatem has been well-developed by Unraveller/the Anthad dynasty (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/House_Anthad-Laniecroh), it'd be interesting to see how that turned out. Otherwise, any player fort that you find interesting would do.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Sockmit2007 on April 21, 2023, 07:01:37 am

Quote from: dikbutdagrate on April 20, 2023, 09:29:28 pm

Quote from: Sockmit2007 on April 20, 2023, 10:24:49 am

After some convincing a friend agreed to let me put it on his drive, so here is the link: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1dToDljmkVNPkhTQYxsN9TyNc7ODHzIji/view?usp=sharing
edit: also due to a mistake the outsider playable tag needs to be readded, sorry about that.

What? How did you even manage to do that?

The gift of dumb mistakes is one that continues to give, even when you don't want it to, in this case, I forgot to revert to ASCII before installing save.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on April 22, 2023, 05:57:08 am

Quote from: kesperan on April 13, 2023, 06:45:45 am

Can I be added to the turn list again please?

Bralbaard, can you add me to the turn list again please?

I will try to get the rest of Tirin’s story up this coming week.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: dikbutdagrate on April 22, 2023, 05:21:02 pm

So I'm in Boltspumpkin, which npc is the "caretaker"?

Is it the goblin lady? Kind of surprised she hasn't been given a unique name or anything.

Alright. This turn is looking more unhinged than I had originally planned on.
And this is like, after the crazy stuff that I wanted to do.

For starters, I got just robbed by "Weenié le Puu", who is my own adventurer! I'll explain later, as I'm still trying to sort out what on earth is even happening, and figure out how to stop my own adventurers from repeatedly mugging one another, for their stupid backpacks and pants. I was just trying to sort of their inventories, and everything went wrong. "Gristeffer Grobin" is now running around pants-less out in the woods, and "le Puu" has fled to parts unknown.

Another thing, while I was performing "surgery" on another character, I think I managed to accidentally sew Gristeffer's bronze scimitar into his right eye socket? It was somewhat alarming when I discovered it.


Also, I have made a movie! It is an attempt at recreating the opening act of a certain relevant film.
- I'll include the Youtube link when I do the full post write up.

"Weenié Le Puu" has turned in his artifact though, which is now in the hands of the museum's newly enhanced caretaker. No need to thank me for the provision of upgrades, all in a day's work. *tips hats and curls mustache before fleeing into the woods*


The Artifact:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

It contains over 2.5 million honey bees!
(https://i.imgur.com/wEpWpQE.png)

(https://i.imgur.com/b6UwwBa.png)

Complementary item, courtesy of one, "Weenié le Puu": 

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/0IOQ59H.png)

(https://i.imgur.com/quGuPdo.png)

And a free pig:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/7TMxtW6.png)

(https://i.imgur.com/iMccdnN.png)

(https://i.imgur.com/0kMBgLw.png)

--------------------
Spoilers: Hidden location of artifact within Boltspumpkin

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/WCFOrz8.png)

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: dikbutdagrate on April 22, 2023, 08:43:34 pm

Well, Weenié Le Puu is no more. "Gristeffer Grobbin" wanted his backpack back, and no Weenié shall never pack it again....

Our adventure now focuses its gaze upon the wild whirlwinds adventures of Gristeffer Grobbin and Mr. Wabbit!
In other words, we have ourselves Winnie the Pooh, minus "Winnie".

Hmm, it appears that Gristeffer did lose one of his feet fighting le Puu. Well at least we didn't lose both of them! Obviously, the next course of action it to get cursed and turn into a silly monkey for a week, or get turned into some kind of were-baboon. Either way, it'll be fine.

I should be done with the save, and have it ready and uploaded by tomorrow night.
Btw, pleasure doing business with your character Braalbard! "Hehe, sucker."

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/4xhQllJ.png)

(https://i.imgur.com/mWMJiot.png)

Edit:
Decided to name the sword stuck in his eye. Also, it turns out it's coated in Rattlesnake blood.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/YzBZCY4.png)

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Lurker Z on April 22, 2023, 09:16:14 pm

I'd like to say I'm surprised, but this is Dwarf Fortress, I don't think I've had a time when adventure mode went as planned.

Interesting names, I'm sure Weenié had a glorious future before it was cut down by Armok's bloodthirst. Unless you butchered the corpse (or send it to Herograves), don't be surprised to see a zomboid bear-skunk abomination in the future of Orid Xem.

You're not making a fortress? It's your choice, you can still make a fortress in the remaining time or uploaded as it is at the end of the adventure.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: dikbutdagrate on April 22, 2023, 09:19:30 pm

Quote from: Lurker Z on April 22, 2023, 09:16:14 pm

I'd like to say I'm surprised, but this is Dwarf Fortress, I don't think I've had a time when adventure mode went as planned.

Interesting names, I'm sure Weenié had a glorious future before it was cut down by Armok's bloodthirst. Unless you butchered the corpse (or send it to Herograves), don't be surprised to see a zomboid bear-skunk abomination in the future of Orid Xem.

You're not making a fortress? It's your choice, you can still make a fortress in the remaining time or uploaded as it is at the end of the adventure.

No, I made a fortress and a camp. You'll see stuff when I do the write up.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Maloy on April 23, 2023, 07:37:41 am

2.5 million bees AND a sword sewn into someone’s eye? What a wild adventure lol


The new Imgur rule is impacting old inactive accounts right? So we mainly need to worry about entries from non-active players?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: AvolitionBrit on April 23, 2023, 09:47:10 am

How did you do that sewn stuff?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Lurker Z on April 23, 2023, 10:56:50 am

Quote from: Maloy on April 23, 2023, 07:37:41 am

2.5 million bees AND a sword sewn into someone’s eye? What a wild adventure lol


The new Imgur rule is impacting old inactive accounts right? So we mainly need to worry about entries from non-active players?

I only uploaded without account, so are my images in danger?

(https://i.imgur.com/v9QK6Ie.jpg)

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: AvolitionBrit on April 23, 2023, 10:59:18 am

Yep

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Bralbaard on April 23, 2023, 03:40:50 pm

 :o That is certainly one of the more disturbing museum submissions.
I'm slightly worried that my character may have gained some "enhancements" now that it is mentioned he has been talked to  :).

In other news:
QD has mentioned in the Hall of Legends that there is at least a backup for the museum threads now, for the whole imgur debacle.

I've updated the turn list and some other posts, I had to catch up quite a bit, so tell me if I missed anything.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on April 23, 2023, 04:35:58 pm

Quote from: AvolitionBrit on April 23, 2023, 09:47:10 am

How did you do that sewn stuff?

I too would like to know how to perform amateur surgery in adventure mode. This is most... intriguing. Sounds useful for a dwarf who keeps rotting into oblivion.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Quantum Drop on April 23, 2023, 04:39:04 pm

Count me in on learning about the adventure mode surgery thing. That sounds like it has a lot of potential applications for an enterprising adventurer.

(As a side note I'm going to have to ask that I be bumped down 3-4 places; got exams coming up again, so the next few weeks will be busy as all hell.)

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: dikbutdagrate on April 23, 2023, 07:58:55 pm

Heres the save for whoever is up next!
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1TaHN3E-yPkdWkpw8gt6SqSIcMFe6yO23/view?usp=sharing

I'll write up what happened over the next two days, if that works for people.

In the meantime, you can enjoy this 'not entirely unwholesome' attempt to recreate the first scene from the Winnie the Pooh film.
Watch, listen, and be amazed as I climb a tree for honey. An awful contemptible, lying, and honey thieving tree.
And yes, it took me six actual IRL minutes to climb a tree, it was ridiculous. And the music didn't help, lol. 
(Note: I did have to make use of dfhack to spawn the bee colony up in the tree.)
https://youtu.be/8Q_9kUIJQvs

More of the screen got cutoff than I wanted. If I ever attempt to make another video, I'll just do full screen capture and then trim it afterwards. 

----------
Oh. And about my fort, I'm not going to do a write up about it. But the end was pure chaos.

I had a feeling it was the end when a vampire historian diplomat from a human civ showed up and made a straight b-line to the tavern, and just drained this dude in front of everyone, before casually strolling over the mayor's office to have a meeting about trade. Drained someone else, and left before any crime was reported!

Next month, we got attacked by a werecreature intelligent undead; and then evidently missed catching the last person who got bit, and so the next month that dorf turns into a big crazy thing, but it was a two-pronger, and we got attacked by a lady necromancer were-creature at that same exact moment... and then the loyalty cascade happened.

So after the first were creature, to recoup some of our losses, I put all of our necromancer scholars into a military unit, in the hopes they would resurrect some of our citizens during combat... instead, they kind of just made more were creatures. It was a mess. I think someone warned me once about "what is dead may eternal lie, but with strange something, yeah I can't remember the rest." So like, Lou Bega, the singer / the necromancer performer mayor's severed limbs started attacking the citizenry, after I think Reggy the former CEO of Nintendo slayed him, uh... the first time?; the were-creature zombies started fighting each other, and that was cool; and the collateral damage tallied up to like a 80 dorfs or something, and I was like alright, "my work here is done."

I built a shrine trapping one of the creatures that fell into a pond during a struggle with the necroamncer were gerbil lady, and dwarves pray to a god of death on top of it now.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/o31kZ3C.png)

(https://i.imgur.com/1oyjLFx.png)

(https://i.imgur.com/yA1jPea.png)

(https://i.imgur.com/hj7eJxs.png)

(https://i.imgur.com/i2pYNfi.png)

(https://i.imgur.com/Een676i.png)

(https://i.imgur.com/OJACUZM.png)

(https://i.imgur.com/7MtsRUA.png)

(https://i.imgur.com/cz7DSFz.png)

----------

Also, all of my adventurers are now dead lol. Mr. Wabbit died in a tomb, after he got trapped via unretiring and being stuck prone and unable to climb out. And Gristeffer died also. Mr. Wabbit recovered his "Eye of Blades" from his eye socket, but has obviously now lost it.

I have a bunch of screenshots that I took and have to go through and curate, and then hopefully come up with some almost witty character dialogue to accompany them. 

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: TheFlame52 on April 23, 2023, 08:27:57 pm

This is possibly the most bizarre thing I've ever seen in Dwarf Fortress. Congratulations. That's quite a high bar.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: dikbutdagrate on April 23, 2023, 09:53:35 pm

Quote from: TheFlame52 on April 23, 2023, 08:27:57 pm

This is possibly the most bizarre thing I've ever seen in Dwarf Fortress. Congratulations. That's quite a high bar.

It appears now is the perfect time to start planning your next vacation!

Come join us at:
(https://i.imgur.com/LiAfMMQ.png)


Lol, wait for the write up. That was just a summary.

Originally I had envisioned a derivative character of both Winnie the Pooh and Pepé le Pew, whose M.O. was something akin to a fusion between Yogi Bear and like... Buffalo Bill from Silence of the Lambs lol.

I had a bit I wanted to do, which was going to be something like a DF music video, where "Weenié Le Puu" is stealing honey from a fortress, all while wearing the severed face of a dwarf's former spouse as a disguise. So it would be their corpse parts stitched onto Weenie's face. The video would show the dorfs and Weenié dancing, and then Weenie sneaking out to frantically cart honey out into the middle of the woods in the dead of the night, with wolf howls in the background, and moving at a snails pace due to the 15 tons of honey on his back, all wearing the face of this dead dwarf, heh heh.

LMAO, this was going to be the music, hah!
https://youtu.be/S_3vZYOYNYU

Alas, Weenie is eating all the honey he can eat... IN

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

WWW.HELL.COM

So that'll never happen now.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on April 24, 2023, 01:14:07 am

Oh man, there’s a lot to unpack there. It certainly sounds like you had FUN and your fort will be an interesting place to visit.

The human historian diplomat vampire can only be Baron Leto Searchpraise the Azure, a former adventurer of the Museum!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Bralbaard on April 24, 2023, 02:38:35 am

Quote from: kesperan on April 24, 2023, 01:14:07 am

Oh man, there’s a lot to unpack there. It certainly sounds like you had FUN and your fort will be an interesting place to visit.

The human historian diplomat vampire can only be Baron Leto Searchpraise the Azure, a former adventurer of the Museum!

Also, the lady necromancer werecreature is Desli, that is one of Eric's adventurers if I'm not mistaken. Wonder if she made it out of this mess. 

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: AvolitionBrit on April 24, 2023, 05:30:35 am

Picking up after lunch and starting.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on April 24, 2023, 07:55:55 am

Quote from: Bralbaard on April 24, 2023, 02:38:35 am

Quote from: kesperan on April 24, 2023, 01:14:07 am

Oh man, there’s a lot to unpack there. It certainly sounds like you had FUN and your fort will be an interesting place to visit.

The human historian diplomat vampire can only be Baron Leto Searchpraise the Azure, a former adventurer of the Museum!

Also, the lady necromancer werecreature is Desli, that is one of Eric's adventurers if I'm not mistaken. Wonder if she made it out of this mess.

Leto survived and went back to Clenchportent quite content.

Desli, however, it would seem was killed by Spongeberb Flightcobalt the Wayward Treason after she had bitten him and transformed him into a werejackal, then killed and ressurected him 25 times.

It does sound like you had an eventful few years in The Hungry Aching Woods, Dikbut.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: AvolitionBrit on April 24, 2023, 09:27:44 am

Journal of Onol - 23-09-0967

They ushered us away, the caretakers. "Hide behind the wall" they said. An envoy of green malice appeared, it started attacked everyone. The power of the dwarves were powerless against its foul magic. After hours of combat just as quickly the foul creature arrived did it leave. A lone dwarf bearing wounds and injuries knocked upon the wall "its safe to come out" it croaked in a wheezing voice. The poor dwarf had slumped themselves against the wall for support briefly before continuing its staggered movement. "Atleast you three are safe and we have done our duty" they said wanding outside. Only to return moments later hawling a fellow dwarf towards the tomb.

Why had they risked themselves for us?

Why are we so important to them?

What am i missing?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: dikbutdagrate on April 24, 2023, 12:26:32 pm

Quote from: kesperan on April 24, 2023, 01:14:07 am

It does sound like you had an eventful few years in The Hungry Aching Woods, Dikbut.

If I take another turn, perhaps I'll work on actually putting some charm into the fort and adjacent camp.

The frame rate in fort mode was fine, but adv mode it really struggled. It took me over an hour to collect all the bees from the place, and I took windowed screenshots to show the time.

Quote from: Bralbaard on April 23, 2023, 03:40:50 pm

:o That is certainly one of the more disturbing museum submissions.
I'm slightly worried that my character may have gained some "enhancements" now that it is mentioned he has been talked to  :).

Nah, I just traded a shitty coat for the die your character carries around. I think I also asked you to became a hearth person? But you refused to go on adventures.

Theres a fee that other players have to pay for body modification. And the only currency I accept is honey. Preferably in jars.
Additionally, theres also the matter of me needing a character to accept payment. Obviously, players will have to find and resurrect Weenié le Puu's corpse as an intelligent undead. 1 honey = 1 item stitched into a body part, doesn't matter whose.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Bralbaard on April 24, 2023, 02:48:52 pm

The new Fortress crashes for me, both when I try to reclaim, or when I try to visit it in adventure mode. The new camp is fine. Can anyone else confirm?
Since there was a lot of werecreature activity it might be one of the werecreature related bugs?

@Dikbutdagrate, do you have a working copy or backup, by any chance?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on April 24, 2023, 03:22:11 pm

It crashes for me too. Tried changing various settings but nothing works.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: AvolitionBrit on April 24, 2023, 03:53:43 pm

I will hold off to see if there is a fix

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: dikbutdagrate on April 24, 2023, 06:50:04 pm

Quote from: Bralbaard on April 24, 2023, 02:48:52 pm

The new Fortress crashes for me, both when I try to reclaim, or when I try to visit it in adventure mode. The new camp is fine. Can anyone else confirm?
Since there was a lot of werecreature activity it might be one of the werecreature related bugs?

@Dikbutdagrate, do you have a working copy or backup, by any chance?

@Bralbaard I made several back ups, at one point I even had 10 gigs allocated to just having backups for this crazy save. I deleted them though when it appeared things were in working order.

The only thing I did notice, is that during the second to last attempt I made to kill off Mr. Wabbit, so within the last 15 minutes spent in game before I stopped playing the save, adv mode had started running at a surprisingly high frame rate in places where I would normally expect it not to. And then it crashed as soon as I attempted to walk onto a fort site. I didn't think much of it, and I promptly reloaded killed off Mr. Wabbit without bothering to go back and shuffle some more bees around before hand.

It could be werecreature related though. Werecreature bugs can be pretty exhausting to deal with, but they aren't impossible to fix. I made a script several months ago to help deal with this precise issue. But you have to know which character, or npc, is causing it.

@Avolitionbrit where exactly are you encountering the crashes?


Edit:
So far adventure mode appears to be smoothly. No crashes encountered yet.

About to try reclaiming a fort to see what happens.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: dikbutdagrate on April 24, 2023, 07:18:44 pm

 :'(

Yeah, just tried to unretire a fort, specifically the hungry aching woods, and we have a crash.
I'll work on fixing it and hopefully have the save reuploaded.

Worst case, you can just retcon my turn.

This is what our crash log looks like.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

succession traveler placed out of bounds
succession traveler placed out of bounds
succession traveler placed out of bounds
succession traveler placed out of bounds
succession traveler placed out of bounds
succession traveler placed out of bounds
succession traveler placed out of bounds
succession traveler placed out of bounds
succession traveler placed out of bounds
succession traveler placed out of bounds
succession traveler placed out of bounds
succession traveler placed out of bounds
succession traveler placed out of bounds
succession traveler placed out of bounds
succession traveler placed out of bounds
succession traveler placed out of bounds
succession traveler placed out of bounds
succession traveler placed out of bounds
succession traveler placed out of bounds
path fail: sturgeon,48,23,37 -> 35,11,37: Id #1911188:Path Goal Flee Terrain:Station None at 50,27,37
succession traveler placed out of bounds
succession traveler placed out of bounds
succession traveler placed out of bounds
succession traveler placed out of bounds
succession traveler placed out of bounds
succession traveler placed out of bounds
succession traveler placed out of bounds
succession traveler placed out of bounds
plotter (funding network) placed out of bounds
succession traveler placed out of bounds
succession traveler placed out of bounds
succession traveler placed out of bounds
succession traveler placed out of bounds
succession traveler placed out of bounds
succession traveler placed out of bounds
succession traveler placed out of bounds

I for one, blame the sturgeon.

Edit:
Not every fort is bugged, evidently. We have several that appear to work just fine. And I really dig whoever's polar bear man fisherman necromancer this is, and this fort. Was this made in vanilla?! Thats awesome! The clear glass block tower in the middle is rad.
Specifics on where the crashes are occurring would be very helpful.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/y9dqitZ.png)

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Eric Blank on April 24, 2023, 08:38:44 pm

So Desli finally died again, huh? Took her long enough.

But multiple forts are crashing? Not just the one you played? That's bad.




I was thinking about it, and decided to post what I remember about Warshrieks: basically, it had a good solid run for a few years with gear and artifacts I imported to the location specifically to get it going. Conducted several successful raids on goblin settlements, killing many greenskins. Then, in the last season of my playthrough, an intelligent-undead cyclops attacked. And absolutely mopped the floor with the four squads of militiadwarves I had, including a dozen legendary warriors. I ordered the last of them to hide in the burrows in the dining hall, and the cyclops got caught in a cage trap. I then pitted the cyclops in a thresher full of repeating spikes and stabbed it to death. And that was the last thing I did before I retired it. Obviously, the cyclops came back from the dead (again) and tore the fortress apart, and is slaughtering anyone who tries to visit its new lair, leaving none alive to tell the tale.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: dikbutdagrate on April 24, 2023, 09:43:27 pm

Quote from: Eric Blank on April 24, 2023, 08:38:44 pm

So Desli finally died again, huh? Took her long enough.

But multiple forts are crashing? Not just the one you played? That's bad.

I'm trying to figure some stuff out, but theres something really weird going on in the xml data.

...
So I gotta ask, was 'reveal all historical events' turned off for some reason during world-gen? If yes, this entire save is a Jenga tower waiting to collapse. Not entirely dissimilar to normal saves mind you, just much harder to debug, due to the inability to pull numbers from anywhere other than crash logs.

If this wasn't disabled, well, we certainly know what 'sort of bug' we're looking at, because historical and location data is being set to -1 in a bunch of places. You can observe some of the immediate consequences of this if you go to legends and view the log for my fortress of the "Hungry Aching Wood." It mentions the fort was founded... and thats it, with nothing else of consequence. Not even when it was retired.


Edit:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

I toss up my hands. If you want to revert to a previous save before mine, by all means! Hopefully that works! 
However, do be aware that you may need to go back several turns in order to wipe the corruption from whichever fortress is trying to be recovered.

At this point, which is having spent 4 consecutive hours trying to solve the issue, I just can't come up with a solution that works, well, that doesn't involve rendering every living dwarf, and most sapient creatures to immediately die of old age. In theory, you can run the game for another 100 years, and that should be sufficient to run all post 1st generation werecreatures into the ground... except for the fact that a number of them are also intelligent undead...

Remote assassination via modification of each their nemesis files, which would set them to expire at year -1, or just the following year, isn't possible, since we don't know which npcs are responsible for the various forms of corruption, and where all of them are presently located. Unless we stumble onto a site that crashes, and there are evidently more than one, we don't know. This can prove terribly inconvenient for players who have turns they've been waiting for. I'm not sure why other sites are corrupted, unless they became inhabited by foul creatures during their turn without realizing it. Recovering to a save prior to mine doesn't seem likely to fix that issue, unless they want to go even further back, to whenever their last turn was.

Adventure mode works fine currently. Fortress mode even works fine. But if your fort has a foul data beast inhabiting it, you won't be able to reclaim it or visit it until the creature leaves or naturally expires.

Ask around, but idk how anyone could fix this.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Lurker Z on April 24, 2023, 11:07:02 pm

Quote from: dikbutdagrate on April 24, 2023, 09:43:27 pm

So I gotta ask, was 'reveal all historical events' turned off for some reason during world-gen? If yes, this entire save is a Jenga tower waiting to collapse. Not entirely dissimilar to normal saves mind you, just much harder to debug, due to the inability to pull numbers from anywhere other than crash logs.

Yes, history was hidden. But once creatures and items are "created", shouldn't they remain historical? That was my belief until now.

Hope there's no need for something drastic.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Unraveller on April 24, 2023, 11:19:39 pm

Can't say I've ever had a crash that occurred like this one when reclaiming. It goes straight to desktop as soon as you confirm the reclamation. Generally when we have something like corrupt units you're able to get to the screen that gives you brief text about reclaiming/striking the earth. In those cases I've used Df-hack gui/gm-editor df.global to pause the game then proceed to systematically delete units until the corruption is resolved. Here it is not the case, which leads me to believe it is not necessarily unit related. Conjecture based on my experience thus far of course.

How's your DF-hacking been this playthrough? Anything particularly beyond the average pale?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Bralbaard on April 25, 2023, 12:59:04 am

Wasn't Warshrieks in the same condition? I know there were a few other places affected before with some form of corruption.

Unless there are extra places beyond the aching woods we could probably move on, but if the damage is worse we should revert?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: dikbutdagrate on April 25, 2023, 04:34:08 am

Quote from: Bralbaard on April 25, 2023, 12:59:04 am

Wasn't Warshrieks in the same condition? I know there were a few other places affected before with some form of corruption.

Unless there are extra places beyond the aching woods we could probably move on, but if the damage is worse we should revert?

I actually misread avolitionbrit's post. It appears that only the Hungry Aching Woods is suffering from crashes atm.

By all means, feel free to ignore the billboard I put up. The place is nowhere near as friendly as the billboard makes it appear to be.

I also sort of like the idea that the woods are Ȗ̷̡̲̠͐̈́̈́̀̉͒͋͐͊͋̄͗̚̕͝ň̵̨̞̰͎͖̹̖̫͎̳͗̓͒̈́̀̌͐̎̐̋̍̕͝ä̷̳͚̝̩̹̩̻̮̙͚̭́͂̈̊̽́̈́͌̇͛͒̈͋̈́̕͜͠͠p̸̝̤̩̝͖̄̌̀͗̋̀͑͂͂̐̒̉̎̀̓̚͘p̶̢̧̡̖̘̟̩̥̼̮̝̺͔̹̩̄̏̀̎͂r̷̡̫̥͑͋̎͋͑̀o̵̫͈̮̓̈́̓̃̐̓͠à̴͍̪̪͖̗̝̼͚͔͎̈̾͋̐͘č̶̡̘͇̮̰͚͓̺̼̬̞̳̳͎̺̒͛͑̓̄̈̑͌̕̚͝ͅͅh̵̡̪͔̦̯̮͔̅̀̿̽́͌͜ȁ̶̮̮͈͓̯̟̼͍͚̱̳̀̅̄̉͘̚͠ḃ̸̤̮̼̪̤̹̻̯͉̼̰͎̮̆̄͒͊̈̿̅̈́̔̎̑͗͜ͅl̴̰̎̈́͛̀͆̾̈̎̓̀͌̓̆͘̕ͅę̶̢̛͔̳̪̦̬̺̝̹́̽͂̆̈́͐̀͐̆̾̍͆͘͝ͅ ̵̦̌̍̇͋̿͆͠͠͠

B̸̘̳̳̺̉͛̇̈́̽̑͝͝Ȩ̴͖̮̜͙̠̅́̾̐̅͒͂͒̾́͘͝ͅW̶̡̡̨̗͙͙̥̯͈̱̭͍̓AR̶̡̛̰͈͚̘̙͙̤̖͚̓̑̿̉͌̍̄̒̃̑͠Ȩ̸̗̪͉͖̩̳̰͎̘̀̀͊̃̽̅͊̚͠͠͝ ̴̬͖̖̫̳̟̟͈̮̩͙̖̿!̷̡͖̥̺̺͕̰̖̤͇̇͒

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Broken on April 25, 2023, 04:42:15 am

And so the All Devouring Worm claims one more fragment of reality.

The age of death is one step closer.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: AvolitionBrit on April 25, 2023, 06:19:40 am

I shall take this as a go-ahead. I shall resume my turn

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on April 25, 2023, 07:23:26 am

There seems to be some weirdness with intelligent undead and werebeasts.

In my last playthrough, an elf weremoose was chopped into bits by my militia, then raised by my friendly polar bear necromancer, and the various body parts regenerated into full elves. They were nameless friendly "elf hollow stalker" NPCs who just stood there doing nothing. I decided to atom smash them to avoid any shenanigans.

Looking at the pics that Dikbut posted, he has a group of nameless friendly dwarf hollow zombies. I suspect those are body parts which have been regenerated by the werecurse into full beings, all of whom won't necessarily have different unit or histfig IDs.

There's also this weirdness:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/1mrbr1h.png)

This seems to be a female wolf man with the same necromancer secrets as Desli, who got involved in the fight between Desli and "Spongeberp" and who ended up being killed and ressurected several times. I suspect this is a body part of Desli which was regenerated into a wolf man intelligent undead.

Now I am no expert but all this weirdness could be causing database errors?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Eric Blank on April 25, 2023, 10:56:43 am

Those kinds of killed and resurrected critter parts absolutely cause crashes, yes. Maybe delete the offending instances, see how that affects it?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Bralbaard on April 25, 2023, 11:52:11 am

We can probably test it and apply the changes when Avolition drops the save? I don't have time myself

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on April 25, 2023, 01:15:51 pm

Quote from: Eric Blank on April 25, 2023, 10:56:43 am

Those kinds of killed and resurrected critter parts absolutely cause crashes, yes. Maybe delete the offending instances, see how that affects it?

I think Unraveller tried that and couldn't get the game to load to be able to edit the data file.

I guess if it only affects this one fortress it isn't too game breaking, unless the cloned were-zombies start to migrate.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Maloy on April 25, 2023, 02:01:51 pm

Remind me not to resurrect Maloy if he ever gets himself killed!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: dikbutdagrate on April 25, 2023, 02:10:38 pm

Quote from: kesperan on April 25, 2023, 07:23:26 am

Looking at the pics that Dikbut posted, he has a group of nameless friendly dwarf hollow zombies. I suspect those are body parts which have been regenerated by the werecurse into full beings, all of whom won't necessarily have different unit or histfig IDs.

They're former animated undead corpse parts that have grasp tokens, and after being cutdown, we're raised again as intelligent undead. An animated undead corpse that is killed and brought back as an intelligent undead, won't be linked to the original creature. Hence the missing histfig data. And also why I got a notice saying a bunch of my sentient undead dwarves had gone missing.

It appears that the corruption is safely contained within The Hungry Aching Woods.
And I am increasingly enamored by this idea. I say, leave it as is.   

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

My offer to act as a NPC vendor for item grafting still stands.
1 honey = 1 item + 1 body part.
You wanna have tree frogs for eyes? Sure! 2 Honeys plz, and done.
Become Tetsuo, the Iron Man today!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on April 25, 2023, 03:06:23 pm

Quote from: Maloy on April 25, 2023, 02:01:51 pm

Remind me not to resurrect Maloy if he ever gets himself killed!

That reminds me of something I wanted to try. Chopping off Maloy’s head, resurrecting his corpse and then seeing if it grows a new head when he transforms into a fox.

Infinite wolf man heads! What could possibly go wrong?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: AvolitionBrit on April 25, 2023, 03:08:21 pm

Sounds like we have a Tomie situation. It will never end, burn them all in fire.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Maloy on April 25, 2023, 03:51:19 pm

Quote from: kesperan on April 25, 2023, 03:06:23 pm

Quote from: Maloy on April 25, 2023, 02:01:51 pm

Remind me not to resurrect Maloy if he ever gets himself killed!

That reminds me of something I wanted to try. Chopping off Maloy’s head, resurrecting his corpse and then seeing if it grows a new head when he transforms into a fox.

Infinite wolf man heads! What could possibly go wrong?

I'm just imagining some bleak future centuries after his death where all that's left of the wolf-man isn't even a name. Just a roaming horde of zombie wolf heads that are a threat to anyone not competent in dodging or fighting lol

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Bralbaard on April 25, 2023, 03:53:45 pm

Quote from: dikbutdagrate on April 25, 2023, 02:10:38 pm

My offer to act as a NPC vendor for item grafting still stands.
1 honey = 1 item + 1 body part.
You wanna have tree frogs for eyes? Sure! 2 Honeys plz, and done.
Become Tetsuo, the Iron Man today!

Interesting. I've added it to the missions section in the post with maps and site information. The map is also updated. I've also added you for a new turn. I guess you'll have to take one if the orders start coming in.

Regarding the character multiplication thing. I'm very aware that my own character in game is the result of such shenanigans as well, seeing as I've grown from the right hand of my former self (with the left hand of my right hand being an actual museum submission). There was no were beast state involved however, and as far as I know it has not caused crashes.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Lurker Z on April 25, 2023, 06:09:30 pm

It might be because it was named and thus became a historical figure?

Quote from: Maloy on April 25, 2023, 03:51:19 pm

I'm just imagining some bleak future centuries after his death where all that's left of the wolf-man isn't even a name. Just a roaming horde of zombie wolf heads that are a threat to anyone not competent in dodging or fighting lol

Who could have imagined, that not even the Gods of Death, necromancers, demons or the Thranan blight (turned Omon blight) would scour all life in the world, but the resurrected body parts of werecreatures?

Quote from: dikbutdagrate on April 25, 2023, 02:10:38 pm

It appears that the corruption is safely contained within The Hungry Aching Woods.
And I am increasingly enamored by this idea. I say, leave it as is.   

That's how I'm debating with the corruption in Iroram. Bar an army wiping out all inhabitants, Adilatír eventually calling all inhabitants as Barons to the capital or Ulet (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Ulet_Budoostsi) deciding to leave, the fortress will remain active (but unvisitable) until the end of time. With Ulet there as the only living chosen necromancer remaining in the world, Fazisrith (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Fazisrith) will rule forevermore. Of course, I'd like to continue to play that fort, so I hope some way of fixing it is found some day, but I like the protection it gives to Ulet and those who decide to remain there, too. Bomrek (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Bomrek_Otadònul) is also there I think.

---

Anyone been to Ulosothro (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Ulosothro) and have a reaction to it?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Unraveller on April 26, 2023, 12:44:01 am

Being the former capital of Omon Obin for a while. I'll definitely check it out next turn! Gotta actually write my damn story first though. . . Someone kick my ass into gear, lol.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on April 26, 2023, 04:37:08 am

"Tirin I", Part II, Turn 110

The Travails of Tirin Nightwhisper, Part II: The Heart of the Forest

26th Hematite 972

I arrive at the foothills of the Fingers of Affliction, where a small river winds its way from the foul mountains. There is a fort here, Northmanor, according to my sources. Perhaps this is where I will find The Scholarly Scorn? There are a few nervous dwarves near the river. They immediately clam up when I ask about The Sholarly Scorn. One eyes the tower nervously, as if fearing retribution from some unseen source. They whisper of an otherworldly entity, a cult which sprung up intent on unleashing some untold evil. The cult is all but gone now, and few dwarves remain in this mostly empty fort. I scour the fort and find some masterfully worked steel armour emblazoned with the emblem of The Walled Dye, and a replacement steel sword in the forgehalls. The fort is eerily quiet. On a hunch I decide to explore the tower jutting from the central building.

The tower itself leads to a gold portal, behind which a thin well constructed spire reaches skyward. Travelling along a narrow walkway, I arrive at a chamber hewn from rock and adorned with golden pedestals. All sorts of treasures, trinkets and artifacts abound here - the teeth and skulls of enormous hideous beasts, magical weapons heavy with the weight of history. Finally.. I find it! It is here after all! The Scholarly Scorn is a rather simple gold-encrusted zinc figurine of Vabok Glazeddoors, an ancient king of the Walled Dye. Why an elf princess would want such an esoteric object is beyond me.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/TV2os36.png)

I quickly stow it in my pack, and almost feel an icy breeze and the reek of miasma. The hairs on my neck stand at attention. A chill trickles down my spine and I have a sudden urge to be as far away from this place as I possibly can. I make haste out of the fort the same way I entered, and the dwavres eye me with great suspicion, whispering among themselves.

27th Hematite 972

I begin the trek north east, to the elven lands. I anticipate some hostility. It is long since my ancestors left these forests and tensions remain high between the elves and the humans of the Uthrosi. I stop at another dwarvish fort, Balancehammer, which is on path eastwards. The sturdy basalt structure curves with the path of a stream, and I struggle at first to find a way inside. I find the skeletons of many beak dogs and goblins - it appears the dwarves here are no stranger to battle. In the fortress proper I find a pedestal struggling under the weight of fantastical items of dwarven craft. A few catch my eye.

The Undignified Tree, a steel great axe emblazoned with imagery of the ascension of the dwarven king Atir Lobsterseals. It menaces with spikes of unnatural bone. My elvish blood prickles at the unsubtle message!

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/uLSQGAx.png)

A nickel silver crown filigreed, and sporting blazing fire opals is inscribed Anilvir Adilatir in the crude dwarven runes. It has a menacing aura and I can't help but admire its terrible beauty. I find myself placing it in my pack without a conscious thought.

Tameimpaled, a simple but perfect steel sword studded with masterfully worked steel and copper. I marvel at its purity of form and function. This will be a fine blade, and better use to me than on some dusty pedestal!

28th Hematite 972

I circle the coast and head south east, where the lands of Mong Uthros blend into the forests of the Ribiromini. Small encampments of dwarves dot the landscape, perhaps remnants of Balancehammers expansionist past. I find the Count of Basessparkle, Erush Workedtick, in a small linen hut south of the forest retreat bearing his name. The elves seem to have ousted these dwarves rather quickly.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/xTEl8XV.png)

3rd Malachite 972

The travel northeast is largely uneventful. Many of the forest retreats I discover seem to be abandoned, or the elves are better than my own attempts at stealth. Perhaps they watch me unseen? On the outskirts of Feedforded, I find a small plain tent, and within a goblin criminal! He claims to be a captive of some kind and shouts for help. He is wearing a polar bear leather armour with an image of an urad bean plant... The Most Sin! I manage to interrogate from this prisoner that he is in fact a general of the armies of The Most Sin, and has slain many dwarves in Lashjade, one by the name Feb Priestmirrored. It appears he was imprisoned after a failed attack on Feedforded. He will not tell me his name.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/BkJGJO1.png)

I put these goblin criminals out of their misery - as he falls, Stozu Cruelaching the Grieving Rocks bizarrely brags of his slaughter of a camel. It does not inspire fear, and Tameimpaled takes his skull. A short distance north I find his compatriot, Snamoz Chantedwitch. Of their captors there is no sign. He dies a cowards death.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/3DsaL7n.png)

4th Malachite 972

I stumble upon the dwarven fort of Lashjade. It is largely deserted, an ancient crumbling ruin. Its confusing labyrinthine corridors yield no treasure or useful armour. I do cook some dingo meat in the kitchens there, and dispatch a few goblin and human looters. The local militia commander thanks me for my service.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/5uy9Sl8.png)

5th Malachite 972

The ancient fort of Splashbeige was long a source of knowledge and learning. The chieftess Afe Sparkledfill gathered many books here, before deserting in strange circumstances, its is she who I last found loitering in a monastery. Many masterful bone crafts of dwarven kings and queens remain here, along with some parchment sheets. I continue north towards the ancient capital, Glacialtempests.

I find the encampment of Eca Dropletwalks, Administrator of The North Wing, regent of the true government of Glacialtempests, to the south of the forest citadel. He is grumpy and taciturn, and states he cannot return to his home. It was sacked by goblins many centuries ago, and the royal family are either puppets of the new government or in thrall to it. He is unsure if the Princess Adela Skirtfords is loyal to the elves or not, or a goblin stooge. He gestures to the corpse of a fallen comrade, slain by a wild-eyed scorpion man. He is distrustful of foreign agents he remarks as he spits on the floor. He tells me Adela Skirtfords resides somewhere in the capital, but few have seen her in many decades. I endeavour to seek her out - surely there must be something I can do to stop all this animosity and bloodshed, and remove the foul goblin cancer?

I arrive at Faithfulcyclone, the featherwood hometree. My grandmother used to talk of such things but her stories do not do it justice. An enormous tree, dangling with egg-like fruits, its branches grasping the sky. I climb the tree in earnest. Atop its branches I find a strange elf by the name of Malduz Gleecaught, reading a selection of books. He barely registers my presence. He is abbot of the Balanced Sect, worshippers of Ala, although claims to be an atheist. He cannot recall ever seeing Adela Skirtfords, or indeed the elusive Queen of the Elves.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/saujSTp.png)

I spend many weeks in Glacialtempests and its surrounds, it seems. I search constantly for any sign of the elven rulers. The retreat is an eerily quiet and forboding place, and it reeks of goblins and I dare not rest here. I travel west and find yet more unguarded forst retreats. What is happening in the lands of the Ribiromini?

7th Limestone 972

Finally, I have found it. After a month of searching I spot a tree unlike the others, finally my elvish eyes growing accustomed to my ancestral homelenad. Inscribed on the tree in the elvish script almost impercetably is the word "Plankflowers" - this is the clue I had been searching for for so many weeks. After climbing the tree, I find myself face to face with an ugly goblin cook who introduces himself as Azstrog Raptormenaces.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/iZoVUZN.png)

Behind him is an elf maiden in simple clothing - Princess Adela Skirtfords! She is plump, but not unattractive, and has a youthful glow despite her years. The princess does not on the surface seem at all concerned that there is a goblin in her sacred tree. And one who openly admits to being a member of the Wrath-Spiders of Youth, the goblins who sacked Glacialtempests!

I approach Adela Skirtfords, and she snorts. "Who is this mongrel who desecrates my tree? An elf who speaks with a human tongue, garbed in the uncouth metal of filthy muck-scrabbling dwarves!" she exclaims, gesturing to my dwarven steel. But behind her haughty demeanour I sense an element of fear.

I speak with the princess at length. She seems reluctant to talk in front of the goblin and I sense she is under some duress. I present to her a gift - The Scholarly Scorn - as a token of peace from Mong Uthros. Her countenance changes immediately and she accepts it gladly, and protests that she does not know Azstrog and that her people are at war with The Most Sin. I know what I must do.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/D6vaJWO.png)

The goblin squeals as I silently strangle him. Both Adela and her diplomat seem alarmed but I calmly reassure them I mean them no harm.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/QHjkzJN.png)

I speak with the diplomat Eliye Mobbean and she tells me her first husband was transformed into a ghoul while being rescued from the goblin cave The Brutal Gloom by the infamous Blind Sadist, who then ended his misery. In ages past a kobold group founded a cave, which then fell to the goblin filth. An uprising against the elves lead by a vicious black bear man from The Brutal Gloom tore through the elven lands two hundred years ago, and the battle for that cave still goes on. Some say the spirit of the vengeful bear still roams the woods to the far north... Eliye remarried Lapama Foggygulls, who has laid seige to the cave and its goblin denizens but who has not returned. She is worried he has been captured, or worse.

After a long discussion, I agree to rid the goblin taint from Glacialtempests and assault The Brutal Gloom. I will rescue Lapama if I find him, and remove the goblin menace from this land forever. If I achieve this goal, then perhaps the princess will accept that the Uthrosi mean her no malice. Adela tells me the druid, and indeed the queen, are both goblin sympathisers. They have joined the Wrath-Spiders of Youth who hail from the dank cave known as Shrivelgutters. Nobody has seen the queen in over 150 years, since her coronation after the death of the Dark Queen Vafice Lutecover. Perhaps she resides with the goblins still. I will end this.

The druid Enure Fragrancevine is found in a tree to the south. As predicted by the Princess this goblin sympathiser freely admits to being a criminal, using the alias "Agal Soaredlunch" but claims to be loyal also to the Squeezing Fords. I take no pleasure in this but it has to be done, to free the elves from the yoke of the goblins so we may seek peace. And now I must head to the lair of the Wrath Spiders. I have learned from speaking to the diplomat that the cave named Shrivelgutters lies some distance to the south. I leave the druid's corpse where it lay.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/OIx1EvA.png)

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on April 26, 2023, 04:38:25 am

Quote from: Unraveller on April 26, 2023, 12:44:01 am

Being the former capital of Omon Obin for a while. I'll definitely check it out next turn! Gotta actually write my damn story first though. . . Someone kick my ass into gear, lol.

Kesperan kicks The Unraveller in the ass from behind. It is a glancing blow.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Eric Blank on April 26, 2023, 12:55:08 pm

Quote from: kesperan on April 25, 2023, 03:06:23 pm

Quote from: Maloy on April 25, 2023, 02:01:51 pm

Remind me not to resurrect Maloy if he ever gets himself killed!

That reminds me of something I wanted to try. Chopping off Maloy’s head, resurrecting his corpse and then seeing if it grows a new head when he transforms into a fox.

Infinite wolf man heads! What could possibly go wrong?

Just to clarify, it doesn't cause crashes to resurrect a creature directly. What causes crashes is when a body part gets reanimated as a zombie, transforms due to some other interaction or curse and thus gets a full, complete body, and then gets put down and resurrected as if it were a unique unit (because of it having a full body) even though its just a zombie body part with no soul/hist fig ID of its own. In adventure mode it typically crashes upon trying to speak to them or leave the area (offloading units) whether fast travelling, waiting or walking away from the area. In fort mode I guess it wouldn't matter until retiring/abandoning the fort.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: dikbutdagrate on April 26, 2023, 09:11:17 pm

Quote from: Eric Blank on April 26, 2023, 12:55:08 pm

Just to clarify, it doesn't cause crashes to resurrect a creature directly. What causes crashes is when a body part gets reanimated as a zombie, transforms due to some other interaction or curse and thus gets a full, complete body, and then gets put down and resurrected as if it were a unique unit (because of it having a full body) even though its just a zombie body part with no soul/hist fig ID of its own. In adventure mode it typically crashes upon trying to speak to them or leave the area (offloading units) whether fast travelling, waiting or walking away from the area. In fort mode I guess it wouldn't matter until retiring/abandoning the fort.

So thats what it is.

Quote from: Bralbaard on April 25, 2023, 03:53:45 pm

Interesting. I've added it to the missions section in the post with maps and site information. The map is also updated. I've also added you for a new turn. I guess you'll have to take one if the orders start coming in.

Works for me!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on April 27, 2023, 01:38:56 pm

"Tirin I", Part III, Turn 110

The Travails of Tirin Nightwhisper: Into Gloom

8th Limestone 972

The travel south east skirting the mountains is largely uneventful. I follow the directions to the goblin cave given by Eliye Mobbean. I know I have arrived at Shrivelgutters when I spot the skeletal remains of a goblin smeared over the ground. This creature has marks of on elvish longsword upon its bones. I hope there are more like him inside for me to test my blade.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/rKFQX9m.png)

I travel down the narrow dank corridors hewn into the cave. I stop and gasp... the first creature I meet is not a goblin, but an elf of regal stature! The Queen? No.. the Acolyte. Lesana Tickdrunken, masquerading as a monster hunter. I offer her the chance to renounce the goblins but she is defiant until the last. I shed a tear as her lifeblood soaks the cavern floor. So it is true. The elvish nobility have aligned themselves with the foul goblins of the Wrath-Spiders of Youth.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/0tQtzyn.png)

In the bowels of the earth I move silently through the narrow pathways in the rock. I slay a handful of squealing cowardly goblins before finding the Queen herself. Adela was right! Like Lesana, Queen Futace refuses to leave this goblin cave, or renounce her membership of the Wrath-Spiders. In a fit of rage I tear out her throat. This is why so many of my people, humans and elves alike have died, for this?

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/2K688rO.png)

I search for many hours until I finally find Bosa Spiderybrands, the Overlord of the Wrath-Spiders of Youth. I take everything from him. I leave this foul cave and begin the journey south to The Brutal Gloom. If any elven prisoners still live there, I will find them. The travel is as gruelling as it is boring. I bump into two elves in the monastery of Parterveil and they tell me of some dwarven forts to the south.
I continue on my long journey.

13th Limestone 972

Archquakes is a ruined dwarven fort overrun by beasts and trolls. I slay as many of the foul tusked monsters as I can find, and improve my axe skill with the fantastic blue dwarven metal axe. I find no sentient beings here, and no monsters or treasure worth looting. This place was lost to the feral trolls many decades ago.

15th Limestone 972

For several days I have travelled southwards, in the general direction of The Brutal Gloom. The air is colder here. I am heading into goblin territory now, the landscape broken and sinister. I hear strange sounds coming from beneath the towers of Terrorheart. I am dismayed to find many undead creatures writhing in the deep. I am forced to slay a zombie unicorn, its body smeared with goblin blood.
How on earth did a majestic and pure unicorn make it to such a den of evil? There are trolls, beak dogs and even a yak down here. What crazed necromancer is responsible for this? I find no elven prisoners though, and decide to press on southwards through the murky wastes to The Brutal Gloom.

As dawn breaks, it begins raining dwarf blood. What a truly evil place.

16th Limestone 972

I arrive at the entrance to The Brutal Gloom, a dark and forboding cave hewn from the cold featureless rock. I spot movement on a rocky outcrop. An elf! The dazed woodcrafter in tattered clothing is Fewetha Snarlingdied, and he begs me to save him.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/7zKM5Fr.png)

I agree and we head further towards the camp. There may be more of my kin to rescue, and perhaps Lapama Foggylulls still lives. Tucked behind the outcrop I find the corpse of Tipi Avetholina, dead for centuries. Her corpse bears the marks of a massive bear-like creature, perhaps a victim of the apocalyptic bear who ravaged the elven heartlands in centuries past? I try to get some information from my elven comrade. Fewetha has no family, and no idea how long he has been trapped here. I vow to take him back to the forests of his homeland.

To the south east is a small camp, where a human merchant sits alone. He is of the Pleated Society, the humans in thrall to the goblin filth who took over this cave and who enslaved my brethren. Fewetha is incensed and stabs the merchant in the neck with his iron dagger. The woodcrafter has a crazed expression. I suppose being held captive in a cave for centuries will do that to an elf.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/T2qpLP5.png)

Together we finally find the secluded entrance to the cave, and the first creature I encounter is a terrified elven merchant prisoner. He tells me his wife is Eliye Mobbean. This must be her second husband, Lapama Foggylulls. He still draws breath and yearns to be reunited with his love. I bid him join us and be rescued. I tell him to wait with Fewetha while I explore the cave.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/IWtZ6BR.png)

It is a strange place, unlike any I have seen before. Traps lie at every corner. I travel carefully, and hear footsteps in the distance. A goblin! His head leaves his shoulders silently. On his corpse I find a ring made of black bear man tooth. More evidence of battle between black bear men and the goblins and elves?

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/bLG9UvJ.png)

The frail general squeals as she is next to fall, and a black bear man bone ring is found on her skinny corpse. Soon enough, the Baron Amxu Windyhatred is slain and the last of the goblins in this dank pit are dead. I will take this cave for the elves and return a hero. I gather Fewetha and Lapama and beging the long trek back to safety, through these barren sinister lands. The going is tough, and the elves retch on the hideous filth that rains from the sky.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/mWyqfoB.png)

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/LTEDo6P.png)

Things go from bad to worse as we try to sneak through goblin territory between Endedplagues and Malignedtuft - we are ambushed by goblin scum! It ends better than I thought. I scavenge some iron and copper armour to give to the two terrified elves. We move on.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/uY4tjgO.png)

Once we leave the oppressive Waste of Strangeness, the elven captives spot the first signs of living greenery in many a year. The mood amongst the former prisoners improves. The rain washes the burden of years of captivity as well as the foul congealed dwarven blood. We make good time northwards, stopping at an abandonded bandit camp to find new clothing and backpacks. Lapama finds an excellent iron spear on the skeletal corpse of a goblin brigand and straps it to his back.

19th Limestone 972

We arrive at the monastery of Partnerveil, home to two elves I met briefly on my journey south. I charge the elven peasants here to lord over Shrivelgutters and The Brutal Gloom. They seem eager to accept the challenge. We take turns to roll the dice on the altar of The Creed of Vomit. We are blessed with good fortune. I take it as a good omen

On the outskirts of Soakedsings, we encounter a terrifying creature. An elven skeleton hanging with rotten flesh, still enrobed and clutching a spear. It has a gaunt appearance. It appears to be the corpse of Ule Twigpacked, child of the forest slain 900 years ago by a forest titan. It looks towards us balefully but appears to have no ill intent. We leave it unmolested.

20th Limestone 972

In the forest retreat of Bootteal we find a horrifying sight. Trees have been massacred and fallen elves litter the ground. A band of goblins approaches from the east! Their ringleader claims to be a lord, returning to Poisonuttered, capital of the Most Sin! They will pay for their murder.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/2CT7tUk.png)

21st Limestone 972

At long last, we arrive at Glacialtempests. Eliye is most delighted to have her husband returned to her.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/n7DTO4h.png)

I meet the new princess, a planegiftian by the name of Lorsith Eastbroil. She has a determined look, and wields a shield and spear. I am sure she will do the elves proud. When I talk to Queen Adela, she is remarkably sanguine on learning of my slaughter of her predecessor. I recount my adventures in the caves of Shrivelgutters and The Brutal Gloom, and how many goblins have fallen to my blade. Hopefully now the elves will be free of the insidious cancer of goblinkind, and can sue for peace with the Mong Uthros.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/svqv6Io.png)

I spend a few nights as a guest of the new Queen who is enamoured by my prowess. Indeed, she invites me to share her bed, lamenting that her celibate monk husband has resided in Planegifts since their sham marriage. The next morning I leave quietly, knowing that I do not truly belong here, not knowing that I have planted a seed in her belly. I will head back to Mong Uthros. I need to find the new law giver, child of Ile and grandchild of Alatha, to tell them of my great progress.

22nd Limestone 972

The journey back to where I came from is long. I stop in Mergedforest and find yet more evidence of goblin barbarity. Cameda Pricemaroon the Uncommon Dungeons stands amongst the corpses of my brethren, his steel blade smeared with their gore. I will not stand for this.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/QsLZRZa.png)

25th Limestone 972

Finally I return to Drillshrine. I am saddened to find the cup bearer and executioner are blighted thralls, but this time I am able to slay them before they harm the law-giver. Amoya Fernbow is truly the most beautiful elf I have ever seen. She has her grandfather's eyes and her fathers kind smile. Unfortunately, things do not go down well when I tell her the success of my plans. She is strangely outraged that I killed the elven queen, even though she was a goblin collaborator.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/LM5V6Ol.png)

I spend many days bleeding into weeks trying to convince her of the truth - of her grandfather and father's plans and their belief in me, and the corrupt goblin influence over the elvish court. It takes a long, long time.

11th Sandstone 972

I leave Drillshrine content that Amoya and I see eye to eye. We have become very close over the weeks. I can almost spot the swell of her belly and her wry smile as I depart.

One blighted thrall came to replace her Chief Executioner and was quickly overpowered. How many more of these unholy abominations stalk the land? A visitor has left a message for me it seems. The Baron of Keyconjure has requested my presence in The Eternal Citadel, wishing to discuss my theft of The Scholarly Scorn! The colour drains from my face. He has listed a number of demands and things to be returned to him in his new lair, far to the south. I know better than to defy the will of the Blind Sadist so I set off southward at great haste. I will take the Razorbridge. I hear it has thrived under elven guidance in recent years.

12th Sandstone 972

As I travel south I endeavour to route out any thralls which still lurk in these places. In Taxglee I find a creature I have never encountered before. A blighted thrall stronger than any other I have faced. It takes the form of a goblin axeman but it is something else entirely. It uses foul necromantic magic to raise an unnatural cloud of fog around me and with a gesture I am thrown from the hall, desperately grasping at the door as I fly.

There are two of them! They throw me through the air, my body slamming against tree trunks. I am protected by my dwarven steel but find little initiative to counterattack. After a while, their magic seems somehow exhausted and they leap upon my stunned form. I scramble to unsheath Tameimpaled and cleave their heads from their shoulders. I am lucky to escape with only a bruised shoulder. This more powerful undead must be the work of the same sinister agent responsible for the dreaded blight. I press on, wary for any other such monstrosities.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/ryOv2mW.png)

14th Sandstone 972

Stirredshoves is home to a blighted thrall lady and her pet zombie ravens. How bizarre. I put them all out of their misery.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/Y4SJvtv.gif)

At Razorbridge, I find a fort bursting with life. Many children play in the forest and dwarves gaily recite poetry.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/09JRNOW.png)

What a welcome relief from the hordes of undead. In the Inn, "The Stable Bridge," I find a great many performers and bards singing merry songs. A particularly statuesque elven bowmaiden catches my eye; Miaralei Shakenfurs is her name and she is a member of this fort's ruling group.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/rDF2Ytf.png)

I am drawn immediately to an enormously fat unicorn, lazily being patted by the tavern-goers. What a fine steed it would make, if it lost some of its flab. The unicorn bears me to the border of the southern edge of the fort, before promptly snorting and returning northwards, making it quite clear that he does not belong to me. Ah well.

17th Sandstone 972

The journey south is long and arduous. I travel westerly skirting the coast, towards the lands of The High Confederacies. A few goblin patrols are easily dispatched, but it appears the town of Binsacks has a ghoul problem. Corpses litter the streets and I take a few foul thralls down. On the outskirts I am attacked by some blighted thrall peasants. I continue south west towards the fabled city of Incensorder and the human kingdom of Sastsepor.

20th Sandstone 972

In the end I avoid the cities of The High Confederacies, stopping only to rest in the villages of that land at night. I do not wish to tarry in my task, lest the Blind Sadist send agents against me.

I arrive at the first location as instructed by the Baron of Keyconjure. A museum of some kind, the dwarven fort of Boltspumpkin. It is in a sorry state. Priceless artifacts litter the ground haphazardly. What kind of museum allows its treasures to be treated this way?

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/zNQvvfg.png)

I investigate further. Inside the fort are a number of gremlins and a few goblins. The monk Thep tells me the Work of Phrasing runs Boltspumpkin, and Rope Mobbedwilt is their leader. Rope is nowhere to be found. I place the crown of Moldath Mournsaints, from his brief tenure as king of The Walled Dye on an unclaimed pedestal. He lost it in Balancehammer many years ago and I hope he will be glad it is returned. My next instructions are slightly more complicated. I am to steal something from Lawtaker, and something from Stockadeoutrage. I speak to the gremlins and goblins here and get some rough directions. This could take a while.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/8xOtH2V.png)

I find Lawtaker quickly, and it looks to have been ransacked. In the corner is what I am looking for - the bronze slab Shoselostar. It radiates evil and is impossibly heavy. As instructed I transcribe its foul heiroglyphs on to a scroll and stow it in my pack. This knowledge seems to be very important to the Baron and may just save my neck.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/FMewZEC.png)

Next on my list is to travel to Stockadeoutrage and confront a dwarf queen - Vucar Axesafety. She too has a crown which the Baron has requested. Gods only know why.

23rd Sandstone 972

The Tundra of Heroes is impossibly cold for one such as I, used to the fair climes of the far north. The snow-capped obsidian spire jutting from the featureless icy plain indicates I have arrived at Kikrostzar. The first living thing I see is a terrifyingly huge humanoid with the head and long white fur of a polar bear. It hefts an enormous halberd and is draped in iron chainmail of prodigious size. The polar bear man introduces himself as Borik Iceshatter the Blockaded Praise of Vessels. The massive bear grins as I ask about the local ruler. He agrees to join me on my adventures. I tell him of my quest to gather treasure for the Blind Sadist baron of Keyconjure, and he licks his lips in anticipation.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/bPoiKfT.png)

After scouring the frozen fort we finally find the Queen Vucar Axesafety, and denounce her as a vampire - knowledge entrusted to us by the Baron. Borik leaps upon her tearing at her neck with his great jaws and while she is distracted, I deftly remove her head. We retrieve the treasure the Baron had requested - a crown, and a slab.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/SGhZEbM.png)

24th Sandstone 972

The slab is prodigiously heavy but Borik shoulders the burden with surprising ease. Unfortunately, he cannot resist the runes etched upon it and his eyes glaze over with forbidden knowledge. It is time to trek to the Eternal Citadel to face our fate. In terror I cannot find the hemp quire in which I inscribed the knowledge of Shoselostar. In a panic I quickly scribe a second tome and stash it in my pack. I must have left the original scroll back in Stockadeoutrage.

26th Sandstone 972

Just over the mountains to the west, we are attacked by a huge corrupted drake - a Cave Dragon! Where has this thing come from? Borik's axe splits its skull. He hefts its enormous corpse on his back alongisde the evil slab and grins. We head east to the fort. We arrive at The Eternal Citadal - a great clear glass pyramid erupts from a lush valley. Within Borik gleefully butchers the cave dragon corpse.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/xfZT1UH.png)

We find the Baron in his personal temple to the death God Ala, deep below his private chambers. His teeth are disconcertingly long and he has an aura of blight around him. He silently nods at me and Borik in turn. In the four corners of the temple, surrounding an adamantine coffin, are well crafted pedestals. On the north west is a blade more beautiful and terrible than I have ever seen - Tautaches the adamantine long sword, its grip made of demon leather, menacing with spikes of adamantine.

At the silent direction of the Baron we place our gifts.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/d49EZwW.png)

The slab retrieved from Vucar Axesafety - Gallpaddles the Spittle of Juice.
The crown of the Staff of Kissing.
The quire of knowledge from Shoselostar.

As we begin our retreat we hear a scrabbling from a corridor to the east. An enormous forgotten beast - "The Perplexing" - an insectoid creature with poison vapours. The creature falls to my blade.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/GQ7jxGc.png)

And with that our story ends. We retire to enjoy the hospitality of The Eternal Citadel, under the protection of the Blind Sadist. He tasks us with training a young obese dwarf in the arts of war and letters, and it is made very clear that this is not a negotiable request. It seems we are now considered the loyal subjects of The Book of Dreams, the local government.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Maloy on April 27, 2023, 02:25:35 pm

Impregnating two elven monarchs, are we?

I was reading and when you got back to the lawmaker I was just like "Oh he wouldn't"

Then you arrive at razorbridge and meet Miara and I'm like "He better not!" lol
Great entry honestly really puts things together I was interested in exploring on my next turn!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on April 27, 2023, 06:05:04 pm

Thanks for the kind words Maloy. I would never steal your woman….

I enjoyed this turn. Something a bit different but also still adding to the mythos of Moldath.

I think the elves have quite an interesting story. It seems that by getting rid of the goblins in Glacialtempests and Shrivelgutter, one can no longer create a goblin from Ribiromini. I’m not sure why the option to make a Mong Uthros elf vanished too.

I plan to make a semi-OOC epilogue post to delve into the characters of Tirin, Thothil, Borik and indeed young Stukos in more detail but essentially Tirin highly values romance and lust which is why he has so many dalliances!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: TheFlame52 on April 28, 2023, 04:16:33 pm

Those dark ones - imagine fighting one of those, but covered in steel! Nasty creatures.

Also, I find it funny that the Blind Sadist is literally described by the game as long-toothed, like HMMM I WONDER.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on April 28, 2023, 04:27:02 pm

Quote from: TheFlame52 on April 28, 2023, 04:16:33 pm

Those dark ones - imagine fighting one of those, but covered in steel! Nasty creatures.

Also, I find it funny that the Blind Sadist is literally described by the game as long-toothed, like HMMM I WONDER.

Yeah, that fight was brutal as a regular mortal elf. My head skidded along the ground at one point. How I managed to escape with only a bruised shoulder I will never know.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Lurker Z on April 28, 2023, 04:41:52 pm

Quote from: TheFlame52 on April 28, 2023, 04:16:33 pm

Those dark ones - imagine fighting one of those, but covered in steel! Nasty creatures.

Also, I find it funny that the Blind Sadist is literally described by the game as long-toothed, like HMMM I WONDER.

You know he's been a vampire for centuries, right?

Or does the description of vampires usually not described them as such?

Quote from: kesperan on April 27, 2023, 06:05:04 pm

I’m not sure why the option to make a Mong Uthros elf vanished too.

I suspect because the elf Law-Giver died? Although that first elf Law-Giver's line still rules. They're even elves actually born after World Activation, so that's interesting. The new generation really is settling into this old world every few decades (as is natural, I suppose).

There's a hand of Planegifts Crown Princess for Ribiromimi, which is... interesting, and also disturbing (in elven culture, if the Queen dies, the Crown Princess takes the throne unless the Crown Princess can be killed, so her position can be replaced).

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on April 28, 2023, 05:50:29 pm

I mean, his flesh has rotten off and he’s missing an ear and his nose but focus on how long his teeth are!

Elves were playable for Mong Uthros long before the first elf lawgiver. It’s just a weird bug I think, like how dwarves vanished from the list despite two playable dwarf civilisation still available.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: TheFlame52 on April 28, 2023, 09:31:54 pm

Quote from: Lurker Z on April 28, 2023, 04:41:52 pm

Quote from: TheFlame52 on April 28, 2023, 04:16:33 pm

Those dark ones - imagine fighting one of those, but covered in steel! Nasty creatures.

Also, I find it funny that the Blind Sadist is literally described by the game as long-toothed, like HMMM I WONDER.

You know he's been a vampire for centuries, right?

Or does the description of vampires usually not described them as such?

Oh I'm well aware, but usually the game doesn't make it quite this obvious.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on April 29, 2023, 05:01:01 am

Any thoughts on what to do about Boltspumpkin? It’s still a mess, items are scattering whenever it is loaded up.

Making a fort on top of it might work but it’s not without its own risks.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Yarlig on April 29, 2023, 12:05:38 pm

Maybe just move the exhibits to one of the neighboring settlements? Diptramples has a keep' although it's cluttered with assorted items (mostly hoarded there by me' frankly; Nom the Cheese still lurks there). Could clean it up in between turns' if the community deemed it appropriate. It would require some lore twiddling as to why the collection was relocated' but would be far more functional most likely.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Bralbaard on April 29, 2023, 04:44:10 pm

Finding and hauling the items out of Bolspumpkin would be a nightmare. The fortress method could work?

Personally I don't really care that the place is a mess, but if someone tests a workable recovery method we could use it?

Quote from: Yarlig on April 29, 2023, 12:05:38 pm

Maybe just move the exhibits to one of the neighboring settlements? Diptramples has a keep' although it's cluttered with assorted items (mostly hoarded there by me' frankly; Nom the Cheese still lurks there). Could clean it up in between turns' if the community deemed it appropriate. It would require some lore twiddling as to why the collection was relocated' but would be far more functional most likely.

Note that I have constructed Thiefguilds very nearby the Diptramples keep, quite a few turns ago. I have observed some strange behaviour there during my turns with inhabitants migrating from Thiefguilds to the Keep of Diptramples and Vice-versa. The two sites are having an effect on each other.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on April 29, 2023, 06:24:28 pm

Quote from: Bralbaard on April 29, 2023, 04:44:10 pm

Finding and hauling the items out of Bolspumpkin would be a nightmare. The fortress method could work?

Personally I don't really care that the place is a mess, but if someone tests a workable recovery method we could use it?

That could be an interesting challenge for a future turn, building a new Boltspumpkin fortress.

By the way, my Museum Submission for my last turn is:

Quote from: kesperan on April 27, 2023, 01:38:56 pm

I place the crown of Moldath Mournsaints, from his brief tenure as king of The Walled Dye on an unclaimed pedestal. He lost it in Balancehammer many years ago and I hope he will be glad it is returned.

(https://i.imgur.com/8xOtH2V.png)

60: Anilvir Adilatir, Glorystar the Walled Dye. The artifact nickel silver crown encrusted with fire opals used by Moldath Mournsaints for his coronation as King of the Walled Dye, salvaged from Balancehammer. Submitted by the elf Tirin Nightwhisper (Kesperan).

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: AvolitionBrit on May 01, 2023, 01:12:51 pm

Sadly my adventure was cut short by being overburdened and thus become dingo food. I have a few posts to upload to explain what i have been up to. Been busy in fort mode. We are 8ish years off the year 1000. Was aiming for the year 1000 but when necromancers get involved with sieges I spend alot of time with single digit FPS.

Here is the save.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1FVMJ336ZhsAaTeXk064ecxyd70B9mjyz/view?usp=sharing

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Lurker Z on May 01, 2023, 01:24:17 pm

It's asking me for an account to download. Google Drive never did that before. Can you do the split archive by volumes upload on DFFD please?

Also, I hope whoever gets year 1000 makes a save for year 1001. I have saves for both year 801 and 901, it helps with the wiki and such.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: AvolitionBrit on May 01, 2023, 01:39:00 pm

Ah google drive setting. Should be good to download now.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Lurker Z on May 01, 2023, 02:26:02 pm

Yep, it's good, thanks.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on May 01, 2023, 03:56:42 pm

Good luck with your turn, Broken!

It is insane to think we are nearly at 300 years of this game..

Edit: OMFG so many scorpions. One dude had 11 babies by the time he was 9 years old. Are they born pregnant??

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: AvolitionBrit on May 01, 2023, 04:32:12 pm

Quote from: kesperan on May 01, 2023, 03:56:42 pm

Good luck with your turn, Broken!

It is insane to think we are nearly at 300 years of this game..

Edit: OMFG so many scorpions. One dude had 11 babies by the time he was 9 years old. Are they born pregnant??

Ahaha, they are born adults which was odd, looked it up turns out they just cling on the mothers back until maturity so thats what happened. Lots of mini scorpions leaving the backs to become actual units. There is an explanation for their rather rapid growth and the decline of that population growth.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Bralbaard on May 01, 2023, 04:37:10 pm

Quote from: kesperan on May 01, 2023, 03:56:42 pm

Edit: OMFG so many scorpions. One dude had 11 babies by the time he was 9 years old. Are they born pregnant??

That sounds.. concerning.
And this is added to the already concerning recent impregnation of certain elven monarchs and the rumors that Moldath junior is receiving some form of training.

A new generation for a new millenium.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on May 01, 2023, 05:58:05 pm

Quote from: Bralbaard on May 01, 2023, 04:37:10 pm

Quote from: kesperan on May 01, 2023, 03:56:42 pm

Edit: OMFG so many scorpions. One dude had 11 babies by the time he was 9 years old. Are they born pregnant??

That sounds.. concerning.
And this is added to the already concerning recent impregnation of certain elven monarchs and the rumors that Moldath junior is receiving some form of training.

A new generation for a new millenium.

Very disturbing. Looking at Legends Mode it looks like the past 10 years or so at Falsetower is just one massive bark scorpion man incest orgy. There are more than 40 of them there and their family trees don't so much look like trees as they do... webs. Disgusting.

One of Tirin's children (the one with Adela Skirtfords) has gone off to become an abbot.

And if Broken has not already started their turn, here is a <500Mb version of the save uploaded to DFFD:

https://dffd.bay12games.com/file.php?id=16654

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: AvolitionBrit on May 01, 2023, 06:24:27 pm

Quote from: kesperan on May 01, 2023, 05:58:05 pm

Very disturbing. Looking at Legends Mode it looks like the past 10 years or so at Falsetower is just one massive bark scorpion man incest orgy. There are more than 40 of them there and their family trees don't so much look like trees as they do... webs. Disgusting.

Truly, horrific creatures clung to life. Foul shells of the once great bark scorpions.

Here is some interesting stuff that occured that i noted.

- Moldaths "son" in the form of a scholar visited the fort during the earlier years and instantly went to the library and is a necromancer now.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/8x2vKfB.jpg)

- When attacking northcamp, a certain undead bear man returned to defend the site and won.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/cB1P8wi.jpg)

- A forgotton beast entered emotional shock, never seen that before

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/2eltWVW.jpg)

- King Udil of the Walled Dye despite having no combat experience and dabbling at best skills, held up well against intelligent undead.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/a6IzLgn.jpg)

- The Walled dye still trade Yeti Leather despite the Yeti dwindling numbers. Wonder if they will stop once they are all gone.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on May 01, 2023, 06:35:18 pm

Quote from: AvolitionBrit on May 01, 2023, 06:24:27 pm

Here is some interesting stuff that occured that i noted.

- Moldaths "son" in the form of a scholar visited the fort during the earlier years and instantly went to the library and is a necromancer now.

- When attacking northcamp, a certain undead bear man returned to defend the site and won.

Yes! I had a look at LV after Dikbut's turn and Stukos had begun wandering the many player forts of Orid Xem. It was only a matter of time before he turned up at a library of necromancy. Following in his father's footsteps it seems. He has since returned to The Eternal Citadel to become its Militia Commander but when I unretired him, he seems to have replaced his artifact adamantine battle axe with a book from Ancientknowledge on the Sun and Moon....

And so the tales of the vicious bear spirit guarding the northern forests was not just an old wives tale, as Tirin thought!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Broken on May 01, 2023, 07:27:43 pm

Well, as it turns out, just this week was my turn in a completely different succession fort, and i am a bit busy with that.

@Bralbaard , go ahead and take this turn, i will take the next if that's fine for you.

Quote from: AvolitionBrit on May 01, 2023, 06:24:27 pm

Here is some interesting stuff that occured that i noted.

- When attacking northcamp, a certain undead bear man returned to defend the site and won.

Arcturus is still alive?!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Maloy on May 01, 2023, 07:49:50 pm

Inspired by recent events I decided to see if AI art covered the delicate topic of "Scorpion orgies"

It did not and this may be for the best

but it DID NOT FORBID the phrase "Scorpion Copulation"
https://creator.nightcafe.studio/creation/PN0E5XwrWEJHw1CFcnqm

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on May 02, 2023, 04:58:27 am

Quote from: Broken on May 01, 2023, 07:27:43 pm

Arcturus is still alive?!

In a very loose sense of the word. He’s died at least twice and been resurrected. He attacks anything that comes too close to Northcamp.

I like to think he is the boogeyman that elven mothers warn their children about at bedtime…

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: AvolitionBrit on May 02, 2023, 06:17:33 am

Quote from: Maloy on May 01, 2023, 07:49:50 pm

Inspired by recent events I decided to see if AI art covered the delicate topic of "Scorpion orgies"

It did not and this may be for the best

but it DID NOT FORBID the phrase "Scorpion Copulation"
https://creator.nightcafe.studio/creation/PN0E5XwrWEJHw1CFcnqm

That is certainly nightmare fuel.

Quote from: kesperan on May 02, 2023, 04:58:27 am

Quote from: Broken on May 01, 2023, 07:27:43 pm

Arcturus is still alive?!

In a very loose sense of the word. He’s died at least twice and been resurrected. He attacks anything that comes too close to Northcamp.

I like to think he is the boogeyman that elven mothers warn their children about at bedtime…

Yeah, i had traveled up to northcamp during a prior turn and the bear wanders the area of northcamp. Sometimes there and sometimes not

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Bralbaard on May 02, 2023, 08:46:03 am

Quote from: Broken on May 01, 2023, 07:27:43 pm

Well, as it turns out, just this week was my turn in a completely different succession fort, and i am a bit busy with that.

@Bralbaard , go ahead and take this turn, i will take the next if that's fine for you.

I'll pick it up, but I'll be away for most of the week.
The next weeks will not be much better, so delaying my turn would not achieve much. I might be able to put in a few hours this weekend, and will likely post the save on monday.
If anyone wants to do some fortress building in the meantime, go ahead. I only need the save on saturday evening CET. First to claim the save can have it until then.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: AvolitionBrit on May 02, 2023, 08:51:20 am

I could continue Falsetower and get you up to year 999 winter. But if someone else has an idea feel free

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on May 02, 2023, 11:08:04 am

I could play for a bit.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Bralbaard on May 02, 2023, 11:24:00 am

Just to be sure: keep it limited to fortress mode, this is not an official turn  ;).

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: AvolitionBrit on May 02, 2023, 11:30:06 am

Quote from: Bralbaard on May 02, 2023, 11:24:00 am

Just to be sure: keep it limited to fortress mode, this is not an official turn  ;).

Who is it to?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Bralbaard on May 02, 2023, 12:21:11 pm

Well, I edited my first post on the topic earlier (if a bit late) to state that the first to claim it could have it.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: AvolitionBrit on May 02, 2023, 12:29:34 pm

Well since Kesperan expressed interest then it should be him.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Eric Blank on May 02, 2023, 01:15:13 pm

Just to clarify, Desli's body is still in the site that crashes on loading, correct?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on May 02, 2023, 02:24:20 pm

I’ll muck around in fort mode.

Desli is in the site that crashes, yes.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: AvolitionBrit on May 02, 2023, 03:22:52 pm

Oh forgot to ask, but please put me back onto the list.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Bralbaard on May 02, 2023, 03:57:51 pm

You're added.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on May 03, 2023, 07:36:08 am

Quote from: Eric Blank on May 02, 2023, 01:15:13 pm

Just to clarify, Desli's body is still in the site that crashes on loading, correct?

Pik has just appeared at The Eternal Citadel in a lunar-induced rampage.

Don’t worry, he’s safe. He’s currently admiring an exceptional steel restraint.

I’ll get him a nice cage in the tavern.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Eric Blank on May 04, 2023, 05:29:19 pm

Well that's good. Please attach a lever to it so i can let him out!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: AvolitionBrit on May 04, 2023, 06:14:44 pm

Quote from: Eric Blank on May 04, 2023, 05:29:19 pm

Well that's good. Please attach a lever to it so i can let him out!

You are just auto let out from experience. I have had it a few times that prisoners are released.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on May 05, 2023, 11:46:43 pm

Here is the save, Bralbaard.

Have fun.

https://dffd.bay12games.com/file.php?id=16658

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Bralbaard on May 06, 2023, 02:57:59 pm

Thanks!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on May 06, 2023, 05:03:38 pm

Quote from: Eric Blank on May 04, 2023, 05:29:19 pm

Well that's good. Please attach a lever to it so i can let him out!

He’s in a cage in my gladiator arena next to a lever, should you wish to plan a daring rescue.

I played until the start of 995.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Quantum Drop on May 06, 2023, 06:13:54 pm

I finally managed to get on with writing up the next bit of Turn 92. Unfortunately, I lost most of the images associated with this part of the turn, so it's mostly just text.

---

- PART 1 - (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8425735#msg8425735)- PART 2 - (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8446376#msg8446376)

---

It was early in the morning that they set out from the ruins of Channeltwigs. None of them desired to spend any longer in the half-destroyed castle than they needed to, and so they were underway almost as soon as the sun arose. They had stayed only long enough to cache the weapons and armour they could not take with them, and to erect a handful of crude memorials to the dead – simple wooden beams with the fallen soldiers’ names scratched into them, thrust into the ashy soil where the pyre had stood.

The group did not need to travel far. Even at a modest pace, with Sizet limping badly and half-supported, half-carried by her comrades, it took them merely a day or two of travel before they reached the hamlet Lord Crewcanyons had deemed their next destination. It was a small hamlet, near to the border of the Tundra of Heroes and ringed by the ancient stone of abandoned or sparsely populated monasteries.

The roads that greeted them were deserted, barren of any sign of life. Bodies and half-bodies lay about here and there, left to rot where they had fallen; corpses of all ages, from infant to elder. The carrion crows, so often seen amidst such scenes of death, seemed entirely absent despite the feast laid out for them. The reason for such absence became clear at a closer look: about a few of the bodies, these ones blistered and swollen with decay, the feathered forms of dead crows lay. The signs of a thrall-attack.

While the terrible scene would have unsettled them in brighter times, the stresses of the past days had partially inured the group to such sights. A few averted their eyes; others stared grimly ahead, gazes affixed on the mead-hall at the centre of the settlement. Gasin and his inner circle alone seemed immune, though Dubmith paused a moment to gently murmur a prayer for the unfortunate souls that lay in ruin around them and Gasin mutely bowed his head in sympathy.

“This place is dead.” Hathur’s solemn voice broke him from his thoughts, ringing slightly in his ear. “They couldn't have survived a thrall attack like this. We should lea—”

But here Gasin rounded upon her with a furious blaze in his eyes, something between a hiss and a snarl bubbling up in his throat. His features writhed with sudden, savage fury at her half-finished declaration, strong enough that Hathur found herself stepping back in the face of his sudden change of mien. Long teeth bared, he strode forward until he was almost nose-to-nose with her, one hand gripping the hilt of his sword with such force that it physically tremored.

“Search every house,” Gasin commanded, his voice gaining a sharp, commanding edge that would brook no disagreement. “If there is even a chance of another soul living, we must seize it! Now! Now, Void take you!”

Hathur exchanged a glance with Mori, her disbelief and shock plain on her face, but she acquiesced to the inquisitor’s orders with a taut nod, striding over to the nearest house’s door to tear it from its hinge with a single blow. Her compatriots followed suit, breaking away in twos and threes to begin the long task of searching for survivors.

Every house bore the same scene – a few shreds of tattered cloth or metal, and the broken, often decayed forms of its former occupants. A handful of times there came the sound of stirring movement, seeking to reignite their hopes, only for it to be no more than a rodent or other tiny creature shifting about in the ruins. Slowly, as each door was opened and the grisly scenes observed, the group’s work began to slow, and then to stop entirely.

“Not one soul in this place still lives, master Crewcanyons.” Hathur’s expression was stoic as she returned from her latest search, though the tension in her stance betrayed her wariness. “Neither thrall, nor human.”

“You...” Gasin murmured to himself, bowing his head in contrition. The savage fury had drained from his body as each house yielded the same results, replaced by a terrible weight and exhaustion that drew the colour from his skin. “You spoke well earlier, lady Craftedmirrored, and I ask your forgiveness for my choler.”

“Of course.” Hathur’s voice was level and sincere, though she could not help but wonder at the reason for his sudden flare of fury. Gasin gave her a heavy nod in reply, before turning to face the rest of the gathered group as they stood before the mead-hall.

“I had hoped that this would not come to pass, but it seems my hopes were unfounded. We came too late to save these souls,” He closed his eyes, bowing his head so that his eyes were shrouded. “And so we must press on, that their deaths might be avenged.”

“Wait.” Thadar suddenly cocked her head to the side, scarred features contorting slightly. She raised a stubby finger in warning, her teeth baring themselves. “Do you smell that?”

Gasin slowed his pace, straining his senses to catch whatever scent Thadar had. There was the snow and wet grass, so common to the lands of Omon Obin; the scent of soaked wooden timbers and thatching that dominated many hamlets in the rainy season; and then – his nose wrinkled sharply as he suddenly caught what Thadar had sensed. It was a scent all too familiar to him: the faint stench of iron and rot and waste, leaking out from the door of the hall in a putrid cocktail.
 
“…Stand by me, Thadar,” Gasin murmured, fingers falling to his sword-hilt as he began to advance toward the door it came from. “There is something wrong here.”

By the look on his scarred comrade’s face, she concurred. Thadar drew up beside Gasin with her axe already raised to the shoulder and her eyes locked firmly on the door. If any thralls burst out of it to strike, her axe would be their first and last sight. Unprompted, Mori took up station by the other side of the door, war hammer gripped tightly in her gauntlets. Wordlessly, she looked up toward Gasin, who gave a short shake of his head in reply, half raising a finger in a gesture for patience; he pushed slightly against the door, and it swung inwards without a sound.

The inside of the hall soon revealed the source of the smell: four or five bodies in various states of decay, lying sprawled across the earthen floor in pools and smears of blood – some dried and flaking, some fresh and wet. Almost all of them bore the signs of blunt injury to the head or neck, and rather more alarmingly, each one bore the blisters and weeping sores common to those taken by the Obin Blight. Most alarming of all was the figure at the centre of the bodies: a young man of perhaps thirty seasons, kneeling amidst the carnage with his head bowed onto his chest.

Almost unconsciously, Gasin dropped a hand to his sword. While the survivor bore no obvious signs of the Blight’s touch, he had seen for himself how its poison could lurk beneath the mask of innocence. Warily, he signalled Mori and Thadar to come in behind him, ignoring the indrawn hisses of breath behind him in favour of advancing toward the surviving man.

“What happened here?” He asked, loudly and firmly. The man did not respond – indeed, he did not seem to hear Gasin’s question at all, remaining with his eyes fixed upon the ground and his head downturned. It was only when Gasin stepped forward to touch his shoulder that he showed any sign of life: one hand flashed forward to lock around his wrist; the survivor drawing in a shuddering breath as his head snapped up to fix the inquisitor with a red-rimmed eye. It was wide, unfocused, almost crazed with terror and wild fury – for a half-second Gasin feared to feel a dagger strike against his armour, but the fear faded as soon as it came; some semblance of focus came back to the man’s features, and his body shuddered with an unsteady breath as it did.

“Y…you’re alive…”

“We are.” Gasin confirmed. He tried again, voice softening slightly this time. “What happened here?”

“They… the thralls…” He gestured to one of the bodies, lying face down on the earthen floor with the back of its head stove in. Though its face was half-obscured by the dirt, Gasin could see the blisters around its cheek and one exposed eye. “They… they –”

“They attacked you.” Gasin’s voice was soft, sympathetic. He laid a light hand against the young man’s shoulders, feeling him jerk slightly under the touch of his glove. “Did this terrible deed.”

A weak nod. The man tried to raise a hand and point to something, but a furious coughing fit bent him almost double. He groaned in pain, one hand raising to touch against his chest; sweat was running in rivulets from his brow, despite the coolness of the room. His red-rimmed eyes blinked blearily at Gasin, struggling to keep focused. Dubmith strode forward, pushing past the bigger form of Thadar to rest a hand against the man’s forehead, taking in his form with a practiced gaze. She shot her lord a sharp, almost unsettled look.

“He’s burning up, lord Crewcanyons.” Dubmith’s tone was as sharp as her glare, fingers twitching restlessly. “Definitely wounded. I’ll need to –”

She was cut off mid-sentence as he staggered to his feet, lurching unsteadily backwards as he rose before catching himself again the wall.

“Crew… Crw’cny…”

He gave Gasin a faraway, puzzled look, stood swaying for a moment, and then fell the length of his height face-first to the floor without so much as a whisper.

The following minutes were a blur. Dubmith took charge the moment she saw Gencesh fall, barking orders at the others of their group. Hathur and Luki carried him at her direction, laying him down in a relatively clean section of the mead hall’s cellar, as far away from the gore above as they could manage. Gasin himself had chosen to stay at the top of the stairs, jaw tightly set and his eyes fixed on the open doors; he had firmly, if politely, refused to enter the cellar itself. Thadar had immediately joined him at the stairtop, under the pretext of helping him guard the hall against any threats that might be drawn by the scent of spilt blood.

Down in the cellar the man was laid out on Luki’s roughspun cloak, face discoloured and his eyes closed; a single burning torch in a wall-bracket threw jittering patterns of light across the walls and stone flooring. Dubmith was busy cutting the stained remnants of his clothing off, breath hissing between her clenched teeth at the wounds she uncovered with each motion. A thin cloth covered his lower half, though it was visibly dark where drops of blood and some evil-smelling liquid had fallen onto it. Luki was busy soaking another cloth in water from Dubmith’s waterskin, gently pressing it against Gencesh’s burning forehead; Mori and Hathur stood off to the side, weapons in hand and figures tense.

“What’s wrong with him?” Hathur asked, eyes flicking toward Gencesh’s prone figure.

“He’s a mess of wounds – mostly not deep ones, but they’re almost all infected.” She carefully laid another of the foul-smelling cloths on one of the deeper gashes, pausing momentarily to pull a stiffened section of fabric away from his right arm. “That’d account for the pallor, and the fever. He’s lost a fair amount of blood, and I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s dehydrated – that’d explain the collapse. I’ve tried to get some water into him, but his jaws aren’t budging an inch.”

Hathur felt her own jaw tighten sharply. “What do you need us to do?”

“Get some more water – use the snow outside if you have to. I’ll need it to try and keep his temperature down, and it’ll let me try and brew up something for the infections.” Her right eye twitched sharply as she cut away another section of bloodstained leather from Gencesh’s form, exposing a fresh set of wounds it had previously hidden. “I need to concentrate. Luki, you stay; the rest of you, go back upstairs and help lord Crewcanyons.”

Thadar looked left and right, before nodding brusquely toward the stairs. “You heard her. Someone get some water boiling; that fireplace up top should still work. You two,” She pointed toward Mori and Hathur with the head of her axe. “Get those goddamn bodies out of the main hall. Rest of you, come with me. Need to get a guard up already…”

Mori bristled slightly at being commanded in such a fashion, and Hathur stepped forward looking as though she wished to argue, but a sharp glare from Dubmith stopped them in both in their tracks. A long, tense moment passed as the two groups stared them down, before Luki let out a low sigh and nodded toward the stairs.

“Leave it, Mori,” She murmured lowly. “We’ve got work to do.”

The following hours crawled by days. Removing the dead from the hall had been short work with the number of hands available; the wood available was presently too damp from the snow and rain to make a proper pyre, and so they laid bodies of the former inhabitants outside for the moment in rows three wide. The residue of the battle had been cleaned as best as they could manage, using scraps of cloth and a few empty woollen bags as makeshift mops and containers for the blood and smaller pieces of viscera; they would be burned with their owners, once Thadar and Hathur returned with suitable firewood.

Leaning heavily against one of the walls, Gasin resisted the urge to pace about the room. His mind kept drifting to the cellar and the scenes that had greeted them, dredging up dark memories to the surface of his mind, setting his head to pounding. His skin itched furiously, heat building up in his chest as those treacherous thoughts flitted in the front of his mind.

Blood. Darkness. The sensation of cold steel lancing through his shoulder, strong fingers wrapping around his neck. Pain, and more pain. Screaming.

Gasin almost growled as he pushed away from the wall, the inquisitor trying to think of something else to do. His eyes flicked back and forth across the group – Mori, standing guard with war hammer in hand off near the shattered wreck of the doors; Sizet, seated on a chest off in the corner and deeply engrossed in a book she’d salvaged from somewhere. He shook his head to himself. To interrupt Mori for the sake of idle chatter would be a violation of simple sense, with the risk of thralls lurking around out there; to do the same with Sizet would be the height of ill manners.

He was resigning himself to simply facing that sense of frustration when the sound of footsteps behind him provided a welcome respite. He turned to find Luki advancing up the stairs, her leather gauntlets still wet with water and other liquids. She must have seen the question written on his features before he even asked it, for she greeted him with a nod and indicated the cellar with a slight motion of the head.

“Lady Claspedcastles’ asking for you, master Crewcanyons. She says he’s awake –”

Gasin did not wait a moment after that, sweeping past Luki with his cloak in full sail. His abrupt manner and suddenly tense posture took the archer by surprise, cutting herself off mid-sentence to follow him back down into the murk. Another torch had been lit by either her or Dubmith, banishing some more of the murk from the cellar – while it was still dim enough to leave his skin crawling with instinctual gooseflesh and prickles of heat, he could at least make out the forms of his comrade and the wounded man she was watching over.

“He’s awake and stable for now, master Crewcanyons.” Dubmith didn’t bother looking up to greet him, already knowing what he was going to ask.

“Have you been able to discern anything of him, lady Claspedcastles?”

She nodded. “His name is Gencesh - a potter and trader of this hamlet. Little more than that – he keeps slipping in and out of consciousness. I don’t know how long he’ll remain awake this time.”
Gencesh looked up. Some of the pallor had left his face, and his eyes were coming back into focus. His mouth quirked at the edges, trying to stir.

“He’s done that multiple times.” Dubmith informed him, keeping a wary eye on his freshly bound wounds. “Keeps trying to say something. ”

Gasin leaned in close, cocking his head to the side to better pick up whatever he was trying to say.

“Can you hear me?”

“I hear you.” Gencesh’s voice was a faint thread of sound, barely above a rasp.

Gasin leaned down, turning his head toward the wounded man. “You are safe. Among friends. Speak slowly. Whisper. What happened?”

“They came at us from the west side of the hamlet – out from the fields.” Gasin didn’t need to ask who “they” were – the carnage above had been answer enough. Dubmith dabbed carefully at several of the half-clotted cuts on his shoulder and chest with a cloth soaked in another of her remedies. “They were in the houses before any of us knew what was happening. I… I didn’t see them get in there – get at the rest of us. But we all heard the screams. The sounds.”

He broke off for a moment, coughing. Dubmith drew a small, stoppered phial from her backpack and quickly removed the cork before carefully tilting back Gencesh’s head. She poured the contents of the phial down his throat in one smooth movement, not taking the earthenware phial away from Gencesh’s lips until she was sure he’d swallowed it. He bared his teeth, grimacing.

“Gods above, that tasted foul.”

“It’s to help with the pain. It’ll work fast, but you’ll be feeling drowsy soon.” The sable-robed woman fixed Gasin with a granite-hard stare, voice gaining a sharp note of warning. “Do not excite him, understood? You’ll have a few minutes before it kicks in, but then he’ll need to sleep.”

Gasin nodded in understanding. Though nominally subordinate to him, he knew well of her vehement refusal to compromise on the health of her patients. No amount of cajoling or orders would shift her when she came to such a mood, and so he returned his focus to Gencesh with a renewed sense of urgency.

“Few of us managed to barricade ourselves in.” He rasped, nodding weakly toward the higher level of the great hall. “Kept the thralls out for a while. You could hear ‘em at night, hands battering at the doors, scratching at the walls. Went silent after… maybe a week.”

Gasin nodded, leaning in closer. “How many of you were there?”

“A dozen of us,” He wheezed, wincing slightly as he spoke. “Me, a few of the nobles, the guards, Atir… and… and the old man. He called himself a scholar, was travelling north ‘a here. Said… said he’d dealt with these cursed things before.”

 “What happened?”

“We went outside.” His words were little more than a whisper. “Something had ripped almost all of them apart. Maybe two still alive and intact. Bits of the others, scattered about like meat-scraps. And then… and then…

“Atir.” His words were little more than a whisper. “Atir got sick. Don’t know when. Might’ve been then when we went out, tried to scavenge whatever the thralls hadn’t trampled or et. Might’ve been before. We argued – the captain said it was just a fever, the old man that it was the thrall-plague. Said there was one way to deal with it.”

Gencesh shook his head weakly, a mirthless smile creeping across his face. “He wouldn’t have it. Not even a word. Told him he could take his chances with the thralls, if that was his attitude.”

“What happened?” Gasin’s voice was urgent, laden with anticipation.

“Th’ doors.” Gencesh groaned. “The old man vanished – left in the night. Must’ve left a door open. Thralls got in that night, killed three of us before we could drive them off. It’d have been all of us if she weren’t there, she took so many of them down. But there, or before, she got bit.”

Gencesh drew in a deep, shuddering breath, trying to steady himself before continuing. “She was strong. Lasted for days. But she turned, and then she turned the rest. Bit ‘em in their sleep, or when they tried to get up. Killed ‘em, if they was lucky. And then –” He halted, shaking. He gulped back a breath, his next words little more than a whisper. “I saw her coming for me. Killed her. Killed the others. Had to… had to...”

Gencesh’s voice trailed off, growing weaker. His head lolled back on a boneless neck. “He’ll pay. By every one of the gods, he’ll pay.”

Dubmith placed a gentle hand on his shoulder, easing him back against the makeshift bedding as his voice began to tail off. She carefully trickled a second phial down his throat before fixing Gasin with an intense stare. “He’s going to be out for at least a day. All too likely more, with what I’ll need to do here. Our pursuit will have to wait.”

“And there is no way you may speed his wakening, lady Dubmith?”

The sharp look she gave him was answer enough. Gasin could recognise a losing argument when he saw one, and so he settled for nodding heavily and beginning to walk back up the stairs to re-join the rest of the group above.

“We must rest here for another few days,” Gasin announced without preamble, cutting off the half-formed questions on their lips. “While our new comrade recovers from his wounds.”

Mori let out a growl of frustration, her fingers tightening on the battered leather grip of her war hammer. “So we’re letting that bastard get away?”

“No, lady Festivereigns,” Gasin reached inside the folds of his robes and carefully withdrew the journal of Kosoth, cracking it open to a marked page. “It merely means we must resort to other means of discerning his whereabouts.”

“And what would these means be?” Mori grumbled, fixing him with her usual half-glare. Her eyes shifted to take in the book in his hands. “And what is that?” 

Gasin turned the book around to face them, letting them see its contents: long, spidery writing in an unfamiliar hand, interspersed with unfamiliar runic markings and idle scribblings, as a man might make out of idleness or practice.

“’That’ is the journal of one of the Sage’s… compatriots, acquired shortly before our very first meeting.” Gasin frowned slightly as he pointed to the writing on the page. “But the traitor saw fit to write in some cipher that I haven’t yet made head nor tail of, outside of precious few passages – and those are so oblique as to be of little use.”

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Nrvrwk utik xo ftq Rdktc lg ocz Ugqc Hiptuvncsbm. Xli dvyza rkc orsnyyra ki. Lxxd odahpan zlnmf vjg Zxywz Atwuwl mpyples hvs vriky, uhx qebk among wkh Jkkvlurq’y uxwp-kaxtnw wuzspaye. Ndj emkl ijo zc gpvoe. M nv dy Ure ucrhqsu, mh oaag enqfhudmdrr.

L qwal lcyu gyonjnnd qk bss Ycdh Sxrqhlzqt ewzeetyggx bswj bxmokc ixlc kvvkoe yg ihpi. Uj rvuqh zoux hlvjm lpw bdeu eqw i ewdy. Yuw oc yjko zf iuyhwa. Cgqxbfaslxlv qwaldzbhi pc qqmac ajb th duv shk ctt tdpul vp n dxs sjwmlh. Kbb Boopti epqu rvd ou thkqbmo hf lbsxxpq. Cwqcs enkvd.

There was a long moment of silence after they finished reading the passage, as uncertain glances and confused looks were traded among them.

“Karking sorcerers.” Thadar growled, shaking her head. “Never can be simple with ‘em, can it?”

A low murmur behind Gasin caught his attention. He turned to face the source: Sizet, of all people, keeping herself upright with her axe acting as a crutch. She was at his elbow, peering closely at the spidery writing and unfamiliar symbols that adorned the journal before them with an almost unnerving intensity. “Is something the matter, lady Sizet?”

“Not much, master Crewcanyons…” Sizet swayed slightly as she leaned further in, peering closely at some of the writing. After a moment, she reached out, one finger tapping against a small indentation in the parchment. “But I recognise this mark, and some of the lettering here.”

“Truly?” Gasin leaned in eagerly, his features alight.

“Aye. Look here –” Sizet squinted slightly as her eyes focused on the letters, leaning forward for a closer look. “This mark here, the indent in the vellum - it looks like the runes the greenskins use, on their flags and papers alike. And this scribble here – it looks like an archaic word of our own language.”

Mori raised a sceptical eyebrow, peering over the axewoman’s shoulder. It looked like utter nonsense to her, with the way the letters were so jumbled about. “You’re certain, Sizet?”

 “My eyes may be redder than a greenskin’s right now, but I know what I’m seeing. Languages and codes are a fancy of mine.” The axewoman’s voice was dry as she turned her red gaze toward the hammerwoman. She tapped a finger against the diary’s pages again. “Here - there’s a couple words they left whole. Could be a lead, could be a lure. Whole thing’s scrambled worse’n a thrall’s brains.”

Mori shot a look toward Gasin. “You said there were a couple paragraphs you’d decoded?”

Gasin shook his head. “Such would imply a breaking of the code. Those we uncovered were of a different kind – normal, but oblique, rather than the cipher guarding these secrets.” He pointed to a particular section of the journal, marked with a bright scarlet strip of leather. “Here.”

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

24th Fall, 8XX.

My work continued through this day. It is little compared to the comforts and qualities of past days, but what is held must be utilized. The brew is not of the old quality, but those few I remain with are willing to trade their coin for it. Little more changes, beyond the look in the eyes of others.

[Several further lines followed: a table of apparent ingredients and plants, and their prices in the three common currencies. Here and there were signs of erasure and re-writing – small changes in their stocked quantity or price. Sizet impatiently flicked forward, searching for the point at which the writing returned proper.]

When the darkness blinds your eyes, know that the way back to the Light is three-fold: charity, forgiveness, and health. Seek these paths and pursue them to their iron-clad end, that you might feast on knowledge and gain your answers.

“...Karking sorcerers.” Hathur muttered, palming her face with one hand. “You were right, Sizet – there is something here. But what?”

“Well,” Luki murmured, the interest clear in her eyes as she sidled up to the group. “If we’re laid up here for the next few days, we might as well try and find out, aye?”

There was a low grumble of sound – mixed agreement and apathy, from the various quarters of the group. Some were clearly reluctant, desiring to continue the hunt for their quarry; others rather more enthusiastic, with Sizet voicing a surprising desire to break whatever code the journal had been writer in. Gasin listened to the various remarks and agreements, turned for a moment to think alone, and then finally settled for a nod and a smile to the group.

“Well then, my comrades,” He intoned. “Let us begin our work.”

---

The work progressed faster than any of them had expected. With half a dozen people in the same mead hall and little else to occupy their idle hands, the encrypted diary soon became an object of obsession for most of the group. The cipher itself was identified swiftly enough – a simple substitution of letters, interspersed with stranger sigils – but the key to it remained frustratingly elusive. Every now and then, a single word would be translated or a seeming pattern would begin to emerge, to be disproven as soon as they tried to apply it to the other sections.

Candle after candle was melted down to a stub as the days passed, frustration building as it did. Tempers began to fray. Until at last –

“Finally!” Sizet’s shout shattered the early morning silence, startling her comrades from their rest. “I have it!”

By way of answer there was a loud thump and a stream of sulphurous swearing from the cellar; Dubmith had evidently been sleeping when the axewoman’s cry startled her into wakefulness, and either her arm or head had paid the price. In the main hall, Sizet’s comrades stirred and rose amidst a chorus of yawning and grumbled complaints, turning to face the scarred axewoman with bleary eyes. Her lips and eyes were crusted and bloodshot, her skin visibly waxy and blotched with red, but her expression held nothing but triumph and her posture practically crackled with unbound energy.

“Wh’t is i’?” Mori grumbled, dragging herself upright with a groan. Her bleary eyes blinked rapidly as she tried to rouse herself to full awareness. Then, more clearly: “What is it, Sizet? What’re you making such a racket over?”

“The code!” Sizet cried. “I have the code!”

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Quantum Drop on May 06, 2023, 06:14:42 pm

Some ten minutes later, the group were gathered about the axewoman and the journal she had worked through the night to decipher. Most of them were still bleary-eyed from sleep, some visibly struggling to stifle yawns or rubbing their eyes; Thadar and Hathur looked barely capable of standing, having been standing guard and keeping watch for thralls throughout the night. Even Gencesh was standing, though his torso was still wrapped in Dubmith’s salve-soaked poultices and one hand held a  broken length of wood salvaged from the hall’s furniture as a makeshift crutch for his still-weak leg. Despite their exhaustion, the air bore an unmistakable nervous charge as they waited to hear the results of their comrade’s work.

Gasin stood beside Sizet’s shoulder, peering down at the parchment she had set before her. It was covered in the tight, chicken-scratch scrawl of Sizet’s writing, her already-messy calligraphy distorted further by the effect of lingering wounds; crossed-through paragraphs of failed attempts jostled with crude tables and lists of letters for space, all surrounded by small blotches of ink.

“It’s a letter of some kind,” Sizet pointed to the words scrawled on the scavenged parchment before her, one scarred finger tracing across the page as she spoke. “An order instructing someone to hide underground, in the “Ustru Slomod”. Maybe a draft; this hand doesn’t look precise, and I doubt this could be accurately written from memory alone.”

Gasin craned his neck for a closer look at Sizet’s translation, black eyes narrowing as he took in the words scrawled upon the parchment. “And what of the second paragraph?”

Sizet’s features creased in answer, before tightening into an outright grimace as she returned her attention to the diary.

“No. It’s written in a different code to the first – something more complex.” She stabbed one finger at the passage, glaring at the words as though they personally affronted her. “I’ve tried to break it with the same key and a few others besides, but I’ve not come an inch closer to understanding what it says.”

“That is… regrettable, indeed.” Gasin shook his head, as if attempting to clear his thoughts. “But – no matter. We have no further business here; we must resume our pursuit, before the trail grows cold again.”

If it has not already, went unsaid. Gencesh had recovered enough to travel, at least, but he had been able to say little of the strange old man’s motivations or seeming connection to the Sage that the inquisitor sought with such fury; all he knew was the calamity that he had been responsible for unleashing upon the small hamlet, and the desire for vengeance against the creature responsible. The last few days had no doubt given the fleeing Sage quite the window of escape, and the knowledge they had gained from the hamlet’s ruins was little.

“You know what it was referring to?”

Gasin gave a light motion of his shoulders in reply. He seemed subdued, compare to the furious energy he had earlier displayed; more thoughtful. “I have my suspicions. There are only so many places one might reach from here, without crossing the Tundra. And that name - Ustru Slomod – is one that I recall.”

“Aye?” Hathur chimed in from the sidelines, peering inquisitively at Gasin. “How so?”

“It is a term in the language of the greenskins – the Dead Pits.” Dubmith chimed into the conversation, stepping forward from her perch at the edge of the table to join the discussion. Her brow furrowed slightly as she thought. It had been some years since she had studied the greenskins’ religious texts and, and even then, they were all too specific to one sect. Dubmith could only hope that the translation was an accurate one, lest her error cause them to lose the trail entirely. “A term for their foul underworld; a place where damned souls meet their fate.”

“Ominious.” Mori’s voice was dry, her eyes blinking slowly as her tired brain took in her compatriot’s words. “Yet hardly of much use in re-finding the trail.”

“Quite the opposite.” Dubmith retorted, nodding back toward the map spread out beside the diary. Her eyes fixed in particular on a dark purple smear, just beyond the discoloured expanse that marked the Tundra of Heroes. “If my theory is correct, it might just lead us right to his doorstep…”

“…And that theory would be, lady Claspedcastles?” Gasin turned his head to face his comrade, eyebrow raised in curiosity and his features calm; nonetheless, the tension in his shoulders and legs betrayed his feelings.

Dubmith opened her mouth to reply, but whatever she had been about to say was interrupted by the steady thudding of approaching feet. He and Mori snapped around as one, immediately wary and searching for the source of the sound. The answer came in the form of Luki emerging from behind one of the buildings at a run, her bow and quiver bouncing against her back with each step as she approached the two of them, skidding to a halt on the rain-sodden ground.

“There’s tracks nearby.” She announced without preamble, cutting Gasin off before a word could come out of his mouth. “Human ones. Not those of a thrall, neither.”

Hathur sucked in a breath, head snapping around to focus on the ranger. “You’re certain?”

Luki nodded sharply, her entire body tense with the desire to move. She shuffled slightly from one foot to another, leather boots scraping against the stone as she fought to remain still. “Certain. They’re too even to be a thrall’s. Shape’s all wrong for one of the greenskins.”

Hathur grimaced, several unpleasant potentials surfacing in her mind. She chewed her lip slightly, exchanging a glance with the equally grim-faced Gasin. He caught her eye, read the suspicion written across her features, and gave a tiny nod of agreement. Hathur turned back to face her comrade without missing a beat, words already halfway out of her mouth.

“Where?”

 Luki merely jerked her head back over her shoulder, half-nodding, half-motioning toward a small gathering of decaying houses near where the hamlet’s ruins met the fields that had once surrounded it. “Follow me; I should be able to find them. And quickly, before it starts raining again.”

“Wait.” A new voice intruded on the conversation. Gencesh had painfully limped his way up the cellar’s stairs, leaning heavily on his cane to help him move up the uneven stone steps. Despite his apparent resilience, they could all see the barely contained flinch on his face as he reached the stairtop, the motion of climbing the stairs tugging sharply at the half-healed wounds scattered across his body. “I’m coming with you.”

“Out of the question!” Dubmith snapped, voice sharp as the crack of a whip. Her usual calm had melted away in a moment at the sight of her patient up and moving. “You’re fit to travel, yes, but this risks putting your wounds under strain for no-!”

“If they’re human,” Gencesh interrupted her mid-sentence, face fixed into a deadly glare. His free hand curled into a fist, the nails almost drawing blood from his palm. “I can think of only a few people it could be. Only one who could have left that kind of track. And if it is that bastard, I want to be certain.”

Dubmith made to argue that he was being a fool and putting himself at unnecessary risk for something even Sizet could tell him second-hand, but thought better of it after a moment. The look in his eyes told her he would not budge on the matter, and every moment that passed was one in which the tracks degraded further. She settled for a disgusted shake of the head and an irritable nod toward the doors.

Perhaps half a minute of swift walking later, the small group was beside the trail that Luki had uncovered – a set of deep, heavy-tread footprints in the wet soil, distorted by the weather but still comprehensible to a trained eye.

“These tracks…” Luki murmured, leaning her body downward to peer closer at the footprints. After a few seconds spent in appraisal, she nodded to herself and arose, turning to face Gasin. “They’re a few days old – perhaps older. Hard to tell with how the rain and snow’s been at them.” She raised a hand to point directly ahead. “They’re leading northwards.”

Gasin hissed like a thoughtful kettle, his eyes fire bright as he processed Luki’s words. “Northwards… northwards! Yes, of course! Of course!” He wheeled about, jabbing a finger into the air. “The citadels north of here – the dark pits! The seat of power for the goblins of The Most Sin, and the dark pits that encircle it! That’s where the traitor is fleeing toward!”

“So… he turned on us, and now he runs to the greenskins?” Gencesh rasped, stumping forward with the aid of his makeshift crutch to stand beside Gasin. “Why? How does that make sense?”

“It makes all too much sense, master Lipdrilled,” Dubmith intoned. Her pale features were alight with nervous energy, eyes dancing back and forth across the parchment as she set to work tracing a path from their location to the black smear of the goblins’ pits. “The greenskins are often friendly to none – but given coin or power enough, they’ll welcome an outsider without a blink. If that thrice-damned traitor can reach their pits –”

“It’ll be like digging out a bloody flea.” Mori finished for her, features twisting into a tight grimace. “No way they’ll give him up, and with how many of them there are to search, you’d be looking for weeks on end. He’d vanish quicker’n a fly can spit.”

“Precisely!” Gasin wheeled about to face Mori, nodding eagerly. Some of his earlier bombast had returned with the discovery of the tracks, imbuing his motions with some of the furious energy he had displayed before the pyre in Channeltwigs. Though the wound in his side must have been shrieking with every movement, he showed no sign of pain in his features, seemingly inured to it by the excitement of the discovery. “And even then – even if they turn him away – pits destroyed by long-ago conflict surround the citadels in a belt. A network of catacombs and barren trenches, long emptied of any living soul…”

“The Dead Pits.” Dubmith murmured, her voice barely above a murmur.

Gencesh swore aloud as he caught onto the implications hanging on the edge of their respective words. The haft of his makeshift crutch creaked gently under the force of his suddenly white-knuckled grip, splinters digging into the flesh of his palm. “And with no-one there to find him, or stop the dead from rising again in mass.”

A long moment passed as the rest of the group considered the implications of that statement, followed by a singular ripple of reaction at the images it generated. For the moment, any enmity was forgotten in favour of a unifying horror at the thought of hundred of risen trolls and greenskins pouring out from the pits in a mindless wave of murderous flesh, swarming across the barren wastes of the Tundra of Heroes and rushing forward to engulf the battered Omon Obin in a third tide of violence.

“Teeth of the gods...” Luki murmured softly. She shifted from foot to foot, visibly nervous and itching with the desire to move. “We need to go, then – and quickly.”

“Aye, that we shall.” Gasin nodded his head back toward the hall. “Gather your equipment and prepare to move north.”

His gloved fingers tightened into fists, the velvet fabric bunching heavily from the force of his grip.

“For the Realm.”

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Quantum Drop on May 06, 2023, 06:26:19 pm

The spires of the dark pits rose high ahead of them, forming a forest of black and grey pillars. Around them, trenches and ditches spidered across the landscape, connecting the towers and their associated caverns to one another. There must have been two dozen in this section of the sprawl alone, stretching as far as the horizon was wide; no doubt there were more behind them, hidden by the curve of the hills and ahead.

It would have been an intimidating sight, in brighter days. But now the towers were abandoned, the trenches devoid of life. No sentries stood to challenge Gasin and his group as they crept across the frosty fields before the pits, toward the silty slopes that marked the front of the pit’s outer trenches. The towers bore signs of prolonged and sordid neglect, their stone pock-marked with the signs of weathering and thick beards of clinging moss. A few were in a state of outright collapse, their battlements worn down to stubs and sections of them sloughing away into rubble; one had even been reduced to little more than a mound of shattered stone and twisted wood.

Even so, they went cautiously. The pits may have appeared desolate, but appearances were often deceiving. Gods alone knew what could be hiding in the wreckage of the towers, the black tunnels beneath the earth.

They moved in a loose diamond, aiming to cover every side in the case of thrall attack. Gasin and Thadar were at the front, sword and axe in hand, their eyes flicking warily from one shadowed doorway and pile of rubble to the next; Mori and Hathur guarded their sides. Luki and Dubmith formed the back, the former keeping her bow drawn and nocked while the latter escorted the pair in the centre. Sizet and Gencesh were mobile, but their wounds slowed them down and made them an obvious target for thralls.

Somewhere nearby, there came the noise of rubble shifting. Gasin snapped a hand up, immediately wary. He needn’t have bothered – no sooner than he had made the motion, a thrall burst from beneath one of the rubble piles and lunged toward the group, blistered face contorted and its jaws snapping wildly.

Thadar reacted immediately, sending a two-handed swing arcing toward its head; beside her, Mori wheeled about and swung her hammer at the oncoming thrall, aiming for its chest. The thrall jinked to the side to evade the axe, staggered for a moment amidst the sound of breaking bone as Mori’s hammer slammed into its chest, then resumed its furious charge toward the group with a howl of murderous rage.

The thrall barrelled into Gasin like a runaway cart, bowling over the inquisitor before he could even raise his blade. It sniffed, snorted, teeth gnashing a few inches away from the fallen man’s face – and then, impossibly, it pulled back and turned its head toward the rest of them. The inquisitor took advantage of its distraction to drag himself back upright, driving his sword into the nape of the goblinoid thrall’s neck before wrenching it downward with as much force as he could muster. It fell like a puppet with its strings cut under the force, spine almost completely severed; a second downward stab direct to its forehead finished it off as the sword’s tip penetrated through to the brain.

“There!” Gasin snarled, raising the bloodied tip of his sword to point. There, off in the distance – a tall, humanoid figure, robed in black and hooded to disguise its features. One hand was raised, as though mockingly beckoning them. And it was growing smaller by the moment, retreating back into the shadows of the pits. “After them!”

“No.” Mori growled, turning to give Gasin a black look. Her hand twitched toward her weapon, features sharp. “We need answers. What the hell was that? What did you do?”

Luki placed a hand on Mori’s shoulder with surprising force, meeting the hammerwoman’s sharp glare with a stern look of her own. “Leave it, Mori! We’ve got a chance to take this bastard down!”
Mori gave her a hard look for a moment, before reluctantly nodding. “Fine. But there’ll be words once we’re done here, Luki, you hear me?”

The ranger gave her a hard look of her own, but she slowly nodded and swiftly made to stalk away, moving ahead of the group with her longbow at the ready and an iron arrow nocked.
“I’ll go ahead,” She called over her shoulder, sparing a glance back at them. Already she was on the other side of the trench, scrambling after the cloaked figure with her bow at the ready. “Try and cut the bastard off!”

“Got it!” Hathur responded, her axe already in her hands. “Sizet, Mori, go after her – and keep an eye out for anything –”

“Incoming!” She heard Luki shout, and the note of fear in the archer’s voice did not escape her. “Ten- no, twenty – Bikda preserve us, all of them! Coming straight at us!”

The stream of curses from several of the party’s members turned the air sulphurous. Within moments they were in motion, scrambling up the semi-solid sides of the loam trenches toward the sound of their archer’s voice. The group reached the trench’s top with their weapons drawn and their stances tense, burning with readiness to fight whatever had scared their archer into abandoning her pursuit.
The sight that met them was enough to stop them cold. 

The horde they had faced before at Channeltwigs was little more than a scouting party compared to this. It was not so much a crowd so much as a wave, or a singular mass. Dozens of goblins, maybe hundreds, all rising up from the network of trenches and tunnels that belonged to the dark pits. Not just those of this one – more were pouring in all the while, staggering out of the dark where Fridgiddungeon’s borders met those of its neighbouring bits, crawling through the trenchworks to join the attack.

The first few were close enough for them to see, now. A tallish goblinoid in the faded remnants of robes, its face still bearing shreds of a beard. Small, wiry figures, their decaying features stained with dirt. Hunched, twitching things, leaking necrotic fluids and trailing streamers of decayed flesh. Brutes of muscle and gore, dragging rusted tangles of metal in stiff hands, broken tusks projecting to the sides of their jutting jaws. Line after line of skeletons, some goblinoid or troll, others quadrupedal and beaked. Jaws snapped open and shut with sharp metallic clicks, nostrils flaring as though they were trying to taste the air.

“For Omon Obin!” Someone shouted.

There was no opportunity for more. The dead surged forward, and it was all the living could do to keep them at bay.

---

The corpses came at him on all sides, less a group and move a wave of moving flesh. They were smaller than thralls, and slower, too, but what they lacked in size and speed they made up for with strength and solidity. He’d taken the limbs off half-a-dozen decaying corpses already, the old woodsman’s axe rending rotten flesh from bone surprisingly well, but they barely seemed to register the hurts done to them. Any who fell were simply trampled underfoot, or else borne up by the motion of their fellows through the tight confines of the trench to resume the attack.

Most of them were in abysmal shape, their flesh rotting away to expose magically animated bones or crawling forward on slicks of rot and leaking bodily fluids; others were thrashing face down in the silt and mud, too damaged to do much more than flail about. Despite that, they were getting the better of him. His still-healing knee had been further wounded by a lucky kick, locking to become a cold lump of agony and his right shoulder was bleeding profusely where one of the undead goblins had raked him with the sharpened bone of a limb-stump; his chest burned with exertion, each breath coming as a strained gasp. The death-grip on his cane was barely keeping him upright as he staggered away from the horde, struggling to blink the sweat and blood out of his eyes.

Gencesh Lipdrilled cast a gaze around himself, grimacing. The loamy soil of the trenches was slick with blood and rain, making it difficult for him to stay on his feet. He couldn’t see any of his allies; the horde had cut them off from one another within the first few minutes. Still, the muffled sounds of cracking bone and iron meeting iron were at least vaguely encouraging.

Gritting his teeth, he dug his battered cane into the ground and forced himself to keep limping forward through the trenches, trying not to stumble on the unstable ground.

A hand closed around his throat. It belonged to one of the corpses – a goblin in the tatty remains of leather armour, its body half-buried in the mud and silt of the trench wall. It had the rotting, bloated remains of its arm and hand clamped around his throat like a vice, still trying to bring him down despite its terribly damaged state.

Gencesh swore and struggled furiously against the hand wrapped around his throat, striking at its chest as the creature hauled for all it was worth. Fortunately for him, that was not very much – its stiffened fingers were still strong around his throat, but he could feel them beginning to loosen with each blow. Snarling, he rammed an elbow into its chest, repeating the motion with as much of his weight as he could muster as he felt bone crack and rotten organs beginning to pulp. Its grip began to loosen as the force split the tendons in its arm, but the corpse leaned closer to him, fetid saliva dripping from its rotting maw. Its teeth scraped against Gencesh’s cheek as he jerked his head away, leaving its teeth to snap closed on thin air with a metallic click; he retaliated with a thunderous headbutt that loosened several teeth and sent blood arcing through the air.

The creature’s arm finally gave out with a wet crack as it tried to pull him back toward it, the rotting limb falling to the sodden dirt. Gencesh staggered away from the trapped corpse, leg shrieking as he put too much weight on it, and rammed the haft of his axe into its head, over and over again until the goblin’s corpse finally ceased its struggling. No sooner than it had stilled, however, another came barrelling around the corner toward him – a fresher one, its blood-drained skin and severed throat the only signs of its unearthly nature. It came at him with windmilling arms, teeth snapping mindlessly at the air as it charged toward him.

Gencesh gritted his teeth and made to step forward and swing his axe, only for his leg to painfully lock up mid-motion, sending him shrieking into the soil. His vision blurred, head pounding with the force of pain. The corpse rushed forward toward where he lay, one necrotic hand reaching out to seize hold of him while its maw yawned open to give him a clear view of its blunt, yellowing teeth.

Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted something towering and dark rise up at the lip of the trench, then suddenly spring up into the air.

The dark mass landed on the corpse with its full weight, driving it to the ground amidst the sound of cracking bone. The corpse snarled, viscous, black blood bubbling from between its lips as it thrashed facedown in the dirt; it was trying to free itself from the weight on its back, with little success. As the figure’s axe flashed down to relieve the shambling corpse of its arm, Gencesh found himself recognising Thadar as his rescuer, the inquisitor’s retainer having leapt down from the higher trench to drive back her wounded comrade’s attacker. Something surged in his chest and Gencesh re-joined the attack with renewed energy, his makeshift crutch flying out to jar the walking corpse’s head to an odd angle; his axe’s follow-up underarm swing split the skull apart as easily as dried firewood.

“Their threat is from numbers, not from strength,” Her voice was stern as she dragged Gencesh back to his feet, steadying him. “Don’t let yourself be surrounded like that, or I won’t be able to pull your arse out the fire again.”

“Got it,” The axeman managed a shaky nod, sucking in a deep breath of air. Her appearance backed up her words: Thadar’s armour had been badly scratched and dented by nails and teeth, while her nose was streaming blood and a livid bruise was beginning to form along one cheek. “What about the others? Did y’see them?”

Thadar grimaced, wiping some of the blood away as she began marching further down the trench. Gencesh hastened to keep up with her, forcing himself to raise his axe to one shoulder as he went. “The boss, for certain. The others, no clue. This’s all gone pear-shaped, and fast.”

“Ain’t that the truth.” Gencesh growled. Then, much more sharply, and with widening eye: “Watch out!”

Thadar, acting on instinct more than anything else, scrambled to the side as something else came skidding across the trench’s ground. A dusty, battered mass of cloth and metal, tumbling over repeatedly before coming to a stop at their feet. It groaned and rolled over, revealing the deadpan, bruised features of a familiar face.

“Hey,” Sizet flashed her a battered grin from her position on the ground. One arm raised to point past her, toward the direction she had come flying from. “Might want to deal with that.”

“What the f-!”

Thadar’s curse was cut off mid-word as the lumbering corpse of a troll emerged around the trench’s corner. One of its tusks had been broken off and the long shaft of a spear projected from its back, while its right arm was twisted and broken at the shoulder, a bluish stub of bone protruding from the skin and fur. It let out a low, rumbling growl at the sight of them and began to build speed, legs hammering the ground as it charged the three of them.

Thadar’s blow took the undamaged arm off the lumbering troll corpse staggering toward the three of them, and a second strike from Gencesh crippled its leg. The troll staggered with a deep, low groaning noise and almost toppled as its leg abruptly gave out beneath it, one clawed fist swiping at Gencesh as it sought to steady itself. Sizet took advantage of the distraction, slipping past its guard as it sent a punch into the soil beside Gencesh’s head and scrambling up its shaggy back to seize her spear’s haft and tear it loose from the muscle and fur of the troll’s back. Weapon in hand, teeth gritted, she stabbed down into the back of its neck.

The first thrust of the spear punched the tip out through its jaws from behind, breaking several teeth away as it went; the creature bucked wildly, trying to shake her off, but it was too late. Thadar had already drawn her weapon back again, and smoothly decapitated the troll with a double-handed blow to the neck. Sizet threw herself off its back as the creature’s body folded to the earth like a puppet with its strings cut, pulling her spear loose as she went and landing off to the side with a grunt of effort.

“These tough bastards are all over the place,” Sizet remarked, conversationally. She poked the corpse with her salvaged spear to emphasise her words, already searching for her axe. “Seems like every last one of ‘em decided they want a piece of us.”

“Gods’ teeth,” Gencesh hissed in reply, gritting his teeth as another flare of pain travelled up his still-weak leg. “What about – what about the thralls? Were there -?”

A shake of her head, with a note of unmistakable relief to the motion. “Nah. Didn’t see any on the way here. I was tryin’ to find the rest of us when it came at me.”

“Then we should go together.” Thadar responded, voice firm. She hefted her axe onto one shoulder,  grimacing slightly as the motion tugged at the bruises one of the corpses had given to her. “Find them, before these bastards can overwhelm them.”

“Aye, but where are they?” Gencesh tilted his head to the side, wincing slightly. “F’r all any of us know –”

“Wait.” Sizet cut him off suddenly, her voice urgent. “Do you hear that?”

Silence fell, and they listened. There – in the distance! The sound of steel on steel, shouted curses and animalistic roaring. The unmistakable sound of battle.

No further words were needed. Thadar swiftly climbed up the steep wall of the trench, extending an arm back down to help pull Gencesh up; Sizet was able to handle it on her own, using her axe as a form of leverage. The trio scrambled across the loamy soil, following the sounds of distant combat to their source. Hauling Gencesh up behind her with her free arm, Thadar swore aloud as she and her compatriots found herself face-to-face with the source of the sounds.

The rest of their group had been driven back to something like a raised mesa among the trenches, surrounded on all sides by the surging tides of undead. Gasin and Hathur were leading the defence to the northern end, sword and axe flashing out constantly to relieve the lumbering dead of their limbs, or to cut through decaying bone and send bodies crashing to the loam underfoot. Opposite them, Dubmith and Mori were holding the south, sending shards of pulverized bone and whole limbs left and right; Sizet could not help but be surprised at the fury with which the normally reserved priestess of Bikda was fighting. Luki was in the centre; with her bow of limited use in such conditions, she had resorted to using her copper sword to poke at any corpse that came too close to breaking into the group.

“Come on, then!” Thadar veritably roared, half-sliding down the loamy slope to engage the nearest undead. “Come on!”

One goblinoid skeleton turned right in time to be physically shattered apart as she barrelled into it; another, this one still with shreds of flesh clinging to its fungus-infested bones, turned in time for her axe to split it in half from crown to breastbone. Sizet and Gencesh followed behind at a slower pace, the former finishing off a downed corpse with a strong blow from her axe while the latter’s cane sent a hunched mass of gristle and bone flying into one of the walls. Their assault energized the defenders, their blows growing stronger and more furious.

The battle passed in a blur of bloodshed and violence. The dead seemed without end; as soon as one corpse fell, hacked into bloody chunks or pulped beyond recognition by hammers, another would approach to take its place. Trolls, goblins, beak dogs, and creatures too rotten or mutilated to be identifiable swarmed toward them, and fell just as quickly. Limbs burned with exertion; weapon-grips became slick with blood and rot. By the time the last of the onrushing corpses hit the ground in several pieces, the majority of the group were tired to various extents; even Gasin was beginning to show the strain, sweat dripping from his brow with each motion of his arm.

Despite that, they pressed on. Gasin was adamant that they had to – with the horde of undead destroyed, the way to the heart of the dark pit was open. Nothing could have survived the twin blows of the old conflicts and the undead that now ravaged the place. True to his words, nothing seemed to stir in the trenches as the ragged group walked through them toward the central towers.
It happened almost in slow motion. Luki, halfway through moving through to the next section of trench. A single living sentry in battered-looking armour, head turning at exactly the wrong moment.  His eyes flared at the sight of her; a shriek burst from his throat. Fast as a whip, the goblin shot forward with an iron scimitar raised.

To her credit, Luki did not flinch or miss. She managed to loose an iron arrow before the sentry reached arm’s length, sending him staggering backward with a grunt of pain as the projectile punched through his breastplate and stuck fast in the ribs. Before she could loose another, though, the goblin flung himself forward with surprising ferocity, swinging with his iron scimitar as he came. The blade split through the wood of the bow and severed the string, sending Luki scrambling for the sword strapped to her side as Mori drove the goblin back with a swing from her hammer. The goblin staggered for a moment, unbalanced, but recovered within moments and charged again, sword curving smoothly toward the archer’s right shoulder; Luki rolled out of the way, leaving the blade to sink into the soft soil of the trench’s wall.

Mori swept forward to match the goblin’s charge, slamming her hammer against the goblin’s breastplate. The metal visibly dented inwards under the force of her blow, the goblin staggering back with a muffled curse; her follow-up punch rocked his head back on his shoulders, sending blood gouting from his newly broken nose and the edge of his mouth. Hathur joined the attack as well, her axe flashing out to tear a gash across the goblin’s left arm. The greenskin staggered backwards with a hiss of pain, its shield-arm going limp.

Grunting with the effort, Luki pushed herself upright and gripped her blade with both hands. It had been a long time since she’d had to fight without her bow, and the short sword’s weight in her hands was at once unfamiliar and unwelcome. The goblin eyed her with reptilian malice, tongue darting out to lick the streaming blood away from the corner of his mouth as his features contorted into a sneer. Luki met its gaze with a wary look of her own, eyes darting between his face and the badly-bleeding wound in his side.

The goblin seemed to realize it too, for his slowly-paling features flushed blotchily, and an unintelligible shout left his throat. The sentry rushed Luki in sudden fury, teeth bared and eyes blazing, lurching like a drunkard as the blood loss took its toll. Luki breathed in sharply, raising her sword in readiness to strike at its exposed neck as the sentry came barrelling toward her.

Hathur saw it coming moments before the blow landed. The shift of the limbs; the gleam in its eyes, both belying the intention behind the sudden, seemingly reckless charge. Her screamed warning was halfway out of her mouth when the goblin struck, darting to the side to evade Luki’s swing before whipping around to slam a strong right hook into her jaw. Unbalanced and shocked by the sudden display of prowess from the goblin, Luki staggered under the force of the blow as the goblin closed in once more.

One hand wrapped around her shoulder, bending the arm to prevent proper movement; the other slammed full-force into the side of her throat. Luki toppled without a sound, blood pouring from her mouth and her head falling limply to the side; it rebounded from the dirt as her body gracelessly crashed to the sodden ground. The goblin let out a shrill, cackling screech that sounded almost like mocking laughter before lunging forward and driving down with its scimitar, plunging the blade into her head with one hand and sinking its teeth in, yanking backwards to tear a chunk of flesh away from the side of her head like a wild animal.

Mori rushed past Hathur before she could take a step forward, screaming a wordless, broken cry as she bounded across the corpses and slammed her bronze warhammer’s head into the goblin’s knee. The blow crushed metal and kneecap alike, sending the shrieking goblin to the bloody ground amidst a welter of blood, but the hammerwoman was not yet done; wheeling about, she swung again, snagging the battered length of copper and wood that served as its spear with her hammer’s spike to tear it from its grip entirely. She fell upon the creature, spitting, snarling, howling invective.

