Dwarven Expedition Base Camp, on the slopes of the Beak of Daubbing
1st of Granite
"Here we are," Urist Edemnokzam declared.
I know, Shedim answered her back in the only language the Cave Spider god knew.
The ground around the ruined wagon quivered violently. One of the trio clinging to the side of the cliff, Eric Nomalnicat, let out a startled cry as his tenuous grip broke and he went sliding down the side of the hill. The other two held on, while Urist and those above them threw themselves to the ground and waited the tremor to pass. The near by rats squealed in confusion and fear and the jumping spiders both skittered awkwardly across the pitching ice. Only the crundles actually fled though, the big-mouthed lizards letting out throaty hisses of terror and taking off in all directions.
There was a distant rumble from somewhere far below as the quaking came to a halt. Urist gave it a moment, then risked peering over the side again. Karakzon Oltarzeg and the "Bob" Azinoddom still. Far below them, much to his clear surprise as her own, was Eric. He had landed rather safely onto the ancient bundles of rat leather they'd gathered from Melbilmamot. The flaxen-haired miner stared up at Urist, the whites of his eyes visible even from that distance.
"I didn't do it," Erik said, his voice carrying in the stillness
"Shut up," a second voice answered with a grunt. Karakzon spoke softly by nature, but he barely whispered at that moment. "You'll call down the mountain."
The old soldier had not yet even broken a sweat as he clung to the slope. Near him, the dwarfess who called herself Bob was not fairing nearly as well, her teeth gritted and face red with strain.
"If the wagon didn't do it, nothing will," a third voice chimed in. Kiratha Okolducim was the first to his feet and offered a hand to Urist, helping her to rise. Before she could even thank him, he was off and looking over the broken stump that remained from the ancient tree they'd tied the wagon off to. He gave it a kick, frowning over it, then waved a hand. "Someone get some silk from the jumping spiders. I'll tie it to whats left of the tree and can lower them off the side to Erik. He can tie some rope to them and we'll rope it to the tree to get everyone down."
"Yes because the tree worked so well with the bloody wagon," Zero Meboddom, the fat-bodied wagon master, said with a stomp of her booted foot. "No. No more damn trees. Should have figured it wouldn't work when Crundlebrain-Eric suggested it in the first place. Trees are a dwarfs natural enemy. This proved it if nothing else did."
"Not the tree diatribe again," mekboy Kolmeng muttered under her breath as Urist helped her to her feet. Urist agreed, though kept her mouth shut. Zero was only more likely to go into it if someone seemed like they might be debating her.
Kiratha had the right idea though, cutting in quickly while he leaned down to softly coax one of the still-nervous insects into spitting a spool of damp silk thread into his palm. "Fine, then we'll just tie the rope to ourselves to get Karakzon and Bob down, then fine another way down the slope."
"Like we should have done in the first place instead of trusting a tree! Do you know who likes seeing dwarves hanging from trees? Momuz, that's who!"
... or at least it had seemed like Kiratha had the right idea. mekboy shook her head and tapped Urist on the arm and the two of them abandoned the mechanic to Zero while they moved back to the edge of the slope. mekboy cupped a hand to her mouth to shout. Karakzon glared death at her for it, but she pretended not to notice. "Eric! Is anyone else alive down there?"
The blond dwarf was still laying on the pile of leathers, but scrambled up quickly and made a round to the bodies scattered about the wagon. She watched as he moved from figure to figure, then hurried back to the bottom of the slope. "... melkor, Nonobots, Cheveux, Elfeater, and Firelordsky! They're hurt, but they're breathing. The rest..."
A faint wave of relief washed over Urist. Shedim had caught them in her web, it seemed. Not it was just a case of finding out if she'd let them go again. "How bad are they?"
Erik only shook his head. Couldn't say. They'd lost their only healer to a roc attack seven winters back. Bob had taken over tending to the basic cuts and bruises they had gotten since then, but none of them knew much about healing arts.
mekboy pulled one tall ear thoughtfully. "Well however bad they are, they're not going to get any better laying on the ground. Eric! Spread out some of that leather for them, then pile up the rest under Bob and Karakzon in case they fall!"
