Oh. Oh my. I remember the Meatgod thing. Gave me the creeps then. Gave me the creeps now.
I have a test in around 11 hours, followed by a day of trying to get a map-reduce framework to not be a fiddlin' twat. After that, I'll get around to writing some shit. I fucking promise.
!!WARNING!!: Those spoiler tags are there for your protection.
Regarding the sequel. There are a million things we can do to keep it within the Steelhold universe. The Saints and the Bloodkin are part of but one world, after all. The Saints might be mobilized in a different world if need be, and Shank's mission is to spread the Bloodkin to other worlds created by Armok and conquer them.
the Bloodkin are contained in this world,
If can stick to this world and move to a different landmass, or move on to another world entirely. Either way, this 'verse can continue if we wish it. The hard thing to settle on would be a theme/setting for the fortress itself.
Once again, I'm all for a coastal fort. I like building massive wooden constructions over or near the open water, like waterfronts and slums and fishing villages. Hopefully, that's not just me. A scheme of segregation like the one present in Glovedloved wouldn't go amiss either, or something more in line with I'll be writing about tomorrow: a central fortress, surrounded by tiny farming hamlets in the caverns. Also, a heavily fortified cliff-face. Always wanted me one of those, though I have no idea how to cause conflict from just that.
Oh wow, goddamn. I just had me a wicked idea for a plot in a coastal fort. If we don't settle for one of those and I can find the time (bahaha, I crack me up), maybe I'll run it solo.
So, in short, the way I see it, we need the following:
- Establish a setting. Do we carry on within the Steelhold world? Keep only its growing mythos? Start anew? Do we establish a direction for a new setting, or let it emerge the way it did in Steelhold?
- Build the world. Do we stick to vanilla DF? Throw in a few mods to diversify civs, or add references to the Steelhold mythos, if we stick to it?
- Choose a location. The resources available within an embark can determine the local economy, and the possibilities for the fort's future. Where do we embark? The desert? A forest? A mountain? An ocean, a cliff, a massive river?
- Find a source of conflict. Conflict is the heart of a good yarn. Where does it come from? Internal schisms only? Internal as well as external? What's the external threat? What's the internal threat? What divides our dwarves? Rich vs Poor? Guards vs Inmates? Communists vs Capitalists? Zealots vs Scientists? Secretive Corporation vs Secretive Corporation? How many of these pile-ups can we get away with? And this says nothing of how much room is left for emerging factions (which should be plenty, as we've seen that it works well).
- Do we set longterm goals for the fortress? We could be trying to dam a river. Build a surface castle, a shipyard, a giant statue of Armok's wang. A geothermal powerplant. Work on a more practical, long-term project, such as a surface town, or something of little to no practical use, like a temple complex, a fortified wall, or Demongate's schoolhouse? Or even nothing at all. This is Dwarf Fortress, and we are all proven loons. An idea is bound to pop up sooner or later. It's just harder to execute truly massive, long-term projects with yearly succession.
As for Demongate itself. If we can't keep it alive, I suggest we make with the ending. No idea how we can contact Gnorm to get his part of it, though.
Did you think that you could get away with putting the words "Coastal fort" and "Shipyard" into the same post without someone nerding over it? Hah hah, please.
If Demongate's successor happens to go down that route then it will be only natural progression that it's players begin to make it a sort of competition over who can build the bestest boat within the span of a year, flaunting their dwarven magnificence and ingenuity over those who could only dream of such overwhelming beautiful and otherworldly machinations that almost glide off the surface of the seas. But with the inclusion of ships also comes with it some circumstances unusual to the normal dwarf fortress experience. If there are to be boats, then there would also have to be a crew to man it. Someone to guide the ship through the featureless seas, a navigator. Someone to command them all, the captain. Of course, the game doesn't support anything like going out of the site of the fortress or even moving sea vessels for that matter, but this IS a group of role players, it would be easy to say that the boats are out searching for new lands or patrolling nears the coasts and protecting trade.
Speaking of trade, lets talk about the overly romanticized vultures of the oceans, pirates. Yes, we could have members of the fortress be pirates or buccaneers, sailing the waters in search of a floating treasure trove sporting our enemies colors as their flag. But before you get too giddy and start imagining how you can make a character like Jack Sparrow, lets take a closer look at the dwarves themselves.
Where does the dwarves get their inspiration from? What are the dwarves based on? Will I actually make a point with all these questions?
The first clue of the dwarves' real world inspiration is there appearance. Every single dwarf I have seen thus far have very long beards, usually with braids, and some art for the game has shown the little men wearing the classic dual horned helms we have all seen at some point or another. Anyone with a bit of mideastern knowledge will probably identify those a two traits as being most common in old Scandinavia ( current day Sweden or Norway). There are a few other similarities, like the religious system the dwarves employ being pagan, same as the Norse, and such, but the dwarves technological prowess when compared to the rest of the world(s) they inhabit throws the whole comparison into the curb somewhat. While being impressive with their fancy plaid clocks and scary horned helmets (which weren't an actual thing, by the way), the Scandinavians weren't exactly known for their outstanding intelligence or advances into technology. Nor does their own government function the same as the dwarves, who employ a much more refined monarchy, while most of Scandinavia was made of chiefdoms rather then lords and kings. Most of the real improvements to known science were conceived in the western coast of Europe, not the Mideast. Yet still, the dwarves outclass everyone else when it comes to their know-how, and we players do make sure to rub in to all those good for nothings on the surface, which brings me to the conclusion of the question of the dwarves real world counterpart. According to my unprofessional opinion, the most accurate equivalent ethnic group of the dwarves of dwarf fortress to the real world would be a Westernized Norse. Yay.
And finally I get to the point. What were the Norse known for? To name just a few things, Beowulf, Thor, and Vikings.
What I'm saying is, we could make our dwarves Vikings and it would totally fit. So yeah, Coastal is the way the go. Please.