The other soldiers from Channelltwigs joined her in moments, storming across the battlefield as though possessed. They did not so much slay the wretched creature so much as rip it apart – Sizet, breaking its leg like kindling with a brutal stamp; Mori, levering its wounded arm free with a wrenching heave; Hathur, slamming an axe down through the bones and muscle of its undamaged arm. It was Hathur who delivered the final blow, striking it with enough force to cut the wretched goblin in half and kicking the tumbling pieces aside as she scrambled to reach Luki’s limp form.

“Dubmith!” She bellowed, voice frantic. “Dubmith!”

Dubmith was at Luki’s side in a moment, drawn either by the sight or the raw panic in the otherwise stoic soldier’s voice. She knelt beside the badly-wounded archer, already setting to work – she checked Luki’s eyes, the great wound in the side of her head, the dent in her throat where the blow had half-crushed her trachea and shaken the bone behind. The doctor did not look up again for some time, and when she did, her face was bloodless and pale as fresh-drawn snow.

“Her throat’s badly damaged - lungs are filling up with blood.” Her voice tremored slightly as her eyes met with Hathur and Mori’s. “I… there’s nothing I can do.”

"Luki..." Mori's voice was hoarse as she leaned down toward her friend. "Can... can you hear me?"

“I hear you.” Luki managed to rasp. Her eyes looked up at them, unfocused. Despite everything, she managed a mirthless smile. “Where’s that… chat now?”

“Luki –”

“Must listen.” She forced her head upright, coughing. Blood spattered the dirt. “This… This place. Sage – the sage.”

“I hear you.” Hathur’s hand tightened around her friend’s, clutching it like a lifeline. “What about him? What about the Sage?”

“He… was here. They – they talked in… in tavern.”

Blood seeped from the edges of her mouth as a cough wracked her slender frame, breaking off into a gasp of pain as it subsided. Gritting her teeth tightly, Luki forged on.

“A week ago,” She rasped. “  A scholar. He… he’s claiming to be a scholar. Going northward.”

“Why?”

“There… there was a… a book. A shelter. Said he had… to… to bring it that place.” Blood frothed between her teeth, her body shuddering violently. “That it would be… safe there, and – and further...”

She forced one arm upright, pointing out into the clouded skies. There, on the horizon – a single, pitch-dark tower of smoothed stone, its crooked peak rising above the others like a fang. Another cough wracked her frame, Luki’s entire body shuddering from the force; her arm fell limply to the dirt, and the ranger’s head lolled back on her neck.

“No,” Hathur mumbled, desperately. She shook her friend, fingers digging into her skin. “No! Don’t you dare give up on us, Luki!”

Her words barely seemed to register with her wounded friend, but they were enough. Digging into reserves of energy she didn’t know she had, Luki managed to grasp Hathur’s forearm with the last of her strength.

“Find… him. End this.” Luki wheezed, baring her bloodied teeth – one last effort at a grin. She squeezed the axewoman’s forearm in the old gesture of good fortune. “For… for Omon…”

She trailed off midway, her hand going slack. Luki’s head lolled back on her neck, eyes glazed and distant. This time, she did not rise again.

“She’s gone.” Dubmith’s voice was soft, barely above a whisper, and laden with quiet regret. Almost hesitantly, her fingers reached out to close Luki’s sightless eyes. Mori bowed her head; Hathur slumped backward, crushing her temples in her hands. Sizet limped forward to stand beside her, and then Thadar. The group gathered around their fallen comrade’s body as one, looking down at the mortal remains of Luki Shakenposts in a shared, muted grief.

“We can’t bury her here. Not in this tainted ground.” Gasin planted his sword point-down in the ground, bowing his head as he went. The brim of his hat hung down, hiding his eyes from sight and shadowing whatever expression his face bore. “Come morning, we’ll send her to the Sunless Realm in fire, and say our prayers for her soul. Then… then we must move on.”

“No…”

The voice was barely above a coarse whisper, but the sheer hatred and anger boiling in that one word was enough to draw the attention of every person still standing.

“These bastards took one of our own,” Mori snarled, eyes flaring in rage as she looked up from her friend’s body. Her hands were trembling with adrenaline and rage and grief as she rose to her feet, stalking forward until she was almost nose-to-nose with Gasin, her face twisted into a fanged mask of utter fury. “They. Need. To pay.”

Gasin’s features hardened and he met Mori stare for stare, knuckles going white as he gripped the handle of his sword. Softly murmured oaths and hisses of indrawn breath filled the air as the others followed suit, hands drifting to rest on their owners’ weapons. Almost unconsciously, they began to gather into their original groups – the soldiers of Channeltwigs on one side, bound by their long-standing camaraderie and grief, and the inquisitor’s retinue on the other, loyal to their master and friend above all else.

“The Sage comes first.” Gasin leaned down slightly, looming over the shorter figure of Mori as his voice took on a sharper edge. “Or have you forgotten the thousands his actions have damned to the pit? To a living death?”

Around them, the group shifted and seethed uncertainly. The members of the band felt the rising tide of aggression boiling around the inquisitor and the soldier as clearly as a physical force. 

“Hang your damned Sage!” Mori roared, now, inches away from Gasin’s face. Her scarred features were apoplectic; with her reddened face, bared teeth, and wide-open eyes, she looked as savage as a thrall or a crazed berserker of old myth. “You were willing to wait for days then, for a half-dead man and a worthless book; now you demand we move on, when one of our own lies dead? To the Dark Forest with that, and with you!”

“Damn you-!”

“If you think such --!”

“I’ll show you half-dead, you overgl-!”

“ENOUGH!”

Dubmith’s roar was enough to silence them all. The young, pale woman had scarce raised her voice in all the time that Gasin had known her, yet now she was storming toward them with her features flushed bright scarlet and one hand on her sword’s hilt, gripping it so tightly the knuckles had gone white. He felt a thrill of shock rush up his side at the sight, unused to the ferocity she had suddenly begun to display.

“Look at yourselves!” Her tone was harsh, yet it carried an almost pleading tone. “We stand with our blades at each other’s throats; aim our anger toward each other! Is this not what the Great Enemy wants of us? Is this not the way wars have been fought, and lost?” Mori opened her mouth to protest, but the black-clad priestess of Bikda silenced her with a glare and continued her oration. “What power does the Abyss have, save that which we grant it ourselves? What weapons, but for lies and base treachery? Those were the words of Senam Plumgraves, one of the wisest of my faith. Each moment we spent here, cursing one another’s recklessness and our losses, we play into the hands of those who we stand against! There are no more than two to blame for this - the thrice-cursed traitor who set us down this path, and the creatures he employs against us!”

She stabbed an accusing finger at Gasin and Mori, still face-to-face with their weapons halfway out of their sheathes. The motion and her blistering gaze froze the two of them in their motion, unable to even move as the priestess of Bikda stalked forward to stand between them.

“I have known loss.” Dubmith’s voice grew quieter, coarser, as she continued to speak. She closed her eyes, regret spreading across her features. “My brethren lie cold, never to enter the Sunless Realm and know the Lord of Night’s embrace. To rage against their ends meant nothing. But to hunt their murderer…”

She trailed off, watching the two of them carefully. After a long, tense moment, Gasin breathed deep and slowly nodded once, letting his gloved fingers fall away from the hilt of his sword. A convulsive shudder wracked his frame as he sucked in a second, shaking breath, as though he was trying to suck the words he had spoken back into his mouth.

“I… I apologise.” He murmured, thinly. He looked downright sickened, his skin paling and his features guilty. “I have allowed my ambition to rule over my sense. I ask for your forgiveness.”

She nodded, half-grudgingly. While her features were still tight with fury, it was at least no longer directed at Gasin. “…It is no matter. So long as this does not go unavenged."

Gasin nodded tightly, before beginning to walk away from the group. The muted sunlight shining through the clouds cast odd shadows across his features, twisting them and lending a ghoulish cast to his wearied expression.

“I will take first watch.” He said, by way of explanation. He did not look back, merely continued to walk until he was some dozen paces from the group, staring out into the darkness of the pits. “And guard against the dead’s return. Tomorrow, after our respects are paid and our thoughts spoken…”

Gasin Crewcanyons the Kindling of Adventures drew his sword from its sheathe, eyes fixed on the distant spires of Dreadruled. His next words came out as a snarl, laden with unmistakable bloodlust and unbridled fury.

“Vengeance.”

---

And there we go, parts 3-5 of Turn 92. Thankfully I still seem to have the screencaps for the next parts, so they should break up the textual monotony a bit when I can finish writing and posting them. (Assuming I don't lose them as well :<).

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Maloy on May 07, 2023, 07:51:42 am

Epic stuff!

Are you a writer already or wanna be one? Because this is novel level quality. Like I think all that you would have to do to make this open to a wider audience is fill in blanks that non-dwarf fortress players wouldn't know such as the blight.
Fantastic work QD

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on May 07, 2023, 08:46:22 am

I agree. Love your story. I suspect not all of these brave souls will see a happy ending.

In semi-related note, the Realm of Silver seems to have a new law giver as of 993. A Gloryage sits on the silver throne once more.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Broken on May 08, 2023, 03:46:16 am

Poor Luki.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Lurker Z on May 08, 2023, 12:56:09 pm

Quote from: Broken on May 08, 2023, 03:46:16 am

Poor Luki.

RIP Luki. Not that unlucky, actually, since he died of old age. Last living Gloryage not including Irka, let's see if he survives until Unraveler's turn. Note that, from previous experiences, Luki may not be "dead dead", i.e. if a necromancer were to visit the capital, they might find his body and be able to bring him back. I'm not sure if Luki would want that, but it could happen.

(https://i.imgur.com/8tm1Rw1.png)
Nooooo, Ulet (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Ulet_Budoostsi)! I was afraid of that. I still have two dwarves in NewWorld, both of which should have died of old age a long time ago. I worry the capital might "eat them up" when it has need of a Baron. Iroram still crashes, so it was probably not Ulet's fault for it.

---

Something interesting I've noticed, Treatyseed itself led a successful conquest of Atticmuffins, the first capital of Mong Uthros (the civilization that continues to bolster the most humans in the world) itself in 972. It brought all the animals, and some received names, including some of the giant leopards I bought from the elves (who sadly have since died of old age). This appears to have been a complete NPC action, so my mind is boggled, as this would likely not have happened if I hadn't reclaimed Adilatír's capital.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on May 08, 2023, 01:13:34 pm

Quote from: Lurker Z on May 08, 2023, 12:56:09 pm

Something interesting I've noticed, Treatyseed itself led a successful conquest of Atticmuffins, the first capital of Mong Uthros (the civilization that continues to bolster the most humans in the world) itself in 972. It brought all the animals, and some received names, including some of the giant leopards I bought from the elves (who sadly have since died of old age). This appears to have been a complete NPC action, so my mind is boggled, as this would likely not have happened if I hadn't reclaimed Adilatír's capital.

Yes. This, annoyingly, happened literally days after my elf Mong Uthros adventurer reclaimed Atticmuffins from the religion full of Hand of Planegift thralls and the Greatest Attic of Muffins (High Confederacies).

Various inhabitants were gored to death by donkeys and such. Very odd.

Mong Uthros will rise again!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Bralbaard on May 08, 2023, 04:35:09 pm

Here is the save game.
 link (https://dffd.bay12games.com/file.php?id=16684)

Size is currently 465 MB. Good luck Broken!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on May 08, 2023, 06:36:54 pm

Well Broken, you could end up with the most auspicious of turns - the turn of the millenium.

... no pressure.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Broken on May 09, 2023, 11:40:55 am

Downloading it know, let's see how it goes.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Broken on May 11, 2023, 07:44:30 am

I decided to go explore the Scorpion Orgy pit

The first thing i saw was this:

(https://i.ibb.co/6H2nDs8/Screenshot-11-05-2023-14-11-48.png)

And when i checked one of the gray asterisks:

(https://i.ibb.co/kHDKs9D/Screenshot-11-05-2023-14-13-43.png)

A headless berserk dwarf covered in forgotten beast poison

Literally my first encounter in Orid Xem

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Bralbaard on May 11, 2023, 11:31:53 am

Welcome to Orid Xem!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on May 11, 2023, 11:51:32 am

Yeah, Falsetower is just absolutely brimming with undead horrors, incestuous scorpions and generalised death.

Good luck!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Lurker Z on May 11, 2023, 04:06:58 pm

Welcome to Orid Xem, Broken! I wonder if a headless berserker undead is more dangerous than a blighted thrall (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Blighted_thrall). Ah, reminds me of my second or third char in the game that was slayed on the same night of his departure with a thrall in Señamatem. I hope you survive to explore some more of the world and thanks for the updates.

---

I've noticed something that apparently flew under the radar.

(https://i.imgur.com/QaQU9kT.png)

By Armok, this settlement has been under goblin siege for a quarter of a millennium and is still standing! And they're not kidding, the last two waves had around 50 trolls each, and yet the elves took no casualties.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Broken on May 12, 2023, 08:06:36 am

Quote from: kesperan on May 11, 2023, 11:51:32 am

Yeah, Falsetower is just absolutely brimming with undead horrors, incestuous scorpions and generalised death.

Good luck!

Yeah, the undead horrors didn't liked me stealing their artifacts.

My poor goblin thief didn't stand a chance:

(https://i.ibb.co/qksyPXm/Screenshot-12-05-2023-14-44-10.png)

Honestly, i am impressed. Ripping off a tongue with a bite is stupidly hard. (I have often tried to do it myself!)

The save is back to 532 mb so i uploaded it to google drive:

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1VrP1iUXE4bLtTS2OBPjsGuJ7WUF-DxPi?usp=share_link

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Maloy on May 12, 2023, 11:13:56 am

Hey I wanted to put out if anyone feels the desire to use Maloy the wolf lord in your playthrough or incenseorder or any others that is totally fine. Even to the extent of killing him!

I realize I don't really have any other plans for him other than background population experiments and necromancer shenanigans and steam adventure mode is in the works so felt like being attached to him as an adventurer is passed he's more like an npc I can control now to me.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on May 12, 2023, 12:51:43 pm

I’ve found you can get the save under 500mb if you use uncompressed saves, winrar “best” compression.

But google drive works too!

Edit: looks like you didn’t make a fort and it’s still year 996. Good luck on your turn QD!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Quantum Drop on May 14, 2023, 08:45:55 am

Thanks. Got the save and am currently looking through Legends before I get started.

EDIT: Looks like the tileset has gone bork again. Will try to fix it after my main adventure's done, unless anyone has any suggestions in meantime.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Bralbaard on May 16, 2023, 01:12:04 pm

I unborked it for my turn, so the save for the end of that turn should have proper raws. ( But I did not check if other broken stuff was fixed at that point, like the edits that make dwarves playable)

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on May 17, 2023, 03:03:50 am

Easiest solution is to copy vanilla raws over the save at the end or start of your turn then add the outsider tag to whatever race you want to play as, since we’ve now lost goblins and dwarves from the default list.

That should get rid of any graphics pack related screwiness.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: AvolitionBrit on May 18, 2023, 06:08:31 pm

(The following was found stuffed behind one of the rotten wooden bookcases we were removing. Its a bit tatered but I think you will find it an insightful read.)

The Children of Ortet - Chapter 1 - The Aerated helmet - Entry 1

By far one of my greatest blights is my stumped hand, though i feel nothing from it. It still bleeds, my divine ichor dripping upon the ground. Vampirism and the blood of a beast long forgotton have mutated my once mundane blood into something arcane. I had first noticed its effects upon my potted plump helmet, when moistising the soil. A drop of my ichor would always fall into the pot, sinking into the muddy abyss. At first nothing seemed amis, however over the coming days, the mushroom once a vibrant purple now a dull lavendar colour. Its roots once thin and clustered, grew thicker and branched. Its roots began to bud as the soil was replaced with think pale lavendar mycelium. The fruit of the plant were smaller than plump helmets but were more pointy compared the flatter helmet of the plump helmets fruit.

I return the next day to observe its status only to find it had started to show signs of withering. The farmers guild took a look but were of no use, the plant withered rapidly, its thick chunky roots shriviling up to withered tendrels that crumbled under the lightest of breeze. Some of the newest helmets still had some life to them, saving them and repeating the steps that had created the original. Ichor and all.

Needless to say, its effect is both facisinating and terrifing. Further research required.

Upon necropsy of the withered plump helmet, changes to its structures and behavior clearly differentiate it from the plump helmet species. As a result I shall refer to this new branch of the plump helmet family; Aerated Helmet. The root structures of the withered Aerated helmet produced a black tar like substance that is slightly acidic. Further testing to determine potential uses for this substance are warrented.

(This is clearly a work of fiction, please repair the binding and touch up the cover before returning it to the fiction section)

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on May 18, 2023, 07:20:10 pm

... the mad scorpion has been inhaling too many mushroom fumes I think!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Lurker Z on May 18, 2023, 10:06:48 pm

To be fair, who else but a bark scorpion man to become a druid from imbuing too much necrotic magic?

...only in Dwarf Fortress.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Quantum Drop on May 19, 2023, 05:14:03 pm

Save is up (https://dffd.bay12games.com/file.php?id=16714). Current size is 460-470 MB, using WinRAR at normal compression.

The year is still 996, and while there's no new fortress, there is a new Museum exhibit - a set of Blighted Thrall organs in preservative jars. (Long story, will follow once I get turn 102 typed up due to the characters involved being established during that turn's story.)

Spoiler: For Dikbutdagrate, minor spoilers (click to show/hide)

(https://i.postimg.cc/5NBqKzdj/Weenie-Resurrected.png)

(https://i.postimg.cc/BnJ5rv4p/Honey1.png)
(https://i.postimg.cc/mgV3BGrs/Honey2.png)
(https://i.postimg.cc/zGdh4SdD/Honey3.png)

(https://i.postimg.cc/zXZFkjQ9/The-Bear-Lives-3.png)

Good luck with your turn, Eric Blank!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Eric Blank on May 19, 2023, 06:05:58 pm

Well then I will get started downloading that!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Eric Blank on May 21, 2023, 12:49:25 am

It has begun

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

The Reincarnation of Desli Wanedhummed the Beautiful Intricacies

Desli's journey began from the hamlet of Braingarnished, where she left her family to begin her search. She spent the money she'd made hunting to buy a horse, and started out to the south-west to the island where, centuries ago, they had built Jackaldens. She left the horse near the beach, and crossed the water not long after dawn. However, She found the shack abandoned, the furniture barely standing. Here she spent a day writing a letter to Pik.


If you're reading this, Pik, I died. I know you already knew that, you could feel it, but this time I mean my body is gone for good, it seems. The place I died, nobody can reach. I was walled off in the bottom of a dwarven fortress with another necromancer.

The last thing I remembered was visiting this new fortress. It was the full moon, and usually nothing comes of it of course, but they took it really badly. A necromancer attacked me. We tore each other to pieces, resurrected or reanimated each other, many times. A couple pieces of us got reanimated and then resurrected too. They threw my body in a dungeon I think. That must have been when the world broke around us, I couldn't feel my body anymore, or go back to that place, like it was closed off to me permanently. It wasn't even reanimated as a zombie, just like it was gone. Eventually I tried to go other places. I remember I lost a hand once, and reanimated it, so I went looking for that, but after a year or so I never found it, them, whatever you want to call a zombie doppleganger of yourself. Maybe someone put it down, probably me. But I ran out of options, and was growing weaker. I couldn't find you either. So I gave up. I figured, eventually I would see you on the other side, too. But I met the gods of Death. All of them. The Black, Eslim, Warosp the Fated Urn, Midor, Tithleth, Ala, Agwa, Tarem, Kas Bannershocked, Sut the Tomb of Quests, Gopet the Putrid Cyst. They wanted to resurrect me, there's something they wanted from us, but they couldn't. Something destroyed my body, they said. So they reincarnated me instead. Ive waited all these years until I could come and find you. Maybe you can meet my new parents. I was actually raised by wolf people.

If I cant find you, ill be waiting at Longwatches. I'm not undead now, so I can't wait forever.

By the way, my new birth name is Ciko Waxedsongs.


After resting the night in the shack, Desli headed back to the coast and crossed the water once again. The horse was nowhere to be found, probably having turned and gone home, or chased off by dingoes. Then she realized, the cave of the Putrid Shafts was nearby. It had become a mining town for the people of the Realms of Silver, and people there may have heard of Pik and know where he was or had been. After finding the entrance, half way up the mountain, and descending the entire height again to reach the caverns, she eventually found the passage leading out to the mining caves. The area had been trapped and was guarded heavily. The guards didn't know much about the history of the realm, but they point her towards the living quarters to find the foreman and manager, who had both been well traveled. Eventually she tracked them down, but neither of them had even heard of Pik or her former self. Time truly wore through heroes. Suddenly, she had a greater appreciation for the long memories provided by the Museum and Historians Guild.

This disappointment repeated itself across the Realm of Silver as she traveled north. Their names were long-forgotten. No wonder her new parents had regarded her as "touched," talking about having been a hero of this realm, of which none had ever heard. She would have to make a new name for herself, and she would have ample opportunity as the land was still plagued not only by the blight but by zombies and resurrected thralls. She encountered a zombie hand in the woods, and a hollow zombie stalking the fields of an empty hamlet. Neither posed any threat. Then she encountered a stranger presence; again, something invisible, but could be felt, and left tracks in the fields.

(https://i.imgur.com/6Xq3xom.png)

The invisible being didn't seem interested in her, probably waiting her to leave. So she did.

Scarletbronze, the city historically troubled by undead, was now devoid of such save a single necromancer by the name of Damso in the keep, surrounded by corpses of people who were probably blighted thralls, who knew little at all. Then, in one of the mead halls, she encountered a hand of planesgifts blighted thrall. The battle seemed to take hours, with Desli's rusted skills in combat resulting in every blow being parried, but eventually the undead made a mistake, and was skewered between the eyes on the end of Desli's halberd. With the creature dead, Desli could move on.

She now made a habit of butchering the corpses she encountered or killed, in the hopes of slowing the decline of the world. Too many rogue necromancers, too many rogue werebeasts. Too many undead werebeasts creating duplicates of themselves, like she did. Empty but "complete" shells that made perfect vessels for the devourer that would end the world, consuming man, beast, time and space. It was accelerating.

The seasons were passing too. Winter had come to the south, snow blanketing the forest floor and canopy, as she crept towards the nearest dwarven fortress. Dwarven steel was the best armor for her. It fit her well enough, even in this new body, bulkier and more muscular from years of working to prepare herself for this journey. Being mortal was... fun. After a few centuries of boringly decapitating blighted thralls and chasing wildlife through the night as a werejackal, never really being able to socialize with anyone but Pik, she had found new life just as rewarding as she remembered it. And a peaceful afterlife awaited, she knew. The only anxiety she had was dying and having to wait another twenty years to try again. There were new dwarven fortresses to the west, across the sea from Scarletbronze. Surrounded by hillocks producing food and lumber. These were the easiest places to look for equipment.

Roomfondled was the first hillock she arrived at. It was inhabited by exactly to dwarves. One, Bomrek claimed the title of expedition leader, the other militia commander. Neither knew anything useful, besides that the hillock had been founded in 888, well over a hundred years prior. A few hours south-west of there, however, she encountered a tower made of black stone. Outside, a diminutive gremlin lay, injured. She introduced herself as Zur Riverpillars. She knew nothing of this place, nor anything of use. Inside, Desli encountered scenes of slaughter. Strewn about the place were the corpses of angelic beings she had seen under the employ of The Black in the afterlife. The mutilate corpses still bore their signiture bulky garments made of patchy divine cloth, but were stripped of their weapons. Further in, she found the slab, Buriedhate, with which Amazogast Fencedcastle had bound themselves to the mortal world. Below, she found a pile of equipment, abandoned on the black stone floor. Dwarven in size and make, including a fine steel helmet. It fit well. There was nothing else of value left in this place. Every single divine weapon had been taken.

The rest of the trip to the fortress of Ashcinders the Molten Scar, with which the hillocks were aligned, was uneventful. The fortress itself seemed totally abandoned at first, but did host a handful of living dwarves, and a few goblin mercenaries. A large cistern was present at the summit of the fortress, where the volcano it was built on was capped with obsidian. Inside, behind what must have been the guards' barracks, Desli found a complete suit of adamantine armor, of exceptional quality. The suit fit her quite well. Below, she found stores full of food and drink, workshops, stockpiles, and a vault containing artifacts placed on bronze pedestals, and lined by statues of various gods of the dwarves, including Tithleth.

(https://i.imgur.com/kILfWPL.png)

Behind the vault, she found a short corridor lined with weapon traps, and beyond that, a room containing a statue, an empty pedestal, and another pedestal on which was displayed the skeleton of an ettin. The statue depicted the same ettin.

(https://i.imgur.com/EhXducu.png)

Deeper into the fortress, was a circular chamber containing statues of many of the adventurers who had submitted entries to the Museum, and below that, a chamber commemorating the rulers of the Walled Dye. Below were the mines.

(https://i.imgur.com/g6YpYBJ.png)

After leaving the fort behind, Desli headed east towards the second fortress here, on the shore of the sea. On the way she encountered a dwarf wandering the wilderness, carrying a knife and cursing and yelling at every wild animal she saw. Desli approached, and when she attempted to speak to her, the dwarf attacked. Even after disabling her arms and one of her legs, the dwarf still attacked relentlessly, screaming obscenities the entire time. Desli put her down, as this one was clearly mentally gone. A name engraved on the handle of her knife read "Aban Paddlerhymes." Soon after she arrived at Holykingdom, but the fort was flooded because it had been dug out below the sea, and so it could not be explored.

(https://i.imgur.com/C8y6lEC.png)

There was only one more fortress nearby, to the north, not far from Championvaults, called the Eternal Citadel. The trek was mostly uneventful, taking another week, only interrupted by a pack of dingoes and another of wolves. When she arrived, she found a pyramid of green jutting up from the forest. A narrow paved road led to the gates at the bottom of the structure. Inside, at the center, were ramps going up to a stairway to the top, and below them, a wide series of stairs leading down into the depths. She asked the first dwarf she saw if he had ever heard of Pik, and amazingly, he said yes. That was the werebeast and undead necromancer they'd caught and put in the dungeon. Aghast, she demanded to know where, perhaps a little forcefully, still gripping her battle axe. The stunned dwarf pointed down, several stories, a door on the left of the shaft, on the other side of which were a series of cage traps, beyond which a wide corridor led into a huge circular chamber. There in the center was a steel cage surrounded by chains and a lever. Desli approached the cage. Inside was an immediately recognizable, bulky, tall human figure.

"What do you want, mortal?" Pik's voice was terse and irritable. And defeated, miserable, melancholy.

"By Gopet, it really is you!" Her voice quivered. To Pik, the wolf woman was completely unrecognizable. A stranger who came from nowhere. "Ive been looking everywhere for you! And nobody even knew our names! I thought it was impossible."

Pik stared unmoved, unbreathing at her. She realized her mistake, "It's me, Desli. I had to be reincarnated, its a long story. I'll get you out of there."

She turned around and pulled the lever, and the cage came undone and fell aside. Pik stood freely in the dim light of the cavern. She could now see his face clearly enough. "I forgot how beat up you looked."

(https://i.imgur.com/MSOQUln.png)

"You look... Different." Pik still didn't believe what he was hearing. But he was free. And she wielded her axe in the same way, always a little too tight. It was a new axe. New armor. A new body, a bit taller, more muscular. The wrong eyes, the wrong scars, the wrong fur pattern. But maybe it was her. Or at least, an ally.

(https://i.imgur.com/rD2uaSt.png)

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on May 21, 2023, 12:20:38 pm

Ah, wonderful, you visited two of my forts and made a daring rescue mission!

The ettin in the trapped corridor in Ashcinders was known as "Mirthglittered the Mellow Wonders" and he attacked the fort in 809, wielding the native platinum slab The Putrid Juice. He was slain by the militia, and his corpse put on display alongside the slab, and a statue memorialising his death.

The slab was eventually stolen by the zealous knights of Omon Obin - Luki Systemtowns and Irka Tinsabre had a hand it it's eventual theft and was apparently destroyed in 956 in Realmspire as the misguided forces of Omon Obin seek to rid the world of the secrets of life and death.

As far as Pik goes, I am sorry he is a bit worse for wear and missing a few appendages. He was imprisoned by The Book of Secrets and made to fight many cave trolls and gorlaks for their twisted amusement, with hilarious results when he ressurected their corpses to run wild. I am sure he will regenerate those missing parts on the next full moon, though..

(https://i.imgur.com/ftg1CQb.gif)

(https://i.imgur.com/iPojc9S.png)

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Maloy on May 21, 2023, 12:44:47 pm

Do you need to worry about the regeneration glitch with him?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on May 21, 2023, 01:22:20 pm

Quote from: Maloy on May 21, 2023, 12:44:47 pm

Do you need to worry about the regeneration glitch with him?

None of the parts that were chopped off were reanimated - no limbs/heads with grasp tokens, just some teeth, ears and his nose. They all got incinerated/atom smashed just to be on the safe side.

The Eternal Citadel would have crashed when Eric's new wolf woman tried to enter it if the glitch was in effect.

Pik will be completely naked of course, as a werebeast invader. I am sure he can use the forges and looms of the citadel to make himself some new gear. And perhaps he will meet some of the wonderful characters of my fort, including the Militia Commander Stukos Mournsaints, the family of elven warriors or maybe the polar bear man necromancer legendary fisherbear Borik Iceshatter?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Eric Blank on May 21, 2023, 03:17:17 pm

He actually started with normal civilian clothes, and I didn't explore beyond that or use dfhack at the site (so I didn't use any workshops or unretire the fort or anything.) I retired there, unretired with both in a party, and left. Didnt meet anyone interesting either.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on May 21, 2023, 03:44:26 pm

Oh well, I am just glad you managed to retrieve him safely.

If (in fort mode) the corrupted site was conquered/destroyed, would that un-bug it?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Eric Blank on May 21, 2023, 03:57:41 pm

I highly doubt it, but you know what, ive never tried, nor heard of one getting conquered by any army, sent by a player or an npc siege.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: dikbutdagrate on May 22, 2023, 07:45:59 pm

Quote from: Quantum Drop on May 19, 2023, 05:14:03 pm

Save is up (https://dffd.bay12games.com/file.php?id=16714). Current size is 460-470 MB, using WinRAR at normal compression.

The year is still 996, and while there's no new fortress, there is a new Museum exhibit - a set of Blighted Thrall organs in preservative jars. (Long story, will follow once I get turn 102 typed up due to the characters involved being established during that turn's story.)

[spoiler=For Dikbutdagrate, minor spoilers]
(https://i.postimg.cc/5NBqKzdj/Weenie-Resurrected.png)

Oh hey, sweet! I believe someones earned themselves some surgery!

That is a rather incredible amount of honey, so I mean... you've definitely earned the secret knowledge.
But I'm going to have to withhold that information for like 50 turns or something, otherwise it sort of ruins my character's whole bit of being a gimmick vendor.

Apologies for the inconvenience there! I'll make up for it with some weird stuff to add to your character, once my turn comes around.

How much honey did you give me? Like all of it? Alright, I'm sure I'll figure something out.

Normally, you're supposed to provide whatever you want grafted onto you. But I guess I can scrounge around for some stuff.
Giant vampire bat wings, and a sea serpent tail? That'd be sweet! But uhh, I dunno, that might take awhile to gather... Maybe I'll just find a rock or some worms or something.

One worm for each honey? Yeah, call it a discount. Hehe.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Quantum Drop on May 23, 2023, 03:41:26 am

Quote from: dikbutdagrate on May 22, 2023, 07:45:59 pm

Oh hey, sweet! I believe someones earned themselves some surgery!

That is a rather incredible amount of honey, so I mean... you've definitely earned the secret knowledge.
But I'm going to have to withhold that information for like 50 turns or something, otherwise it sort of ruins my character's whole bit of being a gimmick vendor.

Apologies for the inconvenience there! I'll make up for it with some weird stuff to add to your character, once my turn comes around.

I fully understand how it would interfere with your character's gimmick, so I've no problem with waiting for that knowledge. Hopefully Weenie sees a bit more business in the turns to come.

Spoiler: Minor Spoiler for Turn 116's story (click to show/hide)

The 'adding bits to my character' thing might be complicated a bit by the fact the character which 'officially' (in-story) resurrected Weenie is different to the one that 'actually' did it (in-game). My lack of forethought and up-to-date writing comes back to bite me again  .

Still, there's probably a way to deal with that. I'll have a think and see what comes up.

Quote from: dikbutdagrate on May 22, 2023, 07:45:59 pm

How much honey did you give me? Like all of it?

I handed off basically all of the jars in those three screenshots (barring the empty one) to Weenie, so that's something like three inventory screens of honey in wooden jars. I'll have a look in the save in a bit, see if I can pull the proper numbers from Weenie's inventory.

EDIT: Looked over it. It's something like 29 wooden jars of honey, with 16 urists of honey per jar.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Quantum Drop on May 23, 2023, 09:39:33 am

---

Turn 92 - PART 1 - (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8425735#msg8425735) PART 2 - (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8446376#msg8446376) PARTS 3-5 (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8474260#msg8474260)

---

7th Malachite, 899

Frigiddungeon had truly earned its name, Gasin Crewcanyons mused, as he completed his third circuit of the tower that night. Though the tower’s stone and the more temperate climate provided some protection from the night’s chill, the cold seemed to cling to the very stones. The chill would have kept him up, even if his thoughts were not ablaze after the day’s events. The fog that drifted over the network of trenches and depressions before him only made it worse, deepening the chill and turning every shadow to a flicking, monstrous shape. 

Gasin breathed deeply, but the breath caught in his throat as he saw something looming in the mists.

A slender, hunched shape, its neck twisted to an unnatural angle, and a curved crescent of wood gripped in its fingers. And around it – others, their shapes indistinct, but all visibly humanoid and armoured.

He drew his sword in an instant, the blade solid and reassuring in his hands. It did not help the sweat suddenly running down his brow, or the sudden crawling of his skin. He strode forward into the mists, eyes snapping left and right. In every shadow he saw the first of them reflected, a silent figure gazing at the inquisitor from a hundred different perches.

“Show yourself!” He snarled into the fog, raising his blade in readiness for battle. He swung left and right at the shadowy figures, but his blade met nothing but air; he slammed his fists into them when they loomed near, but met nothing but loamy soil. “Come forth and face me, or return to the Sunless Realm once again!”

Yet there was no answer.

His hand faintly ached from how hard he was gripping the sword, and he seized upon it to try and ground himself. She was not here. She was dead. They all were. This was no more than a shadow play, a trick of the moonlight and the fogs.

He bit his lip hard enough to split it, blinking away the ghostly after-images to reveal the trench he now stood in, cloak speckled with mud and dirt. He forced himself to turn and retreat back toward the tower at a near-run, clearing the steps two at a time as he strode back up to the very top. There, at least, there was no fog – merely blank, cold stone, a murky view of the surrounding towers, and the ever-present chill.

Gasin twisted uncomfortably, resisting the urge to scratch at the numb, tugging sensation between his ribs. The knife had gone deeper than he thought, and his flesh healed slowly. Sometimes it felt as though the blade was still lodged there, and that sensation was always accompanied by phantom pains lancing up the base of his spine, or otherwise twisting his gut. It would take time to heal properly; longer now, after the strains of the past week.

Gasin momentarily looked over his shoulder toward the sleeping forms of his comrades on the floors below, closing his eyes and letting out a deep, shaky breath as he returned his gaze to the darkness. It turned his stomach that he had to deceive them as he did. But he had no choice in this matter, and the sight before him was a bitter reminder of him. Days behind the Sage, and now his master had demanded a meeting.

A flicker of light amid the shadows. An ethereal wisp of bluish energy flickered in the air, drifting forward until it was almost directly before him. rapidly resolving into the form of a woman. Tall. Gaunt. Pallid as a risen corpse. Almost against his will, Gasin knelt before her as she drew to a halt before him.

“My liege.” He said, bowing fractionally.

“You have failed to capture him, then.” The woman’s voice was cold enough that the air itself seemed to freeze. A few flakes of snow began to drift about the two of them.

“No.” Gasin’s features twitched sharply. “To fail implies there was a possibility of capturing him to begin with.”

“You failed, and now you waste time on a wild chase. On deceiving your tools, rather than putting them to use.”

“I –”

“You disappoint me.” As if to signify her displeasure, frost crackled across the ground and crept up the leather of his boots. He resisted the urge to shudder. “You have spent nigh upon a decade hunting and murdering His children with such masterful skill, and now you are outwitted by a single, decrepit old man. I did not save your life to be rewarded with incompetence, Gasin Crewcanyons. You are meant to aid us, not further complicate our plans.”

Gasin could not help the bitter, scornful laugh that clawed its way out of his raw throat at that. He’d had no life left to save, not by the time she arrived to take possession of him.

The nightmare had begun almost two years ago, and he had found himself unable to wake from it. It should have been easy – a purge of the Blighted, locked within a hamlet’s mead hall, crippled and starving from a lack of sustenance. Simple. Routine. But there had been more to that place than expected, and he had been careless. One strong hit to the chest from a thrall’s war hammer was all it took to bring him down. He had laid there in the dirt, choking on the breath the thrall’s hammer had knocked out of his lungs, unable to do anything but watch as the men and women he had led into that diseased hell were set upon by the horde. The screams haunted him still, as did the taste of blood in his mouth, its touch against his skin.

And then they had come for him.

For weeks they had kept him prisoner, shackled in a filthy cage like a beast. They had cursed him in mind and body, reducing him to a living death. Justice, they had called it, Justice for the murdered! Those creatures forced him to feel the death of every living soul he had freed from the horror of the Blight; to feel their terror, their despair, and their pain both old and new. His flesh had turned cold, to be coaxed back through dark practices. Time and time again, the cycle had repeated.

And all the while, the gods and masters he had faithfully served for so long did nothing.

Instead, the woman before him had come to him as though from a dream. He remembered their first encounter still – her, bizarre and ethereal; a phantom like the one standing before him now, towering over the bones and filth strewn across the floor of that gods-forsaken hall. He had thought he had lost his mind in that moment, that the tortures of the sorcerers had finally driven him wholly over the edge into madness. The High Priestess of the Abyssal Cult, come to bargain for the life of a thrall-killer to serve her own purposes.

As if sensing his distraction, the High Priestess paused and walked closer to him, drifting across the foggy ground until she was only inches away from his face. Her mere presence seemed to cool the freezing air further, until every breath stung his nose and throat from within. His skin crawled with gooseflesh, and it was only by a great effort and pure stubbornness that he kept himself from shivering at the cold creeping into his bones.

“Perhaps,” She whispered, a note of menace creeping into her voice. “These failures are intentional? Perhaps you still find your service… distasteful?”

The High Priestess raised a thin, almost skeletal hand toward his face, drawing it across his cheek in a mocking parody of affection. His skin crawled at the sudden, freezing cold that accompanied her touch, but he did not draw away. He dared not.

“Your service can end at a word, Gasin Crewcanyons. There is no doubt you would be welcome back in Platewheats. I can always recruit another to fill your place – less capable, perhaps, but more willing.”

Gasin’s jaw twitched sharply as he clenched his teeth together, biting back the rising, venomous tide of terror bubbling up in his chest at the High Priestess’s words.

“That- that will not be necessary… Elder.” He ground out, forcing his voice to remain calmer than he felt. “This is a temporary setback, nothing more!”

The High Priestess’s head turned toward him, her cold black eyes narrowing to reptilian slits. At last, however, she gestured for him to continue.

“Firstly, your enemies are one less. Kosoth Heatlions is dead, and his work put to the torch.”

“Heatlions was a fool. A pawn who sought knowledge above his station, and fled in the face of revelation. There was no need to kill him.”

“Secondly, our quarry’s trail has been easy to follow.” He forced himself to swallow down the hot, harsh words burning in the back of his throat. The High Priestess was displeased as it was, and speaking out of turn would only compound her anger toward him. “The Sage has covered few of his tracks. It is only a matter of time until he is in your hand, even if he has slipped the net for now.”
The Priestess did not speak, but nor did she move to cut him off.

“Thirdly,” He hesitated a moment, trying to moisten his increasingly dry throat before continuing to speak. “Thirdly, my… my companions –”

“Enough.”

She paused, cocking her head to the side. The sound of snow gusting around the graveyard was the only sound in the silence.

“And where…” The High Priestess intoned, her voice taking on a tight, restrained tone. “Would the Sage’s path happen to be taking him?”

“Northwards.” He could not help the element of bitter spite leaking into his voice. Deep down, some part of him wanted this mad quest of his to fail. “Beyond the Realm. Beyond the tundra. Beyond the deepfolk’s old kingdoms, even.”

The High Priestess’s breath hissed between her teeth. She growled something in a language he could not understand, then turned away from him entirely as though struggling to compose herself. Fear stabbed at his chest for a moment, fear that he had pushed too far and would suffer the Priestess’s wrath, but it faded as she slowly turned toward him again.

“I must consult with our Lord again.” She sighed. For a few seconds, her translucent features faded away entirely to leave nothing but a shadowy impression of her against the wall. “We will need aid, if our quarry slips through our fingers. If you fail us again in your tasks.”

Gasin was quite certain he would have cracked a molar from how tightly his jaw was clenched, were it not for some lingering instinct guarding him against such harm. “I assure you, High Priestess, I will not fail.”

“I hope so for your sake, Gasin Crewcanyons. Should events not fall as planned, I shall have to take a more… direct hand in these affairs.”

One of his eyes twitched. Cold fingers ran down his back, sending sweat dripping down his brow despite the night’s cold. “A-a more… ‘direct’ hand?”

“An intervention. In the flesh. In person.” The High Priestess stalked through the shadows until she was directly before him and bent down to his height, staring him in the eye. “Do you understand?”
He bowed his head hastily, clamping down on the fear and frustration roiling deep within his gut. “Yes, Master. I understand.”

“Good. Now go from this place. Recover the Sage. Ensure the continuation of the Great Work. Do not fail us. And do not forget – your life and death belong to us, now. I would be gladdened to extend your miserable existence until your debts are paid.” She extended a skeletal finger from the depths of her sleeve, its tip resting inches away from his nose. “Think on your sins, Gasin Crewcanyons.”

---

The Dark Sprawl of Monal Gole was ablaze.

The battle had been raging for the better part of an hour, now, though to name it such stretched the definition. It was less a single battle so much as a near-unbroken chain of individual fights and brawls as the attackers moved from tower to tower, mercilessly clearing each one before moving on to the next. For each, they would split into two groups – one to hold the lowest floor, cutting down anything that sought to come up from the pits below the tower, while the other would advance up the stairs and deal with the sentries above, cutting the goblins down and casting their bodies from the battlements to crash wetly against the ground below.

In some towers, they even dared to enter the pits below, cutting their way through the maze of tunnels and cramped cells that serviced the needs of the population. Much of the space was occupied by beak dogs, trolls, and the other war-beasts the goblins bred down in the depths. They cut them down without hesitation, exploiting the cramped quarters and the beasts’ lack of intellect to their advantage.

Even so, they did not dare the larger caverns. They all remembered well the old tales of those stygian places, deep enough that they were said to lead directly to the chained frost-iron gates of the Sunless Realm itself, where all souls must one day go. Not even the most bloodthirsty or wild of the belligerents lacked caution to such an extent that they were willing to challenge that claim, and so the greatest caverns were studiously ignored in the course of their rampage.

Mori struck another of the goblins down as it turned to flee, swinging her hammer’s killing face into the retreating greenskin’s back. It dropped like a puppet with its strings cut, the spine broken midway; a hard stamp to the back of the neck provided a satisfactory crack and a wet gurgling noise. Blood frothed between its lips as it slumped face-first into the mud. She stormed on into the fighting, leaving the wretched thing to drown in its own blood.

Wrenching her hammer free from the cracked ribcage of a troll, Mori sent its killing face hurtling into that of a charging lasher, taking most of his face off with a single blow. A glance to her sides before she finished the job confirmed the resistance in the pit was mostly eliminated. The creatures had come eagerly rushing toward the source of raw meat standing at the narrow entrance to the pit, only to be cut down by axe and sword with swift, efficient strikes. As the bodies had begun to pile up and the attacks became less frequent, they had begun to advance deeper into this tower’s pits, cutting down the greenskins and their minions wherever they dared to show their faces.

Mori paused for a moment to block a desperate spear-thrust from a greenskin animal keeper, before shattering his arm with a retaliatory blow from her shield. It was sloppy, next to her usual movement, but she barely cared by that point.

Her muddied, bloodstained consciousness lacked the time and focus for finesse.

Grunting, she swung her hammer back into the goblin’s arm with enough force to pulp the bone. A second swing split his skull apart like an overripe fruit, broke his neck, and sent scarlet blood spraying in all directions. Mori tossed his twitching corpse back into the shifting morass and turned in search of another life to end.

There was nothing. The resistance in the cavern was all but destroyed – anything still alive was either too well hidden or too far for her to see.

Gasin and the rest of the party met them at the stairs’ top. They were bloodied similarly to her and her comrades, their armour and weapons speckled with red and coppery blue from the carnage they had wrought. Bodies and bits of bodies carpeted the stone around them, the remnants of the goblins and trolls that had managed to slip past them or which had dwelled on the towers to begin with. 

“No problems, I take it?” Thadar growled, eyeing Mori’s bloodied form.

“Only in how long it took to kill them all.” She answered, voice equally tight.

They continued on in silence after that. The mood was still tense between them after the events of yesterday, the death of their comrade still weighing heavily on all of their minds. With each tower they came across, the pattern repeated – only the number and kind of those slain in the battles changing. With each fight, they drew closer to the black tower at the centre of the network of pits – the home of whatever creatures controlled this corrupt sprawl.

They had just cleared the last tower before the central spire and were advancing toward the end of the final trench when Gasin suddenly flung out an arm, stopping the group’s advance in their tracks. He was staring at the citadel suspiciously, liquid black eyes narrowed to slits as he glared at the stone.

“Wait.” He hissed, suddenly alert. “There is something strange here.”

“The hell are you on about?” Mori let out a growl of irritation, visibly resisting the urge to shove past him and keep walking on. “I don’t see anything out there.”

Gasin grimaced. “I would not be so sure. Those creatures may have some foul magic worked into the stone.”

Mori bared her teeth in reply, features twisting into a snaggle-toothed snarl.

“Whatever it is… it will not keep them safe.”

Mori took a single step out onto the plains, and then another. She turned back, raising an eyebrow as if mocking the inquisitor’s hesitance. The others began to follow her, emboldened by the hammerwoman’s confidence. Gasin hesitated a moment longer before stepping forward to join them.

And in that one moment, everything changed.

Space became forbidden. Time contracted to a single frozen instant. Every step was an eternity.

“-ri.”

She pushed forward with all her might. It was like shoving against a wall of solid steel. Time contracted further. Her thoughts slowed, stiffened, began to grind to a halt.

“-ori.”

What was she doing here? What was it she had come to find? It was something important, she knew that, but she couldn’t remember why. If it was so important, why couldn’t she recall it? She’d wait for a bit. Then it’d come back to her –

“Mori!” Somebody screamed.

The voice broke her from the strange stupor that had settled over her. Gasping, she reeled back from the tower, staggering back across the loam. A look toward her comrades confirmed it had not been some isolated delusion – most of the group were pale as ghosts, breathing as though they had run a marathon; Gencesh was slumped against the trench wall, crushing his temples in both hands, sweat dripping down his forehead. Gasin himself had seemingly been struck the worst; he was on his hands and knees at the edge of the trench, emptying his stomach’s contents onto the soil below. When he rose again, his face was waxen, and his liquid black eyes bore a horror to answer that in Mori’s eyes.

“This place is cursed.” Mori felt herself saying. She felt strange, almost light-headed; her mouth felt as though it were moving independently of her. “This place…”

Gasin shook his head, silently making an unfamiliar sign over his breast with one hand. He was physically shaking, though whether it was from the evident nausea or whatever terror had struck upon his mind, Mori could not tell.

“We must leave.” He rasped, tone brooking no argument. Beneath the strength of his voice, there was the unmistakable tremor of some deep-seated terror. “Before we are drawn in too far.” He sucked in a sharp, pained breath. “Now!”

Little further encouragement was required. They turned from the tower and retreated without a word, the universal fear of the strange power that had ensnared them stifling any questions. Time bent, changed, shuddered. One moment their legs were slow as molasses, stumbling along like sleepwalkers caught in a nightmare; the next they were fast as lightning, scrambling across the loamy ground with exaggeratedly swift strides. They ran, and ran, and did not stop until the tower was a distant shape and reality had re-asserted itself. Only then did they let themselves rest, slumping to the dirt and taking in long, deep gulps of air to ease the burning stitches in their sides.

“What…” Gencesh wheezed. “The hell… was that?”

“I have heard tales of such places,” Dubmith’s voice was unnervingly soft, her features paler than ever. Were it not for the faintest hint of colour to her lips, she might as well have been a marble statue. “Places where time itself is corrupt, and the gods hold no sway.”

“I remember those stories,” Hathur rasped, her voice hoarse with exhaustion. She shook her head, almost disbelievingly. “Tales of worms that devoured time, or else turned it in on itself to ensnare the unwary.”

“They were true, indeed.” Gasin whispered, his jaw tightly set. “To feel that even once…”

It took Hathur a moment to comprehend the implications of that statement. Slowly, Hathur looked up toward the black-clad figure of the inquisitor. “You have experienced this before?” 

“Aye.” Gasin’s voice was quiet, devoid of its usual bombast. The colour had drained away from his face, to leave behind a dead, grey mask. Blood vessels had burst in one eye, staining it red. He spat a ball of red-flecked saliva to the dirt, blood dripping from where he’d badly bitten his tongue. “Once.”

Something moved in the haze. Mori surged to her feet with her hammer in hand, immediately alert, but the sight before her froze her in mid-motion.

“By the Dark Forest…” She whispered.

Gasin forged forward to stand beside her, and his face grew greyer than ever at the sight before them.

Before the plains around the tower, there stood themselves. Gasin, Mori, Thadar, Dubmith – all of them, standing in the very same places they had before.

“What is this magic?” Murmured Gencesh. “This trickery?”

Mori looked closer, taking in the sight before her. It was then she began to notice the oddities and the differences of their counterparts.

The Gasin of the other side was older and bearded, his face bearing a trio of wicked scars that ran from one temple to the base of his neck. Ritualistic tattoos crawled across his features, slitted eyes and dyed fangs forming an elaborate tapestry on his face. Thadar’s face lacked her brutal scarring, and her armoured hands held a bloodied morningstar forged from some shimmering metal; she wore a similar outfit to the original Gasin, finely-tailored black robes and clothing beneath armor. Dubmith’s skin looked almost bluish, her normally slender frame bulked by ropes of unnatural muscles and plates of heavy armour. She clutched a maul rather than a sword, and as she tilted her head towards them, Mori caught sight of the blisters and lesions that crawled across her face.

“This...” Hathur whispered. “This is impossible!”

Hathur’s doppelganger was a dwarf, her armour missing and a pair of wickedly sharp axes forged of blue metal clutched in stubby fingers, her hair spiked and stiffened into a huge crest. Gencesh was missing entirely, replaced by a one-eyed reptilian brute of charcoal scales and wings. Sizet, too, was absent from the image – instead Mori stood in her place, her features grizzled and harsh, a rapier in one hand and a crossbow in the other. And there, at the very edge of the image – Mori barely held back a gasp at the sight of Luki, alive and whole beyond the gleaming metal prosthesis that replaced her left arm, the archer staring back at them as though in shock.

“It is – a path our lives might have gone down, had fate taken a different course.” Gasin shook his head, blinking furiously. “Look away from it, and it will fade.”

“You have seen this before? Is it real?”

“Perhaps,” Gasin shrugged. “Who but the gods can say? It is a glimpse of things that never were, that never could be. We should not be seeing it…”

The figures were coming closer. The alternate Gasin seemed to be in heated debate with Hathur, the dwarf woman’s features visibly twisting in anger or frustration. Her axes scraped against each other in a spray of sparks as she snapped something at Gasin. The others seethed and shifted uncertainly, exchanging glances and mouthing words. The alternate Dubmith drew closer, letting them see the ravages of whatever disease had claimed her in painful detail. Luki came with her, reaching a hand forward as though in wonder before snatching it back at a snarl from the alternate Dubmith.

“Enough. We must move on – and quickly, lest it ensnare us in madness.” Gasin shook his head as though pained, motioned with a hand to wave them away. He drew another sharp breath, eyes widening slightly. “Quickly!”

Almost hesitantly, the entire party turned their backs and slowly began to walk away. Gasin alone remained facing toward the strange mirage. After a score of steps that felt like hours, he slowed to a halt, and suddenly nodded.

“Stop.” He said, voice sounding oddly strained. “We should be far enough. But – do not look back.”

Mori turned her head, just enough to catch sight of it. For a moment, she saw the land before the tower again – now host to a manifold display of variant scenes, where a multitude of Moris stared back at her. One of them in particular seemed to look directly to her, and mouthed something through a fanged, blistered maw at her.

Strong hands touched against her shoulders and turned her about. Gasin, grim-faced and pale, stared down at her.

“That is enough, Mori.”

When she dared to look back a few minutes later, the tower was no more than a tower again. No strange vision greeted her, only the increasingly distant black smear of the tower. And yet, her counterpart’s strange words still rang in her head, clear as day: Nusta ogur osmze.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Quantum Drop on May 23, 2023, 09:40:54 am

It was on their way back from the corrupted citadel that they would gain their next lead. The group were trekking their way back through the trenches when Gencesh suddenly stopped, planting his cane in the dirt and sharply cocking his head to the side for a moment.

“Wait.” Gencesh hissed, his features twisting sharply. “I hear voices - up ahead of us.”

The group responded as one, immediately pressing themselves against the soft loam of the trench’s wall and creeping along with their backs to the soil. Each one had a hand or his or her weapon, ready to strike should something come around the sharp corner of the zig-zagging trench. It came as quite the surprise when they came face to face with the source of the sound, situated at the end of the trench – a low-rising building of stone and wood, its door slightly ajar and a handful of windows sticking out from the sides. The voices were echoing out of there, the chatter of the greenskins’ language mixing with the jangle of music and the sound of scraping wood.

“Dubmith,” Gasin turned his head slightly, looking over one shoulder. “You speak Goblin, do you not?”

“It’s been long since I studied the greenskin tongue, Lord Gasin.” Dubmith replied, carefully stepping forward to stand beside him. “But I may try, if you wish.”

He nodded tightly. “Aye.”

The pale young woman spared a nod before creeping forward to press herself against the stone wall, listening to the snatches of conversation drifting out from the low building’s few windows and around the door. The rest of the party took up guarded positions nearby, covering any angle from which an attacker could spring; wary eyes flicked left and right, limbs tense with anticipation. Seconds stretched into minutes; minutes into hours. It was a relief when Dubmith finally crept away from the building’s doorway to rejoin them, her expression curiously dark.

“Well?”

“I could make out a few conversations, no more than that. Most of it was idle chatter, though a few parts stood out. Three words, in particular.” Dubmith grimaced, raising her head to look the black-clad man in the eye. “Snuz osmol.”

“Snuz osmol…”Gasin tilted his head to the side at that, features creasing in confusion.

“No, sire. ‘Snuz os-mol’. ‘The great death-scholar’.” Dubmith’s eyes narrowed to slits as she looked back at the building. “Does that sound familiar, lord Crewcanyons?”

“The Sage.” In his soft tones, the name became an obscenity. He surged forward, already striding toward the building with his sword in hand and murder written in every line of his body. Mori opened her mouth to say something, but he cut her off with a voice barely below a snarl. “Do you wish to kill two birds with a single blow or not, Mori? We might just be able to slay the goblins and gain the traitor’s whereabouts at once!”

Despite the sharp scowl she shot him, Gasin pressed forward to stand before the door, and was halfway through the motion of opening it when the wooden door swung inwards to reveal a very surprised-looking goblin crossbowman, his hand raised to grip the air where the door’s handle had been. An awkward moment passed as the two parties took one another in, the goblin’s shocked eyes snapping across the septet of heavily armed humans standing in full battle-readiness before him as the sounds from within the building died.

Chaos broke loose a moment after that.

Gasin recovered first and lunged for the goblin with a low growl, a double-handed swing of his longsword splitting him in half with a single blow. The two halves clattered to the dirt in a fashion that would have been almost comical, were it not for the jetting blood and sudden stench released from its punctured stomach. A second goblin turned in time for the sword to take him through the eye and out the back of his head, Gasin wrenching the blade free with a snarl of effort and a convulsive motion of his arm.

The other goblins scrambled into action at the sight of the invaders, but they had been caught completely off-guard and it showed. Shocked into action by the sudden outbreak of fighting, the inquisitor’s retinue swept in behind him. Mori was one of the first into the battle, scattering a goblin sentry’s head across with the room with a double-handed swing of her war hammer before charging into another tangle of them, hurling them in all directions. Hathur and Sizet followed in her wake, cutting the legs out from those still standing or finishing off those already downed with axe and spear.

Thadar swore aloud as she pushed her way into the fighting. The conditions were already cramped thanks to the clutter of tables and chairs within the building; with the seven humans now crowding in as well, she was barely able to move without tripping over something – living or otherwise. Her axe swung left and right, sending splinters of wood and sprays of blood across the room in equal measure as she tried to clear a path through the fighting. She paused half a moment to look about; Dubmith and Gencesh were holding the door, busy trying to prevent anyone getting out to raise the alarm.

Mori, Sizet, and Hathur had formed a trio and were holding off several of the goblins, each of the group covering the other’s backs as they carefully picked their way through the cramped conditions. Any goblin foolish enough to try and strike at them found themselves impaled by a spear and rendered helpless against the subsequent blows, or sent scrambling away with blood gouting from a limb-stump, or with a skull crushed to flinders from the swing of a war hammer.

Gasin, by contrast, had practically flung himself into the fighting with a downright reckless abandon. The inquisitor had charged into the press of bodies with his longsword flashing left and right, relieving the greenskins of their limbs with every blow and sending blood spraying in all directions. By now he was deep in the crowd, slamming the heel of his left hand into the throat of an attacking goblin to drive him back as Gasin wrenched his blade free from the chest of another, then wheeling about on his heel to drive the sword through the exposed face of a third goblin. A fourth came at him, to be met with a full-force blow to the face from the sword’s hilt that shattered bone and sent him spinning away in a burst of blood. Snarling, the wounded goblin raised a long copper whip and let fly at his opponent.

The whip cracked out, wrapping around Gasin’s sword with a sharp shrieking sound before flourishing backward, pulling the weapon free of his hands. The inquisitor let out a sharp curse and scrambled to draw the dagger at his belt, only for a swing from another goblin in the vestments of a chief to send him staggering backward as a silver maul’s head rebounded from his breastplate. While the iron breastplate that covered his torso deflected the worst of the damage, it had left him open to another strike – a goblin spearman, shoving his way through the press of bodies, lunging across the room to plunge his bronze-headed spear into the side of Gasin’s leg. The speartip punched through the side of his boot and cut a fingerwidth into the flesh and bone behind, sending him to the ground as his leg unexpectedly gave out.

The goblin wasted no time in charging forward to continue his attack, only to find himself facing down the unified attacks of Mori, Sizet, and Hathur, the trio having managed to advance through the general melee after Gasin. A low-swinging blow of Hathur’s axe sent the whip-wielding goblin shrieking to the ground as its legs were severed from the thigh down, cutting off into a wet gurgling noise as Mori’s hammer crushed its ribs and Sizet’s spear struck cleanly through the throat. While the last two remained to extract Sizet’s spear from the corpse and help Gasin back upright, the latter stormed on to engage the maul-wielding goblin.

Snarling, Mori seized the goblin leader by the throat with one hand and lifted it bodily from the ground, hurling the wretched greenskin fully across the room. It hit one of the walls and rebounded to the ground with a yelp, the silver maul in its hand falling free, but Mori was not done. Snatching up the wounded Gasin’s sword with one hand, she strode forward and seized the goblin by the neck again; she ran it through with one swift punching motion, driving the iron longsword through its hip then wrenching the blade sideways through the flesh. The goblin collapsed to its knees, vainly trying to push the looping coils of its entrails back into its opened belly; Mori casually backhanded it to the floor as she threw the longsword back to Gasin before turning to plunge back into the fighting.

Unfortunately for her, much of the resistance had been destroyed. Those goblins who could flee had long since done so; the few that remained were dead or dying, cut down in the initial chaos of the fight or fatally wounded by the attackers’ superior skills. Only one remained, pushing itself back against the wall with both hands raised.

“I al asnu!” The wretched thing yelped. It squealed with terror as Mori seized it by the front of its tunic and slammed it hard against the wall, teeth bared in full battle-fury. “I al asnu!”

Mori made to drive her mailed fist into its face to stop its babble, only to find her arm immobile. She snapped her head about to find Thadar standing beside her, one iron-clad hand gripping her arm tightly. She shook her head.

“Not this one.” The axewoman growled, matching Mori’s glare with one of her own. “He’s surrendering. And we need information.”

“So read their journals and books.” Mori snarled aloud, her grip tightening on the goblin’s throat. “I ain’t in the mood for being nice.”

“D’you really think we’re going to salvage anything readable from this?” Thadar snapped, stepping forward so that she was chest to chest with Mori. Her free hand waved at the devastation sprawled around the room, the overturned chairs and tables, the goblinoid bodies hacked into bloody chunks or scattered across the walls by hammer-blows. “And unless you see a man’s corpse in here, I doubt we’ve got the bastard. We need information, and that means talking.”

The two bristled sharply at each other’s words, both visibly struggling to restrain their anger at each other. While the rest of the group busied themselves with anything but the confrontation, searching through the bodies or taking up position beside the door, Gasin forced himself to his feet and staggered over to where the axewoman and the hammerwoman were staring each other down.

“Mori.” Gasin rasped. “Stand down.”

“But--!”

“Enough.” Gasin’s voice took on a darker edge, eyes narrowing to black slits a second time. “If we can learn from this creature what I think we can…”

He paused for a long moment, before suddenly jerking his head toward Dubmith. Taking her cue, she stepped forward to stand before the goblin, immediately launching into a discussion in its strange language. It stammered something out, squirming nervously.

“They were attacked.” Dubmith translated. “Some time before we arrived. Creatures that looked like them, but which fought like monsters. They came from the other pits – near where we came from.”
The goblin babbled something further in its own language, flinching as Mori began to glare daggers at it from the sidelines, her hand still on her weapon.

“He says they were…” Dubmith cocked her head to the side, trying to parse the goblin’s frantic babble. “Flesh-broken? No, no – flesh-dead. Moving, but not alive.”

“Thralls.” Hathur murmured, a note of disgust clear in her tone. “Or walking corpses.”

“Dubmith,” Gasin rasped, coughing painfully as he leaned against a table for stability.  “Ask him… ask him about the Sage.”

Dubmith nodded shortly before turning back to the goblin, her mouth forming the odd, warped syllables of the Goblin language. It was slow going, slowed further by the goblin’s blind terror and the seething, murderous presence of Mori at her side; several times she was forced to repeat her question when the goblin chief could not or would not understand, but at last a pattern in the responses had begun to emerge.

“Was the Sage here?”

Dubmith turned to face Lord Gasin, pale and drawn but forcing himself to stand and move. There was a desperation in his eyes, a wild, almost animalistic look halfway between blind panic and obsessive need. His teeth were so tightly clenched that Dubmith momentarily feared he would draw blood from his lip as he limped toward her, every motion no doubt setting his wounded leg to shrieking.

“Was he?”

“He was.” Dubmith’s voice was as soft as ever, but in the tense silence of the ruined tavern-barracks it might as well have been a ringing scream. “Master Crewcanyons – he was here. Days ago and going back south, but…”

“It will be enough.” Gasin breathed out slowly, as though relieved. He made for the door at a limping stride. “Come with me. I will need your map…”

“Good.” Mori murmured, turning away with a soft, rasping breath to retrieve her hammer. Dubmith nodded and stepped back from the goblin as the greenskin’s hands leapt up to massage its bruised neck, busying herself with striding toward the entrance to re-join Gasin and the others. She was hardly surprised to hear the sharp snarl of rage behind her, accompanied by the goblin’s shriek of terror and the splattering crunch of bronze meeting bone. Mori emerged a few moments later, the front of her armour covered in blood and bits of brain matter.

“Went for your back once it was turned,” She growled, when Dubmith turned her head and raised an eyebrow at the gory sight. “Had to put the bastard down before it got to you.”

Dubmith didn’t believe Mori’s words for a moment, but neither did she care enough to make a fuss of it as they walked back to where Gasin had gathered the rest of their band.

“— the Sage’s current location.” He was saying, pointing to a small marking on the annotated map before them. “A small castle in the Realm of Silver.”

“Aye? And what makes you say that?”

Gasin pointed down at the map spread out before them. “The goblins – they mentioned that the Sage was going southward; doubling back. If we hadn’t heard what we did, and kept chasing him northwards –”

“He’d have slipped right through and escaped.” Gencesh finished for him. “But… why there?”

“Because it’s been abandoned for years.” Dubmith chimed in, voice subdued. “Contact was lost after the winter of ‘86. We all assumed it was due to plague, or thralls. No-one wanted to risk either by going there.”

Her jaw tightened, and she exchanged a worried glance with Gasin. “Now… now it looks like something more sinister.”

“Aye, and then there’s this. Take a look around –” Sizet gestured with her free arm at the towers and trenches around them group, face darkening as she went. “We’ve killed enough of these creatures for me to lose count, and for all of that we’ve barely made a dent in these pits as a whole. The rest of these towers are still crawling with the bastards, and that’s without even going properly underground.”

“What are you saying, Sizet?” Hathur turned her head toward her friend in apparent curiosity, though the look in her eye betrayed her suspicions.

“I’m saying that this was a feint from the start.” Sizet answered, bluntly. She began to pace about, spear tapping up and down with each motion to underscore her words. “The bastard knows he’s hunted. So he strings us along – makes it look like here’s trying to run off here, and hide among the pits. We come barrelling in here, piss off the greenskins or run into those undead hordes –”

“–And they rip us apart while he doubles back for home.” Hathur finished, grimacing. Her fingers went white on the handle of her axe. “That son of a whore…”

“But we know where he is now.” Thadar growled, pointing toward the map with her axe. “We can corner the bastard. Bring him down, once and for all.”

“We must.” Gasin’s voice was grim, and his face as bleak as the tundra. “But wh – if[ we fail… know that I am proud of you all, and of what we have achieved on our travels.”

He did not wait for a response from them, instead turning on his undamaged heel and beginning the long trek toward the party’s destination. It would help distract him from the knowledge of what was yet to come.

---

TBH, this chapter doesn’t feel up to my usual standards, but I was struggling to find a way to write it that wasn’t endless repetitions of the same overall fight or full of pretty overtly stilted dialogue. Still, next chapter should be the end of turn 92 and a step closer to clearing my backlog of writing.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Eric Blank on May 23, 2023, 03:16:38 pm

Ok, so for the last part of my playthrough, I need to know; someone a few months ago found a way to strip necromancy/vampirism/werecurses from creatures, does anyone remember anything about that?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on May 23, 2023, 05:16:09 pm

Quote from: Eric Blank on May 23, 2023, 03:16:38 pm

Ok, so for the last part of my playthrough, I need to know; someone a few months ago found a way to strip necromancy/vampirism/werecurses from creatures, does anyone remember anything about that?

http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=173245.0

It's an old thread but the techniques suggested by Atomic Chicken and Saiko Kila both seem to work. If your adventurer has lots of different syndromes it might be hard to pinpoint the one you specifically want to remove, though.

Quote from: Quantum Drop on May 23, 2023, 09:40:54 am

TBH, this chapter doesn’t feel up to my usual standards, but I was struggling to find a way to write it that wasn’t endless repetitions of the same overall fight or full of pretty overtly stilted dialogue. Still, next chapter should be the end of turn 92 and a step closer to clearing my backlog of writing.

Your writing is excellent as always. The damned Abyssal Cult rears its head again!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Bralbaard on May 23, 2023, 05:21:55 pm

Quote from: Eric Blank on May 23, 2023, 03:16:38 pm

Ok, so for the last part of my playthrough, I need to know; someone a few months ago found a way to strip necromancy/vampirism/werecurses from creatures, does anyone remember anything about that?

For a less dfhacky method:  (only need to bodyswap to make the creature playable again)

It is told that Bor Mazeconstruct discovered the secret of life, and cleansed Bralbaard of his undead state, and returned him to life.
The method he described was the following;

The person undergoing the ritual should be brought to an area that naturally reanimates the dead.
The ritual on Bralbaard was performed by Bor at the Charcoal Pit, but other reanimating lands should work as well.
There the person should die in a way that does not mutilate the body.
Next, The person overseeing the ritual should wait for the body to be raised from death by the natural necromantic force of the land.
It is important that it should be raised by nature, and not a necromancer's spell! This can take *days* of observing the corpse, real time.

Once the body is raised from death, the observer should take command of the raised corpse by the arcane magic of "dfhack's bodyswap".
Once done, the  observer can return to his own body. The ritual is complete even though the raised corpse at this point is still undead, the work has been done.

Once the subject is left behind, the *worm* will claim him and cleanse him.

If at any point the raised corpse resumes his adventure he will have lost his undead status, and be truly alive. (OOC: you can select him from the adventurer screen but he will have a weird name, probably the last in the list, you will have to rename him)
There are drawbacks and advantages to his new state.
-Some characteristics, like birth date, race etc. remain the same, proof that it is still the same person
-the person will lose all skills
-the person's body will change it's appearance, as if a new person, any wounds will be healed.
-Despite being alive, and cured of undead status, the person will remain immortal, even if belonging to a mortal race.
-it has not been tested if this works against werecurses, or vampirism, it certainly did cure being an intelligent undead, or normal undead.
 

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on May 23, 2023, 06:53:28 pm

I mean, it certainly has a roleplay-friendly necromantic charm, but losing your name and all your skills does seem a steep price to pay!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Eric Blank on May 24, 2023, 03:39:29 am

Thanks, I'll see how this turns out.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on May 26, 2023, 07:09:58 am

Any update Eric? Did you solve your curse problem?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Eric Blank on May 26, 2023, 02:09:55 pm

Kinda? Theyre there, but nameless (the random name shown on the adventurer selection screen doesnt stick) and their missing body parts didn't heal. I consider it a partial success?

I'll upload the save tonight.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Eric Blank on May 26, 2023, 10:39:27 pm

Alright, here we go!

https://dffd.bay12games.com/file.php?id=16718

I'll finish the write-up in the next couple days, hopefully.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Bralbaard on May 27, 2023, 01:36:10 pm

Here we go indeed! The second millenium is upon us!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on May 27, 2023, 02:33:05 pm

Good luck on your turn Unraveller!

Still waiting on your stories from your last turn!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Maloy on May 27, 2023, 06:07:14 pm

Hey Arthur and Miara's son Arandil became a hammerer! Proud of the boy!

Looks like Maloy's projects are going along swimmingly still although most of the sites Arthur claimed and gave away seem to have just been reconquered by the goblins sadly....

Good luck Unraveller!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Lurker Z on May 27, 2023, 07:10:02 pm

Quote from: Maloy on May 27, 2023, 06:07:14 pm

Hey Arthur and Miara's son Arandil became a hammerer! Proud of the boy!

Looks like Maloy's projects are going along swimmingly still although most of the sites Arthur claimed and gave away seem to have just been reconquered by the goblins sadly....

Interesting news, I have the save, but I haven't converted it into Legends Viewer yet.

Good luck, Unraveller. I hope you have time for your turn, I've been meaning to get up to date with the stories, and I haven't read most of the ones since my turn. I also hope you're on because I'd like for human civs to be playable in fort mode again, I still had some work on that castle, if even so I don't associate my human characters with the dwarven civilizations so they don't get recruited into the meat-grinder that is Ilrallenod.

---

I'm glad Desli is back. (Is she inhabiting the same body? Is she a reincarnation? I only read that she's back.)

---

Quote from: Bralbaard on May 23, 2023, 05:21:55 pm

-snip-

Just to make sure for my turn, this is your current character, yes?

(https://i.imgur.com/hJyvZWT.png)

And the following one, if I should find and plan for it, can be used by myself for anything, yes?

(https://i.imgur.com/UVfRG3K.png)

---

Since I'm writing here, did you know the tragic tale of Ves Ledrazor the Ultimate Oblivion (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Ves_Sacathsetoc)? An athletic friendly rival (LV calls them "atheltic buddies") of Dreamypuzzled himself in over 23 contests ("spoiler", Dreamypuzzled wins all of them, because he's a demon. A shock, I know.), he died in the Great War and was brought back as undead by Oddom, then fought in over 100 battles for her. He met his end to Dreamypuzzled itself while raiding its capital. I wonder if the demon recognized him and mourned his existence, or it was just another shambling undead that it put down without a second thought?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Bralbaard on May 28, 2023, 10:45:27 am

Both of those Bralbaards are the same person/body. If legends viewer is tracking it as two entries I would not know why. Possibly the natural reanimation caused it, or the glitch afterwards that causes the subject to become mortal again. Anyhow, it is no use looking for a corpse in the hill of bogs.

The only other part of me for which the location is known is my right hand's left hand, I think.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Lurker Z on May 28, 2023, 11:48:04 am

By LV's standards, those are two different "souls", or IDs. This makes it even more confusing because vanilla has some parameters named "souls" and I don't think they mean the same thing as IDs. Vanilla "souls" seem to be more like identity as in false names, since a single creature can have several souls.

Anyway, by ID and Legends Viewer terms, the original Bralbaard is still roaming the world and what you're wearing is a copy - albeit a regenerated copy - with a completely different ID. I was thinking of trying something with the original ID. Maloy had mentioned in some post of seeing that discarded body running around aimless in the wilderness, though I don't know if that happened in-game or if it was just roleplay.

Legends Mode agrees they are two different people:
(https://i.imgur.com/n56wFtb.png)
I'm sorry, Bralbaard, you're officially a clone, lol. Both in body and in soul.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Maloy on May 28, 2023, 12:49:53 pm

Yes, the part I found turned out to be the zombified hand. Since it wasn't technically unintelligent I guess it just left the site to wander the forests

There was one site, whose name I don't remember now, that I suspected would have a Bral part, but I never got around to it because I was low on time and Arthur and Miara barely survived the dark ones at falsetower.

Also I once killed a demon master in fortress mode and when I went to his fort in adventure his body was laying out front. So I wonder if some HFs die in fort missions that their bodies get transported back to their original settlement?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Eric Blank on May 28, 2023, 02:16:00 pm

I noticed the different souls/IDs aspect too with Pik and Desli at the end of my turn. The resurrection as "mortals" worked, but the new bodies are not the same person at all; its just a zombified body that lost its undead syndrome and becomes a valid historical figure/adventurer. For roleplay purposes, you can claim they were resurrected/are the same person, but from the game's perspective, the only tie they had was being the reanimated body of the dead individual. Since in this case it was the main body, with the upper body included, it means there's no corpse out there of the original that can get resurrected. However, there may be bits and pieces, say arms and heads, that can be reanimated, fully healed and become valid hist figs if body-swapped to and given a nickname.

The only differences in this case between these and the animated body parts of someone infected with a werecurse is that body-swapping to them seems to cement them as a valid historical figure, which may be why the game doesn't crash when loading them up. They also werent animated by a necromancer.

Theoretically, you could use this to create an army of clones and clones of clones. But that's not safe to do with a community game save, maybe something to try on our own time.

The only other question is, whether or not the werecurse was also successfully purged.



Oh, also, Ciko was technically born several years before Desli had died, and I didn't know enough about dfhack to change her birth date, so I just ignored it...
So to answer your question, Lurker, Ciko is a reincarnation of Desli, because the corpse is lost in the Hungry Aching Woods.





Here's the second part of the journey:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

The Final Destiny of Pik and Desli

(https://i.imgur.com/81uuO4B.png)

"So then they told me, they couldn't resurrect me again, my body was gone, so they would have to reincarnate me."

"Okay, so did the dwarves throw you in the lava or something?"

"No, Tithleth said that it was destroyed by something bigger, like a god."

"But they didn't say who?"

"They didn't, no."

The walk through the forest was quiet, and peaceful. Only once did they encounter wolves, not brave enough to harass them both. They did startle a grizzly bear, who attacked them, but was put down unceremoniously. They were traveling back south to Ashcinders, the only place where they could acquire dwarven steel, this time in Pik's size.

"I want you to meet my new parents, Ive wanted to prove I wasn't crazy for decades."

"We should find out what the gods want us to do first. It sounds like we might not have much time left."

"Well, maybe not another three hundred years, but we don't exactly have to sprint across the world."

In a few days, they arrived at Ashcinders again, and found Pik a suit of steel fitted for humans, and a blistered metal long sword. Apparently, all the divine weapons taken from the vault were brought here, where the dwarves melted them down and worked them into skillfully crafted pieces of modern equipment. Conveniently provided for free to adventurers "working for the museum." The dwarves also asked them to deliver a gift, Fortresssect the andesite ring.

(https://i.imgur.com/FKuHbtS.png)

After another week traveling they returned to the Realm of Silver, in the hamlet of Speechrags. Here, Pik stopped in his tracks, "there are undead here."

"Zombies?"

"No, resurrected."

"I should probably sit this one out."

Pik crept off, while Desli set a small fire in the middle of the farm field to attract them. Soon, Pik came upon an unarmed stalker, creeping towards the fire. She ignored him at first, probably assuming he was attacking the mortal like she was. She was almost, but not quite, caught totally unawares by the sword swinging by her neck. Pik used his power to propel her away, slamming her into a tree trunk, and his sword missed twice more before a third swing finally connected to her lower arm as she came in to strike him in turn. Her blows did nothing, but she could in turn propel Pik into the earth. He scrambled to his feet just in time to avoid a boot crashing down where his skull had been, and swung out to slice her leg in twain, bringing her to the ground. With two more blows, he quickly cleaved her head in two. The other undead was crawling across the field further north, disemboweled and missing an arm and a leg. Decapitating him was relatively easy. The two spent the rest of the night here, before moving on to the north, to the Tundra of Heroes. The rest of the trip was uneventful, if cold. Only a starving polar bear harassed them as they marched. They found Boltspumpkin in disarray. Outside the gates of the keep were scattered most of the collection of books, and many of the artifacts and exhibits. They gathered the stray books, brought them inside, and put them on a pedestal inside. The gremlins inhabiting the place had nothing so say about the state of affairs, but they did listen intently to the siblings' story of their adventures, both old and new.

The area to the north had been accosted by demonic patrols, a problem the pair agreed to solve, as they set out to find something they would need for the coming work; at least two more companions. On the way, they encountered their first quarry; a firebreathing clear brute, Seducedeath. Pik crept up on the beast from behind, and attempted to decapitate the beast with his sword, but the blow barely dug into the flesh. The enraged beast turned and breathed a great gout of fire, engulfing Pik and cutting Desli off from the action. Bolts fired from her crossbow missed the beast, while Pik struggled to land another blow, and deflect the demons' fists. Eventually, he would get lucky, severing an arm and mutilating a leg, but the demon struck equally dangerous blows against Pik as well, removing his left arm and with it his shield. Without a shield, more and more blows rained down upon him despite his best attempts to dodge. When the beast grabbed him, there was no escape but to aim for the heart, and one blow struck deep enough into the demon's chest to release a great gout of blood. Eventually, the demon bled to death, surrounded by flames, which still engulfed Pik. With the fight over, Desli guided him to a nearby pool to extinguish the flames. The damage was done, though, and his shield was missing.

For the next challenge, Pik opted to wield the great sword. The sharper adamantine would bite deeper. Again, Pik crept up behind the demon, Largelord the iguana demon, but this time he went for the throat. The blade bit deep into the demon's flesh, and immediately found an artery. The creature whipped around and struck Pik to the ground, catching his head under its clawed foot, and crushed his skull before he could react. The demon bled out and collapsed without moving, leaving Desli to carry her brothers' body back to Boltspumpkin, where she left it. She then set out looking for a new companion.

A few days travel north, she found someone. An ardent worshipper of Sut the Tomb of Quests, she agreed to perform the ritual to protect the future of the world. Her name was Thine Boatsarmors, she was a doctor by trade, but importantly, was able and willing to learn the secrets of Life and Death. She would become the necromaner to aid in the ritual, but first, she would have to resurrect Pik. Again. The Trip back to Boltspumpkin was uneventful, and Pik's resurrection bog-standard. Back in the world of the living, he led the group in collecting the necessary components; two of the slabs that bound demons to this world. The first, The Equal Lord of Riddling, was present in Boltspumpkin. The other, Buriedhate, would have to be taken from Coverashes, the vault where Desli had found it. But the final piece of the puzzle was one innocent and unwilling participant, one Edri Humfocused. She was convinced to come with the party as an entertainer, to delight the world with poetry and song.

The party travelled south for two weeks, beyond the tundra of heroes and the mountains, through the dense forests and on to Coverashes. The Vault was unchanged, the gremlin Zur still overlooking it from the cliff. Inside, Pik retrieved the slab, and soon the party set out for the north again. But they weren't returning to Boltspumpkin. Instead, it would be necessary to conduct the ritual in a temple dedicated to all eleven gods of death, and one would have to be built for the purpose. The party came to Championvaults, and there they enlisted the help of the dwarves of the Walled Dye. A new fortress would be constructed in the mountains, over the camp Longwatches, where Pik and Desli had called home.

The building took long. Almost too long. The shrine itself was a rush job, as the ideal moment approached.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Lurker Z on May 28, 2023, 03:08:30 pm

I was mostly nickpicking anyway, I hope it's not interpreted that I have any issue with that sort of resurrection. I think the interesting part of this method is that the birth date and likely DNA and all other traits of both body and soul are duplicated, which is much better than the method I was considering. Also props to who discovered the technique first and for Bralbaard for using it successfully.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on May 29, 2023, 08:13:36 am

I am intrigued to find out what happened to Pik!

I am also happy that someone used the armour/equipment that I had left in the adventurer's inn in Ashcinders. Looking forward to the rest of your story Eric.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Unraveller on May 29, 2023, 03:03:00 pm

I would really like to play my turn for sure, especially before the Gloryages die from old age without an heir hahaa. However I'm going to need to be dropped two turns down, below Maloy if possible. I won't be home for more than a few hours over the next two weeks. Sorry folks.

And jeez, I really need to write last turn's story before continuing. Well at least I'll try weaving it together somehow.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Lurker Z on May 29, 2023, 03:14:43 pm

Do you think you could look into the save to at least make the human factions playable? If it's not too much trouble, to also add the noble positions for Entrancegrape (Siminsothro) except the military ones (i.e. no Dungeon Master, Militia Commander etc.)? Thanks for telling us of the situation.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Quantum Drop on May 29, 2023, 04:48:55 pm

Turn 92 - PART 1 - (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8425735#msg8425735) PART 2 - (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8446376#msg8446376) PARTS 3-5 (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8474260#msg8474260) - PART 6-7 (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8478979#msg8478979)

---

Windyshingles, 8th Malachite 899.

The sun was rising in the eastern sky by the time the depleted group neared their destination. The small castle of Windyshingles laid in the south of the Realm of Silver, separated from the nearby hamlets by sprawling fields and plains.

The castle’s walls were grey-white stone, mottled with holes or subsiding into piles of broken rock around half-standing walls. The battlements and turreted towers were crumbling into ruin, the crenellations eroded to nothing or driven to collapse in a shower of rock and dust by the frequent rains and snows. A few stubborn lichens and ivies had found a home in the cracks, spreading across the quartzite to form a thin veneer of greens and yellows over the castle’s decaying façade; around the walls’ base, large piles of eroded stone formed a broad moat of debris. Nothing stirred as the septet advanced toward the rotting remnants of the gatehouse doors; even the carrion-feeders had seemingly abandoned the castle to its isolation.

Hathur slowed her pace, the hairs on the back of her neck prickling up. Her skin crawled as old, dark memories clawed their way back up to the surface of her mind; she forced them back down quickly, like stamping on a flame. Other thoughts rose to replace it: the strange lack of crows or ravens for a place supposedly fallen to disease or battle, the stark silence of the surrounding plains. It brought her suspicions to the fore, and she slowed her pace to a careful walk.

“Steel yourself, my friends.” Hathur murmured, voice grim. Her skin crawled strangely as she shot a look back over her shoulder, where Gasin was limping forward, pale-featured and jaw clenched. “There’s something strange going on here.”

Hands dropping to their weapons, the group began to creep forward at a slow, alert pace, eyes warily searching the fields as though expecting some Blight-infected creature to spring from ambush. There was nothing – not a thing stirred as they crossed the wet, grassy plain and reached the main gates.

Carefully, Hathur placed a hand on the soaked wood of the gates and pushed. They swung partly inward on rusty hinges with a squeal of grinding metal before halting, a few chips of rotting wood coming off with the motion to scatter across the grass. One by one, moving in single file to squeeze through the narrow gap, the party entered the castle.

The courtyard was deserted, beyond the bodies of the dead. Most were ages old, skeletonised or desiccated from decay; it looked as though they had been lying exposed for seasons before the group’s arrival, having been left to rot where they had fallen. Others were newer, bloating up with decay. Almost all bore the signs of a violent death – missing limbs, shattered skulls, or eviscerated chests. More disturbing than either was the lack of visible influence from the Blight on the corpses; only a handful showed any sign of its distinctive marks, and those were generally among the most heavily decayed of those present.

“Bodies are badly decomposed.” Dubmith remarked, grimacing as she carefully stepped over one of the decaying corpses. This one was slumped on the ground with a spear driven through the spine, its half-legible features fixed in a look of muted shock or horror and one arm flung out ahead. She could well imagine the unfortunate soul scrambling across the dirt, desperately trying to reach a fallen weapon or comrade before being struck in the back by a flung spear or impaled from behind by a pursing foe. “These people have been dead for at least a few weeks.”

“Poor bastards...” Gencesh muttered, turning one of the bodies over with the head of his weapon. He stifled a shudder at the sight beneath - half the corpse’s head had been completely caved in by a blunt impact, exposing the decaying remnants of his teeth and tongue through the hole in his cheek. The motion dislodged a cloud of flies and a few off-white maggots from the open wound, followed by a wet slapping noise as the remnants of his jaw fell away from the head and joined the bugs on the ground. A few teeth skittered left and right, nubs of enamel speckling the grass white.

“Bloody hell!” Gencesh stepped backward, covering his nose as the stench hit him.

“Well,” Sizet deadpanned, looking down at the corpse. “He’s going to have trouble eating if he ever gets back up.”

“He won’t, Sizet.” He growled, giving her a sidelong look. “D’you need to be so crass?”

“Better crass than crunchy.” Sizet pointed back to the corpse with her spear. Much of her morbidity was a defence against the horror around her; a way of dealing with the sights and smells so common to the aftermath of a thrall attack. “Or crispy, I suppose, once we’re done here.”

Gencesh did not dignify that with a response, instead digging his cane into the ground and beginning to stump away. The party had begun to spread out across the courtyard in the absence of an obvious threat, breaking up into smaller groups according to their loyalties: Gasin was lurking by the courtyard’s main gate, seemingly unwilling to go much further; Thadar was half a dozen  paces away from him, keeping a wary eye out for any sign of danger. Sizet was beside the corpses as before, now joined by the dark-robed figure of Dubmith, who was looking over the bodies with an almost inquisitive gaze. Mori and Hathur were nearest to the centre, alternating between talking with one another and shooting glances toward the sealed doors of the stone keep.  As he drew closer, he could hear the tail end of their conversation.

“-se, then we need to –“

The two of them stopped mid-sentence and turned to face him, expressions carefully guarded.

“What is it, Gencesh?”

“There’s something off about the boss.” Gencesh remarked, pitching his voice carefully low. “He looks… rattled.”

“Aye,” Hathur murmured in agreement. “Lord Crewcanyons seems disturbed by this place. Unnerved. Yet he led into and fought beside us in those pits without so much as blinking.”

“Thralls ain’t the same as goblins and trolls,” Gencesh suggested, but it rang hollow even to him.

“True,” Hathur nodded slightly. “But he’s battled them before. Went through them like a dose of salts, back home. Why’d he be scared of them now?”

“There’s something else about this.” Mori shook her head, grimacing. “Something ain’t adding up here. He didn’t look like this before, even back at your ha–”

A loud rattling from the direction of the keep interrupted her mid-sentence, followed by the thud of a heavy impact.

The group turned as one to face the source of the sound. One of the keep’s doors was shaking violently against its hinges, the seasoned wood visibly starting to splinter as something within rammed against it. Snarls echoed out through the cracks and gaps of the door, accompanied by a low, insistent scratching sound. Mori swore under her breath as the door leapt against its hinges again, bulging outward as more and more blows impacted it from the inside. An axe-blade broke through the wood near the handle, sending woodchips in all directions as its wielder let out a long, braying cry.

“Thralls!”

The doors burst open almost as soon as the words left her mouth, the horde contained within the keep spilling out into the dull morning light. They were a motley collection of humanity – armoured soldiers in rusting iron and bronze, regular tradespeople in tattered clothes stained by rotting blood and dust, a few unfortunate souls dressed in nothing but torn underclothes and the bite wounds that had infected them. Whatever their differences in life, they found a common hell in their infection. Blood and saliva frothing from their gaping maws and through bloodied ribs, they charged the party with a chorus of snarls and howls, breaking up into groups of three and four as the stronger thralls left their weaker kin in the dust in their haste to bury their jaws in new, warm flesh.

While there had been little in the way of thralls or beasts to bar their path, exhaustion had begun to take its toll on the gathered members in the face of the past week’s stresses. It showed in their postures, in their eyes, in the speed of their reactions to the oncoming thralls. Two of the first group of charging creatures went down - one falling with Sizet’s spear thrust through its skull and the other with Hathur’s axe splitting its head from crown to chin – but the last thrall managed to shove its way through the group’s defences and lunge at one of its members, teeth snapping furiously as it closed to striking distance.

“MORI!”

The hammerwoman staggered away from the thrall, slamming her hammer into its skull hard enough to cave it in partway. A second strike ripped the head from its shoulders entirely in a spray of blood and brain matter. Yet it was a blow too late – a quartet of side-by-side punctures stood in the crook of her arm, the skin already beginning to discolour and pale. Mori stared down at it in mute horror, all too cognizant of the wound she had been dealt as the pain began to spread and her head began to burn with sudden fever.

“K...kill me…” Mori managed to wheeze, head sinking down toward her chest. The skin of her face was already becoming mottled, the veins starting to protrude and darken. Her words slurred as she staggered toward them, saliva choking her mouth as she tried to speak. “Please…”

No sooner had the word left her lips, they were followed by a change. Her eyes became sunken and her mouth began to slaver like a wild animal’s; what little colour remained in her skin drained away to leave it a pale mask. When she looked up again, black veins now webbing her face, there was no humanity in her gaze – just the maddened bloodlust and mindless hunger of a Blighted Thrall. Mori Festivereigns of Channeltwigs was gone, and the monster standing in her place underscored that by letting out a rabid howl and rushing toward them with hammer and shield raised.

Stunned by the sudden transformation of their friend, the soldiers of Channeltwigs were slow to react as Mori’s corrupted form rushed toward them, the other thralls trailing behind her at a stumbling half-stride.

Cursing enough to turn the air blue, Thadar pushed her way to the front and barely managed to raise her shield in time to deflect the blow. Mori’s bronze hammer rebounded from Thadar’s shield with the screech of metal striking metal and sent the axewoman staggering backwards from the force of the blow, a deep dent the size of a human head pounded into the iron of her shield. She was already on the offensive again as the axewoman recovered, practically spinning away from Thadar to swing her hammer at Hathur with an ear-splitting howl. She barely dodged the blow, the bronze hammer whipping past her temple to destroy the face of a thrall that had been stumbling toward them.

Hathur scrambled away as the half-decapitated corpse of the thrall crashed to the ground, drawing her axe as she went. Another thrall reached for her with a lesioned hand, only to lose most of its arm to a blow of her axe; its head followed a moment later. She risked a glance past the tumbling body. Mori was still moving toward them, but much more erratically than before – every few steps she would stop mid-motion and stumble, convulsing, shrieking, her free hand clawing at her face hard enough to tear the flesh, then resume her charge against them. The infected hammerwoman’s jaw was working erratically, blood frothing out between the teeth with each motion; her bloodshot eyes snapped from target to target, before finally coming to a focus.

A group of the thralls rushed Gencesh from the sides, teeth snapping and weapons dragging across the ground behind them; Mori came headlong, hammer whirling around her as she charged. He managed to dodge the first thrall with a quick pivot on his undamaged leg, even taking a few of its teeth out with a lucky strike to the mouth. He wasn’t so lucky the second time. Gencesh went down in a spray of blood and bone fragments from his bad leg as the hammer made contact, Mori’s teeth already clamped tight around the flesh of his wrist. His screams as the other thralls joined in were loud, but brief.

Mori herself had broken away from the attack as soon as Gencesh had been hit, rushing toward the rapidly disintegrating group of her former friends. She practically vaulted over Gencesh’s collapsing form to lunge at Thadar, her hammer ringing off the side of the grizzled axewoman’s shield and sending her staggering backward again. The shield was barely holding its shape by this point, entire sections of it curling or cratered from where it had bent under repeated hammer blows. Thadar responded with a rapid swing of her axe that drew blood from Mori’s upper arm, cutting partly through the muscle before being forced to fling herself back to evade the hammerwoman’s retaliatory blow.

Thes situation among the rest of the group was scarcely better. While the thralls lacked Mori’s skill and even her strength, they had the advantages of surprise, exhaustion, and simple, ravening hunger on their side. With Gasin seemingly paralysed and the Blighted coming from every direction, their organisation was rapidly beginning to disintegrate as the horde’s surges cut them off from one another. Thadar and Dubmith were at his sides, slashing and stabbing at any thrall that dared to come too close; Hathur and Sizet were standing several meters apart, separated by the swarming infected and desperately trying to fight their way back through the horde to rejoin their comrades.

Sizet drove her spear through the throat of another charging thrall before kicking them off the shaft toward Hathur with a shout. The axewoman wheeled around and let fly withy her axe in reply, taking most of the thrall’s head off with a single blow. The half-headless body blundered past her for a few faltering steps before collapsing, to be trampled underfoot by the charging thralls that replaced it. She felt her throat run dry and tighten at the sight of the two leading them – Mori and Gencesh, weapons swinging in wide arcs at everything around them, snarling and gnashing at the air as the two of them half-ran, half-staggered toward the five surviving members of the party.

“We need to fall back!” Gasin was vaguely aware of Sizet’s voice, scratchy from exhaustion and the beginnings of panic. “They’re killing us a- AUGH!”

Her voice cut out in a shout of pain. He barely needed to look to know what had happened. The spearwoman was on the ground, pinned on her back by a trio of thralls – Mori kneeling on her chest, Gencesh and another two on her arms, all trying to bite through her armour and get at the flesh beneath. Sizet was struggling as best as she could, trying to wrench her arms free from the thralls’ death grip, head thrashing back and forth as she sought to avoid their flailing fists and fingers.

Hathur let out a sound halfway between a scream and a cry of rage, shoving past Gasin’s paralysed form and beginning to shove her way toward Sizet. One of the thralls broke away from the attack to charge her, only to go down in a spray of blood as she hacked it down with three hard blows – one to sever its forearm, the second and third to split the head in half down to the sternum. She was a dozen paces away when the thralls finally managed to tear Sizet’s helmet off. None of those present would forget the sight or sound of Mori biting down, tearing half of Sizet’s mouth and chin off.

Hathur shouted a denial as Sizet began to convulse on the ground, limbs thrashing about as her flesh began to rapidly discolour. Blood flew as they both struck at the thralls around them, one in a desperate attempt to reach her friend and the other in blind terror and fury. She was three steps away when Sizet bolted upright, blood and chunks of tongue frothing out between her torn lips as she snarled at her former friend. Hathur’s axe met Sizet’s spear with a shriek of metal on metal as the infected spearwoman lunged at her, trapping the shaft long enough to half-instinctively smash her shield into Sizet’s chin and send her staggering backward amid a welter of blood and spittle.

“Hathur!” Thadar roared, tearing her axe free from a dying thrall’s head. Several of the armoured undead had broken free of the main horde and were circling around to bar the castle’s gates. “What the hell are you doing?!”

“Go!” Hathur replied, snarling almost as much as the thralls around her. "Get the hell out of here!”

Not waiting for a response, Hathur plunged forward into the swarming horde. Her axe flashed out left and right, removing faces, tearing off limbs, and carving deep gashes through armour and flesh alike. She split an elderly thrall almost completely in half with a single horizontal blow as he lunged for her, dodged the swing of a second as they kicked the tumbling pieces of their compatriot aside before decapitating it on the return swing, buried her axe in the chest of a third before wrenching it free in a welter of blood and hammering back down, cleaving the thrall from shoulder to pelvis. More came and more died on her axe’s edge, until only her fallen comrades were left standing. Sizet, Gencesh, and Mori paced back and forth before Hathur like trapped animals, bloodshot eyes fixed on her.

“Come, my friends.” Hathur murmured. Her limbs were burning with exhaustion, but she only gripped her axe tighter as she stared them down. “And let us meet again on the Far Shore.”

Sizet had no such words, responding instead with a murderous howl and a thrust of her spear. It rebounded from Hathur’s shield with the shriek of metal on metal; Gencesh’s axe followed moments later, ringing off the side of her iron shield with enough force to chip the edges of both. Hathur retaliated quickly with a blow of her own, the force of the swing cutting partly through Gencesh’s right shoulderguard and into the flesh beneath before he lurched away. A second strike toward Sizet’s neck was narrowly blocked by the shaft of her spear, the blow visibly bending the metal inwards; it did nothing to stop Hathur’s kick from thundering into Sizet’s ribs, sending her backwards with the wet crack of breaking bone joining the thrall’s piercing shrieks.

Roaring with the rage of the fight, Mori shoved her way past Gencesh and Sizet to fling herself at Hathur, hammer already arcing toward her former friend’s head. Hathur staggered out of the way of Mori’s swing, the bronze hammer splitting the air a few inches from her head. Her retaliatory blow bit deeply into the metal of Mori’s right bracer and down into the flesh beneath before the hammerwoman bucked backwards with a howl, blood arcing from the deep cut in her arm. Gencesh and Sizet immediately closed the gap, the two thralls barrelling toward her at a run with their weapons raised and eyes ablaze with murderous light.

Exhaustion weighing her movements down, Hathur barely managed to stagger to the side as they closed in. This time, it wasn’t enough. Gencesh’s axe struck the metal of her right-hand gauntlet hard, the much-abused metal and its straps finally shearing apart under the force of the blow. Sizet’s spear found a gap between the plates of her armour and penetrated the mail beneath, its point ripping through her side in a red-hot bolt of pain. A punch to her face sent her staggering, head ringing with pain as blood gouted from her nose, vision flashing white from the impact.

“GRGH!”

Hathur felt the teeth closing on her arm before she saw them. She wheeled about to face the source, hammering the blade of her axe into the side of her attacker’s torso, but it was already too late. Mori was at her side, her teeth sunk into the bare flesh of her arm where the bracer had broken away, and the axe buried in the plates of her armour hadn’t drawn so much as a blink from her. A cold, numbing pain began to spread from the bite, rushing up her arm and down her back, spreading through her body with every beat of her heart.

Hathur shrugged Mori off with a cry of pain and effort, staggering like a drunkard as the world lurched and roiled around her. The rancid stench of blood and decay was suddenly that much stronger in her nostrils, and the cacophony of battle hit like a hammer, forcing her to her knees. She tried to stagger to her feet, saliva frothing out of her mouth and dripping down her chin, but her legs refused to obey her command. Hathur tried to push herself upright with nerveless fingers, straining with every muscle in her body to move. All she succeeded in doing was causing her head to explode with a spike of pain, driving her back to the ground as the world around her greyed out.

Through her rapidly dimming vision, she could see Mori in the corner of her eye; she was circling around her, almost like she was waiting for her to succumb to the Blight before moving on, relishing her victory. But that couldn’t explain the muted horror in the infected hammerwoman’s eyes, or the liquid trickling down her cheek. Another spike of fire drove itself through her skull, hard enough to turn her vision white and send her convulsing to the dirt. Dimly, she was aware of someone screaming her name.

“Hathur!”

She managed to force her eyes open long enough to catch sight of Dubmith looking toward her, the priestess of Bikda’s black robes now drenched in scarlet and her eyes wide with horror. The ground around her was wet with blood and thick with severed bits of thrall-flesh.

“Fly, you fools!” Hathur had no clue if the priestess could read her lips from that far, even without the saliva choking her mouth. “Run! Go… Now…!”

Her vision went black.

The party was shrinking rapidly – by now, fully half of the company had fallen to the Blight, joining the ranks of those already corrupted by the infernal plague. Those who remained untouched by the Blight were being gradually driven back toward the castle gates as the group surged and swelled around them. Gasin seemed barely sensible, his eyes fixed on some point a thousand yards away. Thadar and Dubmith were barely holding the line against the attacking horde of thralls, particularly now that their infected comrades had begun to reinforce them.

Hathur was still on the ground in the last agonies, her body still convulsing weakly as the Blight finished spreading through her veins, but Sizet, Gencesh, and Mori were all storming ahead of the crowd with their weapons raised and shields at hand. Behind them trailed a handful of mutilated, limping figures – the few thralls that Hathur’s last stand had not bought down, dragging themselves forward on their tattered limbs.

Cursing aloud, Thadar shot a look back at Gasin. The inquisitor was still frozen in place, his arm hanging limply at his side, completely oblivious to his allies' pleas and the horror unfolding around him.

“Well, this is a right bloody mess.” Thadar spat.

“What do we do, then?!” Dubmith snapped back in response, twisting about to slash a charging Gencesh across the right shoulder. He pulled back, to be immediately replaced by Sizet, her spear meeting  the black-robed swordswoman's blade with a clang.

“Get the boss and run.” Thadar replied, jaw grimly set. “I can buy you a few minutes. Long enough to g –” Thadar’s eyes shot open wide in horrified shock. “Watch out!”

Dubmith turned just in time to catch sight of Mori’s twisted features and bloodshot eyes before she was bowled over by the thrall’s charge. The air rushed out of her lungs in a wordless woof as the infected hammerwoman drove her fist into the armour covering her torso with enough force to dent the metal. Questing fingers reached forward, scraping against the metal of her helmet before locking around the gaps and tearing it free with one smooth movement. Sucking in great lungfuls of air in a desperate attempt to breathe, Dubmith awkwardly bent her arm to stab at Mori’s side with her sword; while it pierced the armour and drew blood, it only seemed to enrage the thrall further.

Snarling, Mori lunged downward toward Dubmith, her teeth snapping shut with deadly accuracy and force.

“My… my lord…” Dubmith managed to choke out. Blood bubbled between her lips as her already-pale skin began to drain of all colour, Mori sinking her teeth deeper into the side of her throat. “Why…?”

“’MITH!”

Thadar screamed and wheeled around, swinging for her transforming comrade’s neck with both hands on her axe. She was merely a second too late – the ghoul that had once been Dubmith lurched to the side as the infection finished consuming her, and the axe’s blade barely clipped the side of her shoulder. Dubmith answered the failed attack with one of her own, flailing her shortsword in a dozen different directions as the enthralled priestess’ consciousness struggled to control her newly-infected body, nerves misfiring and muscles convulsing wildly. Her head lolling on a boneless neck, she stumbled drunkenly toward her former comrade.

The other thralls had no such weakness. They closed the distance between them in a few swift strides, and set about their deadly work.

“Gasin!” Thadar roared, slamming her armoured head into Gencesh’s face as the thrall tackled her to the ground. Gencesh pulled back with a snarl of shock, blood streaming from his newly fractured nose, to be replaced by Mori and the freshly turned Hathur. “What the hell’s wrong with you?”

---

“Your retinue.” The High Priestess’ voice was cold. “You have taken them too far into your confidence. You risk… exposure, of yourself and of us. They must be removed before this comes to pass.”

He felt his head snap up, fast enough to put a painful crick into his neck. “They are my most truste-!”

”They are a liability in their current state. Once remade, they shall serve my – and your – purposes much more effectively.” Seeing him raise his head to protest, she fixed him with a bleak stare, bluish-white light flaring around her skeletal fingertips.

“Will this be a problem, Gasin Crewcanyons?”

Hastily, he bowed his head, trembling slightly.

“No, Elder. As I have served, so shall I be of service to you.”

---

“Gasin!” Thadar howled, wrestling with the snarling figure of Mori. The fallen hammerwoman’s jaws were snapping an inch away from her neck, her hands wrapping around her limbs to try and pin hert to the ground. The others were closing in the corners of her vision, the ghouls that had once been her comrades hastening forward to join the attack. “Help me!”

But Gasin did not respond. He merely stood there, numb and calm as a drugged statue, watching her struggle as the tide of thralls closed in with something between detachment and restraint. Not one thrall touched him, flowing around the inquisitor as though he was not even there.

One last scream echoed, among the pitiless stones of the castle.

And then there was silence.

Gasin closed his eyes, letting out a slow, shaking breath as he tried to steady himself. What was done, was done. The painful roiling in his gut, the leaden weight in his chest – they would pass in time. They would have to. His nails bit into his palm with enough force to draw blood as he took another deep, slow breath, forcing himself to step forward toward the broken gates of the castle.

The forms of his companions trailed behind, their heavy, plodding steps ringing in his ears. Their silence was an unwelcome presence after becoming so used to the idle chatter of the members and the clink of their armor.

Unconsciously, Gasin’s hand fell to his sword. He was halfway to drawing it from his sheath when he forced himself to stop, making his arm fall limp at his side.

No, Gasin chided himself, sternly. What you have done cannot be undone. A tainted tool cannot be cleansed again. You belong to her now.

Perhaps if he repeated those words enough times, he would truly come to believe them.

---

…And that’s it for turn 92’s story. (Well, almost.) Time to start writing the next couple; hopefully I’ll get them out before the third millennium rolls around :P.

(I’d like to be put back on the turn list, by the way.)

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Quantum Drop on May 29, 2023, 05:06:50 pm

NOTE: The following chapter serves as a rough epilogue to Turn 92. Wasn't 100% sure whether or not to post it, since the broad strokes will likely be covered in my later turns' stories, but it was mostly written months ago so I figured I might as well finish and put it up.

Abyssdeeps, 14th Malachite, 899.

There was old malice in the soil, here; a black, sorcerous presence that had taken root while the world was still young, and spread itself through the land until it was practically a part of it. The wind was placid and weak, whistling listlessly through the leafless tree-branches. A gritty, almost scabby crust covered the ground for miles around, thick with growths that were half-flesh, half-plant. Huge sections of it were pitted and torn, or covered in discoloured patches and burst blisters weeping clear, pus-like fluid into the parched dirt.

To most, this land would have been utterly worthless. But to those deeply versed in the ways of necromancy and plagues, every scrap of soil here was worth its weight in gold.

This place was a nexus --  a place where dark magic leaked into the world, saturating the land itself with the essence of undeath. Those particularly well-attuned to the flows and shifts of magic could feel it – a crawling, cloying touch upon the skin, or a feverish pulse beneath, forever lurking at the very edge of awareness. 

It was for that reason that the inhabitants had seen fit to build their home in this corrupt place. A great, megalithic citadel of black stone towered over the landscape, rising from the crusted soil and lurching down into the poisoned earth beneath. Black-robed functionaries and scholars swept through the quiet, dusty halls at purposeful strides, tending to the duties necessary to keep the outsized fortress running smoothly. Others hunched over desks and tables, debating the natures of disease and death with one another, or carefully copying mouldering books onto newer scrolls and quires.

And within the megalithic citadel’s highest room, the Council of Four met.

“Report, Warlord.”

The Warlord bowed his head, white-painted gauntlets clasped before him. His armor had been marked similarly, the battered breastplate and shoulderguards now bearing sharp white saltires across the dark iron. They were marks of displeasure; the seal of an execution postponed, to be removed only when the bearer had redeemed their original failing in life or death. Beside him crouched a hunched, bestial form of blistered flesh and iron armour, a heavy, spiked collar clamped tightly around its throat and its face shrouded by a beaked mask of steel. The Warlord held the creature in place by means of a chain, its end looped through an aperture at the very back of the collar and the remainder wrapped tightly around his left wrist to give it as little slack as possible; his right clasped a heavy, double-headed axe.

“Recruitment and training are in hand, Elder,” He replied, keeping his head bowed toward the ground as a sign of submission. His tone was level, and tightly restrained. “Approximately six new acolytes have been drawn from the ranks, though their current skill with our arts is... middling, at best. Many fail to create Risen successfully, or do so only sporadically; by His grace, they will improve given time and training.”

“And what of the thralls, Warlord?”

The High Priestess turned toward her subordinate with a soft hiss of shifting robes, and a pitch-black gaze that demanded an explanation. At the sight of her expression, the Warlord sent a hesitant look to the pallid, impassive gaze of one compatriot before hastening to explain.

“The Thralls are difficult to direct, Elder; separating the new ones from their makers is no small task, either. Several were torn apart before we could contain and isolate them for indoctrination, and a multitude of our menial workers with them.”

The Warlord gestured helplessly with a hand, struggling to hide the sharp bite of fear and frustration in his voice. The theory behind the process was sound, but the newly blessed thralls’ minds were anything but, as the amount of times he had seen one of the newborns continue to tear at the flesh of its maker could attest. “As it stands, perhaps a third have successfully turned and been contained. We’re trying to find a more efficient method, but it’s been an uphill struggle so far at best.”

“Redouble your efforts, Warlord.” The High Priestess’ voice was stern, though thankfully not displeased by the reported issues with his progress. The Warlord fought the urge to shudder in relief as she continued. “Raid the goblin pits and outer hamlets for new flesh to turn, and send the failed dead to the deeps. We cannot suffer a lack of manpower for long.”

The Warlord made a stiff bow. The thrall at his side stirred slightly, snuffling behind its mask before going silent as the Warlord pulled on its chain. “As you command, Elder.”

“Report, Speaker.”

The lone dwarf among the council of humans stepped forward in reply. Any trace of their identity was hidden by the floor-length sable robes that shrouded their entire form and the angular slab of iron that masked their face, bare of any marks or decoration beyond the trails of corrosion around the mouth-slit. A hand moved within the cloak, withdrawing a slender volume from some internal pocket and opening it with the edge of a finger.

“Our works continue to grow, Elder.” The Speaker’s voice was barely above a whisper, sanded away by years of mine dust and muffled by the mask they wore. “The northern winds whisper of those who might seek our blessings, and our mortal agents of places that our blessings have yet failed to reach. By your will, we can reach out to them and begin to acquire a true foothold.”

“Report, Alchemist.”

The Doctor had been unable to attend the gathering, unable to leave the fortress of Silverthrone without arousing suspicion among the Silver Court – or at least, so he claimed. The Warlord suspected (and had barely restrained himself from voicing) that the wrinkled old charlatan was all too aware of his lack of progress, and unwilling to show his face lest the High Priestess’ wrath fall upon him. His apprentice thus attended in his place – a gaunt young woman of perhaps twenty-five seasons, clad in a simple set of robes overlaid with lightweight segments of hardened leather. Belts looped across her chest and waist, laden with phials and sachets of the various noxious concoctions she used in her daily work with thralls of the cult, while her gloved fingers rested upon a pair of long-bladed daggers sheathed at her side.

“My efforts to create a more effective control mechanism continue, Elder,” She replied, voice precise and clipped. “A handful of new compounds show promise on that front. Several of the newborns showed preservation of some higher functions when the mixture was ingested before metamorphosis – the ability to wield arms and armour foremost among them, though their higher reasoning capabilities remain suppressed. However, efforts to create a more… efficient delivery system have so far stalled.”

The High Priestess turned her gaze toward the Alchemist in apparent curiosity, fixing her with a pitch-black eye. “What impedes your work, Alchemist?”

The Alchemist swiftly withdrew a thick volume of notes from her belt, flicking open the covers and hastily flipping through the pages in search of a specific section. The Alchemist grimaced slightly as she found the desired page, though she met her master’s gaze regardless.

“The thrall-contagion can only be transmitted through the bite of a live subject; any effort to extract it from the subjects, new-born or otherwise, has rendered it inert.” Her fingers twitched sharply as she spoke, a sign of the annoyance the Alchemist had experienced in the course of her research. Months of work, dissections, and dead assistants, all to find what she had already suspected. “Saliva, flesh – even direct transfusion of infected blood. Always the result is the same: the contagion becomes inert within moments, and the target experiences not even the merest sign of change.”

The High Priestess gave a low, grumbling sound of disappointment from somewhere deep in her throat. “Unfortunate. And what of the Doctor?”

“Ah…” The Alchemist’s impassive, clinical mask broke for a moment; for an instant, an expression of alarm and faint discomfort at her mistress’s question flashed across her pallid features. “The Doctor regrets that he can report little progress as of the moment: the Housekeeper is proving strongly resistant to his entreaties, and the inner circle of the Law-Giver remains closed to him ‘despite my best efforts.’ Even so, h- I have managed to acquire a shipment of tihqivot that should be quite appropriate for your assigned purpose, Elder.”

“And that would be, Alchemist?”

“A most effective synthesis of arsenic and several other poisons, Elder; very difficult to trace, and easy to pass off as an illness.” Her lips twitched into a faint, cold smile. “Or the ravages of age.”

“Very good,” The High Priestess murmured, slender fingers curling gently at her sides. Her unblinking gaze bored into the Alchemist’s eyes. “But I can tell there is something more that the good Doctor has found. Speak.”

The Alchemist’s stoic features contorted into a tight grimace, either out of distaste at whatever message she was about to deliver or self-directed anger at being caught out in her omission. When she spoke again, there was a noticeable nervous tremor to her words and manner.

“There... there has been a complication, Elder. Children, born of the Usurper’s blood.”

Her words prompted a reaction that was as immediate as it was violent. The Warlord uttered a curse aloud, flinching backward as though her words burned him; the Speaker gave a long, rattling hiss of breath from beneath the iron mask shrouding their face. The form of the High Priestess herself seemed to swell for an instant, frost crackling in all directions around her and the shadows roiling with sudden, furious motion. For the first time, she broke her impassive stance to stalk forward toward the Alchemist, staring the Doctor’s protégé directly in the eye with an almost unbearable intensity.

“You are certain of this?” The High Priestess hissed, breath misting in the sudden cold. Ice crystals formed and dissolved on the edges of her sable robes with every motion she made, slender fingers raising to seize the Alchemist’s shoulder with a grip strong as steel and cold as a corpse. “There can be no mistake?”

The Alchemist shook her head with surprising force, doing her best to keep her expression blank. The presence of the High Priestess was driving her heart to an almost painfully fast crescendo, its rapid tattoo thundering in her chest and leaving her head pounding with blood. Her skin crawled with gooseflesh at her master’s touch.

“If there is, Elder, it is the Doctor’s. But he swears by our Lord and upon his life that he saw the children with his own two eyes.”

The High Priestess turned away from the Alchemist far more swiftly than before, her towering frame trembling with suppressed emotion. Blood dripped from her fingers as her nails bit into the flesh of her palms, her hands balled into white-knuckled fists. The cords of her half-hidden face writhed with emotion: hatred, wrath, and something else, a hot flat reptilian one difficult for any human to decipher seemed to war with one another for control. The other members of the council shifted hesitantly from foot to foot or drew back wholesale, wary of their leader’s sudden state of high dudgeon.

At last, however, the High Priestess’s wrath seemed to subside. The whole of the fortress seemed to shudder gently as she breathed out and flexed her pale fingers, sweeping her gaze across the gathering.

“This… changes things.” She murmured. “This was unforeseen.”

“We need to act, and now.” The Warlord began immediately, voice sounding oddly strained. “Strike before the cubs can become a true threat.”

“And who would carry out that strike, Warlord? You? The butchers now serving under you?” The Alchemist scoffed, shaking her head in open scorn at the Warlord’s words. “Have you forgotten your failure at Silverthrone so quickly? No – a more subtle hand should bear out this action.”

“Gelu tu cadem, tibep!” The Speaker all but roared, fists clenching at their sides. “Think with your head, and not the heart! By the Warlord’s failure, our enterprise stands close to exposure before the Usurper’s eyes; by your effort to serve the Lord, you risk unmasking us entire!” They wheeled to face the High Priestess, unable to hide the desperate, pleading tone to their voice. “My Lady – the Usurper and his brood will no doubt shield themselves under guard after these parlous months. To try and send an assassin would be folly!”

“To you, perhaps.” The Alchemist almost sneered, carefully schooling her tone. “But to others, severing his line shall be a matter of ease.” A cold smile spread across her pallid features as she touched a finger to one of the phials on her belt, the other resting almost idly on her lower abdomen. “A single drop in drink or food - even upon the skin - is all it should take.”

“So claim the pair who have failed to poison so much as a rat.” It was the Warlord’s turn to sneer, the armoured warrior gesturing dismissively with his axe. The thrall at his side drooled and slavered, a noise that sounded suspiciously like gurgling laughter echoing from its saliva-choked throat. “Remind me, little Alchemist, how many years has your master spent embedded within the court like a parasitic tick? What do your grand schemes and toxins have to show for their ambition?”

“Enough of this bickering.” The High Priestess raised a single long finger, the motion bringing an immediate hush in the room. “Our actions are ordained by the Lord of Life Himself; to turn our back on this course is unacceptable. We cannot simply slink silently back into the shadows after the blows we have dealt and been dealt in return. Yet neither are we strong enough to simply tear down the throne the Usurper has forged to spite our mission, nor does our reach extend far enough that we might rot the pillars supporting his false order from beneath." She breathed out, slowly. "My decision is made.

“We will bide our time, build our material resources, induct new acolytes and warriors into our ranks.” The High Priestess curled one slender hand into a stone-hard fist. “And when the time is right, Silverthrone will burn at our hands. But until then...”

For a moment, her cold, shadowed eyes seemed to look far beyond the gathered leaders of the Abyssal Cult, and into the rapidly darkening future before them. Then the trance passed, and she began to give her commands.

“Alchemist, inform the Doctor that he is to redouble his efforts; he must find a way into the Usurper’s inner circle, no matter the cost in material or blood. If he does not find a way to administer that accursed poison to the Law-Giver or even one of his inner council, I will have to find someone more appropriate for his duty.”

“Warlord,” She barked, the armoured figure stiffening in response. “Accelerate the training of our warriors, and quicken the indoctrination of our battle-thralls. We require an army able to match that of the Usurper’s, not a horde of living dead and undisciplined brawlers.”

“Speaker, send your agents further afield. Find those sympathetic to our Lord’s cause within the Realm and without, and ensure that they will support us in the wars to come. Sow dissent among the ranks of those who will not accept the truth.” She paused for a moment, before turning to fix the dwarf with a burning eye. “And pass this command to your networks – search out rumours of those that bear the secrets of life and death, and speak of them to us.”

The High Priestess’ gaze swept across the gathering. “Our Lord expects that all of you shall do your duty. Do not disappoint Him.”

“And what of you, Elder?”

The Warlord’s voice was quiet, but in the silence that had fallen, it might as well have been a cannon’s roar. The Alchemist and Speaker both took several hasty steps backward as the High Priestess’ gaze snapped around to the warrior who had dared question her. She closed the distance between the two of them in three quick strides, staring down at the Warlord with eyes blazing with wrath and unnatural light in equal measure. Many others would have quailed in the face of the High Priestess’s anger, but the knowledge of his delayed death and his predecessor’s fate had rendered the Warlord bold, and he met her stare for stare.

“I remain here.” Her eyes narrowed to slits as a familiar presence impinged at the very edge of her senses. “To consider our next steps.”

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on May 30, 2023, 02:22:23 am

So the creepy fort is Abyssdeeps? Will we find out the true identities of these sinister Abyssal Cult leaders?

Oh, and good luck with your turn Lurker.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Quantum Drop on May 30, 2023, 04:04:01 am

Quote from: kesperan on May 30, 2023, 02:22:23 am

So the creepy fort is Abyssdeeps? Will we find out the true identities of these sinister Abyssal Cult leaders?

Yeah, that was Abyssdeeps as written before I started procrastinating. As for the identities of the leaders, well... that might crop up a little in the future for a couple of them.

(Also, good luck on your turn, Lurker.)

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Lurker Z on May 30, 2023, 01:58:37 pm

Thanks. I haven't gotten any reply from Unraveller, so I'll start my turn tonight. I'll see after the end of my turn if I can replace the raws from my previous turn and it'll allow me to embark as human.

Edit: Maloy, should I leave most of the items that are not mine in Tongstreat? For now, I haven't found the pedestal yet, just random bags and chests. There are an insane amount of bags, chests and pedestal and I find nothing recognizably mine. There were two book copies, are those naturally generated in tombs? I did get some good loot, mostly decked in iron, it's just that axe that's missing.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Maloy on May 30, 2023, 03:31:20 pm

Should all be good to claim I think. The only gear is Maloy’s, but he should be wearing it unless he transformed into werefox

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Lurker Z on May 30, 2023, 04:27:21 pm

I found it! It was the last place I was looking for, lol. So it seems thankfully items don't get reset in tombs or populated places. Well, hours later, it seems I'll finally see some adventure. Hope I can survive long enough this time.

Edit: I had a freeze in Beruina, where LV says there are about 50 sapients. The strangest thing is that I entered in their dormitory where they were all sleeping, I jumped because there was no place to move around them and then everything froze for the last 10 minutes. I ended the task and restarted. Now I'm curious if I should go back. These forts appear to be cursed.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on May 30, 2023, 08:38:06 pm

If you’re interested, Lurker, the adamantine axe which was used to kill you is in The Eternal Citadel on a pedestal in the treasure room at the top of the clear glass pyramid…

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Lurker Z on May 31, 2023, 04:13:50 am

So I think I found the problem with the freezing. And by "freezing" I mean the perpetual circle loading cursor. It's happened again to me in Enôrmigrur where a necromancer was bringing back body parts and I tried to attack them. From these two events, it seems to me that if you try to attack something/someone while in a low FPS area, the game becomes unresponsive.

---

The adventure is going well so far, I've killed several night creatures and even an undead elf, as well as some blighted thralls. I don't know if it was mentioned, but the Mead Hall of Ikimimap (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Ikimimap) is a FPS killer. Thankfully, it's not actually corrupted. LV says there are only around 110 elves and goblins in town, but it's becoming more and more apparent this world no longer accepts interacting with over 50 creatures, at least in certain areas. Thankfully, it allowed me to quick travel away from there.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on June 02, 2023, 08:52:25 am

Yeah, I found Pleatedhorse was very laggy when Moldath tried to cleanse the elven and goblin criminals there over 100 years ago but I put it down to them all trying to leave the door at the same time causing pathfinding issues.

Glad the adventure is going well. Did you recover the axe that Moldath gave you?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Lurker Z on June 02, 2023, 12:19:29 pm

It's the one I killed everything with. Thanks again to Moldath for giving it to me and to Maloy for resurrecting me and storing my stuff safe. I don't think I'll be seeing that adamantine axe that killed me this turn. I've made my submission to the Museum, a cinnabar coffer with many ☼items☼ retrieved from the capital Stozuutong (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Stozuutong). I also killed some high-ranking members, but I got out of there before I found the Master.

Items are scattered outside the Museum's gates, though some appear to have remained in place.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on June 02, 2023, 04:00:13 pm

Yes I think the only solution to this problem would be embarking a player fort over the museum.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Eric Blank on June 02, 2023, 06:40:15 pm

I dont think that will work, as i experienced the same artifact scattering in my fort, after retiring and visiting it.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on June 02, 2023, 06:44:48 pm

In my experience, items which are displayed on constructed pedestals don’t seem to scatter.

Making a fort over the museum is not something to be considered lightly. If the site crashes it’s game over.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Lurker Z on June 06, 2023, 01:43:42 pm

Here's the save.

https://dffd.bay12games.com/file.php?id=16740

Good news: I copy-pasted the raws from Unraveller's last turn and I could embark as a human again. The same bugs remained, but enhanced: I only received blighted thrall migrants and some of them insta-crashed the game. I restarted the "migrant event" about 7 times and each time I only received headless, bodyless blighted thralls of which some could actually run around and attack my humans. Another issue is that I appear to be unable to settle Lurker in player made forts, though that might be related to him being undead. I am once again grateful for Bakturrakbin's existence, it's a great home away from home.

Before I archived, I once again replaced the raws with Unraveller's and tested it on a throw away save, which didn't crash, so things should be good.

Good luck Maloy. And put me for another turn please, Bralbaard.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Bralbaard on June 06, 2023, 02:59:00 pm

Since we are into the second millenium now, I thought it would be good to post an up to date version of the population graphs:


(https://i.imgur.com/Y4GfUOP.gif)


50% of the kobold population has perished during Lurker's turn.
We are down to 10 kobolds!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Lurker Z on June 06, 2023, 07:01:35 pm

I only killed one single kobold though. :o And I remember being ambushed by and killing some animal men, but it doesn't register in Legends Mode. It might be the part where I killed a different elf, then had a crash for some reason. I can also report that during fortress mode as the dwarven races, I have had no crashes or issues, so it's pretty stable on that part. I reclaimed Shadmalzuglar (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Shadmalzuglar), the former capital of Malladang which had fell into demonic hands since Adilatírans dug too deep in year 101, and it felt more of a slog than Ilrallenod. Maybe because I started from the beginning, maybe for other factors that I can't understand. It took me two in-game years just to haul everything to the relative surface. Also the filthy gobs seem to have removed the beds (or they crumbled to dust?) since they conquered the place, and left the 2x2 rooms filled with clothes that I'm not sure I managed to clear before I retired the place.

Speaking of stats, I might as well give the half-year report for the Orid Xem tops (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Orid_Xem_tops) (raw data view (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Orid_Xem_tops?type=revision&diff=13856&oldid=12411)). I was planning to do this monthly, but there's not much movement in the data to warrant me basically saying the same thing every month.

In the most linked civilizations, not much movement. Adilatír remains by far the most linked with almost 250 links, while Omon Obin is behind at about 180 links. Mong Uthros and Ribiromimi have taken head positions at about 10 links Nusmzolak in front of Quogubpesor‏‎ and Stragdamsto, and Malladang is bringing up the rear; considering the many massacres the goblin civilization has done through history, I don't think it'll be bumped out.

Most linked people remain Moldath, Bralbaard, Avolition and Oddom. Moldath has 110 links and Bralbaard has some over 80; against my expectation, Avolition is really not catching at only above 70 links as I expected him to gain more ground; Oddom remains constant as once again she was an important historical figure and more to the point, she arrived after many a settlement's conquest and raised the corpses of the freshly fallen. Hannibal has jumped to 5th place, unsurprisingly considering he exists in many a blighted killer's history for being the precursor of their maddened existence. The rocs Ricote and Calovi also remain constant, and it also surprises me that Islas is once again not in this top; Ricote has overtaken Lurker Onecbehal, whose gradual fall from the top was unsurprising to me, since he died a long time ago. Metuganra Pewtha (Lonelythrall) is also surprisingly hanging on there, which is once again a testament to his actions since he hasn't been active since before the 720s. Bringing up the rear is Kanil Xemisdi (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Kanil_Xemisdi), a chosen necromancer that did not survive into the Age of the Museum, but which has interested me greatly. Special mentions to those just behind the top, including Jas, Raki, Lurker Wogeathis (my current character) and Cog (the destroyer of Dalzatèzum), Islas (the first roc, who continues to threaten, but not yet impose himself in the top), Galka Linarad‏‎, Iden the Bandit King, Asmel the last natural vampire and Kothvir.