"Save it all for Bob," Karakzon grunted up at them. "I'm not going to fall."
"You'd know best," mekboy shrugged and waved to get Eric's attention. "Eric, forget Karakzon! He's a soldier! He wants to die! Put it all under Bob!"
Eric responded with a wave, then got back to piling up the old rat leathers into a misshapen lump. Urist looked over at the fisherdwarf hanging near Karakzon, whose body trembled with desperate tension.
"How are you holding up there, Bob?"
There was a long pause, before a tiny voice gasped. "I've... been... better."
Zero and the mechanic were approaching the edge of the slope, Zero still loudly cursing anything that grew above the earth instead of below it. They each carried one of the blue-bodied jumping spiders in their arms. The jittery little things were letting out a long spool of silk thread behind them. "Kiratha's going to get you down. Just hang on a little longer."
Bob didn't answer out loud this time, only nodded. The spiders were released and went scampering agilely down the slope between the stranded dwarves. Urist couldn't figure out why Bob had tried to go over the edge in the first place. Often as her skill with a rope and rod had kept them fed on fish, a wagon wasn't the sort of thing she could have reeled in. Bob had always been the most fragile of their group, even since she was young.
Though none of them were young anymore.
The spiders reached Eric and Kiratha managed to shout the plan down to him, over Zero's raving. Eric seemed to get what the idea was, at least enough to tie the ropes around the spiders, so Urist and mekboy left them to it. The two dwarven women set off to find a safer way down the mountain side, walking along the narrow ridge in silence until they neared the rock outcropping the Cave Spider God had pointed them towards. mekboy stopped and frowned, peering at the dark mouth of a tunnel in the side of the rock.
"That's where Shedim wants us to go?"
Urist nodded, her skin crawling as she beheld the stand of stone. There was nothing special about it to speak of. They'd passed hundreds of caves just like it on their trip, though they hadn't dared go in to any. Too many chances one of the Great Beasts might be dwelling within. Yet, Urist knew that this
mekboy sniffed the air, then wrinkled her nose. "I smell crundle droppings."
"Probably wild crundles," Urist said. "They shouldn't be too dangerous unless there are alot of them."
mekboy gave her a dubious look and Urist knew why. Crundles were caverns what ants were to the surface. If there was one, there would be a hundred. "Wish Zero and Eric had taken a fall, instead of Firelordsky and Elfeater. We'll only have Karakzon if there is trouble."
"And Eric. He can handle a pick."
That earned Urist a dubious glance "Maybe all of us should go in armed. Kiratha can put together some spears and shields from the wood we took from Melbilmamot, you can make us some armor from the rat leather."
"That might take awhile," Urist said, finding herself looking towards the pale sky. She could almost feel time racing by even while they stood there. "We need to get out of the open as quickly as we can. The engravings at Melbilmamot were full of pictures of the Great Beasts, so there must be plenty around here too."
mekboy pulled her ear once more, a thoughtful gesture as she furrowed her brow. mekboy did her best work in her head, calculating times and work schedules and planning details. Zero was wagon master by sheer force of personality, but it was mekboy who really dealt with running their fragile caravan. "Then we'll just make enough for Karakzon and Eric. If there isn't anything more dangerous than crundles, they should be enough to get us in."
Urist took another look at the cave and felt a shiver pass through her that wasn't from the cold.
If.
-----
Well, I have just no luck when it comes to doing community games it seems. This is the second time I've tried one that I crashed into disaster. In this case, dwarf fortress crashed after an in-game month in and then continually crashed whenever I tried to load my back-up. Turned out from the error log that it was futzing up on a critter I'd edited in (giant ant) and I couldn't get it fixed enough to satisfy DW. So, I just ripped it out of the raws and tried to regen, only apparently the lack of that one creature was enough to distort time and space itself, as the world that generated from the exact same seeds was almost completely different.