The battle of the Gods is starting to mirror their actual influence in Orid Xem, with Avuz taking the first place, followed by Ala, Bikdá, Erib Ugosh and Mata Koseñor. After them come the Adilatírans deities Uzol, An Koshosh Anban and Tithleth. Loli Kejeligir of Omon Obin is the 9th and Kezat‏‎ of the same dwarven pantheon is the 10th. Gopet is left out, but he might make a comeback. It is a surprise that Cacame too is not in that list, though definitely it won't be the last we heard of the elven force. Avuz by far dominates the Adilatíran pantheon at the least, probably because of her powerful religions and though she's probably nowhere near as influential as Ala world-wide, she's taken the lead because Adilatír is the civilization closer tied to adventurers, as those retiring in Boltspumpkin have ascended to Adilatíran nobility.

Of the dynasties there's not much to say, as I haven't focused on them and those I do will rise to the top and remain there until I focus on other dynasties. House Anthad is the 3rd in that top.

That's about it. Next report will hopefully be in the New Year.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: TheFlame52 on June 06, 2023, 08:15:23 pm

How are you scoring the gods? Number of events? Related historical figures?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Lurker Z on June 06, 2023, 08:55:58 pm

Everything is sourced from this page (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Special:MostLinkedPages?limit=1000). It's very arbitrary. But I find it interesting that the Gods' ranks on the wiki are starting to line up to the influence I assume they have in Orid Xem. There are a lot of Adilatír Gods because I made a lot of articles about Adilatír creatures (mostly Kings and nobles). A more objective view could be seen here (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Orid_Xem_tops#Religions), where I scored the top 10 religions by number of events. Cacame doesn't have a religion, but considering there are over 3000 historical figure elves, it should be in the top 6 worshiped throughout history alongside Ala, Mata, Avuz, Bikdá and Loli. Of the six, Avuz and Ala are also the Gods that I've seen crossover in other races. Though honestly, I have my doubts about Loli. I have no idea how he scored both in top 10 eventful religions and is top 10 linked. It might be that Omon Obin rulers worshiped him, and that I made many articles on Omon Obin creatures too. My guestimate is that Ala dominates on number of worshipers by a landslide and as 4 of the 10 top religions are Ala worshipers, that seems to confirm it to me.

Edit: Mata also infiltrated goblin society, and it's interesting that of all the Gods, she belongs to a rump state but somehow managed to spread outside her civilization. Ala also infiltrated goblin society, but took a large score of the elves originally worshiping Cacame. Now that I think about it, I don't think I've seen an elf worship anything other than Cacame or Ala. I wonder what's that about. Did Ala worship crush all other deities or is it something about Ala that is attractive to the elves?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on June 07, 2023, 02:24:48 am

On my brief browse of Legends Viewer I can see there is a new Queen of The Walled Dye for the new millennium, but she doesn’t appear to have travelled to Treatyseed, perhaps because she is trapped underwater in Lurker’s crazy fort to the far north west.

Have fun with your turn Maloy!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Lurker Z on June 07, 2023, 05:27:33 am

I was actually worried about that. The old King not dying, not a new Monarch appearing in that fort. Well, once she dies, the capital will move to wherever it wills, so that's interesting. I thought I accidentally gave the old King immortality since he had some secret showing up in Legends Viewer. I did take over Treatyseed at one time and he was still running around, so it's curious how he died. It's great that you noticed, kesperan.

Edit: 1000-05-04 In 1000, midsummer, (4th of Malachite) Udil succumbed to infection in Treatyseed.

Uh, what? I have no idea how that happened. Also, I'm starting to think he learned immortality in Falsetower.

I was going to say I was renouncing Deephalls as a lost cause, but then LV says there are 12 dwarves. Where from? Last I left it with 7 dwarves. Dwarves can definitely get there, or spawn from cave soil nowadays? I was going to renounce Deephalls because the logistics of getting there are just too harrowing and there's only so much I can do with 7 dwarves, who will die of old age eventually even if I let them make offsprings, even those will die in the long scale of this game. I... probably won't rethink my stance, there's not even much in the depths of the ocean worth mining. There's marble, but marble's pretty ubiquitous around the world. Aside from that, I don't receive caravans either, and for me that removes a big part of the fun of the game.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Maloy on June 07, 2023, 05:55:07 am

I've begun my turn today! Here is hoping I accomplish everything I want to in time!


@Lurker that was part of my inspiration for Arthur and Miara. For some reason Cacame worship isn't spreading to reclaimed elven settlements. The newly generated elves and Hands of Planesgifts all seem to be atheists. Fearing an inveitable purge of the elves(such as with the blight) I wanted to make some cacame worshippers who'd keep it alive


So far in this turn's fun discoveries for me I found that in certain places Hands of Planesgifts are cloning themselves.
Exact copies appearing over the corpses of their counterparts shortly after their deaths.
Glitch for sure, but my head canon is they are like Sea anemone and clone themselves

ANOTHER EDIT

I forget who owns Juvar in Padcalls ruling the Lone Soldier of Fortune. Goblins have been trying to take the town in sieges a lot, but can't
I planted some citizens there my last turn and the last one was killed recently in the last siege. He is back to being the lone soldier of fortune

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: AvolitionBrit on June 08, 2023, 07:38:30 am

Classic goblins

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Lurker Z on June 08, 2023, 07:47:01 am

Quote from: Maloy on June 07, 2023, 05:55:07 am

I've begun my turn today! Here is hoping I accomplish everything I want to in time!

Good luck!

Quote from: Maloy on June 07, 2023, 05:55:07 am

I forget who owns Juvar in Padcalls ruling the Lone Soldier of Fortune.

According to my intel, he was an initial traveling companion of Leto (http://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Leto_Uxenon_Edlal), though I, in turn, forgot whose character Leto is.

One of my regrets is that I didn't visit Mabkor, but there's always next turn. I really want to see what you did with the place. Did you start using gui/advfort on it? I've started learning the ropes with it and it's awesome! With a little tweaking (https://docs.dfhack.org/en/stable/docs/tools/gui/advfort.html), you can even build with bones or gems, all in complete vanilla and without mods! And thanks again for the resurrect.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on June 08, 2023, 10:04:00 am

Leto belongs to NoGoodNames, as does Juvar the crippled vampire.

Leto appears also to be a vampire, after accidentally drinking some of Asmel Minepass's blood while visiting the Museum. He later became a Baron of the Nations of Honoring and is now part of the government as a "human historian vampire" Guild Representative - he has also visited dwarf forts in his guise as guild representative and drained some hapless dwarves of blood...

Quote from: dikbutdagrate on April 23, 2023, 07:58:55 pm

I had a feeling it was the end when a vampire historian diplomat from a human civ showed up and made a straight b-line to the tavern, and just drained this dude in front of everyone, before casually strolling over the mayor's office to have a meeting about trade. Drained someone else, and left before any crime was reported!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: dikbutdagrate on June 08, 2023, 12:36:37 pm

Quote from: Bralbaard on June 06, 2023, 02:59:00 pm

Since we are into the second millenium now, I thought it would be good to post an up to date version of the population graphs:


(https://i.imgur.com/Y4GfUOP.gif)

Very unusual uptick in gremlins around year 874. And then a second population spike around 899.  I like it.
Anyone know off-hand what happened during those years, which evidently led to the creation of a stable world population of gremlins?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Lurker Z on June 08, 2023, 01:42:25 pm

It's in the thread, though I assume by this time deep in its 200+ pages. Bralbaard embarked as Midas Olxosost (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Midas_Olxosost) and renounced any items, weapons and even the clothes on his back to start with about 300 gremlins, if I'm not mistaken. We had a few pages' discussion on how they would fair over the centuries.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: AvolitionBrit on June 08, 2023, 01:59:54 pm

Yeah that was from Bralbaards gremlin adventures.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Maloy on June 08, 2023, 02:00:51 pm

I actually took like 20 and dropped them off in a village! Running the town now and keeping it an occupied site even without Maloy

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on June 08, 2023, 06:24:01 pm

Some of the gremlins ended up taking noble positions in forts, one had babies and another became a Baroness.

And it seems there has been a recent explosion of bark scorpion men all having inter generational incest orgies and breeding like rabbits.

God I love this game.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Maloy on June 09, 2023, 11:20:56 am

No particular reason or anything, but uh. How would Ifind the creature_size info on the randomly generated vault creatures?
I was looking in raws, but not much luck and I know the names and size are generated randomly on world gen so i didn't know where to look

just asking...because

Quote from: Lurker Z on June 08, 2023, 07:47:01 am

One of my regrets is that I didn't visit Mabkor, but there's always next turn. I really want to see what you did with the place. Did you start using gui/advfort on it? I've started learning the ropes with it and it's awesome! With a little tweaking (https://docs.dfhack.org/en/stable/docs/tools/gui/advfort.html), you can even build with bones or gems, all in complete vanilla and without mods! And thanks again for the resurrect.

Ah I appreciate that! It's not that interesting really! I really just tried to repopulate it because it was near dead when I started playing. My latest quest has been to populate the surrounding villages to have a proper kingdom. It's neat seeing little patrols everywhere of all my soldiers in fact there's one really funny encounter I'll post about with the entry

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on June 09, 2023, 06:42:04 pm

Quote from: Maloy on June 09, 2023, 11:20:56 am

No particular reason or anything, but uh. How would Ifind the creature_size info on the randomly generated vault creatures?
I was looking in raws, but not much luck and I know the names and size are generated randomly on world gen so i didn't know where to look

just asking...because

I know that the "Warriors of Udir" were human sized, as humans can wear their cloth and blistered metal armour - not that there is much of that left nowadays. The blistered metal has been mostly melted down and turned into arms and armour in Ashcinders and Holykingdom.

As for the other size of angels; no idea.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Quantum Drop on June 10, 2023, 01:00:13 am

Quote from: Maloy on June 09, 2023, 11:20:56 am

No particular reason or anything, but uh. How would Ifind the creature_size info on the randomly generated vault creatures?
I was looking in raws, but not much luck and I know the names and size are generated randomly on world gen so i didn't know where to look

just asking...because

First off you’re going to need Notepad++. Regular old Notepad usually works, but the current save size is too big for it to handle. Once you’ve got that, turn off COMPRESSED_SAVES in the .init files by setting it from YES to NO. Load the save in DF and create an adventurer/fort, then save the game.

Open the save folder for DF and select the saved game folder you want. Now open the world.sav in that folder with Notepad++. If it comes up with a jumble of symbols and suchlike, repeat the previous steps and see if it changes. If it works, it should look like a normal (if jumbled) DF creature/material file with intelligible text.

Control+f  the name of the creature you want (ex.: Warrior of Udir), then click next until you find it. Either control+f the next “ body_size “, or copy-paste everything down to the next “ creature_layer “ into another text document (notepad or Word), then search for it.

IIRC, this should let you find the stats and sizes of generated creatures, assuming I haven’t forgotten or mistyped anything (on mobile right now.)

EDIT: Cleaned up capitalization and spelling. Since it's semi-related, I should also note FFR that creatures within around 1/7th of another's size can wear gear made for that creature. (Wiki has the exact cutoff points on the List of Creatures by Adult Size page (http://dwarffortresswiki.org/index.php/DF2014:List_of_creatures_by_adult_size).)

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on June 10, 2023, 09:12:56 am

(https://i.imgur.com/dCJaT5x.png)

Here we go. That method worked, QD. It is in fact the Chaotic Messengers who are human sized after all.

So creatures who could wear Chaotic Messenger armour would include:

- Humans
- Jaguar Man
- Wild Boar Man

Creatures who could wear Warrior of Udir armour would include:

- Anaconda Man
- Monitor Lizard Man
- Sloth Bear Man
- Warthog Man

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Eric Blank on June 10, 2023, 02:58:25 pm

Wolf men can wear the clothing from the Dead Workers. I got Desli a couple pieces while searching the vault. On that note, I'm working on the last part of that write up tonight again, hopefully post it by monday at the latest. I've been busy.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Maloy on June 11, 2023, 01:58:54 pm

Submitting early because I won't have more time to play and someone else can play in the meantime before the next turn. First come first serve I presume. I set winrar to best and it still gave me 5.4 :(
Save: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1YUf2QFqu0AY6Poo7n_4ShgMpxPq7gLIw/view?usp=sharing

I will only have three entries. One for each character I have who all went on very different adventures. I'll leave a censored TL;DR at the beginning that includes a summary of important things they did. The first one here will also include my museum submission.

TL;DR:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Accidentally unleashed a Chaotic Messenger Hollow Zombie on the world. If you find him please return him dead or alive to Incenseorder castle!
Resurrected the doctor of the Abysses
Resurrected Three kobolds - One of them is a baron now yay!
Recovered Blistered Metal that was used on Arthur's shenanigans and left Many Blistered metal weapons, including an artifact battleaxe, in Razorbridge. Please follow the instructions of the statue inside if you get them:
(https://i.imgur.com/95cEVJo.png)
I resurrected several Warriors of Udir as Hollow Zombies, but for some reason it glitched and they fully resurrected as actual living beings. They and others are part of the Walled Dye now. It was a glitch of some sort and not intentional

Did I intend to re-release an ageless all female species of cyclopean muscle mommies on the civilized world? Absolutely not. Was this a failure? Absolutely not.

Submission: One Warrior of Udir Axewoman

Entry One - Maloy
If I had a silver 785 Omon Obin coin for every time I ended up in a prison with no designed exit or entrance...
(https://i.imgur.com/It6hm4e.png)

I'd have two silver 785 Omon Obin coin's. Which isn't a lot, but it is weird that it has happened twice

Looking up I can see the light of day far far above me. A very narrow shaft of light choked out by the sheer distance between me and it.
(https://i.imgur.com/swsMKZQ.png)

Why am I here? Frankly, I don't know. This seems like one of Midor's practical jokes. The death goddess wasn't satisfied cursing me with one of the weakest werebeast forms imaginable, but over the last couple of centuries she has had her followers erect statues everywhere of my being cursed ruining any hope of anonymity.  It was so in character for her to try to seal me away. Thankfully, I still had some of that rare nameless power left from my ritual with resurrecting Bralbaard so I could escape easily.

It is well past time I got revenge on that horrid goddess who won't let me just enjoy my immortality in peace! I go due south from this tomb to the abandoned town of Padcalls. Should be abandoned, some of the men I left here got killed by the ceaseless goblin invasions while the others...well. Anyway the goblins can't defeat Lord Juvar, but they still keep trying.

Suddenly I detect movement in the warehouse next to me...
(https://i.imgur.com/6mP4tQG.png)
I enter to find three dwarves digging through the abandoned treasures of Padcalls
"Commander Eral?!" I exclaim recognizing the commander of the entire military of Razorbridge and chief military officer of the region

The dwarf almost jumped out of his own skin at the intrusion after digging up a particularly gorgeous ruby "AH! oh my! Lord Craftsroars is that you?! What a joyous occasion! No one has seen you for two decades!" the dwarf swatted an arm at his two noticeably green recruits "You two stand at attention and show proper respect to a lord"

"Firstly, I was gone two decades? Secondly, why are you digging through this town's treasury like some base looter! Look alive man!"
Eral's eyes looked as if they were going to pop out of his head "Looting?! My Lord! this is the most important task of the new millennia!" He looks around conspiratorially "That Juvar fellow in the castle-"
One of the recruits cut in "Lord Juvar, sir"
"yes yes. Lord Juvar. Those goblins are too afraid to do anything about him see-"
The other recruit motioned towards his teeth and used his fingers to indicate fangs and made a hissing sound
"Quiet you! Anyway now, he doesn't ever leave his castle either. Goblins and trolls are just slightly smarter than a mule, lord. But given enough decades even a mule would notice this giant building full of treasure! Why it could fund their war effort for another century! So we gotta protect it!"

I cross my arms nodding my head "uh huh. I see and where are you taking this treasure, exactly?"
"Not sure yet, Lord, but one problem at a time, yes."
I had to consider for a moment. Although this did amount to theft Juvar certainly didn't need it and frankly it would be a hilarious joke on the man. I nodded my head affirmative
"Drop some off at my castle and you're good to go!"


I leave the errant soldiers to their task to visit my old friend Lord Juvar. I visit him two or three times a century, you know. He responds with extreme hostility to my presence, jokes and flattery. All of which brings me great delight!
(https://i.imgur.com/uF2wA5N.png)
Today in particular I taunt him for his lack of guile or cleverness
He responds with particular venom "Oh! Speaking of guile how about we cover your men trying to take my castle from me!"
"tsk tsk tsk, lord juvar. I did not such thing. Those men acted entirely on their own and for their own benefit. Likely the encroaching horde of trolls made them wish to find safety in a castle" which was true I did not instruct them to rebel only to monitor this immortal guardian of my southern border.
(https://i.imgur.com/FSQKbTP.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/KKetgTA.png)

"Also I made this figurine for you! It's my friend Miaralei!"
The vampire grabs the figurine and throws it at me "Get out of my castle!"
I duck out of the way "So rude. Hopefully you'll be in a better mood next time I stop by!"

I continue south to my true target destination: The vault of Cradledmartyrs

The vault was dedicated to Midor, her creations, her resources and her curses upon this world all layered in one stone dung pile. Long pillaged.
I pick my way through the ruins looking for my prize. I find one dead human adventurer with the words "doctor" on his clothing, but the rest obscured. From one adventurer to another I decide to help him and gently pack him into my bag to resurrect elsewhere.
Whoever came through here demonstrated particular animosity towards the inhabitants. Every single one was torn to pieces, butchered and skinned. Unnecessarily thorough, but they missed one. A dead lizard man called a chaotic messenger. This corpse was in poor condition, but workable and could be used. I pack him next to the doctor and leave after claiming some remaining divine weapons and armor from the dead.

On the way back I find some dead kobolds and bring them too. They're the epitome of harmless, as species go, and I have formed a hobby of resurrecting people who aren't dangerous and usually grateful to me.

Finally, we reach Razorbridge. I resurrect the doctor and kobolds first who stand around trying to understand where they are and what happened to them. I ignore any questions until I can finish with my true prize.

The lizard rises to it's feet with a great bellow and cheer. That's a first for me as far as resurrections go:
(https://i.imgur.com/MkAAqry.png)
It continues to scream into the sky ceaselessly
"Excuse me"
It doesn't turn at my voice and cheers jumping from one foot to the other
"Excuse me!!" I shout
It turns towards me without lowering it's volume even slightly "HEY FURRY FRIEND!"
oh gods please no "Excuse me! I resurrected you!"
The lizard let's out an even louder cheer and beats its chest bellowing "Thank you so much, furry brother! Live free my man!"
Why is this happening to me?
"Right. well, sister your goddess abandoned you and I saved you so-"
The creature shrieked again "What did you say, furry friend?! You gotta speak up!"
I know now why every single one was brutally dismembered and no longer condemn the one who did so.
"Your goddess abandoned you! Help! Me! Get! Revenge!"
"No!"
What!?
"What?!"
"I ride my own waves, little bro and nobody elses! You have fun with that though!" The creature walked away cheering even louder than at the start
"Get back here! I resurrected you! You owe me! Stop ignoring me, you stupid lizard!" I scream at the top of my lungs into the sky

When I calm and turn the kobolds and doctor have also left now. Why is this happening to me?!


I go back home to Incenseorder to calm down although it doesn't help much. Goblins moved into my city thinking that I am the new host of demon that was in the ear. They had filled a warehouse with cheap scavenged weapons and armor and were just waiting for the chance to ask me for permission to raid.
The bright red-eyed recruits had enthusiasm at least, but I know from history that every time someone like me gets those kind of aspirations in their head they end up miserably dead, but I do have an idea.
"Go to the mountains far to the south and west. Bring me back 100 eagles to prove yourselves!" That should buy me a couple of years.


Realizing I shouldn't give up on my aspirations so easily I journey back to the vault. Surely, with nowhere else to go in the world, the chaotic messenger went back to it's home.


Only it didn't. I enter to find the doctor at the entrance. For some reason he wanted to return and to stay at the place of his gruesome death. He waved at me as I entered
"Look, I don't want to know why you came back here. Just tell me if the lizard is here"
The doctor shakes his head to signal "No"
"Huh?! He didn't come back!? Why not?! Where else could he have gone?!"

The doctor simply shrugs his shoulders.
Moments before I give into righteous rage and throw something I force myself to take a deep breath. Breathe in. Breathe out. It's okay. You're immortal, successful and have many friends. Midor is a loser and that messenger will probably get thrown into magma somewhere.

"Okay new plan. New vault" I wave at the doctor as I leave him.


I arrive at the only other vault in the world that is on the exact opposite side of the world from my home. Again all the inhabitants are dead, but these must not have been as insufferable as the killer did not rend them limb from limb. The new inhabitants are goblins and gremlins. They're shocked by my bold entry, but I don't even greet them. Frankly, I am completely done with this adventure already.


I grab several corpses and depart for another week of walking without sleep to Razorbridge.

The good news is that I have enough corpses for one of my experiments: As an undead bodily functions worked optionally. One could drink alcohol and engage the digestive system and enjoy the effects of alcohol on self. Or never drink at all. The system went into stasis until needed for use.
So experiment: Can the reproductive system of two undead be engaged to produce living offspring and therefore revive a dead species?


I lay the corpses on a platform, carefully avoiding Miara and Arthur who are still mad at me for the whole unleashing a demon on the world thing.

I wave my hand and all mangled rotted corpses rise. "Good good. Okay now you are all dearly welcome for your resurrection. your creator has abandoned you and I have new glorious purpose for you and-"
Something strange began to happen.
The hollow zombies began to properly regenerate the entirety of their bodies. Within moments they were no longer undead but truly living beings.

And they were all naked cyclops women!

(https://i.imgur.com/xSWtY6k.png)

This left me quite flustered to witness. One of the naked women, unaware or uncaring for her state, turned to me "We have returned to fight the eternal war"
I am speechless still quite distracted by the sight before me
"Lead us to where we may fight"
I snap out of it "Oh. uh. Yes. Stay here actually. This place sees traffic coming and going from several different wars. Just uh stay here and...do that. Are there males in your race?"
She makes a strange expression "Do you think us unable to fight, wolf man? There are no men in our people nor do we need any!"
"I absolutely don't think that and I think that is just great. So, just stay here and...be fruitful and multiply I guess"
I need another two decade vacation...

I leave the rest of my revenge against Midor into the hands of my best friend's son: Arandil.

(Next Entry to come)
Commander Eral retired early to a private beach he purchased with his findings.
There's more of the cyclops now by the way.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on June 11, 2023, 03:22:09 pm

You resurrected the Warriors of Udir?

I didn’t know that was possible! Interested to see the rest of your turn…

I guess Unraveller gets an extra long turn now.

Edit: looking at LV ... Maloy, why are there 63 Warriors of Udir roaming about now. 43 of them in Razorbridge. Did you start a lesbian angel cult?

Edit2: A headless undead kobold Baroness of the Walled Dye. Got to love that.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Lurker Z on June 11, 2023, 10:14:10 pm

Quote from: kesperan on June 11, 2023, 03:22:09 pm

A headless undead kobold Baroness of the Walled Dye. Got to love that.

Adilatír has been a lot more undistricriminatory in the last centuries when it comes to elevating Barons. I think there was an undead nameless reptile person, probably raised by Moldath, at one time.

Quote from: kesperan on June 11, 2023, 03:22:09 pm

looking at LV ... Maloy, why are there 63 Warriors of Udir roaming about now. 43 of them in Razorbridge. Did you start a lesbian angel cult?

Aren't they genderless? Also, you have a strange way to spell the apocalypse. So what I understand is that the Age of the Zombie Angel is upon Orid Xem? At least hopefully they're not blighted...

Please don't let them be blighted, please don't let them be blighted, please don't let them be blighted...

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Eric Blank on June 12, 2023, 01:36:10 am

Would have been more successful trying to breed kobolds.

As a matter of fact, it might just be possible. If you use the wild biome resurrection and bodyswap trick, you could stack up a few undead kobolds, which could possibly become engaged. You'd want to unretire them and name them, so they can be distinguished. If you make them vampires, you can slit their throats/drown them and let them be reanimated again, which should make them immortal. Then theyd have all eternity to start popping out kids, or eggs in this case.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Maloy on June 12, 2023, 04:56:43 am

Quote from: kesperan on June 11, 2023, 03:22:09 pm

Edit: looking at LV ... Maloy, why are there 63 Warriors of Udir roaming about now. 43 of them in Razorbridge. Did you start a lesbian angel cult?

Edit2: A headless undead kobold Baroness of the Walled Dye. Got to love that.

"The hardest choices require the strongest wills"

So the species description refers to them as "its", but personal descriptions as females. When they have injuries or bleed they use "her" and upon breeding them they are all mothers, being humanoids too I'd imagine they just appear to be lady cyclops with tails that have stingers!


Also they're born as full grown adults. Also they are born talented at all forms of combat and crave violence. I remember releasing some into the world and thinking "wow I hope those ladies don't get the blight" lol


That's a good idea Eric! My kobolds were just resurrected with normal necromancer powers and it wouldn't work. I also have heard that egg-laying sentient creatures can be really buggy to breed


@Bralbaard add me for another turn too!


EDIT: I took inspiration from that bark scorpion family tree being turned into a family circle

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Quantum Drop on June 12, 2023, 05:09:50 am

Quote from: Maloy on June 11, 2023, 01:58:54 pm

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Did I intend to re-release an ageless all female species of cyclopean muscle mommies on the civilized world? Absolutely not. Was this a failure? Absolutely not.

(https://i.imgur.com/QcniV1t.png)

That was a great first entry, Maloy; quite cool to see that some angels are up and about again. I wonder if they'll become a playable race option at some point, should they join civilization proper. Either way, looking forward to the rest of your turn!

(Also @Bralbaard please put me down for another turn. Don't remember if I asked last time.)

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on June 12, 2023, 01:27:21 pm

Quote from: Quantum Drop on June 12, 2023, 05:09:50 am

I wonder if they'll become a playable race option at some point, should they join civilization proper.

Easily done. Unretire-anyone on any of the 60+ named ones that already exist.

There are two who both have the title "the Ungodly" and have exactly 20 goblin kills each. Not bad for a one year old.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Lurker Z on June 12, 2023, 01:34:19 pm

Quote from: kesperan on June 12, 2023, 01:27:21 pm

Quote from: Quantum Drop on June 12, 2023, 05:09:50 am

I wonder if they'll become a playable race option at some point, should they join civilization proper.

Easily done. Unretire-anyone on any of the 60+ named ones that already exist.

There are two who both have the title "the Ungodly" and have exactly 20 goblin kills each. Not bad for a one year old.

No, "playable race option" is different, like the charcoal brutes (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Charcoal_brute) became that, and I think Hands of Planegifts and some other necro experiments did too.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: TheFlame52 on June 12, 2023, 03:00:08 pm

Quote from: kesperan on June 11, 2023, 03:22:09 pm

Edit: looking at LV ... Maloy, why are there 63 Warriors of Udir roaming about now. 43 of them in Razorbridge. Did you start a lesbian angel cult?

I laughed

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Eric Blank on June 12, 2023, 03:11:04 pm

Here is the last bit.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

The Ritual of Death

(https://i.imgur.com/XbqNoKH.png)

The shrine was complete, and in two weeks, the ritual would commence. Pik and Desli, along with the human necromancer Thine, collected their things. Thine brought all the collection of necromantic tomes from the Museum. Desli had befriended the human farmer Edri. And Pik brought a steel short sword taken from the dwarves' armory, and spent his last night in isolation in his quarters. The two slabs were placed opposite each other in the shrine, inside the ring of statues, under the light of the waning moon cascading down the smoothed shaft above it. But the time wasn't quite right. With two weeks to spare, the trio left for a short trip to Boltspumpkin, and ensure Thine had acquired all the available secrets. They had, thankfully.

Obsidian 28th, 999

The party had made it back to the shore of the lake the night before. They broke camp around noon. Desli finished up the last of her bone figurines, packed the ones she liked in her bag, and threw the rest in the fire pit. She rolled the dice she had taken from the shrines of other gods on her journey. Bad luck, bad luck, bad luck, "Turn back." four different gods signaled their disapproval, but they would be ignored. They werent the gods for whom the ritual was being performed. They grabbed their bags and headed across the snowy fields to where the mountains rose up over the lake, and followed the cliffs back to the fortress entrance. By night they arrived, and found the fortress in disarray. Wild beasts from the mountains had descended upon the fortress, and dwarves caught outside were being attacked by undead animals. This biome wasn't reanimating, they had been animated by necromancers, of which there were several, panicked and fighting wild wolverines and yaks. Duck corpses flew circles around the fort exterior, pecking at dwarves as they ran for the trapped entrance.

The party ran towards the entrance, swatting aside zombies and enraged yaks. Resurrected hands of planesgifts and goblins stood in disbelief in the snow outside, watching the mess around them. The necromancers weren't giving orders. In the trap corridor, the corpses of dwarves, turtles, and goblins that had never been cleaned up clogged the first few traps. One of the necromancers lay dead at the corner. Finally inside, the party quickly descended to the living quarters, where they luckily found Edri. She followed them down to the catacombs. Pik then locked the doors behind them. There they waited for the last few hours. Cries echoed down from above, but eventually died down as shouts from the militia erupted.

Eventually, a knock came at one of the doors, from a steel gauntlet.

"Pik? Thine? Are you in there?" The militia commander's voice was distinguishable enough to Desli.

"We're fine," she responded. "Edri is with us too. What's going on?"

"We don't know. We were attacked by wildlife around dusk. Then the necromancers mucked things up raising the dead. We just put down the last of them. Do you need any help?"

"No," Pik's voice was clearly commanding, "we can't afford any interruptions."

"Fine. Yell if you do." Boot falls and slamming doors signaled that the commander had left.

"Okay, the stars are almost right, just a little longer." Thine chimed in. She had her books arrayed against the walls outside the doors to the shrine proper. The last few minutes of waiting were unbearable. Thine and Desli passed it by discussing what they would do afterwards.

(https://i.imgur.com/ehvFGIh.png)

"Edri, Desli, you have to start the ritual." She handed Desli a scroll and a piece of chalk. Desli knew it was a diversion.

They entered the shrine and walked into the ring of eleven statues, each depicting one of the gods of death. Between them, the two demon slabs stood, one under the statue of midor and one under the statue of The Black. Desli pointed at the center. "Okay, the scroll says first we need to stand at the center and face the statues. You face Midor, I'll face The Black." The two stood back-to-back. Silently, Desli unbuckled her axe. "I'm sorry," she whispered.

(https://i.imgur.com/DDDhpda.png)

The axe struck perfectly, Edri's blood spilled in the circle, and in moments she lay limp. Desli walked out. Thine entered. She performed the resurrection, and Edri shuddered, gasped, and began to stand. Pik was there before she was even upright, and his blade plunged into her chest. The body collapsed again, and again Thine resurrected her, this time with a different spell. Desli's axe split Edri's back open. Again she awoke and rolled over. Pik's blade nearly cleaved her torso in two. Enraged, she awoke and lashed out as Desli's shield crashed into her skull. Pik's sword removed her head. She shuddered and lashed out wildly and was cut down by the axe. She sputtered putrid pus and clawed at her assailants. And was finally put to rest permanently. The ritual consisted only of betrayal and death, and it was done.

(https://i.imgur.com/W8mYFiZ.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/QZAgVqB.png)

The trio left, Desli and Thine shaking visibly, Pik stoic and cold. They split, now, Pik going down one corridor, Desli hurrying down the stairs, and Thine collecting her books. Levers were pulled, and the shrine was sealed. They left the fortress, and headed back towards Boltspumpkin. They didn't sleep that night, or the next. They did come upon the shrine of Seasoncanyon. There they found the body of an old adventurer, Donas Silenttowers, whom they had read about in the Museum. They took his sword, and brought it along with the book collection back to the museum.

(https://i.imgur.com/YFxKP4v.png)

Afterwards, they departed for the south again. Pik soon lost his powers, his injuries healed, and he and Desli both realized they had lost all knowledge of their other skills. The next full moon came, and Pik did not transform, his curse seemingly vanishing with his new life.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on June 12, 2023, 04:22:30 pm

That was oddly sombre... poor Edri.

What was your official Museum submission of those items/artifacts?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Eric Blank on June 12, 2023, 04:58:32 pm

Like just one? The sword I guess.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Maloy on June 13, 2023, 05:33:28 am

That was an incredibly dark ending Eric! I like it! Also heck of a way to break into year 1000


TL;DR

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

-We breed the warriors of udir and release them into the wild
-We duplicate Midor's divine metal and flood the market with it (Maloy aims to copyright her image so he owns it)
-Build an armory for passing adventurers to freely pick up Blistered Metal Gear(Mostly finished)
-We build an elven enclave north end of Razorbridges
-Arthur leads a squad of Elves to kill as many goblins as he can ultimately ending in conquering Tormentlives in hopes of drawing the Most Sin to try and reclaim it from him rather than invade others.

The reason why dark pits don't become abandoned despite having no population seems to be because of a glitch. Normally you have A group that rules a site government and then a civilization. But in some of these dark pits they have more. Civilization -> Lakemenace site government -> dark pits site government -> the group that rules it. So even if I kill everyone as long as the Lakemenace site government lives it can't truly be destroyed.
I tried to take Lakemenace which is a massive dark fortress, but the game required that we kill its 10k goblin and 10k troll population before it would let me conquer. While this was possible it also entirely went against the spirit of an adventure mode game to wipe out 20k members of a hostile group in fortress mode
I had to end fort shenanigans early and didn't finish the adventurer armory. A undead weremoose killed multiple elven children and infected several warriors of udir. It left me depressed so I retired to focus on other things.

Entry 2 - Arthur and Arandil

Prosringis was without a doubt the most intelligent and worthy being to ever live. So great was her genius that she didn't even need her head! The only two beings capable of competing with her vast superiority were her two comrade kobolds. When the foolish wolf man resurrected them they decided to set off immediately(plus the lizard thing scared them)! It was kobold destiny to conquer the world and the trio decided to find old dens of their fellows to help lead them to their proper destiny. Sadly, each lair was empty. Long empty. Some even had other monsters living in them now. This simply wouldn't do and with no clue where to go she relied on the traditional kobold tactic of: guile

They went back to the stinky dwarf bridge and asked to stay where they could build a base to inevitably take over the world. Well, the others asked. She used kobold sign language to speak with them, but they had to speak to others using words. It's fine, really.


The Elven Smith
Arandil sat at the tavern enjoying mead with his "uncle" while Razorbridge was all a-flutter with noise and activity. The town had settled down since his childhood and had a small, but hearty population. It's dwarves all successfully emigrated to other locations as originally planned, but now busy again. He looked to his uncle, the wolf lord of Makbor
"Uncle, you have a knack for being a source of mayhem wherever you go" Arandil said
Maloy chugged his beer, the first he had in decades mind you, and called for another "That is not intentional at all! The dwarves here just really appreciate my patronage!"
Arandil chuckled and supped on his mead before the wolf lord continued "Well, how goes your trade? You wish to become a smith, yes?"
"Not just a smith, uncle. The best smith! and uh. Not so well. My only client is my mother who comes into town every few years, buys a few hundred arrows and leaves again. Dwarves don't want to give me a chance since they have their own reliable smiths."
(https://i.imgur.com/2QZnhE1.png)
"Hmm how is the family?"
"Lythiene up and disappeared recently, but she is more like mother so I think she is likely off adventuring. Aleratha took up a job as a performer here recently, actually. When she isn't doing that she wanders the woods looking for nuts and berries and praising Cacame. Mother I mentioned is gone most of the time on some important mission in the homeland, and father is on a personal crusade against the goblin horde"
Arandil detected Maloy tensing up when he mentioned his parents and took the time to mention "Mother isn't angry at you anymore I think. Father seems more sad than mad. I really think you three can patch things up again"
The wolf lord gulped down more beer "relationships between adults can be complicated sometimes, Ari"
"I'm 36, uncle"
The wolf lord laughed and scratched his head trying to hide his embarrassment "Already?! Well, sounds like I owe you a bunch of presents to make up for it and it just so happens the favor I want to ask includes one!"
Arandil arched his eyebrow as the wolf lord reached into his bag. He took out a dark metal bar. On the surface it looked like it had been scalded by extreme heat to leave it blistered and partially melted, but in reality the blisters were actively shifting and moving like it was alive. Arandil's mouth was left agape as he touched the bar and Maloy spoke "Metal belonging to the realm of that stupid goddess Midor. Produces some of the finest and strongest materials you can imagine and you can have this one and more on one condition"
Arandil did not even pause to reply "Name it"
"Help me get revenge on the goddess"
"I'm no warrior, uncle."
"and I'm no warlord, Ari. How does one get revenge on a god? Go ahead and guess"
"An army"
"No, they don't live in this world. Think harder"
"Kill their worshippers?"
"That would be funny, but also melodramatic. Look harder"
He stared into the bar of divine metal for a long while "You take what's theirs?"
"Bingo! that's my boy! We're gonna use an old dwarven magic to make more of these, and we are gonna take all of what is hers!"
"Divine metal already exists in the world though? How will this hurt her?"
Maloy stood up in excitement
"Because I'm gonna humiliate her with it. Imagine: blistered metal mugs, pots, chamber pots, instruments, coins, scroll rollers, book covers, and every other household item all blistered metal! More than that I'll put her face on every single one! Ari, I am going to become sole propriertier of her image and metal. I'll put her face on chamber pots and I'll flood the whole market with this stuff until it loses all value. No more goddess of death, but goddess of the chamber pot! Hahahaha!"
The wolf lord laughed into the air loudly interrupting the other patrons. Ari quietly supped before saying "So you want me to forge chamber pots to become a legendary smith?"
Maloy calmed down immediately and sat again "Yes and no. I already hired the workers who will make more of this stuff for you. Use most of it for however you want. Make your father legendary weapons and armor and what not, but on the side don't forget to do this task for me. In return you can make gear that the greatest warriors would want to wear, deal?" he extended his hand.
Arandil considered it. As quirky as his uncle was his powers and this opportunity were very real. It was an impossible offer to pass up especially with his lack of clients thus far. He took his uncles paw and shook it.
"Alright! I paid for you to have a proper forge built and for you to have a house in it! Good luck and don't let those beautiful cyclops women distract you from your work!"
(https://i.imgur.com/c6d2WzV.png)
Arandil spent years in his smithy doing just as he set out to. Dwarves and warriors of udir would often come to handle smelting for him. Although it took six long years he succeeded in both equipping an army, flooding the market with household items, mastering his craft, and avoiding the dalliances of the many cyclops women whose numbers had multiplied many times over.

They build an Adventurers Armaments building upon the bridge and set out a call: Any who need weapons or armor may take freely. Including the great artifact battle axe: Sub Kas
(https://i.imgur.com/oB4wUwN.png)
Last Stand of the Eagle
Arthur held the letter he had finished reading in his hands motionless staring out to the sea. After a few moments he allowed the wind to pick it up and take it into the ocean.
The letter was the latest he had received from the humans he had given land to. Another letter of the type "We are leaving and the land is yours again for all we care." The last lord of this particular land passed and rather than his heir take it he cursed Arthur's name and told him he could have it back. Could Arthur blame him?
Half the human lords rather than ruling their own lands chose to defect to the goblins instead who offered wealth and resources.
(https://i.imgur.com/E3mWuPI.png)
The other half of the lords now had to compete with human traitors and goblins. Only three dark pits remained independent still.
Arthur's plan had failed and he had to take responsibility. That's what a good teacher would say.

His homeland had declared war on what was basically the rest of the world. He had stayed out of it. In fact, because of the war being an elven merchant in the forests was essentially illegal as his people had no one to trade with. That left a slew of associates jobless and tradeless. A small collective had come to him in Razorbridge and erected a village on the north end of the bridge.
Surprisingly, it wasn't hard to convince them to help him fight the goblins. The merchants had no animosity towards the other nations whom they had traded with for centuries and understood that the elven war was likely manipulation by the Most Sin. So, they joined with him to wage war on the true enemy. There was a hiccup though:

The commander of the military in Razorbridge(and surrounding region) had disappeared. Rumor had it that Eral had led some great heist on a human lord and fled with the money likely retiring on an island somewhere. Dwarven bureaucracy was inefficient to the extreme and it could be decades before he was officially unseated from his position. While he was gone no new military could be organized and so they had to improvise. Arthur formed a town guard with a captain, which could only have ten members max to stay within the bounds of dwarven law. Sadly, his political status excluded him from captainship and so he gave it to his old associate Romimi.

Over the years the elves would conduct raids all over goblin lands. Wearing the special divine metal that his son had acquired the elves were nigh unstoppable. Over the years as well many of the elves had children of their own in the small town.
It seemed as if they truly were building a life away from the war and manipulations of their own people. Arthur missed his own wife, but it was in her nature to wander and when she did visit they held each other close. She avoided speaking of her activities, but he trusted that she was likely fighting the Most Sin too in her own way.

Arthur did not trust these women Maloy had raised and they multiplied incredibly. One lost her cool and started a fight with a group of dwarves. She injected them with poison from her stinger and kicked each one off the bridge to drown. She was exiled as a mercy.
Others tried to be helpful and even joined the guard to help them. They needed it for even 10 elves were hard to pull into this one man war.

Three women joined them and three of them died in their third outing. Arthur and Romimi's squad was outsmarted and ambushed at a dark pit and the women laid their lives down to allow the elves to retreat. They returned home defeated only to have three more step up without a moment's hesitation "We fight the eternal war" they declared.
"What is this eternal war you speak of?"
The beautiful creatures began to don their armor "It is THE war. The only war. Do you not know of it? You clearly fight in it"
That was the most he could get out of them it seemed as the rest of their answers on the topic sounded nonsensical to him, but he could not deny their strength.

The years of raiding were actually only training. Romimi needed to take the time to learn goblin strategy, tactics and psychology. This was all training for the great battle of Lakemenace
The goblins rarely actually lived in any of these dark pits of the border lands, Arthur had observed decades ago. They still technically occupied them and used them as outposts for drop off and resupply from raids, but the true source of them was Lakemenace the legendary fortress
This legendary battle would see the entirety of the leadership of that dark fortress destroyed, but the horde that ruled it was unassailable. Despite ambushing leaders the horde used its press of bodies to block the elves from the fortress itself. They could not claim it.

Arthur and Romimi conferred and decided to set their sights lower: tormentlives. A nigh abandoned dark fortress south of Razorbridge. Taking it was simple as their was no one to stop them and it provided a few advantages for the war to come:

1.It stood in the middle of the collection of border dark pits allowing them to reach any single one within an hour at most
2.Any and all raids could be easily intercepted
3.Boasted a massive and neglected armory
4.Enraged the goblins and acted as a beacon making the creatures attack them rather than others.
(https://i.imgur.com/A9D69oJ.png)
the next several decades would likely test these immortal warriors more than they had ever been, but Arthur believed in them all and would stand with them.
After they left the dwarves were offered a barony for Arthur's achievements. Deciding they liked government officials who didn't talk much they elected the headless and immortal kobold Prosringis

(final entry to come)
I switched in and out of adventure mode for this one, but like I said last time my goal going forward for Arthur was to max out his stat in Leadership. Let's see what several decades of constant attack by goblins does for him!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on June 13, 2023, 03:08:47 pm

So you managed to make infinite blistered metal by melting down ammunition? Nice.

An army of fanatical blistered metal covered bloodthirsty angels sounds pretty scary.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Eric Blank on June 13, 2023, 08:07:20 pm

I was in the process of doing the same thing, using the coin method.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on June 14, 2023, 05:28:36 am

Quote from: Eric Blank on June 13, 2023, 08:07:20 pm

I was in the process of doing the same thing, using the coin method.

From what I gather you can make insane amounts of metal by melting coins but only if you split the stacks somehow. Any tips on how to do this?

I have used the metal leggings smithing before when I was short on steel, they have 150% return.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Bralbaard on June 14, 2023, 05:38:35 am

I like all the new crazy stuff that is happening, like the resurrected race of angels. Incredible how the world keeps doing unexpected stuff.

Quote from: kesperan on June 14, 2023, 05:28:36 am

From what I gather you can make insane amounts of metal by melting coins but only if you split the stacks somehow. Any tips on how to do this?

I have used the metal leggings smithing before when I was short on steel, they have 150% return.

One method would be to split the stacks in adventure mode. Tedious work, but it has a high return. For fortress mode I've heard that locking a tantruming dwarf up with a stack of coins may get the dwarf to throw the individual coins around.
I think you can also split the stack using the trade interface by selling individual coins and then buying them back.

I'll try and update the first posts and turn lists later today, and have started writing down my recent adventure. It may be a while before I post because I want to add some artwork.
I have not heard anything yet from Unraveller.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Maloy on June 14, 2023, 06:22:11 am

So, I actually used menacing spikes. The return rate on melting is 1.5 bars. Not as much as ammunition or coins, but way less tedious

I could just set melting and forging on repeat and save my sanity(and a tantruming dwarf's lol)

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Lurker Z on June 14, 2023, 07:16:30 am

Quote from: Bralbaard on June 14, 2023, 05:38:35 am

One method would be to split the stacks in adventure mode. Tedious work, but it has a high return.

That's awesome, I can't believe I haven't thought about that before. It means it'd work on arrows/bolts too, regardless of metal. In fact, another way would be to make them bolts, then just assign a hunter and melt the bolts individually.

The adventure mode part has the issue of both being tedious and that it should be done before embarking/reclaiming, as retiring and unretiring always causes (fixable, but tedious) issues.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on June 14, 2023, 08:57:18 am

Yeah, menacing spikes is 150% same as leggings so mixing those would level armour and weapon smithing for your elf smith.

Only problem is melting masterworks gives bad thoughts.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: TheFlame52 on June 14, 2023, 04:42:26 pm

A surplus of masterwork menacing spikes is never a bad thing. :D

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on June 14, 2023, 05:37:34 pm

Quote from: TheFlame52 on June 14, 2023, 04:42:26 pm

A surplus of masterwork menacing spikes is never a bad thing. :D

Indeed.

I think it should be your turn next if Unraveller doesn't take it up. It's been three days since Maloy posted the save.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Bralbaard on June 15, 2023, 05:58:07 am

To be fair, I did not immediately see the save game so I only notified Unraveller on the 12th. Anyhow I vaguely remember Unraveller was busy these weeks, and that is why the turn was moved down earlier.
Maloy was ready much earlier than expected, so the turn might have arrived to early for Unraveller?

If nobody objects I'll just move Unraveller down a spot, I'd love to see the storyline for Silverthrone continued.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Maloy on June 15, 2023, 06:19:50 am

Yeah I wasn't meaning to move the turns along early. I figured when I posted it we could just do what we did before and let someone have a two or three day turn until the actual player in line can get it


You may find some of the masterwork spikes I have sent out lol

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on June 15, 2023, 08:52:06 am

Quote from: Bralbaard on June 15, 2023, 05:58:07 am

If nobody objects I'll just move Unraveller down a spot, I'd love to see the storyline for Silverthrone continued.

That’s fine by me. I won’t be able to do my turn until 4th July at the earliest so I might need to be bumped down a turn depending on TheFlame and Unraveller’s availability. 

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Bralbaard on June 15, 2023, 03:32:19 pm

It's theFlame's turn then.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: TheFlame52 on June 15, 2023, 08:17:11 pm

Well, that was quick. I'll start on Friday or Saturday. I'm not really sure what I'm going to do.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Unraveller on June 15, 2023, 09:47:27 pm

Ah. I very much appreciate the move down, I've only just now had time to sit down and read the ongoings of Orid Xem. . . Of which there are many, haha. All in all I'm amazed as ever, think I'll try and focus on a smaller scale for my next adventure, though I'm not yet sure. At the very least the Gloryages must continue!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Eric Blank on June 15, 2023, 10:21:27 pm

Quote from: kesperan on June 14, 2023, 05:28:36 am

Quote from: Eric Blank on June 13, 2023, 08:07:20 pm

I was in the process of doing the same thing, using the coin method.

From what I gather you can make insane amounts of metal by melting coins but only if you split the stacks somehow. Any tips on how to do this?

I have used the metal leggings smithing before when I was short on steel, they have 150% return.

I used the caravans at the trade depot. Take a few stacks, trade just under half to the merchant for some goods, then sell half of each stack they have for half of each stack you have. Buy back some of the half-stacks from them for some goods until you have a ratio in their favor (giving them a profit). Repeat that until you have divided the stacks into small amounts, say 1/8 of the original, then use a macro to select individual coins from each stack you have and trade them for one coin out of each stack the trader has (as long as youre giving them a profit margin of a few coins). Repeat that trade until all the stacks are depleted, then trade some more goods for the individual coins you sold to the traders. now each stack has been reduced to individual coins only, and you can smelt them all down for 50 bars for each one it took to mint the coins. As a bonus, the traders should leave ecstatic, because you made lots and lots of trades where they made a decent profit individually.

You will also be wasting hours of your life staring at a trade screen pressing macro buttons over and over and trying to negotiate the closest to 1:1 trade ratio you possibly can. 7:5 in favor of the trader usually works, but if you have a really good broker you can get much closer.

I didnt actually know leggings or menacing spikes had a return rate on them, that could have saved my fingers some pain...


Also, I never said it, as usual, but I would like to be added to the turn list again, please!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on June 16, 2023, 03:46:52 pm

Quote from: TheFlame52 on June 15, 2023, 08:17:11 pm

Well, that was quick. I'll start on Friday or Saturday. I'm not really sure what I'm going to do.

If you’re looking for inspiration you could try an adventure as a human or animal person from one of the less-explored human civilisations. We’ve had plenty of people from Omon Obin, Mong Uthros and even the High Confederacies but not much from the others. Some of those civs still have significant ghoul problems!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Bralbaard on June 16, 2023, 03:50:24 pm

Here is the first part of my adventure from a few weeks ago. Under the spoiler there is a short recap of Bralbaard’s history that may be needed for context.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Bralbaard was the founder of the museum in the year 700, He started out as a historian, but after his initial adventures he was made a baron of the walled dye, and later, the king. (If only temporarily)   
He was murdered on one of his adventures by a Charcoal Brute known as Pis Meadowshaft the Mucuses of Raunch. This started a long series of tragedies, where other adventurers fought over the parts of his body, and where Bralbaard, or parts of him were resurrected multiple times, as is detailed in other stories.

This was finally ended when Bor Mazeconstruct, a necromancer from Eldergrave managed to find a method by which the corpse of Bralbaard could be resurrected by the secret of life, as a truly living being. This method that can only be performed on reanimating terrain. A side effect is that all of Bralbaard’s skills and traits were reset, and he lost his beard, somehow. But he is alive, again.

A reflection on history.

Time is subjective. When I started my job as a historian, a century of history felt like an infinite amount of time, filled with stories and secrets waiting to be unearthed.  Back then, I was in awe when I uncovered stories about ancient kings and queens, and battles long forgotten.
That was when I was young, but I am 372 years old now and my views on time and history have changed.

When I look at the historians of today I recognize much from my younger enthusiastic self in them. However when these historians write about what they perceive as “ancient history”,  they write about the time of my childhood. When they write about the great heroes of ages past and gone, they write about people I have known personally, some as friends, some as enemies.
It is therefore often that I have to correct my younger colleagues for mistakes when they go too far in embellishing a story, or when they get a character trait of a historic figure wrong. As a result I have gained a deserved reputation to be old and grumpy. Nevertheless, this work is needed.

A case in point; during one of my journeys in the year 995 I ran into the following statue, and it still angers me: 

(https://i.imgur.com/tcVgTfn.gif)

My students insist that I should be flattered that the creator of the work saw me as capable of taking down a demon, but to me this work is a travesty, a disgrace.   
In fact just thinking about how wrong the creator of this work has gotten things has convinced me to pick up my pen and paper again. The journey I was on when I discovered this statue has not yet been been written down, and I swear I’ll write it down properly before someone else does and gets it all wrong.


Bralbaard the Beardless

(https://i.imgur.com/o5jqLpO.png)

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/QEXbU2U.gif)

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on June 16, 2023, 05:52:34 pm

Brilliant! Superb artwork as always.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: TheFlame52 on June 16, 2023, 07:34:20 pm

I just realized, you drew your PFP, didn't you? I like it.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Eric Blank on June 16, 2023, 07:57:12 pm

I really like the art

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Bralbaard on June 17, 2023, 02:58:59 am

Quote from: TheFlame52 on June 16, 2023, 07:34:20 pm

I just realized, you drew your PFP, didn't you? I like it.

Thanks! It's part of a larger picture posted earlier in the thread, here. (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8160485#msg8160485) I probably need to do another version of that now that we also have Morül Kan dwarves...

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Maloy on June 17, 2023, 06:56:23 am

Quote from: Bralbaard on June 16, 2023, 03:50:24 pm

A case in point; during one of my journeys in the year 995 I ran into the following statue, and it still angers me: 

(https://i.imgur.com/tcVgTfn.gif)

Better not go to Razorbridge lol

Has he become part of a civilization yet?
Also how do you pronounce Bralbaard? I've always said it like Brawl-bArd emphasizing the A

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: TheFlame52 on June 17, 2023, 08:21:42 am

Quote from: Bralbaard on June 17, 2023, 02:58:59 am

Quote from: TheFlame52 on June 16, 2023, 07:34:20 pm

I just realized, you drew your PFP, didn't you? I like it.

Thanks! It's part of a larger picture posted ealier in the thread, here. (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8160485#msg8160485) I probably need to do another version of that now that we also have Morül Kan dwarves...

Damn, three years ago and still part of the Museum III...

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Bralbaard on June 17, 2023, 10:04:07 am

Quote from: Maloy on June 17, 2023, 06:56:23 am

Also how do you pronounce Bralbaard? I've always said it like Brawl-bArd emphasizing the A

That's close, I guess. The A is not only emphasized, but also long.
The name comes from a dwarven NPC from a d&d game I was the DM for at the time. The game was in Dutch, so the name is as well. ' Baard' is Dutch for beard, 'Bral' translates as ' talk bullshit while drunk'
That more or less describes the Npc as well. He was tavern keeper of a boat that had been refurbished into a tavern. Like most dwarves, Bralbaard and the tavern were always firmly anchored to land, but then the player characters came by and it all got out of hand real quick. They ended up sailing the tavern around the world, causing trouble, while Bralbaard was in the hold drinking because he was mortally afraid of the sea.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: TheFlame52 on June 17, 2023, 12:19:23 pm

To be fair, the sea is very scary when you have stubby limbs and are too dense to float.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Bralbaard on June 17, 2023, 01:04:19 pm

That makes drinking a solid strategy. Alcohol is less dense than water. Theoretically, a sufficiently drunk dwarf should float.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: TheFlame52 on June 17, 2023, 01:23:07 pm

I can't seem to unpack the zip due to file size, despite having 36 gigabytes free. Just how big is the unzipped save?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Bralbaard on June 17, 2023, 02:51:40 pm

Around 2.8 GB, so that should not be the issue. I was able to unzip it earlier on my system.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on June 17, 2023, 06:02:46 pm

If you are having trouble with the save, try this one.

https://dffd.bay12games.com/file.php?id=16753

The save file is reliably under 500Mb and therefore suitable for DFFD if you use uncompressed saves and then WinRar Best compression.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: TheFlame52 on June 17, 2023, 07:42:03 pm

I've opened up the save successfully. Trouble is, I'm not sure what to do. I have one adventure idea, but I'm saving that one for the Museum IV. I have another idea, but that one wouldn't visit the Museum. If I can't come up with something by tomorrow, I'll pass.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Bralbaard on June 18, 2023, 03:18:08 am

It's no problem if you have an idea without a museum submission.
As for inspiration, I'm sure others have better ideas, but here are some ideas for what you could play;

-A shepherd: Start with a flock of sheep and try to keep them alive.
-Entomologist: Try to catch as many different bugs as possible for a museum submission.
-Alchemist: Try to gather as many extracts as possible, for example forgotten beast extract, putrid goo, ichor, etc.
-Performance Troupe: travel around with a band of musicians and play in every royal court (while stealing the socks of each monarch, or something like that).

I hope you find some inspiration!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: AvolitionBrit on June 18, 2023, 05:29:18 am

-A tarven reviewer: Visit as many tarvens as you can and bring back the finest brew in the land
-The explorer: Delve into the ancient tombs and bring back the mummies of old
-The hunter: Collect the skulls of mythical creatures e.g unicorns, foul blendics, dark gnomes. (don't think anyone has encounter gnomes yet)

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Maloy on June 18, 2023, 05:31:06 am

I actually haven't had a reason to go to the museum the last three turns

I usually submitted stuff from the adventure, but for Maloy the wolf-man it was more of a renewing his membership kind of thing

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Bralbaard on June 18, 2023, 06:22:46 am

Continuing on with Avolition's idea of hunting rare creatures, I think there was also an earlier idea to find out if bogeymen exist in this world because they have not been seen yet. This could be done by visiting the evil regions, and spending the night while travelling alone.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: TheFlame52 on June 18, 2023, 07:09:52 am

Alright, then I have a rather silly idea. I'll start posting soon. You see, I was looking through the unretire list, and I found something rather unusual...

(https://i.imgur.com/6f6fmeC.png)

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on June 18, 2023, 08:27:47 am

The unretire list has quite a few bizarre entries. It sometimes adds undead creatures raised by necromancer adventurers.

The last 5 or so blank entries I assume are Maloy’s angels.

Good luck fearless zombie raven!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: TheFlame52 on June 18, 2023, 11:12:18 am

If there was ever anything at Duskhome, it's gone now. The whole map is empty aside from some corpses and an artifact floodgate lying on the ground.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Maloy on June 18, 2023, 12:00:09 pm

Quote from: kesperan on June 18, 2023, 08:27:47 am

The unretire list has quite a few bizarre entries. It sometimes adds undead creatures raised by necromancer adventurers.

The last 5 or so blank entries I assume are Maloy’s angels.

Good luck fearless zombie raven!

Yeah they are. Anyone is free to use them. They have a blank slate as far as history goes so easy RP
Also you’ll need to full-heal 4 out of 5 because they revived with their lethal injuries still on them so they bleed out or suffocate within minutes

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: TheFlame52 on June 18, 2023, 02:31:50 pm

A long time ago, a raven had gotten too close to someone with a sharp edge. That sharp edge lashed out with lethal accuracy, gashing open the raven's throat. The raven soon bled out and died.

Then the Master raised the raven's corpse. The raven corpse followed the Master underground. A mechanism tripped. A cage shot from the floor, enveloping it. The Master walked away. He kept walking.

The dead raven's wings beat furiously at the cage. It slammed its body against the bars, to no avail. The cage was made of copper. The Master went far away. The pull became less. The raven sat in its cage and waited.

Things happened outside the cage. The raven waited. The sun rose and fell. The raven waited. Less and less things happened. The raven waited. The heat came and the cold came. The raven waited. The raven corpse remained perserved by the magic that animated it. The raven waited.

The cage collapsed. The raven squirmed out from the pile of verdigris. It flapped its ragged wings and flew out into the sun.

(https://i.imgur.com/P7ATVmI.png)

The undead raven still felt the pull of the Master. But its brain also contained other, raven-y thoughts. It wanted things that gleamed.

The raven decided that it would combine these thoughts. It would bring something good to the Master. It flapped away awkwardly to the northeast.

On its way it stopped and picked up something it found. It hung the shiny thing from its neck and continued.

(https://i.imgur.com/yBpmthm.png)

Over the mountains, another fortress came into view.

(https://i.imgur.com/iO305dF.png)

As dawn broke, the raven circled the fortress. It saw the Master! But something was different about the Master. The undead raven flew down to investigate. But the Master ran from the raven. Confusion fizzled in the raven's necromantic brain.

(https://i.imgur.com/UJxawSP.png)

Then it saw the yak skeleton charging toward the Master! It flapped as hard as it could! But raven wings weren't built for speed, and the raven corpse was very old. The yak bowled the Master over. Blood splattered the snow.

(https://i.imgur.com/JUKJcto.png)

(https://i.imgur.com/mevstGw.png)

The raven attacked the yak's skull with beak and talon. One! Twice! The yak's skull was gouged. The yak turned, knocking the raven out of the air. The raven scrambled to its feet, too slow. The yak crushed it beneath its hooves. The glass amulet shattered. The yak raised its head, tossing its horns. But the wolf woman was gone.

Spoiler: combat log (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/vxZmpl6.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/iZXQkB4.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/SwXJjwB.png)

---

Desli dragged her wounded body around the corner. That stupid militia commander! What was he thinking! There were mortals in this fortress! She might have died, if not for that strange raven with the glass amulet. Where had it come from, anyway?

SAVE: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1GsqQPh6iauTVdiX5CRCIZulXHbiaA7nx/view?usp=sharing

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Bralbaard on June 18, 2023, 03:44:45 pm

So much happened in such a short adventure.
Poor raven... But Desli is saved! Undead cattle are one of the most dangerous things in this game, just look at what happened to Stockadeoutrage.

For administrative purposes, is that fortress Futureseals, and did I understand correctly you started in another fortress before visiting the second one? 

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: TheFlame52 on June 18, 2023, 04:24:16 pm

started in championvault, visited frostwall, crashed at warshrieks, died at futureseals

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Lurker Z on June 18, 2023, 05:05:01 pm

Quote from: Eric Blank on June 15, 2023, 10:21:27 pm

I used the caravans at the trade depot. [...] You will also be wasting hours of your life staring at a trade screen pressing macro buttons over and over and trying to negotiate the closest to 1:1 trade ratio you possibly can. 7:5 in favor of the trader usually works, but if you have a really good broker you can get much closer.

Armok preserve! I'd rather waste hours of my life dropping coins in adventure mode.

On a somewhat related note, does anyone know if arrows/bolts are lost if lodged in a creature? (i.e. wounded creature leaves off the map and the bolt/arrow despawns, or if just by being lodged in a wound, an arrow/bolt despawns in fortress mode).

Quote from: Unraveller on June 15, 2023, 09:47:27 pm

Ah. I very much appreciate the move down, I've only just now had time to sit down and read the ongoings of Orid Xem. . . Of which there are many, haha. All in all I'm amazed as ever, think I'll try and focus on a smaller scale for my next adventure, though I'm not yet sure. At the very least the Gloryages must continue!

As long as Irka survives, it should be fine. And even if the bodies of the Gloryages disappear into THE WORM, I have a method for the soul-line (though not the DNA) to survive, at least as far as Legends Mode/Viewer are concerned. If worse comes to worse I'll help out, though it'd mean helping the competition (I hope some incarnation of Lurker has a chance at the throne someday).

Quote from: kesperan on June 16, 2023, 03:46:52 pm

Quote from: TheFlame52 on June 15, 2023, 08:17:11 pm

Well, that was quick. I'll start on Friday or Saturday. I'm not really sure what I'm going to do.

If you’re looking for inspiration you could try an adventure as a human or animal person from one of the less-explored human civilisations. We’ve had plenty of people from Omon Obin, Mong Uthros and even the High Confederacies but not much from the others. Some of those civs still have significant ghoul problems!

Or elves. The elves will never stop being endangered in Orid Xem. Or kobolds, or animal people.
The Creamy Confederacy is an interesting case study, the bulwark against the undead horde, it was possibly as powerful as Mong Uthros before being couped by goblins and starting wars with everyone.

Quote from: Bralbaard on June 16, 2023, 03:50:24 pm

Here is the first part of my adventure from a few weeks ago. Under the spoiler there is a short recap of Bralbaard’s history that may be needed for context.
[spoiler]
(https://i.imgur.com/tcVgTfn.gif)

My students insist that I should be flattered that the creator of the work saw me as capable of taking down a demon, but to me this work is a travesty, a disgrace.   
In fact just thinking about how wrong the creator of this work has gotten things has convinced me to pick up my pen and paper again.

I just finished reading this, my characters feel the same way when they see statues of themselves being happy to become Lord of Ñodduli and despondent to be "fired", though it happened the other way around. I'll have a post these days on my latest adventures, I actually got some print screens and some interesting events from my last turn.

Quote from: Bralbaard on June 17, 2023, 10:04:07 am

That's close, I guess. The A is not only emphasized, but also long.
The name comes from a dwarven NPC from a d&d game I was the DM for at the time. The game was in Dutch, so the name is as well. ' Baard' is Dutch for beard, 'Bral' translates as ' talk bullshit while drunk'
That more or less describes the Npc as well. He was tavern keeper of a boat that had been refurbished into a tavern. Like most dwarves, Bralbaard and the tavern were always firmly anchored to land, but then the player characters came by and it all got out of hand real quick. They ended up sailing the tavern around the world, causing trouble, while Bralbaard was in the hold drinking because he was mortally afraid of the sea.

It's great to know the character's backstory, thanks for sharing.

Quote from: Bralbaard on June 18, 2023, 03:18:08 am

-Entomologist: Try to catch as many different bugs as possible for a museum submission.

That would be interesting for megabeast body parts (forgotten beasts, demons, angels, titans etc. anything that fits in the category of your choosing). Talk about having a giant insectarium.

Quote from: AvolitionBrit on June 18, 2023, 05:29:18 am

-The hunter: Collect the skulls of mythical creatures e.g unicorns, foul blendics, dark gnomes. (don't think anyone has encounter gnomes yet)

I tried pulling the Quadfector (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Category:Quadfectors) title last turn, but I forgot that I didn't have a dwarf death on my hands. Also the animal men I killed don't appear on my kill list, I suspect there was a crash that otherwise didn't bother my progress that lost the animal men deaths. I at least do have a kobold kill now.

I do enjoy reading all the ideas, maybe I'll do something new someday.

I'd add a simple idea for anyone interested, one of my chars was just tasked by the Overseer to loot the surrounding area, find anything valuable, bring back anything but the best to the fortress, then take a submission to the Museum. It's maybe rather simplistic, but it gets the turn done.

Quote from: Bralbaard on June 18, 2023, 06:22:46 am

Continuing on with Avolition's idea of hunting rare creatures, I think there was also an earlier idea to find out if bogeymen exist in this world because they have not been seen yet. This could be done by visiting the evil regions, and spending the night while travelling alone.

I'm not sure if it's been mentioned, but there definitely are bogeyman pouches around the world, so there definitely are bogeyman in Orid Xem. At the very least in the abstract/naming sense.

Quote from: TheFlame52 on June 18, 2023, 07:09:52 am

Alright, then I have a rather silly idea. I'll start posting soon. You see, I was looking through the unretire list, and I found something rather unusual...

(https://i.imgur.com/6f6fmeC.png)

Good luck, Flame! I do wonder how it's going to work, I'm curious about animal mechanics. I once possessed a troll and a necro experiment to get to Iroram and it was a pain, troll couldn't open doors and the experiment was just a blob (I might be mistaken). The trek was horrendous all in all.

And now I read the post... well that was great for the raven. And for Desli, who I suppose is now a mortal again (wait, won't she die very shortly of old age as animal people's lives are even shorter than humans'? Or did Pik & Desli relearn necromancy?)

Quote from: Bralbaard on June 18, 2023, 03:44:45 pm

So much happened in such a short adventure.
Poor raven... But Desli is saved! Undead cattle are one of the most dangerous things in this game, just look at what happened to Stockadeoutrage.

I can attest to that. My epic fight with the undead skeleton helped by Jas' wife will forever be in my memories.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Bralbaard on June 18, 2023, 05:12:35 pm

Thanks for all the informaton and analysis Lurker Z, here is the second part of my journey:

--------

(Link to first post )  (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8483329#msg8483329)

So what about the actual journey?

In 995 I had just come to better understand my new situation. At the time I was nearly 360 years old, but it was also 45 years since Bor had resurrected me using the secrets of life.  I had found out that even though my new body looked old, it had not aged further in those 45 years. I was immortal, like the elves. Bor had predicted my immortality but I had never truly wanted to believe him. When I was reawakened by the ritual in the Charcoal pit I had hoped to become truly mortal, not just to breathe the air and feel alive again but also to know I would be normal and accepted.  An immortal dwarf was definitely not natural.

Looking back, I see that the realization in 995 that I was immortal awakened a recklessness in me.  A desire to feel mortal by risking my life, by pushing it all too far. Because that is how it all started out.

My new body did not have the reflexes and skills that my old form had. I was clumsy and slow, as inexperienced as a peasant kid, just one inhabited by a centuries old soul that was perhabs a bit overconfident about the whole situation. I set out on an adventure my mind was ready for, but my body was not.

This quickly became clear when I was attacked by wolves. These foes would have meant nothing to me in the past, but now they were an existential threat.
The beasts were fast, I could barely evade their bites, and my attacks would always come just that bit too late. But at least I knew that the trick to fighting wolves is to not get surrounded. When I finally crushed the last wolven skull I was bleeding and felt exhausted. In the old days I would have backed off and gone home. But it felt like this fight had awakened me. I felt alive, and I continued my journey.

I set out to one of the most ancient places in the world, the vault of Cradledmartyrs. The place was as I knew it would be, filled with the butchered corpses of the angels that once guarded it. I found what I was looking for: a long whip made of blistered metal, it should serve me well on my future adventures. Then my eyes fell on the corpse of a being of Midor: after all these centuries it’s butchered corpse was still glowing brightly in the darkness of the abandoned vault. I reached out and picked up a part, only to retract my hand in pain. It burned with the intensity of Charcoal brute fire! Blood gushed from the wound at a clearly unsustainable rate.

(https://i.imgur.com/ORLav3o.gif)

Somehow with my other hand I managed to wrap a piece of clothing around the wound and arm, and managed to constrict the flow of blood. Somehow, I was not actually on fire.
I had nearly died again, but still I continued my adventure.

(https://i.imgur.com/K0CgruC.png)

Next, I travelled to the fortress of Stasismanors, I knew the entrance would be trapped, and kept my eyes open, but only realised too late that my senses were dull compared to those of my former self. I was nearly slashed in half by a trap and only barely made it inside.

This is where I found the travesty of a statue that depicted my old self striking down a demon. It was ridiculous. It seems the dwarves of this place had mainly occupied themselves with writing down fake news, and misinterpretations of history. Besides the image of me striking down a demon, there was a commisioned statue of Maloy looking very offended, and endless statues of elves, dwarves and other creatures being shot, flayed or tortured.

(https://i.imgur.com/wGfJQ6G.gif)

I felt an urge to burn the place down but decided against it. Raki the mad monkey king had descended into madness by giving in to his pyromantic urges centuries ago and it was not something that should be repeated. I decided to just leave.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Unraveller on June 18, 2023, 07:32:53 pm

I'll be looking to begin my turn on Monday, Tuesday at the latest. As I mentioned before it's likely I'll have a more subdued turn due to time constraints, but who knows? I do desperately need to get my prior stories out though. . .

@Lurker, you know. . . He could always marry into the line. ;) I wouldn't mind a huge branching royal family from various adventurers, and for the Realm to once again fall into the languish of political strife.

On that note, please anyone feel free to play characters of the Gloryage family if desired in the future, more than welcome.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Lurker Z on June 18, 2023, 08:03:55 pm

Interesting part II, I love the stories of Bralbaard the Reborn.

Quote from: Unraveller on June 18, 2023, 07:32:53 pm

I'll be looking to begin my turn on Monday, Tuesday at the latest. As I mentioned before it's likely I'll have a more subdued turn due to time constraints, but who knows? I do desperately need to get my prior stories out though. . .

@Lurker, you know. . . He could always marry into the line. ;) I wouldn't mind a huge branching royal family from various adventurers, and for the Realm to once again fall into the languish of political strife.

On that note, please anyone feel free to play characters of the Gloryage family if desired in the future, more than welcome.

I actually had plans to Lurker's marriage in the last turn, but I spent most of it carting items around, exploring and experimenting with advfort. I'll consider if I see someone of the Gloryage line interesting, no promises though. Ah, the issue was that it didn't let me retire Lurker in Entrancegrape for some reason, maybe because he was undead, maybe it was a bug. I'll see next time and maybe I'll ask for help if I still can't retire him there. It would probably work to retire him in a dwarf fortress, but I don't want him to become part of a dwarf civilization.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Unraveller on June 18, 2023, 08:43:18 pm

It might have changed due to you settling a fort there, but in the past I was unable to settle in Entrancegrapes either, yet another reason I built Silverthrone to be a new capital for Omon Obin.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Lurker Z on June 18, 2023, 11:19:29 pm

Yes, I'll test when I have time if it let me retire a living char in Entrancegrape. If not, I'll have to make a fort over a part of Señamatem myself. I had considered doing that in my previous turn, but between the time spent in adventure mode and reclaiming Shadmalzuglar (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Shadmalzuglar), I didn't feel I had the time to build anything interesting, so I left it for a future turn. It's a shame it doesn't work on Entrancegrape, it would have been a great book end, his story basically started in the time it was the capital and stealing/saving that amulet from what he perceived as the vampire Gopet worshiping cult, it would have been great for him to settle there after overseeing its reconstruction and raise a family (necromancer pun not intended).

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Maloy on June 19, 2023, 04:18:17 pm

Funny thing on Stasismanors I was originally intending for it to be a prophecy/easter-egg fort to display my future plans for my turns.

I haven't touched it since my first turn and I originally planned to create a battle between bral an Pis(even though I didn't have the details figured out)

then I realized I didn't care about the fort at all other than planting easter eggs and more than likely hardly anyone would see it so I just didn't unretire it again lol. I hate having a pointless player fort in the world taking up space, but I can't think of anything I would do with it. Anyone is free to use it by the way.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Eric Blank on June 20, 2023, 12:05:32 am

So Desli nearly died again. She must be some sort of masochist at this rate. :P

I'm not surprised though, that place is lousy with undead now.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Maloy on June 20, 2023, 06:00:22 am

I think Miara's vicious personality comes out when she is shooting. I can't choose what part I hit when I fire the game does, but whenever her life was genuinely in danger the arrows always went straight to the enemy's head, but if she wasn't it would always lodge in non-vital areas. I think that was more of her than RNG

TL;DR

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Miara's resentment finally boiled over into hatred, vengeance and madness
She killed two princesses of the Squeezing Fords and exterminated Hands of Planesgift from several settlements

Entry Three - Miaralei
Lorsith reclined at the royal tree, her new home. As the new princess of the Squeezing Fords she had been required to leave her home and to occupy the old capital forest. Now rife with trenches from goblin occupation.
The queen was a sight to look at for her. For a civilization that espoused oneness with nature through a hunter-gatherer lifestyle it should be impossible for one to become morbidly obese, but the queen was such. The goblins had showered her with wealth for service and she used it on food.
Even with the goblins being purged and the hero in question threatening her to right herself this only made her more of a mess now. She was prone to panic attacks and assuaged anxiety with more stress eating. Perhaps with time she would grow...

An arrow struck Lorsith's wing tearing it! She swiveled and looked all around trying to determine from where it came. Another arrow struck her in the leg sending her falling to her belly on the branch she was standing on. She looked at the arrow in her leg, pulled it out and tried to think of what to do.
Another arrow to the chest left her coughing and sputtering. If she jumped the tree the fall might kill her. The attacker might have more waiting below for her. If she stayed here she would die so what should she do?
Another arrow in her other leg this one piercing bone.

She made to crawl for the other side of the tree trunk seeking cover as more arrows rained down all over her body one after another. Another hits her chest and she is now wheezing for breath. She has almost made it to the trunk of the great tree. Almost to cover. Another arrow hit's her chest finishing the destruction of her lungs. Lorsith can crawl no further as she suffocates on her own blood. The queen was panicking hopping up and down calling for anyone to help as panic set in again.

In the distance stood Miaralei the huntress. Her rage prevented her from smiling from the enjoyment she felt, but her rage was somewhat satisfied for the moment, but still there was more work to do. She set out for another settlement.

Despite her exile she had chosen to return. Her people had fallen away and she would no longer stand for it. Arthur, her husband, thought she was likely hunting goblins like he was and so said nothing about these expeditions, but the truth was far greater.
Goblins had only been a piece of a far larger threat to their people: The true enemy was the Hand of Planesgift.

These abominations had joined her people centuries ago as refugees of a necromancer, and relied on the kindness of the elves, but since then, had only led us astray. Half of the forest retreats were now occupied solely by them. They did not live the traditional way, but believed in a "moderate" approach, using wood from the trees as needed. Even burning it! They did not follow Cacame, but their own human gods, and encouraged the elves to abandon Cacame in droves. The elves had become idle, as our ways, government, and our very spirit was taken from us, but no more! It was time for the huntress to hunt!

She went from forest to forest hunting the monsters, some she even recognized from centuries ago. Some would do as the princess did and helplessly wait in the tree unsure of what to do and others would fling themselves down and charge the archer only to die at her feet.
She would go until she ran out of arrows. Her son had crafted hundreds of silver and iron ones and she took them all for this extended hunt.
(https://i.imgur.com/gQcPFMw.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/gGl1Ha3.png)
Finally, she reached her last forest judging by her stock of arrows. She had done her best to leave no witnesses, but her paranoia left her feeling watched as if someone had been watching and reporting. There was no way these creatures had so much power though, right?
She fired an arrow at one "civilian" in a tree and it hit his wing, but within moments he was down the tree and on the ground. Miara knocked another arrow and fired, but missed! The man ducked it and flew at her striking at her again and again and again and again!
As he threw punches and thrusts with his knife he smiled "Greetings, butcher. My name is Ata Stylesacted"
Miara was at a severe disadvantage now and seeing she had no hope she dropped her bow and reached into her bag pulling out a silver sword. She had absolutely no skill with it.

The two circled and danced, her agility was beyond the bounds of elven and she dodged every blow even if some were close. The monster had no issue catching her blade and parrying it with his small knife. He tried to speak to her again "Why have you been killing my people?"
(https://i.imgur.com/g441HVW.png)
"I killed your princess and I'm gonna kill you too!" She recalled advice from Arthur and Maloy on melee combat "Hitting the enemy is secondary to not getting hit yourself. You're made of squishy vulnerable meat so you need to protect it with armor or speed" Good advice, but she feared she would tire at this rate. The monster could throw three attacks for every one of hers.
"We have been friends and neighbors of your people for centuries!"
Miara screamed at him and threw a punch. The creature did not see it coming as a fist rang against his head making him take a step back. She gave into her rage. Twisting, spinning and spiraling all around the man his attacks could not connect. She would strike out with her sword and as he would catch it with his knife she would punch him again or kick him in his chest. He swung again and she punched him in the gut making him cough and vomit onto the ground. She kicking him in the head now.
Again and again the beating went on as the man fought valiantly to keep up with the elf huntress...or berserker at this point? She continued to beat him with her bare hands and feet until finally he had slowed too much. His knife didn't catch her sword this time and it plunged down straight into his skull tearing his brain.
"So I was right about all of you!" She spat at the corpse "I left no witnesses! How could you have known what I was doing if you weren't all secretly controlling and watching things!"
She exhausted most of her arrows at this forest on other residents returning it to it's state of wild forest before heading back to Razorbridge to restock.

Days passed and she had almost reached home approaching the peninsula that the bridge rested on when suddenly...
(https://i.imgur.com/D9ITORp.png)

(from reading the description of the Hands they remind me of these guys from dark souls)
(https://i.imgur.com/yMSU1dq.jpg)
Ambush! Two wicked Hands of Planesgifts stood waiting for her barring her path south. Both nude arms crossed glaring at her. These were wild ones who had never accepted civilization as their kin did and lived as beasts in the woods hunting others. Or did they? Why would they care about Miara? What if they were truly just assassins attacking targets for their vicious syndicate? What if all their previous victims were people like her who knew the truth of this wicked people?
She fired an arrow at one. She caught her arrow on her wing, but within a moment was on Miara and threw a punch that left her lips clover asunder and gushing blood. Her head was reeling as she tried to dodge another and dropped her bow. These creatures were way faster and stronger than their kin that had infiltrated the forests...
The two picked up an increasingly familiar dance as Miara relied more on her abilities as a berserker than swordswoman, but the creature was fast! It was beating her just as much. She feared her eyes would bruise over if the fight lasted too long as the two moved in a flash through this field. The male hand stood watching the fight take place his arms crossed and judging. Was this some sort of duel?
The creature struck her leg and she could feel it desperately wanting to give way to the pressure of the rest of Miara's body; If Miara fell to the ground she would lose her speed and likely die as it was her only advantage. She spun and sent her other leg into the creature's chest leaving it hacking and coughing and followed it with her sword straight to the chest and through the heart.
The shock registering on her prey's face was sweet to Miara as the monster continued to swing and attack desperately seeking vengeance for her inevitable death, but she bled out and fell to the ground.
The male seemed angry, but respectful. He made no move to attack and as she stared at him he motioned his head for her to reach for her weapon. It was to be a proper duel then.

She picked up her bow and looked at him and he grinned as he readied to charge. An arrow pierced his skull dashing his dreams as well as brain matter. Miara limped back to her children's home.

She found Razorbridge changed. An elven enclave on the northern end of the bridge: Protesters to the war against the Walled Dye that their home civilization waged.
If only they knew it was the Hands of Planesgifts that had manipulated the elves into starting that war, but they couldn't understand and likely wouldn't want to understand a woman in her appearance. she was covered in many bruises and lacerations.

She also found many cyclopean women had taken up residence. They made up half of the population now. As she crossed the bridge one of the women who was reclining at the bridge entrance gave her a wink. Miara felt an uncomfortable feeling at the flirtation "I have a husband" and this just made the Warrior of Udir grin and wave her off. "Social skills clearly aren't my thing" Miara thought
The bridge now had a proper armory and smithy. She wandered into the armory and saw the statue. Maloy the wolf lord laughing triumphatly while Midor the goddess weeps and withers away. on the Plaque at the base it reads "Please spit on Midor" Miara burst out laughing at her old friend's petty antics. She spit on Midor as instructed and continued past.

This new stockpile of arrows was different. The dark metal seemed blistered as if poorly crafted, but as she touched it she felt power emanating from the arrows. Arandil's voice interrupted her investigation "Hello, mother. How do you like my work?"
She turned to him and wrapped her arms around his neck "Son! I'd say your craft has suffered in the years of my absence, but also something seems different about these"
He chuckled "These are divine arrows from Midor's realm, stolen by uncle for his 'revenge'. They contain an iota of the power of a goddess of death and flame"
"Then these will be perfect for my hunt"
Arandil looked concerned "Mother, Lythienne ran off"
Miara was unconcerned as she fondled the arrows appreciating them now "She takes after me. She will be fine"
"Aleratha has taken up at the tavern as a performer"
"She's young and will be fine" Miara paused for a moment after saying that "Actually, you and her need to keep away from those cyclops women"
Arandil sighed "I'm not my sister's keeper, but I am much too busy to entertain such dalliances. With Uncle's gift I'll soon be the greatest smith in the north"
Miara hugged him again "I'm proud of you! Although I don't like you using trees for fuel, can't they find some coal or something in the ground?"
Arandil was still serious "Mother, Father is gone. He left to fight the goblin horde. The whole horde with only a few people. He needs help"
She paused knowing how serious that was "I...I can't."
"Why not?"
"Look, dear. I...if I succeed at my mission your father and everyone else will be safe too"
"Not if he dies in the next couple of weeks"
Miara's voice lowered to a whisper as she packed all the arrows into her bags and quivers, several hundred, "He won't die."
"We need you here, mother!"
"I'll be back in a few years hopefully. Goodbye I love you"
Arandil looked frustrated and despondent as Miara quietly left and headed back north.

Her hunt travel was twice interrupted by more wild Hands. One appeared in a tree as she camped. She shot it down and saw the power of her arrows. Wherever they struck that part of the body would explode with power.
The next one was staring at her from across a river trying to watch her stealthily: She shot it in non-vital areas stretching the kill out before it expired.

Her hunt in the forests was far more interesting. These hands were all hunters and archers shooting arrows and bolts at her from atop the trees as she shot back. She would dodge two or three projectiles at a time as she fired her bow. This run and shoot was exhilarating for her as she had only a second to register where the bolt would come before she spun around it and fired again. The hunters could not keep up with her agility and with time each one fell from exploding arrows destroying them.
She cleared several more settlements before returning where her journey began: Scorchroots.

The new princess seemed defiant. Staying in the exact same tree as her predecessor this Hand was clearly on edge. She knew that her kind were being hunted for their crimes and that the huntress would eventually return here.
Perhaps it was an ambush? Perhaps she just wanted to boldly make a statement against Miara?

Miara readied her arrows and loosed again and again. She refused to make it fast. The arrows lodged one after another in the hand's body as she tried to escape, but her legs had been shot already. The queen panicked again at this point a visible mess of fear even when nothing was happening. Finally, Miara killed the princess. An arrow exploded her head.

She approached the queen for the first time "I am Miaralei Shakenfurs the Tired Aquamarine of Mirrors and you will free our people from the influence of the Hands of Planesgift or my next set of arrows will be for you!" The queen screamed in terror and Miara merely bowed before melding back into the tree line.
Instead of hunting for more hands Miara hung around the forest for two weeks waiting to see what would happen and as fate would have it the queen's cowardice did overtake her. The new princess was an elf: Vienna Blossomclans
Miara's war was far from over, but they had successfully purged the corruption from the elven government.

She had to admit she enjoyed the hunt, and maybe when it was over she would hunt other enemies too?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on June 20, 2023, 06:53:31 am

Poor Lorsith, killed by a xenophobic elf.

The goblins are the true evil, and Tirin freed the elves from their influence. Did you find Tirin and Adela’s daughter? I think she became an abbot of her mothers religion.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: TheFlame52 on June 20, 2023, 02:27:44 pm

I see someone is continuing Dreamypuzzled's genocide of the hands of planegifts from centuries ago. Also, Maloy, I think your writing would flow better if you used more punctuation. Some of those long sentences could use a comma or two.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Unraveller on June 20, 2023, 03:29:42 pm

Quote from: kesperan on June 20, 2023, 06:53:31 am

The goblins are the true evil. . .

Goblins the true evil you think? I daresay I've seen little of ought from the goblins of Orid Xem. They seem well content to lurk in their pits and towers. There are many evils in this land yes. . . But they are far more insidious than greenskinned savages!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Lurker Z on June 20, 2023, 03:52:12 pm

Quote from: Maloy on June 20, 2023, 06:00:22 am

(from reading the description of the Hands they remind me of these guys from dark souls)
(https://i.imgur.com/yMSU1dq.jpg)

Interesting interpretation of the species, I've added it to the wiki.

Quote from: Maloy on June 20, 2023, 06:00:22 am

"We need you here, mother!"
"I'll be back in a few years hopefully. Goodbye I love you"

Nice casual observation about elven lifespan (though at this point this could be attributed to some of our immortal adventurers as well) and how for them years might be in some way equivalent on how mortals see a few hours of their lives passing. Of course, there's a much higher chance for elves in their "few years" to not find their kin alive when they return, in contrast with mortals just leaving for a few hours.

Quote from: kesperan on June 20, 2023, 06:53:31 am

Poor Lorsith, killed by a xenophobic elf.

The goblins are the true evil, and Tirin freed the elves from their influence. Did you find Tirin and Adela’s daughter? I think she became an abbot of her mothers religion.

I think we mostly feel sorry for them because of Lonelythrall, who is appropriately named as Thrall from Warcraft was one of the few decent orcs. We don't know the Hands' true relationship with the rest of the world, we know they were used in necromancers' armies and we know they integrated into elven society. We also know that they (inadvertently) almost destroyed Orid Xem through magical overbreeding.

Quote from: Unraveller on June 20, 2023, 03:29:42 pm

Goblins the true evil you think? I daresay I've seen little of ought from the goblins of Orid Xem. They seem well content to lurk in their pits and towers. There are many evils in this land yes. . . But they are far more insidious than greenskinned savages!

From a mechanical POV, they really are. I've had a goblin (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Gozru_Sutubåx) in a fortress once (not from Orid Xem), a goblin that I both pitied and respected for his history: he lost all his family, over 5 children and his wife to different foes, and killed a forgotten beast. In my fort though, he was always irascible, would be on the verge of tantrums, couldn't mechanically open doors for some reason and had several other issues.

In Orid Xem, Malladang has already soured any decency of a good name goblins could have had with literally 7 centuries of massacres where they killed tens thousands of sapients. But even in their pits, they kill each other and those they abduct, they also teach their ways. A lot of the goblins whose history I look into have at least a murder (actually described as murder, not war casualties or such) of a fellow or of an abducted creature (dwarf, human etc.). When a goblin took over the Creamy Confederacy, they started wars with almost everyone else. When you encounter a goblin in adventure mode, there's about 50-50 chance that they'll attack you on sight, which I have not experienced with humans, dwarves or elves. I've had more than one occurrence of going into a town only to find a goblin beating up a human for no apparent reason. I think they're designed to be this. Sure, there are worse creatures in history, but the only ones I can think about are the NPC necromancers.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: TheFlame52 on June 20, 2023, 04:12:37 pm

Quote from: Lurker Z on June 20, 2023, 03:52:12 pm

When a goblin took over the Creamy Confederacy, they started wars with almost everyone else.

It's actually coded into the game for leaders' personality traits to affect foreign policy.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Unraveller on June 20, 2023, 04:29:53 pm

It's quite a shame that the many fascinating events that take place during world gen take a nosedive at the start of the game. To a degree, despite the three or so centuries that have passed over the course of the game, the world in of itself outside of adventurer actions is mostly static.

However it just means we must forge onward and take the world into our own hands. I definitely have an interest in putting an end to some wars. . . Maybe even create a new civilization or two, I believe I know how that can be done. For now I must administer to the Realm of Silver, another flaw is that our citizens will all merely die of old age as marriages/births are few and far between. The new Weatherponder District has dwindled considerably. Nothing to worry about, Omon Obin will have a fertility festival I suppose. Haha.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Lurker Z on June 20, 2023, 06:10:42 pm

You're here to see the exhibits? Welcome, welcome. What's that, the mess outside? Did they throw out useless junk? No, no, I'm afraid those are some of the exhibits, there's been a magic incident you see, recovering the items and putting them in their proper place - or at least inside - would be greatly appreciated. As for me, I'm not part of the staff, my name is Lurker Wogeathis and I'm a human necromancer. I know you've heard the stories, I've heard the stories, from the mad Oddom and Cog to the recluses of Vutok (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Vutok_Gusilvod#Elsewhere), Bralbaard, Pik & Desli and the list go on, to the... controversial Moldath and Avolition. I've heard how the change affected them, and at first I thought it did not do so for me. I had no wish to rule the world, to turn the living into my puppets or to bring death to the world. Nothing like that. But now I realize it did affect me in a certain matter, my affliction does seem to ask for the blood of at least one creature of each kind, so that my name may enter as many slayer sections as possible. But it's a small matter I'm willing to live with.

Ah, forgive an old soul's rambling - and I am old, reading Bralbaard's latest journal made me realize how distant my time was when Ulosothro was the unquestioned capital of Omon Obin. How times change. As fascinating as my story may seem to you, there's not much to tell, really, as I've told my Museum compatriots time and time again. I do have some scraps of paper detailing this and that lying around if you're that curious, but I'd think you came to see the exhibits. What would a bicentenerial necromancer have to show us, you might ask. Demon remains, skulls, ancient books? The Museum holds all of these, 'tis true, and I've brought some demon remains and some raw gems on my previous turns, but now, I have something you might not expect: goblin wares! You'd be thinking, goblins are just beasts given divine form to mock it, many of them trapped in Hell with the true beasts, somehow surviving and worshiping them until someone digs too deep or divine intervention. Those who know me must know how much I loath the critters. All of these are true, of course. Then, you may consider, that these items are just stolen by the goblins and somehow survived in their horrid condition so that I may have gathered them here for you now.

Spoiler: Submission (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/y8n7RsJ.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/wZcRajn.png)

Well, the answer is surprisingly no. From my research into them, they appear to be of direct goblin provenance. How can I be certain? Why, it's the materials, dear ones. What sapient being would carve draltha, troll or goblin bones? As much as I indeed loathe these creatures, these items had to make their way to the Museum. Can you imagine their history? The things we may learn even from such uncivilized creatures? I've recovered these directly from the pits of the goblin capital of Stozuutong, and don't worry, I slayed some greenskins while I was there. This is the place of Master Egu (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Egu_Odanez_Exzas_Otsmor)'s death, who would have ruled to this day if not for brave Museum adventurers. Unfortunately, I was only able to explore two or three of those pits, accounting for the temporal distorsions and the army of trolls I made sure to not disturbe. I remember reading once that there are 6000 living trolls in Orid Xem, a truly terrifying number, and I think I found where they're all hiding...
(https://i.imgur.com/PTnP5j9.png)

---

OOC: It's interesting that we were talking about goblins just as I had a goblin submission...

Quote from: Unraveller on June 20, 2023, 04:29:53 pm

It's quite a shame that the many fascinating events that take place during world gen take a nosedive at the start of the game. To a degree, despite the three or so centuries that have passed over the course of the game, the world in of itself outside of adventurer actions is mostly static.

However it just means we must forge onward and take the world into our own hands. I definitely have an interest in putting an end to some wars. . . Maybe even create a new civilization or two, I believe I know how that can be done. For now I must administer to the Realm of Silver, another flaw is that our citizens will all merely die of old age as marriages/births are few and far between. The new Weatherponder District has dwindled considerably. Nothing to worry about, Omon Obin will have a fertility festival I suppose. Haha.

We're definitely seeing changes, a human capital was taken over by Adilatír as a result of a war with the humans, the elven capital fell AFTER Bralbaard's first turn, there was the Battle of Cemoshtoral (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Battle_of_Cemoshtoral), that battle in which Bralbaard was killed etc. There's also the massive High Confederacies immigration into Adilatír hillocks, as I've deduced most humans are from that particular civilization. I wonder how the dwarf-human-elf and even goblin relations will continue to evolve.

As for making new civilizations, be careful. Other than borking the game, which would be obvious, so it's not much of a concern, adding things that particular game file wasn't ready for may result in LV crashing. It happened when Archcrystal (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=156319) modded bookmaking in, and LV stopped working for it.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Unraveller on June 21, 2023, 12:31:33 am

I'd be very careful of course, I'm well aware of the ripples one measly pebble tossed in the pond might have. I never touch df-hacj without backups and backups of backups. Then extensive testing after.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on June 21, 2023, 02:41:13 am

You could try to revive the Matched Hame?

The Page of Tiredness were resurrected by accident but I’ve been unable to replicate it with the other lost dwarves.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Maloy on June 21, 2023, 06:47:18 am

Quote from: TheFlame52 on June 20, 2023, 02:27:44 pm

I see someone is continuing Dreamypuzzled's genocide of the hands of planegifts from centuries ago. Also, Maloy, I think your writing would flow better if you used more punctuation. Some of those long sentences could use a comma or two.

I appreciate that! I tried to fix it up some now, but I probably missed some spots. Do you have some examples? Definitely wanna improve my form lol


Despite narrator voice being in favor of Miara I'm not trying to portray her in a sympathetic light for sure. Arthur and Maloy failed to address her resentment over the centuries and she is now even willing to leave her family in the middle of a war to pursue this venture

I don't *think* she will successfully genocide the race within the Squeezing Fords, but just in case I stashed some bodies in Makbor for the Wolf Lord's experiments

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: TheFlame52 on June 21, 2023, 05:36:57 pm

Quote from: Maloy on June 21, 2023, 06:47:18 am

I appreciate that! I tried to fix it up some now, but I probably missed some spots. Do you have some examples? Definitely wanna improve my form lol

These abominations had joined her people centuries ago as refugees of a necromancer, and relied on the kindness of the elves, but since then, had only led us astray. Half of the forest retreats were now occupied solely by them. They did not live the traditional way, but believed in a "moderate" approach, using wood from the trees as needed. Even burning it! They did not follow Cacame, but their own human gods, and encouraged the elves to abandon Cacame in droves. The elves had become idle, as our ways, government, and our very spirit was taken from us, but no more! It was time for the huntress to hunt!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on June 22, 2023, 07:44:51 am

Looking through LV I have spotted that Ghoulcreek is now a hive of activity, with scores of human merchants moving there with their yaks.

There are now 65 humans in that tiny camp, alongside a group of QuantumDrop's legendary warrior ghouls/thralls/husks, most of whom are now lords, barons or priests of various religions.

All hell is going to break loose the next time an adventurer stumbles across this site.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Maloy on June 22, 2023, 05:55:46 pm

Quote from: kesperan on June 22, 2023, 07:44:51 am

Looking through LV I have spotted that Ghoulcreek is now a hive of activity, with scores of human merchants moving there with their yaks.

There are now 65 humans in that tiny camp, alongside a group of QuantumDrop's legendary warrior ghouls/thralls/husks, most of whom are now lords, barons or priests of various religions.

All hell is going to break loose the next time an adventurer stumbles across this site.

The great massacre of Ghoulcreek!
Man I only survived walking through there because the one trying to kill me saw a badger or something and ran off lol

Quote from: TheFlame52 on June 21, 2023, 05:36:57 pm

Quote from: Maloy on June 21, 2023, 06:47:18 am

I appreciate that! I tried to fix it up some now, but I probably missed some spots. Do you have some examples? Definitely wanna improve my form lol

These abominations had joined her people centuries ago as refugees of a necromancer, and relied on the kindness of the elves, but since then, had only led us astray. Half of the forest retreats were now occupied solely by them. They did not live the traditional way, but believed in a "moderate" approach, using wood from the trees as needed. Even burning it! They did not follow Cacame, but their own human gods, and encouraged the elves to abandon Cacame in droves. The elves had become idle, as our ways, government, and our very spirit was taken from us, but no more! It was time for the huntress to hunt!

Thank you! I'll go ahead and put that edit in and that's good for me to learn from for the future!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on June 22, 2023, 06:48:23 pm

Quote from: Maloy on June 22, 2023, 05:55:46 pm

The great massacre of Ghoulcreek!
Man I only survived walking through there because the one trying to kill me saw a badger or something and ran off lol

It depends how QD feels about his murderous undead horde but cleansing Ghoulcreek sounds like a kick ass adventure for a suitably hardened individual. I loaded it up and it’s just instant anarchy with loads of crabs, otters and yaks being chopped up by the ghouls and the terrified merchants facing similar fates.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Quantum Drop on June 23, 2023, 05:36:52 am

Quote from: kesperan on June 22, 2023, 06:48:23 pm

It depends how QD feels about his murderous undead horde but cleansing Ghoulcreek sounds like a kick ass adventure for a suitably hardened individual. I loaded it up and it’s just instant anarchy with loads of crabs, otters and yaks being chopped up by the ghouls and the terrified merchants facing similar fates.

I'm fine with people trying to cleanse Ghoulcreek after my next turn; that should let me wrap up the current plot related to the characters I have there (which I still need to write up, lol). It sounds like it'd definitely be a hell of a show, having someone try and fight through there.

Surprised that it's so lively, TBH; never expected that my thrall storage camp would end up becoming populated like that.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Lurker Z on June 23, 2023, 08:20:34 am

Quote from: Quantum Drop on June 23, 2023, 05:36:52 am

I'm fine with people trying to cleanse Ghoulcreek after my next turn; that should let me wrap up the current plot related to the characters I have there (which I still need to write up, lol). It sounds like it'd definitely be a hell of a show, having someone try and fight through there.

Surprised that it's so lively, TBH; never expected that my thrall storage camp would end up becoming populated like that.

It reminds me of Bralbaard's camp which also saw a surge of migrants for no particular reason. It's curious how some camps get migrants and some don't. Ah man, I can imagine the tragedy lore-wise. Here are these hopefuls who learned of a populated place and for some reason decided to move in. They join and their neighbors, secretly thralls, seem friendly enough. They live in harmony for years, decades until one day or night when some random traveler (or some infamous one) wonders a little too close to their camp. Then their neighbours turn into horrifying, bloodthirsty monsters who are set to kill them. Really sad.

P.S. Bralbaard, can you link my lore post (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8484127#msg8484127) to my turn? Thanks.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Maloy on June 23, 2023, 08:53:23 am

I'm picturing:

1. Attempting a go with Arthur's new squad of legendary elven and WU fighters
2. Throwing a legendary squad of Warriors of Udir at them to see who wins
 More than likely both end in terrible failure lol

In  reality I think we should just make it even worse maybe throw in a few more thralls and make this an avengers endgame level of mash up with all of us having to take this threat on

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Unraveller on June 23, 2023, 12:18:22 pm

Of note as a human fortress; Not only are about a quarter of Human migrants Blighted Thralls, about half of which are only lower bodies which Lurker has also confirmed, but on occasional migrant waves I'm getting crashes, I have to load the game a few times through the waves (or delete the migrant event with dfhack before it comes), in order to get a wave that doesn't crash, or none at all in the latter remedy. Regardless there's probably a particular corrupt unit that migrates If I had to guess, something to be mindful about I suppose.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on June 23, 2023, 03:42:25 pm

Sounds like we need another good old thrall cleansing of the human lands!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Lurker Z on June 23, 2023, 04:29:50 pm

I suspect they're already dead and the game is just confused about it. It might explain the crashes, which I too experienced the first time I got a wave in a human fort. Thankfully, I only lost one in-game month. As for the thralls, I don't know about you, but for me they had no body parts. Their description list was full of all the body parts that were missing - and ALL their bodyparts were missing. When I scrolled over them, they had every body part gray. You were also lucky that you got some good migrants with the thralls, for me as much as I repeated the wave, only thralls arrived. And I think I didn't get any more waves after that, either.

By the way, before you upload the save, could you put some non-military positions for Siminsothro if it's not too much bother? It is really annoying not having a broker (and, to a lesser extent, a bookkeeper).

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Yarlig on June 24, 2023, 09:30:22 am

The bodypartless zombies may just be undead skins' I remember having some problems with those I raised in the fort where TimelessBob's character died.
EDIT: This one: http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8301837#msg8301837

Also' please sign me up for another turn. A lot has changed in the world' I'm interested in checking it out firsthand again. Though mayhaps I should try to finish my stories first' it's been.. three years of me lagging with the very first one? Not very efficient at writing alas.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Unraveller on June 24, 2023, 01:41:01 pm

Quote from: Lurker Z on June 23, 2023, 04:29:50 pm

I suspect they're already dead and the game is just confused about it. It might explain the crashes, which I too experienced the first time I got a wave in a human fort. Thankfully, I only lost one in-game month. As for the thralls, I don't know about you, but for me they had no body parts. Their description list was full of all the body parts that were missing - and ALL their bodyparts were missing. When I scrolled over them, they had every body part gray. You were also lucky that you got some good migrants with the thralls, for me as much as I repeated the wave, only thralls arrived. And I think I didn't get any more waves after that, either.

By the way, before you upload the save, could you put some non-military positions for Siminsothro if it's not too much bother? It is really annoying not having a broker (and, to a lesser extent, a bookkeeper).

I'm not certain that the bugged, limbless thralls are all dead in game. At least legends viewer suggest they haven't died yet when they generally show up for me. My one contention is where they came from, 75% of them seem to be infected by Hannibal, while the other quarter by Kosoth's original rampage. I'm just wondering how in my many turns I haven't cleaned up Omon Obin! And now as I'm traveling, there are countless Rotten Slayers to deal with. . .

Out of curiosity anyone have any particular in-universe opinions of the Intelligent Undead? I generally attack them on sight provided my adventurer is hardy enough. Though of course they aren't hostile until you do the deed, I suppose I think of it like a mercy killing.

And yeah Lurker I'll take a look at it.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Lurker Z on June 24, 2023, 03:24:06 pm

Quote from: Unraveller on June 24, 2023, 01:41:01 pm

And yeah Lurker I'll take a look at it.

Thank you.

About the intelligent undead, as my character is a necromancer, I assume they'll attack some future unlucky soul, so I try to kill them first.

About the thralls not registering as dead, it is definitely a bug. I killed a lot of thrall immigrants in fortress mode, then I checked in LV and their death wasn't registered. Maybe it's because I didn't have a military and I killed them with DF Hack, though it might be that their death either just doesn't register or that they are, as Yarlig pointed out, actually skins with different IDs, thus they have different entries than the name they come as.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Maloy on June 24, 2023, 05:58:10 pm

I think wolf man is lonely having lived multiple generations longer than he should. I usually resurrect NPCs whose area of death makes them seem harmless. I also carry Makbor residents who die from old age to other locations to resurrect and occupy. I think it fits his relaxed view of life that he wouldn't let people he's known forever just disappear

The elves having heard of centuries of conflict via intelligent undead definitely view them with fear and hate. I mean Hollow Zombies can force grab you! That's terrifying seeing a living corpse do that to someone

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: TheFlame52 on June 25, 2023, 08:04:57 am

Quote from: Unraveller on June 24, 2023, 01:41:01 pm

Out of curiosity anyone have any particular in-universe opinions of the Intelligent Undead? I generally attack them on sight provided my adventurer is hardy enough. Though of course they aren't hostile until you do the deed, I suppose I think of it like a mercy killing.

They are a threat to my nation and a convenient source of souls that no one will miss.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Eric Blank on June 25, 2023, 11:01:07 pm

I make an effort to kill those that are hostile, whenever possible, but otherwise leave them be.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on June 26, 2023, 10:52:06 am

In case Bralbaard missed it earlier, can I move my turn down one place?

That would make it Dikbut’s turn after Unraveller.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Bralbaard on June 26, 2023, 04:23:19 pm

I updated a lot of stuff, tell me if I missed anything.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: dikbutdagrate on June 27, 2023, 01:00:35 pm

Quote from: kesperan on June 26, 2023, 10:52:06 am

In case Bralbaard missed it earlier, can I move my turn down one place?

That would make it Dikbut’s turn after Unraveller.

Looks like it.

Hoping I got a decent undead power after being revived.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Unraveller on June 27, 2023, 04:08:07 pm

Will have save up later tonight, have a few things to do first, then I'll put the finishing touches on it. Not that I've had a terribly productive run of it thus far, mostly just administering the Realm.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Quantum Drop on June 27, 2023, 04:35:45 pm

Quote from: dikbutdagrate on June 27, 2023, 01:00:35 pm

Hoping I got a decent undead power after being revived.

Weenie's a Hollow Zombie, so if I'm reading these raws right he'll have the power to propel targets away and cause their spines to rot. Latter's kind of meh, but FWIR the former is pretty strong against human-sized targets due to the force and rate at which it can be used.

Good luck with your turn!

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

As a side note I'd appreciate if you could hold off on any surgery on my characters until my next turn. Long story as to why, but TL;DR is that my lack of foresight related to writing and characters has bitten me on the ass again.

Quote from: Unraveller on June 27, 2023, 04:08:07 pm

Will have save up later tonight, have a few things to do first, then I'll put the finishing touches on it. Not that I've had a terribly productive run of it thus far, mostly just administering the Realm.

Looking forward to seeing how the Realm of Silver's changed under further rule, Unraveller!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Lurker Z on June 27, 2023, 08:12:07 pm

Quote from: Unraveller on June 27, 2023, 04:08:07 pm

Will have save up later tonight, have a few things to do first, then I'll put the finishing touches on it. Not that I've had a terribly productive run of it thus far, mostly just administering the Realm.

I know the feeling, doing some things in the game can be tedious, even if rewarding. I'm looking forward to seeing what changed in the world.

I don't want to derail your narrative, but I'm curious what the Gloryages/Anthad and the Royal Court think about Lurker. After all, he's the only other adventurer (that I know of) that has come to renovate the Realm. He's taken over the former capital, the castle where Jas slayed the last of the Old Blood Law-Giver. He's renovated the castle with a marble entrance, remade some of the first floor rooms and repurposed the towers for the uses of new arrivals. What do the Anthads and the Royal Court think Lurker is planning? What do they think about him?

---

Bralbaard, you can remove the (writing) on my turn, that was all I had to submit for this turn.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Unraveller on June 27, 2023, 09:19:47 pm

@Lurker

I think this most hinges on one thing; whether in a narrative sense Lurker would have petitioned to do so in an official capacity, essentially gaining lordship over the land, or if he merely moved into the old castle for their own sake. In the former scenario, I feel as if though he would be welcome, despite now having a familial ruling system and dynasty, I like to imagine the earliest of the Anthad stock cares little of nobility and relies more on merit - If a man comes to them wishing to rebuild a holding for the sake of the Realm, then so be it, and best of luck to him, the Realm requires strong hands and ambitions for the future now that the worst of the blight seems through with.

On the other hand, should it have been an oddball adventurer moving in to claim their own fort, then I think they would be much more wary. Swordgleamed was merely a stones throw away from the capital in the past and it was a vertible hive of banditry, the memories of Jas and Galka's final adventure before settling into rulership in order to cow the bandits that dwelt there is still in the minds of the Anthads. In this case, at best they'd hope Lurker to be a harmless adventuring fellow squatting on ruined land, at worst, a would be bandit lord.

EDIT: In order to get the positions right for Lurker, I'm gonna need to finish up tomorrow morning, it's getting quite late for me to be doing this and I don't want to make a mistake. Sorry folks.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Lurker Z on June 27, 2023, 10:21:23 pm

I'll take the third option. Lurker has visited the capital at least once, has had positive relations with Jas' former wife (though likely only Lurker remembers; though for roleplay reasons, maybe she sent letters to the capital before her demise, so the nobles know of his good intentions). On the other hand, at this point Lurker is an undead necromancer - albeit one who hasn't raised a single undead or bodypart and has mostly used his abilities to forgo food and drink. Yes, Lurker took over the castle more or less "clandestinely", but as the Overseer, he made sure the blighted thrall "settlers" would be slayed wherever possible and the group which inhabit the castle is officially part of Omon Obin - something that Lapa Gicast (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Lapa_Gicast) never had. So it should mean at some point that, if not Lurker, someone close to him petitioned the capital to settle there and they approved. The gray area may be that Lurker was not directly involved - I'm not sure how exactly to play it here. I definitely went to the capital with Lurker and I don't know if I ever met a royal in the capital in adventure mode - but I don't know if I should play it that I was just another weary traveler/visitor of if I discussed issue with... I just checked, yes, it was definitely Luki at the time, he ascended a year before I started my adventure. Lurker also makes no secret (at least in the Museum company of adventurers) that he has necromantic plans to do either in the castle or Eskôn - although word should not have come to the capital about this.

You raised interesting points, I'll have to think on this further. Thanks for the great observations.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: dikbutdagrate on June 27, 2023, 11:30:41 pm

Quote from: Unraveller on June 27, 2023, 04:08:07 pm

Will have save up later tonight, have a few things to do first, then I'll put the finishing touches on it. Not that I've had a terribly productive run of it thus far, mostly just administering the Realm.

Well, evidently Quantum wants to place a temporary hold on getting giant mamba fangs grafted onto their elbows, to use as venomous strike weapons. At least until they fix their character's narrative.  So I guess I can skip my turn?

Which means it is now Kesperan's turn.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on June 28, 2023, 03:56:20 am

I only have time to play from the 4th of July. If you want to skip your turn it would be Avolition next but I’d really prefer to play next week as I won’t have much time the week after either due to work.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: AvolitionBrit on June 28, 2023, 09:29:09 am

I can start tonight

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Bralbaard on June 28, 2023, 02:52:36 pm

I've tried to make sense of the above and have updated the turn list. Dikbutdagrate is now below Quantum drop in the list.
If your schedule is  too busy next week let us know Kesperan, and I can move you down a bit more.
Avolition can start once we have the save.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on June 28, 2023, 02:56:24 pm

Quote from: Bralbaard on June 28, 2023, 02:52:36 pm

I've translated the above posts into an updated turn list. Dikbutdagrate is now below Quantum drop in the list.
If your schedule is  too busy next week let us know Kesperan, and I can move you down a bit more.
Avolition can start once we have the save.

This is fine for me. If Avo picks up save today, I’ll pick it up next Wednesday. Thanks.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Unraveller on June 28, 2023, 03:58:52 pm

Will be posting the save within an hour hopefully.

EDIT: Clearly that was a lie, dealing with a lot of crashes on retiring, trying to figure out the cause and fix it, may take a few more hours of digging. The errorlog is spitting out 'Null unit chunk on export'. SO I'm assuming we have some corrupt units, I'll try disabling them in batches and see where that leads us.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Lurker Z on June 28, 2023, 07:53:27 pm

Maybe try that skip-over-100-year and see if it works trick? Though if it's thralls or undead, it probably won't work. I wish you luck. By Armok, I hate those thralls, they've brought nothing but ruin to Orid Xem in all the ways, including in the meta. I wish they'd been accidentally all killed off - or none survived the world gen purges - like it happened to that thrall strain that Avolition found.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Unraveller on June 28, 2023, 10:07:16 pm

It's definitely a unit, as disabling all of them let's the game retire without issue. Just going to narrow them down now.

Side note, Lurker do you want separate noble positions or are you comfortable with a single 'Administrator' position, that handles petitions, trade, & bookkeeping?

EDIT: Still working on it. Unfortunately. . . I may have to excise the population of Silverthrone and call it the 'Great Vanishing.' In order for the game to continue.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Bralbaard on June 29, 2023, 01:14:24 am

I retired in Silverthrone, and my character has a complicated and potentially buggy history with resurrections. He might be the problem?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Unraveller on June 29, 2023, 01:24:25 am

Hopefully not, I just made a little villa overlooking the castle grounds for the dwarf! I've made a bit of a breakthrough and learned it is certainly multiple units, one of which is inexplicably the Cave Dragon that Luki adopted from a dwarf fort last time I played, doing batches of the units that come after them at the moment. Though I'm a bit miffed because I was hoping the Anthad's could eventually ride a dragon. ;(

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Bralbaard on June 29, 2023, 01:30:23 am

You could maybe delete the broken dragon and conjure a fresh one of the same age using dfhack?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Unraveller on June 29, 2023, 03:41:29 am

Alrighty, after spending most of the night I've un-borked the save and was able to retire, zipping and uploading now. Sorry for the extra day's wait!

@Lurker I ended up making the 'Administrator' role for your site that should take care of everything, Lurker was not retired there, as you mentioned you were unable to, so I promoted one of the other necromancers living there to the role. Unfortunately the succession for this administrator role is by heir, as I'm unsure how the elected positions work and haven't messed with them yet and refuse to without more testing. But this is fine, Lurker can remain an adventurer and the psuedo 'lord' of the castle, while one of his companion Necros administers.

As an aside -- There are four new children in the royal family of Omon Obin; Eman, Leto, Umci, and Cobar, Anthads each and all. Feel free to take over their bodies everyone, well probably best to wait about 10 in-game years which should go by quick, but hey if you wanna play a child that's also cool. No pressure obviously just poking the nest to see if anyone else wishes to make a hero (or corpse) out of the peasant family made kings.

EDIITTTTT: HERE"S A LINK TO THE SAVE FILE, TIME FOR BED. (https://drive.google.com/file/d/1x4mhA7NSkd8vG91TatNENxNhODmWdpWP/view?usp=sharing)

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on June 29, 2023, 05:51:03 am

Did you find out what the offending unit was? I’d be surprised if it was the cave dragon - he or she was hatched organically in my fort and has never been resurrected or cloned.

I’m sure you’ll regale us with your tales soon enough! I’m particularly interested in why there are a ton of demons with human names roaming around the Realm of Silver…

Good luck on your turn Avolition!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Lurker Z on June 29, 2023, 06:07:28 am

Sorry Unraveller, I wasn't online at the time of your posts. Yes, the Administrator position is fine, as long as the post can be replaced in (human) fortress mode. If not... I have to make sure that necromancer stays alive, or does it replace itself automatically? In any case, yes, that was the short of it, that I wanted someone to do the trading and bookkeeping, I don't actually care how it's done. As for Lurker Wogeathis   I do have some plans that would have removed him from the noble position anyway, so all is good. Thank you very much for helping out.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Unraveller on June 29, 2023, 12:43:26 pm

Quote from: kesperan on June 29, 2023, 05:51:03 am

Did you find out what the offending unit was? I’d be surprised if it was the cave dragon - he or she was hatched organically in my fort and has never been resurrected or cloned.

I’m sure you’ll regale us with your tales soon enough! I’m particularly interested in why there are a ton of demons with human names roaming around the Realm of Silver…

Good luck on your turn Avolition!

It was indeed the Cave Dragon, and three pikemen. I haven't the faintest clue why. And believe it or not the demons came from my last unwritten turn, Irka's up to something in that tower of his. . .

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Lurker Z on June 29, 2023, 01:17:59 pm

There's another fun creepy meta incident about either Señamatem or Omonpapos, there are at least three forgotten beasts and maybe even some demons under one of those places, and members of the Anthad line, as well as Lurker Wogeathis, are registered by Legends Viewer to have seen them.

There was also the time when one of your mods to allow human forts gave all human migrants goblin names, so we now have in history a lot of hateful, evil-sounding humans that have come to the capital and/or Omonpapos.

There is also those 10+ humans with the exact same first and last names that I regret I haven't made a print screen of yet. Ah well, I'll find them again someday.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: AvolitionBrit on June 29, 2023, 04:48:01 pm

Oh a save, I shall grab this now.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Bralbaard on June 29, 2023, 05:43:13 pm

Quote from: Unraveller on June 29, 2023, 12:43:26 pm

It was indeed the Cave Dragon, and three pikemen. I haven't the faintest clue why. And believe it or not the demons came from my last unwritten turn, Irka's up to something in that tower of his. . .

Yes, about that... It's time for the write-up of the final part of Bralbaard's latest journey.

part 1 (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8483329#msg8483329), part 2 (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8483740#msg8483740)

The Journey South

The early part of my adventure had been filled with mishaps and near fatal-incidents.
It did not slow me down, but at least it made me consider the next part of my adventures more carefully.
What was it that I wanted to achieve here? So far I had just been randomly wandering around and getting into trouble.

There were plenty of great mysteries left in the world, and my time would be better spend trying to solve those than by continuing to just blindly wander about. Now that I thought about it the choice was not even difficult.  My destination was obvious. In all the centuries I had roamed this world, I had never seen it's most famous city.
I had to go to Silverthrone!

Silverthrone was a place of legend. The stories about the realm of silver were the most popular stories that were told in the museum.
The story of Jas Gloryage and the band of wax! How they were the first to rise up against the thralls, and how, against all odds, they cleansed their lands of their filth. Where other legendary heroes had been seduced by the powers of necromancy, or other curses, Jas had fought those powers until his death. He left behind a legacy, and one of the first dynasties. But then all had gone quiet. Yes there were many rumors that the Gloryage family was still active, but there were no reliable written records. 

The journey to Silverthrone was a long one, and it took me once again through the Tundra of Heroes. I had passed the place dozens of times over the past three centuries and as an undead it had always been a boring and tedious journey. Now that I was alive again I decided that I had even more reason to hate the place. It was cold and deeply miserable. The mist did not allow you to see further than a few meters. I was glad that there was a distraction half way the tundra that was related to my quest. Realmspire!
Realmspire, it was said, was founded by the son of Jas Gloryage, Irka Tinsabre. The reason why he left Silverthrone and came to this forsaken place in the tundra was not clear, but I decided to find out.

While approaching the fortress there was a strange smell in the air. It smelled foul, but that was not all there was to it. It tried to trigger a memory somewhere in my ancient brain, a warning, but I could not quite figure it out. I continued.

(https://i.imgur.com/rUjT32I.gif)

I got to the fortress. The surroundings were sinister but the fortress itself was impressive. I was somewhat ill at ease, but also hungry and cold so I looked forward to meeting this Gloryage's son. I had heard many stories of their families hospitality.  I found myself in a corridor lined by statues that led to two impressive sets of stone stairs. Light fell through the green glass windows onto a massive statue. I took some time to decipher what I was seeing here, and this was when the hairs in my neck started to rise, and the warning signal in the back of my head finally connected with an ancient memory.

The statue depicted treason of the highest sort, proudly displayed for all to see.

(https://i.imgur.com/C9uSJma.gif)

Irka stealing his families most important Heirloom. What had happened here?

The smell I had noticed earlier suddenly made sense. Brimstone. The demon that killed me all those years ago had smelled the same! Something was terribly wrong in this place. I descended down the stairs and ran outside. Then I saw it.

(https://i.imgur.com/r2D2nG8.png)

A cinders demon.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/ZAGFueS.gif)

It had not spotted me, or at least, it ignored me for now.
I ran from the fortress as night fell, but I was not safe yet. The hills were filled with the lights and sounds of roaming entities, all of them demons!
I got close to one of them, a giant elephant like creature, but once again I escaped and managed to put enough distance between myself and the fortress. What had happened here? What had Irka unleashed? What had happened to the Gloryage family to cause this rift?

(https://i.imgur.com/AIJUGMG.gif)

This troubled my mind for the rest of the journey. Before traveling to Silverthrone itself I passed through the old capital of Omin Obin, Entrancegrape.
This place had never been inhabited by the Gloryages, and was older. The place had however recently been renovated. There were new buildings in the keep and the original layout had been floored over. Through a hole in the new floor, the older levels could still be accessed. There even was a deep mining shaft where the materials for the new constructions had been mined.

It did not take my mind of the things I had seen earlier.

I finally made it to Silverthrone after another day of travel, but only after passing through new Weatherponder. Both places were every bit as grand as I had expected. Happy people walked the streets, and there was no sign of thralls or undead. I had already made up my mind. This is where I would retire, and spend my next years. It was clear that the Gloryages still ruled from this place, but what had happened to the royal family? What had Irka done, and who could I trust? I was sure that this is where I would find the answers.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/BVlpyGF.gif)

--------

This concludes this adventure. I'm looking forward to your write-up Unraveller!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on June 29, 2023, 05:48:58 pm

Sounds like someone of the sadistic and/or blind persuasion might need to do some good old demonslaying!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Unraveller on June 29, 2023, 06:40:24 pm

Very evocative write-up Bral, alas the ancient dwarf did not see all that Realmspire holds.

@Kesperan, perhaps. Perhaps. Or perhaps this is no mere unleashing of chaos like that of dwarves who delve too greedily and too deep.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on July 01, 2023, 05:00:36 pm

Quote from: Unraveller on June 29, 2023, 06:40:24 pm

Very evocative write-up Bral, alas the ancient dwarf did not see all that Realmspire holds.

@Kesperan, perhaps. Perhaps. Or perhaps this is no mere unleashing of chaos like that of dwarves who delve too greedily and too deep.

Sounds like you’ve got a lot of story to be writing!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Salmeuk on July 01, 2023, 07:33:59 pm

nice writeup!! love that image of the cinder demon encounter.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on July 03, 2023, 02:18:39 am

Ah Salmeuk, why have you never taken a turn in the Museum?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on July 06, 2023, 03:29:52 pm

Quote from: AvolitionBrit on June 29, 2023, 04:48:01 pm

Oh a save, I shall grab this now.

How are you getting on, Avo?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: AvolitionBrit on July 06, 2023, 05:37:33 pm

Quote from: kesperan on July 06, 2023, 03:29:52 pm

Quote from: AvolitionBrit on June 29, 2023, 04:48:01 pm

Oh a save, I shall grab this now.

How are you getting on, Avo?

Interestingly. Kinda went in a wierd direction but alot more tighter of a narrative than my other escapades

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Salmeuk on July 06, 2023, 09:09:02 pm

Quote from: kesperan on July 03, 2023, 02:18:39 am

Ah Salmeuk, why have you never taken a turn in the Museum?

I must admit I have little patience for adventure mode.. and when I do work up the spirit, I inevitably die in one of the many thousands of strange ways available. Perhaps I will take up a turn in the future, but for now.. it is impressive to me how this concept struck a chord with the community and has lasted this long as an active thread.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Bralbaard on July 08, 2023, 05:31:06 am

We probably should move on to the next turn. could you finish your turn Avolition?

In other news; I'll be away from my computer for the next few weeks, I'll be checking the forums, but do not expect map updates, or anything for which I need access to DF. 

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Quantum Drop on July 08, 2023, 11:26:58 am

(https://i.imgur.com/Bs8GE8K.png)

The Realm of Silver, Late Autumn, 943.

Of all the taverns in the Realm of Silver, The Hollow and Hearth ranked among the dimmest, the dingiest, the dirtiest, and the most dangerous. It had been around almost as long as the Realm, and had hardly changed for all that time; the same smell of smoke and stale beer hung in the air, the same stingy bottle-bottom bullseyes of glass still stood in its small windows, the floors were still covered in the same combination of sick and sawdust, and the same dusty kegs rested in their cradles behind the bar.

And of course, there were the brawls.

“What did you just say about my mother?!”

“I said your mother was a verrry classy lady, sah!”

“She was a whore, you goblin bastard!”

A pair of bickering patrons crashed through one of the cheap wooden tables, sending their half-empty mugs to the floor to add to the stink of stale beer. One headbutted the other full in the nose, prompting a strong knee to the groin from his opponent. Equally infuriated, the two went rolling about in a tangle of filthy oaths and swinging limbs, to the raucous laughter and jeering of the other patrons observing the whole exchange.

“Those two idiots again,” Sorus Chantscar rolled her eyes at the sight of the brawl. Idly, she turned in her seat to face the reptilian figure opposite to her, careful to keep her playing cards hidden. “What is this, the third time this fortnight?”

“Fourth.” Degel answered. The Hand of Planegifts’ features were contorted oddly, an expressing of amusement crossing his snakelike face. His thin, membranous wings twitched idly at his back. “Fifth, if you count that time with Eman.”

Almost idly, he threw a couple more coins onto the pile in the centre of the table. “Five coppers says Vess loses this one.”

“You’re on.” Sorus grinned, the motion tugging the scar at the edge of her mouth. “Six coppers say Vess wins this one.”

Degel matched her grin with his own, serpentine fangs peeking out of his scaled lip. “Too easy.”

The brawl went on for about a minute more, the various patrons shouting encouragement and insults toward the fighters in equal measure. Blood and cracking bone joined the general stink and cacophony of the tavern as Vess seized Kamran by the head and slammed his face into the bar, breaking his nose and drawing an irate shout from the tavern’s owner. Kamran retaliated swiftly, seizing one of the glasses and smashing it into Vess’ face, sending him backward with a yelp of pain as blood began spraying from his face.

"Looks like you're buying me a drink after all, Degel." Sorus grinned, nodding toward the pile of copper and silver on the table.

Degel matched her grin with one of his own. “I wouldn’t think so, boss.”

As Vess closed in, broken glass in hand, Kamran’s lurching movement changed to a much more controlled step. He smoothly slid to the side to evade Vess’ swing, following it up with a straight punch that rocked his opponent’s head back on his shoulders and sent pain spiking down his ear. A second punch scattered several of his teeth across the bar, accompanied by a thin line of blood from his lips as he went staggering backwards. From there, the fight quickly turned in one direction, and it ended with Vess going down with a wet crack and a spray of blood as Kamran pistoned a fist into his nose, followed by a kick to the chest that sent him crashing into Sorus’ side of the table and scattered her cards in all directions.

The victorious man raised his bloodied knuckles aloft to cheers from his friends, insults from his opponent’s, and a stream of thunderous oaths from the infuriated Sorus.

“Gods’ teeth and damnation!” Sorus snarled, glaring at the insensate form of Vess as the semiconscious man was half-carried, half-dragged out of the tavern door.

“Better luck next time, Sorus.” Degel snickered, resting his open hand palm-up on the tabletop.

Sorus rolled her eyes but obeyed, flipping a silver coin through the air into the Hand’s waiting palm. He smirked as best as he could and nodded in appreciation, inclining his head slightly toward his partner before laying his hand of cards on the table. “Three of a kind.”

“You can’t be bloody serious, Degel.”

The Hand of Planegifts retorted with a gesture toward the small pile of bronze and silver coins heaped in the middle of the table. Simo rolled her eyes, scowling as she gathered the cards and began reshuffling the deck for the next round.

“Cheating bastard.” She muttered.

“Behold – a pot calling a kettle burnt-arse.” Degel retorted as he raked in his winnings, grinning.

Simo’s response – a particularly crude gesture and a suggestion to do something he knew was quite anatomically impossible – only made him grin wider as the scowling mercenary leaned back in her chair. She downed what was left of her ale before fixing him with a stare, her expression suddenly becoming serious and focused. 

“We still need to find another job, Degel. Watching brawls ain’t going to put food on the table, and I doubt you want to go foraging wild again after last time.”

“Don’t remind me,” Degel groaned, clutching his stomach with a half-instinctual wince. “So many colours and I couldn’t hit any of them…”

“And that’s why I’m the brains around here,” Sorus drawled, smirking slightly at Degel’s mock-sour expression. “Now come on. Let’s get cracking.”

The bar was thick with customers, as was the usual. Behind the bar, Kima Wilfulpages lurked, wiping the glasses clean and listening to the customers’ grumbling. He was a broad, bulky figure with a face like a robber’s dog, always watching the brawls and the boozers with mean, cunning eyes and listening in for the latest chatter and rumours among the crowd. Landlord and bartender of the tavern, he was as much a feature of the pub as the brawls, the blood, and the beer staining the floor beneath them. By the sound of the gossip ringing out from the bar, the latest topic was the older nobility of the land, and the general antipathy toward them common among the local hamlet-dwellers.

“-ight you are, Kol.” He was saying one of the patrons, loud enough for the two mercenaries to hear from a distance. “Those noble-blood cowards are too soft to stand up to these fecking thralls. While we was slavin’ in the fields and getting et and dragged off’n the night, they just went and shut ‘emselves up in their castles, didn’t they? It were men like us that stood up to throw ‘em down, and who picked up th’ powers once they was gone. You reckon they’re gonna raise a finger t’help us when the boss is gone? They’re probably scheming to take the Silver Throne already!”

There was a general mutter of agreement from the customers around him. They were glad to have their worst fears confirmed, and Kima’s long, hard-earned reputation as one of the biggest men in  the hamlet only amplified that feeling.

“Still, this is Omin Obin, ain’t it? We’ve lasted this long, nobs or not; we sorted out those bastards a’fore, and we’ll sort them out if they try something this time. All we need’s a proper one to lead us.”

Having finished his latest round of rabble-rousing, Kima returned to polishing a few of the unused glasses for a few seconds; he broke from the task at the sight of Sorus and Degel marching toward the bar, their armour and weapons immediately clearing a path through the patrons. Even half-drunk on Brimstone Reserve and thuggish as one had to be in The Hollow and Hearth, they weren’t quite brave enough to stand in the pair’s way.

“Chantscar,” Kima greeted her with a nod. “What d’you say to a pint of Brimstone Reserve?"

“’Fraid I’m not here for pleasure.” Sorus leaned forward slightly, interlacing her fingers on the bar’s wooden counter. She wouldn’t have taken the offer even if she was – she knew damn well that Willfulpages stuck rusty horseshoes in those kegs for ‘extra kick’, and half-suspected he thinned it with something other than water. “I’m here for work. Need something new, after that last mess.”

“Figured you’d say that,” Kima muttered, setting down the glass and withdrawing a thin stack of papers from a corner of the bar. He quickly leafed through the first few pages before nodding to himself and beginning to read. “Well, there’s a contract out a couple villages over – bear got into someone’s home, and they’re looking for someone to clear it out.”

Sorus met him with a bleak stare, tilting her head to the side. The scar on her cheek was twinging sharply again. Degel instinctually flinched beside her, almost absentmindedly raising a hand to a spot on his right arm where a patch of pale, scaleless flesh stood out among the charcoal plates.  “Not a chance in hell.”

“Fair ‘nuff.” Kima nodded, clearly having expected her response. He flipped through a few more papers before drawing out the next one. “Old man Onefinger’s heading out on the trail north in a few days – been asking about guards for his caravans. A couple weeks’ work, and arguable pay.”

“No chance.” Degel shook his head before Sorus could speak, his serpentine features contorting into a grimace of distaste at the mention of the client’s name. “We’d be freezing our arses off for weeks and getting a few silvers at most. He’s a right cheapskate, and about as slippery as a thrall is savage.”

Sorus shook her head, concurring with Degel’s assessment. “That one’s out too, then.”

“Ain’t much more on offer, Chantscar.” Kima shook his head, grimacing slightly. He turned through a few more sheafs of parchment without comment, shook his head at another, and paused to tear yet another in half before discarding it over his shoulder. Annoyed, Sorus let out a low noise of frustration from deep in her throat and turned away, walking back toward her table.

“Wait,” He called out to her retreating back. Sorus turned, to see him standing with his head tilted slightly to the side, in the manner of one thinking on a decision. “I think I might have one more thing for you two…”

Kima turned his head and nodded to a far corner of the room where a slender figure was hunched over a table, hood up to shroud their features and a mug of ale resting beside one hand. They seemed deeply engrossed in writing on a piece of parchment, though the slight motions of their head belied their attentiveness to the room and the various patrons of the bar.

“Over there. Ain’t heard nothing since she walked in, but she was jawing about needin’ some muscle for a trip up northwards.”

The figure looked up as they approached, one eye flicking up to regard the pair of them.

“Heard you were looking for hired help.” Sorus opened bluntly, drawing up the chair opposite to them. Degel followed suit after a moment of hesitation, sitting down halfway between the two.
“Indeed, I am.” They replied, not raising their head up. “What of it?”

“Then I’d say we need to talk.” Sorus didn’t wait for a response, in favour of pulling up the nearest chair and seating herself. Degel followed after a moment, hunching down slightly so that he was eye to eye with their prospective client. Even so, their head was angled in such a manner that his reptilian eyes could make out none of the features beneath the hood. “’Bout the job you want doing, and our pay for it.”

“Presumptuous.” They muttered, but motioned in assent, nonetheless. “Very well. Shall we begin, then?”

“Aye. But – one thing. I prefer to look someone in th’ eye when doing a deal.” Sorus leaned forward slightly, fingers tapping up and down on the tabletop. “Make sure it’s a sincere one, y’know.”

Simo hesitated for a long moment before slowly nodding in understanding. “…Very well.”

She pulled her hood back to expose the features beneath, cocking her head slightly to the side. She was a young-looking woman, tall and narrow-featured. Her face was dappled with odd, dark marks resembling chains of V-shapes; another, dark as a puddle of spilled ink, lurked at the base of her throat. Despite her apparent youth, her hair was the whitish-grey of wood ash, streaked with the occasional black strand. She peered at them from her perch on the chair’s edge, hawkish eyes flicking across their features as though seeking any sign of untrustworthiness; her long fingers folded together before her with delicate care.

“I am Simo Cosmosclean.” She stated without preamble, tone precise and cultured, voice tinged with the accent of one native to the Hills of Echoing. Idly, her fingers traced the parchment laid out before her – a map of the Realm of Silver, annotated in deep scarlet. “I represent the interests of a medical and scholarly consortium, The Books of Curing, in a matter related to this district and the Realm beyond. This job will require a high degree of commitment – two weeks of travel, at least, and with significant risk of severe injury.”

“Aye?” Sorus grunted, turning slightly in her chair. “So, do tell me – why the hell should either of us join you?”

Simo, by way of answer, reached into her cloak and withdrew a bulging pouch from some inner pocket. She quickly undid the string binding it, before pulling the opening at its neck wide and tilting it toward them. Bright gold and silver coins spilled out onto the table in a glinting stream, the manifold faces of the law-giver staring up at them. Degel murmured an oath at the sight, Sorus meeting Simo’s eyes with an almost incredulous stare.

“You may consider this your reason why.” Simo replied, placing her hands evenly apart on the table. “This represents half of the payment for aiding me in this matter: fifty gold pieces, and a further eight silver. The remainder upon the conclusion of this business, in addition to any… compensation required.”

“What could be important enough for this?” Sorus could barely believe the sight before her. The amount of coinage on the table before her was more than most mercenaries would make in a season of work.

“The exact particulars we can discuss later,” Simo answered, with an almost airy motion of one hand. Her features were guarded, betraying no hint of her thoughts. “But I will say this of our target: we will be hunting thralls.”

“Blood of the crows!” Sorus growled, an eyebrow shooing up into her hairline. Degel drew in a breath beside her, eyes widening and nostrils flaring in shock. “You speak like it’ll be no more than hunting beasts, or putting down a bandit pack!”

“If you do not consider yourself up to the task, then I will not judge you.” Simo shook her head, returning her attention to the parchment before her. “I wish you lu—”

“Hold on just a minute now!” Degel broke in with a surprisingly quick tone, shaking his head quickly. “Give me a minute to talk with Sorus here, if you’d please?”

The scholarly young woman nodded slightly, gesturing them off to the side. Degel wasted no time in seizing Sorus’ arm and half-pulling her off to the side, teeth poking out over his lips as he went. Sorus made to protest at his sudden action, but the Hand of Planegifts cut her off with a sharp glare from his reptilian eye.

“Come on, Sorus.” Degel shook his head, expression twisting into a half-grimace of frustration and muffled anger. “You know as well as I do, we can’t afford to turn this one down. Not after last month. We’re down to the damn wire as it is. And think of the reputation!”

“Reputation?”

“Aye, think about it!” Degel gestured with a scaled hand toward Simo, who had returned her interest to the map before her, engrossing herself in the black lines and scarlet script of the parchment. “Whoever’s pulling her strings – they’ve given her the right to toss more coinage than allus put together would make in a season at hunting down some thralls. That’s not the sign of a small backer, or one without some proper strong influence. If we do right by her – impress her with our work or hunt enough thralls or whatever…”

“You’re thinking she’ll put in a good word with her bosses,” Sorus breathed deeply as she realised where Degel was going, a grin making its way across her features. “Help us break into bigger and better things than guarding caravans and hunting wild beasts.”

“Precisely.” He hissed, an unmistakable element of hunger creeping into his voice. “We ain’t going to be a second Band of Wax; no chance of that. But if this job means we don’t have to take the karking Northern Trail again, I’m all for it.”

Sorus risked a glance back over her shoulder. Simo had not looked up from her map or sought to court any of the other mercenaries in the bar, instead busying herself with adding a new set of scrawling to the parchment with an inked quill. Grimacing, she turned her head back to the serpentine Hand, unable to keep her jaw from setting tightly. “You are certain about this?”

“Positive.” Degel nodded firmly, placing his scaled hand on her shoulder. “An’ I’ll bear the consequences if I’m wrong.”

“…Fine.” Sorus breathed out, giving him a half-rueful grin. “I’ll trust you on this one, my friend.”

Degel grinned and nodded back toward the table in answer, clapping her on the back as he began to walk. “Then let’s get to it.”

Simo glanced up at them as the two mercenaries re-took their seats. “I presume that the two of you have come to a decision?”

“Aye. Degel and I will take your job.” Sorus said, firmly. She placed her closed fist on the table with the click of metal against wood. “Just tell us what to do.”

“Excellent. For now, see to whatever needs the two of you have, and then return here for the night – we will leave at dawn.” Simo nodded. She raised her hand in salute to her new companions, flashing them a gap-toothed smile that pulled the marks on her cheek out of shape. “To fortune and to glory."

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(Note: This is the first part of Turn 102. Next bit will be up once I can get the introductory part done.)

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: AvolitionBrit on July 08, 2023, 12:14:19 pm

Quote from: Bralbaard on July 08, 2023, 05:31:06 am

We probably should move on to the next turn. could you finish your turn Avolition?

In other news; I'll be away from my computer for the next few weeks, I'll be checking the forums, but do not expect map updates, or anything for which I need access to DF.

It will be up tonight

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Bralbaard on July 08, 2023, 01:37:31 pm

Thanks Avolition!

Great writing as usual QD! Those two have no idea what they signed up for 😬

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on July 08, 2023, 09:11:10 pm

A new submission has appeared in the museum
65: Guki Pusap A macabre instrument made from the bones of a mythical dark gnome, its believed the ability to play this instrument is lost to time. submitted by AvolitionBrit.
(https://i.imgur.com/mTQLadL.jpg)

Additionally, a mission for anyone. Kol wishes to hear the Oxang played before them and in return they will assist them in anyway they can. (you can control them, add to your party and stuff like that).


Story soon
Save:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1yAwSvCxxoSRoicAfnao9i9dvgK3Re36c/view?usp=sharing

Put me back on the list please.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on July 09, 2023, 04:02:44 am

Downloading the save.

I was hoping to have started this during the week as I might not have as much time this coming week, but I will do my best.

With regards to your mission - is it even possible to play instruments in adventure mode? I would assume that the adventurer would have to be familiar with the oxang, and know a song from the culture that created it. Should be a challenge!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: AvolitionBrit on July 09, 2023, 04:59:42 am

Yeah, it should be a challenge.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on July 09, 2023, 08:07:35 am

So I have been mostly, so far, doing some housekeeping.

Getting rid of random raised corpses from the adventurer list, and giving names to the beings who have no names. Bralbaard, Pik and Desli now have proper names instead of "nicknames" and the various angels that Maloy regenerated now have appropriately dwarfy names.

Now on to the main adventure!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Lurker Z on July 15, 2023, 09:28:48 am

I've only been able to test some things about now, and I noticed that Confusedship (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Shadmalzuglar) has been completely deleted, like Gor and Duskhome. The site can be reclaimed only in paused mode and every structure which was built since 63 AC has disappeared. The inhabitants are scattered over the surfaces, like those in Gor and Duskhome. All the keybindings are missing (F1, F2 etc). I'm not particularly attached to it, but I thought it was an interesting historical site. Anyone think it can be recovered?

This appears to be true both in Turn 121 and Turn 122 saves. I've checked my other sites, including the reclaimed capitals (Treatyseed, Entrancegrape etc.) and they seem unaffected.

Quote from: Bralbaard on June 29, 2023, 05:43:13 pm

The smell I had noticed earlier suddenly made sense. Brimstone. The demon that killed me all those years ago had smelled the same! Something was terribly wrong in this place. I descended down the stairs and ran outside. Then I saw it.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/r2D2nG8.png)

A cinders demon.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/ZAGFueS.gif)

It had not spotted me, or at least, it ignored me for now.
I ran from the fortress as night fell, but I was not safe yet. The hills were filled with the lights and sounds of roaming entities, all of them demons!
I got close to one of them, a giant elephant like creature, but once again I escaped and managed to put enough distance between myself and the fortress. What had happened here? What had Irka unleashed? What had happened to the Gloryage family to cause this rift?

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/AIJUGMG.gif)

I had not expected this. Just how far has Irka fallen? Great demon image, I've added it to the wiki some weeks ago. This makes me even more wary to ever return to Realmspire. I probably won't be going anywhere close to it. Thanks for the Entrancegrape review, yes I noticed the holes through which a skulking adventurer (or worse) can slip into the heart of the castle, I though I plugged them all but evidently some still exist. I'll see if I can airtight Entrancegrape during my turn. I'm not sure how or if I should hide the mining shaft, I could probably floor it over between turns or put a hatch. Technically, the way there should be anti-intuitive and canon-wise restricted so only the humans have only one way to go there and return with the materials without making it too visible for any visitors.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Bralbaard on July 15, 2023, 03:03:06 pm

I'll not be able to run DF to test for the next week and a half, but in the case of the gor and duskhome bugs the symptoms were similar and the cause was that the site files were missing from the save game. The game will create a new empty one when you visit the site, so you have to check in the freshly downloaded save. If the site file for confusedship is missing you should be able to save it by replacing it with the file from the last save that has it.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Quantum Drop on July 15, 2023, 03:04:38 pm

Turn 102: PREVIOUSLY (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8487716#msg8487716)

---

(https://i.imgur.com/k0NnQla.png)

---

It was a cold, foggy morning of the kind common to the Realm of Silver’s autumnal period when the mercenaries and their scholarly employer departed from Windyshingles. True to Simo’s words, they left as soon as the sun was up for lack of horses, trekking down the packed dirt of the roads near the settlement at a steady pace. Every now and then they would pause to rest beneath the barren trees or to check the scholar’s map, ensuring they were on the right course toward the hamlet she had deemed their destination.

The roads were mostly empty of travellers that early in the morning, and so they were left to walk in awkward silence. Simo seemed to be in little mood for small talk, rebuffing any effort at conversation with sharp glances and near-monosyllabic responses; Sorus was likewise disinclined toward conversation, by her new employer’s uncompaniable manner as much as her own instinctive wariness when out on the roads. Degel alone persisted in trying to strike up some kind of chat, though even he would ultimately surrender the effort after a particularly annoyed look from his armoured colleague.

It was almost a relief when they arrived at their destination – a small hamlet by the name of Speechrags, nestled amidst a ring of old, crumbling monasteries in the Steppe of Ticks. The hamlet itself was a fairly typical one for its size: a series of wooden-walled houses, stores, and taverns, clustered together on the plains below the nearby grassy hillocks. A large, grey mead hall squatted sullenly on one of the hills, a single-storied building of stone and thatch staring down at the settlement below from its perch. Many of the windows in even the larger houses were still dark, despite the early hour, though a few coils of grey smoke drifted from the chimneys to join the pigeon-grey clouds and add to the clinging fog.

The streets were mostly deserted due to the early hour, beyond a handful of early risers heading out toward the fields or the main roads. Simo led the group into the hamlet at a gangling stride, moving purposefully toward one of the buildings that flanked the central road. Sorus paused for a moment to glance up toward the sign – hand-carved wood, shaped and painted to resemble a wooden crate filled with bottles of wine. In a rough, uneven hand, someone had added the tavern’s name along one of the beams of the sign-carving: The Crate of Codlings.

Several sets of eyes turned toward them as they made their way inside. Perhaps a dozen people were seated around the tavern despite the early hour – most were hard-featured men and women in cloaks and the simple, durable attire of wandering traders; here and there, a few others sat, clad in the dirt-dusted clothes of farmers and labourers. Many of them quickly turned back to their conversations and drinks as the mercenaries made their way toward the bar, putting the new arrivals out of their mind, but a few continued to stare toward their backs with something between curiosity and a faint hope.

The barman nodded a greeting toward them as they drew closer to the bar, busy polishing a glass from his position behind the bar. “Mornin’. What can I get ya?”

“We heard there was trouble here,” Simo remarked, folding her hands on the bar top and looking him in the eye.

“Quite the mess of troubles here,” The barman’s moustache twitched slightly as he leaned over the counter. Sorus resisted the urge to snort at the sight – the motion made his moustache look like a pair of squirrels had been rammed up his nose, and were starting to become restless. “Beasts, bandits, people seekin’ long-lost treasures – an’ the damn thrall infestation.”

“A… thrall infestation? Where so?”

“Up there, at the old hall.” The barman raised a broad hand to point toward the hill where the mead hall squatted. Several of the patrons muttered something under their breath at the motion, turning their heads to exchange wary glances with one another. “Place has been sealed for weeks after we heard ‘bout what was hap’nin.”

“Excellent,” Simo nodded slightly, a smile passing along her features. “My thanks for your help, sir.” And then, to the figures of Sorus and Degel at her sides: “Come, both of you.”

---

The mercenaries quickly made their way up the dusty path to the mead hall – a squat, single-storey building of slate-grey stone with a thatched roof, seated near the outer edges of the hamlet.

Whatever windows or apertures it once possessed were now bricked up or otherwise filled with solid stone, creating an odd mottling of the walls where the yellowish granite of the newer bricks met the dulled, pitted grey of the original stones. The main doors had been locked shut with a strong beam of solid oak, and a cross painted in red upon the stained pinewood; even so, both bore the signs of decay and weathering from the steady action of the seasons and the rain.  From behind the barred doors there came a low, insistent scratching, as of nails against wood or stone; every now and then, the doors would jump against the frame as something hurled itself against them.

“This is the place.” Sorus remarked grimly, raising her sword and eyeing up the hall’s doors with trepidation. Beside her, Degel quickly unstowed his axes from their sheathes, gripping the handles tightly in readiness for the battle to come.

“Indeed.” Simo moved briskly forward to stand beside the bar. She cocked her head to the side, listening to the low, constant scratching sounds from behind the wood; after a few moments, she nodded firmly and stepped back, unsheathing a pair of long-bladed bronze daggers from their twinned scabbards beneath her cloak. “I estimate at least six thralls inside – potentially more. Hard to tell.”

“This is going t’be rough.” Degel muttered, eyeing the door blackly. “Six against three, all of ‘em thralls?”

“No.” Simo shook her head firmly, raising a dagger to point toward the wooden doors. “Those thralls will have been inside for weeks. They’ll be malnourished; weakened by inactivity, and half-mad from hunger. Easy prey, compared to fresher specimens.”

Sorus turned to Simo, tightening her grip on her sword’s handle enough that the wood began digging into her fingers. The mercenary’s eyes flicked uncertainly toward Simo, to the mead hall’s decaying doors, and then back to Simo. It seemed incredible to her that the beasts lurking behind the mead hall’s door could be weakened by starvation like any living man, for something that was unquestionably unliving and inhuman. Yet gave a slow, almost distrustful nod toward the armed scholar, her mouth setting into a grim line.

“I’ll trust you on this one, Doctor.”

“Good. Oh, and do try to keep the bodies intact.” Simo gestured Degel toward the heavy oak beam, flicking a finger upward to make her intent clear. “I would rather not have to go picking through the dirt once this altercation is over.”

Sorus shot her a questioning, almost disbelieving look at that for a moment, before swiftly returning her attention to the door as Degel strode up to it. He paused for a moment, looking back over his shoulder to ensure the two of them were ready; at their nods, Degel clamped his arms around the beam of oak and levered it upwards with a grunt of effort, straining as he lifted the heavy wood out of the brackets and cast it aside before raising his leg and delivering a heavy-footed kick to the door. The door leapt against its frame on the first blow; the second splintered the wood badly, his bronze boot almost breaking through entirely, and the third practically broke the whole thing in half, sending it crashing to the stone floor beyond.

Degel and Sorus wasted no time in charging into the hall, their weapons drawn and teeth bared. The blood was pounding in their ears as they moved, their senses set on edge by the foes waiting for them. Thralls were dangerous at the best of times; even if these ones were half-mad and desperate from starvation as Simo claimed, a cornered rat could still bite, and bite hard. She could see the dark, lumbering shapes moving in the half-light of the mead hall, and tensed as the first of them came staggering toward her.

The thrall before her was a shambolic, even pitiful example of its kind: its body was bloated with dropsy and eaten away by disease, its movements slow and clumsy compared to either of them. Most of the man’s features had been replaced by a glistening cluster of blisters, subsuming all but the yawning mouth and carious teeth that stuck out from its ruined features. The others staggering beside it were in similarly poor condition, their skin mottled with discoloured patches of flesh and weeping sores.

Sorus smoothly stepped away from her attacker as it stumbled toward her, hands groping half-blindly ahead of it in a poor attempt to seize her and its head swinging loosely from side to side; her responding strike cut a deep gash into one of its shoulders before her sword was pulled free. As the thrall came in for another grab, Sorus made her counter. She thrust her sword forcefully forward, the copper blade slipping in between the ribs and through the limping thrall’s lung with surprising ease. It made a low, half-choked grunting sound as the air was driven from the penetrated lung, but continued to reach for her face with its half-rotting hands. Sorus twisted the blade in the wound by reply, tearing it sideways and out of the thrall’s chest amidst a welter of stinking blood; her next blow severed one arm below the shoulder in a burst of blood and fluid, while the next sent its jaw wetly to the ground. A fourth blow finished, the copper blade struggling not to bend as the mercenary drove it through the thrall’s skull, splitting the head in half down to the base of the neck.

On the other side of the room, Degel was busy fighting another thrall. His right-hand axe’s butt shattered the thrall’s nose on the first blow; moments later its twin indented his opponent’s skull with the crack of breaking bone, rocking the thrall’s head back on its shoulders. While it felt no pain or disorientation, the force was still enough to knock it off-balance for a few moments, sending its punch off to the side and leaving it wide open to a third blow from his axe – this one landing with enough force to take most of the thrall’s face off, its head split almost completely in half from right eye to chin. The thrall let out a wet, gurgling snarl from its ruined mouth and lurched forward with grasping hands, spitting hot torrents of blood into Degel’s face with each breath and jerk of its head.

He retorted with a trio of blows from both axes, throwing his weight into the strikes. The first two ripped chunks of diseased flesh away from the chest and tore trenches into its belly, the force slowing the thrall’s advance; the third cleaved partway through its collarbone with a wet crack. Despite the terrible damage and the blood streaming from its wounds, the thrall pressed forth with its attack, raking its filthy nails across the copper gauntlet on his left hand with a painful grating sound. Degel’s fourth blow landed a moment later, burying his axe almost to the hilt in the mutilated remains of the thrall’s head; it stuck fast, but the creature’s motions quickly began to slow and stiffen, its struggling rapidly tailing off. When he wrenched the blade free, about half of the thrall’s head came with it, the top sliding to the ground with a wet splattering noise.

Simo herself had not proven idle, either. Despite her scholarly appearance and manner, she had plunged into the melee as readily as the two mercenaries, her twin bronze daggers constantly flashing out to strike at the thralls around her. Unlike Sorus’ indiscriminate butchery or Degel’s deep, mutilating swings, Simo fought with almost surgical precision, her daggers finding vital organs or opening arteries and veins with every jab and thrust. The infected figures’ punches and grasps found nothing but empty air as she darted back and forth, her daggers cutting or piercing deeply into the thralls’ flesh before dodging away, leaving them to blunder about as the blood flowed from their cuts.

Kicking one of the thralls backwards as it sought to grab her shoulder, Simo brought her right-hand dagger down on its wrist as it fell. The bronze cut surprisingly smoothly through the flesh and bone, severing the creature’s hand from its arm in a spray of polluted blood. The thrall snarled up at her, before the sound cut off into a gurgling groan as she plunged her daggers down in a series of lethally accurate thrusts, piercing cleanly through the lungs and heart in three movements. Simo strode over the dying thrall without a backwards glance, already thrusting for the throat of a second as he came lurching toward the scholar.

With all three of them working together, it did not take long before the mead hall fell silent again, beyond the heavy breathing of the mercenaries and the slow, steady dripping of blood from the corpses. The bodies of the former occupants were strewn across the floor of the hall – many were missing limbs or hacked apart by the harder blows of Sorus and Degel, but for every mangled corpse was another exsanguinated one slain by a precise strike from Simo’s daggers.

“And that,” Simo sheathed her daggers with a hiss of released breath, carefully lifting the hems of her cloak as she edged around the cooling bodies toward Degel and Simo. “Will be that.” She raised a gloved finger to point toward the door leading into another of the mead hall’s rooms. “Kindly give me a hand and move these corpses out of here – into there, if you would please.”

Sorus’s brow furrowed and she turned toward Degel, her question dying on her lips as she caught sight of him already dragging one of the corpses into the other room. The mercenary rolled her eyes and moved to assist him, gripping the other end of the thrall’s body and lifting it upright, manoeuvring it through the narrow doorway before she none-too-gently dropped it to the stone floor. By the time the two of them had cleared the room of corpses both mercenaries were coated with a patina of blood and grime and breathing hard from their labours, while an unruffled Simo stood beside one of the intact tables, shucking her pack off onto one of them.
“Good work. Now go on; find some refreshment in the hamlet proper.” She gestured almost dismissively with a hand toward the two of them, not looking up from the tools she had begun to unpack. “I will call you once I am finished here.”

Neither of the mercenaries required much in the way of encouraging after the duties they had just performed. They were all too happy to leave behind the blood-coated, stinking hall and go traipsing off toward the hamlet’s buildings and homes. As far as Sorus cared, Simo could spend as long as she wanted in that place so long as her gold was good as it seemed to be.

“Let’s go, Degel,”  She muttered as she emerged from the hall, nodding toward the Crate of Coddlings, nestled among the houses on the side of the main road. She shook some of the blood off her gauntlets with a grimace of distaste. It would take more than a little elbow grease to get the stains out after that.  “I need a damn drink after that.”

“Make it two of us, Sorus,” The Hand of Planegifts nodded in agreement, rolling his shoulder with a wince as a sharp pain flared up his arm. “Think I pulled something in there, moving those bodies around. But if it’s what the boss wants…”

“I know, I know,” Sorus grumbled, stumping her way down the hillside. And then, under her breath, “That’s what worries me.”

---

It was a few hours and several mugs of ale in the local tavern before a runner came from the mead hall: a wan-faced young man with a tremulous voice, informing Degel and Sorus that their employer had requested their presence. Degel quickly finished the remainder of his tankard in one quick swallow before eagerly springing up; Sorus was slower to follow, almost reluctantly putting down the rag she had been using to clean her sword before standing to join him.

The reason for his apparent fear became clear as they began to approach the hall. The stench of blood was much stronger in the air than before, accompanied by a pungent, harsh aroma emanating from beneath the damaged pinewood doors. Degel twitched sharply as it struck upon his senses: a witch’s brew of sharp vinegar, decayed flesh, and enough blood to put an abattoir to shame. A quick look over his shoulder confirmed that Sorus had smelt it too, her features screwing up in distaste at the stench.
 
“What the hell is that smell…?” He muttered to himself. The Hand of Planegifts’ nostrils wavered slightly as he drew closer to the door, the stench rapidly increasing in its potency the closer he came.
After a couple moments’ hesitance, he placed his hand on the door and shoved forward. It gave a terrible groan, the hinges damaged from the earlier forced entry, but yielded to the force and swung inward. The sight beyond was enough to send Degel lurching back with a shocked hiss; Sorus reacted little better, one hand instinctively flying to cover her nose and mouth.

In the space of the hours they had left Simo alone, the hamlet’s main hall had been transformed. A trio of zinc-topped tables had been dragged out of the hall’s rooms and into the centre, converted into a set of crude workbenches. Rows of green glass jars and containers had been laid out across one of them, each one containing a mass of dark fluid in which an organ rested. Each jar’s lid had been sealed with some waxen material to keep its contents fresh, and a handwritten label attached to it by a string. Another was crammed with the tools of the surgeon’s art, from saws and scalpels to rasps and probes, laid out on a pocketed bundle of leather or resting on blood-stained cloth.

Central to it all was the largest of the tables, where a corpse had been laid out lengthwise across the zinc top amid the labelled and sectioned portions of its inner anatomy. Its arms and legs were gone entirely, either dissected or discarded with the rest of the mangled corpse-parts from earlier, while its head rested at a far corner of the table – now little more than a cored-out shell of flesh and bone, its brain and eyes removed to join the other organs in the preservative jars, its skinned jawbone and teeth laid out on a separate piece of cloth for examination. While there was precious little to identify it as human, Sorus could see well the blisters and sores that marked its ruined torso.

The robed figure of Simo stood beside the gutted torso, the front of her cloak smeared with scarlet gore as she almost casually cleaned some blood from one of the tools with a loose length of cloth. She looked up at the sudden sound and gave the two mercenaries a casual smile and a nod, seemingly inured to the stink of blood and the sight of the eviscerated corpse on the makeshift surgical slab before her.

“Good evening, my colleagues.” Simo looked up from her work, giving the two of them an almost casual nod despite the carnage before her. “I see you received my message.”

“What in the hells is that?” Sorus pointed her sword at the human wreckage on the table.

“‘That’ is part of the task I hired the two of you to assist me with,” Simo replied, seemingly unconcerned by her reaction. She finished wiping the blood from her dagger and hands, tossing the rag aside to join a pile of other blood-stained scraps. “And it has proven most… insightful.”

“Insightful?” Sorus couldn’t keep the disbelief out of her tone.

 “Aye, though rather less so than I had hoped. Were the samples more intact, perhaps there would have been more to learn.” Simo made a sound of displeasure deep in the back of her throat, before slowly shaking her head. “But I suppose it cannot be helped.”

“We’ll try and do better next time,” Degel stepped forward from the door, grimacing as he edged around some of the pooling blood. His slitted eyes flicked to the corpse on the table, then back down to his axes. The edges had chipped slightly from how hard they had struck, small indents forming along the copper heads. The grimace tightened further. He’d need to replace them sooner that he’d expected, at this rate. “We’ve not gone against thralls before, lady Cosmoscleaned.”

Simo regarded him for a moment with her hawkish eyes, before slowly nodding in acknowledgement. “Hrm. Very well, very well. Now, do come here, master Degel. I would speak with you on a pertinent subject…”

Hesitantly, the Hand of Planegifts edged between the organ jars and the dissected remnants of limbs, taking care not to disturb the occasional sheaf of paper that lay around or underfoot. They were covered in long, spidery scrawls of writing and unfamiliar diagrams, many of them stained with dark marks or crumpled slightly around the edges.

“I understand that your species do not require sustenance, in the traditional sense,” Simo remarked to Degel as he walked forward to meet her, leaning slightly against the table’s edge. “How is that so?”

“I… I would presume it is from our origins, lady Cosmoscleaned,” He answered, voice carrying a guarded, even wary note to his words. “We were born of necromancy, as the tales go – without need to sleep, drink, or eat.”

“These creatures are the same.” Simo gestured toward the corpse of the infected thrall. “By all accounts, these thralls require no sustenance; no food, no drink, no rest. Yet here,” Simo pointed a finger at the wreckage that lay on the bloodied tabletop. A rubbery, wet mass lay apart from the rest, slit open along the side to expose its contents; off to its side, the intestines were coiled into a wet, glistening tangle. “Look - the stomach remains functional. Scraps of flesh, cloth – even metal – from its latest meal, still in the process of consumption by the digestive acids. The intestines are similar in their contents, though quite unsurprisingly more degraded…”

She broke off mid-sentence, swivelling about to point at one of the dissected arms. Severed from its parent thrall at the elbow by Degel’s swinging axe-heads, the limb had nonetheless been examined and carefully picked part by the scholar. The skin had been peeled back from the wrist to lay bare the nerves and muscular tissues beneath, the ragged remains of blood vessels and bone poking out of one ruined end.

“And see here – the muscle and connective tissues haven’t decayed, or even atrophied. If anything, they look as though they’ve grown. But for that…”

“They would need food.” Degel finished, eyes widening as the implication in Simo’s words struck home.  “So – what are you saying? That they’re… evolving, in some way?”

“Quite plausibly, aye. Look here,” Simo pointed down to the thrall’s jawbone. She seemed oblivious to the two mercenaries’ discomfort, continuing her narration with an unmistakable note of enthusiasm to her words. “The teeth are different to that of a human. They’re serrated and partly fused into the jaw; not so much growing from it as much as part of it, like a natural outgrowth. Perhaps… Some kind of alteration to make it easier to bite and consume their prey? Yes, that would—”

“Is there a point to this, doctor?” Sorus cut the scholar off mid-stream with her question, exchanging an unsettled look with Degel. This did not resemble surgery or dissection so much as it did butchery, and crude butchery at that. The corpse on the table had once a human before the infection had ravaged its mind and body to the point of ruin, and the sight of it in such a state was still enough to stir instinctive nausea deep in the gut.

Simo sighed, as though irritated at her ignorance, before turning to pick up one of the fluid-filled jars. Carefully, she lifted the stomach and the tangle of guts from the table before placing them into the jar, screwing the lid on tight to keep it in place before returning it to its previous position. She carefully circled around the table before approaching the two of them, fixing the two mercenaries with her hawkish, unnerving eyes.

“My point, Chantscar, is this: we understand only the basics of these creatures’ nature, even after nearly a century of their existence. We know of how to destroy them, but not of how they persist. How they fuel themselves; how they do not simply decay away to nothing as the disease takes its toll.” Simo gestured toward the dissected thrall on the table, to the specimen jars and texts that lay scattered around the central dissection table. “What changes may occur. What weaknesses there are, beneath the skin.”

Understanding dawned in Sorus and Degel’s eyes, almost simultaneous in its occurrence. The human mercenary’s head snapped back toward the table for a moment, then back toward Simo, eyes wide.

“You seek to find new ways to destroy these ghouls?” Sorus asked, looking at the dissected body on the table with less disgust than she had previously felt. “Some inherent weakness of their flesh?”

“Indeed so.” Simo nodded, seemingly pleased by her realisation. She gestured to the jars and the notes around the room, strewn around in a scene of organised chaos. “Material drawn from the tales of adventurers and old books; from what few corpses I could acquire and dissect… they have proven useful, over the past decade of our work. Yet there is only so much that corpses and books can teach us about our enemies.”

“You needed firsthand experience.” Degel finished for her. He carefully picked up one of the paper sheets from the ground, eyes flicking across the spidery writing. It looked like a simple table of some kind, containing a series of dates spanning the past few years. Here and there a brief remark had been appended – a name or a place, or a word of jargon that meant little to him; perhaps a dozen times “variant” or “mutation” had been scrawled beside a name, and once, very early in the list, “Utter failure” had been scrawled in an untidy hand, followed by several points of exclamation and what looked suspiciously like a tear from a dagger’s point.

“Quite.”

Simo turned to one of the volumes on the edges of the table, resting a finger against the leather of its cover. An unfamiliar emblem had been stitched into the cover in scarlet thread – a heart and brain, twin daggers flanking them. She flipped it open, speeding through pages covered in annotations and diagrams drawn by a dozen different hands until she came to a blank leaf of parchment; quick as a flash, Simo had a quill and inkpot in her hands and moving across the page, adding whatever she had learned from her autopsy of the thrall to the knowledge of her compatriots.

“While I must thank you for your help so far,” Simo remarked, as she wrote. “There is still much to learn. These thralls were older, and in somewhat poor condition; I was able to learn little we do not already know of their flesh. The organs, in particular – perhaps five useful extractions, from a pool of dozens. I will need… newer specimens to properly expand our knowledge.”

“And where d’you suggest we find more of them?” Sorus called out from her position beside the pedestals. The mercenary was almost idly examining one of the jars as she spoke, pulling a face at the contents – a human brain, covered in small cavities and black lesions. It floated limply in the murky, yellowish liquid that filled the preservative canister, and she pulled away from it with a grimace. “With respect, Cosmosclean, I don’t exactly see much in the way of thralls ‘round here, and I ain’t heard of any new outbreaks nearby.”

“Indeed so, and it is for that reason that our path leads northwards.” Simo gestured to the side with her non-writing hand, one finger pointing to her annotated map over on one of the further away tables. “I have managed to identify a number of thrall-clusters beyond the Tundra, in foreign and familiar settlements alike. They will be our next destinations.”

“These places…” Degel murmured, peering down at the map. The Hand of Planegifts recognised some of the names there, circled in bright red and branching off the dark smear of purple that sprawled across the centre of the map like a bruise. “Goblin pits?”

“They are so.” folded her arms over her chest, giving him an unimpressed look as her fingers drummed restlessly up and down on her elbow. She raised a finger to point toward one of the mead hall’s ancillary rooms.  “Now if you are quite finished with these redundant questions, fetch me the next body from in there. Much as I hold out little hope for further discoveries from them, it is an avenue I must pursue.”

---

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

She looked out into the world through sore red eyes. Shapes danced before her, blurred and smeared, but she could smell them. She could taste them.

Not yet. Not yet. Wait more. Watch more. The time would come. Her Lord would say when, and she would listen.

Her whole body hurt, burning with a crawling, cold fire. Her head seethed with it, casting a blur over the sights before her. Her tongue flicked out, slithering across dry, cracked skin, searching her lips and teeth for any scraps of meat remaining. There was none. Frustration boiled in her breast, clawed at the inside of her throat; she drove her teeth into her tongue to muffle the angry cry building in her chest.

She knew how to make it stop. The only thing that would make it stop was to take the flesh of the others. Not those around her. Not her kin, those that shared her hunger. The others. The ones that wriggled and screamed and stilled as she sank her teeth into soft, sweet flesh, tearing and ripping and –

Not yet! The voice thundered. Not yet!

She shook her head violently, a dog with a rat in its teeth. Sweat and pus flew. She was shivering and sweating and straining all at once, her skin itching and crawling as she tried to hold still. Her fingers curled, claw-like; dug into the uneven skin of her arms. They were studded with boils, like horrid red gloves.

Growling, teeth grinding, she turned toward her surroundings.

She knew this place. A big, open square. A block, a rock, a plinth in the middle. The shape of a man on the top. The man had a name. He was a hero. Yes, what was his name? He had a pole in one hand. A long one, ending in a curved lump. There was something on the base, bright and shiny. Her fingers scraped against it, tracing the marks cut into it. There were words for it, this shiny, bright thing before her; the hero standing above it.

Silver. Lord. Jas. Lord Jas. Lord of Silver.

Yes. Her teeth bared themselves in a grin. She still knew things. She still remembered. Old, familiar thoughts breached the murk. The big stone houses, the men, the ones wearing metal. Soldiers. Yes, yes, she still had the words in her. There was something they did, something done when their lord was near them.

Her arm jerkily raised to her forehead.

“Lord Jas, sir,” She intoned, the words clear in her head but coming out as a slurred growl.

The motion dragged something from the murk. Her head lolled, looked down at the thing at her feet. It was like the man’s, long and thin, ending in a broad, sharp head. There was a name for it. A bird? A beard? She shook her head, temples pulsing with feverish heat. Yes – a halberd.

She bowed her head, moaning softly. It hurt to think. It was painful, all these thoughts and memories and names coming back up after so long. And still they came, clawing up the surface of her mind, fragmented and broken.

She remembered ̜͈̥__T__r, . Remembered D__m__, dark and brilliant. __e_, one of their strongest soldiers. She’d held a tool thing just like that, before… before…

Before what? What? Why could she not remember?

Her nails dug into her scalp, tore through the skin with ease. Blood rushed down her face, her mouth watering as it touched her lip. Her tongue darted out to lick it away.

There was another. A huge figure. Tall. black. It motioned to her, its voice striking against her ears.

The words were nonsense, noise, sounds that set her head throbbing, but the voice was one she recognised. She growled and walked forward, standing beside the noise’s source.
When her lord called, she was to obey.

Two of the others dragged something between them. It dropped to the ground before her. Her mouth watered immediately. It had a meaty, juicy stink to it, so thick she could almost hold it in her hand. Her lips pulled into a grin, blood smearing around her mouth like a painted smile. She knew what this mewling, breathing thing sprawled out in the dirt was.

Her lord’s fingers moved, touched together, moved apart with a sharp, high crack.  She knew what it meant. She knew it meant meat, meant life, meant she could seize the meaty thing before her and eat –

She sprang forward and bit down on the living food. She leaned back and tore a chunk of meat free, felt it struggle down her throat into her burning stomach. The meat tasted good. It always did. It filled her up with light, made her heart beat hard. Each thud shook the dark from her mind. More light came in. Words came with it. Memories. Thoughts. 

She’d been here before. She’d served another, a Lord, a master of men and women. She’d fought a good fight, hadn’t she? Slain monsters. He’d been at her side, then and now. His voice, speaking to her, telling her what to do. All she had to do was destroy the rest of them. The corrupt ones. They were the only ones that could stop them. They were against her. Against the Realm she protected. They threatened her and her people, and for that she would destroy them all.

She snarled and dug in deeper, ignoring the food’s mewling. Her brothers and sisters were beside her, teeth crunching and biting like hers. They would kill this meat, slay the monster. Move on at their Lord’s command. She had to get strong, and clever – strong and clever again, so she could aid her Lord. He would command her, and she would obey. The enemy, those living things, warm and soft, would be swept away. They would march on them, her brothers and her sisters, all marching together.

Like it had been so long ago.[/i]

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on July 17, 2023, 08:05:56 pm

Excellent storytelling as always QD. You really bring out the grim reality of living in Orid Xem!

---

The save as of end of Turn 123 can be found here (https://dffd.bay12games.com/file.php?id=16788). Still well below 500Mb with appropriate compression.

Good luck on your turn, Lurker.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Lurker Z on July 18, 2023, 11:18:17 am

Thanks. I got the save, but I don't know how much progress I'll make. I have some IRL issue. I'll give it a try.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on July 18, 2023, 01:07:12 pm

Quote from: Lurker Z on July 18, 2023, 11:18:17 am

Thanks. I got the save, but I don't know how much progress I'll make. I have some IRL issue. I'll give it a try.

Would it help to skip down a week or two?

Also, I know Bralbaard is semi-AFK, but when he has a moment can I be added to the bottom of the turn list again please?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Lurker Z on July 18, 2023, 04:59:37 pm

Quote from: kesperan on July 18, 2023, 01:07:12 pm

Would it help to skip down a week or two?

Nah, it'd be worse. I'd just skip to the bottom, so I might as well try my week and see where it goes.

Edit: It appears the disappearance of the site was from all the way from my save. I appear to have successfully reintroduced it.

I've took a few trips around the world, it seems only Entrancegrape won't allow me to retire there for some reason, but NPC areas do allow me to do this. I'll try to see if making a fort over a retirable NPC place will allow me to continue my plans.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Lurker Z on July 19, 2023, 11:02:20 am

Why hello there?...

(https://i.imgur.com/iOjnv0S.png])

Alright, by some miracle I got my char into a human fortress. Now to hope to survive the migrants... I also got an unicorn from Ribiromimi, I sold most of my food and even some weapons and armors without kills, hope it's worth it. If migrants become that buggy, worst comes to worst I'll have to recruit the caravan guards.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on July 19, 2023, 01:33:34 pm

Ah yes, Third Twilight Age.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

That would be on account of the dragon.

Good luck on your turn. I was going to offer to muck around in fort mode for a few days if it would help, but it looks like you've managed to make a start.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: AvolitionBrit on July 19, 2023, 04:35:31 pm

Dark Gnomes Lament - Foreword

"It was during one of many trips to The Pepper of Humility when I first heard of mythical creatures. A hagard dwarf at the bar spoke of creatures known as hydras, massive seven headed lizards that supposedly lived hundreds of years ago during a bygotten age. They are but myths of the old age i retorted. Nothing but legends, stories warped by the fabric of time. We went back and forth on hydras. Hours passed as we spoke, for every story he told there was no evidence, no bones, no remains. All that remains is a tarnished silver spear, Oceanbald the Decision of Teeth. The spear that was rumored to have felled one of them. I had the superior argument. But then he said it, what of the titans, rocs and dragons. We had pieces of their evidence, mostly remains of such creatures I retorted.

"What happens when all of it is gone, did they exist?"

The words rocked me to my core, could such a beast of been real, we have hardly anthing that remains from that era. It could be possible. It was hundreds of years later that we only began to keep a museum documenting such finds. He had swayed my argument, broken my logic. I had to prove him wrong, it became my mission. Either way I would be aiding in history and I could be responsible for an amazing discovery. But what could i find. We went back and forth on a variety of creatures. Most seemed dangerous and hard to prove. Creatures made from shadow itself coming to life, only to dissolve in a matter of seconds.

It was a few more drinks until i settled on them, small evil creatures that steal in the dark. Rumors of drinks disappearing in the night, the rumored Dark Gnomes. I vowed to discover the truth behind such beings. It took me a few moments to realise that the dwarf was no longer there. As my eyelids grew heavy, my body starting listing as a deep slumber overtook me. I awoke several days later, in a unfamilar place."

By Kol
(https://i.imgur.com/sPomc3U.jpg)

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on July 21, 2023, 04:01:03 pm

"Stukos I", Prologue, Turn 123

Prologue - The Adventures of Stukos and Evala

3rd Sandstone 1019

A heavy iron door creaks, then opens slowly against the dust of decades. The Eternal Citadel is quiet... eerily so... and the Baron of Keyconjure has awoken from his reverie following long years contemplating Death in his temple to Ala. Moldath Mournsaints pads down the corridor, holding a leather robe against his gaunt frame. His long flowing white hair cascades around his shoulders, his wrinkled skin and blind eyes betraying his advanced age.

For the first time in many decades I leave the sanctuary of my temple - it seems that things have gone downhill, the Blind Sadist thinks to himself. Some dwarven subjects lie on the floor, unmoving. I quickly sort that. The dwarves shudder back to unlife. Back to work chaps.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/WVeKYGx.png)

Now.. where was I? Ah yes. I need to have a chat with my erstwhile son, the fat useless peasant... But first a snack. A goblin looter has snuck into my fort it seems. How foolish.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/a4oJ9dY.png)

Travelling further down the familiar pathways of the fortress, I bump into the corpse of my wife, Sodel Safetraded. A quick flick of the wrist and she returns to vigor. I do hope young Stukos appreciates this. I stroll down to the next level, raising lazy dwarves where I find them. I visit the tomb of the old king, Atir Lobsterseals. I considered him a friend. Mortality... what a wretched curse.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/aT8BM5l.png)

Finally, after stretching my legs and ressurecting a few more of my subjects, I return to the tomb where that useful elf brought my treasure. The twelfth secret. Finally, I read it, trembling slightly as I lift the parchemt to my rotten gaze. A strange noise erupts. I am surprised to find it is laughter from my ruined throat. No sparks or flames, no magic bangs! That daft old necromancer Catten was wrong. Ha! To see the look on his silly old face. A broad grin spreads across my scarred visage.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/PUoG5e4.png)

But wait. What is that? Something strange... the hairs on my weathered neck raise. I can feel it. A burning gaze, a flame hotter than hell, its breath on my back. I see with eyes that are not my own. The cave. Yes, the cave! Something has come. Something familiar and strange. I must warn them. Warn my son. It has come. Look to the east!

When I find Stukos I can scarcely believe he is the same obese lump of a pathetic boy I had seen all those years before. Decades of study and martial training had turned him into a formidable dwarf. He had learned the secrets of life and death all by himself, on his travels around Orid Xem. He had learned the way of the axe from Tirin and that strange polar bear. He had mastered weaponsmithing, crafting an adamantine battle axe of unparalleled majesty. He had risen to become the militia commander of The Book of Dreams, decked in masterfully crafted steel armour. A kind face with compassionate eyes. I recognised little of myself in him. But it appears that, finally, he was ready.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/KmEVLhC.png)

"Stukos," I say. "You are Orbsnarled no longer. You are my son and heir, Stukos Mournsaints."

The dwarven militia commander looks surprised by his father's recognition. The decrepit Baron was infamous for his cruelty and self-centred spite and had never recognised Stukos as his own, let alone deigned to speak with him.

"Did I ever tell you of the dwarf you were named for? He lived a millenia ago, on a different world, but he was as strong and proud a dwarf as I have ever known." Moldath rasped. "And you will need every ounce of strength and cunning if you are to complete the task I now set you. I have unlocked the twelfth seal, and it is coming."

"Dishmab the Deathless?" gasped Stukos. Like others, he had learned of the Cult of Dishmab and their obsidian tower, Northmanor, and their insane theory of multiple worlds and a unified Death God. Nobody had heard of the cult in years, and Northmanor had mostly withered away. Few still whispered of these things.

"No.. something else entirely." Moldath replied. "Something which is me and yet not me. The other half of the amulet. The Fire-Ruler of Rewards. I can see through its own gaze as if it were mine and I cannot defeat it. It must be you. You will travel, to the cave where I entered this world. Blowechoes, the Scars of Coal. It was a dragon lair once. And I feel it has become one yet again. But first I have tasks of you. Secrets I must share."

"I bid you to find Kodor Anvilhearth the Grim and tell them that Catten was right, after a fashion. I have need of him here, in the Eternal Citadel. He owes me... I granted him knowledge and he spent a hundred years in Combinedinsight honing his craft. I wish for him to be my equerry. From what I gather, he has been taken in by some fools up north, The Works of Saviours.

Travel to Ashcinders, where I secreted some of the fabled angel-metal. We may indeed need it to defend the citadel.

Go also to Spicetrails, where I hid my armour and trinkets. You may yet need them.

And go finally to the Realm of Silver. The house of Anthrad would do well to know the threat to their southern border.

Take someone with you if you must, someone you trust. What of that crazed elfmaiden, the child of Tirin? She has travelled the world as you have."

Stukos knew the Baron was talking of course of Evala Silverthorn, daughter of Tirin Nightwhisper. A scholar and warrior as he was, with an ambitious streak a mile wild. Stukos contemplated this and agreed to his father's request.

Stukos had worries of his own. The armies of Begu Chastecloudy were on the march. They had tried to sack the citadel a few years ago, but were easily rebuked. If the full might of The Knowing Deceiver was to fall on the gates... He would do as his father had asked, and prepare to meet this foul entity, whatever it might be. If he could find some way to end the goblin threat along the way, all the better. That meant braving Stealmountain.

Stukos and Evala gathered their belongings and bid their kin goodbye. Stukos promised his own son, Degel, that he would return soon, and urged him to keep an eye on his grandfather. Evala took with her the adamantine scourge Rilemnikot, The Youthful Actions. Stukos had his own weapon - Lorsithozsit Agesh, The Eagle-Crab of Contests, and fine armour from the best smith in the western world, Rigoth Bladegirders.

10th Sandstone 1019

Moldath thrashes and writhes as if in some battle of his own, trapped in the rotten prison of his mind. Degel Bloodwrath watches his grandfather from afar through fearful eyes. The Blind Sadist has finally gone insane. The Queen has made me Baron, worried Degel, with my grandfather lost to us and my father away on Ala-knows what secret mission. I hope I am ready for this...

Moldath feels something he has not in ages gone... fear. He feels the terror in their screams, the brimstone in his mouth. Flashes of anger and death. Blood spraying and billowing clouds of molten metal. A volcano, a vast library, piles of golden crafts. The dragon has tasted the flesh of dwarves and men. It must be stopped. He knows this place. He has seen this before... The Tower of Silence?

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/5Z6KEHx.png)

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: TheFlame52 on July 21, 2023, 05:07:35 pm

Excellent writing

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Maloy on July 22, 2023, 05:55:54 am

QD any chance you wanna switch spots? I'll stick with my current turn spot if needed, but worried I won't have much time

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Quantum Drop on July 22, 2023, 06:00:12 am

Quote from: Maloy on July 22, 2023, 05:55:54 am

QD any chance you wanna switch spots? I'll stick with my current turn spot if needed, but worried I won't have much time

I’d be fine with that, yes.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on July 25, 2023, 10:46:19 am

Quote from: Lurker Z on July 18, 2023, 11:18:17 am

Thanks. I got the save, but I don't know how much progress I'll make. I have some IRL issue. I'll give it a try.

Did you manage to make some progress Lurker?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Lurker Z on July 25, 2023, 12:08:24 pm

My plans didn't work out for my char. He's still alive, but I have no submission. I made a new human fort, I want to do another season to end the year, then I'll submit the save.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Bralbaard on July 25, 2023, 12:56:02 pm

I'm looking forward to the stories even if the adventure did not go as planned.
I hope you had more luck with the IRL issue.

I've updated the map and turn lists. There is a new human settlement close to the museum, Drinkstasis.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Lurker Z on July 25, 2023, 02:43:48 pm

Here's the save:

https://dffd.bay12games.com/file.php?id=16791

Well, I can give the cliffnotes. I had a few plans, but as I realized I won't be able to play more, I eventually made a fortress over the mead hall in Señamatem. I had planned to resurrect Bewa Estbuqui (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Bewa_Estbuqui), Kanil Xemisdi (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Kanil_Xemisdi) and Lurker Onecbehal by using the bodies of caravan guards. Thankfully, I saved before doing that. I killed Lurker Wogeathis, gave his ID and most of his stats to a caravan guard, I saved and quit, and when I returned... that char was gone. Realizing my plans must be postponed and further tested, I just played about a year in the new human district. The meadhall now has neighbors in the form of a carpentry shop to the west, a masonry and misc to the east and a clay factory to the south-east. All in all, pretty humble, but that's the total of my submission for my turn.

(https://i.imgur.com/Mr2qYbv.jpg)

I've also verified the save, I put the raws from before kesperan and Shadmalzuglar has been successfully recovered. Good luck, Maloy!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Quantum Drop on July 25, 2023, 03:45:18 pm

If there are no objections, I'll get started with the save either Thursday or Friday - tomorrow's my graduation, so I'll be away from PC for most of the day. (Will update to say when I have started the turn.)

EDIT: Started my turn today!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Bralbaard on July 25, 2023, 04:34:17 pm

Quote from: Quantum Drop on July 25, 2023, 03:45:18 pm

If there are no objections, I'll get started with the save either Thursday or Friday - tomorrow's my graduation, so I'll be away from PC for most of the day. (Will update to say when I have started the turn.)

Congrats!
That is a proper excuse and fine with me  :). Enjoy the graduation!

Edit: updated the map with the new Weatherponder district. The photoshop file must have several hundred layers by now.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on July 30, 2023, 04:07:41 pm

Quote from: Quantum Drop on July 25, 2023, 03:45:18 pm

EDIT: Started my turn today!

Good luck and have fun QD!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: AvolitionBrit on August 01, 2023, 04:44:22 pm

Dark Gnomes Lament - Chapter 1 - Nightmare Hospital

I awoke in a daze, the room spun as I got sat up. I was in a bed that was not my own. Sitting up my eyes adjusted to the dim lighting and was met with a horrifing realisation. First the bed, it was surounded by metal bumpers with loose leather straps hanging from it. Then my eyes meet the metal tray, littered with tools covered caked in died blood. Where was this?, something isn't right. Standing up and getting my bearings, I notice animal corpses littering the room.
(https://i.imgur.com/ZoQzN2B.jpg)
 I need to get out of here. Donning my gear left in the cornor, I snuck out of the room, before whatever thing that brought me here comes back.
(https://i.imgur.com/wMnJ1uV.jpg)
Navigating my way down the building, the exit passage was littered with traps, no doubt to keep individuals like myself contained in this place. Exiting the structure, my eyes adjusted once more to the snowy tundra outside. It was a horror show, bones protruded from the ground like tufts of grass in a macarbe field. What was this horrific sight. Some were animals but others were unmistakably goblin in nature.
(https://i.imgur.com/lLTQKxf.jpg)
Scanning my surrounds, something from the piles of remains, twitched an moved. A right dwarven hand severed at the wrist, contorted itself across across the field of bones. It twitched like a cave spider creeping its way towards me. Followed by a twisted left arm dragging a bloated torso through the ground.
(https://i.imgur.com/ZjkexeQ.jpg)
It was then my eyes meet her.
(https://i.imgur.com/59oPkxV.jpg)
She just stood there.
(https://i.imgur.com/pYvhF2L.jpg)
Then with a snap of her fingers, the ground pulsated like a glutonous grub. Two figures emerged from their snow chrysalis. First to rise was a hand of planegifts, littered with cuts. The second was a bat woman who with a sickening crunch set her neck back into a correct position. The two snapped and pounced on nearby turtles as a thick fog blanketed the area.
(https://i.imgur.com/ng5XJZ9.jpg)
I had to get out of this nightmare so I ran, quickly ducking down into a valley as the sounds of carnage echoed through the harsh tundra. I saw someone else in the distance resting up against the tree, i approached only to discover a dead goblin. Looks like he sustained some heavy injuries. I wondered out into the cold icy planes in search of shelter.

(https://i.imgur.com/fhVGWfo.jpg)

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on August 01, 2023, 05:36:28 pm

Ah, I recognise this place. Futureseals. Full of undeath and terror. Is this the adventure of your elephant man?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: AvolitionBrit on August 01, 2023, 05:56:47 pm

Quote from: kesperan on August 01, 2023, 05:36:28 pm

Ah, I recognise this place. Futureseals. Full of undeath and terror. Is this the adventure of your elephant man?

It is indeed, a harrowing start. Starting in the hospital, spawned on a bed and then walking outside and seeing the sheer carnage.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Eric Blank on August 01, 2023, 10:18:11 pm

Its truly a wretched place. Wild animals keep spawning by the dozens every time its loaded, because its built on top of a camp, which start fights with everyone and prompt the several necromancers to raise zombies to deal with them, which kill the animals and dwarves, which also get raised. And its totally out of control.

Worse still, the ritual didn't even work, the gods are still weak, and parts of reality continue to be devoured by the worm.

There's lots of death and murder, at least some gods must be happy.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: AvolitionBrit on August 02, 2023, 06:26:35 pm

Dark Gnomes Lament - Chapter 2 - Darker Still

Braving the cold tundra, I eventually made it to some kind of fortification, abandonded and left to the elements. The structure offered me warmth from the tundras cold embrace. Old books scattered the floor. Most refering to a fort by blowingtwinkles, which was most likely where I was.
(https://i.imgur.com/LMfFi6s.jpg)
Just like the dwarf had said the dark gnomes originated from. Could this be their foul machinations, I pressed rested up before heading out towards goblin teritory, perhaps they could offer me shelter, more supplies and directions out of this hellscape.

Approaching the dark pits, I was greated by the sites of goblins, mostly empty. Many remains of goblins. Clear evidence of battle and warfare. Then I found it, a tavern. A nice cold plump helmet wine followed by river spirits, I thought as I gazed towards the sign. The Mailgned Lunch. A place of this name should surely have a fitting menu, I thought as I barged into the small entry was with a bang.

I was met by a cold silence, the bar looked unused, no music, no customers and no barkeep. It was then my eyes met, its gaze. A skeletal figure resembling what I believe is a gnome. A specimin, I thought, they exist?. I rushed over and to my shock it was more than proof of their existance. It was altered changed to form an instrument of sorts. How Macarbe and yet facisnating. Such a mystery this offered to me, not only proof of such a specimin existance by its use as an instrument. I must learn more.
(https://i.imgur.com/LGH0OtM.jpg)

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Maloy on August 03, 2023, 09:10:25 am

I missed my chance on the dark gnome discovery, but your story is a lot cooler than what I was planning lol

Still got time to hunt for bogeymen at least!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Lurker Z on August 03, 2023, 04:06:39 pm

Good luck, QD.

Ah, Bralbaard, please add me to the turn list, thanks.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Quantum Drop on August 04, 2023, 07:18:47 pm

Save is up. (https://dffd.bay12games.com/file.php?id=16802) There's a new fortress on the map by the name of Flightseas, and a new Museum exhibit: the Library of Parts (see below).

Spoiler: Dikbutdagrate (click to show/hide)

Mokun Cosmoscleaned is ready for surgery; Weenie Le Peu has been handed both the necessary parts and a slab containing requests related to their use. Note that she’s a necromancer, so this might cause a few issues with body parts.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Official Museum Submission: The Library of Parts.

A collection of medical manuals detailing the anatomy, physiology, and pathology of Blighted Thralls. They have been extensively annotated with handwritten notes on the subjects, ranging from their biology to methods of killing them more effectively. The identity of the authors are still a mystery to scholars. Overall, the prose is passable.

An excerpt of one of the journals has been included below, for the perusal of visitors to the Museum:

Specimen Log

Subject: Blighted Thrall, Human.

Specimen Number: #22

Age: c. 30-40 years.

Sex.: M.

Initial Notes:

Subject is a human Blighted Thrall of adult age, encountered in the hamlet of S______ on 1X, Moonstone 9XX. Subject was encountered within the mead hall, with no weaponry or armour observed upon its person. Three additional Blighted Thralls were encountered in company with the subject. Interviews with villagers indicate that the Thralls were created around four months prior to this encounter – precise time and contributing factors uncertain.

Cause of death was exsanguination following repeated thoracic and tracheal penetration by two bladed instruments, with traumatic amputation of both legs and right forearm as contributing factors [1]. Left leg and three fingers of right hand retrieved and dissected independently.

Internal Examination:

Organs initially appeared redundant, but internal examination displayed signs of activity and lack of decay in a number of tissues. (spec: Long-term survival mechanism?)

A.   Brain – Post-mortem removal and dissection of organ indicates lesioning of multiple areas, with varying degree of severity across different lobes. Hindbrain displays no sign of lesions or damage.
a.   N.B.: Observed results of damage to brain inconsistent across subjects. Decapitation invariably fatal, but penetration of brain with edged/bladed instrument resulted in inconsistent frequency of decease. (Spec.: Complete dest. brain required?)

B.   Head – Externally unchanged, excepting blisters and lesioning of the skin.
a.   Skull – Teeth display signs of reshaping and partial fusion with jawbone. Muscles of the jaw appear greater than standard human in mass, with ability to open wider mouth than average (spec.: incr. bite force?) Significant thickening of bone observed across totality of the skull (spec.: def. against cranial trauma?).
b.   Eyes – No externally visible changes relative to uninfected human. Ocular dissection following boiling in egg white revealed minor changes to lens (spec. greater degree of vision?) Further conjecture deemed unproductive.

C.   Neck/Spine – Unchanged in structure. Severance of spinal cord during combat did not impede movement of limbs, nor did severe fracturing of multiple vertebra in neck region.

D.   Upper cavity – Structure primarily unchanged from human baseline. Ribs abnormally durable relative to other subjects both baseline and infected, requiring multiple blows from a blunt instrument to fracture and gain access to organs. (spec.: Unique mut.?)
a.   Liver and spleen display signs of extreme atrophy and partial physical decay; majority of spleen tissue severely necrotized, including a large foreign growth attached to the aforementioned organ.
b.   Kidneys entirely absent (spec.: consumed?). All other organs present, though with varying extents of disease and scarring.

E.   Lungs – Minor signs of necrosis and inflammation of lining, similar to Silver Plague [2] victim. Inflammation appears recent relative to scarring. Dissection revealed few internal differences, beyond minor expansion of air sacs within lungs.
a.   Damage to lungs from edged instrument resulted in minor exsanguination, with no appreciable effect on breathing or muscular activity.

F.   Heart – Size and mass of left ventricle significantly greater than right ventricle. Overall size of organ slightly increased relative to average specimen.
a.   Damage to heart resulted in rapid decease due to exsanguination, with observed decrease in muscular activity roughly correlating to volume lost. Results consistent with study of other thralls.
b.   Conclusion: Circulatory system functions are retained and enhanced due to remaining necessary for thrall’s survival. (Spec: req. for muscular enhancement?)

G.   Stomach contents – scraps of metal, cloth, and human flesh. Flesh and cloth partially digested; metal displayed signs of minor corrosion. Length of time from ingestion to digestion uncertain. Conclusion: digestive system remains functional. (spec.: Req. for long-term maint. of muscles?)   

H.   Arm – Dissection indicates extreme over-development of muscles throughout the limb, primarily those related to grip (crushing and support). Skeleton demonstrated few signs of lesioning or damage, but was abnormally resistant to action of bladed and blunt instruments. Significant force required to cause observable damage to bone.

I.   Leg – Externally identical to standard human leg. Dissection indicates over-development of muscles (primarily those related to pronation and supination) and reinforcement of bones similar to that observed in the arm. Conclusion: Blight actively reinforces areas critical to capture and consumption of prey, preserving critical bodily functions to aid in this task. [3]

---

Subject: Blighted Thrall, Unknown.

Specimen Number: #55

Age: Unknown

Sex.: N/A

Initial Notes:

Subject is a human Blighted Thrall of unknown age and species, encountered in the hamlet of Brimshug on the 10th of Hematite, 996.

Cause of death was traumatic injury to the brain, pursuant to penetration through eye.

Initial Observations:

Subject is humanoid in body structure, though size is smaller than average human. Skin is black and waxy in texture, with a somewhat glossy appearance and is oily to the touch. Three short horns protrude from the forehead and sides of the cranium – one broken partway due to cranial trauma from a past injury, two pierced through with apparently decorative bands or studs of metal and bone.

Singular orbit, filled with a large, slit-pupiled eye; observation prior to destruction indicated it to be luminescent in multiple environments, glowing bright red when in darkness and decreasing somewhat in sunlight.

(Note: T. experienced unusual sensation during dissection of the corpse – minor head-ache, momentary sense of dislocation, and recollection of being within some kind of ‘cocoon’ at unknown point in past. Reason for experience uncertain – possible link between species?)

Internal Examination:
A.   Brain – Approximately equal in size and volume to human brain. Minor bruising and some tearing of frontal sections. Limited lesioning observed relative to human subjects, concentrated primarily on rear regions of the cortex.

B.   Head – Externally similar to humanoid cranium.

a.   Eye – Single, abnormally large eye, taking up majority of upper face. Dissection impossible due to severe damage to organ during combat.

b. Teeth – Sharply pointed and closely packed together, with minor serration on majority of the teeth. A number of these displayed signs of additional filing to a point (spec.: enh. Tearing cap.?) or replacement with metallic prosthetics.

C.   Neck/Spine – Neck appears shorter and stiffer than baseline human, with a smaller range of rotation and fewer vertebrae.

a. Spine shows signs of forward curvature. Several iron pins have been crudely inserted into the vertebrae close to the base of the skull; scarring around the site implies significant passage of time since inception. (spec.: Surgical?)

D.   Upper cavity – Significant divergence from previous subjects. Liver, kidneys, spleen, and multiple other organs entirely missing, with no evidence of their presence or removal. Heart, lungs, and digestive tract all present. (Spec.: Func. asgn. to others?)

a. Ribs – The subject’s ribcage is abnormally structured – the gaps between the ribs appear to have narrowed heavily, forming something resembling a segmented, semisolid ‘plate’ of bone across the internal organs. (spec.: Induced for prot.?)

E.   Lungs – Larger than human analog in volume, taking up greater space in the thoracic cavity; proportionally higher number of air-sacs observed within the organ itself. Minor signs of inflammation and scarring within some tissues, concentrating around the windpipe and the upper sections of the lung.

F.   Heart – Left ventricle of the heart drastically larger than right. Higher number of veins, arteries, and ducts observed entering and leaving the heart than in human analog, including several connected to the digestive tract. (spec.: Doubles as liver?)

H.   Arm – Externally identical to human baseline. Similar to human specimens, extreme over-development of muscles throughout the limb was demonstrated during the dissection. Arm joints abnormally flexible.

---

Subject: Blighted Thrall, Goblin.

Age: Unknown (Adult).

Specimen Number: #26

Sex: M.

Initial Observations: Subject is a goblinoid Blighted Thrall of adult age, encountered in the dark pit of Doomedwilt on the 19th of Moonstone, 943. Subject was encountered within the centremost cavern of the pit, engaged in combat with uncertain number of other goblins and affiliated animals. Time since infection uncertain.

Subject’s cause of decease was exsanguination stemming from direct cardiac penetration by a bladed instrument, resulting in rapid and irreversible decline in vital functions. No extremities or limbs were amputated during the subject’s termination, allowing for complete dissection.

Internal Examination:

A.   Brain – Post-mortem extraction and dissection of organ revealed severe lesioning, consistent with that observed in human subject. Certain frontal sections of the cortex appeared severely atrophied; precise effect on behaviour impossible to determine.

B.   Head - Externally similar to human cranium, outside of blistering and minor distention of skull. Internal structure displays significant differences.

a.   Teeth are fully fused into jawbone, with direct bonding between bone and enamel. All teeth display abnormally large density of denticles (spec.: asst. biting power?), creating a serrated edge.
b.   Significant thickening of bone observed across totality of the skull (spec.: defence against cranial trauma?).

C.   Neck/Spine – No discernible changes.

D.   Upper Cavity – Structure generally unchanged from baseline subjects.

a.   Spleen entirely absent from subject’s cavity. Lack of trauma or scar tissue around expected location implies extreme atrophy or natural removal.

b.   Liver was present. Significant differences from baseline included a large tumour attached to the organ and signs of necrotization of the tissue; dissection revealed small ‘nodules’ of discoloured tissue throughout.

E.   Lungs – Minor expansion of air sacs within lungs, similar to subject #22.

F.   Heart – Overall volume and mass of heart significantly above average. Size and mass of left ventricle significantly enlarged relative to right-side, similar to alterations observed in human subjects. 

G.   Stomach – Stomach and intestinal tract entirely absent. Lack of apparent trauma indicates natural removal of the organs through unknown means (spec.: Dissolved? Consumed?) following infection.

a.   N.B.: Subject displayed no signs of decreased physical capability despite lack of apparent digestive system or nutrient intake, contrasting observed behaviour of human thralls. (Spec.: Csq. of natural lack of need for sust.?)

H.   Arm -  Extreme over-development of muscles throughout the limb, primarily relating to grip (crushing and support). Observations consistent with human subject.

a.   Fingers – Fingers exhibited signs of severe mutilation; soft tissues either torn or abraded away down to the bone on majority. (spec.: Self-inflicted?) Bone displayed signs of hypertrophy, protruding through fingertip at a length of approx. 5 cm. (Spec.: Natural weapon?) [4]

I.   Leg – Externally identical to baseline specimen, similar to subjects #5, 16, and 22. Dissection exposed hypertrophy of bone and muscle consistent with aforementioned subjects.

---

Subject: Blighted Thrall, Elf.

Age: Unknown (Adult).

Specimen Number: #115

Sex: F.

Initial Observations: Subject is an elf of Ribiromimi, encountered in a forest settlement on 22 Moonstone, 9__. The subject was encountered near the base of several residential structures, attempting to climb upwards – presumably, to attack a living entity above – and repeatedly failing. Subject immediately abandoned effort at our approach in favour of hostility toward us.

Cause of death was decapitation by a bladed instrument.

Internal Examination:

A.   Brain – Postmortem dissection of organ revealed severe lesioning across entire organ, consistent with prior subjects (cf. #92, 47, and 48.) Small tumorous growth found beneath rearbrain, with second near to the frontal sections. (spec.: Cause of erratic behaviour?)

B.   Head – Externally unchanged from baseline.
a.   Left eye missing – damage to socket indicates this to be the result of past violence.
b.   Teeth exhibited signs of bonding to jawbone and unusual serrations, similar to previous subjects of the goblin and elven species.

C.   Neck – Dissection yielded no appreciable results.

D.   Upper Cavity – Bone structure unchanged from baseline subject. Spleen and liver both entirely absent, with expected lack of scar tissue.

E.   Lungs – Minor expansion of air sacs within lungs, consistent with observations in earlier specimens. Dissection of left lung exposed a number of small tumours within; impact on subject predecease unknown.

F.   Heart – Overall volume and mass of heart significantly above average. Size and mass of left ventricle significantly enlarged relative to right-side, similar to alterations observed in human subjects. 

G.   Stomach – Digestive tract was partly present, inconsistent with prior observations of similar subjects (cf. Spcm. #26, 83, 65, et al.)

a.   Intestinal tract was in a state of severe putrefaction previously unseen in subjects, consisting of approx. 80% decomposition fluids by volume; remaining 20% of expected volume was found to be severely necrotised intestinal tissue.

b.   Stomach present, though with signs of necrosis and partial decay of the tissues. Dissection revealed small ‘holes’ in the lower region of the stomach through which digestive acids could pass (spec.: Cause of decomp.?)

H.   Arm – Dissection of arm revealed expected hypertrophy of bone and muscle throughout the limb, strengthening grip and crushing power. Left shoulder displayed signs of laceration down to the muscle tissue, with decayed stitching and cloth covering the wound. (spec.: Org. bite? Pten. Slow burn.)

---

Termination Methods:
I.: Decapitation.

The most efficacious method of slaying a Blighted Thrall is simply to decapitate the infected creature. For the majority of cases, complete severing of the head from the neck or torso is required - merely severing the spinal cord is ineffective both for restricting movement and inducing fatal damage, as the thrall retains function of all limbs after experiencing this normally fatal wound.

Severely damaging the head and brain (for instance, bisecting the head above the jaw) may result in decease; results observed were inconsistent. While useful if outright decapitation in the moment is impossible, due to the significant damage inflicted on the brain and upper jaw, it is typically inferior to outright decapitation for these reasons.

II.: Exsanguination.

Despite the effects of their contagion, a thrall still remains a living being – for a given value of the term. Consequentially, catastrophic blood loss remains capable of terminating a thrall, though the process is invariably slower than outright decapitation or bisection (see below.)

Traumatic amputation of multiple limbs or repeated strikes to the torso are both effective in this regard: the removal of limbs both significantly decreases the thrall’s offensive capabilities (grasping, kicking, punching) and accelerates the rate of blood loss, typically resulting in rapid decease of the infected thrall.

Alternatively, a piercing weapon may be used to damage organs and sever arteries or otherwise inflict internal damage; this is particularly recommended should the thrall be armoured, due to the difficulty of injuring these opponents with slashing or crushing blows.

III.: Bisection and Dismemberment.
Bisection of a thrall across the torso or waist will invariably prove fatal, due to extreme trauma and loss of blood. While less practical than the above two methods due to the strength and number of strikes required to effectively cut a thrall in half, decease is rapid if not instantaneous.

(Don’t even think of trying this unless you’ve got the strength for it. They’re tougher than they look, and even a great axe is going to have problems getting through one in one bite.)

IV.: Crushing/Pulping.

Though the efficacy of blunted weapons against Blighted Thralls is inherently limited by the lack of a pain response and strong vital character, using one to destroy a thrall’s cranium or thorax remains a viable – if impractical – method of termination.

If left with no other option but the use of these weapons it is advised to target the chest and cranium, with the intention of destroying these regions’ structural integrity through repeated strikes [5].

---

Post-Scripts
[1]:  That sentence reads like something out of a parchment-pusher’s report. To those of who quite reasonably didn't understand that: the thrall had his limbs chopped off and was stabbed in the throat and chest until he bled to death.

[2]: A disease that allegedly afflicted broad swathes of Omon Obin c. 703-710, characterised by severe lesioning, bleeding, and eventual necrosis of the lungs.

[3]: This remains vexing to me. How do they develop in such a way, even without any sustenance to fuel themselves? More research will be required.

[4]: So these damn creatures have claws now. Brilliant. Don’t get ranked by them – no telling what kind of rot they’ve got on those talons of theirs..

[5]: She ain’t joking about this. I've seen one of those things keep coming with a skull cracked open and every bone in their chest busted. Beating them to pulp is about the only way they'll stop.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: TheFlame52 on August 04, 2023, 08:13:18 pm

Pretty fascinating stuff.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game
Post by: dikbutdagrate on August 04, 2023, 09:50:26 pm

Quote from: AvolitionBrit on July 08, 2023, 09:11:10 pm

A new submission has appeared in the museum
65: Guki Pusap A macabre instrument made from the bones of a mythical dark gnome, its believed the ability to play this instrument is lost to time. submitted by AvolitionBrit.
(https://i.imgur.com/mTQLadL.jpg)

Put me back on the list please.

It's so beautiful, it brings tears to my eyes.

-------

But uh... Speaking of eyes, I believe I know precisely what the gifts I wish to bestow upon Mr. Quantum Drop.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Man, I'm hungry just thinking about it...

Put me back on the list, please!

.....


I must hold up my end of the contract after all.
Indeed, it is already signed in honey.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game
Post by: Bralbaard on August 05, 2023, 02:40:03 am

You are on the list already, it's Maloy's turn now but after that you are free to experiment on Quantum Drop.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Maloy on August 05, 2023, 05:40:00 am

I am starting today and have already succeeded in making the world a marginally worse place  :D

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on August 05, 2023, 06:03:29 am

"Stukos I", Part I, Turn 123

The Adventures of Stukos Mournsaints and Evala Silverthorn

4th Limestone 1019

The two unlikely companions set off in earnest at daybreak. Arriving at Ashcinders after a full day of travel, night is falling. The dense forest makes way to a fortress carved into the mountain side. A few goblin scavengers are slaughtered, and we make our way to the forgehalls. No sign of living dwarf greets us but we find our prize, where the Old Baron said it would be.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/Dl5PR5W.png)

The last known armour of the angels of Udir, the cyclopean beasts who gaurded the vault of Coverashes, salvaged from a drowned city by Moldath Mournsaints. We will take this back to The Eternal Citadel, and use it to arm ourselves against the threats of the goblins and this mysterious beast.

In the vault itself, to the north, we encounter a strange being - an injured gremlin Lady, who warns us that goblin looters are skulking within the vault. Evala and I decide to check it out.  The goblins are quickly dealt with. A thorough search reveals not a scrap of blistered metal remains here. We head back north, towards The Eternal Citadel.

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(https://i.imgur.com/4hnsVyh.png)

5th Limestone 1019

We arrive home to some commotion. The sounds of battle rage from the heart of the Citadel. We are accosted by an undead bat and grizzly bear. Evala lets out a wail as she spots the mutilated corpse of her mother, Emofe Stormcrystal. What has happened here? Where is my father? I gesture and Emofe rises slowly. Evala is unsure what to think. We leave the metal in the forgeworks and beginning cleaning up this mess...

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/0UCHHeL.png)

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on August 05, 2023, 07:31:19 am

"Stukos I", Part II, Turn 123

1st Opal 1021

Stukos's Diary

Two years have passed, and in that time the Book of Dreams have not been idle. Using the ancient dwarven forge-sorcery, we have transformed the looted blistered metal armaments into masterwork armour and weapons to defend ourselves from goblin and dragon alike.
The old Baron has taken to his crypt once more, babbling of fire and death. Haunted by visions of a reptilian beast that shares his soul. It troubles me. Even if I do manage to best this magical creature, what would happen to my father? Would he be destroyed as well?

The armies of Begu Chastecloudy remain heavy in my thoughts. Our scouts found Stealmountain seemingly deserted, only for the goblins to attack in a small raiding party. They were no match for dwarven-crafted blistered metal, and many of the militia gained titles that day.
They now call me Stukos Mournsaints the Immortal Avalanche of Steel, and Evala is now the Emerald Storm. She has been quiet about the fate of her mother, but Emofe remains unrelenting in defense of the Citadel.
Her elven brethren have visited, and gifted a great unicorn which should serve Evala well. For me, I will take a bear. I do not fully trust the cave dragons though they seem tame and loyal in nature. They number nearly fifty now, from the few that were captured decades ago.
Woe betide the goblin fools.

Evala has spent the last few months learning the art of the spear, and one of the metalworkers has crafted a spectacular artifact blistered metal spear which she now favours over her scourge. She tries to bid goodbye to her mother, but the undead Hollow Hunter's cold face remains unmoving.

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(https://i.imgur.com/ZrjJ8hg.png)

We have tarried as long as we could dare, and now must march to meet our fates. We will travel northwards, to complete the tasks the Baron entrusted us, and complete them come what may.
My son Degel is the new Baron. A fine warrior - they call him the Certain Rights and I am sure he will keep the citizens of the Book of Dreams safe. He sheds a tear as we leave the western gate but I know I will see him again.

7th Opal 1021

We head north from the lush valley towards the sinister tundra. First stop on our travels is the reclaimed necromancer tower, home to the evil Scorpion King. My father has warned me of this foul beast and its thirst for power. Patrolling the outskirts are a great many troll and gorlak recruits - lackeys of the Scorpion King who are torn limb from limb by my majestic bear. The abandoned tower is a bleak sight indeed. Cowering human merchants brace against the bitter cold, tired and fearful faces glance at us. All around a thick blanket of snow and deathly quiet.
The mausoleums of this place now lie dormant, the rotten corpses of Cog Wildnesswork's experiments paying testimony to the scorpion's savagery. Of the infamous Avolition, there is no sign. Scoffing, we turn and head north west. Futureseals is our next destination.

We are soon ambushed by a hungry polar bear. My own bear lunges at it but I am suddenly reminded of why Evala has chosen her own companion, as the horned beast strikes the white bear down with a single blow.

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Within the sinister glacier of The Fated Frost we come across a curious fort hewn of the ice itself. The sound of movement... Goblins! This dwarven settlement of egg shaped structures is crawling with greenskins. I take the head of the first, when Evala cries that my bear is now named Swallowedfloor the Lustrous Points. I am not sure how she arrived at this conclusion.

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We find Stalconpesor Avolition Moncadem coins in their pouches. Agents of the Scorpion King sent to infiltrate this settlement? After the unicorn brains another goblin, Evala bestows upon it the name Laudsteel. The egg-shaped rooms are searched but no great foes or sparkling treasure is found.

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9th Opal 1021

We skirt the city-fort of Warshrieks and encounter some kind of temporal anomaly, waking with no recollection of the previous day. We press on through the tundra and arrive at Wheeldells, ruled by the Playful Wheel. In the civic mound are a sherrif, a militia commander, and a terrifying headless fell one miner who appears to be the commander's wife.

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(https://i.imgur.com/ZqPCUMp.png)

The sherrif tells me the people here trade in Futureseals, to the north, and that he has heard rumour of a human fort further north named Drinkstasis. We agree to travel to both of these places.

In nearby Umbralcobalt, an enraged animal trainer is fighting with another human. He stops long enough to introduce himself before leaping upon his opponent once more. Humans are a strange bunch.

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(https://i.imgur.com/HU8tNGW.png)

Bridgedaggers is even stranger. The mayor is an elf, and the inhabitants seem to be a variety of giant beasts. The mayor is Amu Biteearthen, an ancient and reverant elf, over one thousand years old. She tells us that her parents were royalty, in a time before dwarves and humans ruled these lands. I have no idea how she ended up in this hovel.

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(https://i.imgur.com/aEN5fAX.png)

She seems enamoured with my scarred bloodstained murder bear, and so I offer him to her in exchange for one of her own stock - an enormous black bear. The huge beast agrees to follow me and I bestow upon it the name Goreclaw the Black Demon.

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(https://i.imgur.com/qStZ79I.png)

The final town which bears allegiance to Futureseals is Coalford, where we bump into the gremlin mayor Imiwe Hoistedjumped, a strange tiny creature, its body a map of scars.

11th Opal 1021

Futureseals itself is nestled between rolling foothills and the shore of a great frozen lake. In the night we can hear many creatures roaming the lands around the fort. We preceed with caution, our mission here to find my father's old friend Kodor Anvilhearth the Grim.

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(https://i.imgur.com/gNZHaPZ.png)

We make slow process over the shallow frozen Lake of Kisses, encountering occasional swans and snapping turtles. It is peaceful here in the low light, the only sound an occasional whistle of wind disturbing the snow. Suddenly, I hear a muffled thud on the ice. Something is crawling our way!

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The snow thins revealing frozen earth and we can see corpses strewn far and wide - swans, owls, many turtles, and the occasional human. This must be Futureseals. How lovely. Many dead frozen goblins scatter the entrance to the keep, as a crazed farmer beats a turtle to death. What a strange place this is.

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Evala spots something metallic glinting in the low sun, half buried in the snow. It is a brass slab! On closer inspection it appears to be a well crafted replica of an original of some kind? But what is it doing here? The slab is enormous and too heavy for Evala to lift. The unicorn also refuses to bear this burden.

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(https://i.imgur.com/2kEYxXW.png)

We leave the slab to its fate and head towards the main building, whereupon we bump into an injured wolf woman and her male human companion. Their eyes betray their youthful visages.
They are Pik and Desli. The names are familiar but I cannot place them. They seem like simple folk, no elaborate arms or armour and have few tales to share.

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(https://i.imgur.com/Z0j1qj4.png)

Inside the fort are yet more scattered remains, and a rodent woman is fighting off the skeleton of a sheep. I kick its head off to the relief of the rat person. She seems to be called "Riddles" and works as a woodcrafter. This is a curious place indeed. I press on, looking for any other undead menaces.

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(https://i.imgur.com/uVsRzC7.png)

We travel to the depths of the fort, to the deep cavern layer, but find no undead and no sign of Kodor. On our way back up, we are accosted by yet another skeletal sheep, and find the likely culprit - the necromancer militia commander Thine Boatsarmours. She has a broken nose, and wears fox bone jewellry. A steel short sword in her hand is slick with human blood, and an adamantine axe is strapped to her back. How did she find the sacred metal of the dwarves?? My eyes narrow but I stay my hand. I will clean up this mess!

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(https://i.imgur.com/PjRbaud.png)

When we arrive at the surface we find all hell has broken loose. The snow has thawed revealing its foul contents. Undead beasts and skeletal remains run amok on the cold wet grass. Evala and I slay as many as we can find. The great bear takes down several corpses and the unicorn is matted in the gore of a great many beasts.

I curse loudly as we find the mangled dismembered corpse of Kodor Anvilhearth, apparently recently slain by some hoofed beast. I gather his body and belongings, and leave this damned hellhole. I have failed one of the tasks my father set out for me. Dejected, we will head north to Boltspumkin, the fabled Museum and respository of great knowledge, on the way to my father's old castle of Spicetrails.

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(https://i.imgur.com/b4exREI.png)

12th Opal 1021

The journey northwards is uneventful. We skirt the mountains and pass nearby many abandoned settlement. We delve into the long-abandoned tomb of the ancient law-givers of the Armoured Confederacy but find them long since looted, the bodies of the rulers missing.
Spicetrails is an abandoned human castle that my father used as a base of operations, before he got mixed up in the Cult of Dishmab up in Northmanor. He alluded to secreting some of his treasure and trinkets here. Evala and I are surprised to find a number of human merchants and their horse in the keep! The merchants have never heard of my father, believing him only to be a champion of the Eternal Citadel. I find what I have been looking for, a backpack made of the shimmering clear skin of a demon, brimming with masterfully crafted arms and armour, and fine jewellry. The treasure of my father!

I put on his armour of masterwork adamantine and blistered metal, embelisihed with gold and the bones of great demons and feel a surge of pride. Sadly, we do not recover the artifact spear Empirebolted which my father had assumed would still be here. Perhaps the human merchants have spirited it away. We leave the bear and unicorn here to guard the merchants, and continue west on foot. We have not travelled far when we encounter a human solder escorting a pair of goblin prisoners. It seems these foul creatures were imprisoned during an assault on Stasismanors around seventy years ago, and have been in chains since.

As we talk to the human Domas, it appears she is of The Walled Dye. She has a dwarven name and dwarven coins in her pouch, and claims to be of the Violet Glazes of Stasismanors. How strange. Distracted by our enquiries, the goblins start to run to freedom. They are quickly dispatched. Domas does not wish to join us, stating she has an important mission. If her mission was to escort these prisoners, I would say her mission is over. I trade some coin and trinkets with Domas for a handul of her rather splendid gold arrows, and bid her goodbye.

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A short distance westward and the forest makes way to a large expanse of clear-cutted logs. We spot a human trader who informs me we have arrived in Drinkstasis. We press on looking for the castle itself, as this is a place mentioned to us by the elf Amu Biteearthen.
We soon find some wooden structures, and fields bursting with strawberries and blueberries. Evala helps herself. I find a guardhouse, with a silver warhammer that has seen some use. We also find some clothing fit for a gargantuan creature!

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A small greasy-haired human child we find in a rough hewn passage in the clay informs us that the Band of Wines rules Drinkstasis. I hope they have some samples we can try! The engravings on the wall seem to indicate this particular group is from the Armoured Confederacy - the same humans in thrall to the evil Scorpion King. Sadly we find little else of consequence here and no sign of the enormous beast who called this place home. We press on.

13th Opal 1021

We arrive in Sacklures, and find it is the capital of The Armoured Confederacy. In the mead hall we are introduced to Sekue Metalscolded, and in the back of the room is a truly enormous creature. A massive grey beast with huge ears and great tusks! It is the elephant man performer Kol Aceshot, a legendary poet! I take great pleasure in reading the works of art he has on display here, bound in beautiful lapis lazuli books. The Sun Sets on Tour... truly masterful. This elephant man would appear to be quite the comedian.

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Continuing west we stumble upon the fabled Herograves in the late afternoon. We inter the remains of Kodor Anvilhearth the Grim, Adventurer of the Museum and friend of Moldath Mournsaints, along with his axe and personal belongings. I also leave the arm bones of the famous adventurer Glloyd, found by my father in the vault centuries ago. Rumour has it that the one-armed necromancer hermit yet lives, in a hut far to the eastern mountains...

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(https://i.imgur.com/HD5nNsN.png)

We leave quietly after a few solemn moments of prayer to Ala and Cacame, heading towards the Museum. A short distance to the west we are ambushed by a marksdwarf fell one who leaps upon Evala with reckless fury. Reluctantly I cleave his skull with my axe.

The so-called great Museum is in a state of disrepair. The goblin monks who tend to the artifacts kept here seem uninterested in the fact that many books and precious items lie strewn outside. I find a few works of my father, and learn new secrets from his handiwork. As an elf, Evala is bemused at my dwarven need for knowledge of immortality. We speak to the lady Glubbo, once freed by the great king Bralbaard, and the monk Thep. We even see a hideous cyclopean angel of Udir who greets us warmly. Emboldened with new knowledge, and having given Kodor his rest, I am ready to head to my fate to the far southwest.

14th Opal 1021

In Pricerings to the south, we discover a boss necromancer - Innu Velvetstood. In his hand he carries a copper goblet containing bark scorpion man ichor. This is most unusual. I trade a few trinkets and take the goblet from him.

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(https://i.imgur.com/RTfYZPa.png)

Next to him is a goblin spearmaster chieftain wielding a masterwork spear. Once Innu has wandered off, I put this goblin filth out of its misery. I take his spear - it is made of bismuth bronze adorned with rings of giant cave toad bone. The streets are otherwise deserted. A few scattered goblin corpses are all that we can find. We press on, southeast. The frozen Tundra of Heroes is ahead of us, and within it Stealmountainand its goblin threat.

15th Opal 1021

According to the troops I sent from The Eternal Citadel, Stealmountain is deserted. And yet twice they have sent armies to destroy our home. I will see in person what this fortress holds. Snow lies heavily on the trenches and twisted towers of this goblin Dark Fortress, and many skeletal remains and mangled corpses of goblins poke through the frozen landscape, the crops of some unholy harvest. Despite the apparent depravation, we do find a few stragglers atop the towers.

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Following the stream of corpses we find the spire, but it is sadly deserted. The foul Master Begu is nowhere to be found.

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(https://i.imgur.com/9diK2jb.png)

16th Opal 1021

We leave the goblin pits behind, again heading southeast. In the sinister mountains we see a foreboding castle, the infamous Realmspire, and are soon ambushed by a group of human necromancers and their goblin lackey! Shouting, Evala hoists her artifact blistered metal spear and I unsheath my axe. The fight is very hard, the necromancers are not seasoned combatants but have potent magic. At one point, Evala is knocked unconscious and I nearly lose her. We strike them down as fast as they can ressurect their fallen comrades. In the end, mangling their corpses is the only way.
We are both blistered by death magic, and my heart is rotten. Now I know what my own father must have felt.

The foothills around this place are crawling with necromancers and even more unnatural things! Having rested after our ordeal with the soldiers, we are ambushed by an enormous otherworldly leech beast! As we slay it we can hear the screams of some tiny malevolant creatures as they are roasted in demon fire. I may have my father's armour but I do not have his undeathly vigour or magic. I urge Evala to run! Terrified, we scramble as fast as we can away from the roiling smoke and screams... this Realmspire is truly hell on Orid Xem and I am no match for it.

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Discretion is the better part of valour, and we are lucky to run quickly away from the melee. Thankfully the beasts are too occupied with slaying each other to notice us and we escape into the tundra. Our blistered flesh is painful but seems otherwise harmless. I hope the doctors at the Eternal Citadel, well learned after tending to my father's malady, will be able to heal us in time.

19th Opal 1021

We have braved the featureless tundra for several days, the ice and snow giving way to boreal forest to the south and now find ourselves at the entrance of a grand castle - Entrancegrapes.

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(https://i.imgur.com/ocv26QB.png)

I seek the house of Anthad and will enqure here how to find the law-giver to warn him... both of the hellish spawn of Realmspire not a day to the north, as well as my father's nemesis. The pathway is guarded by two masterful marble statues of Lurker Lockkingdom, a human hero of some renown from many centuries ago. We search the place for many hours. The only people we find are peasants who deny any knowlegde of the Anthad line or even of Lurker himself. Atop one of the southern watchtowers is a familiar axe... one I have heard of before from my father. The axe he found in Holykingdom when he lost his mind. The axe he gifted to another Lurker... Ancientcrown. I stow Osturist Obot Zaled in my pack.

20th Opal 1021

Swordgleamed - this bandit stronghold was once feared across the land. It now lies in ruin, decades-old corpses line the streets. I spot some of the handiwork of the line of Anthad here - quelling this rebellion lent legitimacy to young Jas Gloryage's nascent reign. It appears his scourge of this place was effective as no bandits are to be found. We head ever southwards towards our destiny.

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We soon find ourselves on the outskirts of Weatherponder, ancient capital of Omon Obin. The Mysterious Order of monks controlls Weatherponder, and the newer constructions of neat jet-block snow covered houses have been dubbed Weatherponder the New. The current head priest would appear to be Omon Ashallied. I do not know if any of the nobles here would be able to grant me an audience with Lord Gloryage. Sadly all we can find are clueless peasants and small children among the snowy streets.

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Lying atop one of the houses is a bronze short blade inscribed Okbod Akmesh - The Doom of Tempests. It seems very old but hardly used. I stow it in my pack as there seems nobody around here lays claim to it. Down the hillface, I almost stumble into a bronze halberd half-buried in the snow... Sunbreak. The name is familiar. This weapon feels centuries old and feels somehow warm to the touch, as if enchanted somehow against the undead. A great hero once used this weapon.

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At the foot of the hill, chance would smile upon me once more. Glinting in the low sun atop the roof of a stout squat building is the unmistakeable lustre of bluish metal... surely it must be adamantine! I scramble down the remaining outcrops and climb up this building to find none other than The Routed Silences, a massive two handed artifact adamantine sword. I know this blade... it was made in The Eternal Citadel, before I was born, and gifted to a prince of Omon Obon by King Atir Lobsterseals many years ago. To see a craftwork of the dwarves unceremoniously dumped in the snow tells me the prince was unworthy of such a priceless gift. I will return it to its rightful home.

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We chat with a few more peasants, a soap maker and a wood burner. None are able to point us in the direction of anyone in charge. We follow the paved road south, towards the famous keep of Silverthrone. I do hope I can find Lord Gloryage. On the outskirts of the citadel, we find a small house containing a dwarf. He introduces himself as the Worm Spawn Bralbaard Hammerfishes. Surely this cannot be? King Bralbaard died countless decades ago and this dwarf looks hale and hearty, despite a horribly burnt hand. He cheerfully tells me he is a hearthperson of a dwarf lord I have never heard of and seems eager for adventure. I gift him the masterwork spear I took from the goblin warlord, and some steel armour I no longer have need of. He seems pleased. Sadly, he too cannot tell me much of this place or how to find the law-giver. We press on.

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Somewhat terrifyling, I soon spot an enormous demon. The commander Ubteng Seedhood is a gigantic slavering beast twisted into the shape of a towering eyeless hummingbird! Why has the noble house of Anthad allied themselves with the hellish spawn of the underworld? I grip my axe tightly and greet the beast through clenched teeth. It seems to have no appetite to fight and I stay my hand. Attacking a demon in broad daylight within the castle would surely end in carnage. I will demand answers from the law-giver! I assume he will be atop his tower in the central keep and Evala and I head in that direction, trying to avoid unnecessary attention from the horrific demon.

In the grand bedroom at the very top of the regal keep we find a small boy, reciting poetry. He has a clear voice and pale brown eyes, with golden yellow hair as all these humanfolk do.

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He tells me his father Cikul is the current lord. Hopefully he is a nobler soul than whatever brooding creature rules Realmspire. Leto leads us to Cikul who greets us warmly.

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I try to impress upon Cikul the values of law and co-operation and point out that the goblins are marching towards my home. He seems to understand the values I preach. I cannot find the words to explain that an otherworldly dragon sharing the soul of my father is making its lair to the south of his territory... He does appreciate my gift of the axe, which has a personal connection given my father slew many beasts with it. I hope this strengthens the bond between the Page of Tiredness and the Realm of Silver.

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We leave to the south, and are caught up in a commotion. A firebreathing demon is fighting with a pair of forgotten beasts just outside the city walls. My axe takes the head of a gargantuan sauropod as it seeks to slay a human axeman... A terrified onlooking necromancer scholar ressurects the beasts massive neck and it lunges at me. My axe tears into it and its tongue flies off in an arc. Eventually the beasts undead neck is put down, and I stow its tongue and tooth in my pack.

Not far from the city a dwarf hollow hunter attacks Evala, ignoring me. I am forced to kill the wretched thing. Rest in peace, Urdim Milecastles the Daub of Wetting.

21st Opal 1021

We cross a massive frozen river at dawn - Evala is not a confident swimmer and we are glad to cross before the river thaws. We continue our journey south, heading in the direction of the ancient Tower of Silence, and my fate. Streammartyred is the next large town on our journey. The central keep is teeming with priests and the corpses of slain ghouls. There does not appear to be any threat remaining here. We press on.

22nd Opal 1021

Scarletbronze, the famed and once bustling city is now, thanks to centuries of horrifying weremammoth attacks, a desolate wasteground. We hear the sounds of battle from the central keep and are suddenly confronted by slavering undead humans. These must be the blighted thralls of legend! We wade in, axe and spear flashing in the low light of dusk. Unfortunatley, one of the priests huddled in the keep reveals themselves as a necromancer... all hell breaks loose as the undead shudder back to unlife.

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There is only one way to end this - by taking out that necromancer and hoping there are no other magic users hidden in the building. I leap into the air over the heads of the shambling zombies, landing with a crunch atop a thrall. The Eagle-Crab of Contests describes a wide crescent and the necromancers head sails off in a gout of crimson. Zombies and body parts crunch into one another. I am separated from Evala but I hope I can kill as many of these things as I can before she comes to harm.

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To her credit Evala has the sense to run, as I feel my eyes glaze over and surrender my body to Armok. My limbs are a tornado of steel and adamantine as bones and skulls shatter around me. I chase after Evala, slaughtering the undead which make chase.

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Finally we are able to catch our breath, and retrace our steps back to the keep, methodically slaying any straggling undead. The final few blighted thralls cowering in the keep are no match for us. Fully a hundred undead corpses litter the ground. We spend several hours burning as many body parts as we can, to stop a similarly inclined necromancer from raising them again.

23rd Opal 1021

It seems the town of Chucktrades also has a thrall problem. I kill all I can find. A silent human, Ezif Bluewave, eyes me coldly; his teeth suspiciously sharp.

24th Opal 1021

The journey south continues, the sting of our blistered flesh keeping us alert. Outside a lair I find a strangely nameless goblin monster slayer guarding impossible crafts - armour and a battle axe made of the bones of a dragon! How can this be? The armour seems sized for a goblin but it would do an elf or a dwarf just as well. Perhaps this is a sign? Could this goblin have knowledge of dragonslaying? The strange creature refuses to join us on our quest, and so we take these otherworldly items and bid him good day.

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The travel south is largely uneventful. Few settlements dot the earth here, and the monotony is broken up by occasional tussles with dingos and wolves. As the moon rises in the evening we are attacked by a shadowy creature - a large one-eyed humanoid with a curly tail and grey skin... it is naked and lopes quickly along the ground, its thin limbs twisting in unnatural shapes. Unsheathing my axe I charge towards it as Evala readies her spear. The beast is no match for dwarven weapons. Anaya Ashenfate is quickly slain. I have heard of these creatures before - night trolls. Once sentient creatures, twisted into ghoulish monstrosities. If there are more near here we will flush them out. We find the creatures lair a short distance to the east, but it appears to be deserted.

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25th Opal 1021

The constant harrying by packs of dingos allows Evala and I to practise some unconventional methods of attack. One particularly unlucky fat dingo gets a live rat crushed into his brain. The rat itself is somehow unharmed.

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(https://i.imgur.com/RWDX6Kk.png)

26th Opal 1021

As dawn breaks we arrive at The Tower of Silence, an old fort fabled for its huge library and hoarded golden crafts, nestled into the caldera of a volcano. This is the place of my father's visions, a place he visited two hundred years ago. This is where the dragon came, surely lured by the stench of blood and gold. We approach cautiously, cutting the throat of a goblin looter patrolling the gates. Few dwarves still lived here, according to my father. Fewer still if the dragon has truly visited this place. We find some ornate artifacts crafted of bone, but little sign of life. A horribly scorched goblin head lies at the foot of the great stairs, blackened to the skull by unnatural fire. The first proof the dragon is real!

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/8KFSvQK.png)

Atop the monolithic spire are many artifacts on pedestals. One catches my eye - a small shield wrought of gold. Stukonoltar, Squashedgilt. This could be useful against the dragon, renowned for their lust for the yellow metal.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/1yK1asR.png)

We continue south east in to the basin formed by the surrounding mountains, travelling in silence through the sandy desert. In the distance we can spot it - Blowechoes, The Scars of Coal. A dragon cave. It has taken us three weeks to travel here, and we bear the scars of many victories. It is time to end this, slay the dragon and free my father from whatever torment he endures.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/raK5zBC.png)

We descend slowly, carefully, not knowing if the beast lurks behind the next corner. Evala is nervous, blathering about historical events of little consequence. I feel uneasy, a roiling fear churning in my stomach.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/jOhgWqN.png)

Suddenly a blast of heat singes my beard and my nostrils fill with the foul stench of brimstone. "Dragon!" I scream to Evala, as she nimbly dodges to the sid. Only when the billowing smoke clears can I see the true size of my foe. The beast is enormous, covered in thick green scales and has a fiery glow in its otherworldly eyes. It breathes fire yet again, and I draw out the gold buckler to deflect it. Hefting the dragon bone axe I tear a rend in its chest, as Evala leaps again, her elven agility saving her from the gouting dragonfire.

The great wyrm bellows in anger as I lop off its left front foot with the bony axe, the enormous scaled appendage sailing through the air. It is enraged at all enemies, hot serpent blood spraying from its ruined stump. Distracted by my gold buckler and dragon bone axe, the beast foolishly turns its back on Evala, charging at me. I tumble out of the way, but not before the elf warrior finds a point of weakness with her blistered metal spear.

I crash into the stony walls of the cramped cave, a sharp ringing in my ears. I stagger to my feet in time to see Evala thrust her spear through the great reptilian skull, slaying it instantly.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/Qwn0nKP.png)

I am battered and bruised but intact. Evala pants with effort, dislodging the blistered metal spear from the wyrm's skull, its last ragged breath sighing from its slavering maw.

I carve from the dragons bones a masterwork crown, and a figurine of my father standing triumphantly atop its corpse. It is time to go home. We set off westwards, aiming to pass south of Falsetower and skirt the great Sea of Blades before heading north past Keyconjure. The great deserts of the southern badlands stretch out before us, and it will be a long and hopefully uneventful journey.

2nd Obsidian 1021

Keyconjure. Birthplace of The Page of Tiredness, until it was destroyed by the dragon Faci Glowgilds the Bejeweled. In the last century, under my father's gaze, it has been retaken by my brethren. I have never visited before, but it seems fitting to complete a pilgrimage now. We meet the baron Momuz in the central courtyard. He is the son of Atir Lobsterseals, a prince of my people, but he was expelled from The Eternal Citadel under mysterious circumstances. As we get closer the smell of moose is unmistakable. I bid him good day.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/bk4pAAR.png)

I travel back home and store my treasure. I take my leave of Evala, and travel alone the long trek back to Boltspumpkin, where I place my offering to the Museum. Could this be the end of the tale of Moldath Mournsaints the Ardent? Perhaps...

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/PN7hNwW.png)

Museum Submission:

66. Mournsaints the Fire-Ruler of Rewards: a masterwork dragon bone figurine depicting the victory of Mournsaints over the Fire-Ruler of Rewards, a relic from another reality.

Forts visited:

Scorpiontower the Lost Vault of Books
Entrancegrape
Weatherponder the New
Drinkstasis
Futureseals

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on August 05, 2023, 07:45:06 am

Oh, forgot to mention.

The entirety of turn 122 happened during the Third Age of Heroes.

The emergence of the dragon created a new age announcement, and when it was killed, Lurker got the announcement of reverting to the Third Twilight Age.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Maloy on August 05, 2023, 08:30:05 am

Is there a dwarf hack command to make a creature to follow you?
I'm thinking like a beast or animal that can't communicate

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: AvolitionBrit on August 05, 2023, 09:55:43 am

An interesting turn Kesperan, didn't know another dragon had risen up. Interesting to see all the different sites you went to.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: TheFlame52 on August 05, 2023, 10:01:41 am

Damn, Evala is a badass. So is that unicorn.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Unraveller on August 06, 2023, 11:59:47 am

I do wonder why all of those artifacts ended up scattered about Weatherponder. . . I'm certain they were in the possession of various folk around the Realm. Well. Upek at least probably passed away by now, he was quite ancient when last I met him. Sad! Twas a fine blade.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on August 06, 2023, 12:12:58 pm

Quote from: Maloy on August 05, 2023, 08:30:05 am

Is there a dwarf hack command to make a creature to follow you?
I'm thinking like a beast or animal that can't communicate

Not that I am aware of. But you can use GM-Editor to add relationships and make the targetted creature a companion and/or mount.

Quote from: AvolitionBrit on August 05, 2023, 09:55:43 am

An interesting turn Kesperan, didn't know another dragon had risen up. Interesting to see all the different sites you went to.

Thanks Avo. I added the OUTSIDER tag to dragons for my turn, so that I could create a dragon to be a nemesis for Moldath, and kind of complete his story arc. I couldn't find the Scorpion King though...

Quote from: TheFlame52 on August 05, 2023, 10:01:41 am

Damn, Evala is a badass. So is that unicorn.

Why thank you. I had hoped that Stukos would be the one to take the dragon's head, but Evala was having none of it. Her spear, Luredbuster, is the first true blistered metal artifact created in The Eternal Citadel.

Quote from: Unraveller on August 06, 2023, 11:59:47 am

I do wonder why all of those artifacts ended up scattered about Weatherponder. . . I'm certain they were in the possession of various folk around the Realm. Well. Upek at least probably passed away by now, he was quite ancient when last I met him. Sad! Twas a fine blade.

I gathered them all up and took them to the Citadel, where there are ample pedestals to display stuff so it doesn't scatter or vanish when it's owner dies of old age.

Upek is 103 years old and still kicking, and recently became the First Twinkle of the Deep Creed of Bikda in Chucktrades, after the incumbent was slaughtered during Stukos and Evala's cleansing of the ghouls there.

So... any chance of seeing your stories from turns 106 and 121? :D

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Unraveller on August 06, 2023, 12:41:02 pm

The chance is indeed there. . .

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: AvolitionBrit on August 06, 2023, 04:57:28 pm

Quote from: kesperan on August 06, 2023, 12:12:58 pm

Quote from: AvolitionBrit on August 05, 2023, 09:55:43 am

An interesting turn Kesperan, didn't know another dragon had risen up. Interesting to see all the different sites you went to.

Thanks Avo. I added the OUTSIDER tag to dragons for my turn, so that I could create a dragon to be a nemesis for Moldath, and kind of complete his story arc. I couldn't find the Scorpion King though...

Ah I see, no was pretty cool to see a mythical beast show up again. Its a good end for Moldath for sure. The Scorpion is no doubt slinking somewhere in the depths of the world waiting for the perfect time to strike from his burrow. Much like his namesake

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on August 06, 2023, 05:12:07 pm

Quote from: Unraveller on August 06, 2023, 12:41:02 pm

The chance is indeed there. . .

I would just like to know why there are demons roasting dark gnomes all around Realmspire. What on Orid Xem went down there??

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Salmeuk on August 06, 2023, 05:26:53 pm

Quote from: kesperan on August 06, 2023, 05:12:07 pm

Quote from: Unraveller on August 06, 2023, 12:41:02 pm

The chance is indeed there. . .

I would just like to know why there are demons roasting dark gnomes all around Realmspire. What on Orid Xem went down there??

what, you would prefer they eat the gnomes undercooked?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: AvolitionBrit on August 06, 2023, 06:00:31 pm

Yeah need to finish my story, its wierd.

Dark Gnome is a rare material in the land. Did also find this during my journey which is even more macabre.

(https://i.imgur.com/3lP3CvC.jpg)

Never found a live dark gnome.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on August 08, 2023, 04:43:30 pm

Quote from: AvolitionBrit on August 06, 2023, 06:00:31 pm

Never found a live dark gnome.

Technically I didn't either, what with the running away in terror from the demons...

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Salmeuk on August 08, 2023, 08:48:14 pm

Quote from: AvolitionBrit on August 06, 2023, 06:00:31 pm

Yeah need to finish my story, its wierd.

Dark Gnome is a rare material in the land. Did also find this during my journey which is even more macabre.

(https://i.imgur.com/3lP3CvC.jpg)

Never found a live dark gnome.

look im no expert, but like the only feasible portion of a gnome to turn into a hood would be the ass cheeks

 so that hood... is very likely... a gnome ass hat. only the most fashionable of 'goblin drip'!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Maloy on August 09, 2023, 04:04:16 am

Quote from: Salmeuk on August 08, 2023, 08:48:14 pm

Quote from: AvolitionBrit on August 06, 2023, 06:00:31 pm

Yeah need to finish my story, its wierd.

Dark Gnome is a rare material in the land. Did also find this during my journey which is even more macabre.

(https://i.imgur.com/3lP3CvC.jpg)

Never found a live dark gnome.

look im no expert, but like the only feasible portion of a gnome to turn into a hood would be the ass cheeks

 so that hood... is very likely... a gnome ass hat. only the most fashionable of 'goblin drip'!

This is the most dwarf fortress conversation we could be having lol


Also dark gnomes have been part of my playthrough as well this time
Although now I'm wishing I started a dark gnome leather farm to make a hat factory with

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: AvolitionBrit on August 09, 2023, 06:08:43 am

Quote from: Maloy on August 09, 2023, 04:04:16 am

Quote from: Salmeuk on August 08, 2023, 08:48:14 pm

Quote from: AvolitionBrit on August 06, 2023, 06:00:31 pm

Yeah need to finish my story, its wierd.

Dark Gnome is a rare material in the land. Did also find this during my journey which is even more macabre.

(https://i.imgur.com/3lP3CvC.jpg)

Never found a live dark gnome.

look im no expert, but like the only feasible portion of a gnome to turn into a hood would be the ass cheeks

 so that hood... is very likely... a gnome ass hat. only the most fashionable of 'goblin drip'!

This is the most dwarf fortress conversation we could be having lol


Also dark gnomes have been part of my playthrough as well this time
Although now I'm wishing I started a dark gnome leather farm to make a hat factory with

Dark gnome is in fashion.

Do you want a free hat with a massive bloody curse on it? Well your in luck

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on August 09, 2023, 12:11:52 pm

Quote from: Maloy on August 09, 2023, 04:04:16 am

Also dark gnomes have been part of my playthrough as well this time
Although now I'm wishing I started a dark gnome leather farm to make a hat factory with

How is the turn coming along? Are you playing with Arthur/Mira or Maloy McWerefox? Or someone new?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Unraveller on August 09, 2023, 04:18:37 pm

Humerously I considered domestication of dark gnomes in Realmspire for the position of Irka's minions.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Maloy on August 09, 2023, 08:09:06 pm

Did a mix!
Maloy
Arthur
and a special mystery friend!

I made some discoveries, released a terrible evil, and acquired ideal customer service representatives

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: dikbutdagrate on August 10, 2023, 04:33:36 am

Not quite my turn yet, but wanted to get the intro out of the way.
Figured QD would appreciate some fluff and exposition to whatever is about to happen to them.

----------------------------------------------------

Quote from: Quantum Drop on July 08, 2023, 11:26:58 am

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/Bs8GE8K.png)

Act: X

(https://i.imgur.com/UdKcxeN.png)

Come hither, child.
For I would know thee.
And thou shalt come to know its reward.

----------------------------------------------------

Thou hast made an offering of honey most exquisite.
Now you shall acquire which you seek, child.

If the secrets of the macabre are still yet sweet to you. If they sing to you its lullabies, from within your haunted waking dreams. For thine offering of sweetest honey, you shall be taught the forbidden art of the flesh.

Come to me, and I shall find you. For thou would become mine apprentice.

Past the wilting flowers I shall carry you, beyond the poisoned fields, the sunken hills, and to where the shadow knows no bounds. To the unsacred lands, and to the corpse beyond the veil, to rally beneath the banner of the "Haunted Acorn Woods." It is there you shall come to dwell within the houses of lamentation. Where flesh is chained, and sorrow manifests in all its forms. Suffering wears no shackle, and secrets cannot hide.

It is here, where flesh and sadness become as one, that you shall become their master. But the road shall not be easy, child. The road is long.

You shall come to know pain, child.

The tasks bequeathed to an apprentice are not easy.

You will suffer, child.

The path that you must walk is terrifying

You will gorge on madness child.

Misery and horror will become your friends. They shall become your home.
Indeed, you will learn, child. You shall learn everything.
But first you must experience it, in all the spectacle of horror there can ever be.
----------------------------------------------------

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Hope QDs ready for some crazy stuff on their next turn.
So I'm not going to be posting any spoilers once my turn starts, aside from a quest I'll assign to QD to continue their training.

The test is: TO STEAL AN ARTIFACT FROM THE MUSEUM - AND BRING IT TO THE HAUNTED WOODS. And do so in whatever state they happen to find themselves in come their turn *cough*. (the camp one I made, not the bugged fortress one)

This is going to be a little super villainous in several respects, but hopefully people appreciate the write ups and the outcome, whatever they end up being. As well as the possible future quests to steal back the item. Let me know if thats a problem at all.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Maloy on August 10, 2023, 07:17:11 am

What have you signed up for QD? lol
Also I never got to say it, but Kesperan the dragon story was really epic. It's also just neat hearing of all the different places you drop in at. It's touching on all these stories of both your own past entries as well as other players.


I'm currently going full assembly line on the blistered metal production. My hope is to make so much blistered metal everything that you can just be at some random human farm in the world and some dude is wearing blistered metal rings or whatever
Also the barons are miserable and had an ancient dwarf necromancer executed because of no electrum table. So we stuffed them in a room to starve for a year. Warrior of Udir venom seems to cause rotting where it is injected

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on August 10, 2023, 10:52:10 am

Quote from: Maloy on August 10, 2023, 07:17:11 am

Also I never got to say it, but Kesperan the dragon story was really epic. It's also just neat hearing of all the different places you drop in at. It's touching on all these stories of both your own past entries as well as other players.

Thanks Maloy, that means a lot. Trying to come up with actual stories for my turns rather than just wandering around being a murder hobo, so it is nice when the effort is appreciated!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Quantum Drop on August 10, 2023, 03:36:42 pm

Quote from: dikbutdagrate on August 10, 2023, 04:33:36 am

oh dear Armok

Well, that's certainly... ominous. Looking forward to whatever next turn may bring; and I've got to admit that I love the tone of your preliminary writeup! (Time to start planning the heist of my character's life.)

Spoiler: And just for certainty (click to show/hide)

Whatever alterations you make in your next turn, please make sure they're done to Mokun Cosmosclean, rather than Simo Cosmosclean. (Just putting it here to be absolutely certain, since the latter's story arc is basically finished.)

Oh, and Bralbaard - could you please stick me back on the turn list, if you haven't done so already?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Bralbaard on August 10, 2023, 05:13:48 pm

Time to invest in security for the museum, I see.

I've updated the turn list.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Maloy on August 11, 2023, 11:06:44 am

Finishing up stuff, but I wanted to share some recent things I've noticed:

1.Warriors of Udir are talented in all forms of combat from birth, but they can degrade
2.The tails on the warriors are incredibly sharp piercing weapons. Nude warriors easily killed armored enemies by jabbing the tail straight into their brains
3.The ones I exiled my last turn have ended up at different settlements now in different parts of the world. I exiled even more to encourage the spread
4.Maloy the Wolf Lord has a ridiculously huge military. Like the settlements I own always have several asterisks running around and about and they are all patrols
5.A couple of species that are normally only encountered at night, such as Gremlins, got incorporated into my domain, and I've noticed that they tend to prefer to patrol at night while my humans and dwarves do so in the day time. If that observation is correct it's incredibly interesting. I got a night shift crew! My new mystery residents are also nocturnal normally
(Nocturnal being that you normally can only encounter ones in the wild at night times)
This is all adventure mode btw I don't access Makbor or the surrounding villages in fortress mode

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Salmeuk on August 11, 2023, 12:20:10 pm

Quote

The tails on the warriors are incredibly sharp piercing weapons. Nude warriors easily killed armored enemies by jabbing the tail straight into their brains

what the fuck lol ... DF never fails to amaze. just RNG the Andalites from the Animorph series, why don't you?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: dikbutdagrate on August 11, 2023, 08:35:53 pm

Quote from: Quantum Drop on August 10, 2023, 03:36:42 pm

Spoiler: And just for certainty (click to show/hide)

Whatever alterations you make in your next turn, please make sure they're done to Mokun Cosmosclean, rather than Simo Cosmosclean. (Just putting it here to be absolutely certain, since the latter's story arc is basically finished.)

No problem. Thank you for specifying which character to grab.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Maloy on August 12, 2023, 05:14:00 am

Discovery 6. If you give an item like a waterskin to a random encounter creature it makes that creature now historical and it won't disappear when you leave. Throw me on that turn list again, why don'tcha?

Save is here I seriously used best compression and couldn't get it down. I think it's because I use the free version of Winrar??:  https://drive.google.com/file/d/13Iwq2r6OlJqjhtzRbzCzhsqhNCGTTKWu/view?usp=sharing

My submission:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

One male Dark Gnome whom I have dubbed "Steve"
(https://i.imgur.com/hxuVdsk.png)
The dark gnome sprinted past Maloy's legs and past the curator eyeing each barrel eagerly searching for booze, but only finding blood. It screeched, hollered and gibbered. The curator turned to the wolf man with unspoken question
The lupine lord scratched his head "I'll translate for him." He leaned to his right so he could see the screeching gnome better as it stopped its feet clearly pointing at barrels indicating disappointment that the promised booze was not there and, oh did it glare at Maloy.
"He says he is an honored ambassador of his people, eager to introduce themselves to the wider world by staying here at the museum where all might meet him"
The curator did not respond, but the gnome continued to screech and now ran up to Maloy pulling on his pants leg "Oh! He said that I should remind you that this is my latest submission to the museum to renew my membership"
The wolf lord leaned down and patted the gnome on the head, deftly dodging it's attempts to bite his hand, "Be good, Steve. May you represent your people well!"

Entry 1
Mab

The accursed trio slinked and creeped through the countryside. Their malicious bloodlust only tempered by need for stealth. They neared the north end of Razorbridge, once a bastion of trade, but now with war in the north it was infrastructure for armies.
Still, even today it spoke of the overwhelming influence of the Walled Dye: That not even the separation of continents could stop them.
Smoke rose day and night from furnaces, smelters and forges producing the metal of a death goddess whilst angels patrolled.
This was far too dangerous for the trio.
They made their way the long way around going through human, elven and goblin lands. If beasts saw them then the beasts were brutally massacred. They did not need to sleep, eat or drink and so covered the distance to their prize in only a few days:
Makbor - Incenseorder
Home to the wolf king.

No guards watched the gates as the trio creeped in. The wolf king was hunched over a desk working over countless scrolls and documents with his aide nearby. As Mab and his mates entered the aide gasped and the wolf king looked up with a mix of fear and disgust. The wolf was on his feet in a moment one hand ready to reach for his sword and the other with his fingers pointing out towards the trio, but to do what exactly?

Mab's face twisted into a facsimile of a smile. Skin pulling back from brutal maw causing the aide's mouth to open in silent scream and the wolf's fur to stand on end.
"Greetings, gentlemen. I see I have captured you at an opportune time"
The Wolf's outreached hand half-twitched "Don't suppose you came to buy a Midor-brand chamberpot?"
Cish, Mab's other mate, edged closer to the aide with saliva dripping out of her mouth
"I'll ask that you refrain from wasting my time with humor. As you can see we have you cornered and you know you can not defeat us"
"I don't know about that I'm pretty good at escaping relatively intact."
Mab dropped his sickly smile "I am not here to kill you. Your lands are exactly what we are looking for."
The wolf man did not drop his guard "For?"
"For revenge!" Mab snarled and his mates hissed "I will have my revenge against the Realm of Silver!"
The abomination began to pace as he continued "We will nest, grow strong, and have our revenge. We will build one of our nests in your land"
"And when you start attacking my people I come back and burn you and your nest down"
"We will not prey upon your slaves, for now. Unless, you wish to handle this now?"
"Frankly, I don't have the energy right now. My north-western border has an abandoned monastery to Midor. You can go defile that to your heart's content" The wolf lord tried to seem nonchalant, but was still obviously on edge
The creature made it's disturbing false smile again as his mates stalked out of the building "We will see each other again, soon."
New Quest: Infestation



Arthur

Years ago Arthur had marched with a group of elves and warriors of Udir to take the fortress of Tormentlives from the goblins. They believed that by doing so the goblins would focus their attention away from towns and villages and be forced to focus on the attackers on their northern flank. They succeeded and took over a city stuffed with weapons and a fortress with enough prison cells to fit an army.
Yet, despite the passing of years not a single counterattack came.
The goblins simply did not care. Now they marched around the long way to continue to raid the defenseless. This left the band discouraged, but seeing no other options they continued to hold the city.

That is why Arthur was at Boltspumpkin. The elven spearmaster sought through the museums many strewn annals and entries information that might help him stop the goblins.
All he could find was that there was no simple answer. The museum adventurers who dedicated themselves to that cause were often immortal tireless beings who'd relentlessly butcher for days on end through entire cities.
That was a tall order for one such as Arthur, but word of yet another attack on a dwarven town reached his ears while he was there and he decided he simply had to do make his move.
With the divine armor of his son, his trusty spear and a silver shield he set forth to the city of Lakemenace to fight its many thousands.
New Quest: In the Belly of the Beast

Maloy
A couple of lifetimes ago the goddess of death Mirding, a human adaptation of Midor, cursed a wolf-man to eternity as a werefox. Not only a werebeast, but a werebeast form that was weaker than his normal form in all ways. This didn't satisfy the petty goddess. After the wolf man achieved immortality she had her followers erect statues across the land depicting his transformation so that all might know that he was cursed.
Since then the wolf man became ruler of a small kingdom and pursued his revenge. Taking divine metal of the death goddess he then resurrected the angelic servants of her rival and set forth using magic to multiple the divine metal. This wasn't to raise an army or become the world's latest necromancer tyrant- oh no. His revenge would be just as petty. He was flooding the world's markets with common household items made from the divine metal and often depicting the goddess in humorous ways. He had become the owner of Mirding's image!

Of course, he thought this revenge would be all well and good, but he didn't think through on the labor of it all. The wolf king sat at a desk filing paperwork. On one side a pile of customer complaints piled up higher than his desk, he also had schedules present for meeting dignitaries, guild leaders, etc.
Messages from local authorities ensuring he pays taxes, tariffs, levies, etc. Merchant caravans arguing for larger shipments and trying to cut their rivals out.
Next, was the fact that most people liked to melt the metal down for armor and weapons, so despite his intentions otherwise he in fact, was flooding the market with weapons and armor so that at least his other products wouldn't be melted for that purpose!

The wolf king had been lowered to an administrator and businesswolf. He was miserable and his only consolation was his latest line of Mirding-themed chamberpots.
"I've a review here you need to sign on the first caravan we are sending to the Realm of Silver. Also you need to write that letter you want to get to the king about those abominations we saw" His aide said walking in with an ugly stack of paperwork to lay at his desk.
"I'm going to be frank, Ujol. You need to do some of this paperwork."
"Please, I'm helping you for the good of the city, but I am this city's religious leader and spiritual guide. Not your aide!"
"You worship a god of merchants! This is your calling too!"
"This is why people hire help. It's not like your lacking funds"
"Yeah, but who to hire? The humans around here seem witless most of the time!" His human aide stiffened "They're just peaceful. Like lambs! What about dwarves?"
"Dwarves help, but one day they're here the next they get a letter from the mountainhome commanding them to migrate and they just leave"
"Elves?"
Maloy winced at Ujol's suggestion
"Don't like to stick around"
"Goblins? No no, I know that's a bad idea" Ujol laughed
Maloy tapped his clawed finger on his desk "What we need is fresh faces around here. A new people" Suddenly, an idea struck him!
Maloy jolted up and reached for his cloak and began picking his traveling gear from the nearby pedestal
"Where do you think you're going? You've a business to run!"
"I'm going on an adventure! You get some men and keep an eye on those abominations!"
"They'll kill me! I don't want to do that! What about the business?"
Maloy laughed "Well, don't die then. They harm one hair on anyone's head you let me know and we'll rally the troops when I return. You run the business while I'm gone. Or don't! I'm sure your god will accept you allowing the economy of an entire kingdom to collapse"
Ujol had the most sour expression Maloy had ever seen and the wolf man laughed again.
He set forth - Due South
New Quest: Acquire Office Workers

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Lurker Z on August 12, 2023, 12:30:27 pm

Quote from: Maloy on August 12, 2023, 05:14:00 am

Discovery 6. If you give an item like a waterskin to a random encounter creature it makes that creature now historical and it won't disappear when you leave.

I'm pretty sure anyone becomes historical once an adventurer talks to them, I've had Lurker talk to random NPCs so he could make historical figures (and it succeeded). Maybe you're talking about non-sapient creatures (non-humans, goblins, elves, dwarves)?

Quote from: Maloy on August 12, 2023, 05:14:00 am

Save is here I seriously used best compression and couldn't get it down. I think it's because I use the free version of Winrar??:

I've seen others saying it doesn't work for them, I'm not sure what the issue is. I use free WinRar, so that's not the problem.

---

Congrats on the successful adventure. Good luck on your turn, Dikbutdagrate.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: dikbutdagrate on August 13, 2023, 01:50:26 pm

Thanks. I'll get started later today, but I don't expect the "work" to really start happening until tomorrow.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: dikbutdagrate on August 13, 2023, 02:09:04 pm

Well, I just started up the save, and I'm greeted with this:

"I'm sorry, I think I misheard you, I'm missing what?"

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/cCcSjZX.png)

What the hell is happening?