This isn't as bad as the last time though (when dwarf fortress crashing turned out to be a prelude to my whole computer exploding), so I'm persevering even though I'm somewhat sad that the rather awesome details of the last world are lost. Don't think I've ever seen as amazing a pantheon of dwarven gods as that one. I mean, it's not that many worlds where the first king of dwarven kind ends up as the bridegroom of a Nightcreature and gives birth to the dwarven goddess of suicide. Still, I'm just going to play make-believe and claim that this new world and the old one are the same place.
Edit: here it is.
When Cattenkurik fell, the dwarf who would become Remalle's mother fled with the rest of the survivors. On the long journey she got lost, and wandered by chance into an elf retreat. Two years later she made her way back to dwarrowkind with her newborn son, and eventually died a cruel death pointless enough to make any dwarf proud. The boy, Remalle, grew up a true dwarf and ignorant of his heritage, becoming a leatherworker by trade to make armour for those charged with defending the caravan. The other dwarves suspect little of Remalle's background but some experience a mild form of uncanny valley uneasiness and dislike him instinctively, though most disagree and say he is a charming and good-humoured young dwarf. The recent murder of Mekboy disturbed Remalle enough to ignite his sense of justice, and now he dreams of being in a position of authority to keep the new fortress in a state of his own definition of "civilization".
Also, here's a WIP drawing I'm doing. I'm not a great drawer, in fact this is only my second drawing, so it's not great but there it is!
Warning, large image.
(http://i56.tinypic.com/6hrm1h.png)
That was how Queen Zefon Itongigin had told us it would end. That the end of our days would be in the place the Cave Spider God chose, somewhere deep below the earth. So, we wandered, living and dying under the open sky until we saw the mark of Shedim and discovered the cave of Zospu Smaxa. There, we fought and worked and struggled to survive. We faced armies of monsters. We faced famine and deprivation. We even faced madness from within.
Yet nothing could truly prepare us for what we would face in the lower depth of that cavern. For there, in a place that had never known the sun, we faced a god.
The mad cave prophet known as Shaman gave us our first warning, brought from the lips of a dead woman. He warned us that we had been deceived and that the death of all our spiders within the caverns had been to keep them from warning us of the truth. The great apes of the mountain, servants of the gods of men, had tried to stop us as well. They'd come in their legions, yet were thrown into cages or butchered for meat. Even the elves tried to warn us away, denying us the try we so desperately needed and threatening war should we not leave.
We did not listen. We sealed ourselves away. As we grew and prospered within Zospu Smaxa, our curiosity and our greed became so great that we dug deeper into the earth. Every blow of the pick brought another distant rumble. Every layer of stone we passed through only carried us closer to her. She had waited for us for a thousand years, locked away within her earthly tomb. Waiting to find her revenge upon the descendants of her sire.
Momuz, the Goddess of Suicide.
As we reached the second caverns, she and her bride-grooms rose up in vast numbers and swarmed through the tunnels. Our soldiers fought for every inch of ground, yet the numbers of the dark goddesses husbands seemed without limit and wherever Momuz herself tread, dwarves threw themselves upon their weapons in horror. The yeti were unleashed to aid us, the spiders of the cavern came in unaccountable swarms to slow the Nightbride down. Nothing seemed able to stop her. All hope seemed lost and those who remained had been pushed out of the caverns and into the caves above.
... and it was at that moment that the drunkard Novod put upon his head the helm of fear known as Kebonluror, a thing of both foulness and hope sent to him by Shedim to both warn us away and give us one last weapon to face Momuz, and with nothing but a pick of stone, went alone to face Momuz. As what remained of the soldiers harrowed her grooms, Novod engaged the fel goddess in single combat, struck her down. Though he died to her poisonous vapors soon after, the grooms of the Nightbride fell back to the tunnels at the death of their wife.