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/2pt6gCN.png)

Oh man, this is is sweet. Very excellent touch here with the advfort crafted slab.
Well, now that theres an actual commission, I'll have to revise my body plans. Which is a bit of a shame. Thats fine though. So less Chicken Boy degradation and humiliation, and more of a Resident Evil final boss sort of a deal.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/E97jCwF.png)

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on August 13, 2023, 02:15:07 pm

Eye tooth? It just means his upper canine. Not like a tooth on his eye. Thought after your last turn, who can be sure?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: dikbutdagrate on August 13, 2023, 02:25:41 pm

Quote from: kesperan on August 13, 2023, 02:15:07 pm

Eye tooth? It just means his upper canine. Not like a tooth on his eye. Thought after your last turn, who can be sure?

Oops, yeah you're right.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Quantum Drop on August 13, 2023, 03:54:22 pm

(https://i.postimg.cc/0yjNrCBp/Act-the-Third-The-Party-Starts-Shit-With-Some-Thralls.png)

---

- ACT I - (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8487716#msg8487716) ACT II - (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8489019#msg8489019)

---

It was midway through the morning when the small party set out again.

Simo had been insistent on dissecting all of the  thralls’ corpses before they moved on, recording whatever knowledge she gleaned from the bodies in a small, leather-bound volume propped open on one of the hall’s tables. The anatomist worked patiently throughout the evening and night to dismantle the thralls down to the smallest organ, storing those she seemed to find particularly interesting in jars of murky liquid and discarding others to join a growing pile of offal in a salvaged chest. Occasionally, she would call for Degel or Sorus – usually to aid her in moving the next corpse into position for examination, but just as often to ask for their opinions on some of the anatomical oddities she had uncovered, or to query the Hand of Planegifts on a particular element of biology that she thought to resemble that of his.


By the time they finished with the last of the thralls’ bodies, it was early in the morning and both mercenaries were feeling the strain of the night’s work. Sorus was yawning with almost every word and growing more and more snappish as the lack of sleep took its toll; Degel, who had handled much of the more physical work, was breathing hard and leaning heavily upon a table’s edge for support.  Only Simo seemed unfazed by the night’s work, her features showing no trace of weariness. If anything, she had been eager to continue on the way before the sun rose, but a particularly irate response from her hirelings had put paid to that course of action.

And so they had stayed in the empty hall for the remainder of the night, the two mercenaries taking the opportunity for rest from their labours while they still had the chance to. Both had been risen a few hours later thanks to their employer, the infuriatingly unruffled scholar unceremoniously half-shaking, half-calling them into wakefulness as soon as the sun crested the horizon. She had been busy, stowing her specimens in her seemingly depthless backpack and wiping down the tables until they were free of the gore that had coated them scarcely a night ago. With no further reason to remain, she was quite eager to get underway to their next destination.

It was that which brought them to their current predicament – trudging through the snow of the Tundra of Heroes in the low, dull light of a winter morning, beneath a sky shrouded by an impenetrable cover of clouds and heavy with waiting snowfall. This region of the Tundra was almost entirely flat, and bereft of any plant-life beyond the occasional leafless tree-trunk or frost-speckled mass of lichen clinging to their sides; here and there a snowdrift rose from the flat land where the wind had blown particularly strongly, or the low curvature of a small hill rose briefly from the ground before sinking back down into the soil.  Nothing stirred from the undergrowth at their passage; whatever natural fauna called this place their home were either absent, or driven underground by the gathering storm.

(There was another possibility, of course, but Sorus pointedly refused to consider it. She doubted they would come this far out, anyway.)

Shaking her head to herself, Sorus continued to press on through the snow, only to nearly run straight into Simo’s back. The scholar had stopped abruptly in front of her, head turned slightly to the side, like that of a curious bird.

“What-?” Sorus began to snap, only to be cut off by a raised finger.

“Look.” Simo raised a hand to point directly ahead. Looming out of the gathering storm and gloom was an indistinct mass of shapes and colour – a squat, brownish smear on the near-horizon. “There’s something out there. Can’t tell what.”

“I’ll go ahead.” Degel was already in motion toward the distant smear, unable to disguise his eagerness to please the scholar through his proactive action. “Find what’s over there, and come back quick as I can.”

Simo nodded her approval. “Mukca’s wings speed you.”

The Hand gave a momentary salute before dashing off into the snowy fields ahead, leaving Sorus and Simo standing alone. 

Time passed. The wind began to pick up in earnest, and the snow, casting a translucent white veil across the fields around them. Neither spoke. Simo seemed determined to keep her own counsel; Sorus was still irate from a lack of sleep, and did not trust herself to speak without showing it. The minutes stretched on, seeming to become hours, and then days. Her fingers drummed up and down on the hilt of her sword as her patience began to fray, embers beginning to burn in her chest. Sorus Chantscar was not a patient woman at the best of times, and this need to simply stand out in the freezing cold sat ill with her. It was a relief when she picked up the rapid sound of snow and grass crunching underfoot.

Degel was returning at speed, quickly striding across the powdery snow to rejoin his comrades. His mouth was fixed in a grim line, and one gauntlet rested around the handle of his battle axe, as though fearing something would leap up from beneath the snow he was walking upon. At the sight of his grim-faced expression, Sorus felt herself instinctually tensing up, one hand going to her weapon in readiness for whatever warning he would provide.

“Looks like the remains of a camp,” He announced, without preamble. “Fire’s long dead, and the tents’re rent through where they aren’t choked with snow. Looks like whoever was there took off in a hurry – they left enough baggage for at least a couple mules behind, with more spilling out’a one of the tents.”

“Probably animals,” Sorus muttered, though she could not hide the note of uncertainty in her voice. “They’re usually desperate, ‘round this time of year.”

“Any sign of foul play?” Simo appeared unconvinced by Sorus’ suggestion, fixing Degel with her odd, hawkish stare. “Violence?”

“Maybe.” Degel shrugged his shoulders, eyes flicking uncertainly. “Just a’fore I came back here, I saw something in the snow – definitely big enough to be a body. Couldn’t get a good look at it.”

“Then we look closer.” Sorus stated, her voice taking on a hard, sharp edge. She did not wait for a reaction from either her partner or employer, instead striding forward into the gathering blizzard with her jaw firmly set.

The campsite itself was a small affair – a series of cloth and leather tents, arranged in a loose circle around a small, stone-ringed campfire’s ashes. Whatever shelter they had once provided was now gone: their sides were white with built-up snow, or else rent open at the sides to leave their inside bare to the Tundra of Heroes’ freezing winds. Ice-encrusted bones tumbled at the mouth of the nearest tent, its ragged flap stirring as the breeze picked up once more. Worn bags and sacks were strewn around the snowy ground, fraying sides ripping open to spill their contents out to the soil; much of it looked to be antiquated coins or armour, rusted and worn down by the passage of time and the harshness of the surroundings.

There was a figure in the middle of the camp, kneeling in the snow right beside the long-cooled remains of the fire. A tall, broad-shouldered figure, kneeling in the middle of a circle of unmistakably human bodies.

“That man was not there before,” Degel whispered, suddenly alert.

“A survivor? Another traveller?” Simo’s voice was similarly hushed; her fingers hovered cautiously about her daggers.

“Can’t tell.” Degel carefully drew the axes from his sides, gripping the oak handles tightly as he exchanged a wary glance with his employer. His heartbeat sounded terribly loud in his ears, in the near-silence that had fallen over the tundra and the three of them. “Not from here.”

“Then hold here.” Sorus said, a trifle more sharply than she’d intended. Her sword was already in hand, and a sudden, reckless fire in her chest. “I’ll go ahead.”

Before either of the others could get a word in edgewise, the swordswoman strode forward through the bluster and snow until she was a dozen steps away from the man, before raising her voice to call out to him.

The man did not respond. He was of the living, of that there was no doubt – even at a distance, they could discern the rapid, heavy rise and fall of his shoulders, as of a man exhausted by a chase or great emotion. The bronze and iron plates of his armour were speckled with fallen snow and frost, the whitish deposits now falling from his armour as he began to move once more, pressing his hands against the ground and beginning to push himself to his feet. Sorus grew closer, hesitantly reaching out to touch his shoulder with her free hand.

“Are you…?”

Quick as a whip, the man’s head snapped toward her, a low growl tearing its way out of his throat to accompany the movement. The pallid skin of his face was covered in sores and shot through with discoloured veins, black lips drawn back from the teeth in a rictus snarl. At the sight of Sorus, the low growl ratcheted up to a sharp snarl, and the man finished lurching upright even as the mercenary flinched backward in recognition of the growing danger.

“He’s a bloody thrall!”

That shout was the pebble that started the avalanche. The bodies forming the circle burst into sudden, frenzied motion the moment the words left his mouth, kicking up white clouds of powdery snow as they scrambled to their feet and rushed forward. The air filled with the hollow clicks of teeth snapping together and the roaring of the attacking thralls, infected man after infected man practically tumbling over one another in their sudden haste to bury their teeth in living flesh. One of the leading thralls’ copper-bladed axe met Degel’s with the shriek of metal on metal; the Hand of Planegifts quickly responded with a hard punch to the throat that sent the infected man reeling backwards, then a swing of his own axe that barely missed destroying the lumbering thrall’s face.

Sorus faced the snarling form of the man who had lured them into this trap, her sword gripped in both hands as she circled warily about. The thrall was well-armoured, the leather and bronze plates still strong despite their obvious age, and had been swift to draw a longsword from a tattered leather scabbard at its side the moment it rose to its feet. Working her sword through the armour and into the vulnerable body beneath would be no easy task.

As if sensing her distracted thoughts, it took the opportunity to lunge at her with its longsword arcing down toward her shoulder. Sorus met its blade with her own, a quick, deft parry that she managed to smoothly transition into an outright lock. Up close, its monstrous features were even more pronounced – the snapping, olive-stone teeth; the bulging, black-tinted veins; the pallid, stretched skin that hinted unpleasantly at the workings of muscle and tendon beneath. It stank of blood and rotted meat, the fluids weeping from the open sores only adding to its noisome stench. In such close quarters, it was hard to believe that it had ever even begun to deceive her, and that thought stirred a sharp flare of anger in her chest as she broke the lock with a hard punch to the thrall’s stomach, knocking it back a few steps.

Seizing the advantage, Sorus strode confidently forward, her sword flicking out to slice into her foe’s right shoulder. A thin line of dark blood fell from the gash as the blade bit, but the armoured thrall lurched away before it could penetrate deeply, the motion pulling Sorus’ blade from its wound. Another two blows landed, tearing gashes into the bronze plates that protected the thrall’s chest and right shoulder before it could respond with a wild thrust of its own sword. The swordswoman deftly stepped aside to evade the strike, only to grunt in surprise as something struck hard against her shoulder with enough force to stagger her; it was long enough for the thrall to hammer a strong punch into her mid-section, driving the air from her lungs in a wordless woof and pushing her several steps backwards.

Grimacing, Sorus managed to suck a breath into her chest despite the painful burning, turning her head for a moment toward her shoulder. The sight there almost sent the breath right back out of her – a copper bolt, protruding from the plates of her shoulderguard. Not deep enough to hit flesh, or even to break through the leather, but the fact it was there at all was enough to bring a dozen unnerving possibilities whirling to the forefront of her mind and leave her blood running cold. Thralls didn’t use crossbows. It couldn’t have been Degel or Cosmoscleaned. There was nobody else out there. It –

A roar from her opponent brought her back to reality, along with a swing from the thrall’s sword that barely missed taking off her nose.

Think later. Sorus mentally snarled at herself, swearing under her breath as she turned the thrall’s next strike away before lunging toward its trailing knee. Kill the bastards now!


To the right of Sorus’ duel, Degel was busy facing two thralls at once. A third lay slumped in the snow it had sought to rise from, a steady flow of blood staining the snow pink; he had scored a lucky blow in the first moments of the battle, splitting its unarmoured head apart down to the chin before the swinging blows of the other two had forced him back. Grunting with the effort, Degel ducked beneath the punch of one before jerking to the side as its fellow rushed forward to deliver a clumsy thrust of its dagger, feeling the rusted blade skim past the edge of his shoulder guard as he turned out of its path. A retaliatory strike brought him a moment’s breathing room as the weighted pommel of one axe crushed the thrall’s nose and sent it staggering back, toppling to the ground as one leg caught on some detritus hidden among the snow.

The other did not wait for its comrade to rise, instead rushing forward with a throaty snarl and snapping teeth. Its limbs jerked uncontrollably as it ran, the arms windmilling around to become crude flails, the legs flying about beneath it. Light shone off the frost-speckled bronze mail that clung to its torso. One hand dragged an axe along the ground behind it, the weathered blade leaving a red-orange trail through the snow as flakes of rust peeled away from the metal.
Perhaps, Degel thought, the Blight had rotted whatever nerves it had into the point of near uselessness. It would certainly explain its lurching, uncoordinated movements. He stepped about its clumsy, crooked limbs with almost scornful ease, retaliating with hard, heavy swings of his twinned axes that tore great gashes into its exposed flesh and sent blood arcing through the air with each motion.

Amidst the chaos of the ambush, Simo darted in and out of the individual battles at a run, her daggers opening veins and tearing gashes into exposed flesh with every blow before she darted away, leaving the enraged thralls to grasp at thin air with their crooked fingers and black nails. She had seen an oddity among the horde, and was rapidly homing in on it for study.

Thrusting her right-hand dagger through the throat of one thrall, Simo quickly turned on the balls of her feet to slash another’s grasping hand off at the wrist. Two more blows finished the wounded thrall – one sliding between the sore-speckled ribs to cut through a lung, the second barely missing the heart to instead bisect a critical artery. The diseased bandit crashed to the ground, blood spilling from the cuts in his chest. Fast as lightning she was away again, ducking below the extended arm of another to plunge a dagger into its exposed armpit and another into the side of its neck as she rose upright. The thrall crumpled to the ground as she tugged the dagger across, neatly slitting its throat.

Hearing a cry from her right, she turned her head to the side in search of another target. Instead she found Degel and Sorus, still engaged in their respective duels.

Simo took a moment to assess the pair’s situation. Both were tiring, though they still held the upper hand – neither had taken a true wound, though both bore small scratches on their armour and exposed skin – though they were both sheened with sweat despite the cold, and their stances were beginning to betray their exhaustion. The thralls they faced were hardly in a better state, blood pouring from the wounds ripped into their flesh, limbs hanging in ragged tatters of torn meat, but they were as fresh in stamina as had been the first moments of the battle. They pressed closer with each passing moment, growing bold now that their opponents had begun to tire.

Simo hesitated. In all likelihood, they would be fine – they held the upper hand, and their foes were both wounded. There was, however, a definite chance that either could be wounded, possibly to the point of crippling or a fatality. That would be… quite the loss, even to the point of jeopardising her mission. She took a step away, trying to focus on the target she had picked out from the thrall-horde, but her treacherous eyes kept turning back toward the raging duels. She gritted her teeth.

“Storm damn it all.” She muttered to herself.

Grimacing, Simo raised her blades and began to step forward to engage the thralls, when a low growl behind her alerted her to a rising threat. She span on her heel with just enough time to dodge a speeding shaft of bronze metal that whipped through the air, passing inches away from her right eye to pierce through the hide of the nearest tent. With the decision made for her, Simo wasted no time in charging full-force in the direction of the strike’s source, weak sunlight gleaming off her daggers’ bloodied blades.

Degel staggered slightly as he turned aside another blow from the howling thrall. His muscles were burning with exertion; his bruises and scratches throbbed painfully. Not enough to stop him, not by a long shot, but enough that he knew he must disengage or otherwise finish the fight – and soon, before it could overwhelm him.

“Sorus!” He shouted, looking back over his shoulder to catch her eye. He jerked his head toward the thrall he was facing. “Trade ya!”

The swordswoman needed little encouragement to accept. Degel span out of her way as she came charging forward, her sword already wheeling around to strike at the snarling thrall’s bloated legs; he matched her charge with one of his own, cannoning shoulder-first into the chest of the axe-wielding thrall. It grunted and staggered slightly at the blow, more of a reaction to the force than out of any pain, but it bought him enough time to slam the blade of an axe down onto its right elbow. The blade trembled slightly from the force, but it bit nonetheless, cutting down through a chink already opened by Sorus’ sword and splitting the thrall’s right hand down to the wrist.

The thrall staggered backwards, shrieking in rage as blood poured from its ruined palm. Degel stepped forward with a snarl of his own, axes raising to sever the creature’s head from its shoulders, only to stagger as something slammed into his breastplate. It was strong enough to force him a few steps backwards before he could compensate for the force; he whipped his serpentine head back and forth, seeking out the source of the attack. He saw nothing, but that itself proved nothing – any marksman worth the name would have displaced, and the snowfall was starting to hamper his vision again.

Whatever had delivered the blow, it had not been enough to penetrate or even draw blood. What it had been was enough to distract him, and the one-armed thrall did not hesitate to take advantage of that distraction. It crashed into him in a blur of motion that bowled him over to the ground, fist catching him across the jaw with enough force to leave stars flashing behind his eyes, its bloodied stump rebounding uselessly from the same.

The thrall leaned in closer to his face, jaundiced eyes rolling, teeth snapping together inches away from his flesh; fetid saliva dripped from ragged, frostbite-blistered lips to land warmly on his cheek and throat. Degel snarled and spat in response, struggling against the weight pressing down on his chest, but the thrall was solid and heavy as a boulder even without one arm. He tried to thrash his head forward against his opponent’s to buy time, but the thrall responded with jerky movements of its own head that kept him from landing a solid blow; his arms were pinned by his sides, and his legs were kicking uselessly, unable to find any purchase on the ground.

And all the while, the carious teeth projecting from its rotting gums came ever closer to sinking into his scales.

Fear’s freezing hand closed around his rapidly beating heart and began to squeeze, sending waves of cold rushing around his body. Degel strained and pushed with everything he had against the thrall’s weight as one bite came perilously close to tearing into his flesh, but it simply would not budge. He gritted his teeth hard. He feared death, like any living thing would, but worse than that was the nature of this death – becoming a prisoner in his own flesh, condemned to watch his body devour anything in its path until violence took it or the Blight finally consumed him.

The thrall stopped mid-motion. It shuddered violently for a moment, an almost confused look passing over its face, before the broad blade of a bronze dagger emerged through its face, the bloodied tip coming to rest inches away from his own. The thrall’s eyes blinked once or twice as though surprised by the fatal blow, before the owner of the weapon wrenched it upward with enough force to cleave the upper half of the thrall’s skull in two; blood misted his vision as it flew from the wound. A boot rammed into its side, forcing the twitching body to roll off the trapped man.

Degel scrambled to his feet with thanks on his lips, finding himself facing the grim-faced figure of Simo. The remaining thralls lay around the campsite where they had fallen, their blood slowly staining the snow a deep scarlet. Sorus went from corpse to corpse with a snarl on her reddened face, slashing each fallen thrall’s throat with her sword to ensure they were truly dead, rather than seemingly feigning it as the first one had. Simo quickly extracted the dagger from the downed thrall’s broken skull, wiping it clean on its tattered jerkin. She seemed preoccupied, looking toward the bodies with an oddly-focused eye.

“Fascinating…”

Degel turned his head to face Simo, grimacing as he wiped some of the thrall’s blood from his eyes. “Something interesting, doctor?”

“Aye,” Simo gestured with a hand toward the broken bodies on the ground. “You noticed the way these thralls fought, yes?”

“Hardly.” Degel returned, grimace tightening as he gingerly touched a finger to his jaw. He could already feel a bruise forming under the scales. “I was more concerned with the one trying to take my face off.”

“Well, then, attention is certainly something to work on…” Simo muttered, her features creasing in slight irritation. Degel glared sharply at that and began to work up a protest, only for the scholar to plough on. “These creatures did not fight as a mindless mob. There was an element of strategy to this attack, and in the way they fought against us.”

“What?” Sorus couldn’t keep the surprise and slight disbelief out of her voice as she joined the conversation, eyeing Simo as though she had grown a second head. “You’re saying these things can plan ahead?”

“Quite.” Simo pointed to one of the corpses, singling it out for their attention. It was dressed in lightweight plates of leather and bore a half-empty quiver on its back, complimenting the crossbow still clamped firmly in its blistered hands. A crude bronze bolt lay half-buried in the dirty snow beside it. Sorus whispered an oath under her breath at the sight of it, her fingers almost unconsciously rising to touch her damaged shoulderguard. “This one, for instance – it stayed behind the rest of the thrall-swarm, let them soak up the blows to better make use of its crossbow from a distance. Accuracy leaves much to be desired, but the fact it can use such a weapon at all beyond a bludgeon is telling.

“And these –” Here, she gestured to the rest of the fallen thralls with a wide, sweeping motion of her arm. “You saw them in the first moments of this battle. Dead to even a close glance, let alone a casual observer. Yet when the first one rose up, they came to life and struck with it, taking advantage of your surprise to press their attack.” A gleam flashed in the scholar’s narrow, grey eyes. “Awfully convenient for them should it be coincidence, would you not say?”

“Issha’s blood…” Sorus murmured.

The idea of thralls that could think, that could plan ahead and lure the living into traps seemed like insanity; something out of a mummer’s tale, or out of the nightmares in the ancient Black Scrolls of the Law-Giver Sugrith. But for all that, she could not deny what she had seen during the battle, and the scholar’s words made a disturbing amount of sense. Those men had seemed dead and lifeless at the battle’s beginning, only to spring to life as they approached. Her head turned, again, toward her shoulder – the copper bolt still protruded from the metal plates, wedged into a seam between two of them.

"Indeed." Simo nodded quickly, her hawkish eyes narrowing almost to slits. Already she had withdrawn her book and quill, making notes in it with quick flicks of her fingers and hand. "It seems we are not alone in the pursuit of knowledge, astounding as that might seem from these... creatures."

“Issha’s blood…” Sorus murmured again, though there was a more thoughtful note to it this time. “Then we are all in danger. If more of them become like this –”

“Which is precisely why my mission is of such importance, Cosmosclean.” Simo interrupted, voice surprisingly firm. “Now come – let us keep moving toward our destination.”

She re-sheathed her daggers at her sides, and nodded toward the horizon. The clouds had finally begun to part, and the horizon was becoming clearer with it – distantly, she could make out the deep black-purple smear of several dozen towers, rising from the earth as though to beckon them onwards. Almost unbidden, a smile touched her lips.

“I fear these goblins will be quite… unwelcoming to a house call.”

---

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

The meat was fleeing across the grass, its legs swinging around under it in frantic S-shapes. It stopped. Pressed its back to the wall, whole body trembling. There was no way through. Its head snapped left and right. Again its path was blocked. Another turn, and another blockage. It was terrified, so terrified she could smell it. Its hands left bloody marks on the stone as it beat against them, shrieking in its high, thin voice. Her head twitched. It hurt to hear. It wouldn’t put her off.

She raised the sword in her hand, and brought it down hard.

It crawled away from her, one leg dragging behind it, baying at her friends with a high, irritating tone. One of hers stepped forward and kicked it in the face, driving it back to her grasping, strong hands. She twisted it in her grip to show the others. Saliva dripped from their mouths, clawed hands reached for her prey. She smiled, widely.

She was proud of them. They were working together. They were a team, a group, an army of few.

The meat thrashed in her grasp, shrieking, scratching, struggling against her fingers. She raised her sword and bought it down on its neck, cut deep. Blood foamed out, and she bit down hard, drinking it down, feeling the hot liquid pulse on her tongue and lips. One of the others came forth, and another, sinking their teeth into the sweet flesh. Eating their fill.

She pulled the sword loose. It felt good to hold. It was helping her think straight. She felt strong – strong, clear-headed, more able to hunt and kill and serve.

She rose up, held the blade up to the sky. Sunlight gleamed, stained brown-red. Her eyes fixated on it, blinked as she forced herself to focus on it.

It was a tool, just like what the meat used. What made them so strong, so able to kill. And now it was hers. Simply holding it had cleared her head of the fog, strengthened the will and intelligence that had made her a core part of the pack. There was a power to it, a thrilling pulse that brought back memories of the time before. Memories of the things she had lost. A glimpse into the world she had known before the sickness wormed into her flesh, taking root like the blade did in her hand. She could see the binding in her hand – thick, black tendrils that worked their way under her pale skin, tracing their way over the flesh.

She growled, shaking her head. She reached out with her fingers, trying to grab the memories, pin down her thoughts like she had the small, fleeing prey. They were all tangled up: the roots of the disease, the threads of the binding, the dark lines under her flesh, all running and knotting together until her vision swam and her head stung.

They weren’t threads. Not all of them. They were veins. Arteries. A black scrap of cloth around her wrist. Her friends had something similar around theirs.
What had happened to them? She had the image of a hollow, numbed face. The smell of decay and blood. A body sheathed in boils. A woman, shrieking in terror and pain. Bones snapping. She shoved the memories aside. Looked for happier ones. A stone cell. A handsome young man. A scarred young woman, swinging a weapon with glee in her eyes. Laughter and words, around a burning fire.

She tried to cling to the good memories, but the bad pushed them out. Disease. Death. Fear. Swords ringing from swords. Beds and halls choked with the dying. People in black robes and armour, talking…

The pain pulsed again, and her mind blanked for a moment. She blinked through sore, ringed eyes. All her thoughts were gone. There was a black smear on her wrist. She raised a hand to rub them off, and realised there was something in it.

A sword.

She gripped it tight. Never let it go. It was power. It was memory. Power over the others and herself. She sucked in a slow, shuddering breath. Her lungs burned. Her skin itched, the blisters weeping. Her eyes were raw and red, like they’d been peeled; liquid was running down her cheeks. Her brain felt like it was shifting, like it was twitching, like it was rotting from the inside out. Blood pooled in her mouth as she bit down on her lip. Fingers long stripped of meat curled upon the handle, bone ticking on metal.

The black figure approached. She recognised it. She was strong, but not stronger than he. He was the boss, the lord, the master of the pack. She was pleased to have remembered that much.

She bowed down, low. Her sword met the ground, but she didn’t let go. Never would. He stared down at her, hollow black eyes unblinking, mouth unmoving. For a half-second, her vision flared red with rage at the sight. He smelt strange. Like the meat, but not. Like something bad. Rotten.

Why?

She reached out for a moment, but the voice intruded. It shook her to her roots. Any thoughts were driven from her mind. She bowed her head, hissing in submission. The words were nonsense, but the meaning impossibly clear.

Tools. Use tools.

That was how it worked, wasn’t it? What made her strong. Why the boss trusted her to lead the pack. The others were slow to understand. They struggled to recall what they had; how to work together; the way they had once used tools to aid each other, fought together, spoke together. She would re-teach them. Hold them together. Keep them together.

They would stand or fall together.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: dikbutdagrate on August 13, 2023, 05:44:07 pm

Sweet story so far QD.

Btw, that was quite the tall order you requested, in terms of new body parts.
I'm hunting these things down the old fashioned way, (ideally, you'd give me the parts along with the honey), and so its going to be quite the effort to gather all this stuff! You might just have to ultimately make do with whatever I happen to come across, depending on how many days it takes. (So who knows, maybe this chicken beast thing will work out after all)

First things first though, gotta spruce up the old adv camp. Place was barebones and incredibly spartan, and was only ever intended to have simple basic functionality as an adv site. Lol. I definitely was not expecting to be giving this place the maximum spooky package makeover, complete with Utumno 98' support. But after a couple hours of micro'ing its construction, tile by tile, we do appear to be getting somewhere with it though.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Quantum Drop on August 14, 2023, 02:12:20 am

Quote from: dikbutdagrate on August 13, 2023, 05:44:07 pm

Sweet story so far QD.

Btw, that was quite the tall order you requested, in terms of new body parts.
I'm hunting these things down the old fashioned way, (ideally, you'd give me the parts along with the honey), and so its going to be quite the effort to gather all this stuff! You might just have to ultimately make do with whatever I happen to come across, depending on how many days it takes. (So who knows, maybe this chicken beast thing will work out after all)

I’m fairly certain I did provide the parts. Will double check my saves, because I’m certain I remember having them and probably handing them off with the slab.

EDIT: It's a turkey leather backpack full of body parts; either Mokun Cosmosclean or Weenie should have it in their inventory. Whoops, looks like I left it in Mokun's inventory and forgot to hand it to Weenie along with the slab  :-[.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: dikbutdagrate on August 14, 2023, 05:09:34 am

Quote from: Quantum Drop on August 14, 2023, 02:12:20 am

Quote from: dikbutdagrate on August 13, 2023, 05:44:07 pm

Sweet story so far QD.

Btw, that was quite the tall order you requested, in terms of new body parts.
I'm hunting these things down the old fashioned way, (ideally, you'd give me the parts along with the honey), and so its going to be quite the effort to gather all this stuff! You might just have to ultimately make do with whatever I happen to come across, depending on how many days it takes. (So who knows, maybe this chicken beast thing will work out after all)

I’m fairly certain I did provide the parts. Will double check my saves, because I’m certain I remember having them and probably handing them off with the slab.

EDIT: It's a turkey leather backpack full of body parts; either Mokun Cosmosclean or Weenie should have it in their inventory. Whoops, looks like I left it in Mokun's inventory and forgot to hand it to Weenie along with the slab  :-[.

No worries, I got most of it and have improvised the rest thus far.
I stumbled onto a labyrinth full of night troll children, and had a sudden macabre inspiration involving them.
I think you'll like what I have so far.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Involving their skulls

No more spoilers though, you'll get to see it once I'm done!

Also came across some regular gnomes up in the nearby mountains, and acquired some "decorations" for Honeyhammer. I think thats the camp's name.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Eric Blank on August 14, 2023, 03:24:52 pm

Where are these night troll children coming from? It's three hundred years they should all be adults by now. Are night trolls still kidnapping people?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on August 14, 2023, 04:45:13 pm

Quote from: Eric Blank on August 14, 2023, 03:24:52 pm

Where are these night troll children coming from? It's three hundred years they should all be adults by now. Are night trolls still kidnapping people?

Yeah, I think this might have something to do with

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Maloy's last turn.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

There are some new names on the adventurers list who appear to be howling freaks who have had 20 babies; Mab Sensedsteed and Warosp Cavernashes.

So now we have baby howling freaks inhabiting a monastery near Incenseorder, dark gnomes and warriors of Udir running around. This game is weird.

Edited: spoilers for recent turns.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Maloy on August 14, 2023, 05:34:05 pm

https://youtu.be/mlM5apia4go
How could such a thing have come to pass?!

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Regardless they’re an abomination and will grow up to kill anyone they see so feel free to kill them!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on August 14, 2023, 05:45:25 pm

Quote from: Maloy on August 14, 2023, 05:34:05 pm

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Regardless they’re an abomination and will grow up to kill anyone they see so feel free to kill them!

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Sounds like Weenie already has...

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: dikbutdagrate on August 14, 2023, 06:31:41 pm

Quote from: Quantum Drop on August 14, 2023, 02:12:20 am

EDIT: It's a turkey leather backpack full of body parts; either Mokun Cosmosclean or Weenie should have it in their inventory. Whoops, looks like I left it in Mokun's inventory and forgot to hand it to Weenie along with the slab  :-[ .

Went back and decided to hook you up with what was in there, err most of it.

But yeah, I think you're in for a uhh... Well, OKAY. So theres good news and bad news.

The good news is  you're a whatever you are now. And you will undoubtedly strike terror into the hearts of mortal men, and likely undead too for that matter. I mean you are REALLY SCARY.

The bad news is that we experienced a few very minor complications during one of the procedures. And a couple of the demon rats that were infused into your brain matter, to control your thoughts, may have escaped, likely through one of your skull holes. Which may have slightly impacted the functionality of certain particular sensory organs.

...You have did holes in your skull prior to undergoing the procedure, didn't you? I wouldn't worry about it too much, we will get that fixed up for you in a jiffy. However, the extra service fees are going to cost you. Dearly, I might add.

Honestly, we don't expect that you'll be able to collect honey pots for us anytime soon, what with your hands, and the beautiful, unique, and horrifying state you're now currently in. So we'll have to work out an individualized payment plan for you.

Ha, you know, ha, if I'm being honest here with you for a moment, completely honest, if I were in your shoes? And I woke up looking like how you do now, I would probably just run toward the nearest living thing and kill it. And you know, start making those bubbling lobster sounds (or whatever it is you do). But hey, we figure this might just work to your advantage, considering your uhh... "circumstances."

Look, you're big, mean, intimidating, and possibly able to put together thoughts of a semi-coherent nature, so we have a proposition.

Whispering to the hulking monstrosity, "Ya see, we got a little job for ya'"

"We wants you to sneak into the Museums and makes off with whatever fancy artifacts you can get your slimy tendrils on. Just bust a few skulls, and grab whatever loot you can find. And make your ways back to camps Honeyhammer, capeesh?"

"We didn't gives you no preemo' monster juice job so you could sits there daydreamin' about eatin' squirrels.

Look, you bring us an artifact, and we fix up that nogin of yours, you understand?

You up for letting out some grotesque bio-horror infused rage ain't cha? Then get goin'. And if you f*ck with us, or try fleein' out over into dem hills, we'll find you, and we do... we'll put you into that bee cellar with the rest of dem schlubs who couldn't afford to pay off none of their monster-horror correction surprise surgeries."

(God damn bio-freak mutant amateurs.)


---------------------------------------
Not sure where the accent came from, it just sort of happened.

Anyway, we polished up Honeyhammer, gathered a couple henchmen. Demonstrated for QB the limit by which there are fates worse than death, and notably which ones specifically are the most entertaining for necromancers and nefarious ghouls. Speaking of ghouls, happened across some lawmaker and his wife, who were like... eating live deer in a ravine?  Anyway, they're dead now. Well, I mean they were undead when we found them. But QB should have a pretty good idea where their skulls are located, heh heh. 

We did lose a considerable amount of time with this turn though. I think 3.5 hours total. And thats not just wandering around time, 2.5 of those hours were single tile advfort base construction micro, which, I'm actually not that mad about, strangely (I'm not really sure why) I guess its because we got the main broad strokes down, and thats enough for me. We did have one structural collapse at the tower during its construction (probably because I'm an idiot) and I had to redo 24% of the floor on 7z levels, and we lost a couple caged prisoners during that collapse as well. (*_* ) Alas, their tortured wails and screams will be sorely missed.

Oh, btw QB. We almost died right at the start lol. Like, just as we started traveling we got ambushed by like 11 dingo men. And we were both pretty encumbered, I'm missing an arm, our equipment sucked. And you kept RAISING INTELLIGENT DINGO MEN! We almost bit the big one right at the very start lol.

Other close calls included the night troll children massacre, where I had to leave the last one alive, due to my last arm giving out and being unable to wield my axe. Had to call it a day and get those skulls back to base. A kick to the penultimate night creature's skull caved it in, so we were free to stumble our way out burlap sack full of corpse parts. But yeah, theres one left in there.

I also found a populated goblin camp, and the first enemy I came across was a spear master, and I totally forgot how nooby my adventurer is in terms of weapon skill. So it was a little close, but eventually we bit into their unprotected left leg with the ol' axe, and once they were unable to walk, it was just down hill from there for them. Looked up the npc's history and their notable kills include one of Bralbaard's first npc companions, from year 200 or something, and notably they killed a Sasquatch. So vengeance is yours buddy.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

There are several weapon (and possibly trap weapons) that have been grafted onto QB's body parts as well, one of which includes that spear master's personal weapon, and these grafted item instances be used as actual weapons in melee combat (do to be careful with these though, because its pretty easy to accidentally drop them when managing your inventory, as they are not "sewn") don't want you comin' back to me and pullin that one scene from Edward Scizzorhands.

I'm just about done with the turn and will have the save hosted tomorrow probably.

I've taken a number of screenshots and stuff thus far, but I think it might just be better for the turn to speak for itself after I upload it.
But I mean it when I say that things were getting a little hairy with that goblin spear-master though. I almost didn't make it through that. (named the character for reference later) But yeah, this could've been bad lol.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/MyIDHXO.png)

Edit: fixed errors, added some details, etc.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: dikbutdagrate on August 14, 2023, 11:13:46 pm

Decided to explore a collapsed fortress up north from Honey Hammer as a final adventure before retiring the save for the next person. I didn't even bother to look at the name before I ventured in. And come to think of it, I still don't know what the place is called, lol.

But I felt it deserved its own micro write up. So this is the last bit before I turn over the save.


The fortress:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Upon finding my way into the fortress down a series of ramps, I find myself admiring a very entrance design, shame this place went under.
(https://i.imgur.com/dsN1z63.png)


As I wander the halls, the native gold veins come into view. However, I am unable to locate any valuable processed gold goods anywhere, and I assume the place has already been ransacked. However, I keep finding these exceptional green glass cups everywhere on the top floor. Figure they're worth something, and we're short on dinnerware at old Honeyhammer, so I start stockpiling em'.
(https://i.imgur.com/WBLfcHm.png)


I happen across a dead body lying in one of the halls, with a very fancy green glass still clutched between its skeletal fingers. Don't think they'll be needing that anymore, *yoink*.
(https://i.imgur.com/Gv2p9ko.png)


Further exploration of the fortress reveals separated rooms filled with identical workshops. A specific room contains the fort's masonries. Inside one of the workshops is a skeleton, hunkered over on top of a bunch of stone furniture items. May have been working right up until the end. Upon closer inspection, the skeleton is covered in giant black bear blood. Sucks to have been whoever this was. What on Earth even happened here?
(https://i.imgur.com/FQ3tbUn.png)


I enter the main shaft and begin my descent. Along the way I spot a 53 pound wig made of neon blue hair of some kind. I grab and promptly graft it onto my scalp as a toupée. Continuing further down reveals the most probable source of the wig. Demons. I come across the bodies of two lifeless named demons. These ones were dead, but I was suddenly unnerved by the prospect of any survivors. Let alone an unsealed passage possibly left over by fort's last overseer.
(https://i.imgur.com/z9GtlZs.png)

Wha... WHAT?! WHAT KIND OF A PLACE IS THIS?!!!
(https://i.imgur.com/hkjDAyN.png)

The frightening architecture, gold chains, green glass menacing spikes, demon corpses, giant black bear blood, the picture was all starting to come together. Yup. It was very clear now, and it was a story ol' Winnie was all too familiar with.


20z levels down and still not a single ingot of gold

The Cavern:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

This one doesn't really need any words. So heres some appropriate music to listen to instead.
https://youtu.be/cCEwUFtjAr4?si=CxPuqvADnUxPxpCA

But yeah, finally. Now we're talking.
(https://i.imgur.com/0dEN0oQ.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/OJ0d2kU.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/O1M2UrS.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/x4KbsnQ.png)

!
(https://i.imgur.com/9xSKgJX.png)

!!!
(https://i.imgur.com/JsbJv2U.png)


Hell yeah. Loaded this stuff in four solid gold minecarts I found, tossed them all into my burlap sack, and carried them off ol' Honeyhammer. Also found some books and codices laying around, they're close enough to being artifacts, so we grabbed those too.

And the sounds of dull earthen tilling, and the clinking of gold, echoed on into the night.
 -----------------------------------------------------

Quote from: Maloy on August 14, 2023, 05:34:05 pm

https://youtu.be/mlM5apia4go
How could such a thing have come to pass?!

Also, hell yeah JoJo's.

Heres the current save for turn 126. Bralbaard, you're up!
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1rKBYH67SvBlmseGBK8iAImqN5zeVuFAN/view?usp=drive_link

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on August 15, 2023, 03:41:19 am

That extremely creepy place is the excellent Relicward.

Sounds like you had an interesting turn murdering Maloy’s night troll children and creating a freakish monster out of QD’s adventurer.

Good luck Bralbaard!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Eric Blank on August 15, 2023, 06:37:41 am

The demons were not an intended feature. Also I forget which goddess the temple was dedicated to, Death and War were her spheres if I recall. Still my favorite art piece I've built in a fortress.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Bralbaard on August 15, 2023, 12:26:42 pm

I can't download, Dikbutdagrate will have to verify first, something with access settings. The good news is that this will give me some time to read the latest entries and update some posts.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on August 15, 2023, 01:52:13 pm

Quote from: Eric Blank on August 15, 2023, 06:37:41 am

The demons were not an intended feature. Also I forget which goddess the temple was dedicated to, Death and War were her spheres if I recall. Still my favorite art piece I've built in a fortress.

The temple there is dedicated to Midor, the death god of The Staff of Kissing and the deity responsible for the entrance of the infamous Dreamypuzzled the Tenebrous Obscurity to Orid Xem, and the vault of Cradledmartyrs to hold his name slab.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/QwXJwZg.png)

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Lurker Z on August 15, 2023, 02:00:30 pm

Quote from: Bralbaard on August 15, 2023, 12:26:42 pm

I can't download, Dikbutdagrate will have to verify first, something with access settings. The good news is that this will give me some time to read the latest entries and update some posts.

Same, it's asking me for an account.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on August 15, 2023, 06:09:13 pm

The file should still be easily compressed under 500Mb for DFFD, at least for now.

I just compressed turn 126 (the last one that Maloy couldn't upload to DFFD) into a 477Mb file.

You need to make sure that compressed saves are not turned on - this is an option in the Advanced tab of LNP for those who use it. If the save is already compressed by the game, WinRAR or other utilities struggle to compress it further.

Uncompressed save compressed by WinRAR "best" has always been under 500Mb.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: dikbutdagrate on August 15, 2023, 08:22:16 pm

My bad! Forgot to adjust permission. Heres the save.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1rKBYH67SvBlmseGBK8iAImqN5zeVuFAN/view?usp=sharing

Quote from: kesperan on August 15, 2023, 06:09:13 pm

The file should still be easily compressed under 500Mb for DFFD, at least for now.

I just compressed turn 126 (the last one that Maloy couldn't upload to DFFD) into a 477Mb file.

You need to make sure that compressed saves are not turned on - this is an option in the Advanced tab of LNP for those who use it. If the save is already compressed by the game, WinRAR or other utilities struggle to compress it further.

Uncompressed save compressed by WinRAR "best" has always been under 500Mb.

I definitely did not do that this time around, as I just went with the default settings.
However, I'll be sure to turn off compressed saves prior to zipping in the future.

edit: btw Bralbaard, apparently I avenged one of your early traveling companions. I forget their name, but the goblin spear master apparently killed em'. I have no idea if your companion was important or not, but feel free to poke around in legends, if you're interested in learning whose vengeance was delivered.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on August 16, 2023, 05:36:23 am

Related to the file size issues, I have noticed there is one particular file which is massive compared to the others.

Site-1717.dat is 802Mb. The next largest file is the WORLD.dat at 180Mb.

Site-1717 presumably refers to a player fort although I am not sure it is possible to figure out which one, and/or why it is such a large file?

---

Edit: OK, that's new:

(https://i.imgur.com/zElAKh7.png)

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Maloy on August 16, 2023, 06:19:52 am

Quote from: kesperan on August 16, 2023, 05:36:23 am

Edit: OK, that's new:

(https://i.imgur.com/zElAKh7.png)

HAHAHAHAHAH WHAT?!


The dark gnome Illuminati has finally taken control

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on August 16, 2023, 06:28:23 am

Apparently the Age of Dark Gnomes started in 1022, just after the Third Age of Heroes.

I am not sure who or what is responsible for this but it appears to have changed from The Third Twilight Age between Turn 126 (Maloy) and 127 (Dikbut).

---

Here is the current save, archived with WinRAR and uploaded to DFFD (478Mb, not much headroom left).

https://dffd.bay12games.com/file.php?id=16813

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Bralbaard on August 16, 2023, 06:46:41 am

WHAT???!!

.....

Maloy did submit a dark gnome to the museum...( submission #68) what has Steve been up to?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Maloy on August 16, 2023, 06:49:35 am

I only incorporated 7 dark gnomes into civilization
During my turn I also saw 20 something warriors of udir born
Several elven and dwarven children born at razorbridge
And a lot of

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

night trolls

So im completely shocked its the dark gnomes that took over the world lol

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Bralbaard on August 16, 2023, 06:54:17 am

I have succumbed to the urge to repost the dark gnome art I did for Borberrorb, my warrior in the Gladiator tournament, may he rest in peace.

(https://i.imgur.com/lc3qtiA.png)

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on August 16, 2023, 07:06:23 am

Speaking of which, everyone should feel free to bet on my guy Logem Branchsyrup in the final! I've only gotten as far as the quarter finals in the past so this is a big deal for me :D

Your art is amazing Bralbaard.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Bralbaard on August 16, 2023, 07:13:30 am

I have more luck betting than fighting in the tournament, still looking at the odds, but Logem has not let me down so far 🙂

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Bralbaard on August 16, 2023, 12:33:11 pm

Quote from: kesperan on August 16, 2023, 05:36:23 am

Related to the file size issues, I have noticed there is one particular file which is massive compared to the others.

Site-1717.dat is 802Mb. The next largest file is the WORLD.dat at 180Mb.

Site-1717 presumably refers to a player fort although I am not sure it is possible to figure out which one, and/or why it is such a large file?

---

Edit: OK, that's new:

(https://i.imgur.com/zElAKh7.png)

Site 1717 is "Scorpiontower the Lost Vault of Books" Not sure why it would be that bloated.

The name of the age would suggest the majority of the worlds population are dark gnomes, which gave me some horrible flashbacks to the hand of planegift crisis, yet as far as I can see there is nothing actually wrong. Since the dark gnomes were hired to do bookkeeping I think they have been up to some clever administrative trick to inflate their numbers. We'll see if the age switches back to something more reasonable at the end of the year.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Yarlig on August 16, 2023, 12:40:29 pm

What in the actual bloody hell is happening. Never thought it's possible for an age to be named after anything outside the primary races or megabeasts. I also thought back to the HoP incident' and I think the game should've recognized an 'Age of Planegifts' at some point; since it didn't happen back then' probably there was some DFhack dark magic involved this time.

How about we make gnomes playable' then? Guess it'd make for an interesting experience playing as one of those tiny useless critters' especially so if one of them ended up playing the oxang' probably larger than itself' to recruit Kol.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on August 16, 2023, 12:41:40 pm

Ah OK. How do you know that / work that out?

Scorpiontower is absolutely massive, so that makes sense. Avo made a 16x16 embark over the entire map tile to try to find the lost slab!

According to LV, there are only 17 dark gnome historical figures alive. Another strange bug?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on August 16, 2023, 12:42:31 pm

Quote from: Yarlig on August 16, 2023, 12:40:29 pm

What in the actual bloody hell is happening. Never thought it's possible for an age to be named after anything outside the primary races or megabeasts. I also thought back to the HoP incident' and I think the game should've recognized an 'Age of Planegifts' at some point; since it didn't happen back then' probably there was some DFhack dark magic involved this time.

How about we make gnomes playable' then? Guess it'd make for an interesting experience playing as one of those tiny useless critters' especially so if one of them ended up playing the oxang' probably larger than itself' to recruit Kol.

Dark Gnomes and Mountain Gnomes, presumably due to their small stature, are incapable of opening doors in adventure mode. That would make a gnome adventurer very hard indeed.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Bralbaard on August 16, 2023, 12:54:47 pm

I think the age was done through editing the save somehow, the first events recorded for the age go back to early 1022, and that conflicts with what earlier save games say.

Quote from: kesperan on August 16, 2023, 12:41:40 pm

Ah OK. How do you know that / work that out?

Scorpiontower is absolutely massive, so that makes sense. Avo made a 16x16 embark over the entire map tile to try to find the lost slab!

The site numbers are in the files you can export from legends mode, just as the population numbers

We had no age of planegifts because we still had megabeasts back then, and they are more important for age names. I also doubt the game would have recognized them for age change even if there were no beasts.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Maloy on August 16, 2023, 12:56:51 pm

I have an idea on how to fix this.

Ill find mountain gnomes. Recruit them and drop them off in the same settlement and let the two groups sort each other out! Easy!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Bralbaard on August 16, 2023, 01:04:31 pm

Quote from: Maloy on August 16, 2023, 12:56:51 pm

I have an idea on how to fix this.

Ill find mountain gnomes. Recruit them and drop them off in the same settlement and let the two groups sort each other out! Easy!

Time to bring out the gnomeblight, I say!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: AvolitionBrit on August 16, 2023, 01:40:17 pm

Strange scorpion tower has grown, i wonder what the scorpion is up to

Age of Dark Gnome, how ominous. What did I summon with that instrument.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: dikbutdagrate on August 16, 2023, 04:27:57 pm

Quote from: kesperan on August 16, 2023, 05:36:23 am

Related to the file size issues, I have noticed there is one particular file which is massive compared to the others.

Site-1717.dat is 802Mb. The next largest file is the WORLD.dat at 180Mb.

Site-1717 presumably refers to a player fort although I am not sure it is possible to figure out which one, and/or why it is such a large file?

I'm no expert, but it's going to be one of three possible sites, two of which are player fortresses, the other a hillocks.
Scorpiontower the lost vault of books, Entrancegrape, or Lashedpraise (which is the hillocks.)

One of these is likely to be source of the file bloat. And more likely it'll be one of the player forts. My money is on Scorpiontower btw.

Hope this helps!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on August 16, 2023, 06:08:13 pm

Yeah, it's Scorpiontower, purely because of it's size as far as I can tell.

Bralbaard pointed out that the file named "world sites and pops" which is generated as a text file when you

Code: [Select]

exportlegends info in DFHack

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Unraveller on August 16, 2023, 07:11:08 pm

I am aware of how to edit the ages, their names, etc. That's certainly what happened. Obviously dark gnones being the main populace is not reality, and it doesn't ultimately affect anything. But I doubt it was some freak occurrence.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Salmeuk on August 16, 2023, 09:20:00 pm

I'm curious now, is there a way to simply delete the respective site data and promise to never visit? "we don't go to Scorpiontowers. . . "

or would this just introduce a series of lost references and corresponding bugs?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Lurker Z on August 16, 2023, 09:51:11 pm

Quote from: Salmeuk on August 16, 2023, 09:20:00 pm

I'm curious now, is there a way to simply delete the respective site data and promise to never visit? "we don't go to Scorpiontowers. . . "

or would this just introduce a series of lost references and corresponding bugs?

We could simply delete the site file like I understand it was done with Gor (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Gor) and Duskhome (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Tathbom) after the corruption hit them, and the game would regenerate the terrain when going in adventure mode... but why would we? As long as the site can be visited in adventure mode as is and the site size doesn't blow up out of hand, it'd be a detriment to Avolition's work there.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: dikbutdagrate on August 16, 2023, 11:01:29 pm

I'm surprised no ones bothered loading up Qb's one character, Mokun Anaenil.

Or taken a peak at new Honeyhammer.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Unraveller on August 17, 2023, 12:15:46 am

I'd much rather be shown in posted stories. :)

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Bralbaard on August 17, 2023, 12:29:43 am

Quote from: Unraveller on August 17, 2023, 12:15:46 am

I'd much rather be shown in posted stories. :)

Exactly, I have plans

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on August 17, 2023, 02:34:06 am

Quote from: Bralbaard on August 17, 2023, 12:29:43 am

Quote from: Unraveller on August 17, 2023, 12:15:46 am

I'd much rather be shown in posted stories. :)

Exactly, I have plans

If you’re playing as Worm Spawn Bralbaard you should find yourself with steel armour and a masterwork spear to start off your journey!

Dikbut…. Did you edit the game to make Dark Gnomes our new overlords??

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Quantum Drop on August 17, 2023, 02:40:06 am

Quote from: dikbutdagrate on August 16, 2023, 11:01:29 pm

I'm surprised no ones bothered loading up Qb's one character, Mokun Anaenil.

Or taken a peak at new Honeyhammer.

I have, on both accounts. Currently writing something up for the first (leaving Honeyhammer proper for others so I don't spoil the surprises.) But a very brief summary of my reactions:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

• Goddamn, you weren't kidding about making her a monster. Had to take multiple looks through to make sure I'd caught everything. Very nice touch with the Night Troll organs, skulls, and other animal parts alongside (most of) the original requested grafts; they really add to the whole "walking mass of biological horror" thing Mokun now has going on. Overall, not exactly what I'd expected, but definitely more than satisfactory.
• Blindness apparently prevents you from starting a fight with anyone, which is certainly giving me ideas for her next round of grafts. (And a few for next turn beside.)
• I love what you've done with New Honeyhammer. The design really fits the place's feel as something like a mad science lair where eldritch experiments happen.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Bralbaard on August 17, 2023, 04:47:34 am

Quote from: kesperan on August 17, 2023, 02:34:06 am

If you’re playing as Worm Spawn Bralbaard you should find yourself with steel armour and a masterwork spear to start off your journey!

Playing as a gremlin! We'll see how long I'll last..

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on August 17, 2023, 05:35:39 am

Can gremlins open doors? I tried loading up one of Maloy’s Dark Gnomes and found he couldn’t. I assumed it was due to his size but it might be something to do with graspable tokens.

Charcoal Brutes also can’t open doors; they’re huge sauropods and lack hands.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Bralbaard on August 17, 2023, 05:45:33 am

Most definitely yes, they are notorious for their abilities to pull levers, open cages and claim doors in fortress mode.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Eric Blank on August 17, 2023, 01:56:37 pm

Gnomes don't have the CANOPENDOORS token

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Maloy on August 17, 2023, 02:34:57 pm

You know if we wanted to make them playable I feel like that would be a quick fix

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Yarlig on August 17, 2023, 03:10:16 pm

Frankly' gnomes' inability to open doors shouldn't be much of an issue' since:
a) we don't have bogeymen in this world;
b) one can always throw an opener character into the party.
Although' playing handicapped like that would pose an additional challenge for the willing. It's an open question anyways.

Good luck out there' Bralbaard! Hopefully your gremlin ends up dying of old age' not being eaten by some thrall.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Bralbaard on August 17, 2023, 03:55:20 pm

Quote from: Yarlig on August 17, 2023, 03:10:16 pm

Frankly' gnomes' inability to open doors shouldn't be much of an issue' since:
a) we don't have bogeymen in this world;
b) one can always throw an opener character into the party.
Although' playing handicapped like that would pose an additional challenge for the willing. It's an open question anyways.

Good luck out there' Bralbaard! Hopefully your gremlin ends up dying of old age' not being eaten by some thrall.

Old age? That is a tall order, gremlins can get a thousand years old..😁

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: dikbutdagrate on August 17, 2023, 07:52:11 pm

Indeed. To die at even 800 years of age would be considered tragically young for a gremlin.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Man, I miss seeing my language_gremlin raw in action. Still need to update that whole gremlin republics for premium though.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Bralbaard on August 18, 2023, 01:03:18 am

Quote from: dikbutdagrate on August 17, 2023, 07:52:11 pm

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Man, I miss seeing my language_gremlin raw in action. Still need to update that whole gremlin republics for premium though.

You made gremlin language files? I could really use those for my write-up🙂. I was going to use elvish, but this would be so much better. I guess even a partial file would be useful. Are they part of the premium mod?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: dikbutdagrate on August 19, 2023, 12:43:01 am

Quote from: Bralbaard on August 18, 2023, 01:03:18 am

Quote from: dikbutdagrate on August 17, 2023, 07:52:11 pm

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Man, I miss seeing my language_gremlin raw in action. Still need to update that whole gremlin republics for premium though.

You made gremlin language files? I could really use those for my write-up🙂. I was going to use elvish, but this would be so much better. I guess even a partial file would be useful. Are they part of the premium mod?

Hell yeah my dude, and it sounds exactly correct.

You'll see stuff like, "Alocrim'oochauh'nob-bob'el" - The Harmonious Crimson Empire.

Their word for ale is their word for hammer "bahk" stapled together with their word for drink "sop", literally translating as hammer-drink "bahk-sop." And I think mead is a slight variation on that. Anyway, I tried to sprinkle little things like that where I could. But it's a lot of labor to hand craft the entire language file.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

https://dffd.bay12games.com/file.php?id=16814

The way it comes out, is to always hold the first syllable, almost like a high pitch growl. And then gradually accelerate the rate of enunciated barks, until your tongue starts breaking the sound barrier. Start slow, frantic race to finish. Unless the word ends in an -ah sound. In which case, the last 3 syllables are more likely to be pronounced slowly.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Maloy on August 19, 2023, 05:46:49 am

Entry 2
Mab

Mab wasn't an original member of his race. In the old days he was human. Kidnapped by a howling freak and imprisoned in the sewers beneath a thriving town he was there changed into one of her own kind that he might become a mate. He was later freed by his wife through the invasion and conquest of the town by the Realm of Silver.

This perhaps should have brought some gratitude, but the transformation had taken all good from his heart. He was a twisted and evil thing and recognizing this the Realm of Silver did not let him go. They enslaved the monster. The motive of these long dead humans is up for debate, but for Mab it only allowed him to nurture hideous hatred for his former species.
(https://i.imgur.com/nqmUHi9.png)
Even now centuries later as a free monster wandering the lands with his two mates he nurtured his hate.
For his new mates: Cish and Warosp
This traveling across the land was a biological imperative. A commanding impulse in the brain clicking after centuries of idleness commanding them to propagate their wicked race. For Mab it was an opportunity for revenge.
He was mockingly styled a prophet by the Realm of Silver as he declared their inevitable doom and now he had his chance!

Despite being mates the freaks had no love for one another and were selfish to a fault as they growled and lashed out at one another traveling.
(https://i.imgur.com/nPUfUsZ.png)

The function of making the children and designing their nests would be a joyless process; a mere function to accomplish desired ends.
(https://i.imgur.com/0lpS1xK.png)
Three nests were planted: One bordering the foolish wolf king's land in a monastery to a goddess of torment and death
The next in a labyrinth near the hated museum
And the final nest in the heart of the Realm of Silver: In a castle of massacre.
The town and castle were littered with bodies of the great battle that took place; an ideal feeding ground for their off spring

Soon, as years passed and they aged the survivors, and many of the children would perish surely, would grow large and spread across the lands they infested and hunt it's sapient prey.
For Cish and Warosp this was satisfactory as impulse was satiated and they could return to cave-like homes.
For Mab it wasn't. He didn't desire to merely release more of his number, but to create a new land for his race and to put the humans in their place beneath him.

For him this was only the beginning.

Infestation Complete

Arthur
(https://i.imgur.com/E4bIpVy.png)

Arthur had finally made it back after all these years: Lakemenaces

He stood upon the outer trenches; his spear already dripping blood of several goblins he encountered on the way in.
The trench work continued for as far as the eye could see, but in it's middle a great dark tower.
One would think that would be the goal of a conquering force, as Arthur and his men thought years ago, and one would be wrong.
The true enemy was in sight: From all around the fortress one could see multiple surging tides of bodies heading traveling to and fro in one giant wave, as if the arms of a whirlpool lashing out and sucking in and that drew too near.

Arthur and the others killed all the leaders of Lakemenace themselves, but despite this the city held thanks to the horde that continued whirling as if driven by some preternatural force.
Today, Arthur would begin his campaign of destroying them. As the goblins near him noticed him they didn't cry out alarm or attack. Most of them just sought to join the whirlwind of hordes and would look for routes around him to do so. Any foolish enough to take the same downhill route through trenches that Arthur took lost their throats. Arthur slammed his shield so hard into one's chest that it exploded into gore even.
Yet, still, even dying desperately and pathetically clawing for air the victims still crawled their way towards the horde. What is making them do this?

Finally, he reached the tail end of a goblin horde. He threw himself into this particular arm of the whirlpool of hordes becoming a whirlwind of death, and he thought to himself "If I had a master what would he be telling me, right now?"
"You are a fool."


OOC stuff:
the howling freaks Cish, Warosp, and Mab are technically on the adventurer list, but feel free to kill them and all their spawn if you so wish!

If you guys leave them all alive I will slowly make them a worse and worse threat.
I'm thinking maybe of giving weapons and armor to one nest. Perhaps making them hollow zombies as well?
Individual howling freaks are a mid-game threat. Once you become talented at combat(or tireless) you can handle them so I thought it'd be cool to make them higher level as threats go.
More dangerous than a goblin army, but less dangerous than literal demons is the goal.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Eric Blank on August 20, 2023, 05:07:19 pm

Well that's downright insidious.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on August 20, 2023, 06:53:24 pm

Sounds like Dibutdagrate found the nest in the old abandoned labyrinth - still more to be found and cleansed!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Imic on August 20, 2023, 07:01:55 pm

It's been a long time, how goes the Museum, and the world surrounding it?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: TheFlame52 on August 20, 2023, 07:09:11 pm

The same 10 people pass the save around in an endless circle... but it could be worse. At least it's being passed.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Imic on August 20, 2023, 07:14:31 pm

All things must wind down and come to an end, eventually. Perhaps a definitive ending will be reached, and the Museum shall move into the Steam version once the UI is updated to accommodate older players. Perhaps the save file shall become irreversibly corrupted beyond all use. Perhaps Toady shall lock it away in confinement so that it may be studied. Or, perhaps new blood is just around the corner. Feck it, sign me up for a turn.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Lurker Z on August 20, 2023, 09:31:23 pm

Hey Imic, I'm glad to see you back.

I suppose that even now, we have 7 people in queue means the world is fairly active. I'm not sure how to summarize the world myself, I'm not sure exactly where you left off to tell you what's going on. Are you aware of the Omon blight (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Omon_blight)? This is probably the most important event bar the Museum in the entire world which happened after year 700 (the founding of the Museum). We're close to year 1050, so a lot of time has passed. Our most prolific killers (and more besides) are Moldath Leshaltölún (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Moldath_Leshalt%C3%B6l%C3%BAn) (kesperan) and Avolition (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Avolition_Moncadem) with a total of over 20000 kills. Omon Obin and its capital, Señamatem (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Se%C3%B1amatem) are being rebuilt in fortress mode between me and Unraveller. Bralbaard and some other adventurers have found a method to turn from undead to immortal, yet living (it's a sort of duplication glitch). Since Bralbaard's ascension to King of Adilatír (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Adilat%C3%ADr), we've had over 5 adventurers rise for certain periods of times as rulers of a civilization. Meanwhile, more close to Thoramunosh (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Boltspumpkin), Maloy rules and maintains the Mabkor Empire (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Mabkor Empire) assisted by his elf friends and possibly under the influence of a certain kingslaying demon (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Pis_Ethbaoxut). I'm sure I'm missing a lot of things besides.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Bralbaard on August 21, 2023, 01:49:00 am

Welcome back Imic! I just happened to have explored one of your old fortresses in my current turn, so expect some posts about that soon-ish.

Some other things to get you back up to speed:
Several new races of intelligent creatures have begun to stir in Orid Xem.

The Scorpion king, Avolition Holyblood, has started a breeding programme for bark scorpion men, and Maloy has discovered that Warriors of Udir, the two tailed, all female, cyclops angels that guarded one of the two vaults in the world, respond strangely to necromancy. They do not become undead, but are just raised from death, fully alive. Of course Maloy started a breeding programme for them (in Razorbridge)
Both the warriors of Udir and the bark scorpion men are born practically as adults, so their breeding is very fast, and dare I say, incestious. Of course we already had the gremlin re-introduction programme by myself, abusing the fact that 'outsider' adventurers can buy gremlins for 1 urist-a-piece at embark. Current world populations, not counting those roaming the wilds:

gremlins: 504
Warriors of Udir: 82
bark scorpion men: 86

Then there are rumours of other races that are up to something. The world is in the age of the dark gnomes, for one thing, and there also is a plot involving howling freaks, see Maloy's latest post.

To Dikbutdagrate, about the language files:

Quote from: dikbutdagrate on August 19, 2023, 12:43:01 am

Quote from: Bralbaard on August 18, 2023, 01:03:18 am

Quote from: dikbutdagrate on August 17, 2023, 07:52:11 pm

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Man, I miss seeing my language_gremlin raw in action. Still need to update that whole gremlin republics for premium though.

You made gremlin language files? I could really use those for my write-up🙂. I was going to use elvish, but this would be so much better. I guess even a partial file would be useful. Are they part of the premium mod?

Hell yeah my dude, and it sounds exactly correct.

You'll see stuff like, "Alocrim'oochauh'nob-bob'el" - The Harmonious Crimson Empire.

Their word for ale is their word for hammer "bahk" stapled together with their word for drink "sop", literally translating as hammer-drink "bahk-sop." And I think mead is a slight variation on that. Anyway, I tried to sprinkle little things like that where I could. But it's a lot of labor to hand craft the entire language file.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

https://dffd.bay12games.com/file.php?id=16814

The way it comes out, is to always hold the first syllable, almost like a high pitch growl. And then gradually accelerate the rate of enunciated barks, until your tongue starts breaking the sound barrier. Start slow, frantic race to finish. Unless the word ends in an -ah sound. In which case, the last 3 syllables are more likely to be pronounced slowly.

Thanks for the language files and background information Dikbutdagrate! You alluded to a "next turn" in one of your previous posts. Should I put you on the list or does someone need to put down a pot of honey first?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Imic on August 21, 2023, 03:06:45 am

Well, it seems I have quite the archive binge ahead of me.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: dikbutdagrate on August 21, 2023, 09:39:05 am

While I very much like the idea of having a summoning day, during an in-game month, where someone sets out a pot of honey and some crab man claws, and has to post a really weird blurb in the thread which summons me, I think it's fine if you sign me up for another turn.

I had some interior decorating designs in mind for camp Honeyhammer. And I'm eager to install those.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: AvolitionBrit on August 22, 2023, 03:15:16 am

Welcome back Imic

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Bralbaard on August 22, 2023, 02:55:27 pm

The current save can be found over at  DFFD (turn 128 end) (https://dffd.bay12games.com/file.php?id=16819)
It will take me some time to make some drawings and learn gremlin, but posts will appear.


Edit: also, we are in the Third Twilight Age once more. Apparently historians have in hindsight renamed the previous Third Twilight Age to the Age of Dark Gnomes, and the official Third Twilight Age has started now.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: AvolitionBrit on August 22, 2023, 05:58:04 pm

Looks like the scorpion is king once again but this time with a council of humans serving under him.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Eric Blank on August 22, 2023, 10:18:53 pm

Ive downloaded the save and begun. Coincidentally, anyone know the location of some dice that might roll to heal? Nevermind, got cursed as a beast for a week, problem solved.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Bralbaard on August 23, 2023, 12:57:04 am

That will only cure the problem for a week, if I recall my adventures as a naked mole rat correctly. The initial healed dwarven body I got after changing back only lasted as long as the curse.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on August 23, 2023, 03:16:13 am

Quote from: Eric Blank on August 22, 2023, 10:18:53 pm

Ive downloaded the save and begun. Coincidentally, anyone know the location of some dice that might roll to heal? Nevermind, got cursed as a beast for a week, problem solved.

Check out my turn on page 147. There’s a monastery to The Pure Faith of Thabi the Hopeful Rights near Razorbridge which healed my adventurer. I don’t remember what it is called though. That the only time I’ve seen it in this world.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Eric Blank on August 23, 2023, 05:25:50 am

Quote from: Bralbaard on August 23, 2023, 12:57:04 am

That will only cure the problem for a week, if I recall my adventures as a naked mole rat correctly. The initial healed dwarven body I got after changing back only lasted as long as the curse.

You were right, sadly.

Quote from: kesperan on August 23, 2023, 03:16:13 am

Quote from: Eric Blank on August 22, 2023, 10:18:53 pm

Ive downloaded the save and begun. Coincidentally, anyone know the location of some dice that might roll to heal? Nevermind, got cursed as a beast for a week, problem solved.

Check out my turn on page 147. There’s a monastery to The Pure Faith of Thabi the Hopeful Rights near Razorbridge which healed my adventurer. I don’t remember what it is called though. That the only time I’ve seen it in this world.

Found it! Its in Honorgrapes.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on August 23, 2023, 04:15:31 pm

You've probably noticed already, but Pik is essentially a superhero now.

He was killed and ressurected several times by your pet nercromancer so now has massive strength and endurance bonuses and a whole suite of magic powers. Looking forward to seeing what you do with him, and hope you can get Desli healed.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Eric Blank on August 26, 2023, 08:26:54 pm

Yeah, I noticed immediately. Convenient in a way because I needed to get into the ritual chamber where Thine was locked up (I don't remember doing that, did someone else lock her in there?) which is slightly hard for a mortal. Unfortunately somewhere along the way she lost all their gear. It also allowed him to survive getting his brain wrecked by a weapon trap. Desli got healed by that dice, but by being transformed again. I had to revert the save and start over after a crash in the town west of futureseals, so I just ran straight up there.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on August 27, 2023, 01:36:40 pm

Ah, yes. I teleported Thine to the shrine to avoid her being killed by my companion. It was the only way I could escape Futureseals without killing a player character - after she raised all sorts of undead beings, I had Evala, a unicorn and a rabid bear all trying to kill her.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Eric Blank on August 28, 2023, 04:55:08 pm

I'm still writing, Im gonna post it all at once because it was pretty short adventure wise, and finish up with the fort and upload tomorrow night. Things are going well, though.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on August 30, 2023, 03:47:51 am

Quote from: Eric Blank on August 28, 2023, 04:55:08 pm

I'm still writing, Im gonna post it all at once because it was pretty short adventure wise, and finish up with the fort and upload tomorrow night. Things are going well, though.

After reading your post on "What's happening in your fort?" thread, I am eager/anxious to see what you've been up to!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Eric Blank on August 30, 2023, 12:15:46 pm

Alright here's the upload finally: https://dffd.bay12games.com/file.php?id=16829

I only did good things. Yes.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Bralbaard on August 30, 2023, 02:44:53 pm

That is nice. Orid Xem can certainly use some good things.

That makes it Yarlig's turn.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Yarlig on August 30, 2023, 03:58:36 pm

Alright! I might be somewhat busy during the coming week' but I should be able to fit in a casual playthrough. Finding out what were those terrible good things Eric did sounds like a plan.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: WonderPsycho on August 30, 2023, 10:34:08 pm

eyyy it seems this game is still going, and it seems the world is more of a mess then it was before last I checked?? but yeah. been a while since I played in a turn here(might request for a turn on this game again but not sure yet cause of some other things on my end), how's things?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Bralbaard on August 31, 2023, 01:17:17 am

Quote from: WonderPsycho on August 30, 2023, 10:34:08 pm

eyyy it seems this game is still going, and it seems the world is more of a mess then it was before last I checked?? but yeah. been a while since I played in a turn here(might request for a turn on this game again but not sure yet cause of some other things on my end), how's things?

Hey Wonderpsycho, Welcome back!

Imic just returned as well so we had an attempt to summarize the current state of the world starting here (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8495868#msg8495868)
Eric has just assured us that only good things have happened in the world since that summary, so we are all fine over here.

I'll add you to the list, you can always reschedule later. for now it will likely take a few months before it gets to you.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: WonderPsycho on August 31, 2023, 01:40:30 am

aight sounds good, and when I mean like "oh the world is a mess now" I mean like the world and all the chaos that's happening in it is even more of a apocalyptic mess then it was before from what I can see, I wasn't being pessimistic or saying the world was a mess of being a bit "corrupted" or whatever but yeah

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Eric Blank on August 31, 2023, 02:12:33 am

Oh yeah, add me to the list again too!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Maloy on August 31, 2023, 06:50:33 am

Entry 3
Maloy

Maloy's journey south was largely uninteresting and uninterrupted. He bypassed Juvar's castle in fear that his aide would manage to catch up with him and attempt to saddle him with more work. He hoped the journey would keep him away for sometime honestly, even if that meant everything sort of fell apart while he was away!
Thus, his target was suitable to accomplish this task: The fabled mountain gnome

Museum researchers were mostly sure they still existed in haunted mountains far to the south; why a gnome would live in a haunted mountain range was anyone's guess. He continued for three days without sleeping at night just to make sure that his mortal aide would be unable to catch up and then after than returned to sleeping in the evenings. Despite all his powers he still couldn't see well in the dark and would run into trees or fall into rivers while walking at night.

Finally, after trekking through blizzards all day he ended up at the foot of the mountain on the edge of the dark fortress of Stealmountain. The blizzard was so terrible he was absolutely certain no goblins could see him and even if they could would likely not trouble themselves with the miserable weather just to attack a traveler. If he wasn't an immortal without physical needs the wolf man would be severely concerned about climbing a mountain while wearing armor during a blizzard, but his abilities would preserve his body from the exposure.
He put one paw in front of the other climbing as directly south as he could manage until he crested a ridge of the mountains and waited for the weather to subside. He began looking around for his targets, but so far only found animals. He could feel the dark energies roaring from Realmspire like an inferno: whatever had happened there the wolf man wanted absolutely nothing to do with!

He walked all day up and down the mountain range and found nothing, but regular animals! It was quite frustrating for him, but despite what the museum researchers had said he was certain that the mountain gnomes still existed! Perhaps they had developed some common sense and decided to move away from a haunted mountain home?
Evening came and the wolf man did not stop searching. Walking up and down and all around again while the blizzard had returned with greater force.
He saw many strange small yellow lights glowing in the distance. Many turning off and on over and over again.
As he neared he realized they were eyes blinking and finally he found them!
(https://i.imgur.com/ws9UUQ2.png)
Gnomes!
(https://i.imgur.com/EgrToQj.png)
They were whispering and gibbering to one another in a tongue that he did not understand and seemed unbothered by the strange wolf man
"Hello!" he attempted
They stared at him and began jabbing their fingers in the direction he was in while now loudly gibbering at one another
"They don't speak the language" he thought "Well, I'll have to try something else"
He began to tell them stories: Of who he was, Makbor, his rise to power, his desire to hire them and anything else he could think of
When he finished they simply stared at him for a few moments before ignoring him entirely and returning to their annoying speech to one another.

The wolf king began to rake his paws into his head fur frustrated. Could they even understand him? They were rude to say the least!
He took a swig of dwarven beer, one of the few bodily experiences he still got to enjoy, and saw that the nearest gnome had turned to watch him drink and stared at him with rapt attention.
Sensing an opportunity he drew near and offered the gnome his waterskin. The gnome stared at it not sure what to do with the gesture.
Frustrated the wolf man threw it on the ground in front of the creature and waited glaring at both the gnome and the waterskin

After a few moments the gnome picked up the waterskin and supped. The gnome's tiny eyes went wide and it began jumping and shouting and guzzling beer while the other gnomes gathered around it. Instead of looking grateful the creatures started shouting at the wolf man gesturing with their hands rudely as if upset. The legends of the goodly mountain gnomes were harshly exaggerated it seems.
He howled to get their attention and when they went momentarily quiet he seized it and shouted "You work for me!" he gestured to the waterskin "You get beer!" he gestured to himself again "Work for me" gestured to the waterskin again "Get beer!"
Surprisingly, this simple exchange between different languages seemed to work as the gnomes swarmed the wolf man looking through his pockets for more alcohol and realizing he had none on him they decided to follow him. As closely as they could.

It looked like abunch of strange little hats that went up to his waist following him as he returned home. The creatures were devious throwing rocks at squirrels in the forest and crunching any bug they could find. The wolf man wasn't sure that the species he found was the mountain gnome, but regardless they could be used!
On the way back he did stop into Juvar's castle this time and found a familiar sight: Asen the commander of Razorbridge was once again looting the warehouse!
Maloy instructed the gnomes to wait outside and although they did not understand kicking one in the knee and then meanly pointing towards a spot nearby seemed to do the trick.
(https://i.imgur.com/NFc5Woj.png)
"Asen what the hell are you doing here again, I thought you were gonna retire to an island with the treasure from here?"
The legendary dwarf commanded jumped up from the wolf lord's storming into the room and turned "Well, it didn't work out, lordship!"
"What do you mean? there were enough jewels in here to buy a fortress!" Looking around the warehouse of jewels was clearly cleared out! The room was now full of plants: barleys and other brew able goods
One of the commander's entourage chimed in laughing "Commander, tell him what happened!" the cronie's face grew red from laughing so hard "Tell him!"
The greying commander's red cheeks were just visible above his massive beard accentuated by furrowed brows "Look, that merchant was a very convincing sort. Told me great tall tales of a remote island no one, but he had ever been to with beautiful beaches, fertile land and free to buy the map for!"
Another laughing cronie joined in "Except the scam artist had an eyepatch, met you in a shady tavern and waited until you were five drinks in to make his offer!"
"Shut up, you!" Asen shouts before returning his gaze to the wolf lord "Anyway, yeah. Returned and I just square exchanged all the gems for the map and a boat, but when we got there it wasn't what he promised. The place had a previous tenant! A necromancer! He had killed all the wildlife and raised some of them as zombies. Place was strewn with bones and rotting meat everywhere with nothing for us to live on and zombies all around! It was a hell hole!"
"I did get to make me a nice kiwi skull necklace though" Chimed a cronie
"And the merchant?" Maloy asked
"Gone when we got back. No one knows where he went, but I swear by my ancestors I'll throttle him, but first, well got some more important things"
"How do you have other things going on?" the wolf asked worriedly
"Debts, lordship, owed quite a bit of debts that I was hoping I could just move to the island to get away from, but not to worry we got a plan, and a back up plan too!"
The cronie known as Urist grabbed a handful of barley and held it up "We're going to make a brewery!"
Asen nodded his head sagely with a smirk "That's right, lads! With all that blight nonsense alcohol access is at an all time low, but desire to be drunk at an all time high!"
He turned his head to the wolf lord again and continued "Don't know where that crazy sod of a vampire got a warehosue full of barley, but he certainly ain't gonna be using it!"
"It's the modern day equivalent of finding a warehouse full of gems?" the wolf lord asked drly
"Exactly-wait, that was sarcasm wasn't it?"
"Absolutely wasn't, commander. There's a problem with your plan"
"Uh oh" Urist exclaimed
"Razorbridge ships hundreds of barrels of booze to these lands and we are in the process of opening a brewery outside Makbor. There is no shortage."
The entire group of dwarves audibly exclaimed sighing and shouting frustrations. One dwarf kicked a pile of barley while Asen  pinched the bridge of his nose with his fingers and closed his eyes.
"Tell him the back up plan, commander!" Asen looked worriedly at the speaker "I'm kind of afraid to now"
He sighed to himself resigned to his fate "That one over there is Kivish" he said motioning to the only she-dwarf of the gang "She's a barronness consort now. Married up and all. With her husband she gets all sorts of favors and can ask for things like money or goods and the like. We can live high and tight as her guards and when her husband passes she gets all the wealth! Easy living!"
The wolf man felt thoroughly sad he had to keep crushing their dreams like this, but he felt he had to speak "I'm sorry but-"
"No!" shouted the dwarf who kicked the barley earlier
"Yes. Well, barronness-consort means wife of lower-status. It means that she has no actual political power in the system. When her husband dies she just goes back to being a commoner" The wolf lord finished
At this point one of the dwarves began crying and Asen placed both hands on Maloy's shoulders. He looked him square in the eyes "You've shattered my dreams and I hate you for it, lordship"
There was opportunity here though: These dwarves had successfully relocated an entire warehouse of goods, acquired a boat, traversed to an island, made it back and were about to relocate a second warehouse to open a business. Not to mention they were capable guards all clearly armed for battle.
The dwarves were moping around the warehouse now not wanting to go out into the freezing snow, but also not enjoying looking at their own failure
"I've got an offer for you all actually!" Maloy declared loudly. Asen dared not accept hope as he looked at the wolf man glumly. The wolf lord caught the group up on his acquisition of divine metal, forging and muliplication of it, and selling it internationally. "-and so that's why I'm out and about now. I need people who can move caravans, people who can do the planning and administration of all that, and meet with leaders, guilds, etc to accomplish it all! All that to say come work for me you guys clearly can get a lot done when you're directed properly!"
The greed shone in the eyes of his audience and they huddled up quickly into a circle whispering and grumbling to one another
"What's the pay?" Kivish called from the circle
"A lot. A lot a lot. I have a forge worker making scorched metal coins nonstop,  but I don't really need the money and I hate the extra work"
The circle returned to fevered whispering. Finally, Asen stepped out "We'll take you up on the deal, lordship. But we don't wanna be caravan guards! Let us run the business of sending them out, meeting the folk and paying us pay due for that kind of leadership"
"Oh thank the gods, yes you can have that job!" Maloy declared and grabbed the dwarf's hand and shook it.
"Hey you're the guy who sang "She sang Tulips" at that tavern right?" one of his new employees called
"Yes, that was me." Maloy replied
A different dwarf called "I remember that! It was quite...arousing"
Maloy made a disgusted face at the middle aged dwarf "Okay, you don't ever speak again. Anyway let's go I need to introduce you to some other new employees"
(https://i.imgur.com/LBgNCua.png)
It was a brief yet difficult conversation to explain to the dwarves not to kill the gnomes on sight and as it turns out they were DARK gnomes! Mischievious and all together unlikeable versions of the more well known mountain gnomes. This did not dissuade the wolf lord from using them though.
He told everyone to wait to make his regular visit to lord Juvar in the castle and they briefly argued before Juvar demanded the wolf lord leave. Maloy was beginning to believe Juvar enjoyed the fighting as much as he did!

They returned to Makbor by morning time and he set to work placing his new employees where they needed to go. Asen set right to work on the paperwork with his cronies. Maloy locked the dark gnomes in a particular empty building and instructed the aide to send all complaint paperwork and complaining dignateries to speak to the darn gnomes. The gnomes were ideal customer service representatives: Hostile, short, mean, mischevious and absolutely impossible to understand! They also were too small to open doors and accepted payment in alcohol meaning he could work them as long as needed!
He surmised that with his discovery he should make a submission of one to the museum in order to renew his membership. Being an immortal ruler of a small kingdom there was a chance that heroes might one day think him a tyrant and want to kill him so it was important to do due diligence to maintain his living state!

He sat at his desk one day writing his thoughts when he saw Asen outside giving commands to his goofy cronies and other Makbor servants. They all looked like they were having the time of their lives together and it struck the wolf lord-to-king how much he enjoyed their company. Still, though sorrow pulled at his heart. They were just past middle-aged and they would all die one day while he still lived. There was an existential loneliness to immortality, especially as most immortals turned into either berserk monsters, insane tyrants or obsessive egomaniacs. "The loneliness is probably why" he surmised. He decided to include such ponderings into his economic treatise he was writing.


His aide interrupted his thinking "Majesty, the shipment of weapons and armor from Razorbridge to Makbor is ready to be picked up. Also a group of those angel women have requested to settle on our eastern border in the abandoned town of Rubbeddwelling."
"Okay, great have Asen send a caravan to pick both up"
His aide smirked "I believe you should be the one to do this, majesty"
The wolf man gave the aging human a withering looking "Why?"
The aide laughed "Because, you also have a missive from the queen of the Walled Dye!"
The wolf man jumped out of his chair "You should have started with that!"
"I just wanted to see your face! Her majesty has become ill in her old age and decided to spend her final days in Razorbridge. In fact, she built an artifact as her last act and decreed it be passed onto you"
It seemed as if he wanted to say more, but wasn't. "Spit it out, man!" Maloy cried
"It's a door, sir. On it is the history of Razorbridge. According to the royal messenger it represents how the door to all the Walled Dye is open to you now and it's resources are all open to your use"
Maloy's mouth dropped at that. That was the highest honor the queen could bestow on the wolf man, short of declaring him heir which she had no power to do anyway.
I mean it made sense he had equipped the dwarves with enough divine metal to make them wealthy beyond dreams and given them an army of immortal angelic warriors. Still though, he wasn't used to things going his way or being recognized.
The wolf king once more picked up his cloak and turned to the smiling aide "Well, once more I'll be off! Keep an eye on things for me, will you?"
(https://i.imgur.com/oy5bMLB.png)

What I imagine the dark gnomes look like via Overlord 2

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/2TxDjxI.jpg)

OOC:
The key to finding wild dark gnomes is to hunt for them at night. They're completely nocturnal

I'm also having trouble writing Arthur's portion which was actually supposed to be released before this one. Arthur takes himself so seriously that it's hard for me to write.
The wolf man is easier because his story fills with so much humor and irony.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on August 31, 2023, 12:34:11 pm

Quote from: Eric Blank on August 30, 2023, 12:15:46 pm

Alright here's the upload finally: https://dffd.bay12games.com/file.php?id=16829

I only did good things. Yes.

Checked legends viewer. I see you have been very busy. Looks like most of my last fort migrated to yours, then experienced !FUN!

Looking forward to your story!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Yarlig on August 31, 2023, 01:01:06 pm

So I have only just started and managed to spawn in a fortress with no exit. I don't know how to DFhack' so I just retired' made another adventurer from elsewhere' and added my old character to the party to teleport out. Hope that's not a problem. I set the new bloke on fire' for the record' so I'll only be playing one character. Expect an introductory update soon.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Maloy on August 31, 2023, 02:14:26 pm

Quote from: Yarlig on August 31, 2023, 01:01:06 pm

So I have only just started and managed to spawn in a fortress with no exit. I don't know how to DFhack' so I just retired' made another adventurer from elsewhere' and added my old character to the party to teleport out. Hope that's not a problem. I set the new bloke on fire' for the record' so I'll only be playing one character. Expect an introductory update soon.

I think I've been trapped in the very same fort! I did something similar to get out!

Another cheat I've learned since then is
Reveal
then use the Look cursor to find the surface and then use Flashstep and you teleport to the spot you are looking at

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Yarlig on August 31, 2023, 05:46:51 pm

Quote from: Maloy on August 31, 2023, 02:14:26 pm

I think I've been trapped in the very same fort! I did something similar to get out!

Another cheat I've learned since then is
Reveal
then use the Look cursor to find the surface and then use Flashstep and you teleport to the spot you are looking at

Yeah' this fort is a deathtrap; at least it gave me my submission right away' so there's that. Thanks for the tip' frankly reading this thread I'm thinking I should get more acquainted with DFhack at some point' it gives you many possibilities indeed. All those adventurer dynasties' taking over kingdoms' it really makes the adventurers feel like Greek demigods' like they were truly meant to have a deeper influence on the world aside from killing folks.

Also' I'm at the Museum's doorstep' will submit tomorrow and then probably just wander around the world' exploring. Got injured pretty badly along the way' but managed to hobble all the way to civilization. Grinding your stats when playing an armorless joke character is bad for your health' kids!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Yarlig on September 01, 2023, 08:41:22 am

Alright! Here's the first part; it's pretty rushed' but better that than lagging behind with my writing as usual.
Also'

Spoiler: Character traits and a quick doodle (click to show/hide)

(https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/a1334463-8801-46e1-981e-b6460bcc4474/dg7jteo-8473aa90-4c0e-4f29-86fb-96f330c8d30f.png?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOjdlMGQxODg5ODIyNjQzNzNhNWYwZDQxNWVhMGQyNmUwIiwiaXNzIjoidXJuOmFwcDo3ZTBkMTg4OTgyMjY0MzczYTVmMGQ0MTVlYTBkMjZlMCIsIm9iaiI6W1t7InBhdGgiOiJcL2ZcL2ExMzM0NDYzLTg4MDEtNDZlMS05ODFlLWI2NDYwYmNjNDQ3NFwvZGc3anRlby04NDczYWE5MC00YzBlLTRmMjktODZmYi05NmYzMzBjOGQzMGYucG5nIn1dXSwiYXVkIjpbInVybjpzZXJ2aWNlOmZpbGUuZG93bmxvYWQiXX0.2EGqp3jzkm_SZVkq3hebZm1EtegX9LwNDfShtbvtRmU)(https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/a1334463-8801-46e1-981e-b6460bcc4474/dg7jte5-d6a4f41f-8f33-4df9-8ad2-1f47f6853e0f.jpg/v1/fill/w_776,h_1030,q_70,strp/untitled_by_yarlig_dg7jte5-pre.jpg?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOjdlMGQxODg5ODIyNjQzNzNhNWYwZDQxNWVhMGQyNmUwIiwiaXNzIjoidXJuOmFwcDo3ZTBkMTg4OTgyMjY0MzczYTVmMGQ0MTVlYTBkMjZlMCIsIm9iaiI6W1t7ImhlaWdodCI6Ijw9MTcwMCIsInBhdGgiOiJcL2ZcL2ExMzM0NDYzLTg4MDEtNDZlMS05ODFlLWI2NDYwYmNjNDQ3NFwvZGc3anRlNS1kNmE0ZjQxZi04ZjMzLTRkZjktOGFkMi0xZjQ3ZjY4NTNlMGYuanBnIiwid2lkdGgiOiI8PTEyODAifV1dLCJhdWQiOlsidXJuOnNlcnZpY2U6aW1hZ2Uub3BlcmF0aW9ucyJdfQ.MEmmHIGjntRHWZAJb9mnOZjwttO67-keDNzRPAJPJw0)

I have no mouth and I must sing – a mute bard’s tale

Muthkat Mothcat was a prodigy – he had an uncanny ear for music, an angel’s singing voice, and a sharp linguistic wit. He had all the makings of a great bard – but there was one problem.
(https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/a1334463-8801-46e1-981e-b6460bcc4474/dg7jtet-59544343-8d28-4e82-b922-8651003ef0d3.png?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOjdlMGQxODg5ODIyNjQzNzNhNWYwZDQxNWVhMGQyNmUwIiwiaXNzIjoidXJuOmFwcDo3ZTBkMTg4OTgyMjY0MzczYTVmMGQ0MTVlYTBkMjZlMCIsIm9iaiI6W1t7InBhdGgiOiJcL2ZcL2ExMzM0NDYzLTg4MDEtNDZlMS05ODFlLWI2NDYwYmNjNDQ3NFwvZGc3anRldC01OTU0NDM0My04ZDI4LTRlODItYjkyMi04NjUxMDAzZWYwZDMucG5nIn1dXSwiYXVkIjpbInVybjpzZXJ2aWNlOmZpbGUuZG93bmxvYWQiXX0.JPZY35RbO7D9w-jy09fl33WEwVDxuXdDQmzm2wVuDk4)

Muthkat lacked a functioning mouthpiece.

Now, it has to be understood that plump helmet men being mute was in fact an evolutionary advantage – it prevented them from screaming in terror and alerting their ilk when devoured by a dwarf with great voracity and furious hunger. Evolution never meant plump helmet men to become bards.

It’s not that Muthkat did not try to perform despite being so hampered. In fact, his exaggerated gestures while singing and feeble attempts at playing a bagpipe, a trombone or a shawm were met with an uproar of laughter and earned him a reputation as something of a comedian, much to his chagrin.
(https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/a1334463-8801-46e1-981e-b6460bcc4474/dg7jtdd-0ad69958-2b39-4533-86ab-01c7ef7e8c5c.png?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOjdlMGQxODg5ODIyNjQzNzNhNWYwZDQxNWVhMGQyNmUwIiwiaXNzIjoidXJuOmFwcDo3ZTBkMTg4OTgyMjY0MzczYTVmMGQ0MTVlYTBkMjZlMCIsIm9iaiI6W1t7InBhdGgiOiJcL2ZcL2ExMzM0NDYzLTg4MDEtNDZlMS05ODFlLWI2NDYwYmNjNDQ3NFwvZGc3anRkZC0wYWQ2OTk1OC0yYjM5LTQ1MzMtODZhYi0wMWM3ZWY3ZThjNWMucG5nIn1dXSwiYXVkIjpbInVybjpzZXJ2aWNlOmZpbGUuZG93bmxvYWQiXX0.s2k13R8Ci3gEwnrBNg9UtZrHXN1wsdT0YhZNiKRT-vk)

So Muthkat decided to leave. Aware of the world’s dangers, and somewhat smaller than an adult dwarf, he purchased a set of chainmail overalls the local smith had made for his youngling, affixed a pot lid for head protection, grabbed a trusty trumped of his, and decided to depart the fortress of Princetomes the following morning.

His last night at home, Muthkat had a peculiar dream. He was wandering winding, narrow hallways, not dissimilar to those of his home. A lone dwarf was dashing to and fro, ranting about worldview issues and asking Muthkat questions that he, surprisingly enough, was physically incapable of answering.

Not wanting much to do with the scene, Muthkat wandered on in search of an exit, of which he found none. He opened mostly every door he encountered, but they generally led to sparingly furnished rooms. Some of those in turn contained recently deceased farm animals. Muthkat unexplainably knew the full name of every one he found.
(https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/a1334463-8801-46e1-981e-b6460bcc4474/dg7jtek-2cf65cdc-8f1c-45cc-a3b9-e0a4ad0953e2.png?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOjdlMGQxODg5ODIyNjQzNzNhNWYwZDQxNWVhMGQyNmUwIiwiaXNzIjoidXJuOmFwcDo3ZTBkMTg4OTgyMjY0MzczYTVmMGQ0MTVlYTBkMjZlMCIsIm9iaiI6W1t7InBhdGgiOiJcL2ZcL2ExMzM0NDYzLTg4MDEtNDZlMS05ODFlLWI2NDYwYmNjNDQ3NFwvZGc3anRlay0yY2Y2NWNkYy04ZjFjLTQ1Y2MtYTNiOS1lMGE0YWQwOTUzZTIucG5nIn1dXSwiYXVkIjpbInVybjpzZXJ2aWNlOmZpbGUuZG93bmxvYWQiXX0.Ee0tH2QYQ_iF3BwkilWTllR0AQGCQyqTbLADTcrX6iY)(https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/a1334463-8801-46e1-981e-b6460bcc4474/dg7jteg-f1e1d7a3-da73-4079-b663-99043a0a9774.png?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOjdlMGQxODg5ODIyNjQzNzNhNWYwZDQxNWVhMGQyNmUwIiwiaXNzIjoidXJuOmFwcDo3ZTBkMTg4OTgyMjY0MzczYTVmMGQ0MTVlYTBkMjZlMCIsIm9iaiI6W1t7InBhdGgiOiJcL2ZcL2ExMzM0NDYzLTg4MDEtNDZlMS05ODFlLWI2NDYwYmNjNDQ3NFwvZGc3anRlZy1mMWUxZDdhMy1kYTczLTQwNzktYjY2My05OTA0M2EwYTk3NzQucG5nIn1dXSwiYXVkIjpbInVybjpzZXJ2aWNlOmZpbGUuZG93bmxvYWQiXX0.nURKsaFbI63j40OMUToaqxzAH-W-PueeK75jJVuR690)(https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/a1334463-8801-46e1-981e-b6460bcc4474/dg7jteb-ee70f59b-8a0b-43a5-80c9-af40e70692d5.png?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOjdlMGQxODg5ODIyNjQzNzNhNWYwZDQxNWVhMGQyNmUwIiwiaXNzIjoidXJuOmFwcDo3ZTBkMTg4OTgyMjY0MzczYTVmMGQ0MTVlYTBkMjZlMCIsIm9iaiI6W1t7InBhdGgiOiJcL2ZcL2ExMzM0NDYzLTg4MDEtNDZlMS05ODFlLWI2NDYwYmNjNDQ3NFwvZGc3anRlYi1lZTcwZjU5Yi04YTBiLTQzYTUtODBjOS1hZjQwZTcwNjkyZDUucG5nIn1dXSwiYXVkIjpbInVybjpzZXJ2aWNlOmZpbGUuZG93bmxvYWQiXX0.8erRmk8fqQ2_FCitmXM8a5SkRYTna3vuEJNlwy_NUtY)

After some consideration, he pocketed a dead rabbit by the name ‘Onul Tathkogan’ and continued on his trek, composing musical pieces along the way to pass time.

---

Muthkat was getting restless. It seemed like days had passed, and yet he was still walking in circles, unable to find an exit. In fact, he was quite certain there was none. He was trapped forever, him, a maddwarf and Onul Tathkogan.

(https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/a1334463-8801-46e1-981e-b6460bcc4474/dg7jtd3-07f2e7b5-660f-42cc-ad21-4617f5b83036.png?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOjdlMGQxODg5ODIyNjQzNzNhNWYwZDQxNWVhMGQyNmUwIiwiaXNzIjoidXJuOmFwcDo3ZTBkMTg4OTgyMjY0MzczYTVmMGQ0MTVlYTBkMjZlMCIsIm9iaiI6W1t7InBhdGgiOiJcL2ZcL2ExMzM0NDYzLTg4MDEtNDZlMS05ODFlLWI2NDYwYmNjNDQ3NFwvZGc3anRkMy0wN2YyZTdiNS02NjBmLTQyY2MtYWQyMS00NjE3ZjViODMwMzYucG5nIn1dXSwiYXVkIjpbInVybjpzZXJ2aWNlOmZpbGUuZG93bmxvYWQiXX0.Ml7P7UpXzrcwNdARy8I_3DQsY5dv4u4sNd_aFHTHyvw)
Muthkat woke up with a start. ‘Thankfully, t’was all just a dream’, he thought.

Onul’s unmoving eyes were peeking at him from his backpack.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: WonderPsycho on September 01, 2023, 04:50:16 pm

Quote from: Yarlig on September 01, 2023, 08:41:22 am

Onul’s unmoving eyes were peeking at him from his backpack.

well that was quite the start, and kind of funny too lol, I wonder where will this Plump Helmet bard go next..

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on September 01, 2023, 05:27:49 pm

Brilliant! Love the artwork. He looks somehow French.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on September 06, 2023, 05:04:44 am

How are you getting on, Yarlig?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Yarlig on September 06, 2023, 06:20:18 am

Life's been pretty hectic lately and I didn't manage to play at all for the past few days' and very little since I posted the story in fact. At least I do have some free time now' so I'll try to buckle down and have the save up tonight' or tomorrow at the latest if that's okay.

What I did do: I submitted the corpse of Onul 'Duskboats' Tathkogan to the Museum along with two figurines pertaining to his life events. I also checked the rabbit's history; apparently he settled in Princetones in 710' and died of old age in 735. Also' when I threw his corpse across a room' it was bleeding. Which means the new exhibit is a perfectly fresh corpse of a rabbit.. who died more than three centuries earlier.. inside an unreachable pocket dimension. Freaky stuff' that! I wonder if THEWORM has something to do with it?

Also' I rolled a die' got transformed into a giant jumping spider' and when I retransformed' my gait was bugged; got rid of most of my stuff' but still have my speed down by half just from carrying seven celeries. Got some beak dogs for movement and protection at least' so there's that.

Also also' thanks for all the positive reaction to Muthkat! He was a fun character to design' but playing PHM is bloody hard. They are really fragile' and their simplified body structure means any damage to a limb is permanent and results in a loss of function. If you want to play a proper PHM adventurer' sell everything' deck out in full iron armor' and max out your defensive skills from the start at the expense of everything else' you'll need that methinks.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on September 06, 2023, 07:40:19 am

It does sound like you have been playing on Hard Mode...

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: AvolitionBrit on September 06, 2023, 01:26:48 pm

Yeah for sure hard mode.

The Worm has preserved him well.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: dikbutdagrate on September 06, 2023, 03:12:51 pm

Is there an updated list of all the submissions thus far?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Lurker Z on September 06, 2023, 05:08:56 pm

Bralbaard updates this list (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8103939#msg8103939) regularly.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Bralbaard on September 07, 2023, 03:36:26 pm

Quote from: Yarlig on September 06, 2023, 06:20:18 am

He was a fun character to design' but playing PHM is bloody hard.

Quote from: kesperan on September 06, 2023, 07:40:19 am

It does sound like you have been playing on Hard Mode...

On the subject of hard mode characters. Here is the first part of the misadventures of my gremlin adventurer, Awi Priestnails. The gremlin language used is of course from Dikbutdagrate's gremlin language file (https://dffd.bay12games.com/file.php?id=16814), I apologize for any mispronunciations!

---------------------------
The Gremlin's Journey, Part 1
 
It has called me.
The voice from the deep has visited me in my dreams.
It still echoes in my head, hours after waking.
wavsla spaz-spoo'lab has come
wavsla spaz-spoo'lab.... “The time to vanish”

This changes everything.
The time to vanish.. The humans still remember the time of our appearance,  in the ninth century. Hundreds of us where there had been none before. The surface dwellers never figured out where we came from.
They will be similarly clueless when we will suddenly disappear.
Now that I think about it, While the humans sometimes laughed about our jokes, they never realy understood them either!

We had a good time here in Orid Xem. “Wavsla guz Pitikiem” A time for comedy and laughter. My three phantom spider pets have been the best companions for making jokes. I still remember how the dwarven baroness ended up falling in the temple pool after getting a jump scare from one of my spiders! Those were good times, but now these times must end. 

Like all gremlins will in the end,  I have been called to Sodor-Ngug , the gremlin name for Deephalls and what lies beyond. I’ve packed all my belongings and today we will leave. Sug Skinnyrewards, another gremlin, will join me on my journey.

First, we stopped by at the museum, the place where Sug worked. I’ve often asked her what her job was, and today she finally told me. Her job is being part of a museum submission, submission 43.
Her job sounds like a joke, but she was very serious about it, and was anxious about leaving. So we left something behind to make Sug feel less bad. First I tried to leave behind Ugo, one of the phantom spiders, but when we were a few urists from the museum I nearly jumped three feet in the sky when I found it sitting on my right shoulder again! Three feet is really high for a gremlin.
I have no idea how she got there so quickly. Phantom Spider are very good at this. It was clear it was a mistake to leave her behind.

We ended up submitting a fluffy wambler leather pouch as a submission instead.

Then we started the journey for real.  The journey to Sodor-Ngug would take many weeks, but we decided on some detours that would make it even longer, as we could not leave the world behind without seeing some of it's greatest sights. We decided the first stop would be Tello-Ngug-St”rngut-onk, Crownhall the City of Stone.

This was a great mistake.

There was something unnatural when we approached the castle, or maybe it is better to describe it as... too natural.

Dozens, no,  hundreds of wild animals roamed the surface near the castle. Peregrine falcons and  swarms of keas swooped from the sky, while massive herds of yaks and mountain goats roamed the surface in uncountable numbers, luckily none were aggressive to us. The surface was littered with the corpses of hundreds of dead animals. Had these beasts come here to die? What was this place?

Then suddenly it ambushed us! A dwarven dark one. It made an arcane gesture, and a dark myst envelloped us. I could barely see the tip of my own nose but I could hear the panicked cries of the cattle and animals through the fog. 
I tried to hide and crawl away from the evil magician. It worked, but poor Sug was not so lucky. I heard a few desperate cries for help and then the sounds of snapping bones. In terror I ran through the fog, nearly got trampled by animals that randomly appeared out of the fog, only to run straight past me. Finally I made it to the entrance of the fort.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/i2itMa2.png)

As soon as I entered, the fog was gone. Where the surface had been a chaotic mess of bleating and screaming animals, it was by comparison eerily quiet down here. I discovered I had not truly entered the fortress yet. There was a deep and massive precipice here. The floor of the chasm, deep below, was covered with endless rows of metal spears and weapons. Several ledges and bridges passed over this chasm to the proper entrance of the fortress, on the far end of the chasm. I expected they were trapped, like the chasm floor below.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/yySjpgf.png)

A gremlin though, is not afraid of traps.
Chauh'ngky-Dub-Rukku-“St!
Fear is for the large, the small are brave!
Or so I told myself. My legs still quivered from the horrible experiences on the surface above.

(https://i.imgur.com/tXekMUe.gif)

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: TheFlame52 on September 07, 2023, 03:59:21 pm

very cool art as usual

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Yarlig on September 07, 2023, 04:20:57 pm

Great (not so much for Sug) first entry' this one. It's nice to get some gremlin lore. Very evocative artwork' too!

Here is the save: https://drive.google.com/file/d/14eh0Nhte0XLkhaW6GeqOFvv7vLzkwZsQ/view?usp=sharing

Sorry for the delay at the end' I didn't do much of what I originally set out to do but at least I managed to wrap it up somewhat. After an early scare I did my best to avoid dangerous situations' rather successfully. Muthkat survived his journey' actually none the worse for wear' and retired in Diptramples' just next door to the Museum. Four of his nine beak dogs survived too' but they disappeared near the end.

Fortresses visited:

• Mosshill the Mines of Iron
• Thiefguild
• Free the Eggs
• Stasismanors (surface only)
• Watchfulpalace

Also' plump helmet men can't pet animals' which is just sad.

Also also' please sign me up for another turn!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: AvolitionBrit on September 07, 2023, 05:50:24 pm

I shall pick this up tomorrow after work. Looking forward to seeing what the current state of the world is.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: WonderPsycho on September 07, 2023, 07:23:38 pm

Quote from: Eric Blank on August 31, 2023, 02:12:33 am

Oh yeah, add me to the list again too!

Don't think Bralbaard has noticed this but Eric also asked to be added back to the turn list again too, just thought to make sure he was aware

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: AvolitionBrit on September 13, 2023, 05:23:27 am

Quick one, with my current turn had someone turn intelligent undead and now dispute having super strength they are unable to wear a sock without being over encumbered and slowed. Anyone know why this is or what caused it and if it can be fixed. Tested by removing it and the second I wasn't an intelligent undead. I was able to carry my gear again.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Eric Blank on September 13, 2023, 04:55:59 pm

Must have reached the critical maximum in strength where it wraps around to basically counting as zero. That bug's been around for a long, long time actually.

You're over-leveled :P

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: AvolitionBrit on September 13, 2023, 05:11:04 pm

Ah that was it, just set myself to Abysmal strength and it fixed

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on September 15, 2023, 08:34:12 am

How's it going Avo? Think you will be finished this weekend?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: dikbutdagrate on September 15, 2023, 06:49:43 pm

Arch-bard Bralbaard, that was extremely cool seeing the language get some much needed use, after collecting so much dust. Hopefully some of the longer more elaborate strings show up in future write ups if you decide to keep using it.

Quote from: Bralbaard on September 07, 2023, 03:36:26 pm

Chauh'ngky-Dub-Rukku-“St!
Fear is for the large, the small are brave!

I saw Chauh'ngky and I was nearly certain that specifically meant "big." And it does, apparently. But it also means large! Ha, I forgot they're exactly the same, which was intentional. Its a thing not at all dissimilar to the Roman use of the word "barbariae", which served as a gross simplification for peoples and cultures foreign to them. However in the case of the gremlins, to the analytical and discerning gremlins, mind you, the word can be used to signify an increased scope of importance surrounding a particular creature of historical note, but far more often is used in day to day speech as a pejorative label, snickered by grimacing, razor-mouthed, bobbing-head menace, to signify that an observed creature, or object, is not only large, but also probably "stinky", hence why they grimace or smile while saying it.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Chaunky (chunk; chunky) - As in the word used in Facebook cat groups, when referring to large cats.

Title: Re: The Museum III: Adventure mode succession game
Post by: AvolitionBrit on September 15, 2023, 11:37:01 pm

Here is the save: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1SYNoUrSgr8LQjnJhSYJueJC3b1c6SoJ2/view?usp=sharing

My submission

71: The Corpse of Nguslu Thiefwarned The cowardly leader of The Most Sin was found hiding in the woods. His extremely mangled corpse now stands before you(Submitted by AvolitionBrit)
(https://i.imgur.com/I4AHdhQ.png)

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on September 16, 2023, 02:15:27 pm

I've downloaded the save.

Seems that you've been busy. 14,000 goblin kills?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: WonderPsycho on September 16, 2023, 05:18:30 pm

Quote from: kesperan on September 16, 2023, 02:15:27 pm

I've downloaded the save.

Seems that you've been busy. 14,000 goblin kills?

seems like Avolition has been on a goblin slaughtering spree..

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on September 17, 2023, 10:05:20 am

I seem to have run into an odd bug.

My follower has cloned himself. I rescued a prisoner who was a performer. He then morphed into a woodcutter.

I arrive at a fort and now I have the performer AND woodcutter versions separately. They have different unit IDs but reference the same Histfig ID.

Should it be OK to exterminate one of them without breaking anything?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: AvolitionBrit on September 17, 2023, 11:43:01 am

Quote from: WonderPsycho on September 16, 2023, 05:18:30 pm

Quote from: kesperan on September 16, 2023, 02:15:27 pm

I've downloaded the save.

Seems that you've been busy. 14,000 goblin kills?

seems like Avolition has been on a goblin slaughtering spree..

Indeed

Also put me back on the turn order please

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on September 17, 2023, 02:05:02 pm

I might have to start my turn over.

I have encountered a bug where I am stuck in travel mode. It doesn't matter where in the world I exit travel mode, the game instantly crashes.

Very annoying.

Edit: I fast travelled to the nearest player fort and tried to exit travel mode - it spawned me as a forgotten beast underground. WTF? Any ideas anyone?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: TheFlame52 on September 17, 2023, 02:22:41 pm

Enjoy your new Forgotten Beast adventure!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Eric Blank on September 17, 2023, 02:27:38 pm

Probably have to restart, yeah. Sounds like something that would happen when using the bodyswap command sometimes tbh

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Bralbaard on September 17, 2023, 02:29:13 pm

Sounds like both could the duplicated companion and this could be because of the same issue, the game somehow mixing up Histfig ID's? I agree with Eric, the bodyswap command could be a cause.
Not sure if a restart is needed, or it is fixible. Do you know the original ID of your character?
 

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on September 17, 2023, 02:32:16 pm

I found a backup from yesterday, will try again from there.

If I can't find away to get rid of the duplicated companion, I will start from scratch.

Edit: The backup did not work. Still bugged.

I loaded up Avo's save again and found this, before starting my turn again:

(https://i.imgur.com/fjn4A46.png)

The companion causing problems is cloned before I interact with them. That means that my plan to rescue and return this prisoner is doomed. Guess I will just kill him instead.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: WonderPsycho on September 17, 2023, 06:29:19 pm

Quote from: kesperan on September 17, 2023, 02:32:16 pm

I found a backup from yesterday, will try again from there.

If I can't find away to get rid of the duplicated companion, I will start from scratch.

Edit: The backup did not work. Still bugged.

I loaded up Avo's save again and found this, before starting my turn again:

(https://i.imgur.com/fjn4A46.png)

The companion causing problems is cloned before I interact with them. That means that my plan to rescue and return this prisoner is doomed. Guess I will just kill him instead.

no no, it's a feature, the person you were trying to rescue somehow accidently cloned themselves with clone magic

lmao

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on September 17, 2023, 06:49:35 pm

Restarted and everything seems smoother now; I suspect bodyswap was indeed the reason. Have made up the progress I lost!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: WonderPsycho on September 18, 2023, 01:59:03 am

Quote from: kesperan on September 17, 2023, 06:49:35 pm

Restarted and everything seems smoother now; I suspect bodyswap was indeed the reason. Have made up the progress I lost!

sounds good

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Eric Blank on September 18, 2023, 11:58:27 am

Well that's good.

Although I doubt somehow that the cloning issue is bodyswap related. I was more thinking the swapping to a beast was. No idea what causes clobing in this day and age. Used to be a "feature" in the first museum. Remember that poor kobold everyone butchered over and over?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Maloy on September 18, 2023, 03:21:11 pm

I think I had like three sets of clones during my last Stalkmatches turn? lol I needed them for a raid on a necromancer tower though so it was fine

They all died terribly anyway so it all panned out fine

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on September 20, 2023, 08:04:47 am

Don't you hate it when you lose 4 hours of play due to a crash?

.... save often!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: AvolitionBrit on September 20, 2023, 01:17:59 pm

Quote from: kesperan on September 20, 2023, 08:04:47 am

Don't you hate it when you lose 4 hours of play due to a crash?

.... save often!

Yep

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on September 25, 2023, 11:12:25 pm

Sorry about the delay - busy weekend.

The file is too big even with non-compressed saves and best archiving. So here is a link via Google drive.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1C61vl0IDyqjLiH7ZJFv5RmVoZlu62kbZ/view?usp=sharing

Let me know if it doesn't work.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Lurker Z on September 27, 2023, 08:37:14 am

I've got the save.

I haven't written any wiki articles in the past week or so because something in my computer got borked and Legends Viewer no longer works.

(https://i.imgur.com/YE8wtqm.png)

Spoiler: Error (click to show/hide)

See the end of this message for details on invoking
just-in-time (JIT) debugging instead of this dialog box.

************** Exception Text **************
System.IO.IOException: The file exists.

   at System.IO.__Error.WinIOError(Int32 errorCode, String maybeFullPath)
   at System.IO.Path.InternalGetTempFileName(Boolean checkHost)
   at LegendsViewer.Controls.HTML.HtmlPrinter.BitmapToHtml(Bitmap image)
   at LegendsViewer.Controls.HTML.WorldStatsPrinter.PrintMap()
   at LegendsViewer.Controls.HTML.WorldStatsPrinter.PrintWorldInfo()
   at LegendsViewer.Controls.HTML.WorldStatsPrinter.Print()
   at LegendsViewer.Controls.HTML.HtmlPrinter.GetHtmlPage()
   at LegendsViewer.Controls.HTML.HtmlControl.GetControl()
   at LegendsViewer.Controls.DwarfTabPage.LoadPageControl()
   at LegendsViewer.Controls.DwarfTabControl.Navigate(ControlOption controlOption, Object navigateObject)
   at LegendsViewer.FrmLegendsViewer.AfterLoad(World loadedWorld)
   at LegendsViewer.FileLoader.BackgroundWorkerOnRunWorkerCompleted(Object sender, RunWorkerCompletedEventArgs e)
   at System.ComponentModel.BackgroundWorker.OnRunWorkerCompleted(RunWorkerCompletedEventArgs e)


************** Loaded Assemblies **************
mscorlib
    Assembly Version: 4.0.0.0
    Win32 Version: 4.8.4110.0 built by: NET48REL1LAST_B
    CodeBase: file:///C:/Windows/Microsoft.NET/Framework64/v4.0.30319/mscorlib.dll
----------------------------------------
LegendsViewer
    Assembly Version: 1.20.8.375
    Win32 Version: 1.20.08.375
    CodeBase: file:///C:/Users/Lurker/Downloads/LegendsViewer-1.20.08/LegendsViewer.exe
----------------------------------------
System.Windows.Forms
    Assembly Version: 4.0.0.0
    Win32 Version: 4.8.4110.0 built by: NET48REL1LAST_B
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System
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    CodeBase: file:///C:/Windows/Microsoft.Net/assembly/GAC_MSIL/System/v4.0_4.0.0.0__b77a5c561934e089/System.dll
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System.Drawing
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    Win32 Version: 4.8.3761.0 built by: NET48REL1
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System.Core
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ObjectListView
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    Win32 Version: 2.9.1.0
    CodeBase: file:///C:/Users/Lurker/Downloads/LegendsViewer-1.20.08/ObjectListView.DLL
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    Win32 Version: 0.64.3890.29348
    CodeBase: file:///C:/Users/Lurker/Downloads/LegendsViewer-1.20.08/SevenZipSharp.DLL
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CommonMark
    Assembly Version: 0.1.0.0
    Win32 Version: 0.1.0.0
    CodeBase: file:///C:/Users/Lurker/Downloads/LegendsViewer-1.20.08/CommonMark.DLL
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Microsoft.mshtml
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Jdenticon
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Jdenticon.Gdi
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************** JIT Debugging **************
To enable just-in-time (JIT) debugging, the .config file for this
application or computer (machine.config) must have the
jitDebugging value set in the system.windows.forms section.
The application must also be compiled with debugging
enabled.

For example:

<configuration>
    <system.windows.forms jitDebugging="true" />
</configuration>

When JIT debugging is enabled, any unhandled exception
will be sent to the JIT debugger registered on the computer
rather than be handled by this dialog box.

I've tried anything I could think of, I've googled it, I even did a system restore from before it bugged out, nothing changed. LV appears to not be supported anymore, to the point that the old file (https://dffd.bay12games.com/file.php?id=11455) wasn't even claimed. I haven't tried Legends Browser yet, hopefully that one at least works, otherwise I'll be running blind.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on September 27, 2023, 12:31:25 pm

It’s still working for me, with the exception of some entities like Moldath who it can’t display.

No clue what’s causing the error. I assume you’ve tried uninstalling and reinstalling?

Hope you get it sorted. Good luck with your turn!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Lurker Z on September 27, 2023, 04:28:08 pm

I think a borked update for Legends of Runeterra borked some of my registry. It's definitely from my operating system because I tried fresh installs too. What would probably fix it is if I reinstall Windows, but I just don't feel going through all the hassle and all the updates that I have to comb over after a fresh install.

Hm, that's a thought, maybe I should install a low maintenance operating system and try to run it from there.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Maloy on September 28, 2023, 05:53:23 am

I've had this happen a few times. Only luck I've had with legends viewer is if I use the legends viewer program that comes with the LNP
All other ones give me this error. I assume its a problem on my end and not the designers though

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on September 28, 2023, 03:00:01 pm

Before I forget, can I be added to the turn list again please Bralbaard?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on September 29, 2023, 10:56:04 am

"Moldath VI" - Turn 132

The Return of the Champion: Curse of the Red Thirst

13th Sandstone 1043

I stand up slowly, bones creaking with age. My long white hair drapes around me like a cloak, as I clutch my robe in blistered, gnarled hands. I venture out of the sanctum and wander the halls of this place, both familiar and forgotten. I bump into a polar bear man, wearing the proud regalia of a General. The merest flicker of recognition dances across my face. I know this bear?

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/btje6Ao.png)

My family, yes, they live here too! What of... young... Stukos? No, Degel! The new baron. Of course. I must gain my bearings, find what troubles the citizens under my care, for am I not still their Champion? Or perhaps they do not need me anymore? The Scholarly Manors? I scoff. Not a threat in three hundred years, not since I tracked the last of their generals down and took their snivelling heads.

Degel, yes. My grandson. The Certain Rights. His clean-shaved head gleams in the dark candlelight. He greets me nervously, but warmly none the same. His adamantine scimitar has seen some battles, and he has the bearing of a proud warrior. Not like that useless lump Stukos. My mind wanders.... Stukos? Stukos is no feckless child. Not for a long time. Where is he?

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/gXcGxZ3.png)

Goblins? The Deceiver? Yes, I suppose they remain a threat. But... where is everyone? This place used to be a riot of sound. The clash of the forges, the murmuring of dwarves at work and song. I must find out what happened when I was... when I was not myself. What year is it?

The 43rd year of the new millenium. Ha. I suppose to me, time is different now. Since the dragon was slain and banished, I feel a peace I never knew was possible. A few decades is meaningless to an ageless being. Though my body is wrinkled and my hair is white, my soul is free.
I walk slowly but with purpose. Where is Stukos? Or those damned elves of his.

Sodel. The statue is a fair likeness. My mind drifts again. She never did love me. How could she? But she never complained. I was never a good husband, but she gave me that boy. I remember the look on her face, as I raised her in undeath. She looked saddened; as if I had denied her her rest. I haven't seen her since. Does she still wander Orid Xem? Does she care for her child? I suppose it is different. Once one has passed through the veil the mortal attachements somehow feel... thin.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/153v3dm.png)

I can't find the damned boy anywhere. I find my old armour, and trinkets, stacked neatly on a pedestal in my old quarters. I find the elven siblings, Evala and Kifino, but not their father who brought me the last secret. I find Tautaches. I remember this. A sword, made by my own hand. Its handle bound with demon leather, and etched upon it fables of the first king of The Page of Tiredness. I feel a certain affinity with them. They too were lost in time for a while, conjured back by the Cult of Dishmab. I remember King Atir Lobsterseals, lover of Hydras, strong as a Roc. But he has gone too. His child is the Queen now, or so I believe.

The sword, yes. It is not Ropecrafts, Godenrigoth, granted by the divine hand of Ala himself. But perhaps it will have a chance to carve a legacy of its own. I also find a shield, lying on the floor, which I believe was owned by Stukos. Where is that blasted boy?

I leave the Citadel through the Westgate. And there I see him. He is different than I remember him. No fat carefree child, his chestnut hair is flecked with grey.  A proud dwarf, a warrior, a necromancer. His flesh is blistered by magic and he has a grim determination in his eyes tempered only by a compassion that is both unfamiliar and terrifying. He is a better dwarf than me. Though perhaps he lacks the steel to do what must be done?

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/DYJTEou.png)

He wears armour of mastercrafted blistered metal and strapped to his back is an enormous greataxe. He greets me with a degree of trepidation. I must find out why the forgehalls are cold.  He remains obsessed by the goblin general of the Deceiver. Goblins are no real danger, I tell him. Not against dwarven arms and ingenuity. What of the people? Our people?

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/co2td8t.png)

He is sheepish, and then he gets uppity about me stealing his shield. I found it on the floor in my quarters you daft oaf! I relinquish it back to him. He tells me Queen Zon left, headed east. He doesn't know where. Many of the dwarves of The Eternal Citadel followed her, never to return. Only thirty or so remain. He suggests travelling to Keyconjure, and asking the people there for news. It is not a bad suggestion. I head out via the southern road; Keyconjure is not very far.

14th Sandstone 1043

Outside the vault of Coverashes is a badly injured gremlin. Her spine is mangled. She claims to be a lady, Zur Riverpillars. I consider snapping her frail little neck and drinking her blood, but a gremlin would not provide any worthwhile sustenance.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/amVTtZT.png)

I press on, satisfying myself with the blood of a few meagre badgers. The blood is weak, but I feel some fraction of my vigor return nonetheless. I arrive at Ashcinders before dawn. Curiously I find a human prisoner?

He appears to be called Aloc Drillnamed, a human of the Realm of Silver. How he happened to be a prisoner here is not clear... his only memory is of fighting the elves of The Squeezing Ford at Feedforded in a great battle. He was taken in grown-wooden chains by The Meadow of Ferns. Feedforded... that is a long way from here. He must have escaped and gone wandering? There is something otherworldly of this human. He seems to shift and shimmer, as if in two places at once.

The poor human is clothed in leathers and wields a well-crafted bronze halberd, yet claims to be a performer.  He longs to return to Feedforded, where his son resides. He travels with me, retching on my miasma. I fear that things may not end well for this fool. He seems horrified when I drain a goblin of blood, but seems quite content to follow me if I can take him to his son. That does feel better. My flesh is restored, my mind sharper. We head southwards, to Keyconjure.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/vrcE0WQ.png)

15th Sandstone 1043

We are ambushed by wolves. Aloc shimmers and becomes a woodcutter. His bronze halberd is gone, replaced by two knives. He looks different too. Gone is his crinkled hair. What is this madness?

Keyconjure seems overrun with yaks and wolverines, yet there are a few dwarves who still call this place home. We find the Baron Momuz in the meeting hall. He is the brother of Queen Zon Dippedlanterns, expelled under mysterious circumstance many years ago. I have to say, he smells rather ... moosy.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/vjFFmb9.png)

He tells me of his younger brother, Thikut. I remember him. They called him the Last Prince. The last son of King Atir Lobsterseals and Queen Dastost Standardcrown. Momuz indicates that Thikut has died under mysterious circumstances in a place called Icefury. I have not heard of this place. Perhaps this is where the Queen has fled to? I sense a malevolence at work. I will find Icefury and discover what has happened to my people. Sadly, Momuz does not know how to get to Icefury. If I had to start somewhere, I would guess the Tundra of Heroes.

Very well, I will do my best to return the schizophrenic woodcutter/performer to his child in Feedforded, an old elven forest retreat sacked by humans of the Realm of Silver, and on the way we will explore for clues to the location of Icefury. We leave the weremoose Baron to his devices, and move on. We have two options; head back north and then east to the human lands, or skirt the sea to the south. I suggest we head for the southern passage. Aloc is in no minds to disagree.

16th Sandstone 1043

Near Falsetower, we are ambushed by an undead scorpion creature. Progeny of the evil Scorpion King? Tautaches cleaves the menace in twain. We press on, north-easterly now, towards the lands of Omon Obin, the Realm of Silver. I wonder, does the line of Gloryage still run true? In Waxflight we find signs of battle, and a Blighted Thrall priest! The ghastly priest bashes his comrades skull into fragments with his warhammer, then turns on Aloc. Things go from bad to worse when the beast sinks its rotten fangs into Aloc's lower leg.

The colour drains from his face and a gurgling scream erupts from his throat. I sigh. How predictable. I really am not very good at escorting prisoners. I take Aloc to the city of Strifefularmors. Perhaps the goblin bandits and priests there can end his misery before I am forced to?

Aloc eats the first priest while ignoring the second, who is clearly a necromancer. The goblin scum start crawling out the woodwork and he makes short work of thralling one of them too. My plan does not quite work out. Aloc is clearly the better fighter, his few days of slaying wolves and dingoes paying dividends. I am forced to take him down. I have the sense to burn his corpse. I wonder if his performer alter ego will appear now that the woodcutter half is gone?

I press on, towards the northern cities of the Realm, and the Tundra.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/mZT3ZRw.png)

20th Sandstone 1043

Pleatedtongs is a town to the south of mighty Scarletbronze. Within I find a most unfortunate priest. Shanum Cloutdragon lies unconscious, her guts spilled, her body mangled. She is missing both legs and her left arm. How is this wretch still alive? Ala only knows what this priest did to deserve such a fate.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/ZC59tMN.png)

The undead roam Scarletbronze. I throw a copper bolt at a shambling rotten slayer and it collapses in a heap. Perhaps there are more fiends to slay here? The abbot who runs the keep is a necromancer, a miner by trade, her flowing white hair betraying her age. There are no ghouls here, and no corpses for the necromancer to abuse. I leave, heading ever northwards.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/ERUj3MB.png)

21st Sandstone 1043

Swordgleamed, an ancient bandit stronghold. Rumours abound that a new force has taken this city. I will investigate. My heart leaps.. dwarves! And yet, something else too. The sounds of battle!

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/u3QXlvH.png)

I turn a corner and am confronted by a hideous freak, the fresh blood of a dwarf smeared on its face. It calls itself "The groom of the howling freak Ngotolodroz" and it hungers for dwarven flesh. I raise its victim as a Fell One and he uses his magic against it, while I cleave its skull. There are more of these beasts nearby, I hear them cackle and moan!

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/GnrR7yx.png)

The tunnels underneath the city are bursting to the seams with corpses of every kind, some slain by my own hand over two centuries ago. I find a freshly murdered forgotten beast, its blood smearing the rough cavern walls. More cackling. What demonic pit is this? I must find the freaks before more of my kin are slain.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/ByG03ON.png)

Travelling up the staircase at the end of the tunnel, I find myself in the freak's lair! At least a half dozen of them leap upon me! Is this... some kind of a temple?

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/dlB0ZY2.png)

Silently watching me slay the freaks is an ancient horror with an air of venerance. This is the howling freak prophet Mab Sensedsteed, and it greets me warmly. The devil has watched me slay its kin, and thanks me for my service? What madness have I uncovered here? As I wander outside I realise that this is in fact the central keep of Swordgleamed. A mangled freak corpse lies next to the corpse of a llama, Hatchetrecluses.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/fR08gNG.png)

It seems like the freaks have slain almost every dwarf in this city, and their leader, the so called Prophet, chats cordially to me as I stand before her, stained in the gore of her children. She is surprisingly chatty. It appears that Queen Zon has succumbed to vampirism in Icefury, in the Tundra of Heroes. Galka, the protector of the Gloryages, has taken up residence in Realmspire, and Bralbaard Hammerfishes has returned to life in Weatherpondered?

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/hNpMwtt.png)

I feel the rage boil inside me at the carnage this freak has wrought against my kin. I savagely bite her head from her shoulders, her lifeless corpse drops to the floor with a wet thud. I will check to see if any dwarves survived the onslaught. A short distance from the keep I sense the warm blood of the living. An obese mayor cowers in the snow, clutching a barrel of ale. I sense the fear in his throat but I mean him no harm.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/JrKxC7U.png)

I assure him the threat from the night creatures is over, though I sense a pyrrhic victory. I find no other living souls in this once bustling fortress.

24th Sandstone 1043

I arrive in Entrancegrape, where Stukos tells me the old human necromancer Lurker has made his home. I wonder if he remembers me? The few humans I find here do not know the way to Icefury, but I am nearly in the Tundra. I cannot be far. In the tundra proper, a thick blanket of snow coats the earth, and herds of yaks huddle together for warmth.  I stumble across a small encampment. The linen tent is empty but the fire still burns; whoever stopped here cannot have gone far.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/SRoTBHk.png)

After searching for some time, I spot an undead dwarf. He appears to be a blowgunner, and has had extensive surgery. His cow leather armour is emblazened with an image of nightmares - the Page of Tiredness!
Surely this dwarf must hail from Icefury? The city where the vampire queen fled to? Sadly he does not wish to talk to me.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/6ZfyVgx.png)

Finally, I spot an icy structure nestled in the snow. Polar bears roam around the outskirts as if scouting for enemies. They seem well trained by the dwarves here. I wonder if I will meet any of my brethren? Will they recall how I kept them safe from harm? Or are they in thrall to the Vampire Queen?