We knew then that Zospu Smaxa had from the first been a trap. The noose with which Momuz sought to hang us. Those of us who remained gathered all that we could and tore down the walls that had sealed us in, repairing the ancient wagon that had first brought us here and setting out, over the mountains known as Beak of Daubbing and beyond the known world until we found another.
The humans call this place Ernir, "The Infinite Land." Here we hope, far away from the lands of our birth and Momuz, I hope still we may find the sign from Shedim promised to us, though almost none who remain still believe. The young born in Zopsu Smaxa's final days or those times of wandering that came soon after have made their own gods. The Jeweled Lady Tobul Colorpale, Kerlig the Fortress-King, Ust of the Sky; so many others. The sons and daughters of those I knew, sharing their names and so often their faces, we their elders are so few in number and tired in our bones.
As we stop here at this village of humans to trade for supplies and learn about the lands around us, I feel that I can go no further. Translated from their own tongue, the place is called Eversilk. It seems a fortuitous sign. Though some do not care to be among the long-legs, they've always treated us more fairly than the other races. This seems a fine place to rest.
Seven will go on to scout a cave south of here with the aid of a human guide. The rest of shall remain here and wait word of what they find.
I do not suspect that I will be alive when they send word, but I feel in my bones that this is the place we have been waiting for. The stone here is white, like the silk of a web. We have walked the tricky strands of Shedim's web to the center and the Cave Spider God has at last began to bind his strands about us. All that now remains will be to see if he choses to keep us safe... or bleed us dry.
Final journal entry of Urist Edemnokzam
Last Priestess of Shedim
---
A new land to settle!
Neither ancient nation of Losiszas nor Kubuk Ikud exist anymore, as those dwarves who remain now know themselves as Lokum Zes, "The Spears of Branding," for they shall mark their names upon this world with the point of a spear if need be.
So, it has been an unofficial 50 years and this new batch of dwarves are either the named-in-honor children of the previous group or the few remaining elders. You can decide for yourself which you'd prefer.
Let me know if I've missed anyone to re-dorf or there are any desired profession changes.
The Clan of the Cave Spider
Kiratha Jr: Mechanic/Carpenter/Animal Trainer
Zero: Architect
Sognard, Son of Eric and Bob: Miner/Engineer/Mason
Karakzon Jr: Military, Marksdwarf
Mekboy: Organiser/Record Keeper/Broker
Bob: Fisher/Farmer
melkor: Manager/Bookkeeper
Nonobots: Bower/Bonecarver/Leatherworker
Cheveux: Bonecarver/Stonecrafter/Woodcrafter
Elfeater: Military
Firelordsky: Military, Crossbow
Dzharius: Military, Spear
Xil, Daughter of Lofn: Doctor, Butcher, Tanner
Rain: Fisher/Woodcutter
Novod: Miner
Remalle: Craftsdwarf
Shaman: Bonecarver/Animal Trainer
Urist McHuman: Milita Crossbow/Bonecarver/Woodcrafter/Stonecrafter
Embark Dwarves
Here is the initial line up. If you see a dwarf you like in these first seven, claim 'em. First come first serve and all that.
Dwarf #1 - Claimed: Sogard, Son of Eric and Bob
(http://i55.tinypic.com/2wd92bo.jpg)
(http://i56.tinypic.com/2ah7c3q.jpg)
(http://i53.tinypic.com/zo6m1l.jpg)
(http://i52.tinypic.com/20kd5b5.jpg)
(http://i53.tinypic.com/29vapht.jpg)
(http://i51.tinypic.com/al5gkj.jpg)
(http://i53.tinypic.com/a46d15.jpg)
The Gods of Lokum Zes
The New Gods of the new dwarven nation. Uker is possibly the most badass beetle ever.
Tobul Dakasabal, "Tobul Colorpale": Dwarven Goddess of Jewels and Minerals
Kerlig: Dwarven God of Metals and Fortresses
Urdim Uzolzes Asen Nelas, "Urdim Oilybranded the Gravel of Flickering": Fire Imp God of Volcanos and Mountains
Ngathsesh Ostarlashid, "Ngathsesh Buriedspittle": Dwarven God of Deformity, Disease, and Wealth
Icum Kirar Aval, "Icum the Rights of Love": Dwarven Goddess of Generosity
Lal Zuden Ushesh," Lal the Keeper of Imprisoning": Dwarven Goddess of Laws and Order
Ust: Bummble Queen Godess of the Sky and the Wind
Atir Legondakas, "Atir Wandercolored": Dwarven God of Revelry and Rainbows
Zukthist: Dwarven God of Lies
Uker: Beetle Goddess of Storms, Thunder, Lightning, Rain, Plants, Animals, and Rulership
The Old Gods
Shedim: Cave Spider God of Jewels, Minerals, Metals, Mountains, and Caverns
Momuz - False and Fallen Dwarven Goddess of Suicide
New Dwarves
So, here are the new arrivals from both migration waves. They came so close to one another and with so much peaceful non-eventing taking place that I'm just going to pretend they all showed up at the same time.
New Dwarf #1
http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f1/greymane_lor/cotcpnewdorf1.jpg
http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f1/greymane_lor/cotcpnewdorf2.jpg
http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f1/greymane_lor/cotcpnewdorf3.jpg
http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f1/greymane_lor/cotcpnewdorf4.jpg
http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f1/greymane_lor/cotcpnewdorf5.jpg
http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f1/greymane_lor/cotcpnewdorf6.jpg
http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f1/greymane_lor/cotcpnewdorf7.jpg
http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f1/greymane_lor/cotcpnewdorf8.jpg
http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f1/greymane_lor/cotcpnewdorf9.jpg
http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f1/greymane_lor/cotcpnewdorf10.jpg
http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f1/greymane_lor/cotcpnewdorf11.jpg
http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f1/greymane_lor/cotcpnewdorf12.jpg
http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f1/greymane_lor/cotcpnewdorf13.jpg
Greymane, could you post the raws of the jumping spiders?
Sure, though they really aren't anything special. I just took a giant cave spider, shrunk it down to cat-size and made it hunt vermin, took out it's thick webs, changed it's colors, and gave it a far weaker poison. It's a bit of a hack job, really, but it amused me to have them around.
[CREATURE:SPIDER_JUMPING_SPIDER]
[DESCRIPTION:A large breed of domesticated spider used to hunt vermin.]
[NAME:jumping spider:jumping spiders:jumping spider]