The first dwarf I encounter in this frozen place is a metalsmith, Rakust Rampartbegins. He is muscular. I eye him suspiciously. He wears a copper helm emblazoned with the symbol of The Knowing Deceiver. I hope he has looted this from the dead hands of a goblin. I notice something else. A... smell. The smell of death. He is thirsty. The fiend does not even dare to deny that he is a vampire!

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/BwoEC6h.png)

So, it is not just the Queen. All of them have fallen, knowingly drinking the blood of a cursed vampire, Ingish Troublehonors. How many vampires cower behind the icy walls of this place? I must root them out, and purge the tainted to free my brethren.

I am beset on all sides by suspiciously muscular metalsmiths. Icefury itself seems carved from the living ice, and the corpses of many goblins show that it has faced deadly assaults from the foul Most Sin. I will not harm a single dwarf who refused to drink the blood of this foul Ingish. A panicked necromancer metalsmith gestures and the goblin corpse pile writhes and moves. This is all I need. Thankfully the mass of goblin limbs is more interested in molesting the local wildlife and are quickly dealt with.

I am heartened that there are some untainted dwarves here. The militia captain Cerol Peacelabored rallies to my cause.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/8jcE7yF.png)

He tells me the amusing and unlikely story of how his grandfather was beaten to death by a giant bat wielding a llama wool coat in The Eternal Citadel. I descend into the fortress proper, slaying the thirsting night fiends where I find them. I encounter some baleful wolves, no doubt tamed by the blood cultists. Friendly faces are few and far between, most of them necromancers who I presume refused to partake of Ingish's gift. In the crafthalls, a few objects catch my attention. An intricate bone figurine of the Eagle-Crab of Contests, my son's axe. And of Luredbuster, the blistered metal spear used by Evala Silverthorn to kill my nemesis, the dragon. There are even a few passable likenesses of myself!

I press on, befriending a war polar bear. Together we travel through each room and floor of the fort, slaying every vampire we can find. Of the queen there is as yet no sign.

Finally, in the bowels of the fearsome fortress, I find her. The Vampire Queen Zon Dippedlanterns.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/sDzXPzw.png)

It pains me. I knew her father well, and we lived and thrived together in The Eternal Citadel. But this insanity must end. I take her head with Tautarches. Her husband, King Consort Tobul, I also remember from his time in the Citadel, where he was a weaponsmith of some renown, and a proud scholar and necromancer. He does not take well to his wife's murder, vampire though she was. Queen Zon has one last trick up her sleeve. Tobul gestures, the corpse of Zon is raised as a wight, and immediately vanishes using her new-found death magic.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/keXR9r2.png)

For an ordinary mortal this would spell certain doom, but I have faced these vanishing Hollow Stalkers before. I immediately leap out of the way of her barrage of unseen attacks. I heft a huge marble boulder and throw it where my vampire sense is telling me she should be. I hear a satisfying thud as the marble boulder splits her shimmering corpse apart. I leave the former King Consort to his grief. There are more blood-fiends to slay.

Deep in the forgehalls, I meet my sternest test yet. Bim Dimpleplank the Stern Leopard is a legendary warrior who I know from The Eternal Citadel. He was a fearsome and honourable dwarf with deadly martial skills, now elevated to supernatural level by his vampiric blood. He wields a mere iron sword and copper shield and yet managed again and again to strike blows against my adamantine plate and blistered mail. I manage to disarm him, only to see him pull a spear from his pack. He dodges every blow, or blocks with his shield. I have scarcely seen a warrior so skilled before.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/2d6a7jL.png)

Luckily for me, he soon makes a mistake - he lunges at me with a clumsy shield strike. I catch the shield mid-attack and wrench it from his grasp. He is now defenceless but shows no glimmer of fear. A cave fish spearman joins the fray from nowhere, distracting the vampire swordmaster long enough for Tautaches to sever his neck. He falls, lifeless, to the floor, crimson blood pooling on the flagstones of the forgehall. I pity such a skilled and powerful dwarf fell to darkness.

I begin scouring the dark caverns under the fort, crawling with vampires and cave fish men. I see an enormous Jabberer tear a vampire limb from limb - I claim its bones and hide as a prize. A forgotten beast breathing flames causes carnage in the thick moss of the caverns, the screams of burning vampires fill the air alongside acrid smoke. It too meets its fate.

Finally, I feel I have routed out as many vampires as I can find, and I leave this place with a small wolf companion. I have Zon's battered and headless corpse in my bag - I intend to inter her in her rightful Royal Mausoleaum in The Eternal Citadel, beside the bones of her father and mother. Now I shall travel onwards to The Museum to leave one more submission, before returning home. Perhaps I can help rebuild the Citadel now the vampire threat has been put down?

26th Sandstone 1043

We head northwest, Logem the wolf and I. We pass the abandoned tower of Combinedinsight, and the ruined fort of Dyzeal. Our next stop is Realmspire. I have heard that Galka Kinddrummed is there, and more importantly, my son told me there are demons abroad, and small devious gnomes!
On the outskirts, in the tundra, we encounter demons and gnomes engaged in some terrible battle. Gouts of flames and the squeals of the dying fill the air. The demons appear to be fighting amongst themselves, the little gnomes caught in the crossfire. How bizarre. The little eager wolf foolishly runs into the fray and has his head gored off by a hummingbird demon. I guess I will have to sort this mess out.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/OslfkVd.png)

The smoke soon clears, the demonfire melting the snow away to reveal the sandy obsidian below. The great corpses of half a dozen demons litter the tundra, the unnatural flames of the still-burning corpses of dark gnomes casting eerie shadows on the snow.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/GEdPVGu.png)

Yet more demons meet their fate before I arrive at the gates of Realmspire, to find the place crawling with wild beasts. Goats, keas, wolverines and eagles scatter in fear as I stride towards the entrance. I do not see any human faces as I stride through this unholy temple to Gopet the Putrid Cyst. Elk dart away as I approach. I find a strange weasel demon wearing clothing - he quickly loses his head, dropping a leech fiend hair bracelet as he falls. I travel on through a maze of prison cells, and find an essay by Minkot Humidclasps, my old master who taught me the ways of the scholar in that hellish Ancientlibrary.

In the deep crypts I come across a lone human female necromancer, Artha Peacefulsong. Her name is strangely familiar though I cannot quite place it. In her hand is a silver scimitar, The Song of Peace. She appears to be a Fell One, and ignores my attempts at conversation. I wonder if she is in league with the dark prince of the Omon Obin who created this hellish spire?

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/dnE6TTA.png)

Further down I delve, entering a huge open church. The place is coated in thick dusty spiderwebs. I spot Irka Tinsabre, the Heir of Silver as he styled himself. He declares he is called Adil Padstrong, despite all evidence to the contrary. He does not seem to know if Galka resides here. He seems somewhat mournful, stuck here alone in his dingy temple.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/aQqjXAM.png)

I descend one of the cinnabar spires and find myself in an odd sepulcher, amidst demonic carnage. I spot a familiar figure, the corpse of Artha Peacefulsong! She must have run off to fight the demons herself. I raise her as a Hollow Hunter and she is immediately incinerated by a foul demon, falling to her knees as she explodes in a shower of ash.

I slay as many demons as I can. Of Artha there are no remains - I cannot find any trace of her, let alone her artifact scimitar. It seems this place is built in hell itself, and scores of demons surge outside. A lucky black fiend engulfs me in flame. The fat of my body bubbles as it sloughs away, forming a pool of boiling grease at my feet. I gather my "dwarf grease" into a barrel - you never know when it might come in useful.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/2PQwcjR.png)

I find a masterful silver shield, wielded by Irka himself. I stow it in my pack and head back up the creaking narrow staircase. I travel this time to the top of the fortress, in my hopes of finding Galka. In a broad church atop the twisted spire I find him. He appears to be imprisoned here... I am perplexed. I thought he was an ally of the line of Anthrad. Why would Irka incarcerate the Royal Chamberlain?

I ask him if he will join me, and head back to Weatherponder, or indeed Silverthrone, and he seems reluctant to leave. What hold does Tinsabre have over him? I trade him something I took a long time ago. Wavetwist, the Deep Sorrow of Silver. A locket of hair of Bekdil Wavetwist. He accepts it solemly, wordlessly. If he is truly content to stay in this demon-infested hellhole, then Ala help him.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/79Fz6Vc.png)

27th Sandstone 1043

I visit Stockadeoutrage, and meet the Queen of the Staff of Kissing. I gift her some silver armour that I have collected from many different goblins I have slain. It suits her. I craft a leather hood and cloak from demon skins I obtained in Realmspire. I head northwest, to the old Museum.

28th Sandstone 1043

At the museum, I gift the skull of Mab Sensedsteed the Howling Freak Prophet, as a reminder of her and her kin's slaughter of the brave dwarves of Swordgleamed.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/JXfqs97.png)

4th Timber 1043

After a particularly uneventful journey, I arrive back at The Eternal Citadel. I place the mangled corpse of the vampire Queen Zon Dippedlanterns in the steel sarcophagus that was crafted for her decades ago. Beside it is one for her husband Tobul, who still resides in Icefury. I meet up with Degel and Stukos and tell them of my tales. It will take time for the wounds of my people to heal, but now the vampiric cancer has been excised, perhaps we can flourish once more.

A strange mood occurs to me. I gather the congealed dwarf fat that was burned from my flesh by demonfire in Realmspire. In a convoluted process, I render the fat into tallow, burn ash at a woodburner, and create a bucket of lye. A short while later, I am the proud owner of Orid Xem's first bar of Dwarf Soap, hand crafted from my own fat. Perhaps this is a more interesting exhibit for the Museum than the skull of a howling freak prophet? Alas, I have no desire to make that journey currently. I settle into my temple, brooding over balance and blight once more.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/NSySO8Y.png)

Fortresses Visited:

Swordgleamed the Ageless Tomb
Icefury

Museum Submission: 72: The skull of the howling freak Mab Sensedsteed, night troll prophet and doom of Swordgleamed the Ageless Tomb. Submitted by the Blind Sadist and Champion of The Eternal Citadel, Moldath Mournsaints.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: TheFlame52 on September 29, 2023, 02:56:49 pm

Lol, dwarf soap. An excellent adventure as always.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on September 29, 2023, 03:44:14 pm

The more I think about it, the dwarf soap would have been a much more unique Museum submission. Oh well, there’s always next turn.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Maloy on September 29, 2023, 08:47:06 pm

Good to see those howling freaks got some work done before getting culled


Maybe gonna have to resurrect them and give them some armor and weapons though?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Eric Blank on September 30, 2023, 12:13:30 am

You slaughtered my whole fort, eh? I didn't expect a holy purging, i would have trained them better. Too much metalworking and not enough killing.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on September 30, 2023, 01:33:29 am

Quote from: Maloy on September 29, 2023, 08:47:06 pm

Good to see those howling freaks got some work done before getting culled


Maybe gonna have to resurrect them and give them some armor and weapons though?

They did slaughter 50+ dwarves in Bralbaards fort but they were kind of flimsy…

Quote from: Eric Blank on September 30, 2023, 12:13:30 am

You slaughtered my whole fort, eh? I didn't expect a holy purging, i would have trained them better. Too much metalworking and not enough killing.

The military veteran dwarf was quite hard to beat, and they all seemed to be militia dwarves with steel gear.

I didn’t kill all of them, just the evil vampires. There’s still some left in Icefury, I’m sure.

Ingish the troublemaker migrated to my fort, and was banished to go and live with the weremoose Baron in Keyconjure.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Bralbaard on September 30, 2023, 01:57:19 am

The construction of Swordgleamed was interesting to say the least. I swear I just wanted a normal quiet embark to clean up the many corpses there, but quickly found out that by some stroke of (bad) luck I had embarked right on top of Maloy's howling freak nest.

Most were in a corpse-filled house in the east of town and I managed to lock the door before they got out. One freak child was in the keep however, and it slaughtered 5 of the starting seven because I embarked with idiots that were not expecting combat.

I got the fortress running and just kept the freaks locked away, constructing a moat and warning signs around the house. It seems they got out when the fortress was retired..

I'll update the turn list etc later

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Quantum Drop on September 30, 2023, 02:48:09 pm

(https://i.postimg.cc/qMtCBHy6/Act-the-Fourth-The-Party-Kills-More-Thralls.png)

---

ACT I - (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8487716#msg8487716) ACT II - (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8489019#msg8489019) ACT III (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8494015#msg8494015)

---

Contrary to her words, they had not moved on immediately. Some fancy had come over Simo mere moments after her remark, and she had insisted on taking a sample from the corpse of the crossbow-bearing thrall before they departed.

Degel and Sorus had been all too happy to let her do so, instead busying themselves with picking over the ruins of the camp as the scholar set to her bloody business. The torn bags were rifled through, the stock of mouldering chests and containers tipped out onto the ground for closer examination. Little of it was of any interest: scraps of bread and fruit, made hard as solid stone by the freezing temperatures of the Tundra; rust-stained armour and weapons of ancient design, their wooden handles fracturing and leather embrittled to render them useless. Scraps of ice-crusted paper, their contents made near-unreadable by age and weathering.

Out of idle curiosity, Sorus had picked up one of the less-damaged sheets and held it close to her face, squinting slightly to help make out the words.

Log of the D________ Expedition, 2 Frost 8XX[/u]

Storm knocked us off course something fierce. Had to cache the wagon – axles completely broken. We salv… gh food for a few weeks - tents for shelter. The… last that long if the storm passes. We hope that V____ and the rest… ail toward the Conf.

From thereon it was illegible, the words worn away and the paper torn apart. Sorus shook her head to herself. Another lost caravan of migrants or traders. For a moment, Sorus wondered if it had been hunger and cold or the thrice-cursed thralls that had claimed the unfortunate souls in the end, before forcing that thought away with a shudder. Nothing could be done about that now, though they might at least provide them with decent funereal rites.

Like all the rest, it went into a single pile in the rough centre of the abandoned camp. The broken bodies of the thralls Simo had expressed no interest in swiftly joined them, followed in turn by the necessary kindling and a few splashes of raw alcohol that their employer was kind enough to lend them.

“Why’d you stop us here?” Sorus asked, bluntly. Simo have a little start at the sound of her voice and turned toward her, head tilted slightly to the side, seemingly considering whether or not to deny Sorus’ request outright. After a moment, however, she slowly nodded her head and began to quickly rummage about in the bag storing her samples.

“Here.” Simo held up the first jar for Sorus to see, letting the yellowish liquid shift and the brain within bump gently against the glass side. “Take a look here, at the central partition of the organ. These sections of the brain are damaged – not by blade or bludgeon, but by blister and blood loss. But in this specimen,” And here she held up the other, fresh from one of the thralls slain in the abandoned camp.

The jar’s label had been written in haste, the letters of her spidery writing running into one another, but the caricature of a crossbow on the very end made its source clear enough. “The very same section is unmarked, while the lower regions of the brain bear very similar degradations.”

“So?” Sorus raised an eyebrow.

Simo sighed aloud. “Consider this further, Chantscar.” Her finger moved idly, resting upon a small section at the very base of the brain; small, whitish branches of tissue floated free in the solution around it. “This organ is the source of the nerves, which give motion to our limbs; it houses our consciousness, which determines our behaviours in this world. If it were to be damaged, or diseased, it stands to reason that these would both change, yes?

“Lady Cosmosclean, I am a plain woman.” Sorus rolled her eyes in irritation, baring her teeth. She was in no mood for riddles, or this routine of leading questions. “So please – speak plainly. Exactly what do you suspect?”

Simo sighed again, a low, sharp noise that stirred a flare of irritation in Sorus’ chest. She was hardly a learned figure; she was not so arrogant as to deny that. But she could still tell when she was being condescended to, and it was an effort not to snap back at her.

“Very well.” Simo frowned, jaw tightening slightly into a grimace. “I theorise that the thralls we encountered in the tundra were able to fight as they did – to ambush us, and to even use at least one crossbow – because the Blight struck upon a different region of the brain to the usual.” She tapped a finger against the glass. “Yet see here! This was the only major internal difference between them. A different region of the cortex is necrotic and lesioned, and with it, the thralls behave differently.”

Sorus made a non-committal noise from somewhere in the back of her throat, rapidly tiring of the scholar’s preoccupation with the organs of the dead. Simo’s hawkish eyes narrowed to slits for a moment, before she slowly breathed out and placed the samples back in her bag, recognising the mercenary’s unwillingness to continue the discussion.

“Enough of this. We must move on, and quickly.”

That, at least, drew a more favourable response from the mercenary. Sorus nodded in firm agreement and strode away swiftly, calling to Degel as she went. The Hand gave her a short nod from his position beside the bodies and quickly struck a small flame, the alcohol swiftly catching and racing up the gathered mass of paper, dried wood, and other detritus that formed the base of the pyre. When the trio moved on their passage was marked with the roar of newly ignited flames, and the bright light of a dozen burning corpses and their worldly possessions.

The travel that followed was much of the same. They trekked on toward the looming shapes of the dark pits, though more quickly, now; the group was still on edge after the thrall ambush earlier, and had no desire to run across another such threat before the evening began to draw in.

Degel had insisted on taking point, claiming that he stood a greater chance at sniffing out any threats that might lurk in the snow below; behind him, Simo advanced with her hands ready on her daggers. Sorus brought up the rear with her sword in hand, expression seemingly stuck between glaring knives into the scholar’s back after the earlier altercation and her usual deadpan. None of them spoke with one another beyond brief remarks, wrapped up in their own thoughts or lacking the sense of camaraderie necessary to voice them properly.

The snow-dusted fields and barren trees gradually began to draw away as they continued the long walk northwards, the endless coverlet of white giving way to speckled green and white, and then finally to the lush, spring green fields of The Adventurous Steppes. The dark clouds that so commonly loomed over the Tundra of Heroes receded in similar fashion, the sun peeking through to shed some light upon the party and their surroundings. It was a stark change after the permanent, thrall-cursed bleakness of the Tundra, and Sorus could not help but welcome it; it had felt like a long time since she’d seen the sun properly.

They did not slow or stop for long to enjoy it. Simo pressed on with her usual vigour, slowing only when Degel and Sorus began to slow almost to a crawl as their march began to take its toll on their stamina, dropping behind her long, purposeful strides. What few breaks and rests they took were had as close to the northwards-running river as possible, such that they could refill their waterskins and packs with the few fish they could snatch from the water, or the berries from the bushes that grew near the banks. Even then, it was rare for them to last more than a quarter-hour at best before the doctor was chivvying them along again, muttering to herself and looking down at the map she kept.

The next change in the landscape came as they began to draw closer to the sprawling cluster of dark pits that Simo had spoken of at the very start of the journey. The trees began to grow closer together, branches closing together to form a shroud of stubborn leaves and wood over their heads; the undergrowth became thick and dark, roots edging through the path ahead to try and trip them up at every step. Every now and then, a break would come in the forest, revealing distant, fuzzy smears of colour and near-shapeless blobs on the distant horizon, or the looming bulk of a hill off to their side. Degel still led the way, using his axe to clear a path through the wood and foliage whenever the plants became too thick to allow for easy passage; behind him trailed Simo and Sorus, the former projecting tension as though she wished to break into a run, the latter bringing up the rear with an unmistakable note of annoyance in her expression.

Sorus resisted the urge to grumble under her breath as she walked. In a strange way, she found herself almost missing the furious violence of earlier. That at least, had provided a break from the constant, monotonous trudging through the endless plains and forests; this provided no more than a growing ache in her legs, and an increasingly clear answer to the question of whether a living being could indeed die of boredom.

Quite without warning, the scholar suddenly slowed her stride to a halt and began to look around herself, forcing Sorus to stumble to a ragged halt lest she crash into the taller woman’s backpack.

“What-?” She began to snap, but was cut off by her employer’s voice.

“More than enough wood for a fire should we need it, and rather defensible, nonetheless.” Simo said to herself, turning to half-face Sorus. She swept an arm out to indicate the clearing in the forest around them – a roughly oval expanse of grass and roots, overshadowed by the canopy and thickly forested on all sides. A few weak shafts of sunlight peaked through, painting the cavity with an odd yellow-orange hue. 

“We’ll halt here for the moment.” The scholar nodded. “Take perhaps a candlemark’s rest; refresh and water ourselves, before we proceed onward. We will need it, for what is yet to come.”

---

“So,” Sorus said, leaning back against the base of a tree. She’d shucked her pack onto one of the hollows amid the roots, and was idly checking the length of her sword for any sign of chipping or bending. Despite the battles of the past couple days and the conditions it had been subjected to, the sharpened copper had held up remarkably well. “What d’you know about this place we’re headed?”

“This pit is an old one,” Simo commented, tracing a finger across her red-inked map. She was perched on the still-living stump of a long-felled tree, half-standing in a y-shaped gap between two beams of wood. The past hour’s rest had given her the opportunity to check their position and re-read whatever notes she had on it, stashed away in one of the many books that the scholar seemed to have crammed into her backpack. “Both in true historical age, and the time since the living last visited it. We should expect strong resistance, both from whatever thralls have already manifested their disease and any goblinoids still occupy the caverns.”

Sorus grimaced at her response, flicking her eyes over to Degel for a moment. The Hand had opted to stay on guard duty for their rest, standing vigil near one of the few gaps in the treeline with his axes drawn. His battered iron and bronze plate was still mottled with brownish-scarlet and black stains from earlier battles; his axes’ edges bore bloodstains and a few stubbornly clinging woodchips from their trek through to the clearing. To his credit, he did not look back. Sorus wasn’t sure if it was out of simple focus on his duty, or whether he was still trying to impress their client with his dedication to her strange mission.

“I cannot say for certain how many of them are down there,” Simo continued. “The greenskins are ill-disposed to visitors at best; what few population censuses I could find were estimates, at the best. Perhaps all of them are dead. Perhaps there’s nothing down there but hundreds of thralls, howling into the dark and waiting for a door to give way and spew forth into this world again.”

A long moment of tense silence passed, before she slowly breathed out and raised a finger.

“The good news, at least, is that these pits tend to follow the same general layout. Perhaps a half-dozen strongpoints at the very heart, where the bulk of the population gathers; the remainder are little more than guard towers and workhouses, occupied during the day and controlled by a skeleton crew during the night.” She gestured back and forth with a hand, almost uncertainly. “With luck, there will be… fewer threats, than normal.”

“…With respect, lady Cosmoscleaned? You’re terrible at not making this sound like a suicide run.”

The doctor gave a hoarse, faint chuckle at Sorus’ remark, shaking her head slightly. Almost idly, one of her long fingers tapped against the red ink of the map annotations.

“Perhaps. But no endeavour is without risk - least of all one such as this.” Her voice dropped, and her features writhed with an unfamiliar emotion – a strange mix between wrath, melancholy, and a trace moment of guilt, appearing for a heartbeat or two before being buried under her usual stoic features. One of Simo’s gloved hands curled into a fist, crumpling the edge of the map as she spoke her next words. “Science requires sacrifice, as we once said.”

“We?”

Simo did not answer Sorus’ question. Instead she turned her head away from her map, craning her neck so as to look up through the canopy that loomed overhead. Through the leaves, the sun was beginning to dim as a thick veil of bruise-coloured clouds gathered overhead; the air was beginning to grow clammy and thick with gathering moisture, causing a pressure to gather at the back of her skull.
The scholar nodded to herself and dropped down from her perch, landing on the mossy ground beneath with a gentle thump. She gestured sharply with one hand, already rolling up and packing away her map with the other.

“Come. It will be raining, soon; we should make good time for the pit before it starts, lest we be slowed overlong.”

Thankfully, there was not much further to go after that. The woods began to thin out as they drew closer to the dark pits’ border, the living trunks giving way to blunted stumps and darker spots of earth where trees had once stood. The land before them was mostly steppeland, flat plains of the green-brown grass and dried-out soil that stretched from the treeline’s end to the bases of the stone towers that lay ahead, marking the core of the dark pit’s sprawling form. Deep, broad gouges had been cut into the ground and the soil piled up into berms about half the size and twice the width of a man, each one reinforced crudely with interlocking wooden planks and iron bands; trenches to match the tunnels below.

Almost unconsciously, Sorus’s hand tightened on the handle of her sword. The hair on the back of her neck was prickling up. She looked closer. Many of the wooden planks were green with moisture or moss; the iron bands were fuzzy with rust. The towers with apertures were lightless. Several of the berms were worn down,  their sides spilling dirt back onto the soil it had been cut from. A suspicion bloomed in her mind, and was out of her mouth in moments.

“Degel!” Sorus hissed, looking to her employer and fellow mercenary. “D’you see any guards out there?”

Degel’s eyes narrowed for a moment as he took his own moment to peer closer, before slowly shaking his head. “Yer right, ‘Rus. I don’t see anything out there – goblin or otherwise.”

“Then we must assume they have all succumbed.” Simo finished, grimly. She drew her daggers with a quick flick of her wrists, raising one to point toward the central tower. “They’ll be in there, or down in the tunnels below. Not easy to dig out, particularly if they’re underground.”

“We’ll get ‘em out, boss,” Degel nodded firmly, twirling his axes with a half-grin. “Who knows? Maybe the gobs will’ve done some of our job for us?”

They laughed at that, though there was no real levity in it.

The moment quickly passed as they resumed their approach toward the tower, creeping carefully across the dark, bare earth. Their first destination was ahead of them: a berm reinforced with mouldering planks of wood, marking the outer edge of the pit’s trench networks. From there it would be a matter of following the trenches to their source, the cluster of towers squatting at the heart of every goblinoid fortress, and from there into the tangled morass of tunnels that lurked under the dirt and stone.

Degel was the first to reach the parapet, the Hand of Planegifts rapidly scrambling up the wood and soil before practically vaulting into the trench below. He landed with his knees bent to absorb the impact, head snapping left and right as he searched for any sign of a threat. Both his axes were drawn and ready, held in a white-knuckled grip in anticipation of violence; anything unfortunate enough to be in the trench would not be given the chance to sound an alarm.

There was nothing. No sentries came forth to challenge the intruder; no cries of alarm rose from goblinoid throats. Not even the skittering of vermin in the undergrowth.

It was a silence that weighed heavily on them all as they climbed down to join him in the trenches. It brought the journey in the Tundra of Heroes – and the brutal, bloody battle that had followed – back to the forefront of their minds. Exchanging wary glances and tightening their hands around the handles of their weapons, the group continued on in unspoken unison.

Their advance was slow, and wary – each one kept a careful watch to their sides and above, half-expecting a thrall to leap down from above with gnashing teeth and flailing limbs at any moment. Their weapons were drawn and ready to strike should something come around the sharp corners of the zig-zagging trench; their ears and eyes strained for so much as the sound of a breaking twig, hearts thundering as they crept along. At each severe turn in the earthworks they would pause, allow the leading member of the trio to carefully edge around the corner with their weapon drawn, seeking out any sign of life or undeath.

They found nothing. A few scraps of discarded, rust-stained armour slumped against a wall in a manner unsettlingly like that of a body. Dark stains around the earthen walls or on a set of broken, mossy boards. Bones scattered and flung like dice in the crevasses of the trench walls and passages. But nothing alive.

Sorus refused to let her unease show on her face as they continued to creep along, even as the grip of her sword began to bite into the palm of her hand. It showed in her voice, however, when Degel came to a sudden stop barely a step ahead of her, nearly causing her to crash face first into his armoured back.

“What the hell—?” She began to snap, but was cut off a moment later as Degel – still not looking back – raised a finger for silence. His head twitched back for half a moment, enough for her to see the wary look in his eye.

The low clatter of glass and leather behind her made it clear Simo had encountered the same problem as Sorus mere moments before. The scholar sidled up to the pair, her expression dark.

“Why are we stopping?”

“Something’s ahead.” He said, voice barely above a hiss. The hand of Planegifts was gripping his axes tightly in readiness for battle, his body going taut as a bowstring. “Can’t tell if it’s empty or not.”

There was a building ahead of them – a small tower, covered in dried leaves and festooned with bare branches from a few tenacious saplings. The sides were blank and worn, bereft of windows or openings to allow light and air in, but pitted with dozens of small dents and scars from weathering. There was only one way in – a simple stone slab of a door was invitingly open, hanging loosely upon its worn-down hinges and looking similarly weather-beaten. As the group drew closer, they began to make out a new, unsettling detail: around the base of the building and across the front of the door, the stone was covered in dozens of small, ragged white marks scraped into the rock.

Experimentally, Degel pushed the battered stone door with his free hand. It shifted slightly on its hinges with a long, low groaning noise, swinging precariously for a moment before sweeping open completely. He nodded in satisfaction, before stopping dead as he sighted the inside panel of the door. Just like the outside, it was covered in dozens of tiny, white scratches – and for far more than those without, dark brown-black stains.

Throwing caution to the wind, the hand of Planegifts shoved his way through the doorway with axes raised, pounding heartbeat shooting up even further. If his suspicions were right – if what he feared to be within was within – he’d be the first one it saw and went for, rather than his client and comrade. 

He need not have worried. The room within was gloomy even with the open door allowing in the weak sunlight and thick with dust from ages of disuse, but nothing stirred within at his rude entrance. Its occupant was a sole goblin, seated against a wall with its arms at its side, head sunken down onto its chest.

“Interesting…” Simo muttered. She raised her head and nodded toward the door, eyes flickering slightly. “Guard the door a moment, would you kindly?”

Simo leaned down, studying the corpse with professional curiosity. Three things were immediately apparent. The first was that the goblin had been dead for months, at least – his flesh was drawn tight on his bones; his clothes were rotting and falling apart, the chainmail overlaying them mottled with great sections of rust. The second was that he was no thrall, as Degel had originally feared – the goblin’s decaying flesh was bereft of blister or boil, or even of the greater malformations that marked many of the Blight-cursed’s bodies.

The third was the book in his hand.

With careful movements and the use of the flat of a dagger, Simo extricated the volume from the goblin’s stiff fingers, rested back on her heels, and began to read. Sorus shot the occasional wary glance back into the room from her position beside the door, but didn’t speak until Simo rose back to her feet and gestured the two of them inside.

“Well.” She said almost immediately, raising a finger to forestall questions. “That was… interesting.”

“Really?” Sorus bared her teeth. “Care to share, doc?”

“He was part of this pit – a soldier, or part of their militia. When an attack struck this pit, he was in one of the tunnels below, on guard duty; according to these pages, he fled when it was overrun by ducking into one of its tributaries and fleeing toward the surface. He came up into this place, collapsed the tunnel behind him to bury the thralls and prevent them following him up. But the door was already locked from the outside…”

Simo trailed off, nodding slightly at Sorus and Degel’s identical bleak expressions.

“No windows, no way through the door, no way further up…” Degel shook his head. He prodded the goblin’s desiccated corpse with the edge of his boot. “No way to get out. Poor bastard.”

“Indeed. But we have learned something.” Simo grimaced, fingering one of her daggers. “Most of this pit’s residents will have been devoured by the horde or succumbed to the Blight. I cannot say how many belong to either category – these tunnels are a rat’s nest, and if they decided to collapse some of them, there might still be living souls underground.”

“Brilliant.” Sorus muttered under her breath, her perpetual scowl deepening even further.

“What’s happened has happened, Sorus.” Degel shook his head, voice firm. “We have come too far to back out now.”

“I know, Degel, I know.” Sorus grimaced. “Doesn’t mean I won’t curse that fact, aye?”

“Come now, both of you.” Simo shook her head, already walking toward the door. “Standing here and bickering will not drive us forward.”

---

The tower was a blunt, monolithic thing. It was without window or balistraria, its blank grey sides breaking open at the very top to form a saw-toothed crown of crenelations. Much of the walls’ surface was scarred by the action of many seasons, pockmarking the surface with dozens of small weathering-scars and holes; at the very base, the stones were stained with faded brown and green marks that blended almost seamlessly into the soil. Two outsized slate doors mounted in an arch at the bottom floor completed the construction.

“Gimme a minute.” Sorus remarked, confidently. “I’ll have this thing open.”

The doors to the tower had once been barred from the outside, but whatever sturdy wood had held them closed was now little more than a pair of splintered halves upon the dirt, a few mouldering splinters resting between the two. Even so, they held strong against an experimental push from Sorus, refusing to so much as budge even as she threw her full weight against them and shoved for all she was worth.

“Something the matter, Sorus?” Degel smirked, as his fellow mercenary stepped back, puffing and red-faced.

“Screw off, Degel!” Sorus groused, scowling at the doors like they’d personally offended her. “I don’t see you trying, do I?”

The Hand smirked slightly at that and stepped forward to join her. Hauling with full force, sweating and straining, Hand and human worked together to prise the heavy stone doors open. Simo stood off to the side, seemingly content to observe; a closer look would reveal her head twitching lightly from side to side, keeping watch for any sign of movement from the nearby towers.

She knew full well the kind of beasts that lurked in even the smallest of dark pits. If even one of those creatures had been infected and made it to the surface, Simo deeply suspected that it could pose a significant threat to them all. It would be a fascinating topic for research, admittedly – she had yet to come across a specimen that did not belong to one of the more populous species of the world, let alone to dissect one and see what effects the Blight had wrought on its physiology – but a dangerous one, nonetheless.

(Then again, you’d know all about that, wouldn’t you.)

A cry of triumph from the direction of the doors broke her from her thoughts. Degel and Sorus had finally managed to lever them open through a combination of simple brute force and a makeshift lever, using one half of the splintered beam to help push the doors apart.

The atrium of the tower was dark as pitch; the few torches in the brackets had long since burned down to useless stubs of charred wood or guttered out once their fuel was spent, so the only illumination came from the wavering fingers of sunlight poking in through the newly opened doors. Degel took the first, cautious steps into the room with his axes at the ready, his eyesight quickly penetrating the gloom.

The walls, he noted with a start, were covered in scratch marks and deep green-brown stains. It was worst around the stairwell, where a set of stone steps stood out amid the gloom – dried blood was pooled around the topmost stairs, and streaks of it ran into the abyssal darkness of the shaft below, as though something had been dragged down it. Faint noises drifted up from the tunnels below: dulled scratching, scraping noises, as of nails against stone. Degel flicked his head back to exchange a glance with Simo and Sorus, the pair standing beside the door with weapons drawn as their eyesight accustomed to the shadowed room.

“I don’t see any of ‘em here, Lady Cosmosclean.” Degel remarked, warily. “Just a whole lot of stains, a few scratches…” He raised a finger to point at the dark pool and streaks around the stairs. “And a trail of blood. Leads right on into the stairs and down.”

“Then what y’feared is right, boss.” Sorus remarked. She stamped on the flagstones; as the ring of her boot on stone faded, a fresh round of scratching noises came from somewhere below, as if in answer to her blow. Hearkening to the sound, the mercenary turned to face her colleagues. “They’re in the deeper tunnels. Place is going to be a rat’s nest down there, with bastards at every bend.”

“Then we go in, and burn them out.” Degel didn’t bother waiting for a response from Sorus, in favour of striding straight for the stairs. Simo joined him after a moment of surprise at his sudden, almost impetuous change of temperament, her daggers already drawn. The Hand of Planegifts looked back for a moment as he reached the top, seeing the swordswoman still hesitating beside the entrance doors.

“Come on, Sorus! Time ta earn our pay!”

“I’m on the way, Degel.” She strode forward to join them, before lowering her voice to a mutter: “But I got a bad feeling about this.”

They moved into the dark shaft below as a body, each member gripping the next’s shoulder with one hand to ensure they would not fall. The stairs were slick with cavern-moss and condensation, rendering every step treacherous; one wrong move could send them skidding down the rest of the stairwell, crashing bloodily down every stone step until they would land in the middle of the thrall-nest the pit had become. More than once Sorus and Simo nearly fell or slipped, escaping a nasty fall only through the action of the other, or by digging her weapon into the stone to serve as a makeshift, momentary support.

As they emerged from the winding stairwell, they came to face an unexpected obstruction: a large stone door like those which stood at the tower’s entrance, this one barred with a broad beam of pitted iron. That was easy enough to wrestle free of its mountings, but when Sorus gave the door an experimental shove it refused to budge even an inch. She almost stumbled from the force; she might as well have been trying to push a noble’s mansion onto its side for all the good it had done. Glaring at the door for a few moments, she turned her head over her shoulder.

“Damn thing’s heavy as a boulder.”

A couple minutes of strain, cursing, and effort forced it open, shunting aside the weight that had kept it shut and opening the way into the tunnels proper.

Stale air wafted from the mouth of the tunnel in a sudden, stinking wave, as though the pit was taking a deep breath after years spent in silence.

The reason for the absence of any goblins up above became disturbingly clear.

The tunnels were choked with the bodies of the dead. They rested face down in passageways, broken weapons rusting where they’d fallen. They slumped against walls, seated amid pools of dried blood. They hung from walls, pinned in place by a spear or a sword. They lay in piles around the door like stacked, dried wood, limbs and heads and clothes tangling together until it was impossible to tell what belonged to which body. More than a few bore wounds to the throat or arms; long, deep lacerations, different to the ragged punctures of a bite. The stone was black with dried blood.

“Gods’ teeth,” Sorus muttered. “They were trying to run from the thralls. And this – this would’ve been the last thing any of them saw.”

“These ones are fresh.” Degel nodded toward a pair of goblinoid corpses near the wall. Both still clutched rusted blades in their fingers, the joints beginning to swell with the early stages of decay. He shook his head to himself, beginning to step forward once more. “Poor bast- argh!”

Simo edged around Degel’s back to look ahead. Two decaying corpses lay, blocking the way ahead into the deeper tunnels. One was an adult; the other, no larger than a child. Both had died violently, their hands locked around each other’s throats.

Degel had accidentally stepped onto one of the two, coating the bottom of his boot in a film of stinking fluid.  The Hand stepped back with an almost exaggerated shudder of disgust, scraping the bronze against the stone to wipe the worst of the filth off; his axes were raised in an almost instinctive motion, ready to strike if the corpses suddenly lurched to life.

At a nod from Simo, Degel carefully moved the bodies apart, inwardly shuddering as he felt the corpse shift under his grip. Flaky, waxy, whitish matter puffed from the skin and settled on his gauntlets as he placed one of them back down against the wall; the other leaked something foul-smelling as he pushed it opposite the first.

The group moved on hurriedly now that the tunnel was clear, unwilling to stay among the rotting corpses for so long. The next set of tunnels seemed to be some kind of residential area, the walls lined with doors at even intervals or hung with sheets of fabric for privacy. Whether made of metal or stone, each of the doors was barred with a strong beam of wood or a sturdy metal. From behind the doors, there came a low, insistent scratching sound, as of claws rubbing against stone. From others, a slow rasping of breath echoed, or the sound of something like low, broken sobbing.

It made Sorus’ skin crawl as she continued to follow Degel’s lead down into the darkness. She stole a glance ahead of her, but the ash-haired scholar kept her gaze fixed grimly ahead, and Degel was too far ahead for her to easily make out.

On and on they went, through the twists and turns of the tunnels and the darkness. They found nothing but the dead, and the small flights of insects or skittering vermin that rose from walls and corpses as they advanced ever closer to the central cavern.

It was almost a relief when they arrived at the central pit. It was a huge, roughly circular room with a high ceiling, worked or evolved from the stone beneath the tower. Much as everything looked like little more than shades of gloom to Sorus, she could make out points where the darkness was particularly thick – great pits in the natural stone, where the floor gave way to seemingly endless plunges into the abyssal cavern-depths below. Shapes moved in the murk, dozens of reddish lantern-lights bobbing up and down amid the shadows as the goblins and gods-know-what else moved about.

One in particular turned its head to regard them, glowing red eyes fixating on the trio of adventurers who had stumbled into its nest. It staggered free of the dark like a drunk – a goblin corpse, its mouth agape, crooked limbs groping through the air toward them. Dried flakes of skin peeled away as it moved, drifting in the stagnant air.

Behind it, more figures were turning and starting to advance.  Dozens of them.

The resulting stream of alleyway invective could have turned the air blue.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Quantum Drop on September 30, 2023, 02:48:33 pm

Sorus Chantscar was a mercenary. She’d guarded caravans on the long, winding road of the Northern Trail, hunted down beasts in the Tundra of Heroes, even scrapped with a couple night-spawned horrors over the course of her career.

None of it had prepared her for this.

They weren’t strong, these leathery remnants. Not strong, but terribly tenacious. They had no need to breathe, no need for rest or stamina. Where mortal beings would tire and slow, weighed down by fatigue and gasping for breath, they would simply continue to advance. More than anything else, they seemed to be almost preternaturally aware and coordinated – no sooner had one sighted a foe than the others closed in, their crooked limbs reaching out to seize upon living flesh, seeking to combine their individual weights and force a victim to the ground to be torn apart at their leisure. It was a constant battle to keep out of their reach.

Sorus cut another of the remnants in half as it stalked toward her, the witch-light fading from its eyes as the body fell. No sooner had she done so another was upon her, clawed fingers reaching toward her eyes, mouth agape. Something like blood still ran from between the rotting, broken teeth, before her blow took most of the walking corpse’s jaw off and the second severed its neck. Again the body vanished in moments, swallowed up by the shadows of the pit and trampled underfoot by its kindred as they pushed onwards.

It was not merely the animate dead, either. From ancillary tunnels and connecting caverns came the howls and snarls of goblinoid beasts of war, mingling with the gurgling moans and roars of thralls; the war-cries and screams of the living, as whatever goblins still occupied the pit sought to defend their squalid territory from the onrushing hordes. Whether by artifice or malign nature, the cavern’s walls were shaped in such a way that it only amplified the noise rather than absorbing it.

A fist came speeding toward her face, bloodied, scraped knuckles missing her features by a few inches. Her retaliatory blow sent fingers to the ground as the hissing thrall scrambled back into the dark, vanishing in moments.

That was what she hated the most about these creatures. Their resilience could be overcome with enough force or simple violence; their coordination meant little when matched with the same. It was the surprise. The fear and muddled anticipation of not knowing when the next blow would come hurtling out of the darkness. The inability to know where her allies and enemies were, their outlines blending into the gloom.

Another creature came barrelling out of the dark with jaws snapping like those of a mechanical trap, shrieking its frenzied rage at them from a raw throat. This one was bigger than the others, tusked and savage, its fur stained with blood and pus. Simo clung to the troll’s bucking back like a limpet, stabbing her daggers down into the muscle of its back. Gripping onto the more deeply buried one as a handhold she hauled herself up onto its shoulders outright and drew the other across its throat, flipping it about to thrust the blade through the beast’s brain as it began to stagger.

She rolled clear of the topping troll-thrall’s body, giving Sorus the briefest nod of acknowledgement before whirling about to drive her daggers through another lumbering shape’s throat, twisting them about to sever its head almost completely from the body. Simo was on the move again before the leathery remnant’s body hit the floor, boots pounding on the stone as she sprinted toward her next target. Out of the dark, a goblinoid thrall loomed, brandishing a sword in one rusted gauntlet as if in challenge.

Simo’s daggers met the thrall’s sword with a sharp screech of metal on metal. This one had favoured the rapier, it seemed, rather than the pugnacious strength of a longer, sturdier arming sword. The Blight had done little to diminish its skill; as soon as the blade-lock was broken she was forced to dance between a series of thrusts and cuts from the long, thin blade, its tip skimming her forehead and drawing a thin line of blood from a shallow cut. A retaliatory slash tore a gash down through its shoulder and sent the thrall scrambling backwards, but it was only moments before the goblin had closed the distance once more.

The rapier flashed forward again, and this time, Simo felt the long, thin blade slip through the plates protecting her shoulder and pass through the flesh beneath. She gritted her teeth to muffle a cry of pain and retaliated with quick thrusts of her daggers, but the blades merely scored off the rusty bracers on the thrall’s forearms as it raised them to block. A second set of strikes managed to break through, stabbing into the goblin’s right thigh and up into its belly, sending warm blood and fluid that smelled of rot pouring down Simo’s arms and to the cavern floor.

Abandoning any pretence of restraint or finesse, the thrall let out a cry of rage and rushed toward her at a sprint, rapier flashing forward in a blur of blood-slick iron. Daggers whirling about her, Simo turned each thrust and swing aside with a series of parries and counterthrusts that filled the air with the noise of metal against metal. It did nothing to help her against the kick that thundered into her ribs, driving the air out of her and sending her gasping to her knees.

Simo struggled to push herself back upright, but the stone was slippery with blood and cave moss, preventing her hands from finding purchase. A blood-spattered bronze boot slammed down hard on her right hand, pinning it to the ground; she looked up to the sight of the thrall, standing vast as a titan from her position on the floor. Its face had been mangled by the Blight, the features seeming to slip down and partly merge with the lesioned meat of its muscular shoulder, blurring them like a painting in rain. Even so, it unmistakably grinned as it raised its rapier for a final downward thrust to her neck, relishing the prospect of ending her life.

Simo struggled furiously against the thrall’s grip, trying to tear her hand out from beneath its boot, but the creature merely pressed down harder. She brought her free hand up and plunged her bronze dagger into its foot and thigh, over and over again, but the thrall simply shrugged off the impacts and the blood flowing down its leg.

The rapier thrust down.

Something came whirling out of the dark to smash hard into the thrall’s head. Blood fountained from its ruined features as it staggered backward, its blow going wildly off course to stab into the slicked stone underfoot.

Blinking blood out of her eyes, Simo quickly came to recognise a copper-bladed axe projecting from a deep wound in the thrall’s features; Degel came roaring out of the darkness moments later, a blackened silhouette given definition only by the outline of his armour and the yellow-white snarl of his bared teeth. The Hand smashed shoulder-first into the bleeding thrall’s form with enough force to stagger it, giving him an opportunity to rip the first axe free and remove the top half of its skull with his other. Another moment and he was gone, becoming no more than an outline in the cavern’s darkness locked in a visible struggle with a hulking, hunch-backed brute.

Hissing in recognition of the new threat, the thrall advancing on the downed Simo span to face Degel. It fell moments later to Sorus’ sword as the mercenary stepped in, seizing the charging goblin by the throat and running her blade through its torso in one swift punching motion. It convulsed in shock, jaw spasmodically opening and shutting as it flailed about in her grip; she gave it a hard kick to the chest and let it stumble backwards into the dark, trailing a bright scarlet stream as it went.
 
A few moments later came the distant, muted thud of a speeding body impacting stone, but it barely registered in her ears. She was busy turning toward Simo to help her back upright, and was half there when the side of her head exploded with a sudden starburst of pain. Cursing, Sorus wheeled about to see a ghoulish beak dog turning back toward her, fresh blood on its over-developed claws and a sore-pocked tongue lolling out of its chipped beak.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/3HvLoIZ.png)

She raised a finger to the side of her head, and found it came away bloody. Warm liquid was running down the side of her neck. She couldn’t hear anything out of her left ear.

Teeth gritted, Sorus eyed the beak dog as it paced forward. Its eyes were fixed on the pulsing vein in her neck, and the slow, sticky stream of blood spreading down toward her collar. She did her best to shrug off the sensation of warm blood running down the side of her neck, driving back the pain with bravado and spreading her arms wide as if to invite it to charge toward her.

“Come on, then!” She sneered, baring her teeth in a snarl. She struck her sword’s pommel against her gauntlet a couple times, as if to emphasise her words. “Come on, you overgrown pup! Come take a bite-!”

Either the sound of her voice or that of metal-on-metal broke whatever self-control the beak dog still had. It rushed forward with its beak snapping wildly, hind legs tensing in readiness for a leap that would bring it almost to shoulder height. As it began to fly, Sorus made her own move: a quick step forward that brought her within arm’s reach, and a swing of her sword that cut through the opening beak to bisect the head behind. Half-decapitated, the beak dog’s body skidded across the ground to disappear down one of the large holes.

“You owe me for that one, boss!” Sorus hauled Simo to her feet with a grunt of effort and a wild grin.

Still groggy from the impact and the bleeding wound in her shoulder, the scholar managed a shaky nod before Sorus was away again. Her eyes were finally near-accustomed to the gloom, at least, letting her see the battle raging around her.

Much of the initial horde had been destroyed, the goblinoid remnants strewn across the stone in shredded tatters. The thralls among them, too, had begun to thin out – they were few in number to begin with, and the slow, steady killer of blood loss had been wearing them down since the battle had begun. Many were missing appendages or limbs, or else bleeding from huge gashes in their flesh where the mercenaries’ blades had stung. Others were relatively untouched, beyond the blood seeping from old wounds torn open again by their wild movements.

While Simo appraised herself of the situation, her colleagues had plunged back into the fighting with renewed vigour. Sorus was locked in a furious two on one battle, dodging between the snapping beak of a blighted goblinoid dog and the heavy swings of a blighted troll’s fists before retorting with blows that cut deep into the muscle; blood was streaming from her nose, where a lucky blow had smashed it to ruin. Degel was almost on the other side of the cavern, tearing his way through a handful of remaining thralls with heavy blows of his twin axes; he too had been wounded, scarlet blood running from between his armour's plates where blows had found their way through.

The beak dog came howling full-tilt at Sorus again with its tongue lolling out between a chipped beak, rear limbs bunched in readiness for a jump as it bounded toward the mercenary. She met its charge with one of her own, smoothly stepping forward with her sword already swinging upwards. Unable to halt its movement, the beak dog practically leapt neck-first onto the blade. The sharpened metal cut partway through the dog’s throat before wedging below the skull, sending black blood gouting in all directions from the injury.

Sorus let out a curse and forced the sword back and forth like the blade of a saw; the thrall let out an odd half-grunt, half-snarl, struggling furiously against the mercenary’s grip. Growling, Sorus seized the blade’s handle with both hands and leveraged her weight against it, forcing the sword down through the spine and sending the beak dog’s head careening off with a noise like tearing leather. Its body crashed to the ground, followed by Sorus as she overbalanced and landed elbow-first. Shock thrilled up through her arm.

Before she could stand, the other thrall was upon her. The troll rammed its fist into the ground with enough force to crack the stone and part of its own knuckles; she barely managed to jerk her head out of the way in time, but could not stop the creature bearing down her with its full weight. A red flare of pain flashed behind her eyes as the troll knelt on her chest, one of her weaker ribs cracking under the thrall’s bulk; it wrapped a meaty hand around her sword-arm, pushing it back against the ground.

Her free hand snapped out, scrabbling across the stone floor for anything she could use as a weapon. Her hand closed on a stone. Grunting with the effort, she brought it up and smashed it hard against the troll’s skull. Blood flew and bone cracked, but the thrall’s head was only knocked aside for a moment before it refocused, bearing down on her with its jaws yawning wide.

She instinctively shut her eyes.

Blood spattered her face. The pressure on her chest relented. The troll-thrall roared, but the sound cut off into a revolting sucking a moment later.

She cautiously opened her eyes.

Simo stood before her, barely recognisable as her usual scholarly self. She was smeared with blood, her cloak red with it, her hair sticky with it, her bared teeth crimson even in her flushed face. Runnels of it traced their way down her face as she sucked in hard, quick breaths, linking the v-shaped markings on her face with red chains. The thrall lay off to her side, reduced to a ruin of torn flesh and bone. Both her daggers were still slick with blood and scraps of flesh that had lodged upon the blades; flecks of it flew from one as she tore it free of the troll’s torso with a snarl.

The scholar had vanished, replaced by a figure savage in every aspect.

“Nobody,” She spat, ripping the dagger free of the thrall’s torso with a snarl. “Is falling to your damned infection today!” With a surprising degree of vitriol in her voice and motions, the scholar slammed her armoured boot down onto the corpse’s head, scattering chips of bone and enamel in a dozen directions. “Not again!”

Her blood still up, Simo whipped her head back and forth in search of any potential threat; she found none beyond the scarce few that Degel was busy finishing off, axes ripping limbs from bodies or tossing thralls aside with every swipe. Breathing hard from her exertions, the scholar took a long moment to compose herself and calm her racing heart before walking back over to where Sorus was lying, extending a hand down to the mercenary.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/2rIkWjQ.png)

“I… what is the expression?” Simo grunted as Sorus clasped her wrist, pulling to haul the muscular swordswoman upright. “Now we’re even?”

“Thanks for the save, doc.” Sorus nodded firmly, gripping Simo’s wrist for support as the scholar hauled her upright. “Consider us even.”

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/I09KvmW.png)

A heavy plodding echoed out from the shadows of the cavern. Degel rejoined them with a grimace on his reptilian features, a fresh quartet of cuts running down his snout where a thrall had gotten lucky and raked him with its claws. His armour was dented in a dozen places, and both his axes worn down at the edges where the much-abused copper had been forced through stronger metals or flesh. His travelling cloak was a tattered ruin, half-shredded by blades and claws and saturated through with congealed blood or half-liquid decay fluids.

“The last of them have been cut down, lady Cosmoscleaned.” Degel growled, shedding the bloodsoaked remnants of his cloak with a quick jerk of his shoulders. He raised one of his axes to point back into the dark. “Felt almost like chopping through those woods again, if a deal more... noisome.” He snorted, something between a laugh and an effort to rid the stink from his nose.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/EX30BCi.png)

“A bloody harvest indeed.” Simo nodded lightly, then grimaced slightly as though in pain, her long fingers reaching up to touch against her temples. Her eyes were strangely unfocused, clouded as though focusing on some spot a thousand leagues away.

“Are you well, boss?”

Simo nodded calmly enough, though the look in her eyes belied the troubled thoughts beneath.

“Aye. Merely an ill feeling, and nothing more.”

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

The robed man regarded the bartender with an unblinking stare, staring down the bridge of his nose toward him in the manner of a bird eyeing up a particularly unfortunate mouse. Though he paced back and forth slowly, insistently, his gaze never broke from its subject.

He had greeted the denizens of this tavern with a disarming smile, forcing his features into the most earnest expression they  would allow. He knew he stood apart; if not by the slightly devilish cast inherent to his face or his refined clothing and associated ornamentation, then by the manner with which he normally carried himself. It struck fear into them all – an intentional reaction – but such an emotion was a blunt and clumsy tool; not the greatest in his arsenal, nor the first he should resort to.

His companions’ appearance had made interrogation almost comically simple for many of their previous layovers. Many of the more superstitious peasantry assumed the cowled, robed hulking figures that trailed in his shadow were fiends of some kind, conjured from some black pit beneath the earth to menace them for their wrongdoings; or spectres of the dead, risen for revenge.

Truth be told, they were not far from it. But this town was rough at the best, and its people were of sterner stuff than mere countryfolk.

“Be reasonable, my good man, and co-operate with us.”

“And yet I am cooperating, sire.” To his credit, the bartender did not quail. “I have told you all I know. Three of them passed by this way.”

The robed man paused in his slow pacing, and turned his head carefully to regard the smaller man.

“Three of them?”

The barman nodded.

“Aye, your woman and a pair of mercenaries. Their faces were covered. Hooded. Not like your… friends.”

The sable-robed man’s head turned back slightly. His followers loomed near the door and in the murky corners of the tavern, their metallic masks looming out of the shadows. They might as well have been sinister statues, for all the movement and emotion they showed.

“Which of your mummers dreamed up such costumes?” To his credit, the barman had managed to maintain his composure. “Were your… unique charms not enough to extract confessions?”

“My colleagues were wounded in battle, good sir.” His voice took on a sharper, harder edge; he resisted the urge to raise it to a snarl. Behind him, almost imperceptible, he heard his master’s emissary scoff under her breath and resisted the urge to wheel about. “They do not wear these guises out of choice, but out of necessity – to reduce the pain of their scars, and hide them from the world. I would ask you not mock their sacrifice, for your own sake.”

He breathed deep, reaffixing his conciliatory mask. He could feel the eyes of the emissary burning holes in his back, and bit back harsh words bubbling up in the back of his throat. She had been nothing but a nuisance to his efforts to far, with her constant barbs – verbal and otherwise – and questions rousing his temper despite the knowledge that he could not fight back.

“I regret to hear such a thing.” The barman’s insolence was almost admirable. He turned away from the group, toward the dusty glasses behind him. “Now, are we finished? I have a business to run, and your presence is… hardly conducive to such matters.”

“I am afraid we are not finished.” His gauntlet-clad hand struck upon the mottled, beer-stained wood of the bar with a low, half-muffled crack of metal. “And you will simply have to be more helpful, whether you desire it or not.”

“I have told you all I know.” The bartender turned on the balls of his feet to stare at the robed man, his expression barely a step away from a snarl. “And I can offer you no more.”

A low, almost mocking laugh. The emissary stepped forward from behind him, her pale features drawn into an expression of haughty disdain.  “You would be surprised what may be uncovered, with the correct… stimulus.”

A half-second glance over her shoulder conveyed all that he needed to understand.

“Very well.” He bowed his head slightly, just enough to convey a sign of regret, before motioning with a hand. He had hoped this would not be necessary. “My friends, kindly help the good sir back to his seat.”

Despite himself, he could not help the shiver that ran through his body as the bronze-masked figure and her iron-helmed twin stepped forward, taking the insolent bartender by the hand with deceptive gentleness.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on October 01, 2023, 05:47:38 am

As delightful as it is creepy, yet again QD!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: TheFlame52 on October 01, 2023, 04:15:02 pm

images broken

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Quantum Drop on October 01, 2023, 04:19:35 pm

Should be fixed now. Thanks for pointing that out.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Lurker Z on October 03, 2023, 05:08:34 pm

I'm sorry to have wasted a week, but I didn't have any time to play.

Get kesperan's save. Good luck, QD. And add me to the end of the turn list, thanks.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on October 03, 2023, 06:45:18 pm

Aww, that's a shame Lurker. Was just going to comment to ask how you were getting on.

Oh well - good luck QD for your turn.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Quantum Drop on October 04, 2023, 01:50:21 pm

I'll get started on the save tomorrow. Most likely won't have the time to play tonight.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Maloy on October 11, 2023, 06:32:06 am

Hey imic would you like to take my turn that is coming up and I take your spot?

Week is looking crazy and I’m afraid I won’t be able to put real time into the game

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Quantum Drop on October 11, 2023, 03:51:11 pm

Save is up on Google Drive: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1DCXgP8DyD_E9acIrVFT4kxD7433A7AW4/view?usp=sharing

Writeup will follow when I get a chance, though I can provide a brief summary if needed.

Spoiler: Dikbutdagrate (click to show/hide)

As requested, there's now a Museum item livening up Honeyhammer. Four Five of them, in fact!

• Guki Pusap (Exhibit #65.)
• The Hateful Two-head of Menace (Exhibit #51.)
• Mournsaints the Fire-Ruler of Rewards (Exhibit #66)
• Slinpa Esh - A figurine of A WORM (Exhibit #34.)
• Silenttower the Shattered eviscerator of Dragons (Exhibit 64)

Mokun and a new character have been returned there, along with Weenie (who had wandered off to a different settlement in the meantime.)

Good luck to Maloy/Imic/you on your turn!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on October 12, 2023, 09:24:04 am

There been a robbery!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: dikbutdagrate on October 13, 2023, 06:48:00 pm

Quote from: Quantum Drop on October 11, 2023, 03:51:11 pm

[spoiler=Dikbutdagrate]
As requested, there's now a Museum item livening up Honeyhammer. Four Five of them, in fact!

• Guki Pusap (Exhibit #65.)
• The Hateful Two-head of Menace (Exhibit #51.)
• Mournsaints the Fire-Ruler of Rewards (Exhibit #66)
• Slinpa Esh - A figurine of A WORM (Exhibit #34.)
• Silenttower the Shattered eviscerator of Dragons (Exhibit 64)

Oh hell yeah.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Maloy on October 14, 2023, 09:57:30 am

I don’t think Imic checked in so his turn is still next week, but I for real can’t really put much time in this turn. A few hours tops.

Does anyone wanna do what we did last time and just have a free half turn or a fortress mode turn?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Bralbaard on October 14, 2023, 01:49:36 pm

I did not really keep up with the forum this week and I've not send out a PM either. It's fine for me to delay Maloys turn if someone wants a go at a short fortress?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Imic on October 16, 2023, 03:44:28 am

I'd like to apologise, but I won't be able to take my turn or Maloy's turn on account of being sick for several weeks.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Bralbaard on October 16, 2023, 05:36:23 am

I could put you a few places down the list. Hope you get well soon.

I think Maloy could take the turn this week?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Maloy on October 16, 2023, 02:26:12 pm

I can pick it up tomorrow!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Quantum Drop on October 16, 2023, 02:27:28 pm

Reminds me: I'd also like to sign up for another turn.

Good luck with your turn, Maloy!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Maloy on October 17, 2023, 09:26:15 am

I have only just begun and I found my city with three times the regular amount of soldiers with several wearing High Confederacies armor

Then I had an insurrection that is either the fault of the High Confederacies or those darned dark gnomes and their age of dark gnome nonsense

Also I filled a town with zombies (not mine)

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on October 17, 2023, 03:16:20 pm

Aha! Kothvir told you that the High Confederacies would retake Incenseorder one day!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Maloy on October 19, 2023, 06:34:22 pm

I've kind of hit a block now.

I powered through and did all that I really wanted to do this turn and now I can't really think of anything else right now...
I could run some Razorbridge and continue to produce more Warriors of Udir and Elves to distribute globally, but I also don't really wanna deal with all the tediousness either right now.

Thinking of dropping it back off early if that's fine

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on October 21, 2023, 01:11:04 pm

Turn list needs updating but it looks like it’s Imic or Dikbut next.

If you haven’t any ideas for a fort I’m sure the next person wouldn’t mind starting early?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Maloy on October 22, 2023, 06:44:47 am

save: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1DXxTN0-o8LpkgrhBS7Y6crdRwLOqwOhu/view?usp=sharing

Got up to some interesting things

I did also discover that wherever Warriors of Udir are born they adopt the local customs and beliefs. So now we have human-cultured ones running around.
So, technically you could spawn a small army of them in a Most Sin settlement and they would be just as vicious and bloodthirsty as goblins - just way more dangerous!

You can throw me back on the list

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on October 23, 2023, 09:32:56 am

Hope you're feeling well enough to take your turn, Imic!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: AvolitionBrit on October 28, 2023, 11:32:23 am

Hope Imic's turn has been going well?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on October 28, 2023, 12:49:28 pm

The first page turn list hasn’t been updated for a while and I don’t even know if anyone has the save just now, which is a shame considering how many names are on the waiting list.

Can you clarify Bralbaard?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Bralbaard on October 28, 2023, 02:34:37 pm

Sorry for not keeping up with the thread lately. Have been busy and distracted with other things.
I'll try to get stuff updated. I'll also send Imic a message, I had not done so yet.   

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Lurker Z on October 28, 2023, 04:33:07 pm

Ehm, you need to remove me from

Code: [Select]

133: Lurker Z (writing) since I didn't do my turn, and add me at the end of the list for a new turn, thanks.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Imic on October 28, 2023, 05:34:07 pm

Take me off the list again, sorry. The world is conspiring to prevent me from taking another Muesum turn.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on October 29, 2023, 03:55:56 am

Quote from: Imic on October 28, 2023, 05:34:07 pm

Take me off the list again, sorry. The world is conspiring to prevent me from taking another Muesum turn.

Sorry to hear that Imic. Hope you’re doing ok.

I guess that makes it Dikbutdagrate’s turn. Get ready for more weirdness…

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Bralbaard on October 29, 2023, 06:14:07 pm

On the subject of that weirdness, I still had to do a write-up for my visit to Honeyhammer and the rest of my turn..

link to part 1 (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8499398#msg8499398)

The Gremlin's Journey, Part 2

Crownhall was an amazing place. The surface above had been a cacophony of  of animal noises and violence. The fortress below was the opposite.

(https://i.imgur.com/Jl14Pkm.png)

Enormous halls stretched endlessly into the distance. but there was no dwarf in sight. And it was not just a lack of dwarves, but a lack of items. not a single errant sock lingered on the polished floors. And yet the place was so large that it must once have housed hundreds, if not thousands of dwarves.

(https://i.imgur.com/qNfs6Rn.png)

There was a grand throneroom, from which, Awi was certain, a dwarven king must have ruled over the mountain range. But this oppulent throne room and its treasures was not what Awi was drawn to. He descended deeper into the fortress untill he finally found it.

(https://i.imgur.com/p1FzSMh.png)

The lever room! Awi pulled the levers one by one. Mechanisms that had been stuck in position for centuries came into motion under heavy grinding noises. The fortress must have levels filled with secret channels and machinery, as cascading waterfalls erupted from the ceilings as Awi pulled the right levers. When he pulled others, mighty bridges and other machinery obeyed the commands of the small gremlin. It was the happiest day of his life.

----

But this was not to last forever. Eventually Awi grew tired and fell asleep. The next day he left Crownhall to travel to the end of the world, to Sodor-Ngug or Deephalls, following the voice that had send him on this journey.
From Deephalls he planned to descend deeper to places where the dwarves, goblins, and humans had never gone.  Yes it is commonly known by gremlins that Orid Xem, connects to other worlds if you only know where to dig. This is why hundreds of gremlins can seemingly appear out of, and dissapear into nowhere. 

The dwarves who claim to know so much about the deep earth have indeed often dug deep, but only to satisfy their lust for gold and adamantine, and they have therefore been caught by  ust† zuspzeb, the trap of greed, time and time again. They have unleashed demons and terror upon the world, but never found the true secrets that hide in the depths of the world. 
There are places that go deeper, and connect to other worlds. From Deephalls which lies at the edge of the world these places can be reached.

But first Awi had to get there, and that is were the problems began. He ran into a pack of terrible monsters. These beasts where twice the size of a gremlin and there were many: Dingoes! Other races might have laughed at these small canines, but for gremlins they were a mortal threat.
Awi made the mistake of trying to fight them, but they were simply too strong. The scratches by Awi's dagger did not deter them, and it was only a matter of time before one of the monsters managed to charge in with it's maw wide open.  It's teeth were stopped by Awi's armor, but then it violently shook the gremlin, and with a terrible sound, the gremlins spine snapped. Awi rolled down the hill with his remaining momentum, and it was only then that he did what he should have done from the start. He tried to blend into the shadows, to hide.
It worked. He managed to crawl away from the beasts. He was alive.

It was clear though that his spine would not heal. Still the small gremlin continued his travels, slowly crawling forward. A few days later he was found by a human who took pity on the small creature. Zar Evenchirped, as the wrestler was called, promised to help the gremlin reach the next village.

(https://i.imgur.com/9Ga6eB8.png)

Now it is often said that gremlins can not fall for traps, but it was then, that Awi and Zar fell for ust† stoz "The trap of Honey"
They had passed too close by Honeyhammer, a place inhabited by a new demonic force that the gremlin had no knowledge of. Somehow the scent of honey and demonic whispers lured Awi and Zar into his nest, and what they saw there was deeply, deeply troubling.

There was a structure in the middle of the site, with walls that were somehow entirely constructed from the teeth of megabeasts. Great pillars made from forgotten beast extract guarded the entrance. Statues crafted from the entrails of dead dwarves served as decoration. The scent of honey was now thick in the air. As in a dream Awi entered the site and he quickly lost sight of his human companion. He was still crawling as his legs would not carry him. There was a slade structure to the east, Awi found a crack in the walls and entered, oblivious to the danger. Inside there were green glass cages, the glass was opaque and hard to look through. When Awi crawled close suddenly a figure slammed itself against the glass wall from the other side. It was a mad dwarf, drool and blood dripping from its face. There were others like him in other cages.

Awi continued, he dragged himself up the stairs, following some whispered promise, and the smell of honey.
The tower narrowed to a single staircase and kept ascending. Then suddenly it widened again, and Awi found himself in some sort of giant hive.

(https://i.imgur.com/t1gmcjf.png)

The walls were made of bees wax, and other substances vaguely familiar: frozen honey, royal jelly and dwarven cheese. There was a throne made of insect eyes and other bee tissues. He vaguely became aware of the sound of buzzing bees. Everything was somehow twisted in a strange nightmarish way. And then he saw it. A terrible monster, maybe it had once been human, but it had been disfigured in horrible ways. Her intestins were on the outside, and parts of other creatures had been grafted on. It slowly came for Awi.

He could hear nothing but the sound of bees buzzing in his skull, and the smell of honey permeated everything.
Awi panicked.

(https://i.imgur.com/3SLqp2U.png)

(https://i.imgur.com/rXNMZ1k.png)

And that was the end of Awi.

(Dikbutdagrate, you may notice there is a gremlin corpse under the tower, also there is a human wandering about with no idea where he is and what he is there for, feel free to do with them as you please)

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: TheFlame52 on October 29, 2023, 06:23:28 pm

It is terrifying.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: AvolitionBrit on October 29, 2023, 06:29:13 pm

A true monster, loved this

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Bralbaard on October 29, 2023, 06:36:51 pm

Quote from: AvolitionBrit on October 29, 2023, 06:29:13 pm

A true monster, loved this

It is indeed. For those that may not have all the storylines fresh at hand, that monstrosity is QD's character. Dikbutdagrate messed her up pretty badly. 
The whole site is proper halloween stuff.

My death was the most stupid one so far, even beating my kobold adventurer who somehow managed to kill himself in an atom smasher in Sealsabres.
I was trying to get out the tower and could not find a proper door, (I could not even remember how I got it in except it was through some crack a few levels up and not a proper door)
Anyhow I made it to the outside of the tower and it looked like this.

(https://i.imgur.com/SMPTZg5.png)

I figured that indicated there was solid ground on the level below, so I just jumped out, but it means there is a structure on the level *above* so I fell down several levels instead, and that was the end for the poor gremlin. I guess playing the graphical version has messed me up and I can't read proper ascii anymore.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on October 30, 2023, 04:31:44 am

I can only imagine how freaky the fort that was lost to time was. Great artwork as always!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: AvolitionBrit on November 04, 2023, 04:12:16 pm

Hows the turn going?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on November 05, 2023, 02:20:15 pm

Quote from: AvolitionBrit on November 04, 2023, 04:12:16 pm

Hows the turn going?

Indeed - it's been two weeks since Maloy uploaded the last save and I'm not even sure if someone is actually playing a turn?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: AvolitionBrit on November 05, 2023, 04:12:17 pm

So it should have been Dikbutdagrate, after that Bralbaard then to Wonderpsycho

seeing that Dikbutdagrate hasnt posted since the 13th they probably havn't realised its their turn so I assume its Bralbaard up next.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: dikbutdagrate on November 05, 2023, 06:29:49 pm

Quote from: AvolitionBrit on November 05, 2023, 04:12:17 pm

So it should have been Dikbutdagrate, after that Bralbaard then to Wonderpsycho

seeing that Dikbutdagrate hasnt posted since the 13th they probably havn't realised its their turn so I assume its Bralbaard up next.

Hehe, yes. That would be accurate.

I'll download the save.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: AvolitionBrit on November 05, 2023, 06:46:27 pm

Quote from: dikbutdagrate on November 05, 2023, 06:29:49 pm

Quote from: AvolitionBrit on November 05, 2023, 04:12:17 pm

So it should have been Dikbutdagrate, after that Bralbaard then to Wonderpsycho

seeing that Dikbutdagrate hasnt posted since the 13th they probably havn't realised its their turn so I assume its Bralbaard up next.

Hehe, yes. That would be accurate.

I'll download the save.

Ayyy glad we got things back on track. Best of luck on your turn!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: dikbutdagrate on November 05, 2023, 11:01:48 pm

Quote from: Bralbaard on October 29, 2023, 06:14:07 pm

(https://i.imgur.com/rXNMZ1k.png)

And that was the end of Awi.

(Dikbutdagrate, you may notice there is a gremlin corpse under the tower, also there is a human wandering about with no idea where he is and what he is there for, feel free to do with them as you please)

I love the art! Although I'd lean toward this being more of a interpretation of the creature, as there were two more pages of body descriptions.
This included a wheelbarrow that was sewn into the creature as a form of armor/covering. As I couldn't get a windmill to work, sadly.
And some giant octopus arms and giant crab pincers. And yes, I will admit the design is a bit "busy", but overall I'm satisfied with it.

Still love and appreciate the art though, totally made my day.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/OM9gaXg.png)

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/h7xqwsX.png)

I'm glad you appreciated the entrance design. Black cap doors are pretty magical, and highly underrated. All of the madness inducing designs are only half-baked at the moment, but causing accidental death to players attempting to escape the main tower was initially part of the plan.

With the turn I'm going to be taking this week, I want to finally construct some of what I've been chewing on for the past month+. I have graph paper, which features tile by tile blueprints for what I want to do. A lot of it has to be done tile by tile in advfort, and its a lot of chiseling. I'm hoping to have at least a day to explore the world-map, and stumble onto more weird shit. Like that Lawgiver of that one human civ, and his wife, that I found eating a deer in some ravine in the woods, after having been evidently turned into some variety of feral rotten ghoul.

And 10-4 on the gremlin corpse and lone wanderer. I will make very our new guest very comfortable.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(I'm going to make a actually pleasant guest room for them.)

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Bralbaard on November 06, 2023, 01:58:20 am

I only saw the first page! (And apparently only 1/10th of the madness) I' ll see if I can make a more accurate version 😁

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on November 06, 2023, 05:50:17 am

Kill the monstrosity, kill it with fire!

I have no idea what QD intends to do with that inhuman mass of writhing flesh, but between that and the scores of ghouls in Ghoulcreek, there's still plenty madness to give unwary players a very hard time in this world.

Good luck on your turn, Dikbutdagrate, you insane genius.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Eric Blank on November 06, 2023, 02:12:22 pm

Ooooh, you're using the suturing code to "graft" stuff together. Now I understand what the madness was about.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: dikbutdagrate on November 06, 2023, 06:29:56 pm

Alright, I'm blind. Someone please inform me as to how I return the ASCII back to its default.

Clay loam is apparently made out of angels right now.

I can't "see" anything.

Edit: Do I just paste the default soil and grass raws overtop of the current files in the save?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Eric Blank on November 06, 2023, 11:32:40 pm

That's what I do, and I think theres a folder in the save for that purpose.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: dikbutdagrate on November 07, 2023, 12:03:23 pm

Quote from: Eric Blank on November 06, 2023, 02:12:22 pm

Ooooh, you're using the suturing code to "graft" stuff together. Now I understand what the madness was about.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

You got it. None of this is automated, in any capacity, lol. But I've mapped out each of the body part IDs for a number if creatures, and can make adjustments fairly quickly. Statuses such as 'stuck in', 'worn', 'piercing' are also used in constructing monsters.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: dikbutdagrate on November 12, 2023, 06:46:17 pm

Alright, my turns over. Here is the link for the save (this time I remembered to toggle the access permissions)
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ZrGwFUnpRijmCpyNb_VTXNjkxKlENXNs/view?usp=sharing

Not too much happened, I don't think. I didn't quite the have the energy that I was hoping to have going into this turn.

We started the preliminary construction of a massive hyper object, a wall, to be precise, which will stretch from the "Moral Chartreuse Finger" - Mountains, in the West, all the way across the entire "Jungle of Harvesters", and finally terminate upon its arrival at the "The Peaceful Waters" - Ocean in the East.

This will serve as a bulwark between Honeyhammer and the swarms of the horrible mountain gnome recruits which keep showing up at my door.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/lEz09cP.png)

Lets see here... I worked on some minor improvements to Honeyhammer, which feature smoke machines, which rely on awful garbage poetry composed by yours truly. (This works since unique literary works count as artifacts, can be mass produced, and can be made out of materials which are combustible)

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/XiQWPes.png)

We had a lot of "fun" happen at one of the wall construction sites. Fun was predominantly vampire based. For some reason, we were unable to arrest the human trade guild representative who showed up, was a vampire, and also I believe someone's character. So we took care of em' - Castlevania style. And by that I mean via relentless brute force, countless losses, and a pile death. Just to slay ourselves a single Dracula.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/29Ksbll.png)

I think there's also another vampire that showed up, I didn't know they were a vampire though, or someone's character, since they were using an alias. But they were pretty beat up upon their arrival at the fort, so I just named them "hurt." And I think the nickname is stuck onto that character now. Anyway, I checked their legends log, and something like 20 adventures have apparently drank this dude's blood to become vampires. I almost feel bad, lol. I believe they're currently too injured to even pose a threat to anyone, let alone actually drink anyone's blood. They're just a cursed blood bucket that the world keeps around, in order to keep making more vampires.

We also produced a extremely notable artifact at one of the forts, which I have actually seen fit to donate to Boltspumpkin.
Feel free to try it on next time you visit Boltspumpkin.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

artifact location to the right of @
(https://i.imgur.com/OmhfY3Z.png)

Description
(https://i.imgur.com/Nyn1rzN.png)
Poor Dipdream, shouldn't have taken the earring. P sure that gremlin was also somebody's pet.

I fought a mooseman necromancer, and I was soundly defeated. But I managed to take one of their hooves with me. I'll have my revenge in due time.
But that battle cost me my tongue and the boars head that I had surgically grafted onto me, which suddenly sprung to life during the battle.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Log 1
(https://i.imgur.com/zSxB9vH.png)

Log 2
(https://i.imgur.com/3aA5sNa.png)

Log 3
(https://i.imgur.com/CgSnLHC.png)

My status following the battle
(https://i.imgur.com/2wkyJzT.png)

Oh, and I did some exploring on my turn. I found a site that appears to crash upon loading it. Not sure if this one was pointed out already or not.
Its this one:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/ksQsUSI.png)

Edit:
Typo correction

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on November 12, 2023, 07:36:27 pm

The human vampire Guild Representative is indeed a former player character - Baron Leto Searchpraise.

The beat up miserable vampire "Hurt" is Ingish from Icefury, primogenitor of the frozen vampire death cult in the Tundra of Heroes.

And lastly, the mooseman necromancer is also a player character, quite fond of murdering things and known to associate with the Ghoul Father.

Sounds like you had an interesting adventure!

---

Good luck on your turn, Bralbaard!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Bralbaard on November 13, 2023, 09:22:12 am

Quote from: dikbutdagrate on November 12, 2023, 06:46:17 pm

Alright, my turns over. Here is the link for the save (this time I remembered to toggle the access permissions)
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ZrGwFUnpRijmCpyNb_VTXNjkxKlENXNs/view?usp=sharing

Not too much happened, I don't think. I didn't quite the have the energy that I was hoping to have going into this turn.

We started the preliminary construction of a massive hyper object, a wall, to be precise, which will stretch from the "Moral Chartreuse Finger" - Mountains, in the West, all the way across the entire "Jungle of Harvesters", and finally terminate upon its arrival at the "The Peaceful Waters" - Ocean in the East.

This will serve as a bulwark between Honeyhammer and the swarms of the horrible mountain gnome recruits which keep showing up at my door.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/lEz09cP.png)

Lets see here... I worked on some minor improvements to honeyhammer, which feature smoke machines, which rely awful garbage poetry composed by yours truly. (This works since unique literary works count as artifacts, can be mass produced, and can be made out of materials which are combustible)

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/XiQWPes.png)

We had a lot of "fun" happen at one of the wall construction sites. Fun was predominantly vampire based. For some reason, we were unable to arrest the human trade guild representative who showed up, was a vampire, and also I believe someone's character. So we took care of em' - Castlevania style. And by that I mean via relentless brute force, countless losses, and a pile death. Just to slay ourselves a single Dracula.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/29Ksbll.png)

I think there's also another vampire that showed up, I didn't know they were a vampire though, or someone's character, since they were using an alias. But they were pretty beat up upon their arrival at the fort, so I just named them "hurt." And I think the nickname is stuck onto that character now. Anyway, I checked their legends log, and something like 20 adventures have apparently drank this dude's blood to become vampires. I almost feel bad, lol. I believe they're currently too injured to even pose a threat to anyone, let alone actually drink anyone's blood. They're just a cursed blood bucket that the world keeps around, in order to keep making more vampires.

We also produced a extremely notable artifact at one of the forts, which I have actually seen fit to donate to Boltspumpkin.
Feel free to try it on next time you visit Boltspumpkin.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

artifact location to the right of @
(https://i.imgur.com/OmhfY3Z.png)

Description
(https://i.imgur.com/Nyn1rzN.png)
Poor Dipdream, shouldn't have taken the earring. P sure that gremlin was also somebody's pet.

I fought a mooseman necromancer, and I was soundly defeated. But I managed to take one of their hooves with me. I'll have my revenge in due time.
But that battle cost me my tongue and the boars head that I had surgically grafted onto me, which suddenly sprung to life during the battle.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Log 1
(https://i.imgur.com/zSxB9vH.png)

Log 2
(https://i.imgur.com/3aA5sNa.png)

Log 3
(https://i.imgur.com/CgSnLHC.png)

My status following the battle
(https://i.imgur.com/2wkyJzT.png)

Oh and I did some exploring my turn, and I found a site that appears to crash upon loading it. Not sure if this one was pointed out already or not.
Its this one:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/ksQsUSI.png)

Thanks for the save, I've got it downloaded.

Championvault seems to load fine in my copy of your save. Can it be that you've confused it with Duskhome or Warshrieks, both lie nearby and are known to have been lost due to corruption/worm taint?

That giant wall is certainly one of the more ambitious megaprojects out there! I'll add it to the map later. It probably needs another map cut-out to be done properly. 
The burning poetry and artifacts will surely be appreciated by people, though that poor gremlin might have another opinion. 99% of gremlins in this world are pets, by the way. I know how to reliably get you a few hundred, if you are interested. (it does not involve water or feeding after midnight)

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: dikbutdagrate on November 13, 2023, 06:17:04 pm

Quote from: Bralbaard on November 13, 2023, 09:22:12 am

Championvault seems to load fine in my copy of your save. Can it be that you've confused it with Duskhome or Warshrieks, both lie nearby and are known to have been lost due to corruption/worm taint?

That giant wall is certainly one of the more ambitious megaprojects out there! I'll add it to the map later. It probably needs another map cut-out to be done properly. 
The burning poetry and artifacts will surely be appreciated by people, though that poor gremlin might have another opinion. 99% of gremlins in this world are pets, by the way. I know how to reliably get you a few hundred, if you are interested. (it does not involve water or feeding after midnight)

That seems highly plausible, I've likely confused it with one of those two sites.

I dunno, I've seen some crazy stuff on this save. But yeah, its certainly going to take me a minute.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

*Psst* Yeah, you got a guy? Think you can hook me up with say, maybe, ten of dem knock-off green Furbys?
And you know, keep it real quiet like. No witnesses.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Eric Blank on November 13, 2023, 09:29:02 pm

Good to know Championvaults isn't corrupt, you scared me there.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on November 20, 2023, 05:36:48 pm

How’s the turn coming along?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Bralbaard on November 20, 2023, 05:41:02 pm

You beat me by a few minutes.
I've uploaded the save. 

Game has gained sentience and was acting creepy. More later.

Link for the save file:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/19U3T7aeVl0Bqs0-AFIRGq2HImk74YQRd/view?usp=sharing (https://drive.google.com/file/d/19U3T7aeVl0Bqs0-AFIRGq2HImk74YQRd/view?usp=sharing)

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: WonderPsycho on November 21, 2023, 04:38:45 pm

ah shit it's my turn now, hang on a sec, I'll get into playing this later after my lunch, I'll just download this save real quick

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: WonderPsycho on November 21, 2023, 04:39:12 pm

thankfully I have been keeping watch on this thread till it was my turn so yeah

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: WonderPsycho on November 21, 2023, 05:17:12 pm

alright back, getting ready to do my turn rn

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on November 21, 2023, 05:59:00 pm

Quote from: Bralbaard on November 20, 2023, 05:41:02 pm

Game has gained sentience and was acting creepy. More later.

Well that sounds both ominous and terrifying. Can't wait to see what you've been up to!

Good luck on your turn, Wonderpsycho!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: WonderPsycho on November 21, 2023, 06:09:58 pm

Quote from: kesperan on November 21, 2023, 05:59:00 pm

Quote from: Bralbaard on November 20, 2023, 05:41:02 pm

Game has gained sentience and was acting creepy. More later.

Well that sounds both ominous and terrifying. Can't wait to see what you've been up to!

Good luck on your turn, Wonderpsycho!

Thanks, will do!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: WonderPsycho on November 21, 2023, 08:51:03 pm

Spent most of my time making my adventurer and her fellow adventuring friends for today, it's now already early at night on my end, and so I decided I will begin her and her friends adventures tomorrow along with writing her perspective tomorrow as well,

as always, when my turn is done I will share what happened in my end in the perspective of my adventurers and share the save here but yeah

I guess what also added time on me working on them was the fact I originally wanted my character to be a fox woman with a pet fox as a joke and for fun, but unfortunately there was no fox people in this world or they all went extinct in this world cause of the amount of chaos that happened within it or something like that, so I ultimately winded up with a Lynx woman with a pet cat named "Linx" as a alternative for the same funny gimmick I had in mind for her originally but yeah

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: WonderPsycho on November 22, 2023, 03:02:46 pm

alright am awake, today I will finally get started on adventuring with my peasant adventuring party and see where they will go, will keep ya'll updated on some stuff that may happened in my turn, but again it will not give out the full story of what's happening until my turn is done so yeah

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: WonderPsycho on November 22, 2023, 09:44:18 pm

Did some adventuring with my characters a bit, mainly explored some abandoned hamlets, got some extra weapons from one abandoned hamlet town hall, eventually felt tired on doing the adventuring for a bit, and when it became night in game and my character and her companions camp out at night, and chatted a bit, I took a few more screenshots of their convos, my character going to sleep and waking up at dawn for the next day in my character's turn,

will continue to play my turn and write for my turn tomorrow, but I may possibly do little of it tomorrow due to my birthday being tomorrow and such so yeah

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Bralbaard on November 23, 2023, 12:54:25 pm

Happy Birthday, and good luck on your adventures!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: WonderPsycho on November 23, 2023, 11:14:04 pm

thanks, also back home, gonna try and do some of my turn tonight with the time I have and such and then just relax the rest of the night

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: WonderPsycho on November 24, 2023, 03:08:18 pm

another day, another time to play my turn and hopefully finish it up, or who knows how this will go, let's see where the adventuring party of mine will wind up now

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: WonderPsycho on November 24, 2023, 09:09:22 pm

Arla's Journal

Hello, my name is Arla, I know I am cutting it quick for introductions because who we are as a traveling party of "animal people" (for you outsiders may know us as) doesn't really matter
in the travels we are going on.. Animal people? this journal seems to be written by a animal person, one could imagine what races of animal people these three were..
but to think of it, you've seen a adventuring party of three animal women before, a Lynx, a Coyote, and a Black Bear, could this old journal be related to that
adventuring party you saw in the past??

(https://imgur.com/DST88Qn.png)

but since we're cutting introductions quick I'm Arla as you all know from reading the start of this,

(https://imgur.com/zWEmpJl.png)

(https://imgur.com/nzTEXmR.png)

(https://imgur.com/lJd1Bo4.png)

I mean hey I don't like putting effort in some stuff I own and other jargon, but it would be a huge damn shame to waste this journal and huge waste
to do nothing with it, but whatever I am not that much of a good writer anyways..

(https://imgur.com/P4MBAwC.png)

my other partner here is my long time friend Opra (even if she finds friendship to be a bit of a "burden" whatever that means), she is quite experiened with dealing with some dealing with some threats that may rip us apart
during our travels, so she will mostly help us out on defending against whatever Blighted, hostile wildlife and beasts and etc maybe out there on our travels.

(https://imgur.com/0l7Cy4y.png)

(https://imgur.com/2nHUmKJ.png)

(https://imgur.com/UlYxJTH.png)

and last and not least my friend from Dwarven civilization "The Walled Dye" I think is what that civilization is called? Solon, a great spearswoman
who is quite put off by family but eh, she is also quite the stubborn intellectual (tho she tends to consider some ideas), though I feel that sort of closed minded stubborness may have come from the fact
she have been living in a dwarven fortress in the icey tundras for quite a while, having to deal with and I quote "a few ignorant dwarves" when it comes to intellectuality
but I ain't no nerd like the wide 'yote she is. the fact "Arla" mentions "'yote" kind of hints at more evidence it maybe that same adventuring party you saw pass by in your hometown in the past,
but the fact you found this old journal randomly out in a overran blighted hamlet makes you think... what happened to these animal adventurers? and how did the traveling party leader lost her journal?

(https://imgur.com/YqLZ4Uw.png)

(https://imgur.com/5BtZrXO.png)

(https://imgur.com/c4aHD6b.png)

next pages on the journal are some sketch illustrations that seemed to be sketched in a way of them being copied off of a map of Orid Xem,
each of the locations the sketches illustrate what seems to be the homes of the three travelers, since as stated before Arla said that Solon was originally from a dwarven fortress in the tundras and are most likely that
because of what Arla seemed to have written next that you have not read yet.. As seen in these sketches these are our former homes, I put a emphesis on 'former'
as for the travels we are going on...

we are traveling to nomadically leave this area to possibly maybe live somewhere more safer and as faraway from The Omon Blight as possible, even if it maybe dying down but in other places I've heard..
it has not died down, all I know is that the landscapes near the beaches of Orid Xem is a huge mess thanks to the necromancers and The Omon Blight.. we plan to go where the travels take us to gets as far away from the Blighted Zones as possible
maybe settle down as somewhere more safer away from the Blighted Zones and rest and relax there for the rest of our lives, maybe start a little something of our own.. a new civilization for us indigenous animal peoples to live and aspire our own cultures,
make trades with the humans and dwarves, not sure about the elves as much as I feel..

those elves really kind of act like a cult of nature then really even actually caring for the ecosystem, indoctrinating our peoples to join their cult to
slaughter those who "hate nature" but i don't know if any of us should even trust those elves, even tho they maybe much smaller now with their settlements
being mainly in The Blighted Zones, hopefully I will get my dream of a civilization for our united peoples one day in Orid Xem.. or if not atleast I died trying and my beliefs are left out in the open for any to read to try and get this goal accomplished..

(https://imgur.com/Rwz1PIn.png)

(https://imgur.com/khkIzzL.png)

(https://imgur.com/jckrmGN.png)

As I stand here at the human castle that I guess I have been living at a bit for now for safety away from the blighted, with my companions now here after
having travels for miles to reach me at this castle here... it's now time to travel, and find or make a new home for ourselves that's far away from the undead beasts of The Blighted Zones!

(https://imgur.com/g0z1e6i.png)

(https://imgur.com/06xgxrc.png)

Also should note me and my companions aren't the only ones traveling here, I brought with my cat "Linx" all while Solon brought her two huskies, a female hunting dog named "Id" and a normal non-trained male husky dog companion named "Stodir"

(https://imgur.com/gvHQzxS.png)

and it seems the human engraver Setduk seems to be moving to check out something or going somewhere I'm not sure, while I may have noticed them moving there, I also realized I originally didn't notice the gem cutter Zulur being next to us..

(https://imgur.com/RVneDig.png)

I'll ask some stuff over to them later, I wanna talk to Setduk first..

(https://imgur.com/afvbXcC.png)

so much for considering friendship to be a "burden"

(https://imgur.com/qx56SY3.png)

after some chattering between Solon and Opra, Opra then started petting my cat, yeah yeah I know you like my cat Opra but ok

(https://imgur.com/YRyA9iN.png)

while the other two just well.. chattering around like they are, my cat then head-bumps my feline legs, what is it Linx? what attention do you want..?

Tried asking Linx how he was doing but he just continues to head bump into me, Linx you silly little feline, I know you want to play but I don't want to play with you right now, I wanna speak to a human resident.

(https://imgur.com/0LZxrVm.png)

while Solon and Opra are chatting about... whatever they are talking about (something scary or something? I don't know) I greet myself to Setduk beginning my conversation with them..

(https://imgur.com/0LZxrVm.png)

as soon as I ask Setduk how they were feeling today, they started looking a bit somber I believe in their facial expression and just said to me "I don't understand why they have to be that way.." and started walking away to somewhere else..?
is he even ok? actually I shouldn't be surprised since all of the blighted thrall chaos that has been happening in Omon Obin and some parts or half of The Empire of Peeks (my home civilzation)... I am not done chatting with them tho.. I want some directions and to learn about any troubles that maybe near the area that we may need to watch out for while we travel..

Unfortunately I wasn't able to catch up with him and I sort of lost him as he went to somewhere else into the castle, seems he really did not want to talk at all.

So I decided to ask the cook at this castle if they know anything about the troubles and directions..

(https://imgur.com/0hn898E.png)

(https://imgur.com/qD1viGE.png)

according to the cook, in the area they got criminals, bandits, armies on the march, beasts and a missing treasure.. of course things in The Empire have been quite a mess and have been going down the shitter..
so I should be aware of where these things (except for the treasure which is really just a treasure that was stolen from the empire rather then a danger to avoid) maybe so me and my friends could avoid said dangers...

(https://imgur.com/LSjKzS3.png)

right after telling me about the armies, the cook ran off to somewhere else, by the Gods, it's like no one wants to really talk here and everyone seems to maybe be a bit hugely busy to keep the castle running and safe considering alot of things happening in The Empire, I also heard some commotion of a surgeon
in the castle has gone enraged as well so... I guess we should get to leaving here sooner maybe..

(https://imgur.com/hQqdSbw.png)

(https://imgur.com/20KqrUs.png)

and so I decided to ask for directions for example a necromancer tower like Massiveshoot for us to avoid, we got some details from a random castle resident on where it is, so good to know to avoid and such, but since everyone here seems to be super busy, we should go ahead and get going right now.. or else whatever surgeon that went mad here, starts causing a massive
ruckus and might get us or something

(https://imgur.com/BsPy5op.png)

(https://imgur.com/YLfLdtJ.png)

(https://imgur.com/KqsQtaP.png)

with all of that castle exploring over... we do not know what happened to Solon's other husky Stotir, all we know is that dog have gotten lost in the castle while we were chatting with people, and exploring the castle a bit before we leave, so now we only have my cat Linx and
Solon's hunting husky Id now, quite shame we already lost one of our pets but simply getting them lost at castle we met up at..

anyways right now, we decided to go check into town at The Combat of Matches before we get started into leaving and start heading south to more mountainous lands away from The Blighted Zones.

(https://imgur.com/DF5ABJZ.png)

this place seems quiet... too quiet..

(https://imgur.com/qZ0j6Ce.png)

It seems like the town hall of this empire town seems to be abandoned... like maybe the population here decided to evacuate right during when the omon blight chaos was at it's reach and was going crazy all over the place as it crossed over into The Empire of Peeks..
the inside of thise place was dusty and old, we can go and take what we can get in here and just get into heading south anyways, this town has no one who maybe still living here..

(https://imgur.com/vbCHfvV.png)

checking out what loot maybe here, there is no food or drink, only loot we could find is armor, clothing adn weapons, in that case, some silver armor and silver weapons, I decided to take a silver battleaxe from here cause I though the weapon could come in handy probably, maybe should also get that
other silver battleaxe as well.

looking around here I noticed this place has a little closed hatch on the floor... and me being the smart to know this... I do not want to go down that hatch to see whatever horrors may still lurk down there..
really do not want to end up like one of those horror literature protagonists who decided to check out a dark and creepy dungeon or basement inside a house or abandoned building they are checking out only to get eviserated by whatever lurks down there..

(https://imgur.com/pP94yPC.png)

and with that we are now leaving down to the south, to finally get away as far away from the blight as we can, and like I said earlier, I decided to take the silver great axe that I mistook for a another silver battleaxe, with me too, just for safe keeping... now let's leave this weird ghost town..

(https://imgur.com/QRfwrOt.png)

TO THE SOUTH WE GO!!!

(https://imgur.com/DD0NMc1.png)

(https://imgur.com/EakfEjK.png)

(https://imgur.com/djbVysG.png)

(https://imgur.com/EqDzfq4.png)

We decided to take a small pit stop at another hamlet's town hall, aptly named "The Lavender Coasts" hopefully this place is still active and in order and doesn't have any blighted roaming the halls there.. and maybe there's some more supplies we can get there if it's abandoned and no one's there
or something like that, or if there are people there..

(https://imgur.com/KBFHW5D.png)

(https://imgur.com/TyEOWKm.png)

On other news Opra and Solon sort of got in a bit of a argument, while I was mainly sort of distracted on getting us traveling down to the south, I wanna ask how those two are feeling
right now..

(https://imgur.com/IBkjNwb.png)

(https://imgur.com/qlIEp6Y.png)

(https://imgur.com/otx0vis.png)

(https://imgur.com/7Wqcv4B.png)

(https://imgur.com/CUmeUny.png)

So after chatting with Solon and Opra, Opra feels quite alright as she told me despite feeling quite insulted by the argument she had with Solon, Solon on the other hand,
seems quite glum and sad about it.. thought both have been enjoying the adventure so far, but I hope Solon feels better later, well.. actually I went ahead on wanting to help Solon feel better since she seems a bit upset about the argument she had with Opra

(https://imgur.com/FH1BBx1.png)

It seems she was already calm, but assumed I seemed stressed myself with my response... aaaghh!! I suck trying to tell stress and wanting to help people! damn my poor understanding!

(https://imgur.com/tlCAJl1.png)

out of myself on wanting to calm myself down on my low self-esteem I chose to comment on the weather to Opra, but she was too busy petting Linx, and did not reply I did not mean to make this convo more awkward I guess then it was earlier but here we are..

(https://imgur.com/srO19o9.png)

anyways let's hope there's some people in this town hall, though it seems to be be just as quiet as the last hamlet, so I got no high hopes for finding others here, like maybe some others we could probably get to
go along with us on our journey or whatever but whatever, let's hope there maybe some valuables here maybe..

(https://imgur.com/OqxZ8MX.png)

Just as I expected empty like the last one.. welp let's check out some loot.

(https://imgur.com/0g6xVdo.png)

no loot that we need, there was only more armor, clothing and some weapons again, but i already have enough weapons, I feel like we need some more food drink and healing potions maybe to bring with us on our long travels hopefully, let's check main town.. hopefully we find no blighted there..

(https://imgur.com/sd6PVcL.png)

(https://imgur.com/mmaV9hL.png)

As we started heading to the main residence, I started to get a little hungry and thristy so I decided we should stop for a bit before we got into the main residence, and I decided to take some drinks and enjoy some food I have with me
to keep myself sated..

(https://imgur.com/FtbbWQT.png)

so after drinking some water from my waterskin and eating up a nice prepared giant bluejay spleen meal, we finally walked into the ruined residences.. I hope to find some more supplies for us in here..

(https://imgur.com/4W9Q8LG.png)

(https://imgur.com/C3nG8pZ.png)

(https://imgur.com/bEp7IuA.png)

(https://imgur.com/wbsPgwu.png)

(https://imgur.com/JolNAPy.png)

(https://imgur.com/gnTDHlE.png)

(https://imgur.com/boVxXQe.png)

After checking and checking... yeah, this place is emptied out of any and all stuff that was there.. I do remember hearing about a thrall outbreak happening here that was so bad many residents here were ripped apart and torn to shreds by the Blighted..
thanks to witness accounts and survivor accounts.. well looking here it seems either all of the supplies the residents had here were taken during evacuation and maybe some remaining supplies here was all
taken by stragglers most likely.. forget this place, let's continue south

(https://imgur.com/ifsDXzJ.png)

(https://imgur.com/M1qBmv4.png)

(https://imgur.com/RG9AVPr.png)

(https://imgur.com/S4gPRd8.png)

As we traveled more it began to get dark in the wilderness, so we decided to camp out, and setup a campfire so we can chat for a bit, and rest and sleep here for the night..

(https://imgur.com/S4gPRd8.png)

(https://imgur.com/1Z3rNmx.png)

(https://imgur.com/My4ej4r.png)

It seems like Solon and Opra are really not getting along very well.. well I feel Opra with her whole attitude of friendship being a "burdon" is really sort of the one starting this kind of so...
I am gonna attempt to try and calm things more again..

(https://imgur.com/yuWkIWR.png)

(https://imgur.com/CANParp.png)

(https://imgur.com/Wpwvh6l.png)

(https://imgur.com/hEiJFB8.png)

(https://imgur.com/HYab8nW.png)

I swear to Armok... I just.. can't understand why these two are arguing! I swear this journey is gonna be my death bed if not by the blighted apocalypse!!

(https://imgur.com/Kmvmynt.png)

(https://imgur.com/OGiMRDR.png)

(https://imgur.com/eh1Q3bv.png)

(https://imgur.com/obW9Nr7.png)

I argued a bit with Opra over the values of loyalty and friendship and friendship struck a nerve with her, it was frustrating I'll be honest but ughhh.. moving on to the next topic of the value of cooperation, and then after that I am gonna just be done and chat with Solon
before knocking myself out on bed..

(https://imgur.com/O3cidN3.png)

(https://imgur.com/PPgCqEg.png)

(https://imgur.com/zSAg29x.png)

As we cut the arguing and went to chat over about a different subject about a beast out on it's bloodlust on.. one of our civilizations, I expressed how it was sad, but no unexpected.. as we have been living in this mess of a world for a long while,

and as many should know this world is messed up, cause that's just how reality is... may look kind of nice on the surface but things can get very very grim the more deep you look into it, after this chatting about this subject I would then confront Opra about
the value of cooperation, in which FINALLY I found something she and I both agree on...

thankfully she understands that we of course need to cooperate, and with that I remind her that it's best not to put straws between all of us so we can cooperate with each
other in-order to survive the travels hopefully..

(https://imgur.com/MT8vPW1.png)

I then decide to finally move over to conversating with Solon, and she... still seems to be upset about her constant bickering with Opra, and now seemed
to have falsely assumed I was gonna change her mind as well, even though I was arguing against Opra on the side of her.., this is.. obviously a misunderstanding... but she doesn't realize it... how about some chit-chat with her about the surroundings of the area we are at
to keep her mind off of it? I am curious on what threats maybe roaming around here anyways...

(https://imgur.com/6XgS9Cc.png)

(https://imgur.com/jYFOzre.png)

(https://imgur.com/0LbmFJU.png)

(https://imgur.com/aeLfJrX.png)

(https://imgur.com/IsXCxMV.png)

(https://imgur.com/4IhCOoe.png)

(https://imgur.com/7pfzCbq.png)

(https://imgur.com/lPVrPGT.png)

(https://imgur.com/lPVrPGT.png)

we talked on and on about what things maybe roaming around in these parts and such, many things really of course from criminal organizations to bandit gangs to skulking vermin and etc, I commented about how it is kind of terrifying knowing some of this stuff, and
Solon was just casual about it, while at it I tried to joke around to help lighten things up for her but she didn't reallu respond to that very well.. not that very big of a fan of jokes I guess

(https://imgur.com/IalCWmv.png)

...so I decide to talk about some other things with her to get to know my friend better, while Linx was still head-bumping me

(https://imgur.com/nSJS3l7.png)

(https://imgur.com/drEsg5Q.png)

interesting to know Solon was a orphan, kind of sad to hear and I did not want to push more into that as I am sure she probably doesn't like to talk about it, anyways at that moment I felt beyond exhausted and needed to sleep, so then I got myself comfy and got into sleeping next to the campfire along with Opra and Solon..

(https://imgur.com/BtUlXzm.png)

(https://imgur.com/S4AnpAE.png)

(https://imgur.com/fIbRAZ0.png)
it was... now the next morning.. awake at dawn.. as we intended, time to go back to traveling down south again!

(https://imgur.com/03Nkwwk.png)

and by the gods... I am hungry and thirsty for something... time to eat some nice prepared bluejay spleen and drink some water to sate my hunger and thirst before we go!

(https://imgur.com/zQpPy1A.png)

on the other hand I have appeared to have woken up... stunned..? probably cause of how damn hungry I was when I woke up but damn... let's just.. stretch a bit..

(https://imgur.com/2i7wITW.png)

able to stand up, but still feeling these stun cramps all over me aah!, hope it goes away soon, hope I am not poisoned, Opra and Solon are just as confused a bit as I am but whatever this isn't gonna stop me!

(https://imgur.com/ZcyVaoJ.png)

off we go on our trail to the south!

(https://imgur.com/inFmTyB.png)

hungry and thirsty again? what's gotten into me?

(https://imgur.com/0km3Ku7.png)

And so we have arrived at The Butcher of Stakes.. let's see what we can find here..

(https://imgur.com/RrRCdZ6.png)

huh.. some noise..? is this hamlet not abandoned or overunned? well I hope so.. let's see who's inside here..

(https://imgur.com/pabhPq1.png)

well... fuck, yeah nope going here was a bad idea! we either fight and run or die or get infected.. and I ain't risking this tomfoolery!

(https://imgur.com/4oi4jQ9.png)

Jumped as quickly as I could, and drew the two battle axes I have in hand to get ready to defend myself, my companions and our pets

(https://imgur.com/yYyVk8s.png)

Dodgey fella aren't ye..? well we're gonna chop you up into little undead meat slices!!

(https://imgur.com/qsal4mF.png)

(https://imgur.com/y65ivTx.png)

ANOTHER DODGE? what is this thing? the undead coward..?! also you tell 'em Solon!

(https://imgur.com/cMJErJc.png)

Poor Id was wounded by the undead blighted freak... atleast Solon was able to get a jab by stabbing them through the lower body with her spear and firmly lodging it.. Opra and I should be able to get a chance to bring a end to this blighted one!

(https://imgur.com/zYhIzM7.png)

HAHA, YEAH LINX!!

(https://imgur.com/6EpP1vR.png)

NOOO LINX!!, NO ONE EVER HARMS MY LINX LIKE THAT!!

(https://imgur.com/A9xpDlV.png)

after awhile of use trying to rip this thing to shreds, it hopped ontop of me!, oh you're gonna get cut to shreds cause you're messing with the wrong lady right here you fuck! if you even have ears!

(https://imgur.com/6dpZCCP.png)

AAGGGHH, AHHH FUCK, YOU'RE NOT KILLING ME!!!

(https://imgur.com/qA7lp0h.png)

dear Armok!

(https://imgur.com/M4FHmE1.png)

(https://imgur.com/i1hZEc9.png)

LINX!!! fucking gods... they killed my LINX, stab that undead beast to death!!!

(https://imgur.com/Kd53XzQ.png)

(https://imgur.com/WQvTWk9.png)

I am gonna cut your stupid head off-

(https://imgur.com/R6i5YZS.png)

(https://imgur.com/ZO6Jw1f.png)

the writing seems to be now nothing but scribbles and blankness, one must imagine that... Arla here must have gotten ripped apart by a singler blighted thrall... probably a tough one too..

(https://imgur.com/TDUEYV5.png)

it's a shame that her goal of making a great civilization for her kind and other indigionous kind like herself was never achieved, infact, her and her companions chances of traveling to the south for safety
were twarted by one possibly really strong thrall that ripped them all to shreds....

Save:https://drive.google.com/file/d/1HzZORqUwWxEuxefZDe1m_moK_ZkLHkKY/view?usp=sharing
 (https://drive.google.com/file/d/1HzZORqUwWxEuxefZDe1m_moK_ZkLHkKY/view?usp=sharing)

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

OOC:Finished my turn here, it's not much as I feel, I felt like I could've done a bit more and probably made the turn last a bit longer if I didn't just went to check out the townhall full of two Blighted Thralls and let Arla and her companions continue on their journey south, but curiosity killed the cat (literally), and I was sort of eager to get possibly some other companions with Arla, Solon and Opra...

actually thinking I should of asked some of the humans around at the castle and chatted with them a bit more and asked a few of them to come with them, but was too eager to get them traveling right off the bat.. maybe I by next turn I'll try something similar to that, also yes I think I would like to have myself have another turn on the list please

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: WonderPsycho on November 24, 2023, 09:10:51 pm

Yep.. and my turn is done here, just confirming again for those who may have not read the spoiler text in the last reply

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: TheFlame52 on November 25, 2023, 09:12:22 am

an average blight encounter

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on November 26, 2023, 04:44:54 am

A short and tragic tale. Never underestimate the Blight!

Good luck on your turn, Eric.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Eric Blank on November 26, 2023, 06:31:01 pm

Im downloading the save now.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: WonderPsycho on November 27, 2023, 04:42:29 pm

good luck Eric

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Eric Blank on November 28, 2023, 09:56:17 pm

Spoiler: Four Curses (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/w5149oy.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/xxAHa9v.png)

In an abandoned house in the hamlet of Rapidfilled, two cloaked figures meet. One tall and thin, one short and powerful, though crawling on the floor with useless hands and feet. The taller said to the shorter, "I brought the equipment you asked for, but I could only obtain communion wine from the temple."

"Fine," replied the shorter in a low, clearly frustrated tone, "we will not need more. Let me show you how to keep it. Pour it on the ground here." She dug a shallow hole in the sandy floor with her otherwise useless hands

"In- err, why"

"Just follow my instructions."

The young man did, not wanting to anger his benefactor further. The dwarven woman leaned over the pool and whispered a prayer.

"Now fill all of your mugs and skins with it in turn."

The follower did so, and amazingly, each container was filled to the fullest.

"This is a gift from our gods, do not forget it. Now we leave, while the sun is high. Help me pull up my cloak."

"Will we be going straight to your coven?"

"No, Vanod, patience. We must first acquire something to mix with that wine."

The two set off, painstakingly slowly but relentlessly, to the south and then west, taking care to avoid goblin patrols and trenches. The woods were alive with the creatures, but of animals there were mostly ravens and buzzards. After several days they came to the Calm Dunes, and on the southern edge they found a well-hidden camp, now abandoned.

"Take what you can from the bags here, arm yourself."

The man did as instructed, though most of the armor was copper, and only a bronze battleaxe and copper buckler were left for him.

"The kobolds here are long dead, we don't have to fear retribution."

"Kobolds? Really? I thought those were just fairy tales."

"They are but fairy tales now."

Vanod looked back on the streaks of dark-stained clay with apprehension, before following Ingish, who was already crawling tirelessly across the desert sands westwards. The pair stopped at many abandoned hamlets to loot what equipment they could, but they avoided every fort or castle. "Too risky, too well guarded." Ingish said. In the abandoned monastery of Strapscuffled they took books from the temple. "No one will take care of them here, they will all rot, we will make copies of them at our library in the coven." Ingish had explained. Nearby was a statue with a pedestal at its base. The statue depicted Tokda, the goddess of laws, oaths and marriage. On the pedestal was a small icosahedral orthoclase die. "Roll it." Ingish instructed.

Vanod picked up the die, read from the pedestal the prayer of Tokda, and rolled the die across it. The face showed a four-pointed star. Vanod felt a soothing sensation cross his body, and every little cut and bruise from his journey had disappeared in an instant.

Stunned, Ingish exclaimed, "Let me try it."

Vanod held her up to the pedestal, and she scooped the die into her limp hands and said the prayer, and released it. It landed on the four pointed star! Ingish could feel the numbness of her limbs recede and her scarred face flush with fresh feeling, and strength returned to her fingers once more as she clenched her fists. "Blessings!" she shouted cheerfully, "Put me down, let me walk!" Vanod did so, and after stumbling for a time she gained her footing, and could walk again. They spoke another prayer to the goddess, left the die on her pedestal, and continued their journey around the mountains of the Bearded Horn.

Not far to the south-west was a necromancers' tower, abandoned and looted. But some of the pyramids and towers surrounding it still contained equipment. The duo searched through these, and Vanod came out of it with a full suit of bronze armor, and Ingish with a sword and shield. Further south still was the necromancer tower of Farmpuzzling, which they found with most of its tomes intact. They took those, too. Late the following night they came to their first destination; Boltspumpkin.

In the courtyard they met a Warrior of Udir, Zefon, who asked them about the purpose of their visit. "We brought books to donate." Ingish explained, "We found them in the monastery of Strapscuffled, to the north, by the hamlet of Viperpigs. The monastery has been abandoned, but its shrine still contains a die. The goddess offers blessings of healing."

"Well, write all that down, and find a place in the keep to leave your donations." the warrior responded. "The monk will sort it out."

(https://i.imgur.com/rB0odqM.png)

Inside, they found everyone asleep. Ingish instructed Vanod to choose several of the books they had found and leave them on a pedestal in the next room. He selected several tomes he had memorized; Ices, A Meditation On The Monastery, and the Book Of The Village. Meanwhile, Ingish surreptitiously acquired what they had come for, and met him by the door. "I found the reagents. Let's go." Ingish led the way back through the courtyard, and out into the woodland beyond. Then, she turned north, and led the way to a smattering of tomes and artifacts seemingly abandoned outside. "This is the cursed horde. The artifacts here must be returned, but we need a tome of necromancy. Find something with an ominous title including death or the end."

"How about 'Mortality?'" Vanod replied.

"That will do. Don't read it. Here, take this one too." Ingish handed him another tome entitled 'The End Might Help.' "We shouldn't need more, we really only need one. We should find a die, though."

Soon enough, Ingish found one; Ochreswords, a native gold icosahedral die. She rolled it, and suddenly transformed into a giant echidna. Frustrated, she growled and pushed her backpack towards Vanod. "Uhm, Ill handle it," he stuttered, trying not to laugh. He folded up Ingish's clotihng and put her equipment into her backpack. "Where to now? Just lead the way, I guess." Ingish began plodding slowly, awkwardly in her new bestial form, and Vanod trailed along behind her, carrying both their sacks. "Never seen a giant echidna before," he muttered. "should have known theyd exist too, I guess." Ingish only huffed and stamped her feet as she moved. Dawn was breaking in the east, and she was now walking towards it.

After a week of crossing forests and hills and finally tundras, of Ingish slaughtering any small animals that got in her way, the curse reverted on the tundra of heroes and Ingish dressed herself, and by evening they had arrived at their destination; Icefury. The fortress lay in ruins, the once-strong population slaughtered without mercy save for a few survivors and some necromancers. None dared interfere with their mission, under the watchful eyes of the captain of the guard. Here, the leader of the coven instructed Vanod to roll the die, but it had gone missing. Somewhere between the museum and the tundra, the artifact had vanished. "Then find another die, from another shrine." The high priestess instructed. "It matters not from what god. Find it, profane their temple, and then read the books of death. If the gods are with us, you will become a werebeast, and you can then help carry out our revenge. Eternal life and ultimate power will then be yours, and ours. We won't be caught off-guard again."

The duo left the temple, exited the fortress, and travelled south towards the Realm of Silver, where the nearest shrines were to be found. Soon they found one intact, and Vanod performed the prayer of the god. Once. Twice. And with only minor hesitation, thrice. A voice boomed in his head, "Your fate is sealed." Along with it came images of a hideous feline beast, ripping out his throat. When he regained his composure, he met Ingish's gaze. "I-I've been cursed. I think I'm a were-beast. A... Cat?"

"Good." Ingish looked behind her at the thin sliver of the moon. "We have about two weeks or so until the moon is full again. Until then, we spread the other blessing. And don't worry, we know how to cure you. I'll show you how to mix the ingredients."

After mixing the wine, the pair made for town, and started to work. In times of great uncertainty and fear and desperation, oaths that otherwise would go unspoken become commonplace, and people from all walks of life drink deeply of any snake oil brought before them. A few copper a cup, or a pocket knife in trade and the mirracle cure and prevention for the blight was made available to anyone willing to try it. They did not, of course, disclose the side-effects. Nor did those who realized what they had done, too afraid then of the repercussions. After two weeks walking door to door, the full moon came, and Ingish awaited in the woods away from Vanod during his transformation.

The pain was unbearable at first as his bones cracked and grew, and tendons torn, and skin disfigured. The beast came over him like a torrent of emotion and agony, and when it was finished, it hungered. Vanod found their appettite easy to satiate, exactly as they pleased, as their wills were of the same mind in this.

(https://i.imgur.com/aABMq8n.png)

Like a shadow the dark figure crept into each village, glowing orange eyes all that betrayed its presense. They struck house after house, killed and ate and bit. When others came to the defence of the victims, it leapt with unmatched grace around, through, and out of the crowds and hovels. Its murder spree completed, it fled into the hills and woods. But its terror did not end there. Those victims who died, and sometimes others, shuddered and began to move just as it passed. Death and the blight descended on the villages as once-dead thralls arose again and renewed their hunger for the living. But those who drank the cure were spared. The blight ignored them. The beasts their less faithful neighbors became, did not. Those undead who were unafflicted by any of these curses, cared not but to slaughter those left in mortal forms who dared travel the wildernesses they now claimed. Four curses brought forth the apocalypse, four armies became the bringers of the end times, and mortal men at last knew true terror.

So, uh, I've been having some fun. We're only just beginning, however.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on November 29, 2023, 03:22:03 am

Oh my…. Ala save us!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Eric Blank on December 03, 2023, 01:19:54 am

Spoiler: Four Curses, Part II (click to show/hide)

Vanod transformed every month, and every month spread the werecurse and raised the dead. Ingish peddled the cure and carried the wealth accumulated. It was easy in hamlets stricken by the blight. Desperate peasants wanted protection from their neighbors. Dwarven hillocks, where they were inhabited at all, were seemingly universally spared from the blight, while typically being populated by human refugees. They weren't as desperate, and were more suspicious, but ultimately a few would be greedy or paranoid enough.

(found these two fighting in a dwarven hillock. No idea what they were fighting over.)

Many hamlets in the greater valley of the Perfect Horns were still completely abandoned, some held only goblins claiming lordly titles, reminiscing about simpler times.

(https://i.imgur.com/AQ9gEm5.png)

The region surrounding the museum was rife with blight and fear, but also fearless adventurers who had been unsuccessfully battling the blight for centuries now. One such was the witch hunter Kothvir, lord of his own hamlet. Though he lorded over corpses.

(https://i.imgur.com/oHYWMeP.png)

After meeting back up with Ingish, Vanod explained his encounter to her. "What should we do?"

"We leave him. He's too powerful for us, too skilled. No armor will stop the blade he's said to carry but adamantine." Ingish looked worriedly over her shoulder. "He would hunt 'witches' like us. What exactly did you tell him?"

"That I was an adventurer seeking fortunes for the museum and hunting the blighted. I didn't mention the cure."

"Well, lets hope we're long gone before somebody else does."

The Pair continued their rounds northwards, and encountered more blight, more corpses, and more terrified peasants in every hamlet. In Shootegg, Vanod had just sold a mug of the cure to one such inhabitant when through the door behind them a blighted thrall shambled in, and stood unmoving in the center of the room between them, seemingly staring at nothing. "See?" Vanod said, "Nothing to fear." He then lopped off the thrall's head before turning back to the other man, who had been attacked by this very thrall. "You murderer! You killed her!" the man exclaimed.

(https://i.imgur.com/TYbhq85.png)

"You do realize that it just got back from murdering your other friend, don't you? That it would kill anyone else it saw besides those who drank the same cure? 'She' was gone, the thralls are just ghouls searching for mortal flesh."

"That doesn't make it right! You said this was a cure, that they could be cured!"

"I did not. 'Cure' is the word used for these sorts of things, yes. But it's more like 'prevention.' The blighted are still doomed, they can't be cured." Before leaving, Vanod paused again. "If you don't have the stomach for putting down your neighbors, then you should develop the nerve to feed them the cure too. Feed them your blood, mixed into their alcohol if you have to. Protect the married couples and children, until they're old enough or have had enough children. Don't prey on them, use livestock. It's easy. My companion does it all the time. You're a vampire now. You don't need to fear the blight, so you must protect those who do. This is how we will save the world." As he left the man sitting on the floor in shock, Vanod passed the corpse of the man "Togi" had just torn apart. His right arm and leg were missing, his brain pulped. Only a few more hamlets stood between them and the gulf of the Peaceful Waters, and these were passed through without incident.

At the city of Incenseorder, a mix of goblins, dwarves and humans could be found, many among them warriors, and many willing to trade for any cure to the blight. However, in castle, they were greeted with immediate suspicion. The wolf lord of the keep immediately recognized their ploy. "I recognize that smell." the wolf man announced before they could even speak. "That's the blood of the beast, from the museum you're carrying. Why are you here?"

"We come bringing a tonic to help prevent the spread of the blight, and protect the uninfected from it." Ingish explained. The wolf man only reached for his weapon.

"By turning people into vampires? Unacceptable. You will leave at once, and you are banished from my lands henceforth."

Not wanting to start a fight here, Ingish motioned to Vanod to leave. The wolf's steady gaze followed them as they closed the door, and one of his strongmen escorted them out of the castle and beyond the walls. They had accomplished something, at least. After leaving Incenseorder, Ingish retired to Icefury with most of their accumulated wealth. Vanod took on the task of converting the north of the world alone, albeit not unarmed. Killing thralls and peasants had given him some great skill in combat. His first task was to head north-west, towards the dwarven settlements around Blueoceans. But before that, he encountered a unique obstacle. A series of wooden palisades had been erected across part of the land, and behind it two abandoned forts.

The palisades were far from complete, with large gaps between sections. Only a scarce few dwarves inhabited it. Several agreed to buy the drink off of him, at the least. Just behind the palisades' apparently intended entrance gates lay a smattering of workshops, accompanied by trade depots and once even what looked like living quarters. Beyond, in one of the fortresses, surrounded by a moat of lava with burning coal on its edges, was a temple complex, with one structure surrounded by cages, containing live dwarves, apparently trapped as youths and raised without names or language. These tortured souls could not be released. There were no signs of their captors, so Vanod moved on.

There were seven hillocks in all south of Blueoceans, and the humans living there told vanod the "fort" itself was abandoned now. The people here were untroubled, unafraid of the turmoil of the rest of the world, and almost none were gullible enough to be tricked into taking the drink. However, Vanod did encounter one interesting stranger; another wolf person, female this time, in the civic mound of one of the hillocks. Before Vanod had even spoken to anyone, she elbowed the side of one of the men present and pointed at Vanod. Again, it seemed, he had been fingered for a spy by someone's sense of smell. Neither figure made any move to approach him, however, so after briefly chatting with one of the locals about the fortress and trade, he made his way out, and was not followed.

On the way back, Vanod took a quick detour suggested by one of the locals, to the fortress of Ancientknowledge the Library of Secrets, isolated on its island. This meant, of course, that he had to swim, and pack a waterproof keg for the blood wine. The swim was uneventful, at least, the waters calm and placid, and Vanod, untiring, made the journey at full pace in under two hours. The fort itself was harder to find. The forest was alive with beasts, giant and average in size, mostly ocean-dwellers crawling inland looking for food. The jungles grew thicker and darker as he approached. High atop a hill lay a wagon, untouched as sometimes was the case with dwarven settlements cut down early. But this fort was said to have been quite the metropolis, deep underground. It took a few hours to finally spot an entrance at the base of the cliffs. A dark, overgrown tunnel lead to a trade depot still packed with goods, and inside lay another labyrinth of tunnels sprawling out from a central staircase. After several minutes wandering down the stairs, Vanod finally came upon a figure in the dark. The figure introduced themself as he dungeon master of the fortress, and guided him to their famed library halls, where almost a dozen others stood around a gold statue garden discussing books and the meaning and secrets of life and death. All of those that yet lived here were necromancers. All others, apparently, had perished or migrated to other sites. The scholars took only passing interest in his plight to save the world from the blight, and only two took the concoction, apparently not for personal consumption. They offered nothing in return, but this was little trouble for the man overburdened by too many sacks of coins. He fingered this as a place not to bother with when the moon came that month. The hillocks offered plenty of victims.

When the full moon came, it came with it, and Vanod guided it to each hillock in turn. They entered many dwellings, attacked the inhabitant nearest the door, often ripping out their throat, and then baited the defenders out. They then took refuge on the slope above the doorway, and as defenders came out they attacked them in turn, again aiming to rip out as many throats as possible, and where not possible, to injure their legs, leaving them crippled. The cat-like nature of the beast made this vertical battle and evading retaliation trivial. The dead Vanod then raised, and they turned on their former neighbors before fleeing the site. After the moon had waned, surviving werebeasts would be exiled or killed. The army of rabid defenders grew.

Vanod then crossed the gulf to the central peninsula, and began the task again. Most of the sites were abandoned, but those that weren't were often blight-stricken, and desperation was high. When the moon came again, Vanod had returned to his own home, and there he found the people who had exiled him years ago for his heresy, in the middle of a festival at the mead hall. Vanod struck, and bit many of them, while backpedaling out and around the building, attacking each fresh opponent while his victims lay on the ground, legs bleeding or mangled. Dozens fell, and then the beast vanished into the hills. Just when the worst seemed to have passed, again those who had died of their wounds arose and transformed into beasts, and the terror began again, tenfold.

After a few months of this, Vanod finally conceded that he knew of no more places to visit in the north, and his task complete, he began the trek south at last. On the return trip, he visited several more sites, including forts staffed by mercenaries and bandits. These made Especially good killing fields, as the warriors knew how to defend themselves. With each fight Vanod grew ever stronger, and the armies of the undead and cursed grew. When he finally returned to Icefury, he met Ingish in the tavern, and then they proceeded to the temple to meet with the priestess again. Once Vanod had explained his adventures and produced the books he had looted from mead halls and keeps across the land, the priestess gave them their last assignment. "A new sanctuary for our order has been founded to the north. Go there and bring with you all of our artifacts and texts. The new fortress there has been ordered to construct a library for their archival. We will meet you there, when our own tasks have been completed."

Their final task at hand after more than a year, the two packed their equipment, retrieved the map to the location, and began their trek. Overnight they stayed in a castle keep just beyond the tundra. The keep was deserted save a pair of undead thralls they had resurrected months prior, making it their new home. While talking over their plans, suddenly one of their hosts shrieked and burst into a puff of smoke, vanishing entirely. The other did the same moments later. Suddenly Ingish was overcome with a sense of intense dread and doom, and before she could even speak, she too burst into smoke, leaving her equipment on the floor. In an instant of panic, Vanod drew his axe and looked around for the assailant, but found nothing. Suddenly, his world went black, he felt his head hit the floor, and the next thing he knew, he was in an eerie glowing abyss surrounded by jagged black stone, fire, the smell of brimstone, the sound of screams, and countless demonic figures. The monsters descended on him, and tore him apart.

When many months had passed without word, the priestess sent an expedition to look for them. After many months, only Vanod's corpse could be found, their packs abandoned on the cold stone floor, and their pack animals, like Vanod, seemingly struck dead without cause. This news was brought forth to the priestess at her new throne, along with their treasures.

I'm done with my adventuring, once I get this pile of junk to the new fortress site. I had to put down Vanod and Ingish, and those other two that were in the castle first, and start a new courier adventurer, because anytime they were in LOS to any other creatures, the game would slow to a crawl to the point of being unplayable. Can't tell you how unbearably painful it was just to march into that castle and put everything on a pedestal, but once there was only Ingish left (She had most of the bags) the FPS was actually playable enough I could do it. Also, apparently undead disappear in a puff of smoke when you use the exterminate command. Canonically, they got smote by an angry god.

Ive confirmed whatever issue with FPS I was getting was exclusively related to those two after my adventures. Any other adventurer, including new or unretired ones, in the present save or the one I downloaded, are unaffected, and it doesn't seem to be affecting the save in any other visible way. I burned Vanod's body just to prevent him from being resurrected and causing the issue further. I still have no idea the actual source of the issue, my assumption is the game was trying to make too many relationship/"friend or foe" checks, maybe related to the shear number of people they had spoken to, interacted with and fought with. It was much worse with Ingish around, which is why, actually, she got left behind way before I was done in the Realms of Silver Region. She then disappeared from where I asked her to wait outside Icefury so I had to retire/unretire to find her again.

Killing lots of people and spreading mayhem was loads of fun, but the game was getting so slow I basically HAD to stop. Couldn't be in line of sight to more than 8-10 people before it slowed to less than one turn per second

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on December 03, 2023, 05:49:55 am

Sounds like you’ve made the world a very interesting place… scores of new vampires, thralls and were-cats?

Should make it more fun for the next lot of adventurers!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: WonderPsycho on December 04, 2023, 12:55:04 am

nice work Eric, now the world is not only filled with undead infectious thralls, but filled with werecats and vampires as well

nice story

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Eric Blank on December 04, 2023, 04:53:14 am

Dont worry, the vampires at least will only pester you in fort mode.

I'll upload the file in the morning.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Eric Blank on December 04, 2023, 02:30:14 pm

Ok here's the save

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1W7Pc5D4LpNkFu78VZlyIhTinL0KNjyCr/view?usp=drive_link

I could have uploaded it to DFFD if i uploaded it as a 7zip file, but I figure not as many people use 7zip.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: AvolitionBrit on December 04, 2023, 02:42:53 pm

Quote from: Eric Blank on December 04, 2023, 02:30:14 pm

Ok here's the save

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1W7Pc5D4LpNkFu78VZlyIhTinL0KNjyCr/view?usp=drive_link

I could have uploaded it to DFFD if i uploaded it as a 7zip file, but I figure not as many people use 7zip.

It appears to be restricted

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on December 04, 2023, 03:40:30 pm

Looks like it’s Yarlig’s turn. Good luck!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Eric Blank on December 04, 2023, 05:47:00 pm

Quote from: AvolitionBrit on December 04, 2023, 02:42:53 pm

Quote from: Eric Blank on December 04, 2023, 02:30:14 pm

Ok here's the save

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1W7Pc5D4LpNkFu78VZlyIhTinL0KNjyCr/view?usp=drive_link

I could have uploaded it to DFFD if i uploaded it as a 7zip file, but I figure not as many people use 7zip.

It appears to be restricted

I'll fix that in a minute!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: WonderPsycho on December 04, 2023, 05:56:33 pm

Quote from: Eric Blank on December 04, 2023, 02:30:14 pm

Ok here's the save

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1W7Pc5D4LpNkFu78VZlyIhTinL0KNjyCr/view?usp=drive_link

I could have uploaded it to DFFD if i uploaded it as a 7zip file, but I figure not as many people use 7zip.

well even if you uploaded it to DFFD as a 7zip file I would have still been able to open it with WinRAR

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Eric Blank on December 04, 2023, 06:00:00 pm

Alright it's set to public access now.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1W7Pc5D4LpNkFu78VZlyIhTinL0KNjyCr/view?usp=drive_link

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: WonderPsycho on December 04, 2023, 07:54:09 pm

Quote from: Eric Blank on December 04, 2023, 06:00:00 pm

Alright it's set to public access now.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1W7Pc5D4LpNkFu78VZlyIhTinL0KNjyCr/view?usp=drive_link

nice

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: WonderPsycho on December 04, 2023, 08:25:30 pm

I think I might download the world to check out the world's legends in Legends Viewer, been a while since I messed with Legends Viewer

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: WonderPsycho on December 04, 2023, 10:23:40 pm

Checking on some of the legends, It appears the Dwarven population is at a all time low... exactly 1'105 dwarves live in Orid Xem currently in this save... how many dwarves were alive originally last checked? it seems the Dwarven End Times are approaching... maybe it's time for a Save The Dwarves! Project very soon maybe..?

(https://imgur.com/SfGLshO.png)

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: WonderPsycho on December 04, 2023, 10:30:43 pm

Maybe a idea for a project to build a new underground Dwarven bunker shelter fortress to help keep alot of dwarves safe in, and be a unstoppable beacon of power for the dwarves to fight back against what lies in the new cataclysmic apocalyptic lands of Orid Xem now? just throwing some ideas out there if any may like to try lol

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: WonderPsycho on December 04, 2023, 10:32:53 pm

Quote from: WonderPsycho on December 04, 2023, 10:23:40 pm

Checking on some of the legends, It appears the Dwarven population is at a all time low... exactly 1'105 dwarves live in Orid Xem currently in this save... how many dwarves were alive originally last checked? it seems the Dwarven End Times are approaching... maybe it's time for a Save The Dwarves! Project very soon maybe..?

(https://imgur.com/SfGLshO.png)

Again specifying the dwarven pop is exactly 1'105, so it's very close to going down in the hundreds, the 900s to be exact

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Lurker Z on December 04, 2023, 10:52:10 pm

Quote from: WonderPsycho on December 04, 2023, 10:23:40 pm

Checking on some of the legends, It appears the Dwarven population is at a all time low... exactly 1'105 dwarves live in Orid Xem currently in this save... how many dwarves were alive originally last checked? it seems the Dwarven End Times are approaching... maybe it's time for a Save The Dwarves! Project very soon maybe..?

(https://imgur.com/SfGLshO.png)

I think the dwarf population was always low accounting for the Great War (https://dflegends.fandom.com/wiki/The_Great_War_of_Orid_Xem). LV still doesn't work for me to check, but I think it started in the low hundreds. Most of the dwarves are those created by players in fortress mode.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Bralbaard on December 05, 2023, 01:40:07 am

I'll check later today but I think the dwarves are near, or even at, an all time high.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Bralbaard on December 05, 2023, 02:19:31 am

This is the latest graph:

(https://i.imgur.com/igxxjPf.gif)

Most pops are not doing much worse than at other points in history.
Dwarves had their all time high in 1042, with 1137 dwarves. The lowest they've been is 524 shortly after the game started in 700.
Of course there is no easy way of telling how many of those dwarves are werecats, vampires or thralls.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: WonderPsycho on December 05, 2023, 03:08:43 am

Ah I see, good to know

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: AvolitionBrit on December 05, 2023, 04:55:35 am

The goblins bounced back, interesting

As for the dwarves, they will endure. They have had entire civilizations die and come back. They are unlikely to go the way of the Kobold.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on December 05, 2023, 03:30:58 pm

Just checked LV... there are now 701 living werebeasts in Orid Xem.

Eric... what have you done?!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: AvolitionBrit on December 05, 2023, 03:48:06 pm

Quote from: kesperan on December 05, 2023, 03:30:58 pm

Just checked LV... there are now 701 living werebeasts in Orid Xem.

Eric... what have you done?!

Oh god, a new plague

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: WonderPsycho on December 05, 2023, 03:51:43 pm

Well if you read Eric's turn it's not just werebeasts, it's some more thralls, and vampires too (through the help of a "blight cure" which results in turning the non-infected into vampires)

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on December 05, 2023, 05:00:44 pm

Yep. 860 (un)living vampires now too. To put it into context, at the end of the turn before Eric's rampage there were 5 living werebeasts and 33 vampires.

The effort Eric has put in to making the world dangerous again is to be commended. Fort mode is going to be !FUN! from now on!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: WonderPsycho on December 05, 2023, 05:13:04 pm

yep! and I sure can't wait til it's my turn too with the fun gimmick I came up with what my next adventuring party will be, and it's most definitelly gonna be a little more chaotic now gonna have to deal with vamps and werecats and not just blighted thralls now, full blown night creature apocalypse

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Eric Blank on December 05, 2023, 10:28:18 pm

Aww damn, I didn't realize it was that big a difference!

I didn't have to bite all the people myself either. Sometimes I would fast travel away quickly and back then let the infected spread the infection. ;)

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: WonderPsycho on December 05, 2023, 10:53:26 pm

Anyways hopefully Yarlig notices it's his turn now, I'm just watching what may happen in the next turns before it's my turn again

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Yarlig on December 06, 2023, 07:01:03 pm

Claimed the save' will start playing tomorrow hopefully' or the day after.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: WonderPsycho on December 06, 2023, 08:27:28 pm

sounds good, good luck Yarlig

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Lurker Z on December 07, 2023, 09:45:57 pm

Good luck, Yarlig.

Bralbaard, remove me from the list, please. I don't think I'll have the time to do a proper turn.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: AvolitionBrit on December 12, 2023, 08:01:39 am

Could I get bumped down a turn (I'm gonna be on holiday  most of the turn)

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on December 12, 2023, 10:30:04 am

I can take the next turn if needed. It’s always tough finding the time over the festive period.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: AvolitionBrit on December 12, 2023, 12:42:36 pm

Perfect looks like we can simply trade turns. Thank you kindly

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Bralbaard on December 14, 2023, 10:16:19 am

Quote from: Yarlig on December 06, 2023, 07:01:03 pm

Claimed the save' will start playing tomorrow hopefully' or the day after.

Any news Yarlig? Curious to hear what you have been up to.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Yarlig on December 16, 2023, 06:23:43 pm

Ahoy' various stuff kept cropping up and I wasn't able to play my turn. Apologies for keeping you guys waiting' please continue on from Eric's save. Good luck' kesperan.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: AvolitionBrit on December 18, 2023, 02:56:09 pm

Hopes its going well Kesperan, thanks again for switching turns

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on December 18, 2023, 05:55:45 pm

Yeah, I have the save and will make a start tomorrow.

Not sure how much time I will have due to impending Christmas but I will do my best.

I seem to remember it was my turn at Christmas last year too!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: AvolitionBrit on December 23, 2023, 08:18:21 am

Glad to be back from my trip. Hope your turn is going well Kesperan

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on December 23, 2023, 05:38:11 pm

Progressing well but time will be limited over next few days - would you mind if I handed it over a little touch late?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: AvolitionBrit on December 23, 2023, 08:05:19 pm

Quote from: kesperan on December 23, 2023, 05:38:11 pm

Progressing well but time will be limited over next few days - would you mind if I handed it over a little touch late?

Ayyyy, glad to hear the turn is progressing well. Yeah, thats fine.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on December 28, 2023, 03:14:48 am

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1lvbxpSQihy57FlB3LDoAKG-CHwtt7FPE/view?usp=drive_link


It was the summer of '69...

Good luck, Avolition.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: AvolitionBrit on December 29, 2023, 11:07:30 am

Quote from: kesperan on December 28, 2023, 03:14:48 am

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1lvbxpSQihy57FlB3LDoAKG-CHwtt7FPE/view?usp=drive_link


It was the summer of '69...

Good luck, Avolition.

Cheers, picking this up now

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on December 29, 2023, 11:21:28 am

Can I be added to the turn list again please?

And Merry Christmas everyone.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: WonderPsycho on December 29, 2023, 01:42:37 pm

merry christmas kesperan

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on December 29, 2023, 03:49:57 pm

So, I will get started on my writeup as soon as I can but here are a few interesting facts as an appetiser:

1. The new outpost liaison for the Page of Tiredness is a wolverine woman called Isk. She seems to have been tamed at some point, possibly by Eric Blank in Livingdead as there are three other named wolverine people there. She arrived at my fort one day with only a nickname. I drafted her into the military and sent her on a raid of Poisonuttered, where she killed the Master of The Most Sin, and earned the name Isk Treesyrup the Brave Animal. She is my new favourite animal person.

2. The Matched Hame, the last dead dwarven civilisation have returned. This was the main goal of my turn. They have retaken Palacework as The Last Clan and turned it into a functioning fortress. The current seat of government, however, is the previously human town of Pricerings.

3. The new King of The Matched Hame is my adventurer, Ineth Relicheart the Sullen Wave. He can be found chilling out in Pricerings with his nobles.

4. Eric Blank's last hero, Kurel Soothtired, who he used to ransack Icefury and move all their treasure to his new fort, migrated to the Eternal Citadel and was conscripted into the guard. He is now married with a child.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Eric Blank on December 29, 2023, 03:54:42 pm

I would also like to be re-added to the list as well

Also yes Isk was one of four Wolverine people that got trapped in cage traps and I attempted to make them citizens as a test. The game doesn't like that, though, so they just hung out in their room refusing to even make acquaintances of one another or anyone else. If there were some way to force them to follow the code that comes with long term residents. Maybe they'll start developing relationships now?

Also surprised Kurel married. I didn't edit them at all, should be asexual like all adventurers...

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Bralbaard on December 30, 2023, 05:09:05 am

So the last of the dwarven houses was resurrected. Sounds like you had an interesting turn  :)

I have labelled Palacework on the map, it is in the crowded area near the lost fortress of Warshrieks.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Maloy on January 02, 2024, 07:17:15 am

Scoot me down to the bottom of the list if you don't mind

life is being life and all that

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on January 02, 2024, 02:41:50 pm

"Ineth I" - Turn 139

The Return of Dalzatèzum

The siege was not going well.

The mighty walls of Palacework shook and plaster tumbled to the stone floors as the hordes of the unliving battered upon the gates. Ineth shouted to his friends to hold fast. They gripped their spears tightly, cold fear trickling down their necks. The Yellow Syrups had come, lead by the bastard witch Cog Wildnesswork. Scores of dead brothers and sisters had risen to her magicks and now assaulted the few remaining stout defenders. Moaning and grasping as they rent and gnashed at the iron gates.

Suddenly the great gate buckled. Ineth felt a hot white light and knew nothing more.

---

Ineth Relicheart awoke with a start on a soft bed of grass. The clash of battle still rang in his ears but... this was not Palacework. A grizzly bear rasped at his cheek with a ragged tongue and he leapt to his feet in fright. He had no memory of this place. A great glass pyramid in a heavily wooded valley, the sounds of cheerful industry bursting from the depths. And so many bears! Gradually he got his bearings. Fields of crops and well tended temples, this was a bustling fortress unlike any he remembered. He found a barracks, and helped himself to some arms and armour.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/34Kbv7n.png)

A stout cheerful dwarf approached him, noticing his bewildered expression, and gestured that he follow to speak with the Baron.

Degel Bloodwrath was the Baron of The Eternal Citadel, from a line of infamous warriors and heroes. He was no less imposing as he reclined on his throne, stroking the chin of an enormous cave dragon.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/VkMVpbX.png)

"Let me guess... your memory, it does not serve you well?" Degel grinned a warm grin, his mouth ringed by a great double braided moustache.

"My grandfather is known across these lands as the Blind Sadist. A killer, a saviour, a menace? Revered and feared in equal measure. But this fort was born of an idea of his. A place for all dwarven kind, for all citizens of Orid Xem of stout hearts. Do you know the history of the Page of Tiredness? We were gone from this world for so very long. A crazed cult sought to resurrect a death god, and they thought my grandfather was the key. In the end their hopes were dashed. Moldath Mournsaints learned the secrets of this world, and my father slew the drgaon from another realm, but it did not bring forth the deity they sought."

Degel paused. "But the Cult of Dishmab were successful in other ways - they returned Morul Kan from the mists of time."

Ineth looked puzzled. Fragments of his memory were clicking into place.

"I am not of the Page of Tiredness," he whispered, his calloused thumb tracing the emblem of a stylised dwarven warrior on his well crafted, yet ancient, steel breastplate.

"No... you my friend are of the Matched Hame" replied Degel. "The last of the four kingdoms under the earth. And by the power of the Eternal Citadel, you are returned to us. We summoned you through the mists and when you came, we entrusted to your people an artifact sword.  Your trader, Atis Hourtown, clasped the adamantine and became part of the world once more."

The memories coalesced. Great Palacework. The deception of that gambling drunk Cog Wildnesswork. The hordes of zombies tearing at his kin, and then ... nothing.

"What... what do I do now?" Ineth's brow was furrowed.

"Travel this world. Bring the word of the Fourth Kingdom. There are those who would see this firmament burn, snivelling cretins who crave power. Who raise the dead to do their bidding, who curse noble dwarves to howl at the moon in feral rage.  Shall you bring peace. Or bring chaos? You have a choice. You are the first, or the last. Bring life back to the Matched Hame. Travel to the kingdoms of men and elves and tell them of our return."

Degel paused, leaning forward on his great muscles arms.

"All are welcome here, but you are free to leave. You will find elves, humans, even goblins here, safe under our protection. Spread the word to the world. Take this, a gift of angelic metal and show them our kindness."

Ineth was handed a jaguar leather backpack stamped with an iron sigil of nightmares, the sybmol of Morul Kan, containing a number of metal spikes of unparalleled craft. The metal was inky black and seemed to shimmer and move in the candle light. Blisteres appeared and vanished across the blackened menacing surfaces. Finally he was gifted the adamantine sword Rhythmshowers the Pure Crosses, responsible for tethering the lost souls of the Matched Hame to the mortal plane.

The enormous cave dragon snorted as Ineth left the baron's chamber, to begin his quest.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: AvolitionBrit on January 05, 2024, 11:00:19 pm

Here is the save, I made the requested fix Lurker.

If the save doesn't work I got the regular one still backed up.

Happy new year. Another year of the museum game, things have changed in Orid Xem. My next write up will be for my previous turn to catch up to this one.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Rxo-nMYX7Cesn4ZqtLTryFin0doPlXgh/view?usp=sharing

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on January 06, 2024, 07:31:11 am

Avolition can you check the permissions on that file? Its asking for an access request.

Interested to see what you've been up to...

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: AvolitionBrit on January 06, 2024, 07:33:25 am

Quote from: kesperan on January 06, 2024, 07:31:11 am

Avolition can you check the permissions on that file? Its asking for an access request.

Interested to see what you've been up to...

Should be fixed now

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on January 06, 2024, 07:48:00 am

Quote from: AvolitionBrit on January 06, 2024, 07:33:25 am

Quote from: kesperan on January 06, 2024, 07:31:11 am

Avolition can you check the permissions on that file? Its asking for an access request.

Interested to see what you've been up to...

Should be fixed now

Yeah, all good now!

Edit: That's a whole lot of dead goblins...

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Quantum Drop on January 06, 2024, 07:55:07 am

I'm going to request I be dropped a couple places in the turn list. Busy IRL, unfortunately.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: AvolitionBrit on January 06, 2024, 08:10:08 am

Oh yeah put me back on turn order please

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on January 06, 2024, 08:14:48 am

Maloy, are you able to take a turn?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Maloy on January 06, 2024, 11:31:13 am

Quote from: Maloy on January 02, 2024, 07:17:15 am

Scoot me down to the bottom of the list if you don't mind

life is being life and all that

No I’m not able to. Sorry

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on January 06, 2024, 11:38:26 am

Ok, fair enough. Running out of peeps on the turn list.

Wonderpsycho would appear to be next.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: AvolitionBrit on January 06, 2024, 12:50:17 pm

Certainly seems to be one of those quiet periods

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: WonderPsycho on January 06, 2024, 02:42:41 pm

wait I'm next now?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: AvolitionBrit on January 06, 2024, 04:02:28 pm

Quote from: WonderPsycho on January 06, 2024, 02:42:41 pm

wait I'm next now?

Yep, your next now

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: WonderPsycho on January 06, 2024, 04:32:51 pm

alright, well I already have the save downloaded and such, I'll get truly started probably by tomorrow and get my turn finished and such, just note my post on my turn will probably include less screenshots and more writing for what's happening but yeah

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on January 06, 2024, 05:14:28 pm

Yes, QD and Maloy wanted bumped down a turn or two, so its you and then (oddly) me again. I guess I need to get to work on the rest of Ineth's story.

Good luck with your turn!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: WonderPsycho on January 06, 2024, 05:49:38 pm

Quote from: kesperan on January 06, 2024, 05:14:28 pm

Yes, QD and Maloy wanted bumped down a turn or two, so its you and then (oddly) me again. I guess I need to get to work on the rest of Ineth's story.

Good luck with your turn!

thanks for the good luck!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: AvolitionBrit on January 06, 2024, 05:51:05 pm

Good luck on your turn.

This is the current turn order according to the messages

Current turn order

Wonderpsycho - Current
Kesperan
Eric Blank
Quantum Drop
Maloy
Avolitionbrit

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on January 07, 2024, 10:54:41 am

Ineth I, Part II - Turn 139

Kosothducim Will Rise Again - The Adventures of Ineth Relicheart

1st Felsite 1066

In fact, many years have passed since that fateful day. I settled into a comfortable life here. I became an adequate glassmaker, of all things, and even found a wife, although she was a strange dwarf of The Page of Tiredness. One day my wife left, to search for new adventures to the north, leaving me behind. I didn't know what to do, then I remembered the backpack full of metal spikes. It seems destiny was calling me finally. And so, on the 1st Felsite in the year 1066, I set off on my journey.

I begin my trek northwards from the imposing citadel, towards old Palacework and the lands of the humans and dwarves beyond. A strange feeling to find wind in my hair once more. I must see what has become of my ancestral home. They tell me that nearly a thousand years has passed since the conquest of Palacework by The Yellow Syrups, in the year 121. I can scarcely believe it. The dwarves of the Book of Dreams supplied food and beer, and a stout axe. My mission begins in earnest. I meet a travelling scholar, Limul, just as the forest makes way to tundra. He is travelling from the Citadel too, keen to spread the word.

I spend an afternoon drinking kaniwa beer and wrestling foxes, until I can feel my old reflexes return to me. Onward to Palacework - I must see my old home. I fall asleep atop the haunted glacier of The Fated Frost, dreaming of home.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/7aJWYEK.png)

2nd Felsite 1066

Shortly after dawn I come across a strange scene. A clearly undead human is locked in combat with a polar bear. Sensing my presence, this Hollow Zombie turns on me! Its bearing is unfamiliar to me, but the symbol on its helm is of the Nations of Honoring... this wight is far from home! My blistered metal axe bites deeply in the humans chest but it seems to shrug off a seemingly mortal wound! Again and again my axe bites deep, but no blood flows from the wounds. Finally, the axe shatters the undead monsters skull and it falls suddenly in a heap.

I am no stranger to the threat of undeath, but this thing was no mere zombie. I study its corpse. It seems a good old fashinoned head strike is what is needed to fell it. Useful information. I am attacked by another white bear near a squat icy structure resembling an egg. A dwarven fortress? Inside I find a skulking goblin, who I quickly strangle. His socks are less tattered than my own and fit just as well. There are goblin skeletons here too. This place looks mostly abandoned? As I leave, the heavens open, and it rains red slush - frozen human blood! How disgusting. I spot movement from the corner of my eye - a dwarf! It is the performer Thikut Helmedpriests of The Walled Dye. She tells me of bone chilling horror and skulking vermin, but offers no directions. For a travelling entertainer, she has little knowledge of these surrounds.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/ibUxqNt.png)

I spend the night in Pillarclapped, a monastery. This place is known to me - Palacework is not far.

3rd Felsite 1066

I am awoken with a start. Someone is here. I creep from my bedroll and look out into the forest - a dwarf! He is one of the undead it seems, though not hostile. A hammerdwarf it seems, Zuntir Lancedthunder. His hammer has seen some use, a slick of elf blood smears its face. His body bears the marks of old wounds. This dwarf appears to be incredibly old. He must remember old Palacework. Perhaps he was a defender like me, fallen to the hands of the undead. Perhaps I knew him, once. I leave him to his silent patrol.

Finally, fair Palacework. It is eerily quiet. I find a pile of salvaged arms and armour in the corner of the abandoned inn. Perhaps some adventurers had used this place as a safe haven? There is little sign of battle on the surface. Oh how the battles raged. The hordes of Cog Wildnesswork... the horrific writhing undead armies of Glazedriven. Its hard to think it was nearly a thousand years ago - it feels like yesterday. I descend the familiar steps, rolling at the shrines of the gods of my people.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/WDp2YDt.png)

In the first residential level, I again hear movement, and encounter another undead dwarf. This one has a helm bearing the blueberry bush of The Walled Dye, and is missing a hand. It eyes me quietly, offering no threat. I find little else in Palacework. None of the noise and vigour of the olden days. Deserted and ruined. Clenching my fist, I resolve that it will live again.

The Fort is well protected from the north and east by an enormous rolling mountain range, a good defensible position. Now that Glazedriven is toppled and human merchants have taken the lands, perhaps Kosothducim might have a chance to prosper. I will retrace my steps south, then east across the plains.

4th Felsite 1066

Mosshill, the Mines of Iron? Another fort I am unfamiliar with. Within the fort is a statue of durian trees - symbol of the Staff of Kissing. Now I have visited forts of all three of the surviving clans. This place looks long deserted, though. I find no living dwarven brethren. I press on, south easterly, skirting the mountains. I stumble across an abandoned tent near a shallow river, and make camp for the night.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/UYtl8Nf.png)

The next fort I see nestled into the foothills is Watchfulpalace. The Equivalent Citadel rule from here. I meet a baroness consort, Mistem Ironname. Sadly she knows nothing of this place and on closer inspection it appears that Watchfulpalace is little more than an abandoned camp. Animal skeletons are scattered around, along with some grizzly bear bone crafts from some other adventurer - the name Muthkat Mothcat the Morsel of Beards is inscribed upon some. A sheriff and militia commander are the only other living souls to see and they have little insight about the surrounding area. I must press north, towards the human lands of the High Confederacies.

7th Felsite 1066

Three days of travel takes me to the twin forts of The Pit and Climaxringed. A colossal corpse of twisted ash lies in the broken ruins of the Pit... some beast from hell unleashed on the earth. I find nothing of value here, nor in its twin. I am ambushed by wolves as I enter the Tundra of Heroes. The axe of blistered metal from The Eternal Citadel makes light work of them. The remaining trek is uneventful.

The towns of Pricerings and Growlsuppers are near here. I stumble into a compact fort called Stasimanors, and am greeted by a necromancer scholar. I am immediately wary. I do not trust those who seek power over death. He greets me warmly, and there are no undead minions in sight. I allow myself to relax a little. He is Atir Tombrapid of the Violet Glazes. Strangely I find an elderly human militia commander, Domas Callmines. I find little else here, but get directions towards the nearby human capital, Growlsuppers of The Creamy Confederacy. I will seak out the law-giver there. Pricerings is a short distance north, and I find the central keep strangely abandoned. No matter, I will claim this site in the name of The Matched Hame! Perhaps I can use this abandoned city as a temporary base of operations, until I can rustle up enough support to launch a true expedition to retake Palacework.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/CbzIYLW.png)

The nearby town of Seedwatch seems to be in the hold of goblin bandits. I quickly deal with them. I politely explain that I am in charge now, and the bandit leader runs for the hills. Comical cowardice from the goblin scum.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/vBSlqE4.png)

I sneak away and return later, strangling all three of the goblins silently. There is no reward for cowardice.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/t7wHwnK.png)

11th Felsite 1066

In Growlsuppers I am attacked by a human justiciar. He slavers and foams at the mouth as he lunges wildly with a boning knife, his skin an unnatural sickly hue. Yet more undead infesting this place? There is no sign of the law-giver of the Creamy Confederacy. I burn the foul ghoulish corpse and head north west, towards the High Confederacies.

12th Felsite 1066

I arrive in Sacklures, the capital of the human civilisation The Armored Confederacy. Instead of a human law-giver though, I find a sinister looking scorpion creature clad in steel armour, its chitin a criss cross of scars. It eyes me warily, and introduces itself as Avolition Crystalcrab the Ruler of Jewels. I enquire about the ruling dynasty of The Eternal Citadel and he seems to have knowledge of them. I hand him a masterwork blistered metal craft and solemnly promise that the Matched Hame will return. He nods in agreement. I must press on.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/Y5o6Toz.png)

13th Felsite 1066

The castle of Boltspumpkin is famed through the land, or so I am told. So many treasures here. I heard rumours that the spoils of Palacework were to be found here. Of The animal trap the Devil of Questing there is no sign. I present to the staff of the Museum the famed sword Rhythmshowers the Pure Crosses, the artefact that pulled my civilisation back from the mists of time.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/DEStiHV.png)

There are a great many codices and tomes of varied and wondrous design. Some seem crafted of human or elf leather, others bound in blistered metal. Surely this is a necromantic hoard? I find my will wavering. The knowledge of life over death is laid casually before me. If I drink deeply from that chalice will I be no better than Cog herself?

I have so far to go on my journey across the known kingdoms... to be freed of my mortal woes... would that not make my sacred task more easy? My will breaks... and I am a necromancer. I flee in disgust.

14th Felsite 1066

Night falls though I feel no weariness. I press on. I discover a lair of sorts, and some twisted night troll attacks. My axe lodges in its heart but still it comes, before I crush its skull with a morningstar I found on my travels. It seems there are more of these fiends abroad. The lair appears to infact be an abandoned Minotaur labyrinth! The place is infested with Howling Freaks, vicious scaly winged monsters who rain blows upon me. My armour saves me from the worst of it. One lucky beast strikes me in the face tearing my lip. Wiping the blood from my face, I sever its head from its filthy shoulders. The freaks scatter as dawn breaks but I am determined, and I chase a half dozen down before the sun rises.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/kkATS1Z.png)

I travel north, towards the human kingdom of The High Confederacies. The first town I encounter is Embracedonkeys, where a lady cowers in the mead hall from the onslaught of elven ghouls. I quickly dispatch them. She tells me that the ruling council are to be found in Clenchportents to the north, near the ancient city of Incenseorder. I head on my way, rubbing at the scar on my lip and neck.

Sculptarches is the next town to the north and it is crawling with undead monstrosities. Blighted thralls and hollow zombies, slavering for the warm blood of the living. My axe bites deep. There is a church here with many priests. The lady of the town is a slavering ghoul and strangely the beast ignores some of the priests, leaving some unmolested when others are attacked. How curious. Vampires! The thralls all die, and the vampires fall next. By the time I am finished I am battered and bruised, and the church is slick with the blood of the ungodly.

15th Felsite 1066

The surrounding villages are similarly afflicted. Vampires and ghouls abound in what was once a prosperous human valley. What has happened here? Will no righteous folk stand against the creatures of the night? I slay as many as I can find, heading steadily northward to imposing Divedact. Clenchportent is further north, near Incenseorder. I hope to speak with the law-giver there, but I am not filled with hope at the sight of all these abominations.

17th Felsite 1066

Divedact, great city of the High Confederacies and the site of the greatest library in the known world. I meet with the Lord Innah Finderpainted in the keep. She tells me that the Raven-Guard of Secrets has ruled here for nearly two centuries, since the efforts of the Witch Hunter Kothvir Shadowstar to rid the lands of the blighted plague. I inform the lord that, from what I have seen, this plague of undeath has returned. I learn of the Blight, a disease which twists the minds of those it infects. It is passed on by biting.

Something else is curious about Innah. In his hand he fumbles with a small coin - a Sastpesor Gebdum Ostsitogi gold coin. Strangely enough, every vampire I have encountered so far was also found with these coins on their person. Could Innah be a creature of the night too? He does not deny it. The priests gathered here are horrified, despite my pointing out he was a bloodsucking fiend!

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/r6UZ2o0.png)

I don't know why there are so many vampires here. And what do the coins have to do with it? Something sinister is happening here. I suspect I might be able to gain some insight if I talked to this famed Kothvir. On the outskirts of town I find a dishevlled drunk in a makeshift tent. She bears the marks of old wounds. Perhaps she could tell me of this vampire cult? It transpires she is the wife of the vampire-apologist priest I met in the keep!

I find Kothvir Shadowstar the Black Raven in the Tall Curl of Metalspread as sun sets. He is a tall and imposing man with long bone-white hair. He looks ancient but powerful. On his chest is a breastplate of the same blistered metal as I was gifted in the Eternal Citadel, set with a black diamond. A masterful black opal amulet hangs around his neck. I enquire about the troubles.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/E4u5jHU.png)

He tells me of a strange travelling duo who passed through these parts some years ago, peddling a cure for the Blight. They scurried off when he challenged them, but since then, there have been reports of vampires and creatures that howl at the moon. He is recalcitrant when I ask him why he has done little to quell this new plague. I suppose he has sat in this mead hall for centuries, and has lost his place in this world. He tells me of a new fort to the south, beyond even The Eternal Citadel, where dwarves and angels live in harmony - Lightningrope. I am unconvinced this has anything to do with the vampires.

I tell him I will travel to Clenchportent, slay any ghouls I can find, and seek audience with the Law-giver, whomever that may be.

On the outskirts of Clenchportent I am accosted by a strange being - a mountain gnome dark one. It attacks with vicious fervour, but is quickly put down. I put its odd little mangled corpse in my pack. Clenchportent is in chaos. Zombies and slavering ghouls are attacking the ruling nobles. I do not immediately find the law-giver here, nor is it clear which of these humans has raised the corpses now ransacking the hall.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/sd8nrze.png)

I do my best to bring order to the chaos. I kill as many as I can, including a dwarf merchant vampire. As I leave the hall to burn the corpses I find the almost comical sight of a dark gnome viciously attacking a sleeping royal chef!

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/BwqRy90.png)

When the dust settles, I return to the keep. The law-giver is there, alive and well, missing a few teeth and a bit bruised and bashed, but more or less intact. Amongst the debris of this place I find blistered metal arms and armour, including a masterwork gauntlet crafted by Arandil Pagetrades. An unusual name for a dwarf. Perhaps it was traded to the last law giver as a token of respect? I hand him one of my masterwork blistered metal spikes. He accepts it gladly, while boasting of killing a gnome. He recognises me as a lord of the Matched Hame. I bid him and his people good day, and head north to Incenseorder.

In Incenseorder a short travel northwards, I find an old, gray haired wolf man. His body is a criss-cross of scars and he is missing a finger. He claims to be the lord of this place - Maloy Craftsoars the Barricaded. I am confused as to why a wolf man allied to dwarves would rule a human city, but he seems pleasant enough. He gives me directions to a grand fort named Razorbridges, which links the southern land mass to the elven forests of the north.

I head northwest from the city, stumbling across a monastery. I hear some creatures chittering about the sacking of a human town. Night trolls! I am suddenly swarmed by nearly a dozen of these beasts. Luckily I feel the blood of my ancestors flow and my axe strikes true!

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/xBbSwHS.png)

I travel north. I see no sign of the Razorbridge - perhaps I have taken a wrong turn. Or perhaps I have been sent on a merry chase by that scheming wolf man.

19th Felsite 1066

A curious structure appears on the horizon - a long thin wall, a wooden pallisade?

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/65tMVwc.png)

In the dense forest I meet a dwarf hammerer, Goden. He tells me the Daggers of Myth rules Speechlessshames. He tells me the great wall they are building is to protect the southern lands from the unspeakable horror of the Honey Fiend. He is clearly quite deranged. The wall itself stretches along a vast terrain westward, solid wooden blocks and true dwarven craftship. But why? None of the brothers and sisters here can give an answer. I discover I have in fact come a long way out of my intended direction. I leave southwards, retracing my steps. I am amused to find a small dog following me. My new companion and I travel steadily, retracing our journey back to Incenseorder.

22nd Felsite 1066

My new friend feasts on deer meat as we skirt the coast towards the true bearing of the Razorbridge. I spot goblin camps on the horizon. Perhaps we would do better to travel the deep roads? The mountains to the east of the Oracular Hill were long colonised by the dwarves, even before the time of Cog Wildnesswork. We turn south east, to the foothills. As we travel we are attacked by dingoes, and the poor dog is killed. I raise the corpses of the dingos in anger! Not far from where my little friend fell, I am ambushed by a hideous monster.

A huge sauropod wreathed in flame. It is injured, one eye a torn ruin. It shambles slowly, as if its neck is broken, but it is no less deadly for it. Beware its fire!

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/etVngwH.png)

The dingo corpses leap forward to defend me and are immediately engulfed in unnatural flames. They buy me enough time to land some hits on the beast, tearing arteries in its sinister hide. I feel a sharp pain as its horn pierces my leg, but suddenly the enormous creature grows limp!

I survey the battlefield, and put the remaining dingoes out of their misery. There is a corpse here, of a type of being I have never encountered before. I tread gingerly on my ruined knee - I am sure it will heal in time. I have found the remains of Suril Copperscarred the Bloated, as contested by the notches of many kills on his finely crafted iron pick. I find also his steel armour, and various trinkets.

I gather this treasure and head east, towards the mountains. Before heading to the fort of Stoneclasps, I visit the nearby monastery of The Mine of Ambers, Postdweller, and there I place the equipment and possessions of the strange winged creature of the night.

Stoneclasps is crawling with... humans? I expected to find dwarven souls guarding this place. They hail from The Impervious Towers. The humans huddle together in small groups, seemingly afraid of the dark. Why these lanky idiots would wish to stay in the heart of the earth I will never know.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/42yy8of.png)

Having explored this place, I begin my trek through the deep roads.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/50NbLpU.png)

23rd Felsite 1066

I travel through Bolthandled, Abbeyskinny and Pillartraded, then Clawmanors. All seem deserted. When I finally reach the surface again, it is in Roomblunt - another abandoned fort. I head north, to where the fabled bridge should be, hoping to avoid any goblin raiding parties.

24th Felsite 1066

I travel by darkness through the goblin lands, stumbling across a small camp of camel leather tents. The goblins are alerted by a lookout with a crossbow, and I wade into battle.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/a1L3Ujg.png)

I sneak between Lakemenace and the surrounding pits before arriving in the dwarven hillocks of Brushsack. Scores of goblin corpses lie around and I hear the sounds of fighting from the civic mound! Goblins scream in terror and a few priests try to flee, only to meet my axe. What is going on in there?

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/6QEbU57.png)

There are skeletons and fresh corpses within the mound, and it appears there has been a thrall attack. The offending beast must have been slain by these goblins who claim to be priests. I find an unusual creature - a peregrine falcon man. He silently watches me as I butcher the remaining goblins. He has the look of the Fell about him...

27th Felsite 1066

The Razorbridge is truly wondrous. I meet many elves and strange one-eyed tailed warriors who profess loyalty to The Walled Dye. One of the more bizarre sights is a headless kobold baroness. What madness has occured here? In what passes for a forgehall on a thin bridge over unforgiving water, I stumble into a wiry male elf who tells me he is the hammerer. His name is familiar - Arandil Pagetrades, the smith who crafted the blistered metal armour I found in Clenchportents. I have never met an elf who could work a forge before. Things really have changed since we have been gone. Arandil tells me of this place, and his family.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/OCsFnp8.png)

28th Felsite 1066

I leave the bridge and head north, towards Drillshrine. Here is the seat of the Nations of Honoring. I arrive to find it in chaos. Goblins, strange devilish and angelic beings are all attacking and being attacked by blighted thralls! I slay them all as quickly as I can. One gets a lucky blow to my axe arm, and I am forced to fight one handed. When all the dust settles, there are a handful of these devilish creatures they call Hands of Planegifts still standing. And one curiously unharmed goblin. Vampire!

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/mI1tlF5.png)

He quickly loses his head, to the surprise of the Hands. I rest for a short while, and can use my arm again. I return to find the elven law-giver has survived, and stand surveying the broken ghoulish corpses. I help them burn the mangled remains. I chat to the law-giver, Mawada. She has taken over since Amoya Fernbow was slain by ghouls. I gift her a menacing spike, and remind her that the Matched Hame could be powerful allies one day. She nods quietly. I bid her good day.

I next head to Atticmuffins, where I put down a few vampires. It seems the curse has spread far and wide. I hope Mawada has the courage to do what needs to be done. I head north, towards the elven lands and the coast. I have heard of a human settlement here.

2nd Hematite 1066

Harpies! In the sinister mountains to the north I encounter two of these horrible creatures. Thin wings stretch over gangling limbs and they screech and holler. My shield makes a satisfying crunching sound as it crushes their skulls. I head north east, to Flightseas.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/KHn8D8p.png)

3rd Hematite 1066

The clearcut forest is the first sign that I have arrived at Flightseas, on the northern shore of the continent. A small lake drains into an enormous chasm, spraying fresh mist in the air. I spot a structure to the northeast.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/njfvWeO.png)

Near a huge stockpile of logs I find a human who appears to have been slain by a cat... I find a cat corpse atop him with clear signs of the blight! The humans here have excavated a huge cistern and have constructed some strange artifact out of oaken logs. I have never seen anything like it in my life. What could its purpose be?

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/NAvFMUG.png)

It looks like a vessel to walk on the sea? A "Boat" or so they say. How odd these humans are. I find a badly beaten elf merchant in the bowels of the boat. I offer him the chance to escape this place - he appears to prefer to stay in servitude of these humans. What is this... fresh elf corpse... and fresh pools of blood, to the west of the boat. Thralls! I engage the guild representative blighted thrall while a farmer runs in panic. Behind him another thrall shambles towards me to meet the same fate. Satisfied there are no remaining threats, I move on.

4th Hematite 1066

To the south east, along the sinister mountains, I find the fort of Balancehammer. I stride through a convoluted series of bridge traps until I stumble blindly into a trapped corridor. I would have been minced by masterful steel weapons were it not for the angel-metal armour I wear. My limbs are cut to ribbons and I struggle to stand. I curse my own stupidity! Perhaps there is something of value here which will make my wounded body and pride worth the injury.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/lLhQDuF.png)

I find a large central mist generator and let the water wash the blood from my wounds. I do find some masterfully crafted sheep wool socks, an adamantine helm and mail shirt, and a spectacular adamantine battle axe. I also take a steel greataxe - too big to hold one handed, but an impressive weapon all the same. I suppose that makes up for a mangled knee and shattered elbow. As I leave I bump into a female dwarf in fine vestments - General Fikod Metalabbeys. She seems to be clutching a wound on her stomach, though no assailants are nearby. She smells.. strange. Almost cat-like. The hairs on the back of my neck stand on end as I talk to her. Something is off here and I do not like it. I am in no state to challenge the general so I curtly bid her good day, crawling out of the fort with my ill-gotten gains.

5th Hematite 1066

After washing in a cool river, my wounds look much better and I am able to stand again. Luckily, no signs of infection as yet. My goal is now to head south. There are two remaining human kingdoms whose law-givers I wish to beseech - The Empire of Peaks and The Realm of Silver.
I stop at a monastery and roll the well crafted stone die, and I feel my old wounds and scars wash away, like tears in the rain. I am revitalised!

6th Hematite 1066

The journey south is largely uneventful, apart from the interference of a dingo pack. All until I arrive at the dwarven fort of Archquakes and I am ambushed by an enormous horned demon!

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/OuhIjo5.png)

A great skinless serpent wih two long spiral horns. Beware its poisonous sting! The emaciated hell beast lumbers towards me, its stinger dripping with poison. I reach in my pack for the adamantine axe I looted from Balancehammer - it is light as a feather and unnaturally sharp. I swing the blade at the enormous demonic neck, and I am rewarded by a gouting spray of thick foul goo.

The beast lunges at me again and I dodge and dodge its attacks, before lopping off its stinger. Finally, the axe finds its mark in the demon's thick skull. It twitches and falls silent. I think to myself the stinger would make a nice trophy but I cannot for the life of me find it. An hour later I spot it, half way up an almond tree... I fell the tree and inspect the stinger. It is massively heavy and will only slow me down. I leave it for now.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/QBfohDe.png)

A short while later, I spot a fort to the east as dawn breaks. I head in this direction only to be confronted by yet another horned demon. The partner of the one I slew earlier? The beast is huge, and one blow could easily gore my skull or tear off a limb. I stay light on my feet, dodging its attacks where possible. The horned demon eventually succumbs to a similar axe blow to the head. I drag its enormous corpse towards the fort.

A masterful chalk statue indicates this is Archquakes, founded in 733. It is now home to wild beasts - coyotes and kingsnakes stalk its halls. Troll and beak dog skeletons litter the fields around, testament to a great battle. I presume the demons had set up lair here, though it is not obvious how they came to manifest in this realm. How did such foul abominations escape the depths of hell?

7th Hematite 1066

I spend some time in Archquakes fashioning the horned demon horn and bones into menacing spikes for my armour, in a hope to deter further such attacks. I continue south and find myself in the foul Waste of Strangeness. Goblin pits pock the bitter landscape. I arrive in Flyrots and find evidence of a goblin massacre.

The only living soul I find is strangely an elf poet named Ana Adorekeepers. I cannot fathom who he is here to entertain - the beakdogs? The strange elf declines my offer to rescue him from this foul pit. I leave him to his poetry, stupid knife-ears. I forge on, stopping briefly in an apparently abandoned cave called the Brutal Gloom. It certainly matches its description. The eastern ridges of the perfect horns spread out before me, ominous in their oppresive size. The next valley over contains the Empire of Peeks and my next destination. I arrive at the foothalls as dusk falls, and I sense a malign presence abroad...

8th Hematite 1066

Blighted thralls! They crawl from the cellars of the abandoned hovels of Seerhold and stalk the lands of the living. I hack down as many as I can find.

9th Hematitie 1066

I put down a patrolling goblin warrior, before arriving at Faithtalk, capital of the Empire of Peeks. With the number of thralls roaming the foothills to the north, I am not expecting a warm welcome. I am entirely unsurprised when the mead hall is crammed with thralls, including the law giver, Batow Fortunecarmine. I maintain my promise to deliver the handiwork of the dwarves to all the allied civilisations of the world, although probably not in the way Batow had preferred.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/kcHLpqV.png)

The only living untainted noble scrambles out of the door to the north, blood gouting from their leg stump. I suspect they might not make it. I have little hope for these humans. I am quite sure more thralls will soon take the place of those nobles whose sufering I ended. I clean up the mess as best I can. The executioner surprises me by not dying, although they appear a little pale. I find their severed leg and give it back to them sheepishly. She is not happy with me for slaying the thralls for some reason.

11th Hematite 1066

Treatyseed, capital of the most prosperous dwarven brotherhoods - The Walled Dye. I wonder if a mountain king still resides here? I bump into a handful of dwarves to the north of the fort. They immediately gasp and fall to the ground, stone cold dead. How bizarre.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/Yp7gKGw.png)

The first living dwarf I see has the rather splendid name of Kol Brassluck the Quiescent Orbs-Silkiness of Treason, Baron of Bodiceblunt. I suspect this place is going to be full of fat pompous nobles. He tells me the king does reside here.

I noticed a fidgety priestess playing with some foreign coins. A vampire if I am not mistaken. She does not deny it, and quickly loses her head. The other fat nobles pretend not to notice. I finally find the king, wandering the corridors. When I catch up with him he has returned to the surface and is chatting to a muscular elven spearmaster baron, Romimi Clashedglades the Sienna Knot of Admiring.

I gift the king a masterwork spike and I tell him I solemly intend to return the Matched Hame to the rightful place in this world, as a fourth brotherhood of dwarves. We argue the value of co-operation, though he is naive to believe that endless war is not on his doorstep. I leave Treatyseed, however, content that my mission is nearly complete.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/EZr4WSJ.png)

I have one last law-giver to meet. The humans of The Realm of Silver, ruled for a century by the House of Anthad. The journey south across the frozen wastes will be arduous.

15th Hematite 1066

I pass through the snowy spire of Stockadeoutrage, and find there Queen Sodel Openroad, a venerable necromancer queen bedecked in silver armour. She graciously accepts my offer of co-operation and a menacing spike.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/lfATxy8.png)

16th Hematite 1066

Swordgleamed, on the outskirts of Silverthrone. This place is crawling with undead freaks! Some fool has ressurected the skeletal remains of night trolls here. I slay a couple and the rest flee into the night. Someone elses problem I guess. As I turn to leave one of the undead night trolls glances at me and gestures. I feel a burning in my spine as if hot coals had been thrown down my back. My spine is rotting! I cleave the beast's head from its shoulders, wincing in pain.

I arrive at mighty Silverthrone. Many peasants roam the streets and few strong warriors guard the walls. In the central keep I find Umci Gloryage, current ruler of the kingdom alongside her mother, who appears to be the law-giver of the Creamy Confederacy! It seems the line of Gloryage has saught to combine these two kingdoms.  I argue the merits of co-operation and war, and gift them both the handiwork of the dwarves. They accept these gifts graciously. The Matched Hame are returned.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/ysukfsj.png)

18th Hematite 1066

I travel west, arriving in Scarletbronze under a sinister full moon. I hear the sounds of battle from the central keep! When I arrive there is a scene of carnage - an enormous were-cat abbot is tearing their fellow priests to shreds! I leap to their aid. I slice off the werecats arm. To my horror, the werecat abbot is also a necromancer and reanimates their arm. Bathed by the pale moonlight, the arm regenerates into an entire human instantly. I hack at Bujrit's right arm's head after quickly dispatching its original owner.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/1krwTsq.png)

A reanimated vampire lunges at me. What is going on in here? When the dust settles I butcher and burn as many corpses as I can find. I scoop a slurry of Thefin Playhay's human vampire blood mixed with werecat blood into a steel flask. Surely nothing bad could happen were one to ingest this? Night is falling as I leave the city, having cleaned up the remains of the werecat-vampire-necromancer death orgy.

19th Hematite 1066

I continue westwards, occasionally harried by packs of dingos. I arrive at a cluster of dwarven hillocks surrounding a strange structure - this must be Lightningrope, site of an ancient Vault. Within I find Bralbaard Hammerfishes, Worm Spawn. He claims to be a simple peasant but he has a shimmering knowledge in his eyes that belies his years. I find myself giving him the last menacing blistered metal spike.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/vdppi2C.png)

My task is complete. I will return and claim Palacework!

---

New Forts Visited:

1. Watchfulpalace
2. Fortressbranded
3. Risewinds
4. Speechlessnames
5. Flightseas
6. Coverashes/Lightningrope

Museum Submission:

74: Rhythmshowers the Pure Crosses, Artifact adamantine longsword This sword was once wielded by Tirin Nightwhisper in defence of the Eternal Citadel. It was gifted to merchants of Dalzatèzum, allowing them to return from the mists of time and reclaim Kosothducim, Palacework.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: WonderPsycho on January 07, 2024, 03:29:34 pm

just a note, will do some of my turn today but not alot cause today rn, I am currently trying to deal with recovering from my sickness but I assure you all I'll get this turn done

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: WonderPsycho on January 07, 2024, 06:58:51 pm

alright did some stuff on my turn, but of course didn't do much, will get started on doing more on it tomorrow hopefully, and hopefully I will be completely fine and well by tomorrow from this sickness I am recovering from

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: AvolitionBrit on January 08, 2024, 10:17:33 am

Hope your feeling better Wonder

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: WonderPsycho on January 08, 2024, 06:01:28 pm

Quote from: AvolitionBrit on January 08, 2024, 10:17:33 am

Hope your feeling better Wonder

thanks, as a update, I recovered alot more today but yeah, doing some more of my turn rn today

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: WonderPsycho on January 09, 2024, 02:02:13 am

Quote from: kesperan on January 07, 2024, 10:54:41 am

Ineth I, Part II - Turn 139

Kosothducim Will Rise Again - The Adventures of Ineth Relicheart

1st Felsite 1066

In fact, many years have passed since that fateful day. I settled into a comfortable life here. I became an adequate glassmaker, of all things, and even found a wife, although she was a strange dwarf of The Page of Tiredness. One day my wife left, to search for new adventures to the north, leaving me behind. I didn't know what to do, then I remembered the backpack full of metal spikes. It seems destiny was calling me finally. And so, on the 1st Felsite in the year 1066, I set off on my journey.

I begin my trek northwards from the imposing citadel, towards old Palacework and the lands of the humans and dwarves beyond. A strange feeling to find wind in my hair once more. I must see what has become of my ancestral home. They tell me that nearly a thousand years has passed since the conquest of Palacework by The Yellow Syrups, in the year 121. I can scarcely believe it. The dwarves of the Book of Dreams supplied food and beer, and a stout axe. My mission begins in earnest. I meet a travelling scholar, Limul, just as the forest makes way to tundra. He is travelling from the Citadel too, keen to spread the word.

I spend an afternoon drinking kaniwa beer and wrestling foxes, until I can feel my old reflexes return to me. Onward to Palacework - I must see my old home. I fall asleep atop the haunted glacier of The Fated Frost, dreaming of home.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/7aJWYEK.png)

got around to reading this finally, nice work kesperan was a really fun read

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on January 09, 2024, 04:02:23 am

Thanks Wonderpsycho. Hope you have a good turn!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: WonderPsycho on January 09, 2024, 06:30:38 pm

thanks, and I will note so far my turn has been going pretty well, did alot more for the turn today and such, can't wait to get the screenshots and my entry of my turn out when my turn is done

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: dikbutdagrate on January 10, 2024, 06:46:01 pm

Quote from: kesperan on January 07, 2024, 10:54:41 am

Ineth I, Part II - Turn 139

I travel north. I see no sign of the Razorbridge - perhaps I have taken a wrong turn. Or perhaps I have been sent on a merry chase by that scheming wolf man.

19th Felsite 1066

A curious structure appears on the horizon - a long thin wall, a wooden pallisade?

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/65tMVwc.png)

In the dense forest I meet a dwarf hammerer, Goden. He tells me the Daggers of Myth rules Speechlessshames. He tells me the great wall they are building is to protect the southern lands from the unspeakable horror of the Honey Fiend. He is clearly quite deranged. The wall itself stretches along a vast terrain westward, solid wooden blocks and true dwarven craftship. But why? None of the brothers and sisters here can give an answer. I discover I have in fact come a long way out of my intended direction. I leave southwards, retracing my steps. I am amused to find a small dog following me. My new companion and I travel steadily, retracing our journey back to Incenseorder.

Loving this write up.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on January 10, 2024, 08:21:22 pm

I did adopt a dog from one of your forts.

It was almost immediately killed by dingos. :(

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: WonderPsycho on January 11, 2024, 12:10:13 am

on other news I did more of my turn for nearly my entire day so I didn't have time to work on other things I wanted to work on but yeah

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Maloy on January 11, 2024, 10:51:24 am

Very nice write up, Kes!

Hey to be fair my wolf-counterpart didn't give you wrong directions. He just wasn't specific as to whether it was north east or north west lol

I had a small loyalty cascade in Incenseorder last I played where abunch of my citizens had dual loyalties to me and the nations of honoring and finally the lines were drawn...Some of the rebels survived and been attacking everyone, thus the dark gnomes.


*grumbles* I'm gonna have to do something to make those howling freaks stronger.... Maybe add weapons and armor to them and make them proficient? What if I made one of them giant too?


Still haven't had time to write up my last one. It was very melancholic so every time I get working on it I get a bit too down and end up taking a break

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on January 11, 2024, 08:33:27 pm

Thanks Maloy.

The lands of the High Confederacies south of Incenseorder are crawling with undead, thralls, vampires and werecats. Maybe I should unretire Kothvir, and cleanse the place again. Although, he’d likely want to retake the old capital too, which wouldn’t end well for our local werefox lord…

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: WonderPsycho on January 11, 2024, 09:00:28 pm

Journal Of Rodish:On The Ways of Anarchy To Bring a Death To All Undead

Hello there travelers of whoever maybe reading this after I pass...

My name is Rodish

(https://imgur.com/zZWvjYL.png)

(https://imgur.com/FMuYt7Y.png)

(https://imgur.com/nk1ClhM.png)

(https://imgur.com/WYqoMiM.png)

I am a human potter from The Walled Dye, and I am on a mission... with my two traveling companions and many gremlins

(https://imgur.com/tR3050v.png)

(https://imgur.com/675hFvS.png)

(https://imgur.com/b2wfIn7.png)

(https://imgur.com/QZ7EeXI.png)

(https://imgur.com/USwvUkL.png)

now as for my mission that me and my companions are on, We have been made all too aware that time and time again that order and law has been proven to NOT
be very affective against stopping the Blight's spread and preventing more from getting infected here, and while we have heard of a supposed "cure" to the blight
going around... we highly doubt that such a "cure" even exists! It's all fool's gold!! so if order and law and any form of attempts at making a "cure" or healing
is not going to solve the problem of the blight, and it's constantly spreading contagion... then how about we try fighting fire with fire!

or rather... for this blight's case, using the chaos caused by the blight against itself! and so... the whole idea of this mission to rid the blight
and some other things we will go over soon as to what our end goal is as our end goal really isn't just trying to rid the blight for good by fighting chaos with chaos..

But to also gather as many people as we can to setup a new safe settlement of our own away from all of these collapsing orders and other factions that try and fail on reinstilling order back
in the infected areas, no no, we are gonna start our own safe settlement away from all the chaos while using the chaos to our advantage to help clean this world of most of the blight!

so really our main end goal is create a safe haven for non-infected survivors like ourselves away from all of the chaos happening here in the main infected areas, somewhere more secure and barely even touched by any
faction or empire as a whole, and we have all these gremlins brought by my dwarf outsider friend Gisu to have as mainly as workers to help us to making the safe haven and to also possibly help as guards against any hostiles or infected that
gets in our way..

now as for how we will be using the chaos for our advantage, everytime we stop at a town that's abandoned that's filled with infected or not we'll set it on fire,
if we land in a town that's not abandoned and has people in it and has no infected in it, we'll try our hardest to convince them to join us on our travels to safety and chaotic glory against the infected
if we find a town that's again not abandoned and has people in it, but is undergoing a blight outbreak against some infected... then it's too late for them and we're burning their town down to deal with the infected and leaving..

atleast for the empty abandoned hamlets and towns we'll probably gonna be able to get some fresh supplies there maybe, and some more and supplements and the such hopefully,
unfortunately while we are all sort of trained in using pikes and crossbows against the infected, since it's the best we know how to combat against the infected, Gisu unfortunately has no bolts for them to shoot with their crossbow and our coyote
friend Laspar is the only one with crossbow bolts for now so.... I hope we don't lose Gisu even though it maybe kind of obvious by now that he is likely gonna be the first of us to die...

But if he dies... may his death be in glory... now let's get a move on!

As we have begun trying to go on our travels many of our gremlins are chatting with one another and Laspar mentions about foul goings-on at the fort of
Ramspears... so me and Gisu will try being on the look out..

(https://imgur.com/558PwZc.png)

At this current moment we have regrouped up at this shrine or monastery to get our travels and plans a start, I guess... Gisu said it was a nice place for us to meet up at but who knows..

We are also near a believe a hillocks of some sorts, let's hope there's residents there and that they aren't infected, if this place is abandoned or has some infected in it, we're burning it!

Anyways enough of this talk, I don't want to hang around a singler god's shrine all day, there's no time for worship, now's the time for chaos and building a new home for our people!

(https://imgur.com/Yo3hQwq.png)

Upon further confirmation it's actually a hamlet, or maybe a really dense town.. hopefully we aren't throwing ourselves into a battlefield over here..

arriving in town our first building looks pretty.. intact from what it seems let's check inside maybe find someone or find some supplies..? let's see here
see any undead Blighted or not here, we're burning this whole place down, I know I may say or write this alot, but it's just a reminder to myself of what we should do on our journey..

So far, so far.. all we got is all these buildings, no matter how perfectly undamaged they are or surprisingly empty and dusty... this place... it's abandoned so burning down some of the buildings we already checked probably no point being here..

(https://imgur.com/HI5cMLg.png)

that's right no more old empty dirty homes for you outsiders or any infected who want to go here to infest this place and hide in till they find some travelers to come and attack and also possibly infect or eat alive

no! and let this be a message to those who don't know us, all infected will burn! and with chaos we will truly remove the blighted off the face of the lands once and for all, even if the cost is all of civilization, the future will be safer with no more blight!

just no more infection, and the dwarves humans and animal people kind will thrive once more!

Eventually we decided to go and check out the town hall, and see if there is any stuff there, hopefully we'll hear no moment so we could loot this place

(https://imgur.com/KVoxjQw.png)

huh, in the town hall it seems all we could find was a bunch of leftover loot and a dead mangled goblin....

and in here we were able to find some crossbow bolts for Gisu!, Gisu come over here and get some of this ammo for yourself!

well with that looting done, let's get into burning this place down too!

while watching the town hall burn for a bit, it seems one of our gremlins went mad.. oh well

and so we have arrived at the next nearby hamlet to check for any loot or maybe any people... sense the last one was sort of nothing we burned it down
so let's see what's in here..

feeling a bit hungry I had some of the meat I packed for myself, and checked some of the buildings, seem like they have nothing here too and are also abandoned, so burning them down too!
burning so more buildings down we decide to check the town hall, these abandoned hamlets and towns barely have anything in the random abandoned homes anyways..

I wake up... apparently.. that was all a dream..? yet I still wrote all of this down? time anomaly or maybe sleep writing I don't know...

well judging by that dream something tells me we aren't gonna find anything in the homes, so let's just head to the town hall..

reaching the place and eating some meat I packed up for myself on my travels we arrive at the microcline building and started heading to whereever the front doors are to check inside.

(https://imgur.com/P7nUCmw.png)

apparently outside of the front doors there was a campfire setup outside, and I believe I heard some noises inside... my guess is there's some bandits or a armed group of survivors inside or whatever maybe in there..? who knows, we need to see who is settling
inside this abandoned town hall..

(https://imgur.com/gBrZICw.png)

and inside we found... no one, I could've sworn I heard someone in here, or maybe it was my ears mixing up the sounds of many of our damn gremlins walking all over the place and mishearing someone being in the town hall when in reality there was no one in the town hall...

oh why did my mind played tricks with me, there was no one in this place while it does have hints of being camped at there was literally not a single person here, oh well atleast we may have some free loot here..

let's see here some more armor and the such, more crossbow bolts, Lespar get that for yourself! and yada yada yada, I don't have all day, this place was pointless aside from more ammo, let's burn it down and leave!

while leaving it was starting to get kind of dark, if it becomes night we may need to camp out in the night and sleep before we go checking in..

it got dark and so we camped out for the night, I would chat a bit and check on how Laspar was feeling and apparently she got into a fight with a gremlin funny stuff
but eh, I need some sleep, also before we entered the main residence there appeared to be a shrine at the abandoned residence too so.... maybe we can give that shrine a try...? I mean I know I was annoyed a bit earlier over meeting up at a shrine
with Gisu and Laspar and the gremlins but eh I am getting a bit curious and I want to give that shrine in this hamlet a try tomorrow, first I need some rest..

so sleep tight Gisu and Laspar and all you small greenskins, I hope you all havfe a nice rest for the night!

I woke up.. and I am quite thirsty and hungry so let's eat something before we do anything shall we..?

after enjoying my morning meal in the dawn, we started heading into the main residence of the hamlet and where we found that shrine originally, time to see what the god of that shrine thinks of us eh..?

looking at the shrine, it's literally just a statue paying tribute to some goblin being elected as some sort of priest for The Cult of Sacrificing nothing interesting no dice, so we're leaving this residence and checking the town hall then..

inside the town hall again more loot and nothing of interest except for maybe some ammo for Laspar and Gisu

couldn't light the clay and sand on fire outside so we'll just mark this with a campfire..

when leaving the abandoned hamlet we found.....

(https://imgur.com/J48LAlx.png)

a extremely long path leading to... somewhere.. I assume some far away town or hamlet abandoned or not abandoned let's go and check where this road leads..

while traveling I needed to refill my waterskin since I drank it all earlier before we headed back on travel..

ater refilling my waterskin we we're able to reach where the road lead, and it lead to another hamlet... and possibly a castle..? I hope the castle has atleast some people there for us to recruit or bring on
our migration journey or ghoul hunter-ish ways of bending chaos to our will!

checked the residence of the hamlet of course it's empty and has no loot, burning it down, time to check the town hall, hear anything we DO NOT enter and just burn it and move to the fort or castle or whatever is that structure nearby the hamlet..

making it hear and we found some more dead goblins, both mangled and mutilated, don't mind if I burn their corpses, let's continue finding the town hall

we burned the corpses and.... DEAR LORDS WHAT DO WE HAVE HERE..?

(https://imgur.com/PI7B2FF.png)

hell is what I call it! I do not want to deal with whatever chaos is happening here so I think we should run but I would like a little look it's it's actually a fight going on or what noise is this..?

(https://imgur.com/946jlzJ.png)

no no no! it's just a bunch of goblin priests or whatever "sacred dungs" or whatever they call themselves.. they seem friendly, maybe I can get some of them to come with us and recruit them..?

alright so two of them denied joining me to get them out of this not so safe place as they feel their duty is here may try something different with some of the others but I am not giving up, one of them upon greeting me mentions of

a "insurrection" or possibly blight outbreak at Enjoydinners, which I have heard has plenty of infected there swarming the place, I guess the place is still a warzone there between the alive and the undead..?

anyways let's try recruiting the others..

gave up due to the fact everyone who remained here, had their duty residing at this abandoned hamlet they were all settling in so... time to check that keep nearby!

I was wrong, orbsnarled isn't a keep... it's a entire town... uhhh I hope this place is not abandoned and overruned with ghouls...?

oh it's abandoned alright and such, I don't think they will be anything of interest here but if there is nothing we are burning it all down and marking it with campfires!

no wait.. there seems to be one non abandoned house here..?

well whereever that house is.. it's certainly hard to find, and we so far found little to nothing here, so TIME FOR A BURNING!!

while we were burning and burning many things in the abandoned town, setting campfires to mark this town as us being here, we found a shrine but this time.. it has a die!

(https://imgur.com/ukIAiyZ.png)

and so... we decided to finally have a gander.. with a shrine...

oh god above whoever you are what will you give us..?

(https://imgur.com/PY0pr7T.png)

ah ha!!! a week's good fortune, Ala understands our mission and gives us a week's good fortune for our mission, thank you Ala! now let's get a move on!

and hey why don't we bring this die with us shall we..?

We would continue our burning of Orbsnarled we would mark half of it with campfires and burn half of the place with some fires, but after that we felt that was enough work to get the place burning and to get a move out and travel!

so we left on our merry way with the die of Ala with us in my backpack, as we noticed it was starting to become night we setup camp for the night a bit outside of the abandoned town and decide to sleep here a bit for the night before we
continue our journey with our mission and such..

while camping in the night I asked on how Gisu was doing, Gisu seemed to be fearful of death at the moment, not sure why..

well that's enough for the night I am sleeping till dawn..

I finally wake up with the rest of all of us and the gremlins and we are back off on traveling

we barely have any food at the moment so we decided to retire our travelings a bit here at this abandoned hamlet here, or something, with lack of food we can barely travel or even bring any artifacts to the musuem so we are resting here and doing some other things and will try to re gather some food for ourselves before we will get to traveling again,

don't wanna starve ourselves out traveling and having trouble finding food for ourselves so... I'll get back to writing in this journal again when we are preped more better next time on traveling on our journey, this is a small ta ta for now so yeah

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Yeah I know, pretty short turn kind of, but genuinely sort of didn't want my characters to die from starvation because I didn't realized it would have been a better idea to pack more meat for my main traveler to eat while him and his companions traveled, and plus when I ran out of that food, I felt like I wasn't able to submit a artifact or whatever to the museum when I was done cause no food and my main adventurer is still hungry and could very easily could start starving when I reach the museum to submit something before I retire my adventurers and if my adventurers is still starving and haven't had any food then then that would mean I have to retire them as starved to death which I do not like that, because it makes their deaths a bit underwhelming for the end of the turn and such,

And plus all of my adventurers from my previous turns have so far died so I thought it was a nice little change to have them be retired alive so I could maybe return back to them later then them just being dead again but yeah, anyways enjoy save story and the save and whoever is next on their turn, have a nice turn!

Download Save Here (https://drive.google.com/file/d/1cIorjwV5sLB_rTC5-w4F-CiDgwk1BYKT/view?usp=sharing)

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: WonderPsycho on January 11, 2024, 09:01:35 pm

I'll ask to be back on the turn list another time, I wanna focus on working on some other things first before before I ask to be put back on the turn list again

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: AvolitionBrit on January 12, 2024, 07:15:49 am

Looks like your up Kesperan

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on January 12, 2024, 11:49:44 am

Is it possible you have uploaded the wrong file Wonderpsycho?

The filename says Turn 137, which was your last turn.

Avolition's turn was Turn 140.

Edit: Yes. This is the wrong file.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: WonderPsycho on January 12, 2024, 01:23:24 pm

WAIT WHAT?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: WonderPsycho on January 12, 2024, 01:26:38 pm

wait shit I linked the wrong download file for some reason whoops

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: WonderPsycho on January 12, 2024, 01:28:51 pm

yeah sorry I linked the wrong download for the wrong save file in the original post without realizing it, this is the real Turn 141:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1cIorjwV5sLB_rTC5-w4F-CiDgwk1BYKT/view?usp=sharing (https://drive.google.com/file/d/1cIorjwV5sLB_rTC5-w4F-CiDgwk1BYKT/view?usp=sharing)

I'll go and edit my original post to have it link the right uploaded turn file, sorry for the mistake there

Edit:modified my original post of my last turn to have the hyperlink lead to the download of the winrar file for Turn 141

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: WonderPsycho on January 12, 2024, 05:02:58 pm

I hope everyone else will see my new replies and know that I fixed the original download link and such

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on January 12, 2024, 06:47:07 pm

Got it now, thanks!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: WonderPsycho on January 12, 2024, 09:18:44 pm

Quote from: kesperan on January 12, 2024, 06:47:07 pm

Got it now, thanks!

you're welcome

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: WonderPsycho on January 16, 2024, 06:59:08 pm

eyy kesperan how's the turn going?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on January 17, 2024, 07:44:35 pm

Making progress.

Some frustrating bugs and crashes, but thats why we make back ups.

More or less finished adventure mode. Going to muck around in fort mode for a few days, then will be able to upload save at weekend.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: WonderPsycho on January 18, 2024, 02:03:31 pm

sounds good

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: WonderPsycho on January 18, 2024, 05:08:50 pm

Quote from: AvolitionBrit on January 06, 2024, 05:51:05 pm

Good luck on your turn.

This is the current turn order according to the messages

Current turn order

Wonderpsycho - Current
Kesperan
Eric Blank
Quantum Drop
Maloy
Avolitionbrit

eyy Bralbaard, it's sort of been a while since we've heard from you, mind updating the list on the thread a bit, it's now kesperan's turn btw after my turn was over as listed here by Avolition but yeah

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: dikbutdagrate on January 21, 2024, 05:55:01 pm

Quote from: kesperan on January 17, 2024, 07:44:35 pm

Making progress.

Some frustrating bugs and crashes, but thats why we make back ups.

More or less finished adventure mode. Going to muck around in fort mode for a few days, then will be able to upload save at weekend.

Tell me about it. I lost 8 hours of tile-by-tile micro work on HoneyHammer. And I just didn't have it in me to repeat all of that.

The worst is when the save is already dead, and you haven't realized it yet. [As in, saving and loading works fine, but leaving an area and then returning to it results in crashing 100% of the time. Which honestly makes the accomplishments in this save all the more praise worthy. And also completely ridiculous.

For anyone interested:
I had fully enclosed Honeyhammer in an artificial black beehive pyramid structure. And I had built this crazy 1 tile corridor wide 40 tile corridor long entry into the fort. All black; The player walks through the tight corridor, where the floor is all metal floor bars, the z-level below is all bridge tiles, And the z level below those bridge tiles is all 6/7 lava tiles, which are filled with artifact books which perpetually burn forever and produce endless amounts of smoke. The bridge tiles were linked to a minecart clock, that actively cycled, causing only the bridge tiles to retract, and pop back out.

I may have had to retract some of the bars, in order to visually show off the magma.

But the intention was to have a long dark empty narrow corridor, which when viewed from top down via the player's perspective, suddenly turns a terrifying red (which might only work in premium), fills up with this horrible heat and smoke, and then quickly goes back, before cycling again.

The player wasn't in any danger, necessarily, but it was intended to be a very jarring experience. Hopefully causing the player to use the grab key 'h' to hold onto the wall, whilst expecting nothing but death. Only to be perfectly fine, minus the bad thoughts caused to the character from the smoke inhalation.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on January 23, 2024, 10:38:30 pm

Sorry for delay - unexpected !life! got in the way.

I will try to post the save tomorrow.

Hope Bralbaard is OK... not like him to not update the turn list for so long.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: AvolitionBrit on January 24, 2024, 05:50:23 am

No worries, hope your okay yourself Kesperan

Yeah it's been quite silent from Bralbaard. Hope he is okay

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Maloy on January 24, 2024, 12:07:03 pm

@dikbutagrate that's pretty cool! I haven't been up that way yet, but that's also because I fear for half the death traps you guys may have prepared lol

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: WonderPsycho on January 24, 2024, 03:03:14 pm

Quote from: AvolitionBrit on January 24, 2024, 05:50:23 am

No worries, hope your okay yourself Kesperan

Yeah it's been quite silent from Bralbaard. Hope he is okay

yeah I hope he is ok too, when I checked his profile, it says he was last active Today at a certain time so yeah

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on January 25, 2024, 12:12:33 am

Here is the save:

Sorry for the delay.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1v3efpAyKFcxZ_fjRRs9ABWB6J32Apkp6/view?usp=sharing

Let me know if any issues downloading the file.

I am not sure but I think it's Eric's turn?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: AvolitionBrit on January 25, 2024, 11:13:18 am

So the order as far as I'm aware is
Eric Blank
Quantum Drop
Maloy
Avolitionbrit

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Eric Blank on January 25, 2024, 05:32:27 pm

I will download and start it tonight when I get home

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Eric Blank on January 26, 2024, 06:42:47 pm

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

The Legend of Eri Silkenlands
Part 1

Eri was born in the High Confederacies, and grew up in the castle of Busyshank. Long ago the blight had swept through the region, and she often felt blessed to be protected by strong walls, and yet always felt the call of the wilds, to follow her patron goddess The Invisible, on her blue feathered wings through the wild lands, guided only by rainbows and the stars. Her wanderlust led her to take up hunting as a profession, though for all her youth she had been tied back to her home by duties to her elderly parents. They could not liver forever, however, and soon she was saying her goodbyes, and their last rites.

The day came many years later, when she had mourned enough, and the call of the wilds beckoned stronger than ever. She strode to her family's level in the tower, gathered her father's old axe and shield, his rucksack and flask, and announced to the only roommate present, "I'm going hunting. North, probably. Won't be back for a while."

"Sure, yeah," came his surprised response. "You expecting something?" His eyes were caught on the weapons strapped to her back.

"I'm going scouting, really. Just want to have a backup. Take care" she said over her shoulder as she headed down the ramp.

"Take care" he bellowed after her, before going back to his cleaning.

Outside the gates, the sky was starting to darken in the north, clouds rolling over the sea. A faint swathe of color could be seen just above the horizon. It was a good sign, from The Invisible. She followed it to the hamlet of Masteredgriffon. She stopped first at the mead hall, but found it abandoned, but each of its pedestals adorned with a single termite, running in circles in the center.

(https://i.imgur.com/OOqHOUQ.png)

With noone else around, she decided to try the town proper. The village streets seemed deserted. On the ground at the center of town, in the middle of the intersection, lay a figure, unmoving. Cautiously, she drew her axe and readied her shield. Inside the nearby hut were two more corpses, and a single white-bearded dwarf sulking in the far corner.

"I didn't do it!" He blurted out unprompted, "I just got here. Someone else did this."

"They've been here a while," Eri said, noting the state of decomposition, the lack of blood. The dwarf was meticulously clean, himself. "Is there anyone else here?"

The dwarf was about to reply, when a thud could be heard from outside. Eri turned around to see the door to the neighboring building swing open, and a frightened old woman poke her face out and half-whispered, "Quiet! He might come back!"

"Who?" Eri almost-whispered back.

"The bear man!" she exclaimed, looking around like it would summon him. "He killed everyone. I'm the only one left. He raised my husband as a zombie!" Despite her apparent fear the woman bore the mark of a hearthperson, a warrior.

(https://i.imgur.com/nGY939b.png)

"Who do you serve? Who's your lord?" Eri demanded.

"Maloy. The wolf-man. He's at the keep in Incenseordered. He surely knows about the bear man already. I've been waiting for him to come all these years."

'Years?' Eri thought. The corpses weren't decayed to the bone and bleached. They looked like they'd been out under the sun only a few days. "I'll seek him out myself," she decided out loud.

"Thank you!" the woman bellowed, before clutching her mouth like she had cursed the gods. Eri didn't know what to make of her. Scared out of her wits? Old wits? Both? Sometimes her mother had been like that, thinking the blighted would come crawling over the walls if they were spoken of too loudly. She remembered where Incenseordered was supposed to be, by the sea. So she turned her attention back to the cottage on the corner, and stepped back through the threshhold. Inside, the dwarf was inspecting the corpses more closely, as if he'd been too afraid when he was alone. "Divine metal," he said, picking at a gauntlet, gingerly pulling out the severed hand of its former owner.

"What?"

"Divine metal!" he exclaimed loudly, "And masterful craftsdwarfship. More so than I'd expect from human smiths, but fitted for humans nonetheless. They're all wearing this. Their shields and pikes too. You should take a set, if youre the adventuring sort."

Eri looked down at the bodies. The light grayish metal on them was pock-marked, looking like the oozing sores on a sick animal. The corpses themselves had only just started to decay, such sores not yet opened. Untouched, perfect for a necromancer. "We need to destroy them, burn them maybe, at least hack them up. We can't leave bodies whole like this for the next necromancer." The dwarf nodded sullenly, but said nothing. Dwarves hid their dead in elaborate crypts, they didn't need to worry about cutting up or burning their loved ones, but this one clearly understood. "My name's Eri, by the way."

"Vucar. I was a merchant, decided to retire, but everywhere's gone mad. Thought a quiet human hamlet might be better." He helped Eri pile the corpses into the street, where she started a fire. More bodies were scattered around the hamlet, and these she simply hacked to pieces in place. She went back, then, having reconsidered the suggestion to take their equipment. She realized, in this world, she would need it, and it was surprisingly lightweight. She had no experience with the pike, but the dwarf insisted it would pierce anything but "adamantine," which he'd said with a bizarre sort of reverence. Eri decided to take her leave, and head for the city.

The next hamlet north was completely abandoned. The one after that, the village was abandoned, but the mead hall was filled with stuffy-looking nobles. All white hairs and wrinkled visages, and old wounds. "Soldier!" One scarred old woman shouted at Eri as she entered, "How was the patrol?" Eri only pointed at herself. "Yes, you. What did you encounter? Were you not on patrol?"

Not sure whether to out herself as a looter, Eri responded "Uh, the hamlet of Masteredgriffon has been attacked, by a bear-man necromancer reportedly. Only one survivor. They said it happened years ago."

"Necromancers," the woman mumbled to herself before turning back to Eri, "Report it to the Wolf Lord, Necromancy is his domain. No sign of the enemies?"

"Uhm, no. The other village was abandoned, noone there."

"Good. Dismissed." The woman turned back to her pedestal where she was working. The other nobles ignored Eri. She strode up to one old man and asked him, "Who all were we at war with, again?"

"The Girlish Quills, the Imperial Lenses, the Venerable Showers, a dozen others. All over so-called animal abuse," the old man retorted almost angrily. Eri decided not to pry further. Instead she headed to the back of the hall, where a book was left on a pedestal in one corner. Curious, she lifted the tome and read the cover. "Do We Understand Immortality." She was about to open it when someone souted across the room "No! You must not read from the book!" Suddenly everyone was staring her down. Eri Placed the book back on the pedestal. "It's a necromancers' tome," a woman clarified, "You'll be cursed. Like them."

"Ah, okay. Ive had enough reading today anyway, I suppose." Eri turned and walked out the door instead.

North again, and Eri was on the outskirts of the city. The fields were criss-crossed with trenches. Where buildings started, most were ruined. One had an overgrown garden, and inside were three dwarves. One wore the same sort of blistered metal armor Eri had taken, and a bronze mask. None of them were interested in conversing with her. Further down the street was a toppled statue of a dwarf, a fallen pedestal, and a shiny stone die. Eri absentmindedly picked up the die, then decided to leave it and dropped it again. A horrible feeling came over her, an impending sense of doom. She looked down at the die, and on it in tiny lettering was inscribed the word "Torch." The pedestal displayed prayers to "Kezat," and the meanings of the words inscribed on the divination die. Beside the word "Torch" was "Bad luck." It would be a wonderful evening.

Eri turned around and headed towards the castle. Inside the keep, she met the wolf-lord Maloy. He was a short, wiry being with the head and fur of a gray wolf, and he was obviously frustrated about something. Eri addressed him anyway, "Maloy? I was sent to inform you about an attack on the hamlet of Masteredgriffon some years ago, by a necromancer bear-man. The only survivor says he butchered everyone and raised her husband as a zombie."

Maloy glared at her unhappily before responding, "Thank you for your time. I will handle it. You are dismissed." Perhaps he also believed her to be part of his army. He certainly wasn't in the mood to talk. Eri walked back out, and headed west down the road. Some of the shops here were occupied, although seemingly not selling anything. One such building had a small army of gangsters and city militia intermingling. She stayed there a while to chat, and noticed something strange. Seven of the wrestlers there were identical. When she started talking to them, she learned they all shared the same name as well. Nobody else wanted to discuss this.

(https://i.imgur.com/BAvQo4H.png)
(Too Many Zar Evenchirped???)

She left, and visited other hovels, and discovered even more of the strange duplicated man. She decided to leave this town before it got any weirder.

Things are going well so far. Zar Evenchirped has appeared several times in history, as in several incarnations, Braalbard's last turn being one of them, wherein he is identical to the men I encountered in Incenseordered. How this happened I don't know.

[edit]
I found the instance of Zar Braalbard had recruited. Still on the edge of Honeyhammer, he became High Executioner.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on January 26, 2024, 09:14:08 pm

I spotted a few Zars on my turn - he features in my write up. Will try to get some of it posted this weekend.

There’s about 20 clones of him now. One is a vampire. Reminds me of the kobold from the first Museum…

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Eric Blank on January 26, 2024, 09:34:46 pm

I did some more digging through the hist fig list when making figurines. There's at least 30 of them, which must include at least a few "new" ones I spoke to. They all have separate birthdays, many of them have died (of old age or violence) or been married. None of the ones ive met had any family, I asked them about it and they only reported themselves.

Its not the exact same bug as was prominent at the time of the first Museum game, because they all shared the same soul IIRC. These guys are all separate historical figures with separate lives, birth dates etc. Some as old as the early 700s, some born in the last 30 years. But all share the same face and name.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: dikbutdagrate on January 26, 2024, 11:30:53 pm

Quote from: Eric Blank on January 26, 2024, 09:34:46 pm

Its not the exact same bug as was prominent at the time of the first Museum game, because they all shared the same soul IIRC. These guys are all separate historical figures with separate lives, birth dates etc. Some as old as the early 700s, some born in the last 30 years. But all share the same face and name.

'Being John Urist Malkovich.'

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Maloy on January 27, 2024, 08:28:24 am

I think I remember that Zar in Incenseorder or perhaps there was a second one there too?

I recall finding one dead of old age and I dragged him to an abandoned settlement(which I do to all my dead citizens) and resurrected him

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on January 27, 2024, 05:56:42 pm

"Thikut I" - Turn 142

The Journal of Thikut Dyeblade, master armorsmith of The Fortification of Immortality.

28th Galena 1069

(https://i.imgur.com/wvLV8Jr.png)

I am a dwarf of the Page of Tiredness, an armourer to trade. I am renowed throughout these lands as a crafter of fine shields. Some years back I lived in the mountainhome, The Eternal Citadel, and caught the eye of a strange dwarf - Ineth Relicheart. He and a few of his brethren appeared one day, in the fort, as if from some otherworldly place. He was different, exotic!

Like all dwarves of Morul Kan, I have emerald eyes, dark chestnut hair and peach skin. But Ineth was different - he shaves his beard for a start! He was just so... different to all the other boys! I was smitten. But things didn't work out as I had hoped. The baron tells him he is destined to return an entire civilisation to life, and he decides to become an adequate glassmaker? Lacks ambition, that one. Not me.

The wanderlust kicked in and when I heard of a new fort to the north, in the goblin infested lands of the Knowing Deceiver, how could I resist? I have been an armourer here in the delightfully named Livingdead the Depths of Despair for some years now, having left that feckless oaf of a husband of mine back at The Eternal Citadel.


I came here, to this wild savage place infested with bears and wolverines and skulking goblins. I made an artifact shield of angel metal! They call me a legendary armourer! Every now and then bards and scholars visit, bringing news from the mountainhome, and the dwarven forts of the other clans - the Walled Dye, even those odd folks of The Staff of Kissing. I keep hearing rumours. People whisper "queen consort" - could that unabmitious husband of mine have actually gone and done it?

I bump into the bard, Stukos. He is always travelling the lands and visiting forts to entertain. Perhaps he has some news?

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/WGVrJ5J.png)

King! My useless husband is king! Well, that changes everything. Perhaps he was not so devoid of courage and spirit as I thought. I must go and find him!

I bump into the small group of odd wolverine people that call this place home. Fel, Ty and Wo. They came in from the wilds, then complained about being naked. Now they sit in bed all day and complain. Perhaps one of them might join me on my adventures? Fel and Ty react with horror at the idea. I suspect Wo could be persuaded. He misses his friend Isk who left a long time ago. He keeps himself apart from the other two, tending to the many bears that the Fortification of Immortality keep here. I will need arms and armour, and a backpack, and provisions! I head to the leather works. Unsurprisingly there is an abundance of polar bear leather and I craft myself a few items to ward off the cold. My plan is to return to the Eternal Citadel, and perhaps find out there where Ineth Relicheart holds court.

I travel down the central staircase and retrieve my shield - a magnificent artwork if I do say so myself... Gorgedwellings the Sweltering Clutch! Ok, it might be pretty basic, but it is perfectly formed!

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/tIK0Ru4.png)

A couple of other items catch my eye - a masterful steel axe once used to fell the forgotten beast Avithe, who rampaged through Palacework? This would be a fine gift for my husband. And this... Ransackcontrols, a copper earing, on which is an image of Stukos Mournsaints felling a Hollow Hunter.  Perhaps the baron of The Eternal Citadel would like this image of his father's heroism?

I trudge down to the familiar forge halls above the magma sea, and make myself a set of adamantine and blistered metal armour. No point in being a legendary armoursmith if you don't get to benefit from your own craft! I hear a discordant screech from above. I think it is time I made myself scarce and head off on my journey south, to find my husband and, apparently, my destiny.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/AYwpdNl.png)

I first head north to escape this wildnerness of a valley. I encounter a honey badger and wrestle it for a while, before I am ambushed by a giant wolverine. I heft the axe The Primitive Spirit and spill the beasts stinking guts. It runs for a while, and I chase the trail of blood to find its huge corpse. I feast on wolverine meat tonight.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/W6x96qw.png)

As night falls I stumble across a goblin camp. A sole greenskin resides in a makeshift tent, and quickly loses his head. Here is as good a place as any to sleep tonight.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/czj4tER.png)

29th Galena 1069

A short journey westward skirting the mountains to the south leads me to a shrine of some sorts - a great roc nest? I am surprised to find a group of kea men beating seven shades out of a giant wolverine. The place is overrun by yaks and goats, no rocs to be seen. I help the kea people by tearing open the wolverine's guts. It quickly bleeds to death. The kea people have no interest in accompanying me on my journey it seems.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/Yz9IYGE.png)

Somewhat north of the abandoned roc lair, I encounter an oddly violent creature - a peregrine falcon man vampire?? He spots me whilst in the midst of dismembering some ravens, spitting out a raven leg as he lunges at me. I take quite a few hits from the unarmed demon-bird before Stibbomubal hits its mark. I now feel like a legendary warrior!

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/poZdMH6.png)

2nd Limestone 1069

I stumble into the abandoned fort of Lashedjade, worryingly close to the massive goblin citadel of Horrornut. I slay a few alligators and stock up on three hundred year old rum. There is a nice stash of emeralds here, and I work them into my adamantine armour. I am impressed by my own craftdwarfship.

3rd Limestone 1069

I head in a general westerly direction. I need to get away from these goblin lands and towards the valley of the High Confederacies. I arrive at a dwarven hillocks, Brushshack, to find it infested with goblins. The drunken idiots brawl amongst the corpses of their fallen brothers. A feel a martial trance come over me. Some hours later, 33 goblins are dead by my hands. I did not know I had that in me. The spirits of my ancestors flowed through me and all I knew was death.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/Xj6GQJu.png)

4th Limestone 1069

The abandoned hillocks of Granitehoods is home only to the undead. Three Hollow Zombies are returned to the earth. I continue my journey westward, arriving at Clenchportent in the late afternoon. Inside the mead hall are the ruling cabinet of The High Confederacies alongside some strange creatures I have never encountered before.

One identifies itself as a gremlin, and the small bearded taciturn one was said to be a mountian gnome. The law giver recalled meeting my husband and trading with him - he produced from his pouch a masterfully crafted spike of blistered metal with some degree of wonder. Sadly he does not know the current whereabouts of Ineth.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/SprDWQK.png)

A short distance north and I am alerted by the dying screams of a gnomish creature. I find a slavering undead human dismembering a mountain gnome recruit. A hollow hunter! The undead monstrosity gets a lucky hit on my arm and my axe clatters to the floor. Gripping it again in my unfavoured hand, I send it into the wight's skull with a satisfying thud.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/oZ2Sv78.png)

I travel north to Incenseorder, and arrive as night falls. I ask a friendly necromancer count to stay the evening, and he indicates I should speak with the wolf man Lord Maloy Craftsoars in the central keep.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/Rhg0nZz.png)

I find the elderly wolf in his keep. He is badly battered and missing a finger, which I notice is resting on a nearby pedestal. He is thin and wiry and his fur is covered in thick scars. This lord has seen some battles indeed. He wears bismuth bronze armour with the blueberry bush emblem of The Walled Dye, rather than the High Confederacies. How curious? The wolf man says that the necromancer count is known to him, as are many of the dwarves here who he has recruited to cement the dwarven claim to this capital.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/XBTn3Xl.png)

Upstairs I find the human that the Lord was talking to - Zar Evenchirped. Its a remarkably common name, as I meet severl identical fellows meandering around the city. (27 of them, all of the North Coven. Some alive, some dead, some vampires, some undead...)
I stay for a while, enjoying the warm hospitality of the Impervious Wall, while asking for clues to the whereabouts of my husband to any who pass through this famed city.

---

Wo's Story.

I should have gone with that dwarf... I heard from one of the visiting scholars that my Isk is there! In a dwarf fort. The Page of Tiredness. As the outpost liaison. Can you believe it. I should have gone with her.
Maybe I will have time to catch up with her? I gather some things and make some armour for myself. It isnt very good to start with, but I get better. I use that black metal they sometimes use. It smells of death.
A spear. Yes, pointy. That will do nicely. I kill some animals. I like to eat their flesh. Its nice. Blood. It tastes good.

What's this? A goblin. All by himself? I would like to taste him too. He tastes bad.

(https://i.imgur.com/iz10Y88.png)

I stop at rivers heading west, I like the cool water. I can smell the dwarf. Will she lead me to Isk? Another goblin. Argh! He is tricksy! Copper arrows? Cowardly goblin. I've lost a tooth. Argh! My eye. Evil horrible goblin. I will be more sneaky. Next time.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/QDkoSAC.png)

A copper arrow, stuck in my eye. I am afraid. I don't want to take it outtttt. The Nasty Poker.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/UQaeJMq.png)

I spend next few days being chased and chasing goblins around their big city. Nasty things. Sometimes I catch them asleep and I kill them. Sometimes they chase me away. They call me Wo Bladeteeth! The Fierce Dusk. The One-Eyed Bandit! I smell something on the wind. Dwarf. A fort. An old place.

Hmm. Not here. A few days ago. Maybe a week? I make something from my meat. Lovely pike meat stew with vultures and ibexes. That's nice. Eye is itchy. Still got an arrow in it. Cuts on arms infected. Need to find Isk. She will know what to do. Mhmm. A bath?

Brush-shacks? Something like that. Smells of dwarf. But mostly goblins, and death. She came this way. Horrible goblin priests. I wait til dark and kill them in their sleep. Horrible things. The last one? I bite his eyes and chop off his hands. He can stay here, not dead. Frighten the other ones.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/Uoa1zwy.png)

Incenseorder. Big city, lots of smells. Not just dwarves though... Cats? What is this... Why are the dwarves screaming? Argh! Wo did not notice the moooon.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/qDyfzuq.png)

My spear sticks in the cat things and they bleed. Soon they stop moving. They smell wrong. I wonder what their blood tastes like. Nasty.

The keep.. a wolf man. He smells strange. Hint of fox mixed with wolf. But at least he is not trying to kill me. He looks a little jumpy. He makes a gnome come back to life. It's a funny small thing. I put my spear away and he is friendly and he tells me stuff.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/TKaxFct.png)

Thikut! Yes! That's her! That's the dwarf lady who can take me to see Isk! The wolf says she might still be here!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Maloy on January 28, 2024, 03:43:01 pm

Very neat! How long ago was 1069? I was just thinking it's been awhile since my wolf lord was wearing anything other than blistered armor.

Werecats ?! In my city! Glad they got dealt with! Also glad I was polite to a guest!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Bralbaard on January 28, 2024, 04:32:48 pm

Just dropped in to say I'm trying to catch up and get the turn list updated.  :)

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: AvolitionBrit on January 28, 2024, 04:40:40 pm

Quote from: Bralbaard on January 28, 2024, 04:32:48 pm

Just dropped in to say I'm trying to catch up and get the turn list updated.  :)

Quote from: AvolitionBrit on January 25, 2024, 11:13:18 am

So the order as far as I'm aware is
Eric Blank
Quantum Drop
Maloy
Avolitionbrit

Welcome Back, hope you are well

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Bralbaard on January 28, 2024, 04:48:47 pm

All is well, I got a bit distracted with other hobbies over the last month :)

Anyhow, The turn list has been updated, but I have not read all the latest stories yet. I'll try to catch up. 

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Bralbaard on January 28, 2024, 05:05:30 pm

I haven't really read the adventures yet, but I see there is great confusion about Zar Evenchirped, one of the companions of my gremlin adventurer.
I suspect we are dealing with an army of clones controlled by a certain character with a honey-addiction and a preference for outlandish architecture.

Zar Evenchirped was left behing in Honeyhammer when my gremlin died, and that left him at the mercy of whatever darkness dwells in that place.
I strongly suspect this is no coincidence, as it was hinted at at the time that bad things might happen to him.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on January 28, 2024, 05:17:08 pm

Glad you’re back BB!

Quote from: Maloy on January 28, 2024, 03:43:01 pm

Very neat! How long ago was 1069? I was just thinking it's been awhile since my wolf lord was wearing anything other than blistered armor.

Werecats ?! In my city! Glad they got dealt with! Also glad I was polite to a guest!

The current year is 1076 I think.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on January 28, 2024, 05:17:51 pm

Quote from: Bralbaard on January 28, 2024, 04:48:47 pm

All is well, I got a bit distracted with other hobbies over the last month :)

Anyhow, The turn list has been updated, but I have not read all the latest stories yet. I'll try to catch up.

Add me to the bottom of the list please :)

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: TheFlame52 on January 28, 2024, 05:43:00 pm

10th anniversary of kesperan winning adventure mode :P

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Bralbaard on January 29, 2024, 05:18:00 pm

It is indeed, Congrats!

That was from the original museum when Kesperan got twice husked. Did anyone at all get husked in the current game? It seems it is a rare syndrome in our current world, but it happened all the time in the first museum game.
I think the area around Homesafe the shrine of guarding is cursed like that, but I know of no other regions? We do of course have all the contagious undead syndromes to compensate for the lack of husking clouds.

Title: Re: Museum III adventure game
Post by: kesperan on January 29, 2024, 05:57:25 pm

Quote from: Quantum Drop on February 01, 2021, 04:30:56 pm

The Chronicles of the Adventurers of The Grand Museum of Boltspumpkin

According to the list from QD, Ketas Indigovaulted is a Fiendish Soot husk - there may be others but he's the only confirmed one, from a bag of fiendish soot which I believe is still present in the Museum.

There's certainly no evidence so far of any twice-husked monstrosities, but several adventurers have been raised as different flavours of intelligent undead.

Moldath, of course, is a Fell One Hollow Zombie.

Pike Planecalm the Confident (Pik's second incarnation) is a Gaunt Corpse Putrid Ghoul Empty One.

However, Avolition's latest monstrosity, Ral Lanternhealing the Lonely Gate of Calling is a Hollow Stalker, Gaunt Zombie, Cold Slayer, Dark One, Fell One, Empty One, Hollow Hunter, Fallen Slayer, Hollow Zombie, Gaunt Corpse, Putrid Ghoul, Rotten Slayer having been killed and resurrected 12 times. He also has over 35000 notable kills which is just mind boggling. Can't wait to hear that story.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Maloy on January 31, 2024, 10:14:06 pm

(sorry guys no screenshots. They were all lost when my pc hard drive blew up. Also the beginning is very melancholy because some of my favorite npcs were close to dying of old age by the time I ended my turn and I knew I probably wouldn't see them again)

The wolf king sat in the small manor sipping dwarven rum while sitting across from his old friend.

Asen. The aging dwarf was now more wrinkle than skin with his eyes jolly slits and his white beard flowing down to the floor. His cane rested next to his chair that rocked peacefully.
Asen was the militia commander of Razorbridge who had wandered off with several of it's soldiers enacting one scheme after another to achieve a life of luxurious debauchery; all of which failed comically.
From buying an island that turned out to have been purged of life by a necromancer to one of his soldiers marrying a baron only to realize a consort doesn't inherit power when they marry.

After the failure of their last scheme they sought to raid a certain vampire lord's granary to make and sell alcohol to the whole region - not realizing that the Walled Dye had already promised huge quantities to Maloy's kingdom in exchange for blistered metal.
This bad advice let them meet up again with the wolf king though who was deeply overwhelmed by running a mercantile empire he actually had very little interest with and had started out of spite. Over the decades Asen and his crew of idiotic arguing cronies ran the day to day of the business. Accruing vast wealth for them, as the king had no need of it being immortal, and saving the wolf from having a day job.

Now Asen was elderly and living peacefully rocking in his chair. His cronies were similarly decrepit and could be heard arguing with one another in the background as if they were still young beardlings on their latest adventure. Asen's manor was the largest in all of Makbor and had a beautiful garden to boot.
Despite the beauty, peace and comraderie the crew was mourning the death of one of the band. Kivish the swift. The she-dwarf passed of old age and they buried her far away without telling Maloy, for likely he would have chosen to resurrect his friend into undeath, rather than let her begone forever.
"It's hard." whispered Asen without breaking the rhythm of his rocking chair
"What is?" Maloy replied
"Being the last one alive"
"What?"
"I'm saying when we're gone, mangy pup, it'll be hard" Asen said with his regular annoyance when he felt others were not listening properly
"It's harder because I can stop it. Can bring back anyone I want, but it changes them for the worse. Even knowing it will make things worse I still always want to"
Asen rocked silently for a full minute before responding "Don't let yourself be alone, wolf."
"I don't think I have the strength to replace any of you, old man" Maloy said, giving voice to the dread void inside his heart.
Asen chuckled "You'll never replace me or any of them, fool! Don't even try! You make space for new people in your life otherwise you're trapped in the past. That's why all these other immortals are crazy. Can't make space for new things."
"You make it sound like I'm gonna miss you. I just meant that it'll be near impossible to find someone dumb enough to run all my businesses for me!"
Asen shot back "Aye, you won't find anyone else who will let you get away with slacking off! Better pay them even better than me!"
The wolf king smiled "I'm very glad we all met."


Maloy left his manor appointment to wander around Incenseorder.

Things were strange today. He saw his regular guards wandering around. Each squad had one soldier fully equipped in divine armor and weapons surrounded by light troopers, but now were strange soldiers wandering the streets as well! Many new humans and each of them armored with the symbol of the High Confederacies. This was unprecedented in the centuries the wolf man had been in Makbor. He could only presume the Confederacy sought to make a large purchase of divine metal either for their war effort against the blight or perhaps for the many memorabilia he had forged mocking the goddess Midor.
He sought to speak to one
"Hail, traveler! I am Maloy! King of these lands!"
The female soldier turned from her perch slowly and locked glowing blue eyes with him, but did not speak. She was a dark one! Intelligent undead raised again with dark powers! They were also almost always incredibly rude and ignored people-like this one was doing now!

This also didn't disturb Maloy, but annoyed him. He frequently resurrected the city's dead in a far-away hamlet so they could continue to live on away from the living. He was used to this, but he still had no answers!
He saw a dark gnome interacting with a High Confederacy soldier, but the two stopped when he approached. Suspicious.

When he turned into an alley another human came running towards him from the other end. This one wearing the sigil of his own people, but the warrior drew his weapon and swung at the king! The wolf man began to duel expecting it to be easy, but quickly realized that this human was one of his own intelligent undead he had raised and sent away now attacking him!
Soon he was joined by confederate soldiers to fight the wolf man, but they did not count on the wolf's tireless body. He patiently dodged, blocked and parried until openings came and he beheaded, cut throats, severed limbs, and whatever else it took to wear down opponents until he was standing surrounded by eviscerated corpses.

This was unacceptable! This was unprecedented! This was rebellion!
No one was answering him about it either!
He grabbed the corpses and began to carry them to his isolation settlement. As evening came upon his land the nightshift military came on: Gremlins mostly with the occasional dark gnome. These ambushed him several times forcing him to kill his hard earned night shift crew! Maloy carried those corpses too.

Once all were gathered at the abandoned settlement of Granitehoods he dropped them inside a small home and raised them all back as intelligent undead.
He stood, chest out and hands behind his back in front of the eviscerated, but now living crowd. "I'm not gonna ask. I am severely disappointed in you all. You can all stay in here for a century or two and then we will talk." Without another word the wolf king locked the door behind him and left his former minions to stew in their stinking misery.

Truth be told there were two likely culprits:
1. the dark gnomes.
The mischievous monsters are so malicious that they actually somehow forged museum records to declare themselves as rulers of the world for one year. This was definitely along the lines of their behavior, BUT the wolf king absolutely needed them to be his customer complaint services otherwise he would have to talk to angry dignitaries himself!
2. The High Confederacies. They haven't owned Makbor in centuries, but were the original owners. Not only that, but they've been on a losing streak for generations and now Makbor is sitting on a mountain of wealth from trade. They probably want their take. The confederacy capital is only a few hours away from Maloy's own capital.

There was only one real option-truly.

In the dead of night Maloy slipped into the mead-hall capital of the confederacy. It's rulers sleeping on the stone floor like the broke failures that they were. The wolf king began to slit each ones throat. One by one.
Until he was accosted by a knight in armor. He was clearly outfitted for battle, but his head had a chef's hat on it: The High Chef of the confederacy!
The two dueled and it should have been quick, but the warrior was far better than Maloy in every way and cut off his tail!
Maloy raised the corpses of the entire ruling government of the confederacy as zombies and continued to duel. The zombies did not target the knightly chef, which meant he was secretly a necromancer or undead himself.
The chef raised his sword shouting "I yield! I yield! No sense dying for those already dead!"
"An oddly pragmatic thing to say at such a time" Maloy responded "But I accept your yield. Tell the next line of confederate leaders that if they attack my city again I'll resurrect them on the bottom of the ocean"
The knight nodded quickly "understood!"
"Also the zombies stay here. If the next group gets eaten that is their problem"
Maloy gestured for the zombies to remain put in the mead hall. "Perhaps the next two government's will get eaten by zombies. That would be funny!" he said to himself as he left.

Next he dropped in on his border settlement where he had a growing population of the warriors of Udir angels. Locals had a far less tasteful name for them "lesbian angel cult"
The ladies were just finishing massacring some gremlin rebels and Maloy made a mental note to come back and drag these corpses to the isolation settlement too.
He put his hands together as if praying "Ladies! I need a favor!"
The eldest of them, a third generation angel, responded "We go where we can best serve the Eternal War"
Maloy nodded emphatically "Yes. Yes. Of course the Eternal War! I need a few volunteers to go with me to a place that desperately needs your help in that matter!"


Although it took a couple of weeks he led the trio far far to the south to the halmet of Rushpelt. It belonged to the Realm of Silver; which Maloy eagerly sought to expand his market of Midor-mocking metal items to! He brought plenty of divine metal to give to the citizens and soldiers as gifts to interest them in future trading and instructed the warriors of Udir to begin to dwell here.
"Stay, protect this place, and if it isn't too much trouble do that procreation thing you all do"
The convenient thing about the angels is that wherever they were born they had immediate knowledge about the local culture, religion and values. New angels born here would be loyal to the Realm of Silver! They would need the assistance to counterbalance the next thing he had to do while down here.

He headed north to Swordgleam.

A captain of the guard was rooting through the city's palace that was still covered in fresh dwarf corpses. According to him they set out to bury the many dead in this city only to find it to be infested by howling freaks. They killed them all thankfully, but now the place was littered with dead dwarves and with few hands to move them.
Maloy nodded empathetically to the plight of the dwarf and truly felt regret for what happened to his friends and for what was about to happen to him. He turned and gestured to all the Howling Freak corpses and they all rose in unison. The dwarf was paralyzed in shock. Maloy was not and he immediately sprinted for the exit. The dwarf flew in the air past him and through the doors, new powers that the freaks would now have, and Maloy just kept running and hoping that as few dwarves would die as needed.

Geo-politics and all that. Maloy had to keep his end of the deal up with the father of all howling freaks. He had a small army of them stationed near his capital ready to descend and bring carnage. Even if Maloy purged them, an incredibly costly affair, far to the north a psychotic immortal bear was building monstrosities and expanding precariously close to his lands.
He needed those howling freaks there and he needed them happy enough to not raid his own lands! So, they ask for one of their nests to get a resurrection? They get a resurrection.
End of story.


The wolf king stopped running when he got to the river. He sat by it's banks and drained the last of his rum "Why is the rum always gone?" he said sadly.
He had one final stop to make before all his problems were fixed and he could go without being attacked for a little while.

He traveled to mysterious and unmapped mountains covered in mirthful greenery. Plants that looked like fluffy balls of joy rose from the ground begging to be squeeze and hugged. It was here he was going to stop the dark gnomes.
He wandered forever and resisted the persistent urge to frolic among fields until he found his quarry!

Gnomes! Real ones this time! Not those mischievous dark ones!
The plan was simple:
He needed dark gnomes
Dark Gnomes are a constant problem
Dark Gnomes are natural rivals to Mountain Gnomes
Therefore we needed an equal amount of Mountain Gnomes working in Makbor to counter-balance them!
They'd be so busy fighting one another they'd have no time to hire confederate armies to overthrow him!

He explained the plan to the chief of the gnomes while making it sound more like he needed their help to be heroes rather than to be annoyances.
The gnomes squeaked amongst each other until the chief finally saluted back and before Maloy knew it he was now king of both dark and light gnomes!


With his borders secure, his enemies turned into ravenous zombies, and his employees at each others throats instead of his; It was time to rest once more. He had a lot to think on and maybe it was a time to vacation and crash at his nephew's house in Razorbridge?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Eric Blank on February 01, 2024, 04:42:18 am

Will be posting the save tomorrow, im out of data on my phone so it will take a bit. Here's part 2 of the adventure.

Spoiler: The Legend of Eri Silkenlands (click to show/hide)

Part 2

Eri traveled north-west, following the retreating storms, along the coast, and then the mountains. For two days travel there were no other signs of civilization. Just as the mountains turned westward, there was a valley, and deep in that valley lay a large stone structure; an ancient dwarven fortress. There was no sign of activity as Eri approached, nor any more once she had entered it. Deep below ground, when the stairs finally opened up into a room similar in size to a house, and revealed a tunnel, she came upon a single severed head. All through the rest of the halls was nothing. No living things stirred, except for Eri herself. There were few artifacts to loot, as well, reduced to a smattering of copper and silver gear back in the trade depot, old discarded foodstuffs, and too-small tattered clothing. "I wonder who built this place," she thought, "and what happened to it."

A few hours walk north was a volcano. The climb to the summit was exhausting, but rewarding. The view from the mountains was beautiful. She could make out in the distance where the treeline ended and the sea began. And she had never seen a volcano in person before. The descriptions she'd read didn't capture the calm elegance of the slowly churning lava. They did describe the smell correctly. With a head full of fumes, Eri slowly descended the mountains, and skirted the border of this realm and the next northwards again. Only a few hours walk away she spotted a clearing, and a structure built into it. When the trees parted on her arrival, she found a wooden fort. No guards patrolled the walls and towers. She let herself in.

(https://i.imgur.com/ABW62KL.png)

Inside, the fort grounds were a scene of slaughter. Bodies and body parts strewn about where they had been slain by unknown hand. Not a single survivor remained to tell the tale. They were mostly warriors, as far as Eri could tell from their armor and weapons. But not up to the task of whatever cruel fate had befallen them. Indeed she began to feel the creeping suspicion, one of pure dread, that she was following in the footsteps of some monstrous killer of legendary make. The fort had been named Shipwheeled, according to a sign hanging from the wall outside. Eri fled, looking back only to see if some ghost would follow her. And indeed, one did.

Just a few more hours walk and she came upon a strange wooden wall built from local trees. No one seemed to be around to name it. So she crossed over its boundary where it ended, and continued again, and quickly came upon another stranger sight. A square trench surrounding a walled fort containing a series of buildings. Skeletons, impaled and tied in upright but grotesque positions adorned the entryway into the structure. A man waited a few yards away at the top of one of the hills overlooking it, so Eri joined him. "Greetings, I am Eri Silkenlands. What is this place?"

(https://i.imgur.com/gIzHc6i.png)

The figure turned to face her, and she looked upon the now-distraught face of Zar Evenchirped once again. "It is an evil place. I am Zar Evenchirped, a pleasure to meet you. I'm afraid I'm waiting for a friend to return from inside. I advise you do not follow in his footsteps. It has been many years since he left me, now."

"Wh-Why don't you leave? Go back to the others?" Eri thought about the town full of this man, how they almost crowded out the other folk in their numbers.

"I'm afraid I swore an oath to look after him. I followed him in, you see, but we became separated. There is only the one entrance, there, so I must wait and see."

"Well, I'm sorry to hear that." Eri said, not quite wanting to meet his gaze. His demeanor was so unlike those she had met in Incenseordered, he was certainly a different man, here. Dutiful and wracked with guilt. "I suppose I should continue onward, then. Goodbye."

"Goodbye."

Eri saw another figure below, pacing slowly around the outside of the moat, so she descended the hill and hailed them. "Greetings, I am Eri Silkenlands. Can you tell me about this place?"

(https://i.imgur.com/r91ijLW.png)

The figure turned, but looked at her with hideous false eyes of another creature entirely, grafted into the sockets that must surely be empty. The rest of its face was covered by some snarling bone mask, too large to fit yet firmly attached. Skulls of other nightmarish creatures were sewn into its shoulders, covered by scales. Every part of its body, it seemed, had something grafted to it, all of it on the verge of rot, but not quite turned. From it came a series raspy, deep, high pitched, and whispering voices, all speaking in unison. "This is the place of Weenie Le Puu," they said, "master of the flesh arts. I am Mokun, Chief Justiciar."

Horrified, Eri stood stock still, and could let out only a whimpered "Thank you."

"Good day," the figure turned back, and continued its route around the moat. Something, several somethings, writhed under the back of its cloak. Eri looked back up the hill, to see if Zar had seen this thing too. But he wasn't there. Eri decided to take the chance to leave as well, heading into the nearby woods, and traveling north-west.



The treeline ended again, as dusk fell across the face of the mountain range, this time covered in strange blue bubbles in place of grass and flowers. It seemed like such a peaceful place for a rest. In the morning She followed a brook further into the mountains, and encountered a strange sight; mountain gnomes.

(https://i.imgur.com/UwQcjmi.png)

"Hello?" Eri asked, "Have you names?" The beings did not respond, only looking at her with some curiosity and trepidation. Eri realized she had indeed seen creatures like this before, in the mead hall with the nobles, and in some of the huts in Incenseordered. But those ones had a cruel demeanor, waiting patiently for some misfortune. Eri left the silent creatures behind, and then climbed a ridge to get a better view. Another volcano waited, across only two more ridge lines and another brook. Several hours later, exhausted again, she sat on the hillside overlooking another inferno, almost identical to the last, she realized. The shape of the lava pipe was indeed very similar. It also sat a few stories below its surrounding ridges. "Maybe they're all like this," she thought.

After several more hours, Eri came down from the mountains, and traveled a more-or-less straight line east, towards the sea where rain clouds again formed. There she found a large inlet, and decided it was time to go for a swim. The waters were warm, like the air, unlike the cold of her home. A giant hamster scurried away into the woods after spotting her in the surf. That night she lay on the coast under a large tree, watching the storms in the distance. In the morning she continued following, roughly, the path of the coast northwards. Jumping spider men chittered at her passing from their nests in the trees.

(https://i.imgur.com/VeqI2FT.png)

In the forest, the sound of a rattlesnake alerted her to another creature, and Eri froze in her tracks, and slowly crouched down to the ground. A grizzly bear sow, but so massive and muscular it could surely topple any tree in the forest. It hadn't noticed her, distracted by the snake it had been pestering. Soon it grew bored and lumbered away from the poor serpent, and began digging at the roots of a tree. Eri realized, this was her opportunity to hunt the greatest beast she had ever dreamed. Her crossbow bolts surely would only stick inches deep in its thick hide. But the pike, that thing so astoundingly hard and sharp. It could pierce the creature entirely through, if she hit it hard enough. But she would have to go for the throat, the most guaranteed way to kill a bear quickly. Slowly, she inched up behind the massive animal, distracted as it was raiding some giant ant colony. Slowly, until she had a mostly-clear shot at its neck. She made her move, and plunged the pike with all her strength into the sow's throat, twisted it, and yanked it out. The beast let out a startled, gurgling grunt, and turned away from the sudden pain, before turning and searching for her attacker. Its eyes locked with Eri's, and it let out a blood-choked belch before charging her. Eri narrowly avoided being crushed under one paw, then another, before planting her pike firmly in this paw, causing the bear to rear back on its hind legs briefly to escape the bone-piercing wound, leaving an opening for Eri to plunge her pike again into the opposite rear foot. The bear came crashing down, nearly on top of her, pinning her pike, but now all the fight had left it, as it struggled to stand, and then crawl, only to slowly cease to shudder altogether as its life blood flooded the surrounding soil and turned it slick with pools and rivulets of red-brown mud. The beast lay dead.

Eri rested a moment, freed her pike from below the beast's belly, then quickly set to work. She wanted a trophy. Then she realized, she was going to have an entire wardrobe. Skinning the beast was nigh-impossible in one segment, butchering its corpse would take all day. Nevertheless, by dusk she had several sections of hide cut out, fitting her with a cloak, a shirt, a new hood, trousers, and a thong, drying in the sun. The skull of the beast was thick enough she could only enter it from where the vertebra connected, and she used the brains to complete the tanning process. Much of the meat was already being taken away by the remnants of the ant colony, now turning their predator into their feast. Eri worked around them, taking flexible bones to shape a new, lighter crossbow, strung with hide, and bolts shaved from the bear's massive femurs. She took its huge canines and carved them into fine daggers, and made of its tail vertebrae, the only ones small enough, rings to adorn an amulet of its finger bones and claws. When all the work was done, she still had plenty of meat to store away from the voracious ants.

Giant chipmunks were waiting on the edges of the clearing now, each nearly as big as her. Other scavengers would come, too. And so Eri left, and washed the blood off in a nearby river. The next morning was uneventful, though storm clouds slowly settled overhead. Eri was slowly reaching the northernmost point in the world, and realized she really wanted to be on the other side of the channel, where the other human civilization was. There was an island in the middle of the channel, just south of the narrowest straits. It would provide the shortest swim across the channel. Camping on the coast one night, she was awoken by a great splashing from the sea, and a loud thud behind her in the trees. Concerned she was being attacked, she took up her weapon and peered into the darkness where the crash had come from. Something thrashed violently on the ground at the edge of the jungle.

(https://i.imgur.com/3Ltqq8g.png)

A weird shark? Had it somehow flung itself all the way up here, or did something else launch it? Nothing else was around. Eri settled on the former likelihood, and decided to put the poor creature out of its misery. The rest of her journey up the coast was uneventful. When Eri arrived at the narrowest point, she took the plunge. The waters were warm enough, and calm, the currents weak. Gently swimming, she arrived in only a few hours.

The far shore was at first an unremarkable jungle. Then the treeline opened up to reveal a field stripped bare of trees, some of it tilled. A small... workshop? And bodies. Old, decrepit skeletons. Of dwarves, it appeared.

(https://i.imgur.com/5aUiSGf.png)

In the hillside further back was a wide tunnel, which Eri felt compelled to investigate. She drew her pike and shield, and entered. Around the corner was a trade depot, the sort made by dwarves, behind it a pile of metal bars and bins. And a door. Beyond it was a narrow stairwell, going straight down into the earth. Far below, something moved. Eri called out to it, "Hello? I am Eri Silkenlands, who are you?"

A voice responded "I am Urdim Menglazed. Broker of this fortress!" A face peered back up at her from the darkness, old and wrinkled. "This is no place for mortal girls."

"I was merely curious about it, I encountered the entrance as I was using this island to cross the channel to the east lands," Eri replied, trying to ease his apparent worries. She crept down the stairwell to where the dwarf exited it and headed into another tunnel. When she saw him again, she tried to continue the conversation, but instead the dwarf turned and made a gesture in her direction. Suddenly, the animal skins Eri had been carrying came to life in her bag and fought the buckle open, bursting forth onto the floor behind her. They each in their hollow half-shape of the former animals they had been attempted to attack her, but she bashed them down with her pike until none moved. The dwarf here was apparently a necromancer. Other voices resounded in the darkness, and Eri realized it was time to leave. Slinking away back into the stairwell, she decided she would not leave these violent isolationists empty-handed after being attacked. She stole away into other rooms just below, and took from them a book and an artifact before heading back up the stairs and out the trade hallway, and escaping north into the jungle.

Now back in the wilderness, Eri felt more at home, and soon found abundant game to hunt. Giant lizards, butterflies, birds, and crabs inhabited the island, along with some seemingly normal deer. She took the skins of some of the animals to replace those the necromancer had raised, and this time treated them into parchment as best she could, and bound them with leather strips into quires. She hadn't decided quite yet what she would write, but now the opportunity was there, and the threat of a necromancer turning her backpack into a weapon against her was not. After spending a few days in the jungle Eri arrived on the northern coast of the island. Just as she was about to enter the surf a gang of seven wolf women, with one man among them, stopped her. The lead wolf woman stopped in front of Eri while the others waited to her sides, and Eri knew she would not be able to escape them, even through the surf, without a fight. And so many opponents would be beyond her ability to defend against. The beast woman spoke first, "who are you who have been hunting our game, and leaving it dead untouched, but taking their skins?"

Eri was unsure what they would believe but they clearly knew the human tongue, "I am Eri Silkenlands, a hunter. I needed skins to make books with, to write for my stories, of the places I have been and the beasts I have hunted. I hunted the giant bear whose pelt I wear, and other giant beasts besides. I did this for my people, we have a museum, that records these great hunts, and all we learn about the creatures of the world through them," she thought quickly, tying in a purpose and personal need, and then thought better of it, "I leave the carcasses behind because I am well-fed and know that beast peoples need the food themselves, and hunting without my weapons is dangerous and difficult work." Maybe she could pass off her poaching as a gift...

"We survive just fine, your trespassing is only destruction, of what is ours. Why should we not kill you... Human?"

"I-I can teach you of my techniques in trade. For the game. Who taught you our language?"

"Your "scholar" came to us long ago and taught us, it is the only gift we desired," one of the other wolf women spoke up from the back, "Mother, we should see what she has to offer. It might still be worthwhile."

"Fine. Show us how you make these "books," and your hides," the first woman acquiesced.

So Eri showed them the finished quires she had made, how they were used to make maps and record events. They were unimpressed, but allowed her to hunt one more deer with her crossbow, which interested them more. So she showed them how to craft the crossbow, and bolts, and a quiver from leather to carry them, and that satisfied at least some of them. It was something they could practice and make use of, which these nude, unarmed people did not otherwise have. Fat as some of the daughters were, they clearly didn't need it. She met some of the others of the tribe, where they met in the middle of the island. They had their own song and dance to entertain them, but they let Eri show them the art of the High Confederacies. She was a competent singer and dancer, after all. In the end, they were happy enough to let her go, but as she prepared to brave the surf again, with her sacks inflated with air, she was surprised to find three of them had followed her, and were now begging to go with her. Estre, the older daughter who spoke up for her, one other woman by the name of Horros, and a man named Geth.

Estre spoke "My mother and the other elders have agreed to let us come along with you on your journey. We wanted to see the rest of this world you described anyway. We want you to be our guide." They brought nothing with them, but that was little trouble compared to the task of bringing four people across the ocean safely, together, without a boat.

"How well can you swim?" Eri asked, "The tide might be treacherous, although the coast is long. It will take hours at least."

"We can run for hours, we should be able to swim for hours. We all know how to swim." The other two nodded beside her.

Eri thought quickly, "You will need bags full of air to help you float regardless. And something to keep us together." She spied a downed tree further down the beach. "There, if we can push that into the water and keep it going out, we can use it to guide us to the other side." It was a gamble, a struggle, but the only idea she had, not knowing how to build a boat. But she had rowed in one on the river before, when she was little. If they could get the log out to sea, they could use branches as oars, at least keep themselves partly above water. It wasn't big enough for all of them, but with her keeping it stable, she thought she could keep the teenager-sized wolf people upright on it. After several hours, and with the tide receding just in time, they pushed their makeshift raft into the surf and rode it, paddling as much with their feet as with its branches. As night fell over the sea and the tide pushed into the coast of the mainland, they were within arms reach of the shore, and swam the rest of the way in. Alive. Eri built a fire and they slept through the night in Elven lands.

For the next three days they wandered south-westwards, the elven forest retreats empty, but Eri kept their spirits up with what she knew definitely awaited them in the High Confederacies. The trip took them through abandoned hamlets and castles. Eventually, though, one mead hall proved to house civilized folk. Elven priests intermingled with Hands of Planesgifts clergy, and even a few goblins made themselves known. These people were fascinating enough to interest her charges, it was briefly relieving to take a back seat. But she didn't give up dancing and singing with them. They even enjoyed poetry, for various reasons. One figure they were most interested in meeting proved to be the wolf-king Maloy, one of their kind, however ancient. After a week's travel, they crossed the famous Razor Bridge, home to angels as well as others now, particularly the spooky, undead, headless sort that both fascinated and horrified. A goblin patrol at the south end of it that harassed them but stayed their hands for a few performances by the group. Mostly, they were just bored with their wandering the wilderness.

(https://i.imgur.com/9ieACSd.png)

Their eventual arrival in Incenseordered was heralded with much excitement and anticipation. And Eri could finally relax.

Maloy, thankfully, was in a more sociable mood than last time, though annoyed somewhat by being something of a tourist attraction, a celebrity for these outsiders to gleefully interrogate. Their biggest questions revolved around his origins, his rise to power, and how, according to everyone, he had been in power for so long. That he was centuries old and possessed of magic powers deeply interested them. His and Eri's warnings about the perils and pitfalls of necromancy at least appeared to stifle their enthusiasm. Maloy was grateful, at least, for Eri's report of the northern lands. The bear-man necromancer was indeed still hiding in the north, with his abominations. The group left Incenseorder some time later after visiting some of the other homes there. Then they arrived in Clenchportent. The nobility of the place had not changed at all. When the group entered, someone in the back exclaimed "You brought King Maloy! Finally!" The law-giver however stated flatly, "none of you are King Maloy. What have you brought us, woman?"

"These are my traveling companions, Estre, Horros, and Geth," Eri replied. "Maloy is still in his keep, but he has been informed of the situation. We were on our way to the museum at Boltspumpkin, now."

"Which one of them is the lord of this hamlet?" Estre asked. Before Eri could explain, the law-giver interrupted, "There is none. This hamlet is not organized, only we reside here. I am law-giver, and this is my throne."

"Maybe you should be lord, Eri." Estre suggested. "Then the place would at least have an organization."

"Of course!" the law-giver exclaimed. "Someone to deal with interruptions, that you're so fond of creating. You will be our Lady. Eri is it?"

Eri cursed under her breath while nodding to the affirmative.

"Well, when you're done with your vacation, come back and help get the place in order."

Eri knew the law-giver's word was, after all, law, and the law to which she as a citizen of the High Confederacies must abide. She glared at Estre, but the wolf-woman seemed not to understand. They stepped outside again, Eri having forgotten exactly what she intended to do here for the time being. The wolf-people seemed somewhat excited by the exchange, suddenly. "Looks like you've gotten me a permanent job. In the nobility, nonetheless. I suppose that you should become my hearth person." She jabbed at Estre's shoulder.

"What does that mean?" Horros asked.

"That she get's to be my bodyguard and law-enforcer, to do as I say."

"I actually don't like the sound of that," Estre said sheepishly. Eri just rolled her eyes.

"I heard someone mention that we looked like a 'performance troupe,'" Geth interjected before any more arguments could break out. Maybe we could form one of those."

"That sounds better to me at least," Eri admitted. It didn't mandate that they had to perform but... "I'll go with that. I'd rather sing and dance for myself than for the nobles."

Geth looked at her excitedly "Is that what they do? I'd like that actually."

The women weren't convinced. Horros mumbled something, and Estre shook her head and thought for a minute before saying "No, I actually wanted to see this museum and learn what the scholars there know."

They spent the night tossing possibilities back and forth around a fire.

A few days later, they found themselves at the base of the mountains west of there, south of goblin lands. An ancient fortress had caught their attention, and they'd insisted on investigating though Eri assured them the fortress had been ruined for centuries at least. But they hadn't seen dwarven settlements at all. Hence they visited Pillartraded. The Exterior of the fort was cookie-cutter for the ancient dwarves; a square building two stories tall and more than a hundred yards to a side. The ceiling was seemingly natural stone. The entrance was hidden in a corridor too narrow for trade wagons to pass, though the trade depot was accessible directly inside it. At the center was a smaller room in which was a ramp heading down into the earth. With trepidation, the wolf people followed Eri down into the darkness. The ramps spiraled downwards for may stories, and the group quickly lost track of just how deep they were. There were intermittent shrines dedicated to dwarven religions with statues and pedestals for divination dice. Eventually, the ramp-way opened up into two wide, paved tunnels going off into the distance. Just below that was another room, wider than a shrine and lacking a statue. A single smoothed tunnel led off into the earth. It narrowed, turned, and after some distance ended in a door. Behind it was a room full of trade goods and materials of all sorts, scattered in piles across the floor. On the opposite wall was another door that led into another narrow hall, and in the corner left of that door was another that led to a second large room, with stacks of apparently still-viable food left on the floor, with another door that opened again into a narrow hall.

"Alright," Eri said. "We'll go back to the store room there, and you all grab some clothing and weapons. We've been getting a lot of bad comments about you guys running around naked, it makes people think you're raiders from the wild tribes come to kill them."

"Why are they so scared if we're naked?" Horros asked, "We don't have weapons. We never hurt anyone."

"Because there are wild tribes here too, and they attack and eat people, often. And they never wear clothing or bring weapons."

"We are part of a wild tribe," Geth reminded her. "So we have to hide our heritage to make people feel better?"

"Yes. Because people in the towns think naked people are dangerous and crazy. King Maloy wears armor. People listen to him, they always have. You at least have to wear clothes in town. So we don't get attacked. So let's find some things that are at least comfortable to wear. And weapons. I'll show you how to use them as bet I can."

The wolf people grumbled, but followed Eri back to the storeroom and started digging through the piles. They unanimously settled on skirts for leg wear, coats and cloaks and tunics or vests for body wear, and socks for footwear. They did immediately have a sense for the best craftsdwarfship, and chose finely decorated items where available. Next they sought weapons. While Geth found a quite practical scimitar, the two women chose whips - weapons which Eri couldn't even begin to instruct them in. They all chose silver, as well, a poor material for weaponry to begin with. Eri was tired, however, and was willing to let them learn this lesson on their own. Their next lesson had come up; divination dice. Eri had mentioned that the dice provided the will and blessings, or punishments, of the gods already. Apparently, Horros wanted to test her luck. Eri Showed her how to roll the die properly, by doing it herself. When the die came to a stop, its face showed a narrow crescent. A pet? A giant cave toad hopped up the ramp behind them, walked right up to Eri with its awkward gate, and blinked with its awkward frog-eyes. Eri reached out her hand and the animal eagerly nuzzled it and groaned.

"That's amazing!" Horros exclaimed, almost jumping with excitement. The others were now watching eagerly, too. Horros quickly repeated the steps, with Eri's help, rolled the die, and again it landed on the narrow crescent. Suddenly beneath her feet a shape emerged and grew and stretched until it was as tall as she had been, before she landed on her backside on the stone floor beside it. The thing looked at her with beady, unblinking eyes. Its skin was pink and wrinkled. Arms ending in grasping claws stretched from its shoulders. But below its waist was not just one pair of legs, but also a long cylindrical body, another pair of legs, and a long tail tapering to a stubby end.

"What the fuck is that." Eri said out loud.

"You're the one that should know!" came Geth's voice. He and Estre had drawn their weapons now, while Horros scrambled to her feet.

"Its the same symbol, it should like you like the toad does, it should be friendly," Eri reminded them. Horros looked at her with fear, as if she had been betrayed, before gathering her courage and facing the beast that was sniffing at her curiously.

"My name is Horros," she said. With a shaky hand outstretched, she continued, "Your friend."

The beast sniffed at her hand before reaching up with its hands and grabbing it, pulling her towards its face to the horror of the onlooking trio. Then it began cooing and licking her hand. After a moment of silence, they all laughed nervously. Whatever it was, it did indeed seem fond of Horros, and like the toad, not unfriendly towards the others. Like tamed animals. "You guys should try too!" Horros said, stroking her weird pet's face. It didn't seem to be intelligent in any real sense.

Geth and Estre exchanged looks, before Estre acquiesced. "Fine, hopefully I won't get something too ugly though."

She picked up the die, said the prayers, and rolled it. It stopped on an image of a shining sun. Estre stood there staring for a moment, before she felt a sinking feeling in her gut and surged helplessly towards the floor, smothered by something she couldn't quite name. Freeing her face from the confines, feeling altogether wrong in too many ways, she looked up to meet her motionless, seemingly gigantic companions.