[CASTE_NAME:jumping spider:jumping spiders:jumping spider]
[CREATURE_TILE:'S'][COLOR:3:0:1]
[PETVALUE:50]
[AT_PEACE_WITH_WILDLIFE]
[HUNTS_VERMIN]
[PET][COMMON_DOMESTIC]
[BIOME:SUBTERRANEAN_CHASM]
[UNDERGROUND_DEPTH:1:2]
[WEBIMMUNE][PARALYZEIMMUNE]
[USE_MATERIAL_TEMPLATE:SILK:SILK_TEMPLATE]
[WEBBER:LOCAL_CREATURE_MAT:SILK]
[NO_SLEEP]
[NOPAIN][EXTRAVISION][NOSTUN][NOEMOTION][NOFEAR]
[LARGE_ROAMING]
[CARNIVORE][NATURAL]
[GRASSTRAMPLE:10]
[PREFSTRING:beautiful chitin]
[NOBONES]
[BODY:SPIDER:2EYES:HEART:GUTS:BRAIN:MOUTH]
[BODY_DETAIL_PLAN:CHITIN_MATERIALS]
[BODY_DETAIL_PLAN:CHITIN_TISSUES]
[BODY_DETAIL_PLAN:EXOSKELETON_TISSUE_LAYERS:CHITIN:FAT:MUSCLE]
[SELECT_TISSUE_LAYER:HEART:BY_CATEGORY:HEART]
[TL_MAJOR_ARTERIES]
[BODY_DETAIL_PLAN:STANDARD_HEAD_POSITIONS]
[USE_MATERIAL_TEMPLATE:SINEW:SINEW_TEMPLATE]
[TENDONS:LOCAL_CREATURE_MAT:SINEW:200]
[LIGAMENTS:LOCAL_CREATURE_MAT:SINEW:200]
[HAS_NERVES]
[USE_MATERIAL_TEMPLATE:ICHOR:ICHOR_TEMPLATE]
[BLOOD:LOCAL_CREATURE_MAT:ICHOR:LIQUID]
[CREATURE_CLASS:GENERAL_POISON]
[GETS_WOUND_INFECTIONS]
[GETS_INFECTIONS_FROM_ROT]
[USE_MATERIAL_TEMPLATE:PUS:PUS_TEMPLATE]
[PUS:LOCAL_CREATURE_MAT:PUS:LIQUID]
[BODY_SIZE:0:0:500]
[BODY_SIZE:1:0:2000]
[BODY_SIZE:2:0:5000]
[BODY_APPEARANCE_MODIFIER:LENGTH:90:95:98:100:102:105:110]
[BODY_APPEARANCE_MODIFIER:HEIGHT:90:95:98:100:102:105:110]
[BODY_APPEARANCE_MODIFIER:BROADNESS:90:95:98:100:102:105:110]
[MAXAGE:20:30]
[USE_MATERIAL_TEMPLATE:VENOM:CREATURE_EXTRACT_TEMPLATE]
[STATE_NAME:ALL_SOLID:frozen jumping venom]
[STATE_ADJ:ALL_SOLID:frozen jumping venom]
[STATE_NAME:LIQUID:jumping venom]
[STATE_ADJ:LIQUID:jumping venom]
[STATE_NAME:GAS:boiling jumping venom]
[STATE_ADJ:GAS:boiling jumping venom]
[PREFIX:NONE]
[ENTERS_BLOOD]
[SYNDROME]
[SYN_NAME:jumping spider bite]
[SYN_AFFECTED_CLASS:GENERAL_POISON]
[SYN_IMMUNE_CREATURE:SPIDER_CAVE:ALL]
[SYN_INJECTED]
[CE_DIZZINESS:SEV:10:PROB:100:RESISTABLE:SIZE_DILUTES:START:5:PEAK:10:END:20]
[ATTACK:STING:BODYPART:BY_CATEGORY:MOUTH]
[ATTACK_SKILL:BITE]
[ATTACK_VERB:bite:bites]
[ATTACK_CONTACT_PERC:100]
[ATTACK_FLAG_EDGE]
[ATTACK_PRIORITY:MAIN]
[SPECIALATTACK_INJECT_EXTRACT:LOCAL_CREATURE_MAT:VENOM:LIQUID:100:100]
[ATTACK_FLAG_CANLATCH]
[ALL_ACTIVE]
[CHILD:1]
[GENERAL_CHILD_NAME:broodling:broodlings]
[HOMEOTHERM:10040]
[CASTE:FEMALE]
[FEMALE]
[LAYS_EGGS]
[EGG_MATERIAL:LOCAL_CREATURE_MAT:EGGSHELL:SOLID]
[EGG_MATERIAL:LOCAL_CREATURE_MAT:EGG_WHITE:LIQUID]
[EGG_MATERIAL:LOCAL_CREATURE_MAT:EGG_YOLK:LIQUID]
[EGG_SIZE:87]
[CLUTCH_SIZE:10:14]
[CASTE:MALE]
[MALE]
[SELECT_CASTE:ALL]
[SET_TL_GROUP:BY_CATEGORY:ALL:CHITIN]
[TL_COLOR_MODIFIER:AQUA:1:LIGHT_BLUE:1:CERULEAN:1:SKY_BLUE:1]
[TLCM_NOUN:chitin:SINGULAR]
[SET_TL_GROUP:BY_CATEGORY:EYE:EYE]
[TL_COLOR_MODIFIER:BLACK:1]
[TLCM_NOUN:eyes:PLURAL]
[SELECT_MATERIAL:ALL]
[MULTIPLY_VALUE:4]