"Oh my goddess I'm so sorry!" Eri whimpered, putting her hands over her mouth.

"You're a bird!" Horros exclaimed in shock. She only knew she could tell it must be Estre because she watched her body transform into the thing. Shrinking and warping and twisting. Every other sense she had pointed to her having been replaced.

Geth went from stony, rapturous silence to mad cackling. Suddenly overcome, he toppled to the floor rolling with laughter. "I swear it should only last a week! The inscription promises its not permanent!" Eri shouted over him.

Estre had no words of her own, all of them caught in her throat, the only sound that could escape was a half-baked squawk. She sat motionless, shaking on the floor under her pile of clothes.

"I'm sorry," wheezed Geth from the floor nearby. "I'm so sorry I can't-" He began coughing before calming himself. When he regained his composure and sat up he continued, "I thought you were dead, but then I saw you moving and I thought you were a baby! But then you clucked. You're a bird, Estre. I'm sorry, I couldn't help it."

Estre glared at him from her perch on the stone, squawked once more, and looked at the base of the pedestal.

"Your turn Geth." Horros said flatly.

"Ok. I will." The wolf man hoisted himself off the floor and stepped over to the pedestal above Estre. Horros picked her up saying, "It's okay, I'll carry you. Geth you get to carry her things until she's better."

Geth mumbled under his breath, picked up the die, and said the prayer. Releasing the die on the pedestal, it bounced off the face, onto the floor and landed with a square faced upwards. Geth was overcome with a sinking dread now, and he knew it wasn't just guilt.

"Cursed. Bad luck for a week." Eri was leaned over the pedestal, reading the inscription. An the Library of Lathering had spoken.

Once Geth had stored Estre's things, there was one more adventure the trio had been asking to have here. They wanted to see the caverns. They descended back down the spiral and came out where the tunnels trailed off into the dark. Eri begged them to stay close. She had never seen the underground her self, only heard stories of it. Horror stories. They proceeded off on the right tunnel, and walked for what seemed like it must have been miles. Occasionally they left the path, only in short spurts, to view the cavern beyond, where it showed through cracks in the tunnels, but there was nothing but mud to be found. Not even a single beast. Eventually it turned right, and Eri noticed an odd smell. Like brimstone and smoke. Further down, a red glow slowly became apparent ahead of them. Realizing what she was seeing, Eri halted them, and then ordered them to turn back. "Lava." She said, "a volcano must have pierced the tunnel. We have to leave."

The long march back seemed almost longer. They all were growing tired, and hungry, but knowing the tunnels were unsafe kept them all going. The giant cave toad got left behind, but Eri convinced them it was safe enough to go back for it. Eventually, leading the tired animal to the surface, they collapsed at the trade depot. There was seemingly good food left in it, so they all ate some, and drank heavily once they reached the nearby stream. Estre had learned to walk and run well enough.

After retiring/unretiring a few times, I got the wolf men to be part of the high confederacies as citizens, so people stopped attacking them on sight. Had to body-swap to each of them, retire, unretire as a party, retire again in a settlement that counted as part of a civilization, and unretire again to continue. Wasted a couple months total. In fort mode, the wolverine people Ty and Fel married in the interim, petitioned for citizenship, and produced a set of triplets, all female and a pair of twins, both male. There are now more wolverine people in the Pages of Tiredness than DFhack reports in the wilderness population for the region; 11 (4 in the Eternal Citadel. Wo and Isk had kids too?) vs 8. There are 30k in the world in total.

I caught some mountain goat men too. Tune in next decade to find out if they fully integrate into society!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on February 01, 2024, 11:35:57 am

Wo and Isk did get married and had triplets. He then left to follow Thikut to Palacework as he was still flagged as her follower and the dialogue option to end their relationship was not working for some reason.

When I unretired Palacework he was there as a “hostile” so I ended up having to banish him. Hoped he would return home to his wife!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Eric Blank on February 01, 2024, 08:40:06 pm

The file upload is not going well, nobody's phones can connect to the internet well enough to upload it in under 48 hours. Maybe its the storm or maybe someone else with higher priority is hogging all the bandwidth. I'll try again tomorrow

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on February 02, 2024, 10:19:04 am

"Thikut I, Part 2" - Turn 142

The Journey of Thikut and Wo

14th Limestone 1069

The full moon has passed, and with it any threat of werebeast attacks for at least another month. The wolverine man Wo, from Livingdead, has arrived. He has changed his mind about travelling together and has beseeched me to lead him to The Eternal Citadel. He wishes to meet up with his packmate Isk, who is now a noble in that fort. An outpost liaison, if the wolverine man can be trusted.

Wo is in a sorry state. He is covered in wounds, and some look infected. He has apparently been fighting goblins. He is missing his right front tooth and perhaps most concerningly there is a copper arrow lodged in the socket of his ruined right eye.

I agree to lead him south, as in truth I am headed that way anyway. I am no further forward to finding my husband, so thats as good a place to look as any. We arrive in Padcalls. Wo's fidgeting with the arrow in his eye. I tell him to take it out, but he's scared. Eventually he agrees. I agree to keep it for safe keeping. Out it plops, in a pool of werecat blood. What has this wolverine man been up to? Oh well, I will try anything once and my rum stocks are low.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/xklV4YE.png)

In Padcalls we meet the Lord Juvar Scarsung and a number of dwarven priests of Imi, the god of trickery. They too have heard of Ineth's coronation, but offer no further clues to his whereabouts. We continue south.

15th Limestone 1069

We explore the ruined tower of Largetempests finding only a zombie leopard, which is easily put out of its misery. In Dieportals to the east, an old dwarven fort is home to priests of the Sect of Evenness, and at least a few blighted thralls. Fighting in the corridors of an old fort is sometimes risky.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/wsi6H5t.png)

A few more thralls are killed but then things take a rather bizarre turn. Wo rolls a dice at a shrine of a forgotten God and is transformed into a gigantic preying mantis by the Mine of Ambers. I have to gather all his gear and he steadfastly refuses to let me lead or indeed ride him. This could get weird. I wonder if his right eye will grow back?

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/OaerNqb.png)

We come to the bottom level and I can hear wet sounds of death from beyond the door. In his current transformed state, Wo cannot enter alone owing to his lack of opposable thumbs. I can feel his eyes glaring at me as I lead him... After killing the thralled priests, I find a charming book called In Pursuit Of The Wombat Man, and a well crafted bronze bracelet of delightful design - how lovely.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/MqlrgeI.png)

I mount my faithful steed and ride out into the dusk. He is going to be so angry.

17th Limestone 1069

The pair of us woke up from a rest at dawn by the embers of a campfire and it seems Wo has turned back into a naked wolverine man. His mangled right eye and other injuries have miraculously healed thanks to the divine intervention, but he still is missing a tooth. He rejoices at not being a one-eyed bandit anymore, before sheepishly putting his clothes back on. He feels weak and strange, and I notice how he struggles to carry his pack - some after effect of the transformation?

We press on southwards arriving soon at the dwarven fort of Confusedship, where we find an injured weaponsmith with an adamantine axe; sadly he does not wish to part with it. The lower levels of the fort are flooded with magma and there are no monsters to slay. We leave, heading in the direction of southern end of the valley. Most of the forts we encounter are empty, and worse of all, we are running low on booze.

18th Limestone 1069

Leaving the valley of The High Confederacies to the south, Wo and I spot a mountain on the horizon with what looks like the smoke from a volcano shrouding it. It is nto long before we arrive at a rather impressive fort - there is evidence here of ancient battles and the land is scorched and ashen. Many goblin and human skeletons lie in the blackened dirt. This must be the famed Ironwards, The Strifeful Hollows. We are in luck! Although the great fortress appears long abandoned and the magma moat is dry, we find amongst the stills several large pots brimming full of dwarven wine! The next few days pass in a drunken stupor.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/134bFs1.png)

24th Limestone 1069

We've spent far too long here amongst the skeletons of goblins and demons. The wine was moreish. Wo still feels strange after his time as a giant mantis. The curse should have passed by now - he looks as strong as he used to but he feels weak and is burdened by his pack. I had hoped a long rest would get that out of his system, but he is still pitifully slow. I promised to get him to the Citadel though, and that is what I will do.

26th Limestone 1069

We have arrived at the town of Diptramples shortly before dawn, near the famed Museum. We meet a number of strange creatures. The Baron of Stakelessons is a gorlak necromancer by the name of Nom the Cheese, and he is surrounded by chittering gremlins. One of the gremlins is massively muscled and hefts an enormous halbered four times its size. There are a few of these musclebound gremlins, and they have suspicously long teeth. Inside the keep, I find another clone of Zar Evenchirped, along with many gremlins, trinkets and artifacts relating to famous adventurers. This Zar claims to be a companion of the great Bralbaard Hammerfishes! A likely story.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/Q0XOW84.png)

The Museum itself is spectacular. They have so many priceless artifacts, they litter the very ground outside. We are greeted by the goblin Glubbo Monstergully, the Honey Fiend. Somewhat distractingly, she has a pot of honey sewn into her head and a hive of live bees buzzing around in her guts. Goblins are odd.

It appears old Glubbo has had an interesting life. She is a lady of The Most Sin, and fought for many years against The Knowing Deceiver and others. She was captured by dwarves in Archquakes, then freed when goblins sacked that old fort. She was then imprisoned by elves in Feedforded after another bungled attack, and was then rescued some years later by Bralbaard Hammerfishes the Yawning, King of the Walled Dye, who brought her to Boltspumpkin. Here she resides to this day, despite still being Lady of The Infallible Ticks of Poisonuttered! She shows us around the Museum and apologises for the mess. There are simply too many objects here to catalogue any more, hence the piles of books and objects unceremoniously dumped outside.

I leave my own offering to the Museum - the copper earring Ransackcontrols, from Livingdead. This artefact packs a lot of detail into a small space. It shows the first king of the Page of Tiredness, alongside the old Baron of Keyconjure Stukos Mournsaints slaying a hollow hunter in the mountains outside the dreaded Realmspire in 1021.

When I explain the concept to Wo, he wants to leave something too. Rummaging in his pack, he pulls out a peach wood barrel brimming with werecat blood. He had that the whole time? He nods and grins. "The Nasty Blood of Cats," he announces proudly. I don't think he quite gets it.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/fr1nzLW.png)

We sift through a few of the old books lying around. Imagine my horror when both Wo and I learn the secrets of life and death! Who leaves stuff like this just lying around? I am most surprised that Wo can even read. Time to make ourselves scarce before anyone notices. We head south east, towards the human lands, stopping at a monastery to leave our no longer needed food and water. We keep some of the booze, of course.

27th Limestone 1069

Wo and I arrive in the human town of Growlsuppers. Supposedly a human kingdom has its seat here, though from what I have heard, there have been repeated incursions of undead in the past. I am not sure what to expect. The keep is in fact deserted. Many items litter the floor. Wo is surprised to find some items that fit his small frame - apparently they used to belong to a Soldier of Night, whatever that is.

We hear a noise outside - it is the goblin Rakel Tulipspatters, Guild Representative. He seems to be the only soul here, until I hear wings flapping above. Climbing the tower to the south west, I am surprised to find Ishes Shovelscribes the Ugly, Soldier of Night Head Doctor flapping in the air on stretched leathery wings. She is missing a hand and her body is a mess of old wounds. She too has heard my husband is king, but like most of these lands, has absolutely no idea where he might be.

We continue southeast, and stumble upon a huge moose man necromancer in a mead hall, surrounded by body parts. What appears to be a bear person's tongue and ears are scattered on the floor. The great monster appears to be missing a hoof but he doesn't seem too worried about it. I gingerly offer him it back and he boasts of his mastery of dodging. I read a book about a very sinister sounding capybara man, then Wo and I take our leave, heading southwards.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/thvl4h5.png)

We pass through several human villages inhabited by dwarven traders of the Matched Hame. Surely my husband must have travelled here. The largest town nearby is Pricerings, so we head there.

28th Limestone 1069

Pricerings. A large and impressive human town. The sun is high in the sky as we enter the keep. Do my eyes deceive me? Is this Ineth Relicheart?

He seems much changed since last we met though he greets me warmly enough. He has put on some muscle in the past few years, and is bedecked in fine armour of adamantine and blistered metal. He certainly has a regal bearing. He tells me Pricerings is now the capital of The Matched Hame, a dwarven civilisation born again, and that I am indeed his Queen.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/ubfof7O.png)

We talk at length. I am to head to Palacework and make it ready to receive Ineth as his mountainhome. I agree to do this, but first I will fulfil my promise to Wo and bring him to The Eternal Citadel. Ineth grins warmly at this suggestion. The Citadel has a place of fondness in his heart.

I give my husband the axe I have carried from Livingdead, The Primitive Spirit - once used by Moldath Mournsaints to slay vampires in Icefury, and responsible for the death of the forgotten beast Avife. He seems unimpressed, and stores it on a pedestal. He does grant me a blistered metal axe of unparalleled craft in return - a weapon of The Page of Tiredness from The Eternal Citadel inscribed with an image of the founding of the Citadel, and of the Veneration of Nightmares, symbol of the Book of Dreams. It was a gift from Baron Degel Bloodwrath of the line of Mournsaints. I accept this gift.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/bwWgSKd.png)

Soon enough it is time to continue our journey. We will head to the Eternal Citadel for Wo, then I will retire to Palacework to make it ready for the King. We stop for the night in the hillocks of Wheeldells. It is pitch black outside the mead hall and the militia commander is fast asleep. Somewhat unsettlingly the injured Sherrif and expedition leader are not.

Vampires! We confront them, and slay them quickly, then the madnes begins. Wo gestures and they come back to life. And we slay them. And he keeps doing it. He can't help himself, giggling. A wolverine man necromancer with impulse control issues is a worrying combination. When the dust settles, between us Wo and I have killed the same two dwarves 83 times and I am covered in cuts and bruises, and my ankle is badly broken. I decide to burn the corpses before Wo gets any more ideas.

The remaining journey to The Eternal Citadel is largely uneventful, save for an ambush by a polar bear. Wo quickly stabs it in the head with his spear.

2nd Sandstone 1069

We arrive at the Citadel. I remember this place - I lived here for nearly 15 years and it is nice to see some familiar faces. I will rest here a while and tend to my wounds, before heading back north to Palacework. Wo is delighted... he scampers off trying to find Isk. For a while at least, life is good.

---

5th Hematite 1072

Over two years have passed since we arrived here at the Citadel. Wo has settled down. He and Isk hit it right off, and now there are little wolverine people scampering around in the grass playing with the grizzly bears. It's time that I go to Palacework and my destiny.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/GbAYMSz.png)

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on February 02, 2024, 11:13:53 am

Weirdness, Bugs And Interesting Tidbits Related to Turn 142.

1. Transformation Bug. When Wo turned back from a mantis to a wolverine man his speed was locked at 0.099, despite him being of "superior" strength. I retired for a week in Ironwards to see if the curse would wear off, but its stuck with him being impossbly weak. The only thing I could do to get him back to an average speed was to increase his strength to 6000 using DFHack.

2. So Many Crashes. There are loads of vampires, thralls and assorted undead in the valley of the High Confederacies. For some reason I had loads of crashes to desktop when entering villages here. Another thing that caused a crash was fast travelling while mounted on a mantis-transformed Wo.

3. Ghost bug. In fort mode, I sent Stukos (Moldath's son, militia commander) and his squad to attack some goblin city. When he came back he was a ghost. This is a bug related to intelligent undead. The last time I unretired my fort there was a random demon in the caverns and it killed Stukos when the military was sent to put it down. His teammates immediately resurected him as a Hollow Hunter.

When I sent him off site the game engine generated a ghost for him, but I couldn't get rid of the ghost as his name was not in my slabbing list since he died on a previous reclaim. A quick bit of googling suggested editing him in gm-editor and removing the ghost tag. This seemed to work, but he has lost all his necromantic powers and intelligent undead abilities. He now needs to eat and sleep again but the game still considers him a ghost, albeit with a flesh body.

I've created a banshee. I'll need to think of a more satisfying solution on my next turn.

Demons turning up in reclaimed forts seems to be a thing too. In addition to the demon in The Eternal Citadel, I had two demons in the reclaimed Palacework, and my adventurer encountered two "horned demons" in the ruins of Archquakes. None of those three forts had ever breached hell.

4. Unexpected death. I inadvertently killed an adventurer of the Museum. Dreamypuzzled the Eternal Soul the goblin had aligned herself with the goblins of the Knowing Deceiver and was slain by my militia on an assault on Dreadruled in which 367 goblins were killed. Sorry.

5. Vampire Polar Bear. Look, I don't even want to know what Eric Blank got up to in Icefury, but Vampire POLAR BEARS? I don't even. Check out "Sigun Toneletter" in Legends Viewer. Apparently he is a novice beekeeper among many unusual talents.

6. Random War. For some reason known only to themselves, the elves of The Squeezing Ford declared war on the Page of Tiredness in 1073, launching several attacks against Balancehammer. The two sons of their Diplomat Eliye Mobbean and her husband Lapama (who my adventurer Tirin Nightwhisper rescued from the Brutal Gloom a hundred years previously) were both killed in separate attacks by the stout defenders.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Maloy on February 02, 2024, 03:33:51 pm

Quote from: kesperan on February 02, 2024, 11:13:53 am

Demons turning up in reclaimed forts seems to be a thing too. In addition to the demon in The Eternal Citadel, I had two demons in the reclaimed Palacework, and my adventurer encountered two "horned demons" in the ruins of Archquakes. None of those three forts had ever breached hell.

Guess it's good I've been releasing angels into the world by the dozens then lol

Quote from: kesperan on February 02, 2024, 11:13:53 am

6. Random War. For some reason known only to themselves, the elves of The Squeezing Ford declared war on the Page of Tiredness in 1073, launching several attacks against Balancehammer. The two sons of their Diplomat Eliye Mobbean and her husband Lapama (who my adventurer Tirin Nightwhisper rescued from the Brutal Gloom a hundred years previously) were both killed in separate attacks by the stout defenders.

I keep wanting to do more with the elves, but I'm afraid to get an adventurer killed in one of these wars when I go and retire somewhere

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Eric Blank on February 02, 2024, 04:26:12 pm

I have no idea where the vampire polar bear came from. The only conceivable way to infect an animal would be to swap to them and make them drink the blood off the floor.

He's "married" to another polar bear (???) and currently in Trickdrink, which crashes when you enter.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on February 02, 2024, 06:35:31 pm

Well, that is new.

There are 78 polar bears in The Eternal Citadel, seemingly all descended from him and another female banished from Icefury.

Hope you manage to get your internet sorted.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: TheFlame52 on February 02, 2024, 07:20:40 pm

Quote from: kesperan on February 02, 2024, 11:13:53 am

4. Unexpected death. I inadvertently killed an adventurer of the Museum. Dreamypuzzled the Eternal Soul the goblin had aligned herself with the goblins of the Knowing Deceiver and was slain by my militia on an assault on Dreadruled in which 367 goblins were killed. Sorry.

Eh, I gave up on her anyway. Too many artifact-related bugs. It's a shame she died in a raid, leaving no body.

I've mostly lost interest in the Museum III. I'm waiting on the Museum IV before I make another character.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on February 02, 2024, 07:44:32 pm

That's fair. I think the world of Orid Xem is running out of steam; there are few threats left in the world.

With Adventure Mode coming in April, I hope Bralbaard has some great ideas for a new world!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Eric Blank on February 03, 2024, 06:37:50 pm

So, it looks like I wont be uploading or downloading anything until at least the 7th, when my phone plan renews. If you don't want to wait, you should just skip me.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on February 04, 2024, 06:28:53 am

I guess it is QD's call, but it sounds like you put a fair amount of effort into getting those wolf dudes accepted into society and it would be a shame to lose a week's work.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Bralbaard on February 04, 2024, 06:46:04 am

I agree with that. Also you could use the time to do some fort building?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Quantum Drop on February 04, 2024, 07:40:57 am

I'm completely fine with waiting until the 7th. I'll be busy in the evenings until then anyway, and it'll give me a chance to catch up on my writing/planning.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: WonderPsycho on February 05, 2024, 05:17:46 pm

Quote from: kesperan on February 02, 2024, 07:44:32 pm

That's fair. I think the world of Orid Xem is running out of steam; there are few threats left in the world.

With Adventure Mode coming in April, I hope Bralbaard has some great ideas for a new world!

same, I would kill for Museum IV and Dwarf Fortress Classic/Dwarf Fortress Steam/Itch.io edition adventure mode

(also reminds me I need to really get back into updating my Civs+ mod and learning all about all of the new stuff I can code for my mod and such and make things more interesting with the game being more better optimized and other such)

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: dikbutdagrate on February 07, 2024, 12:21:03 am

Quote from: Eric Blank on February 01, 2024, 04:42:18 am

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

The figure turned, but looked at her with hideous false eyes of another creature entirely, grafted into the sockets that must surely be empty. The rest of its face was covered by some snarling bone mask, too large to fit yet firmly attached. Skulls of other nightmarish creatures were sewn into its shoulders, covered by scales. Every part of its body, it seemed, had something grafted to it, all of it on the verge of rot, but not quite turned. From it came a series raspy, deep, high pitched, and whispering voices, all speaking in unison. "This is the place of Weenie Le Puu," they said, "master of the flesh arts. I am Mokun, Chief Justiciar."

Horrified, Eri stood stock still, and could let out only a whimpered "Thank you."

Sounds about right.

Quote from: Eric Blank on February 02, 2024, 04:26:12 pm

I have no idea where the vampire polar bear came from. The only conceivable way to infect an animal would be to swap to them and make them drink the blood off the floor.

He's "married" to another polar bear (???) and currently in Trickdrink, which crashes when you enter.

Quote from: kesperan on February 02, 2024, 06:35:31 pm

Well, that is new.

There are 78 polar bears in The Eternal Citadel, seemingly all descended from him and another female banished from Icefury.

If this is what I'm up against, I have no idea how Honeyhammer is going to remain competitively viable in the global horror export market.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Eric Blank on February 07, 2024, 03:31:10 pm

Alright here is the save, finally
 https://drive.google.com/file/d/1WfjHBEErTV-2qCP2taBvrAq-ftNT8nQ7/view?usp=drive_link

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Maloy on February 07, 2024, 04:01:40 pm

Since this museum will probably reach its close after a few months do we wanna game plan a, sort of, finale?

Perhaps a grand final battle involving several maps, armies of demons, undead, etc?

Incorporate as many player characters as we want to involve and go out with a bang! Then let the world retire into peace

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: WonderPsycho on February 07, 2024, 05:14:35 pm

Quote from: Maloy on February 07, 2024, 04:01:40 pm

Since this museum will probably reach its close after a few months do we wanna game plan a, sort of, finale?

Perhaps a grand final battle involving several maps, armies of demons, undead, etc?

Incorporate as many player characters as we want to involve and go out with a bang! Then let the world retire into peace

sounds about right

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Quantum Drop on February 07, 2024, 05:27:38 pm

(https://i.postimg.cc/c1FryT6z/ACT-V-The-party-doesnt-start-shit-with-thralls-but-finds-something-rotten.png)

---

ACT I - (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8487716#msg8487716) ACT II - (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8489019#msg8489019) ACT III (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8494015#msg8494015) -ACT IV (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8504019#msg8504019)

---

The following night and day was a long one.

Simo had buried herself in her strange work again after the savage battles of the previous day, dissecting corpse after corpse and scribbling down notes and diagrams in the volume she always had at her side. The scholar barely paused to eat and drink, let alone to rest or converse; neither Sorus nor Degel could get so much as a word in edgewise, so absorbed in her work was she. But she worked swiftly enough, and with the curious fervour that seemed to have gripped her showing no signs of abating, the two mercenaries decided to occupy themselves as they saw fit.

Sorus ransacked the dwellings above for anything she could fashion a light source out of, cobbling together bundles of cloth and brittle twigs into a crude torch before igniting it with a few sparks from a flint and her sword. It stank like burning rags, but it was better than working down in the dark, and far better than painstakingly dragging each of the corpses and corpse-pieces up the slippery stairs to be examined under natural sunlight as Simo was. Neither of the humans were willing to work down in pitch dark among the corpses and the endless drops, where every sound was an enemy waiting to spring from ambush and every whisper movement a deadly threat.

Degel had no such qualms, however. Whether by sight, scent, or some preternaturally sharp sense of his species, the Hand was easily able to navigate his way through the darkness of the pit. While Sorus went about finding a light source and Simo with her work, Degel carefully went from goblinoid body to body, using the edge of one axe to slit the corpses’ throats just in case any vestige of life lingered within them despite the wounds they had been dealt. Once that was done, he searched them for whatever might prove useful for the journey ahead – weaponry, armour, commonly-bartered trinkets; all went into the pack for him to sort out in the coming hours.

Finding little else to do, the pair occupied themselves with the tunnels overhead. The corpses that choked the passages were dragged out and disposed of, either thrown outside or barred within the tributary rooms and left to finish decaying. Little could be done about the pervasive stench, however. Sorus had already silently resolved to burn the clothes she wore the moment a replacement set could be found. Degel seemed able to ignore it as he set to sorting through the loot, throwing aside whatever pieces proved too rusted or damaged to be of use to rot with their former owners. It was a long and grim process, for the goblins seemed to have an almost uncanny talent for accumulating useless odds and ends beside the useful items.

By the time he was finally finished sorting the wheat from the chaff – a bronze battle axe, a couple pieces of repairable armour, and a single unrusted dagger – Simo was finished with her long process of notetaking and dissection, while Sorus was about ready to explode from boredom and frustration. Her frustration would only grow when the doctor called for a rest break, the cost of her physical exertions in the earlier battle and her subsequent dissections finally catching up to her; her own tiredness only made it worse, despite recognising the necessity of the action.

Over the time they spent down in the pit and its tunnels the sun had set and risen again, such that when they finally emerged back onto the land before the tower it was approaching midday. A great shroud of grey and black clouds had drawn over the sky, accompanied by a strongly blowing wind and rain, churning the ground beneath them into sticky mud and forming a thick pall of fog, such that as they trekked on back through the forests and toward Simo’s next destination, there came a constant shifting of the vapours and sights around them.  Here it would part to expose the bare branches of a dead tree; later, to reveal the shattered wreckage of a long-lost caravan colonised by plants; and once or twice, it would break entirely to allow a few brief flickers of daylight to reach them.

As they drew toward the hamlet Simo had circled on her map, the fogs lifted for a moment to leave their surroundings bare. It was an unremarkable place, by all appearances; a large hall at the centre, dingy, dirt-paved streets, a handful of desolate houses clustered together, and the ragged remnants of what might have been stalls or mercantile buildings; then the fog lowered once more, cutting the group off from a clear sight of their surroundings. Degel led them onward, his adapted eyes giving him a better sight of what lay ahead – the blunt, weathered façade of the hamlet’s main hall, and the easiest place to start their search.

They were drawing up on the road to the hall when Degel suddenly paused in his tracks, head rising up. He cocked his head to one side as the long nostril-slits of his snout waved in and out, his analogue to sniffing.


“Wait.” The scales of his face shifted as it creased in distaste. “…I smell something.”

“What?” Sorus turned toward him, eyebrow raising. “What is it?”

“Here – there’s something not quite right here. I can smell something. Not a good one, neither.”

“I don’t.” Sorus shook her head and turned to look back at Simo. “Doc, are you getting anything?”

Simo shook her head, stepping around Sorus to stand beside Degel. “I do not smell anything, least of all an unpleasant one. Is it possible you happen to be mistaken?”

“I know I smell something!” Degel forged on ahead, scowling, leaving his companions to scramble after him. He slowed a dozen feet from the main doors to the hall, dropping from his stride to a walk. “Do you smell it now?”

“All I can smell is –” Sorus stopped mid-sentence, recoiling as the wind shifted just enough to let her catch the what Degel had been implying. “Gods’ teeth! Have you been foraging again?”

“You’re not pinning this one on me, ‘Rus!” He protested, one eye twitching at the reminder. He raised a finger to point to the hall, nose-slits flicking rapidly again. “I can smell it – it’s coming from there, and getting stronger all the time.”

“Then we need to go in, and find out what it is.” Simo stalked past the two of them without a backward glance, her face grimly set. The scholar grabbed the handles of the hall’s doors with both hands and flung them wide, letting the cold air rush into the hall – just as the stale air within came pouring out.

“What is – oh, SHIT!”

The inside hall was an abattoir.

Junk and random clutter lay scattered across the worn stone floor, piled up into large stacks at the ends of the room or poking out through burlap sacks. The flagstones were dark with dirt and deep brown-black marks, staining the gaps between the stones or pooling near roughly cut channels and grooves in the floor. Clouds of fat black flies burst from a dozen different directions and went swarming past them, disturbed from their rest by the wind creeping along the floor; with them came the full force of the stench, and the constant, droning buzz of countless wings.

The true horror, however, lay in the centre of the room: a tangled morass of bodies and limbs and gear, flung out at odd angles or piled upon one another until it almost reached the ceiling. Some of the bodies were whole; others were monstrous, mutated, bloating up with the early stages of decay. Many showed signs of being hacked apart, carved up, or otherwise mutilated, missing entire limbs or being reduced to nothing but stained skeletons. A great many were animals of one kind or another, wolves and bears and a handful of others forming a broad base; then goblins, and then humans, and a handful of other, stranger beings.

One in particular crowned the pile – a Hand of Planegifts, no more than a few days dead. Her chest had been split open down the centre by a blade and the ribs cracked apart to reveal the empty cavity beneath; the arms and legs were recognisable only as a few scraps of meat and off-white bone, poking out from the smooth stumps. Her head was a butchered, eyeless mess: the jaw ripped away, the nose-slits peeled open to reveal the workings inside, the empty bowl of the skull, where the bone had been sawn through and the brain cut free.

Sorus spared a single look for the ruined rags of the Hand’s face. It was enough for her to tell the unfortunate creature had been alive when she was cut open.

She felt the bile rise in her throat at the sight and the pressure against the underside of her jaw and tried to hold it back; then the stench hit her as she fumbled her way backward, and there was no stopping it.

The next thing she knew, she was on the ground a dozen steps away from the building’s doors, heaving until nothing but noises came. Some part of her derided how weak she was, to lose her lunch at the sight of a corpse; the rest of her drowned it out with horror. Someone had taken that Hand – a living, breathing person – and ripped her open, torn out whatever they wanted, all while she was alive and aware. Simo, at least, had the decency to kill things first.

After a long few minutes she managed to stagger to her feet, wiping her mouth off with the back of her hand.

Several feet to the right Degel was kneeling in the dirt, breathing hard as he carefully re-adjusted his helmet. Behind him, emerging from the fog, Simo loomed, her expression caught between instinctive disgust and concern for her suddenly sickened comrades, one hand resting on the hand of Planegifts’ scaly shoulder. She turned slightly, head cocking to the side as she noticed the rising figure of Sorus, and shot her a grimace before beginning to rummage around in her pack.

“Here.” Simo handed Degel something – a small phial of greenish glass, filled with a colourless fluid. “Drink this. It should help.”

“And ‘it’ is…?” He managed to rasp.

“A little remedy I picked up from an old friend.” Simo gave a slight, strained-looking smile. Her eyes were wrinkled at the very edges, as though struggling not to water. “Something to help with the… distasteful sensations, and relieve the worst of the aftertaste.”

Grimacing, Degel downed the phial. It felt watery and entirely too reminiscent of the bile cooling at his feet to be deemed “pleasant,” but its strongly minty tang was at least enough to drown out the worst of the aftertaste.

“Thanks, doc.” He managed a weak grin as she moved onward to Sorus, already drawing out a second phial from the bag. Then, at more of a mutter, “Good to see you’ve got something for those moments when you randomly toss your guts.”

“’Ang on a second,” Sorus rasped, pulling herself back to her feet with a deep breath. Simo stood beside her, helping to steady the nausea-struck mercenary. “That got me and Degel, but you? What’s the deal with that?”

“I’ve smelled worse.”

“What?” Sorus jerked her head about in surprise. “When?”

The bleak expression on Simo’s face was enough to kill any further attempt at inquiry. With her question dying on her lips, Sorus settled for shaking her head and sucked in a breath, before nodding her thanks to the black-robed doctor and pushing off toward the hall again. Degel followed moments later, staggering to his feet and beginning to stump his way after her.

“Fuck me, it looks like one’a Alocasi’s early works in here.”

Shutting out Degel’s muttered commentary, Sorus began searching the room with a wary eye, one hand on her sword’s handle. An increasingly large number of eviscerated corpses, severed limbs, and battered equipment. A chipped workbench streaked with ruddy stains, standing against one wall. A few further stains – darker, these ones – in the grooves on the floor; the half-shattered neck of what might have been a bottle of some sort. Nothing that would answer her questions. If only, it only raised more – both as to what had happened, and why it had seemingly been abandoned.

The door swung open with a creak and a deep gust of stale air, as though the room beyond was taking a deep breath. It exhaled, and with it came the reek of acid and ammonia, and a deeper, noisome stench.

The room looked as though it had once been some kind of dining hall, or meeting place for the former occupants. Scuffmarks on the stone suggested the former presence of chairs or great tables, dragged out of the room or smashed up for firewood where they stood; there were brackets in the walls in which long-extinguished lanterns hung, long burnt out by time. Only a few wavering fingers of sunlight reached into the space from the open doors of the hall, but that was enough to let their eyes adjust to the gloom.

Dozens of bottles and beakers stood in neat rows along the room’s sides, lined up on bookcases and hastily constructed shelves or kept upright by small tripods. Many were filled with thick, glutinous substances; others, these ones stoppered and packed into crates as though intended for transport, contained watery-looking fluids with neat labels tied around their container’s necks. On a handful of the shelves and several tributary tables, a series of bell-jars stood filled with murky oils, dark shapes coiling within.

Around them: dozens of them cages, small and cramped, like those used to contain livestock at a village market. They had been crammed into whatever space could be found along the walls in rows and columns, stacked atop one another until they scraped the stone of the ceiling. Each one was secured with some variety of chain or lock, draped over with a sheet of heavy, dark cloth to obscure their contents – or to prevent the contents seeing outward. Most seemed empty, though the blackened stains around their base spoke of the reason why.

“What the hell happened in here?” Sorus muttered, grimacing as she began to carefully pick her way between the cages.

At the rough centre of the room, back turned to them, was a high-backed chair. Degel could just make out the curvature of a spindly limb and slender hand, resting on one arm of the chair.

“Hey! What happened here? Are you alr— motherfucker up a pike!”

Degel practically threw himself backward from the figure seated in the chair, features twisted in a mixture of horror and shock. Sorus didn’t hesitate a moment, breaking off mid-sentence and sprinting to where Degel was pressing himself against the wall, breathing hard.

There was a corpse in the chair. His skin was desiccated, grey and tight on the bones, as though he’d been dead for weeks. Thick leather straps looped around his badly bruised torso and arms, pinning him to the wood of the chair; red muscle peeked out around those at his wrists, where the unfortunate man’s struggles had worn away the flesh. Crude restraints had been tightened upon either side of his head, wooden blocks attached to tightly wound screws that kept the blocks clamped firmly to either side of his head so as to prevent movement. The top of his skull had been removed like a lid, baring the brain beneath; long metal rods and probes had been inserted into the tissue, driven into the organ like the work of some demented acupuncturist.

At the sight, it was Sorus’ turn to swear loudly and throw herself back from the chair, sword raised as though to ward off the corpse. Her leg caught on the edge of a protruding cage and she went over in an undignified heap, before scrambling back upright and bolting back into the main hall. Her heart was thundering in her ears as she drew to a halt, leaning on one of the walls for support. Degel was barely a step behind her. 

“I don’t get it,” Sorus said, breathing hard. “Who’d do this? Hell, why would they? What the hell is the point of that?”

“Aye, that’s not normal,” Degel agreed. He crossed over to stand beside her, reptilian eyes narrowing to dark slits. “Violence an’ killing... that’s not unusual for this realm, particularly this far out. But that – that looks almost… ritualistic. Purposeful. Like a sorcerer’s handiwork.”

“…Should I be concerned, Degel?” Sorus cast a mock-wary eye toward the Hand.

“You’d be surprised how much you learn over time, ‘Rus.” He answered, features twitching into his odd approximation of a grin. “Particularly when you actually learn to read.”

“Oi!”

Degel snickered at her response, turning his head slightly as she clipped one of his ears. He rose from his half-slouch, head turning to seek out the last member of their party.

“What about you, doc? You ever seen t— Doc?”

The young, ash-haired woman stood in the doorway of another connected room. She had grown paler than ever before. The colour had drained completely from her face, leaving a dead, grey mask in its place. In one hand she clasped a slender volume,  thinner and longer than the large tomes she carried with her; the other was clenched into a fist hard enough to draw blood from under her nails.

“Science requires sacrifice.” Simo’s voice was barely above a soft murmur, but the sheer, visceral disgust in her words spoke volumes. “But this…”

She shook her head wordlessly, tossing the volume against the ground with a sudden, convulsive movement of her arm. The scholar walked away from it and slumped against one of the walls as though exhausted, kneading her brow in apparent pain.

Sorus and Degel exchanged a hesitant glance, before walking to the door she had emerged from and peering inwards.

The sight hit them before the smell.

Corpses. Most of them were hunched over in their cramped cages, bent almost double or curled into knots to fit, while others were slumped forward, stiffened fingers gripping the bars, twisted faces shoved up against the iron. Only a handful of them were recognisable – humans, goblins, Hands of Planegifts. The rest were monsters that bore no resemblance to anything born of nature.

Sorus’ eyes flicked left and right across the bodies. A twisted sack of flesh supported by four humanoid arms, featureless save for a single orifice and the mouths nested inside. A horse-sized brute of skinned muscle festooned in bone barbs. A centipede-like creature, its flesh sheathed by fingernail horn, the limbs green-skinned arms and legs. A hunched quadruped, its exposed flanks little more than a mass of dripping sores and coarse hairs. An octopoidal form of translucent intestine, featureless save for the distended mouths at each tentacle’s edge.

Others seemed to serve no purpose other than disgust. A snakelike mass of gristle, wound together into a heap. Something made entirely out of braided, still-twitching nerve. A mass of interconnected arms, joined hand to hand, empty eyesockets formed within the palms and on the elbows. Another quadruped, bloated to the side of a wagon, tumorous intestines pouring out of its distended maw to pool on the caged floor. Several dozen glistening, wet eyes fused together into a vaguely rounded blob. All had been ripped apart in a similar fashion to the corpses in the main hall.

“I know who was responsible for this.” Simo’s voice sounded behind them, as brittle as pig iron. One hand gripped the crook of her elbow with crushing force, the other clenched into a shivering ball at her side.

---

The facts had been coming together since the moment she stepped into the hall, and the portrait they painted was a sinister one.

The mercenaries were not the hardiest of people, but they had seen enough combat over the past couple weeks and however many years they had been in the profession. They’d been in almost daily battles with thralls and the rotting bodies undead, fighting almost nose to nose with them in environments that even a troll would be hard pressed to call “good smelling.” A pile of bodies – even dissected, butchered, and decaying like that – should not have caused such nausea in them. Not to that severity. Not from that distance.

That had roused her suspicion to begin with. While her companions were busy regurgitating outside, she had taken the opportunity to slip into the hall. That distinctive scent had hit her in moments, and it confirmed exactly what she had feared.

The bodies had been doused with a poison intended to create a sense of nausea and discomfort in anything that came too close.

Sorus being quickly and severely affected was unsurprising. The mercenary was already tired from the previous day’s battles and the long march that had followed; she further doubted that the mercenary had ever been exposed to anything like that particular chemical, based on what little she had said of her past experiences. The mixture had affected her somewhat even at a distance, but up close it was near incapacitating.

 Degel had been dizzied by the concoction even at a distance, his unique sense of smell picking up on it long before they did, but it had taken direct exposure to a large quantity of it to knock him down. Idly, she wondered if the experiments that had created his curious species had increased or decreased their resilience to such things.

And as for herself, well…

It was always wise to carry a cure for your own creations.

Had she not managed to feed the mercenaries the cure under the guise of a simple folk remedy, the nausea would have proven painful – even crippling – for the better part of the day, and possibly the next. They would have been easy targets for anyone with malicious intent. A lone thrall would have been able to tear the two mercenaries limb from limb with scarcely an effort. A proper swarm would have meant death for them all.

Regardless, its mere presence was unnerving in itself. She had made it years ago, during her wilder days, and shared it with no-one. A tool to incapacitate someone was of great use, be it benevolent or malevolent, and she had no intention of helping her competition.

When the mercenaries had chosen to busy themselves examining the adjacent rooms, Simo had taken advantage of their preoccupation to examine the pile of cadavers in the hall, pretending it was little more than her usual notetaking about their anatomy or their wounds’ nature.

Rooting around in a pile of corpses didn’t bother her. Her findings did.

The condition of the hand of Planegifts’ corpse had roused her suspicions already; that of the others only crystalised it. Every one of them had been similarly mutilated – restrained, then rendered down for parts – by a bladed instrument. From some, an organ had been taken; from others, entire bones, tendons, or lengths of muscle had been torn from the body and seemingly taken away by their slayer. Disquieting in itself, the methodology behind the murders suggested further possibilities. None of them were appetising; even fewer assuaged her fears.

More than that, there was the nature of the blade.

Years spent studying the anatomy and workings of living bodies had given her an almost preternatural sense for recognising injuries and their cause. The skills with knives and blades she had developed over the months and years did the rest. The cuts were too smooth to be the work of an outright weapon, without the tearing or raggedness most combat injuries showed. They were too deliberate, as well – each one had been delivered with a painstaking degree of precision, indicative of a skill beyond most laymen.

These cuts had been done with a scalpel, not a sword. This was the work of a surgeon, rather than a soldier.

Dread growing in her heart, she turned from the pile and searched the rest of the room. All her search yielded was a simple version book, as mundane as any to be found in an alchemist’s laboratory or doctor’s abode. Familiar, spidery writing crawled along the pages: names, dates, ratios of ingredients whose names she recognised with a slow, creeping dread. Brief descriptions followed each entry – many of them were terse to the point of opacity, no more than a single word: “Double,” or “Triple,” perhaps six times; the word “Failure,” or “Defective,” appeared many times more; and once, very early on in the versions “Utter failure!” had been appended to a name, followed by several marks of exclamation. She flicked on through the pages, trying to count the number of individual names, but trailed off in appalment as they spiralled into the hundreds.


Simo turned on her heel and toward another of the rooms. Cages in all directions, holding the corpses of monstrously deformed things, living flesh and bone warped in ways it was never meant to be.

She kept on digging through the bodies, excited and fearful for what she might find. Scraps of steel. Shards of obsidian. The cracked remains of a glass phial. With each new carcass, the unlikely was becoming dreadfully possible. Her heartbeat began to rise as she drew closer to the end of her task, tossing aside rotted bones and dried scraps of tendon to reach the final scrap of evidence she needed – either to confirm her fears, or to defy them.

Fate, it seemed, was not in her favour. Simo Cosmoscleaned felt the blood run cold in her veins as her hand struck upon something hard, closing around and pulling it loose from the bodies in a moment.

The second she recognised in a heartbeat, and with it the creeping dread in her heart crystalised into a leaden weight. It was a silver brooch with gold filigree, large enough that she could barely hold it in her closed hand. The metal had been carefully forged and worked by a skilled hand, shaping it to take the form of a rare bird of prey, its pinions resembling claws grasping a simple amber jewel, its beaked head raised to provide further support. The silver was tarnished and the gemstone dusty, worn down and scratched by years of age; the whole thing stained with viscera and dried blood from the bodies under which it had been buried, but its core design was still intact.

Beneath it – a constant, loathsome quivering; a slickness against her skin from no discernible source. A low, twitching pulse of discomfort and pain, as of a joint bent too far or a muscle over-stretched. The distinctive marks of the Shapeling Arts and their parent science, abused beyond sensibility.

And it was his. Not a forgery, as she’d fleetingly hoped. Not a reproduction. Not a look-alike. The filigree, the jewel, the bird-shape of its body were all as recognisable to her as it had been the day it was made.

There was only one person who could have left it here.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

It had been a long time since she was bitten. How long, she did not know. Time was easy to lose track of in the nightmare half-life she now found herself in.

Trying to keep track of the days was an exercise in futility, like trying to keep count of those dead to her - its rampage. She couldn’t – musn’t – think of it. To think of the creature was to give it power.

She could see through its eyes. The ragged bone claws of her former hands. The grotesque, half-skinned muscle of her former arms.

She could hear it, too. Snarling. Howling. Scratching at its own flesh. Roaring as it sighted a victim. Then the crunching, the wet crack of bone and the slick sensation of blood running down her throat –

No! Her roar matched the creature’s own, pushing back with all her will.
I am human. Not a thrall.

I am human.

I am human.

I am human.

HUMAN!

She trod the edge of the Dark Shore with every day she remained in this form.

She forced her mind to turn to other things. Forced herself to think, back to the life she had once had. She remembered her comrades, standing around a campfire as the sound of crackling wood and merriment filled her ears. She remembered fighting her way through a pit choked with murderous goblinoids, blood boiling in her veins with every swing of her hammer. And finally, she remembered that last day – that black act of treachery that had seen her made into a monster.

It was a scene that had replayed itself hundreds of times since that day. The terror as teeth sank into her bared elbow. Her friends dying, one by one, under her teeth. And now another had joined them.

He had done nothing wrong. He had offended no god, struck no living thing. But he had found them in their current resting place, and the Thrall had made him pay for it with his life. She could see him in the corner of their vision, bleeding into the dirt. It sickened her, just as it made the Thrall’s mouth water.
The Traitor was speaking again. The words came dully to her. Rheumy eyes blinked, twitching as the thrall’s damaged brain struggled to understand them.

Look up, Thrall. Look up. Now.

The beast obeyed, reluctantly.

“Cowards, the lot of them.” He turned to face her. His pallid face was strangely flushed; his words came slurred from his lips. “Hiding away in their castles and holds, never coming out to do the dirty work. No, that’s what we exist for. Don’t have the belly for even half of this.”

“They didn’t care about you to begin with, you know.” The Traitor said, taking another long swig from the container at his side. “They didn’t care about any of you, about any of what you’d do. That tin-plated bastard thought you were just another bunch of brainless mercenaries, with loyalty brought and sold. And that stunted one – I wonder if the gods took his brains along with his height. But that witch, that creature leading them; she just had to decide you were too big a risk. And all because I got too close with you.”

“I…” The Traitor bowed his head, letting his hat’s brim shroud his face. Then quite without warning, something seemed to break in him: he seized his sword and swung it hard against the nearest tree, sending wood chips in all directions as the blade bit deeply.

“Why?” He growled to himself, bloodless face contorting. The words came out of him in a rush, a river finally breaking its banks. “Why did I choose this path? You’re a rotting shell of who you were, of what you could have been; all of you are, because I was too much of a gods-damned coward to stand up to that creature and her monsters when it mattered. I could’ve told them both to piss off, and would’ve rotted in the end anyway.”

He wrenched the blade free of the wood and struck again and again. Bits of shredded wood pinged off her armour and scraped bare skin.

She tried to respond, straining with all her might. Even as little as a hiss would satisfy her. But the thrall’s grip on her body was as strong as a vice, and no sound escaped her shredded lips.

The Traitor finally seemed to reach the peak of his dudgeon, spinning about on his heel and smashing a fist into the already damaged tree. It gave a deep, low groan that mingled strangely with the crack of shifting bone from his fingers. He held his position there for a moment, chest heaving, arm still outstretched.

“Damn me.” He said softly, turning his head away. “Damn me to the Abyss.”

Her focus lessened for a moment at hearing that word. It felt inherently wrong, even in her diminished state.

And in that moment of distraction, the Thrall surged to life.

She felt her jaws clench together, felt the wet crack of bone and the sick, hot sensation of fresh blood and flesh sliding down her throat. The Thrall snarled and dug in deeper, relishing the kill. It was hungry, so hungry; and the sweet flesh before it would silence the voice for a time.

The Human pushed back, clung to the memories of her friends as a drowning man would to a rope. She prayed to whatever might be listening. She fought back, trying to make their mindfleshbody flail or flinch or stutter. It was in vain.

Feeling the control she had over it begin to slip, the human let herself go with the scarlet tide. Warm, red waters washed over her, submerging her in an ocean of iron and heat. Her vision reddened, darkened, grew cloudy once more.

She refused to bear witness to this horror, for her own sake.

And as the Thrall began to trek away, plodding through the muck and the blood after its fellows with its eyes fixed on the black-clad back of its master, four thoughts repeated in the back of its mind:

I will endure.

I will be strong.

I am human.

I am Mori Festivereigns. I am human. And I will never succumb to your corruption.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Quantum Drop on February 07, 2024, 05:30:30 pm

Quote from: Maloy on February 07, 2024, 04:01:40 pm

Since this museum will probably reach its close after a few months do we wanna game plan a, sort of, finale?

Perhaps a grand final battle involving several maps, armies of demons, undead, etc?

Incorporate as many player characters as we want to involve and go out with a bang! Then let the world retire into peace

I would definitely be in favour of planning some kind of grand finale for Museum III in time for the adventure mode re-release.

Quote from: Eric Blank on February 07, 2024, 03:31:10 pm

Alright here is the save, finally
 https://drive.google.com/file/d/1WfjHBEErTV-2qCP2taBvrAq-ftNT8nQ7/view?usp=drive_link

I'll get started on the save on Friday. Thanks for the upload.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: TheFlame52 on February 07, 2024, 07:22:44 pm

QD, your writing deserves to be published.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Maloy on February 07, 2024, 09:28:36 pm

Maybe we could start by compiling our villains since we already know who our heroes are? Then we could sort out a finale that way!

Villains I can throw in from my adventures:

Reincarnated demon Pis from Braal's ear
An army of intelligent undead howling freaks
That one undead angel who got away
Dark Gnomes


I can also throw in an army of angels for the good guy's side

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on February 08, 2024, 06:49:33 am

Legends Mode Recap:

Realm of Silver: the line of Gloryage has ended. The last scion Umci Gloryage died at the age of 65 leaving no heir. A blighted thrall now rules Silverthrone.  :(

The High Confederacies: The were-cat Uci Notchedgrows is the new Law-giver as of 1080, following the death of famed gnome-slayer Gebdum Breachbreaths.

The Walled Dye: The current king of The Walled Dye is Olon Gateelders, and he is very old. He had an only daughter in Treatyseed in 1066, Ber Silverycraze, and it appears his wife died a short while after. Sadly, Ber foolishly decided to assault the goblin stronghold of Dreadruled alone aged 12, clashing with 4881 trolls with predictable results. The kings and queens of the other three dwarven clans are all necromancers. We could see a new King of The Walled Dye soon.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: AvolitionBrit on February 08, 2024, 06:30:17 pm

I for one have some charcters to create some chaos in the world.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: WonderPsycho on February 08, 2024, 07:11:46 pm

Quote from: kesperan on February 08, 2024, 06:49:33 am

Legends Mode Recap:

Realm of Silver: the line of Gloryage has ended. The last scion Umci Gloryage died at the age of 65 leaving no heir. A blighted thrall now rules Silverthrone.  :(

The High Confederacies: The were-cat Uci Notchedgrows is the new Law-giver as of 1080, following the death of famed gnome-slayer Gebdum Breachbreaths.

The Walled Dye: The current king of The Walled Dye is Olon Gateelders, and he is very old. He had an only daughter in Treatyseed in 1066, Ber Silverycraze, and it appears his wife died a short while after. Sadly, Ber foolishly decided to assault the goblin stronghold of Dreadruled alone aged 12, clashing with 4881 trolls with predictable results. The kings and queens of the other three dwarven clans are all necromancers. We could see a new King of The Walled Dye soon.

oh jeez, the world is really becoming what I thought it was gonna become,


it's devolving into a world where the constant war between the undead (vampires and zombies (infected ghouls and reanimated undead) and necromancer experiments) the werebeasts (or rather primarily the werecats) and the goblins are constantly at war with each other to try and take over or take control of the world for themselves in-order to bring law, order and peace (or their own form of it, or their own form of control over the entire world looking at the goblins) to the world to bring a end to the chaos, and there being in this world only being a few remnants of non-werebeast or vampiric infected humans and/or dwarves and maybe elves (or maybe the elves and the goblins will be the only majority populations that have a majority of non-vampirified or werebeastified elves and goblins) to struggle for their survival and not submit to vampiric or werebeast infection or worse, ghoulification

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: AvolitionBrit on February 08, 2024, 07:21:44 pm

I need to post stories but ive been keeping the goblin population down. They always bounce back

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Maloy on February 10, 2024, 06:19:57 am

Listing what we got so far:

Villains:
Blighted leaders who took over Realm of Silver
Reincarnated Pis the demon
Father of Howling Freaks
Dark Gnomes
Potentially the dwarf necromancers in dwarf civs

Heroes:
Adventurers of course


Threats:
Goblins are still poised to eventually conquer the earth through sheer numbers
Blight has become an insidious problem that now rules a whole human kingdom
The forces of the underworld underneath the earth

Allies:
Realm of Silver not under blight control
Walled Dye Dwarves
Angels
Maybe the elves since they're recently freed from goblin control?
(We can have people from our favorite forts and cities involved too as representatives)

I'm sure there are plenty of others I am just listing
Idk about you guys, but I can already see the set up for an incredibly apocalyptic battle lol

I feel that if we do this we probably all gotta be okay with loved characters dying. Especially if your adventurer is a villain and that kind of conflict would occur


I got two ideas for setting this up:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Either we could make this a multi-turn epic where each of us plays the set up massive event from our own perspective as it is going down.

Or we have one person play it. This person would catalogue as much of what happens as they can and post it so we can interpret what happens to our people story wise. I'd recommend Bral for this. Besides being the most symbolically fitting person for the job he also does a great job of keeping track of information from his turns I think.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: AvolitionBrit on February 10, 2024, 08:28:43 am

One thing I wanted to do at the end was let the game run itself by changing the timeskip during creation to something like 100 or 1000. Then exploring the world to see what happened in 1000 years and what has become of the world.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: TheFlame52 on February 10, 2024, 08:44:34 am

Dreamypuzzled could come back again using the same reincarnation method as before. But I don't want to put in the effort. If someone else wants to be Dreamypuzzled #3, be my guest.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: WonderPsycho on February 10, 2024, 06:53:21 pm

Quote from: Maloy on February 10, 2024, 06:19:57 am

Listing what we got so far:

Villains:
Blighted leaders who took over Realm of Silver
Reincarnated Pis the demon
Father of Howling Freaks
Dark Gnomes
Potentially the dwarf necromancers in dwarf civs

Heroes:
Adventurers of course


Threats:
Goblins are still poised to eventually conquer the earth through sheer numbers
Blight has become an insidious problem that now rules a whole human kingdom
The forces of the underworld underneath the earth

Allies:
Realm of Silver not under blight control
Walled Dye Dwarves
Angels
Maybe the elves since they're recently freed from goblin control?
(We can have people from our favorite forts and cities involved too as representatives)

I'm sure there are plenty of others I am just listing
Idk about you guys, but I can already see the set up for an incredibly apocalyptic battle lol

I feel that if we do this we probably all gotta be okay with loved characters dying. Especially if your adventurer is a villain and that kind of conflict would occur


I got two ideas for setting this up:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Either we could make this a multi-turn epic where each of us plays the set up massive event from our own perspective as it is going down.

Or we have one person play it. This person would catalogue as much of what happens as they can and post it so we can interpret what happens to our people story wise. I'd recommend Bral for this. Besides being the most symbolically fitting person for the job he also does a great job of keeping track of information from his turns I think.

I personally won't mind the adventurers I retired on my last turn being killed off in the midst of the event and such

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: WonderPsycho on February 10, 2024, 06:54:35 pm

also hey, I feel free enough to play another turn on here, add me to the turn list again

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Quantum Drop on February 15, 2024, 01:57:46 am

Unfortunately I'm going to have to cancel my current turn. PC's developed some issues and I don't know how long it'll be in the repair shop. Apologies for the late notice.  :(

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on February 15, 2024, 11:19:33 am

That’s a shame, I was looking forward to your update. Hope you get it sorted.

Looks like Maloy is up next, if they are free?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Quantum Drop on February 15, 2024, 02:35:17 pm

Quote from: kesperan on February 15, 2024, 11:19:33 am

That’s a shame, I was looking forward to your update. Hope you get it sorted.

Looks like Maloy is up next, if they are free?

Hopefully it'll be done in a week or two - problem's been found, so I'm just waiting on the specific part needed.

For the meantime I'd like to be added back to the turnlist, and wish Maloy good luck with their turn. (Assuming they're free, of course.)

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Maloy on February 15, 2024, 02:39:53 pm

Yeah! I can start tomorrow or saturday I'll post when I download the save.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Maloy on February 17, 2024, 01:33:49 pm

Downloaded and exploring around.
For some reason it says the entire population of Incenseorder is dead other than a few humans and my dark gnomes and self, but showing up we still got the circus of a population we had before!
Also Kesp's earlier entry mentioned me in Bismuth Bronze so I thought he was posting about an old visit, but no for some reason I lost all my blistered metal gear and I was given random Walled Dye engraved armor.

I'm planning to use this turn to actually prep for our "final battle" we are thinking on.

Story wise is there anyone interested or have any good ideas about how or why this is gonna happen? Like if it's gonna incorporate the blight, demons and goblin hordes what is happening exactly? I know QD and Kesperan are some of our masterwork writers here, but no pressure lol


EDIT: Y'all really did some shenanigans in Makbor lol

Also what an insane conicidence. A few turns ago I recruited random goblin soldiers from a dark fortress to be soldiers that wouldn't die of old age.
Turns out one of them was a soldier in Pis' army that occupied Incenseorder originally. She's also one of the most ancient goblins I've met and has declared herself a warlord

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Quantum Drop on February 17, 2024, 09:09:17 pm

Quote from: Maloy on February 17, 2024, 01:33:49 pm

I'm planning to use this turn to actually prep for our "final battle" we are thinking on.

Story wise is there anyone interested or have any good ideas about how or why this is gonna happen? Like if it's gonna incorporate the blight, demons and goblin hordes what is happening exactly? I know QD and Kesperan are some of our masterwork writers here, but no pressure lol

I was actually thinking on that a while ago, and I've come up with two draft scenarios so far. They're both very rough outlines and I'm open to criticism or fresh ideas on them, particularly from others who want to contribute heroes/villains to the final battle:

Spoiler: The Necromancer’s Return (click to show/hide)

Through some shenanigans involving her skull, a botched soul-binding experiment, and all the accumulated necromantic power of the Museum’s exhibits (all those corpses in one place work wonders) Oddom Girdergrove returns. Not the current, possibly-resurrected one – the original one, who waged a worldwide war of annihilation on the living and succeeded in other branches of the multiversal tree.

General plot events:

• Supercharged as a side-effect of her resurrection, Oddom promptly decides it’s time for Great War 2: Apocalypse Boogaloo and starts running around Orid Xem, resurrecting armies of corpses and intelligent undead in preparation for her attack. Goblin pits are found empty and their corpse-chambers picked clean, while long-abandoned battlefields become disturbed as dead soldiers are called back from their rest.
• The Abyssal Cult strikes a bargain with Oddom as she begins to gather power: her knowledge and expertise of necromancy as one of the first and finest of their kind, in exchange for command of their armies of thralls and Experiments. Oddom retakes her tower in the west of the Realm to serve as a rallying point for their armies, while the Abyssal Cult seizes control of Silverthrone and turns it into a death factory, producing new thralls and Experiments from the mortal populace.
• • Assuming death by old age leaves behind a body, the Gloryages and their friends  may get resurrected during all this; as intelligent undead if they’re lucky, as mindless drones if they’re not, and as intelligent undead enslaved to Oddom by spells if they’re *really* unlucky.
• • One POV character during this could be a previous or new human adventurer who’s returned to the Realm to lead a guerrilla resistance movement against the Cult, or to try and evacuate the survivors of the Blight and Cult to safer lands in the north.
• The Intelligent Undead Howling Freaks created by Maloy start running amok somewhere in the middle of all this, kidnapping travellers, trying to convert new spouses, and generally causing problems for the Confederacy.
• An army of angry ghosts rise up from the dead in Swordgleamed, ranging from victims of the Howling Freak nest there to the original bandit inhabitants. Large amounts of Fun result for anyone nearby as the spectral army decides to do some avengeance on anyone silly enough to get in their way.
• The Army of the Living reforms as the crisis really starts to brew, with the Realm of Silver guerilla movements, Dwarven/Elven forces, and the other human Kingdoms all uniting in an effort to stop Orid Xem’s oldest threat. Depending on how things are and whether they come under attack, the Goblin Hordes may join in with them or hang back and circle like vultures, waiting for the two powers to cripple each other before moving in to feast on the remains. (Maloy's angels may or may not also join in here.)

This eventually culminates in the big final battle with the undead – the Reborn Army of the Living versus the Undead Legion. While the regular mooks take each other down, the adventurers fight through Oddom’s elite forces (intelligent undead, Experiments, and a few former protagonists/evil NPCs) to confront the necromancer herself and end this once and for all. (Or they fail horribly, Oddom and her praetorians wipe them out, and Orid Xem is scoured of all life but the dead. Y'know, really go for the cheerful ending.)

Pros:

• Nicely dovetails with how Oddom and the Great War shaped the pre-Adventurer Orid Xem; we already know she could’ve succeeded in other worlds running on the same seed, so we could plunder a couple of those timelines for ideas as well.
• Intelligent undead loyal to Oddom and given equipment would be fairly strong, particularly if she learns more than the original necromancer secrets. Paralyzing, mist-raising skeletal berserkers clad in steel with a violent hatred of the living, anyone?

Cons:

• Since a lot of high-tier adventurers are some variant of undead or necromancer, the main intended threat of this scenario (undead swarms locked at No Quarter) is going to run into issues when engaged. Also no clue how we’d get Necromancer Experiments/Intelligent Undead to be loyal to Oddom in gameplay, shy of mass chargenning them in one party then abusing the "kill-resurrect-talk them down" trick.
• A proper undead army would require a good deal of preparation, both on resurrecting enough undead, getting them equipped, and making them loyal to Oddom. We can probably get around some of this with DFHack's tricks (create-item and force-equip in particular) but it'll still take some time.
• In fairness, I think the Abyssal Cult is getting a bit stale as an antagonist after several consecutive turns (on my part, admittedly) with them more or less in the centre role. Still got to write those turns up (me and my procrastination :<), but I think it still stands as a point.

Spoiler: The Circus Comes to Town (click to show/hide)

All Hell breaks loose. Literally. With the abandonment or destruction of dwarven forts that breached the adamantine layer in both the Old Kingdoms and the newer lands, there’s nothing to stop the clowns from getting out. Huge numbers of demons swarm through the open holes in the adamantine and out through the abandoned forts, led by a series of intelligent demonic warlords bent on conquering the surface world. Thanks to some resurrection/body-jacking shenanigans, our old friends Egu, Pis, and Dreamypuzzled might even among them - albeit in different forms than usual, either as outright demons or 'mortal' adventurers.

General plot events:

• The Realm of Silver degenerates into a free-for-all between the demon forces, the Abyssal Cult and their ghoul/Experiment armies, the surviving mortal populace, and a couple “fuck everything” factions. Old human adventurers such as Urus and his friends return to action (and a vastly changed world) to try holding the line, or go on the offensive and try to decapitate both threats by slaying the local Demonic Warlord *and* the Abyssal Cult’s ruling council.
• The Old Kingdoms of the Dwarves are essentially broken into a bunch of demon-ruled fiefdoms, while far-flung outposts like Deepvaulted or The Abyssal Sanctuary become open hell-gates through which fresh demons swarm and corruption blights the land. Small teams or individual adventurers could be sent here to close the gates and thereby cut off the demons, or try to take down the local rulers. Somewhere out in the foothills, a certain dwarven skeleton responsible for the birch pedestal with a tonne of demon corpses on it claws its way out of the depths and begins stalking toward one such fortress, gripping a pair of adamantine axes in its hands.
• The Goblin Hordes might go two ways; most will probably ally themselves with the demons due to being evil and suchlike, while a plurality could potentially realise (in their own way) that the demons winning means nobody else wins, including themselves. This leads to some – mostly individual adventurers and breakaway factions – joining the good guys and fighting against them. The remainder of the goblins comprise the rank-and-file fodder of the demon armies, while the demons serve as elite troops, field commanders, and generals.
• • On a related note, the Dark Fortresses would make excellent locations for final battles with the region’s "boss" character.
• During all of this, various Adventurers are running around the world, settling old scores or starting up new ones. Lonelythrall gets busy making boots out of demon asses when they come to the Museum’s gates, Avolition tries to finish the goblin population off once and for all, Dreamypuzzled II gets his long-delayed clash with Lonelythrall, Egu II kills off the Athama-Irthu-Grom trio who killed him (because screw them and I shouldn't have rushed their writeup), Maloy's and the Ear's schemes reach fruition and add to the Fun, etc.

Eventually all of this culminates in the “proper” final battle – the remaining demonic warlords versus the Adventurers of the Museum. Via some contrivance of fate, they all end up squaring off in a relatively open area of land - perhaps near the Museum, or somewhere out in the countryside - with all the Adventurers gathered in one party and the warlords either spawned on-site or brought over there beforehand as another party. Whoever has control either tactical modes all the way through the final battle, or switches to a third party via body-swap then sits back and records the resulting firework display.

Pros:

• Easy way of ensuring a massive “final battle” - just get a huge party of adventurers together from the unretire menu, then use DFHack to spawn a horde of demons through the spawn-unit script and let them have it out with each other.
  
  
• High-skill and gear-equipped (via DFHack’s force-equip) Demons are going to be one hell of a menace for most adventurers, fitting the whole “Final battle against evil” feeling.
• Plotwise it’s an easy way to explain all the adventurers/factions working together; also allows for it to be stretched out over several turns if people want to play it in successive parts.
  
• What better way to end a Museum game than everything going to hell?

Cons:

• Demon spawning may be an issue since their raws are in the world file and I don’t know whether DFHack plays ball with those.
• Demon spawning will need to be handled carefully; if the demon has some kind of ability like fire, webs, or dust they can one-shot adventurers without a hard counter, which isn't exactly great gameplay or storywise. (In turn most of the "hard counters" would make the fight too easy, such as repeated paralysis spellcasting followed by shots to the downed demons' heads.)
• Likely to require a bit of prep time unless we want to delegate spawning duties or do it “on the fly,” especially with the risk of demons despawning/wandering off to other sites.

I'll see if I can come up with other scenarios as I go.

Quote from: Maloy on February 17, 2024, 01:33:49 pm

EDIT: Y'all really did some shenanigans in Makbor lol

That's certainly not ominous sounding at all...[/list]

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on February 18, 2024, 05:30:34 am

Quote from: Maloy on February 17, 2024, 01:33:49 pm

Also Kesp's earlier entry mentioned me in Bismuth Bronze so I thought he was posting about an old visit, but no for some reason I lost all my blistered metal gear and I was given random Walled Dye engraved armor.

It might have something to do with your were-curse. Thikut and Wo were present during a full moon and slayed a few werecats, so presumably Lord Maloy changed too? Have you checked that the armour isn’t in the main keep?

Quote

EDIT: Y'all really did some shenanigans in Makbor lol

Not guilty! I blame Eric and his wolf men.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Maloy on February 18, 2024, 03:07:53 pm

@QD I actually like both a lot!
Necromancers return seems most difficult to execute since most adventurers are undead or necromancers thus mindless undead won't attack us. So, if had to pick probably the circus comes to town?
I wonder if necromancers could be incorporated into that though? A world ending scenario leaves plenty of corpses for the insane who don't care if anyone else is alive in the world but them!



Dfhack related thoughts on plans:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

So, idk who wrote the "impregnate" script, but I've experimented with it a lot. Warriors of Udir(angels) that I used it on would always become permanent residents of the site they were born into. They'd only ever immigrate out of it if I exiled them(that is how I spread the species through mass-exile).
So, if we are using demons we could create demons through impregnate that will become permanent residents of whatever site they are born in. That way we don't have to worry about them moving away between retirements.
as an idea: we could create a battlefield that is two separate sites that are immediately next to one another. One we fill with the allies and the other will be villains. Thus we could very easily move whole armies as needed to set up the entire scene before starting.
Could be as complicated or as large as we feel it needs to be!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Bralbaard on February 18, 2024, 04:08:07 pm

All this talk about engame shenanigans remind me of museum I, where somehow through the game mechanics all the past adventurers ended up squating the same house, and they started fighting as soon as anyone got near. At some point it did turn into a massive fight were all of them ended up tearing eachother to bits. It was not really an end-fight, more something that happened half-way the museum game, but epic nonetheless. It could be fun to see all the current characters have a go at eachother, controlled by AI. 

As for this suggestion, and the previous ones. I'm not qualified enough with DFhack to get any of those organised, but I have my popcorn ready in case someone does.   

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Maloy on February 19, 2024, 08:46:57 am

Quote from: kesperan on February 18, 2024, 05:30:34 am

Quote from: Maloy on February 17, 2024, 01:33:49 pm

Also Kesp's earlier entry mentioned me in Bismuth Bronze so I thought he was posting about an old visit, but no for some reason I lost all my blistered metal gear and I was given random Walled Dye engraved armor.

It might have something to do with your were-curse. Thikut and Wo were present during a full moon and slayed a few werecats, so presumably Lord Maloy changed too? Have you checked that the armour isn’t in the main keep?

No dice. Found my old armor I wore for most of my adventures though as well as the sword I looted from Bral.
I'm about to make a ton of blistered metal gear anyway

Points of interest in Makbor:
Dead werebeasts
vampires!
Mountain Gnomes have rebelled and joined the High Confederacies(who still occasionally attack me)
Gremlin bandits roam the countryside
A certain terrifying honey-obsessed bear wiped one of my villages off the map

Quote from: Bralbaard on February 18, 2024, 04:08:07 pm

All this talk about engame shenanigans remind me of museum I, where somehow through the game mechanics all the past adventurers ended up squating the same house, and they started fighting as soon as anyone got near. At some point it did turn into a massive fight were all of them ended up tearing eachother to bits. It was not really an end-fight, more something that happened half-way the museum game, but epic nonetheless. It could be fun to see all the current characters have a go at eachother, controlled by AI. 

As for this suggestion, and the previous ones. I'm not qualified enough with DFhack to get any of those organised, but I have my popcorn ready in case someone does.   

Hopefully we can end in a very epic way! I'd be sad if this world that has seen so much playtime went out quietly through mere disuse!

As far as contributions go.

I'm fairly decent at dfhack spawning and equipping
My fortress designs are incredibly plain and boring though. Unless we wanna use an already pre-existing site(such as dark fortress or a player fort) then someone else should definitely handle design
QD got the story ideas brewing and I love it!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on March 05, 2024, 02:42:50 pm

Yay, the forums have been ressurected!

Wonder what Maloy has been up to....

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: AvolitionBrit on March 05, 2024, 05:49:51 pm

We are back online!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: WonderPsycho on March 05, 2024, 06:23:01 pm

fuck yes the forums are back, how is everyone?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Bralbaard on March 06, 2024, 04:28:35 am

Happy to be back!

I've send Maloy a PM that the forums are online.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Maloy on March 06, 2024, 06:19:06 am

This has been me without the ability to check the bay12 forums three times a day: (https://i.imgur.com/sESVxA4.jpeg)



Here is the save: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1lU8nq7_ULL-VVj1w9XTTKpvo7Pd94n31/view?usp=sharing


I mostly spent the turn preparing for our game ending scenario! I made an army of warriors of udir in blistered armor chilling in Razorbridge. I also worked on population in Incenseorder to see if there was a way to prevent it from turning back into a half-deserted ruin once a generation dies from old age. Feel free to check out my work there lol.

Also on Makbor notes. My kingdom is infested with bandits now! Little asterisk everywhere! High Confederacies likes me again despite me killing the previous government. I still don't trust them

Dwarven adventurers are only available as outsiders now. It seems the entire species has been displaced from their own kingdoms. Hopefully me filling one up with angels didn't contribute to that.

Fortress mode silliness

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Miara and Arthur actually both got arrested in fortress mode. Arthur was actually executed! His own daughter gave the order for both and then commanded Arandil, their son, to do the execution! Such drama!
Arthur survived his execution thanks to his super elven physique and that Arandil isn't a warrior. It happened in fortress mode so I don't think I can include it in the write up later lol

Also Magma forges and smelters weren't available in fortress mode for some reason and it messed up my army building process

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: AvolitionBrit on March 06, 2024, 09:29:56 am

I will pick the save up tonight

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on March 06, 2024, 11:33:21 am

Nice. My Museum withdrawal symptoms were quite debilitating. Good luck Avo.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Eric Blank on March 06, 2024, 04:55:54 pm

Mine too. I was even seeing if perfect world worked for 50.11, and it does, in case bralbaard wanted to use that again to create another odd-shaped world. Have to import an old worldgen file into PW, make the parameters you want, then export it, and then copy-paste that output into the new 50.11 worldgen.txt in the prefs folder. PW and DF worldgen both being as crash-happy as ever (with no clue why), but it does generate for 150 years or so reliably-ish.

I don't think it's the worldgen edits fault either; it's rare for a worldgen to run too long anyway. Would be nice if the game exported the seeds for a world as soon as history gen starts, so you can troubleshoot it by running the seeds again.

Still writing the last part of my adventures. It's hard to compile a satisfying conclusion with what happened. I basically ran straight for the Museum because I was running out of time.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: TheFlame52 on March 06, 2024, 05:29:53 pm

https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/975370/view/4136064865380703752

Adventure mode returns on April 17th! Just after my birthday! What a great present.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: tonnot98 on March 08, 2024, 07:19:24 pm

If we do a fourth museum, how would y'all feel about editing the immortality off of elves and goblins (or just goblins), and making goblins actually have to eat and drink? Their immortality kinda bugs me, and it'd probably help with the massive overpopulation issues.

Also, we might want to wait a few months so Toady and Putnam can iron out some of the new bugs from the new version of Adventure Mode.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Lurker Z on March 08, 2024, 09:44:36 pm

Quote from: tonnot98 on March 08, 2024, 07:19:24 pm

If we do a fourth museum, how would y'all feel about editing the immortality off of elves and goblins (or just goblins), and making goblins actually have to eat and drink? Their immortality kinda bugs me, and it'd probably help with the massive overpopulation issues.

I think it's good balancing in vanilla as it is. I think it's a feature, not a bug. Goblins at least are not orcs, though they sometimes seem like it. The goblin overpopulation was an issue in Orid Xem, yes, but on the other hand elves would have probably gone extinct if they were not immortal. Elves and goblins are going to be culled in mass anyway, so it's better for a world to have them in mass to be culled.

I'll be honest, I never considered the age of the races in vanilla as not fitting into a fantasy series. I'm considering necromancer experiment immortality, but then I think that without the immortality, and even with it, a lot of the experiment subspecies have gone extinct anyway. The Hands of Planegifts were that 1 in 1000 exception.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: dikbutdagrate on March 08, 2024, 09:49:14 pm

Funny people should be discussing the end times, as I had a fey mood strike me earlier today for what my next abomination should be.

And I was thinking it should involve my own character. Specifically, it'll involve chopping my own head off, and then sewing it onto neck of a headless reanimated roc. Afterwards, I will then transfer my soul into it, thus linking its body my own character's historical data. Thus I will become the corpse sphinx, from the ashes of one of the great powers.

And that could be kind of neat.

I'm thinking the roc corpse bird sphinx, in addition to its rotten flesh, should have spears and various other medieval implements stuck in its torso. You want the scary to look right.

And maybe wear kind of crown made out of... teeth? No, no, we can do better than that. Much better.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Eric Blank on March 09, 2024, 03:13:33 am

How the hell do you link historical figures? Wouldn't that break the history data and cause crashes?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: AvolitionBrit on March 09, 2024, 08:09:40 am

Quote from: Eric Blank on March 09, 2024, 03:13:33 am

How the hell do you link historical figures? Wouldn't that break the history data and cause crashes?

Its because he is switching souls with the roc corpse, so he will take over the rock corpse with the head sewn on so it will have the roc history. So its more of an flavour that their head is actually working on the body. Atleast thats my understanding.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Maloy on March 09, 2024, 08:12:04 am

@grate I really wonder what part your character will play at the end of the world scenario lol

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: TheFlame52 on March 09, 2024, 01:41:59 pm

I don't want to carry the story over from one Museum to the next. I want a fresh slate. Other people deserve to be the legends this time.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: tonnot98 on March 09, 2024, 02:59:17 pm

Quote from: TheFlame52 on March 09, 2024, 01:41:59 pm

I don't want to carry the story over from one Museum to the next. I want a fresh slate. Other people deserve to be the legends this time.

I doubt anyone would disagree with this, Orid Xem has had almost four years worth of storytelling (anniversary tomorrow!) so it is time to put it to rest so we can break the limits of the new version! I sure do hope that the villains system is more fleshed out, and the world is more alive post-generation, otherwise I feel like we're going to get a lot of the same characters but different only in name.

All that being said, could I be added to the turn list again, Bralbaard? I'm thinking of bringing Yawo Rainstir back from his century of meditation.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on March 14, 2024, 06:24:15 pm

Quote from: AvolitionBrit on March 06, 2024, 09:29:56 am

I will pick the save up tonight

How are you getting on Avo? Have you managed to kill all the goblins in the world yet?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: AvolitionBrit on March 15, 2024, 09:58:14 pm

Quote from: kesperan on March 14, 2024, 06:24:15 pm

Quote from: AvolitionBrit on March 06, 2024, 09:29:56 am

I will pick the save up tonight

How are you getting on Avo? Have you managed to kill all the goblins in the world yet?

I did enough.

Seems that the world didn't like me starting a new fortress and kept crashing at the same date. Not sure why. Picked up in false tower and prepared the dwarven army for the end of the world

Need to catch up on 3 turns of story.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Ysag7ULMCjfJP4MqAI6Ac1CjUU5-A1G-/view?usp=drive_link

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on March 16, 2024, 11:50:32 am

I guess that is QD's turn now then.

And FAO Bralbaard: There are a few Museum submissions which haven't been updated on the front page:

74: Rhythmshowers the Pure Crosses, Artifact adamantine longsword This sword was once wielded by Tirin Nightwhisper in defence of the Eternal Citadel. It was gifted to merchants of Dalzatèzum, allowing them to return from the mists of time and reclaim Kosothducim, Palacework. Submitted by Ineth Relicheart, King of The Matched Hame (Kesperan) - Turn 139.

75. Ransackcontrols, Artifact copper earring depicting adventurer of the Museum Stukos Mournsaints defeating a hollow hunter in the Tundra of Heroes with The Eagle-Crab of Contests. Submitted by Thikut Dyeblade, Queen Consort of The Matched Hame (Kesperan) - Turn 142.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Quantum Drop on March 16, 2024, 08:40:08 pm

I'll get to work on it either today or tomorrow - hopefully won't have PC issues again.  :-[

EDIT: Finally got started today. Turns out bark scorpion men can't swim. Oops.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Eric Blank on March 19, 2024, 05:12:45 pm

Spoiler: Eri's Journey (click to show/hide)

Part 3

The party left, and stayed for a few days in an abandoned wooden fort nearby, and waited for their curses to blow over. With Estre restored to herself, they ventured south again to the next dwarven fortress. It was identical again to the last at first. However, inside was a smaller "building" which seemed to have served as a tavern or inn, with many barrels and tables. Below ground, there were no shrines interrupting the ramp-way spiraling down. The only interruptions in the narrow passage were where it passed through a cavern level, and then finally opened onto a road heading off into the darkness again. Below that was the living level of the fortress, where smooth tunnels meandered into the darkness punctuated by empty rooms and narrower halls. Deeper below still was a three-story hollow, the entry to the nobles' level, and, worryingly, below that was another hollow filled with magma. The ramps descended into it unabated, but the travelers had no choice but to turn back, and decided to investigate the nobles' quarters. Down the hall and to the left was a door, and inside was the fortress' hoard, and pedestals displaying a few items. While most of the party was investigating the hoard for anything useful, Horros became intrigued by the item displayed on one of the pedestals. "Hey Eri, there's a book here." She held up the unlabelled rock-bound tome, "Would you read it to us later?"

"Sure, bring it here, ill check it out." Horros strode over and handed the book to her, and Eri opened it up to find the title. 'My Thoughts on Sleep,' authored by Desli Wanedhummed the Beautiful Intricacies. Eri became enthralled, and found herself unable to put the tome down until she had skimmed every page. "Eri! Eri!" At the end of the book, she found herself surrounded by the wolf-people, staring at her with some concern. Horros' cries echoed in her head alongside the 'words' written on the parchment inside the tome. "I can't read this to you," she stammered. "It's a necromancers' tome. I'm sorry, it took me, I couldn't stop."

"What does that mean? You're not a necromancer." Estres' voice cracked, as much frustration and anger as worry.

"I'm afraid I might be, now. I'm not reading this to you, it doesn't make sense in words anyway, its all magic you can't understand if you don't read it yourself." She walked over and put the book back on its pedestal. "I need to go outside." Eri walked out the door and began the climb to the surface, and the rest followed. Even outside, the fear followed her, and so did the idea. She could raise the dead now, she knew she could even though she hadn't tried. Wouldn't, she decided. There was a hillocks in the valley just south of them, so Eri decided to lead them there, to see the rural edges of dwarven society. They found the site completely deserted. Inside the mound where the seat of the government would be were the corpses of two animals, long dead, and nothing much else. A few overgrown gardens grew atop the abandoned hillocks. Across the rest of the valley to the south was another dwarven fortress, so they made the trek across the desert to see it. This one was inhabited, apparently chiefly by humans. Entering the fortress, several of the inhabitants immediately drew their knives and shouted that they were being attacked. By wolves. Eri turned to the trio and told them to run, and they did followed closely by Horros' beast that half-galloped behind them. Eri stood and confronted their attackers. "We're not attacking you, those are my traveling companions." She explained.

"You can't bring animal men here!" one of the men shouted, "We don't want the molemarian here either. They're all dangerous. Leave and don't come back!"

None of them were soldiers, just peasants with knives. They might not even represent the will of the local ruler. But if Eri started a fight, that didn't matter. The guards would certainly take their side.

"Fine." She growled. She turned and left the peasants to congratulate each other on their "victory." Meeting up with the others, Eri guided them south and west, roughly following the mountains.

Eventually they came upon the towers of Largetempest, abandoned now. Eri explained to them how, centuries ago, the necromancers had built these tower complexes and from them, nearly conquered the world. They knew about some of it. How the dead walked foreign lands and ate the living. In their stories, it was all the fault of the great civilizations. "Hubris is what you call it," Estre said. "The humans and the goblins war brought about the evils of the dead, through destroying the land and making it unlivable, so that only dead things could dwell in it."

"How did you learn about the outside world anyway?" Eri asked.

"The bird people bring news to us, usually. They can fly across the channel at will. Sometimes other peoples from across the channel come too, some of them stay, like my grandfather, he was an outsider." Estre explained. "We didn't always live on the island either. The old stories say we came from the mainland before there were any human or goblin cities."

"Are we going into the towers?" Geth asked, almost excitedly.

"No," Eri said flatly. After a pregnant pause she continued "I don't want to risk it. Sometimes the undead and creations still shelter in them, even though the necromancers are gone now. I heard the adventurers took all the important books to the museum anyways, so there wouldn't be anything left." Boltspumpkin, their tentative destination, was still two weeks travel away.

Eri didn't bother to try to sleep that night. She had realized she never felt the need physically, though she had still tried. She also hadn't been eating or drinking regularly. And had to rely on the others to decide when enough travel was enough, though they rarely complained and enjoyed the trip. But they did seem to notice her. They noticed she wasn't hungry when they were. They stopped asking if she would take shifts watching the camp and just kept their own shifts, assuming she would stay up too. Sometimes they would travel at night and sleep through midday instead. That got them into trouble, though. Other predators stalked the nights, too.

Further south of Largetempest they came to another dwarven fortress they couldn't resist exploring, though this one was marked on the surface not by a huge box, but a small tower extending far above the ground. This was a newer fortress, Crownhall the City of Stone. It was built far up the mountainside away from the deserts and wooded hills where most settlements were built. Once they reached the site, they found a road leading to the base of the tower, and there at the base of it was a tunnel leading down into the earth. As they approached, a figure emerged, and immediately charged at them. The dwarf was unarmed, but freakishly strong. She left bruises through the armor of the party, and didn't yield to their strongest blows, and dodged many of them.

(https://i.imgur.com/pQdXYUr.png)

Eventually, Eri managed to lodge her pike in the dwarf's face, and it fell to the ground. Exhausted, the group waited there on the road for a while before continuing. The dwarf was definitely undead. None of the wounds they dealt drew blood. After they rested for a few minutes, they went inside the fort entrance. Inside the expansive entryway were three bridges, the center straight and on either side narrow paths that crossed back and forth over a pit filled with upright spikes. They crossed the left one, and proceeded deeper, into a tall hall that both left and right, each direction leading deeper still. Below was the trade depot in a pit at the center of an immense room. Around it were more passages leading into equally gargantuan spaces, all several stories tall. Ahead of the depot was a huge dining hall with a single well at its center. Fortifications were dug into the walls higher up, and these connected to living quarters accessible from doorways in the walls of the immense space. One section of the tall corridors contained workshops, others canalworks.

After wandering the halls for at least a few hours, the group stumbled upon a goblin in the darkness. She was not undead, perfectly alive in fact. Unfortunately, she knew little of this place that she was willing to share save that it was , and skulked off into the darkness, leaving the group behind. Deeper in the dark was a single bronze doorway, behind which lay an immense chamber, with a bronze-lined bridge across a deep pool. Around it were arranged brass statues of shining suns. At the opposite end of the chamber was a single marble throne. On it were bronze and gold images of the Earthen Kin, which ruled the site, and the Walled Dye, the dwarven civilization. In front of it were more images of blueberry bushes arranged in a circle. This must have been the capitol of the Walled Dye at some time. To the right of the throne was a huge bedroom, and to the left an equally large dining room, both lined with statues. The bedrooms', however, were not more images of the sun but stone statues of historical figures, dwarves and animals.

(https://i.imgur.com/g6sIVvq.png)

Back out in the main hall and to the left was another large chamber that apparently served as a hospital. Eventually the group found a passage leading upwards, and found an overgrown 'farm' of sorts, covered in mud, mushrooms and moss, and mushroom trees which had grown in around the irrigation canal in the center. Around the farms were engraved chambers, and a stockpile with barrels. Below was a stockpile room containing kitchens and distilleries. many of the sealed casks still contained fine booze.

(https://i.imgur.com/JQ1M1eU.png)

(https://i.imgur.com/F4tqe6p.png)

After having spent the entire day wandering the halls and encountering no other living beings, the group decided to leave. However, on their ascent and upon reaching the bridge spanning the spike pits, they encountered another dwarf. Again, the figure that stood before them held no life. It charged, unarmed and unarmored, and began wailing on Horros. Luckily the group had taken Eri's advice and worn their armor and shields, and found new weapons. The undead's fists and teeth found no purchase, and after a brief scuffle they managed to put it down, Horros landing the 'killing' blow. Exhausted, they hauled themselves down the slopes westward again, and made camp among the mountains for the night.

(https://i.imgur.com/Xbr5GB0.png)

In the morning, they finished their descent, and began the journey south again. For a week they traveled almost nonstop, until they passed the last of the mountains between them and the museum. Only the rolling hills and a volcano stood in their way. Naturally, they chose to summit the volcano. When they reached the base the mountain near it, however, they found a great ashen scar rolling down the valley west of it. The smell of brimstone and burning filled the air. At the head of the valley they found the source of the fire; a wide channel had been dug into the earth spilling lava from the volcano across the landscape. At the head of this channel was an iron bridge, leading into a horizontal wedge cut into the mountainside. Corpses and old clothing lay strewn about. Inside the hollowed layer was an area of sand and ashes. This abandoned fortress apparently defended itself with lava from the volcano. Inside the gates though, lay titanic corpses of hideous monsters - possibly demons? Eri had heard tales of them overrunning dwarven fortresses before. They explored only a small part of the fortress, some uninteresting bedrooms and stockpiles, before leaving to avoid a similar fate.

(https://i.imgur.com/rfXrKvZ.png)

At the summit of the volcano, all was as usual. Filled to the brim, barely reduced by the dwarves' meddling. The flow of lava from the channel was apparently halted, then. With nothing more they felt brave enough to do here, the gang left to the south on their final trek to the museum. It wasn't a particularly long trek, and was entirely uneventful. Once they arrived they were greeted by a strange menagerie of beings, some seemingly employed as guards and others as caretakers. The warriors directed them to the keep at the back of the fortress, where they were greeted by goblins, and the seemingly infinite hoards of artifacts, treasures and written volumes on display. "This certainly beats all of our stashes combined," Geth blurted out.

"Yes," the goblin curator chuckled, "And there is more outside the gates on the hill. But that hoard is cursed, and will return to the hill if taken away. We can't curate it any longer. Feel free to read the journals and books, and please provide anything of interest from your adventures."

"I didn't think to bring anything." Estre panicked, "Do you have anything?"

The other two shook their heads. "Would our journey's tale interest you at all?" Horros asked the curator.

"Of course, the longer the better."

"I have a book we picked up, let me see here," Eri said. She produced a stone-bound text from her bag. One place in the corner of the museum was empty, so she left it there, along with a figurine of The Invisible.

(https://i.imgur.com/Xnlb445.png)

"You should settle in if you're going to write your story, feel free to make use of the towers around the walls for living space while you're here. We don't provide any services, unfortunately, so you'll have to provide for yourselves." The curator began walking up the staircase, calling back, "I'll find you a quire."

Silence fell on them for a few moments before Eri piped up, "I didn't know you had any 'stashes.'"

The wolf women glared at their companion before Estre answered, "Yeah, because they're meant to be kept secret. What we make and acquire we save for 'rainy days,' outsiders aren't meant to know about them. Since we don't need clothing and tools like humans do we just don't bring them with us on our casual walks."

"It's a small island though," Horros continued for her. "We're never that far from a weapon."

"Mother was just testing you, to see if you were a thief or murderer, honestly." Estre answered Eri's confused looks. "We already knew everything you 'showed' us, except the poetry and songs. She just wanted you to pay for our game."

"And give us your lunch." Horros giggled.

"I like your crossbow trigger mechanism though. It doesn't get stuck. The ones we copied off the dwarves' crossbows were never quite right." Geth fumbled with the butt of the bone weapon on his shoulder.

"I suppose I should be glad you didn't just attack me like the cougar woman did." Eri sighed. Before they could continue, the curator returned with a parchment quire in hand. "This will do you, I think."

"We're glad to have met you, honestly," Geth said.

"We really were looking for an excuse to get off the island," Horros agreed. "The elders were all annoying."

Eri asked one of the gremlins to lead them to a tower that wasn't occupied, and there she started taking dictation for the group, and time passed.

More than a year and a half later, Eri and the trio set out again for a new objective. Reading up on the uses of necromancy hadn't put Eri at ease about her newfound state, so she sought out a new avenue; apprenticeship. In the north it was known that a fort had been founded some decades before, and was still occupied. Part of it by necromancers and the undead, and part by the living, among whom were several wolverine people. After a long trek up the eastern valley, encountering some goblin patrols and undead along the way, the group crossed the mountains and came to the valley where the fort was built, its low, thin walls surrounding a seemingly empty plot of land. The entrance was thoroughly sealed, and only a tower surrounded by fortifications overlooked it. Eventually, a voice came from below. "What do you want?"

Eri replied, "I am a necromancer, seeking apprenticeship and training. My companions are seeking a safe place to live and study metalworking."

"We have what you seek. But what do you offer in return?"

"Armor and weapons of divine metal, and many books."

"Wait here."

After a several hours, the gate finally opened, and a burly little dwarven man beckoned them inside. "The mayor has agreed to permit you residence. Welcome to Livingdead the Depths of Despair. Don't mind the name. It's mostly to scare off unwanted visitors."

This is the last section. Estre and Geth were already married when I unretired them, and had three children together once they'd settled in at Livingdead. I mostly did that so that they would have children, since I've noticed that married couple off-screen don't seem to produce any. They still had their molemarian and giant toad with them too. I gave the molemarian an axe and shield, but she proved completely useless and refused to fight unless controlled directly. Which is why she shows up in the list of creatures to unretire, coincidentally... I also didn't realize that I'd left myself a timebomb there in that one fort. Didn't know what the book was about.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: dikbutdagrate on March 21, 2024, 06:57:18 pm

I want to see the caretaker of the museum load into fort mode.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Quantum Drop on March 24, 2024, 02:13:57 pm

I'm going to ask for an extension of my turn until Thursday evening (rather than Tuesday). Weekend was way busier than I expected, so I haven't been able to work as much as I'd like on my fort mode build. (Which I'm kicking myself over, since it's proven much more complicated to implement than I expected it would.)

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on March 25, 2024, 09:12:26 am

Fine by me.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Quantum Drop on March 28, 2024, 07:38:40 am

Right. Fortress gets to roughly the third month of 1097, runs a few days, then crashes. Errorlog's completely blank. Retire hasn't resolved that (just crashes a couple days after unretire,) nor has going back to the earliest backup of the fortress I have. Add that to the fact the fortress was the main thing I'd been going for this turn and the loss of about half a day's work on it, I'm throwing in the towel.

TL;DR: Please skip over me and go onto Kesperan from Avoliton's save. Sorry for wasting everyone's time.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on March 28, 2024, 10:11:09 am

QD, the turn list is quite short just now as things seem to be winding down.

I’m working over the Easter weekend so I don’t mind if you want to hold on to the save until next week if you want a bit longer to try your fort plans again.

If you’d rather I just take the last save then I can do that but my playtime is going to be limited until at least Tuesday.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: TheFlame52 on March 28, 2024, 02:42:43 pm

Only 3 weeks until New Adventure Mode. Though I'm sure the Museum IV won't start immediately after the update.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Maloy on March 28, 2024, 02:58:49 pm

Quote from: Quantum Drop on February 17, 2024, 09:09:17 pm

Quote from: Maloy on February 17, 2024, 01:33:49 pm

I was actually thinking on that a while ago, and I've come up with two draft scenarios so far. They're both very rough outlines and I'm open to criticism or fresh ideas on them, particularly from others who want to contribute heroes/villains to the final battle:

Spoiler: The Necromancer’s Return (click to show/hide)

Through some shenanigans involving her skull, a botched soul-binding experiment, and all the accumulated necromantic power of the Museum’s exhibits (all those corpses in one place work wonders) Oddom Girdergrove returns. Not the current, possibly-resurrected one – the original one, who waged a worldwide war of annihilation on the living and succeeded in other branches of the multiversal tree.

General plot events:

• Supercharged as a side-effect of her resurrection, Oddom promptly decides it’s time for Great War 2: Apocalypse Boogaloo and starts running around Orid Xem, resurrecting armies of corpses and intelligent undead in preparation for her attack. Goblin pits are found empty and their corpse-chambers picked clean, while long-abandoned battlefields become disturbed as dead soldiers are called back from their rest.
• The Abyssal Cult strikes a bargain with Oddom as she begins to gather power: her knowledge and expertise of necromancy as one of the first and finest of their kind, in exchange for command of their armies of thralls and Experiments. Oddom retakes her tower in the west of the Realm to serve as a rallying point for their armies, while the Abyssal Cult seizes control of Silverthrone and turns it into a death factory, producing new thralls and Experiments from the mortal populace.
• • Assuming death by old age leaves behind a body, the Gloryages and their friends  may get resurrected during all this; as intelligent undead if they’re lucky, as mindless drones if they’re not, and as intelligent undead enslaved to Oddom by spells if they’re *really* unlucky.
• • One POV character during this could be a previous or new human adventurer who’s returned to the Realm to lead a guerrilla resistance movement against the Cult, or to try and evacuate the survivors of the Blight and Cult to safer lands in the north.
• The Intelligent Undead Howling Freaks created by Maloy start running amok somewhere in the middle of all this, kidnapping travellers, trying to convert new spouses, and generally causing problems for the Confederacy.
• An army of angry ghosts rise up from the dead in Swordgleamed, ranging from victims of the Howling Freak nest there to the original bandit inhabitants. Large amounts of Fun result for anyone nearby as the spectral army decides to do some avengeance on anyone silly enough to get in their way.
• The Army of the Living reforms as the crisis really starts to brew, with the Realm of Silver guerilla movements, Dwarven/Elven forces, and the other human Kingdoms all uniting in an effort to stop Orid Xem’s oldest threat. Depending on how things are and whether they come under attack, the Goblin Hordes may join in with them or hang back and circle like vultures, waiting for the two powers to cripple each other before moving in to feast on the remains. (Maloy's angels may or may not also join in here.)

This eventually culminates in the big final battle with the undead – the Reborn Army of the Living versus the Undead Legion. While the regular mooks take each other down, the adventurers fight through Oddom’s elite forces (intelligent undead, Experiments, and a few former protagonists/evil NPCs) to confront the necromancer herself and end this once and for all. (Or they fail horribly, Oddom and her praetorians wipe them out, and Orid Xem is scoured of all life but the dead. Y'know, really go for the cheerful ending.)

Pros:

• Nicely dovetails with how Oddom and the Great War shaped the pre-Adventurer Orid Xem; we already know she could’ve succeeded in other worlds running on the same seed, so we could plunder a couple of those timelines for ideas as well.
• Intelligent undead loyal to Oddom and given equipment would be fairly strong, particularly if she learns more than the original necromancer secrets. Paralyzing, mist-raising skeletal berserkers clad in steel with a violent hatred of the living, anyone?

Cons:

• Since a lot of high-tier adventurers are some variant of undead or necromancer, the main intended threat of this scenario (undead swarms locked at No Quarter) is going to run into issues when engaged. Also no clue how we’d get Necromancer Experiments/Intelligent Undead to be loyal to Oddom in gameplay, shy of mass chargenning them in one party then abusing the "kill-resurrect-talk them down" trick.
• A proper undead army would require a good deal of preparation, both on resurrecting enough undead, getting them equipped, and making them loyal to Oddom. We can probably get around some of this with DFHack's tricks (create-item and force-equip in particular) but it'll still take some time.
• In fairness, I think the Abyssal Cult is getting a bit stale as an antagonist after several consecutive turns (on my part, admittedly) with them more or less in the centre role. Still got to write those turns up (me and my procrastination :<), but I think it still stands as a point.

Spoiler: The Circus Comes to Town (click to show/hide)

All Hell breaks loose. Literally. With the abandonment or destruction of dwarven forts that breached the adamantine layer in both the Old Kingdoms and the newer lands, there’s nothing to stop the clowns from getting out. Huge numbers of demons swarm through the open holes in the adamantine and out through the abandoned forts, led by a series of intelligent demonic warlords bent on conquering the surface world. Thanks to some resurrection/body-jacking shenanigans, our old friends Egu, Pis, and Dreamypuzzled might even among them - albeit in different forms than usual, either as outright demons or 'mortal' adventurers.

General plot events:

• The Realm of Silver degenerates into a free-for-all between the demon forces, the Abyssal Cult and their ghoul/Experiment armies, the surviving mortal populace, and a couple “fuck everything” factions. Old human adventurers such as Urus and his friends return to action (and a vastly changed world) to try holding the line, or go on the offensive and try to decapitate both threats by slaying the local Demonic Warlord *and* the Abyssal Cult’s ruling council.
• The Old Kingdoms of the Dwarves are essentially broken into a bunch of demon-ruled fiefdoms, while far-flung outposts like Deepvaulted or The Abyssal Sanctuary become open hell-gates through which fresh demons swarm and corruption blights the land. Small teams or individual adventurers could be sent here to close the gates and thereby cut off the demons, or try to take down the local rulers. Somewhere out in the foothills, a certain dwarven skeleton responsible for the birch pedestal with a tonne of demon corpses on it claws its way out of the depths and begins stalking toward one such fortress, gripping a pair of adamantine axes in its hands.
• The Goblin Hordes might go two ways; most will probably ally themselves with the demons due to being evil and suchlike, while a plurality could potentially realise (in their own way) that the demons winning means nobody else wins, including themselves. This leads to some – mostly individual adventurers and breakaway factions – joining the good guys and fighting against them. The remainder of the goblins comprise the rank-and-file fodder of the demon armies, while the demons serve as elite troops, field commanders, and generals.
• • On a related note, the Dark Fortresses would make excellent locations for final battles with the region’s "boss" character.
• During all of this, various Adventurers are running around the world, settling old scores or starting up new ones. Lonelythrall gets busy making boots out of demon asses when they come to the Museum’s gates, Avolition tries to finish the goblin population off once and for all, Dreamypuzzled II gets his long-delayed clash with Lonelythrall, Egu II kills off the Athama-Irthu-Grom trio who killed him (because screw them and I shouldn't have rushed their writeup), Maloy's and the Ear's schemes reach fruition and add to the Fun, etc.

Eventually all of this culminates in the “proper” final battle – the remaining demonic warlords versus the Adventurers of the Museum. Via some contrivance of fate, they all end up squaring off in a relatively open area of land - perhaps near the Museum, or somewhere out in the countryside - with all the Adventurers gathered in one party and the warlords either spawned on-site or brought over there beforehand as another party. Whoever has control either tactical modes all the way through the final battle, or switches to a third party via body-swap then sits back and records the resulting firework display.

Pros:

• Easy way of ensuring a massive “final battle” - just get a huge party of adventurers together from the unretire menu, then use DFHack to spawn a horde of demons through the spawn-unit script and let them have it out with each other.
  
  
• High-skill and gear-equipped (via DFHack’s force-equip) Demons are going to be one hell of a menace for most adventurers, fitting the whole “Final battle against evil” feeling.
• Plotwise it’s an easy way to explain all the adventurers/factions working together; also allows for it to be stretched out over several turns if people want to play it in successive parts.
  
• What better way to end a Museum game than everything going to hell?

Cons:

• Demon spawning may be an issue since their raws are in the world file and I don’t know whether DFHack plays ball with those.
• Demon spawning will need to be handled carefully; if the demon has some kind of ability like fire, webs, or dust they can one-shot adventurers without a hard counter, which isn't exactly great gameplay or storywise. (In turn most of the "hard counters" would make the fight too easy, such as repeated paralysis spellcasting followed by shots to the downed demons' heads.)
• Likely to require a bit of prep time unless we want to delegate spawning duties or do it “on the fly,” especially with the risk of demons despawning/wandering off to other sites.

Oh yeah speaking of do we have a good idea of who are documenter of the apocalypse should be?

They'd be the player doing the turn after we set it all up.

Finally, any preference at all for location? I'd say somewhere extremely significant historically. Such as the museum, but I know there are other locations. Makbor can be a candidate too.

I liked QD's circus comes to town only because it would be difficult to get intelligent undead adventurers to combat undead because of the way the AI is designed.
We could have a third faction that has necromancers and such show up to throw a wrench into things? Or is that too much?
[/list]

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Quantum Drop on March 28, 2024, 03:31:04 pm

Quote from: kesperan on March 28, 2024, 10:11:09 am

QD, the turn list is quite short just now as things seem to be winding down.

I’m working over the Easter weekend so I don’t mind if you want to hold on to the save until next week if you want a bit longer to try your fort plans again.

If you’d rather I just take the last save then I can do that but my playtime is going to be limited until at least Tuesday.

If that's the case, I'll try my fort plan again until you're ready. Hopefully I'll be able to avoid whatever caused the crash this time.

Quote from: Maloy on March 28, 2024, 02:58:49 pm

Oh yeah speaking of do we have a good idea of who are documenter of the apocalypse should be?

They'd be the player doing the turn after we set it all up.

I don't think we've really thought about that. Possibly Bralbaard, if he's willing and able, considering he's the one technically running the show?

Quote from: Maloy on March 28, 2024, 02:58:49 pm

Finally, any preference at all for location? I'd say somewhere extremely significant historically. Such as the museum, but I know there are other locations. Makbor can be a candidate too.

A few ideas for the final battle place:

• The Museum: Obvious choice; where better to end Museum III than the place where it all started out? Also plenty of artefacts and submissions that could see use by either side for an extra dose of fun. Terrain is fairly conducive to the battle as well, though the hilly bits may cause issues with the log.
• Skullhated: Site of one of the bloodiest battles in Orid Xem's history, and one of the more  important in the context of the setting-defining war against the living by Oddom. The central spire's throne room would also be a pretty good place for a final battle, since IIRC they tend to be wide, regular and relatively open spaces.
• Stealmountain/Poisonuttered: Both of these sites are original Dark Fortresses, with the associated spires to the Circus. While they're not that historically significant by comparison, it provides some story opportunities if we go for the Circus idea.
• Heroicgem: Oddom's original tower. Obvious historical significance aside, the area round the central tower should be another good battle spot due to its openness.

Quote from: Maloy on March 28, 2024, 02:58:49 pm

We could have a third faction that has necromancers and such show up to throw a wrench into things? Or is that too much?

I think it could work. At the very least it would provide a bit of extra Fun for anything living, like the Clown army and possibly a handful of adventurers. Could probably throw some thralls in there as well, considering the Blight clown car/mosh pit that is Ghoulcreek.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on March 28, 2024, 06:39:04 pm

Quote from: Quantum Drop on March 28, 2024, 03:31:04 pm

Quote from: kesperan on March 28, 2024, 10:11:09 am

QD, the turn list is quite short just now as things seem to be winding down.

I’m working over the Easter weekend so I don’t mind if you want to hold on to the save until next week if you want a bit longer to try your fort plans again.

If you’d rather I just take the last save then I can do that but my playtime is going to be limited until at least Tuesday.

If that's the case, I'll try my fort plan again until you're ready. Hopefully I'll be able to avoid whatever caused the crash this time.

Save often, and make backups :D

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Maloy on March 29, 2024, 06:46:01 am

Quote from: Quantum Drop on March 28, 2024, 03:31:04 pm

A few ideas for the final battle place:

• The Museum: Obvious choice; where better to end Museum III than the place where it all started out? Also plenty of artefacts and submissions that could see use by either side for an extra dose of fun. Terrain is fairly conducive to the battle as well, though the hilly bits may cause issues with the log.
• Skullhated: Site of one of the bloodiest battles in Orid Xem's history, and one of the more  important in the context of the setting-defining war against the living by Oddom. The central spire's throne room would also be a pretty good place for a final battle, since IIRC they tend to be wide, regular and relatively open spaces.
• Stealmountain/Poisonuttered: Both of these sites are original Dark Fortresses, with the associated spires to the Circus. While they're not that historically significant by comparison, it provides some story opportunities if we go for the Circus idea.
• Heroicgem: Oddom's original tower. Obvious historical significance aside, the area round the central tower should be another good battle spot due to its openness.

Quote from: Maloy on March 28, 2024, 02:58:49 pm

We could have a third faction that has necromancers and such show up to throw a wrench into things? Or is that too much?

I think it could work. At the very least it would provide a bit of extra Fun for anything living, like the Clown army and possibly a handful of adventurers. Could probably throw some thralls in there as well, considering the Blight clown car/mosh pit that is Ghoulcreek.

Fantastic I am between Skullhated and the Museum. Skullhated as the history as well as the final boss room. Only thing I'm iffy about is that when you load into dark fortresses it tends to scatter the populations across huge amounts of land. Could work around it
Museum would be the easiest to set up. world gen castles are convenient because they aren't huge sites and so we don't have to worry about half our enemies being on the opposite side of the map and therefore not participating at all.
Either map can be done though.



Logistics:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Quality over quantity would be the approach I suggest just for the sake of Bral, or whomever's, PC. Once we gather all our "Good guy" participants in one location and get an idea of strength we can decide how strong the enemy army is. Wanna walk that balance of being challenging and possibly a TPK, but also being possible to defeat too.
All three of my characters are pretty strong, but also none of them are intelligent undead and so their power pales in comparison to the top players in this world.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on April 04, 2024, 08:39:09 am

How are you getting on QD?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Quantum Drop on April 04, 2024, 12:36:23 pm

Quote from: kesperan on April 04, 2024, 08:39:09 am

How are you getting on QD?

Nearly done on the fortress. I'm at the point where I can leave it as-is if you want to playing tonight or tomorrow evening.

(Basically all I've got left to do is link up a couple hundred individual spikes to a repeater - I'm maybe halfway through that - then seal up the various shortcuts.)

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on April 04, 2024, 06:29:44 pm

I’m not in a rush. Please finish what you’re doing!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: WonderPsycho on April 04, 2024, 08:11:47 pm

Quote from: TheFlame52 on March 28, 2024, 02:42:43 pm

Only 3 weeks until New Adventure Mode. Though I'm sure the Museum IV won't start immediately after the update.

oooooh I can't wait (and also because of this I need to get back into working on that Civs+ mod of mine, (especially since current DF Classic is far more well optimized I feel then like the last version of Legacy before it transitioned to Classic)) also makes me feel excited for the Museum IV

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Quantum Drop on April 08, 2024, 01:09:18 am

The save is up: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1_bbaT-1yLDZkcpdMZJKmjR3vlCLVsBQ2/view?usp=sharing

There’s a new fortress on the maps - the Traps of Dying. It’s located out in the mountain ranges at the west east end of the world, near a goblin dark fortress.

For those who want to explore it, I strongly advise you use characters with low Observation – most of the traps there are reliant on pressure plates, including several that open ways forward. Since IIRC spotting a pressure plate or other trap disables it in adventure mode, that wouldn’t make for a very good experience. Assuming the minecart repeaters keep working, you may also want to bring multiple characters, since a several of the traps are designed to deliver large amounts of vitamin F.

(That said if you want to go into the Maximum Fun Chamber, you’ll probably need a good combat-focused character in the party. Rewards are well worth it though.)

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on April 12, 2024, 09:40:26 pm

I've picked up the save but I am going to be out of the country for the next few days. I hope nobody minds if there is a delay on my uploading the next save.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: WonderPsycho on April 13, 2024, 03:53:17 pm

I don't mind

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: dikbutdagrate on April 13, 2024, 09:58:16 pm

Quote from: Quantum Drop on April 08, 2024, 01:09:18 am

The save is up: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1_bbaT-1yLDZkcpdMZJKmjR3vlCLVsBQ2/view?usp=sharing

There’s a new fortress on the maps - the Traps of Dying. It’s located out in the mountain ranges at the west end of the world, near a goblin dark fortress.

For those who want to explore it, I strongly advise you use characters with low Observation – most of the traps there are reliant on pressure plates, including several that open ways forward. Since IIRC spotting a pressure plate or other trap disables it in adventure mode, that wouldn’t make for a very good experience. Assuming the minecart repeaters keep working, you may also want to bring multiple characters, since a several of the traps are designed to deliver large amounts of vitamin F.

(That said if you want to go into the Maximum Fun Chamber, you’ll probably need a good combat-focused character in the party. Rewards are well worth it though.)

Ah, hell yeah. Thanks QD!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Bralbaard on April 14, 2024, 05:37:16 am

I've tried to update the maps, and other stuff. There have been quite some developments, and I did not really keep up with events over the last weeks.
We are now in the fourth age of heroes, and the fifth century of active play in this world, which is crazy.

Here is the new map, there are actually multiple Traps of Dying, I guess one of them must be a trap, and not the real thing  :):

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://i.imgur.com/InraPMK.gif)

It's turned into a cartographers nighmare by now, and I hope anyone is actually able to find something in this maze :-)
The photoshop file that I use to track things has turned into a nightmarish file with 238 layers, all with confusing names.
I should really organise this better for the next museum game. Speaking of which, it won't be long to the adventure mode release. Can't wait.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Quantum Drop on April 14, 2024, 07:23:36 am

Oh, forgot about that. Whoops.

In the interests of clarity: The True Traps of Dying is the real, functional one with the rewards at the end. The 'original' Traps of Dying is the one which I abandoned then restarted next door after it kept crashing three months into 1097, so all that site has is the entrance portion and no rewards. So, y'know, go to the True Traps of Dying instead.

Also, bloody hell that is impressive - both that the game file's stayed so stable after all this time, and the fact you're even able to modify the photoshop map even further.

EDIT: Well, smeg. Seems the Maximum Fun Chamber doesn't work. Whoops  :-X.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: TheFlame52 on April 14, 2024, 09:06:22 am

The narrow, long map makes it very easy to navigate on a desktop.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Eric Blank on April 14, 2024, 06:32:22 pm

That's definitely true.

I was trying to make a horrible sadistic trap corridor too. Need to finish it. I need to sign on for another turn to do that, so please add me to the list.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Lurker Z on April 15, 2024, 07:04:59 am

Hey, Bralbaard and the gang's back.

I am posting to say I have been lurking, but in the last few months I got burned out by the game. As for the wiki, since LV broke, I lost the momentum I had for writing articles. I have since fixed my computer and LV seems to work again, but I can't get back that momentum. Maybe in the future. Something that also pushed me was to make a decent number of (quality) articles so the wiki wouldn't be in danger, and now with over 1300 articles, I'm confident it will remain up as long as the wiki farm exists. I'll still edit any glaring issues and inconsistencies I see if I get to an interesting article, so the wiki is still relatively maintained and watched over.

As it is, I don't think I'll participate in any end-game event, but I just want to say I very much enjoyed Orid Xem with all the madness it threw at us. I'm glad I could contribute, not necessarily to the Museum itself, but to the world and I want to thanks Avolition once again for resurrecting my character and allowing him to continue to (un)live, hopefully until the end of the game. I look forward to what everyone will be doing in this world and maybe I'll get some inspiration and return for the new world.

I'll still be lurking and posting on this thread, so this isn't goodbye or anything, but I want to thank everyone for the great time this thread brought to all of us.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Bralbaard on April 15, 2024, 02:55:22 pm

Good to know you'll still be around. I kind of had the same issue with the game over the last few months. Mostly because the current DF version has no adventure mode and I am an adventure mode player.
But now that the adventure mode release is days away, excitement is slowly building back up.

Anyhow, just want to let you know that all the work you've done on the wiki is greatly appreciated.

As for museum IV, Once the new version is out, I'll start experimenting with generating new worlds, we probably should wait a few bugfix releases before jumping in. 

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: tonnot98 on April 17, 2024, 09:45:03 am

I wonder what'll be the next noob killer? We had howling freaks and the tundra here, and giant scorpions in the first. I don't think the second game ran on long enough for any particular problem to crop up...

I sure do hope the next world has a nightmare biome, I wanna see bogeymen again!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: WonderPsycho on April 17, 2024, 03:38:45 pm

Quote from: tonnot98 on April 17, 2024, 09:45:03 am

I wonder what'll be the next noob killer? We had howling freaks and the tundra here, and giant scorpions in the first. I don't think the second game ran on long enough for any particular problem to crop up...

I sure do hope the next world has a nightmare biome, I wanna see bogeymen again!

don't boogeymen only come out at night and not come from just a "nightmare biome" or rather a evil biome?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: AvolitionBrit on April 17, 2024, 04:26:21 pm

Lurker, rest well loremaster. Your documenting helped me find strange and interesting things. Stories in the world. Was happy to lend a hand or five. Hope you participate in the future.

As for the end game, where are we on that? As I would like to run the world for a while and see it in the far future

EDIT - Adventure mode beta branch is out now

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Maloy on April 18, 2024, 08:01:34 pm

Quote from: AvolitionBrit on April 17, 2024, 04:26:21 pm

As for the end game, where are we on that? As I would like to run the world for a while and see it in the far future

I was waiting to see if there were more interest on it. I could set it up, but I feel like a few of you guys are far better at designing stuff like this than me. Whatever you guys need from me I'm down.


We also need our GM, Bralbaard, to do the honors of the final play. Also we need a list of all the adventurers participating in the final battle.

I didn't wanna assume someone wanted to take part, their characters die, and them be upset.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: dikbutdagrate on April 19, 2024, 09:06:23 pm

Yeah, I'll definitely need a turn to get my character ready.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: AvolitionBrit on April 21, 2024, 11:42:07 am

who has the save right now, seems to have gone pretty quiet.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: Lurker Z on April 21, 2024, 12:42:59 pm

Quote from: AvolitionBrit on April 21, 2024, 11:42:07 am

who has the save right now, seems to have gone pretty quiet.

Quote from: kesperan on April 12, 2024, 09:40:26 pm

I've picked up the save but I am going to be out of the country for the next few days. I hope nobody minds if there is a delay on my uploading the next save.

I think it's kesperan.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: WonderPsycho on April 21, 2024, 04:06:43 pm

Quote from: Lurker Z on April 21, 2024, 12:42:59 pm

Quote from: AvolitionBrit on April 21, 2024, 11:42:07 am

who has the save right now, seems to have gone pretty quiet.

Quote from: kesperan on April 12, 2024, 09:40:26 pm

I've picked up the save but I am going to be out of the country for the next few days. I hope nobody minds if there is a delay on my uploading the next save.

I think it's kesperan.

yeah it's Kespie

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on April 22, 2024, 07:29:06 am

Yeah, sorry about the lack of updates. My play time has been limited but making progress.

I will have the save up in the next few days, I promise!

---

Edit: Here is the save:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1PApi95Zk72KGSEDeuFlG4Bz_axXr4gcT/view?usp=drive_link

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: WonderPsycho on April 24, 2024, 04:25:53 pm

oh shit it's my turn now.... uhhh let me download this real quick and I'll do some of my turn today with some new characters, I decided to put Rodish and their party a bit on hold, I may return to them next turn or not and the ending of this game happens after this turn of mine after a couple of other turns, who knows

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: WonderPsycho on April 24, 2024, 04:57:22 pm

Quote from: kesperan on April 22, 2024, 07:29:06 am

Yeah, sorry about the lack of updates. My play time has been limited but making progress.

I will have the save up in the next few days, I promise!

---

Edit: Here is the save:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1PApi95Zk72KGSEDeuFlG4Bz_axXr4gcT/view?usp=drive_link

uhhh I don't have access to the drive link
I have to request access to it

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on April 25, 2024, 03:47:28 am

Sorry, I think it should be unrestricted now.

---

Will have the story up as soon as I can. Was quite frustrating in the end for a number of reasons, which I will explain.

There is a new fort - Oceanmasters The Gilded Bridge which links the mainland near central Omon Obin to the Island of Clouting

We had three werecats appear in the first two migrant waves causing ~50% of the dwarves to die, then a loyalty cascade, which I solved by retiring and uretiring the fort. Check out the golden bridge!

The Eternal Citadel now has a safe way into the underworld protected by an artifact door. Stukos Mournsaints, only son of Moldath, was finally killed by a demon at the age of 165, and his remains are interred in a masterwork platinum sarcophagus in his tomb. Moldath's granddaughter Thikut Reverewheel is their new Militia Commander. Long may she serve.

Many of Stukos' descendants still live and have intermarried with members of the royal family of The Page of Tiredness, the Mournsaints-Lobsterseals clan being the defacto ruling class. Yet more have spread to the other fortress of Morul Kan, ensuring Mournsaint's legacy.

Moldath has three grandchildren, eight great-grandchildren, five great-great-grandchildren and three great-great-great-grandchildren still alive and spread throughout Orid Xem - many of them are worshippers of Ala. These include his namesakes Moldath Wrathsaints the Diamond Heart of Thunder, Sherrif of The Dead, and Moldath Diamondpath, Axe Lord.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: WonderPsycho on April 25, 2024, 03:31:57 pm

Quote from: kesperan on April 25, 2024, 03:47:28 am

Sorry, I think it should be unrestricted now.

thanks downloaded the save now

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: WonderPsycho on April 26, 2024, 04:35:51 pm

did some of my turn a bit yersterday, will do more today

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on April 26, 2024, 05:09:32 pm

Save often. I had a lot of crashes!

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: WonderPsycho on April 26, 2024, 06:49:41 pm

Quote from: kesperan on April 26, 2024, 05:09:32 pm

Save often. I had a lot of crashes!

will do

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on April 27, 2024, 01:03:05 pm

Can I be re-added to the turn list please?

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: WonderPsycho on April 29, 2024, 07:52:32 pm

characters of mine are kind of a bit lost in a dark fortress under the control of The Walled Dye, I may have to at some point end it a bit short or something but retiring them either somewhere in the dark fortress or retiring them when they finally found the exit and exited the fortress and such for my current turn rn

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: WonderPsycho on April 30, 2024, 08:53:59 pm

finally done, gonna copy and paste what I wrote down on what happened in my turn

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: WonderPsycho on April 30, 2024, 09:12:38 pm

Diary of Suiya Venomspiders

So....... this is a bit of.. a bit but anyways

my name is Suiya, Suiya Venomspiders! the rest you can read here, I ain't reciting myself mate!

(https://imgur.com/IF7gAyk.png)

so me and my mates here been living in this very dark fortress that is Tormentlives, for quite a bit of a while since The Walled Dye ran sacked it, and took it over as it was one of their own, and gave those dark demon lord lead goblins a bit of a bloody lesson or two, I don't remember much of my parents but for most of my childhood I grew up here ever since the dwarves took it, and damn it is dark!

(https://imgur.com/npqun6I.png)

As I would rather try and scitter through the darkness with my two coyote adventuring pals, one of them (Jiron) started going on about a
Gorbe Chasmblocked becoming a sacred wisp for a religious group of somethin' I don't really care about..

Also on other news, since our time here, I have gathered quite the big stash of gold for myself, due to, I'd say some travels in my teens during when
it was just the blight before other rumors start popping up recently about "the return of the vampire and their terror" and weird "cat-beast attacks" but
whatever, if those rumors are true, then I hope we got the upper hand in this good 'ay!

navigating in the darkness by getting near the walls in this place, surely we will find our exit!

(https://imgur.com/jQLsS8z.png)

(https://imgur.com/PbnngaQ.png)

ah! would you look at that! it's the old skeleton remains of the goblins who used to own this place... when will these dwarves by Armok's name clean up this place now that it's under their rule?

passing through the piles upon piles of goblin bones and apparently some dwarf bones mixed in with the pile of goblin bones, we continue to scitter..
as Jiron just casually comments about sometimes not being a fan of some other people, not that I want to pay any attention or mind to it right now, Like
whatever you said mate.

continuing foward, through more bones more damn goblin bones, were those some human bones we just passed through? who cares anyways! I just want to get to adventuring! I don't want to carve some more cheeky bones!

we kept walking, we kept walking, we kept walking, and we kept walking till.... AH HA! there's that stupid hallway!

(https://imgur.com/mlNIRXR.png)

AGH! nope it was just a rooms's room or dorm I guess, Armok lead me through this darkness, bloody hell!

(https://imgur.com/klQOVse.png)

and to top that, I almost fell down a bloody pit here to, I forgot that was there, being in this dark place is seriously a bit of a risk and I love risks, but not like this!

(https://imgur.com/YMbutIW.png)

hopefully this is the right hallway for our ticket out of here!

I probably don't got time to draw anything of where we went next in this dear journal of mine but I'll go into detail with as best as I can as we move.

heading into the next room, there is a pit with a ramp going down into it, but the room isn't just that pit, I want to explore more of it before I
get into deciding heading down..

after scittering a bit, we found another hallway to somewhere elsewhere

(https://imgur.com/475235a9-98ab-4ce3-a7e6-a4a58f437ccb.png)
(OOC:for some really dumb reason image 8 is completely undefined by imgur so I guess you're gonna just have to use your imagination, already making this sort of turn story alot more eh then usual)

as we enter the next hallway, we could try to continue to navigate through this huge dark fortress..

there were more damn pits, again this hallway was vast and dark, huh some noises over there, could be the other residents here and home?

(https://imgur.com/lrKD1lE.png)

and upon looking around I was right, it's the Warrior of Udir Swordmaster Dodok and maybe some others lying around..

(https://imgur.com/T7Nh8MM.png)

or rather just Dodock who've we've passed by right now, eh, anyways next room was another room with a super big pit..

we decided to explore it and explore other places elsewhere, I don't have time to draw anymore drawings where we're going and such, I want to get out of this place with Jiron and Mebzuth, hopefully we're close to getting out of here, I lived here so long I forgot where's the exit..

Jiron talks and mentions a bit about a group called "The Hoary Lark" wanting to reclaim a place called "Bellford" but I was too focused on trying to get us out of here to listen..

we keep scittering and scittering... apparently I found a ramp in the same room with the second big pit, crikey, going up it..

we finally made it out of the room as going up the next floor lead to another hallway with a door on the side also alot less dark here, so at this point we are reaching the surface.. or should I say multiple doors as it wasn't just one door leading to one room, there were other doors made of the same white meterial but I just didn't originally saw it because of how white it is in this hallway

we continued looking around trying to find a way out of here, or atleast somewhere underground for us to finally leave the pit and traverse the rest of
the world from there..

I hear more people, most likely more residents of the walled dye who live in tormentlives, upon coming closer to the noise, I was infact correct but it was more Warriors of Udir residents, if I am correct, undead civilians of The Walled Dye love living here, specifically the intelligent undead experiments of Warriors of Udir do

scittering and exploring scittering and exploring, it's like this place wants us to remain here to keep us safe, by Armok! I hate this, I just want to get out of her and and adventure through for all of the risks the world has to offer

finally after a while I chose to go up the stairwell, we are finally nearly up the surface and we are home free!.... atleast soon, then we are finally out there and going on a proper journey!

actually nevermind we are now on the Surface, just need to leave and we can finally see what dangers await us!!

(https://imgur.com/IC6QVip.png)

we continue our walk outside our home to finally tr- (the rest of the writing seems smudged looks like the person who wrote this lost it while finally finding a way out of their home)

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

I will note, I wanted to sort of get this turn done a bit quick cause I was in the midst of working on some sort of passion project of mine, in other news regarding Suiya, yes, her whole funny gimmick I came up with her is that she is a silly austrailian dingo lady with a thing for dangerous and high risks adventures in a fantasy setting (it's also kind of apparent with her full name being "Suiya Venomspiders The Outrage of Vipers" joke being her being so austrailian it's literally in her name),

shame we didn't get to explore the two 'yotes Jiron and Mebzuth that much especially with them possibly being dead with I retired them as a hillocks that seemed to have been through a huge mess of it's own due to the only option being "Give in to Starvation" even tho I fed Suiya to no longer be starving when we reached the location to retire at and such, tho I do have plans of revisiting her character in the Museum IV when it happens just for funsies

anyways here's the save:
DOWNLOAD HERE (https://drive.google.com/file/d/1q6liXJKkR93gNU_d4FtrHHT2KUBGUUq0/view?usp=sharing)

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on May 01, 2024, 01:50:30 am

I couldn’t help read all that in Steve Irwin’s voice. Crikey!

Guess that’s Bralbaard’s turn.

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: WonderPsycho on May 01, 2024, 02:51:26 am

Quote from: kesperan on May 01, 2024, 01:50:30 am

I couldn’t help read all that in Steve Irwin’s voice. Crikey!

Guess that’s Bralbaard’s turn.

LOL

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: WonderPsycho on May 01, 2024, 02:54:08 am

Quote from: WonderPsycho on April 30, 2024, 09:12:38 pm

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

I will note, I wanted to sort of get this turn done a bit quick cause I was in the midst of working on some sort of passion project of mine, in other news regarding Suiya, yes, her whole funny gimmick I came up with her is that she is a silly austrailian dingo lady with a thing for dangerous and high risks adventures in a fantasy setting (it's also kind of apparent with her full name being "Suiya Venomspiders The Outrage of Vipers" joke being her being so austrailian it's literally in her name),

shame we didn't get to explore the two 'yotes Jiron and Mebzuth that much especially with them possibly being dead with I retired them as a hillocks that seemed to have been through a huge mess of it's own due to the only option being "Give in to Starvation" even tho I fed Suiya to no longer be starving when we reached the location to retire at and such, tho I do have plans of revisiting her character in the Museum IV when it happens just for funsies

anyways here's the save:
DOWNLOAD HERE (https://drive.google.com/file/d/1q6liXJKkR93gNU_d4FtrHHT2KUBGUUq0/view?usp=sharing)

a thing I forgot to note is, the main inspirations for Suiya's whole character gimmick was  Chips Dubbo from the halo series, and The Sniper from TF2 (even tho he is actually a new zealander lmao)

Title: Re: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05)
Post by: kesperan on May 05, 2024, 06:19:43 pm

How are you getting on Bralbaard? Not sure if you have picked up the save or not?