"Zak, I don't care how much time you spent on it, or how much you like it, destroy the damned tomb. Nobody can know who I am, it would make things too difficult." The General turned to face her friend, but found him suddenly missing. She then realized that the walls around her were different too. These were not the engraved walls of Obursavot Anil, the HeroicStand of Glory. These were older walls....ancient but not worn or destroyed by time. She felt strange....like she had when she was in Warholla, but she would have noticed herself dying again. She followed the corridor to a large open room. In it an ancient, grizzled dwarf was sitting in front of a table, staring into a burning brazier, not seeming to notice her. She tried to sneak back into the corridor, when his voice boomed throughout the hall.
"Urist Babkadol, she that led the defense of Pickspells before dying a glorious death....she that was recalled to a life by the ancient blood pact of Armok to lead the HeroicStand of Glory that saved the dwarven kingdom....she that disappeared from history itself at my call. Welcome, to Warholla." She looked around the room and realized that this indeed was Warholla, except that it was empty. Nobody sang songs or drank in celebration of victory here. The blessed afterlife of dwarves had been turned into a sterile tomb.
"Where are the heroes? Where is the song and drink?" She asked, approaching him. The walls here were blank, smoothed but without the depictions of glorious battle that once filled every space in this great hall.
"The heroes, like you, have disappeared. None but I, whose blood created your entire race can remember them. You see, when that dwarf recalled you to life, as is allowed by the ancient pacts, he let loose knowledge into the world that was best left buried. The goblins took one of your friends, Thuellia, and tortured him until he gave up everything he knew, including some suspicions that you were not who you said you were. Goblin legends feared your last incarnation, and that is where they searched first. They looked at Pickspells, and found your tomb empty, and the smell of ritual magic in the air. Their demon leader drew on that magic to corrupt the very world itself, displacing the goblin and elven heroes from time to bring them to his present to fight you. In doing so, he removed the reason for dwarven heroes to exist. In one stroke, he reshaped existence itself, causing history and reality to collapse in on themselves. The world now is one without dwarven heroes. Your race is pathetic and weak, all but destroyed. My power is all but ended, without the sacrifice of war. Soon the elf and goblin menace will rule this doomed world, and the dwarves will fade from all memory. The fire of the dwarves has been extinguished."
"You cannot let that happen. Warholla must be filled with the heroic dead, and the goblins and elves must be sent to the fiery pits of hell where they belong." Before she realized what was happening, the General had the dwarf by his tunic and was shaking him.
"Maybe there is fire enough to try something." The dwarf laughed. Her grip loosened, as he stood, and transformed into something awe-inspiring. He became a dwarf, dozens of feet tall, dressed a deep red tunic and cape that glowed with thousands of magical gems. His arms and face were stained bright red with blood, and his eyes glowed red with power. "What say you now, Urist Babkadol? Do you not fear the Blood God?"
"I do not fear death. Return me to life so I may make sacrifices in your name until I have earned a place for myself in these halls once again."
He pointed his finger at her, and she was bathed in red light. She landed hard on a grassy hill. A second later, the ground shook as a warhammer landed in front of her, burying itself partially into the ground with the force of its landing. She picked it up, easily pulling it from the ground. It felt familiar, the weight and heft perfect for her. She looked around and saw a wagon and six stout figured gathered around it. She started to approach when she saw three beak-dog mounted goblins riding down the road. Then she noticed two more, riding around the wagon, taunting the dwarves there. A smile came across her lips, as she ran into the fray.
The first goblin and its mount didn't see her coming. She bashed in the dog's skull, and kicked the goblin in the teeth. The second swung its sword at her, but she crushed its leg with a mighty hammer blow, breaking the dog's ribs as well. A follow-through blow broke the dog's neck, and she pulled the goblin from the saddle before hammering its chest in.
She smiled to the three riding down the hill at her. Picking up the two fallen goblins' blades, she hurled them one at a time at the group. The first caught the lead goblin in the chest, and the second sliced the arm off of the the second. Both were tossed to the ground, and the poorly trained beak dogs began eating their former masters, both still alive enough to feel the pain of being eaten. Deciding this dwarf was too much for him to handle alone, the last goblin broke off, riding for the hills as fast as he could spur his mount on.
The General turn to the cowering dwarves. "You are miserable excuses for dwarves. What are your names?"
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I need six dwarves for this community fort. There are rules to this fort outlined below, but in addition there are a couple extra rules because of the nature of the world.
1. No military skills in initial dwarves. You are a cowardly lot of broken dwarves. Any other skills are allowed (weapon and armor making skills are okay to have, but please have an excuse as to why you are skilled at something the society has no real use for). You can spend 50 points on skills.
2. If you want any special equipment please mention it. I will not worry about points, but will be bringing 2 picks and 2 axes. We will have an anvil (used to thinking of them as 1000pt monsters not 100 pt ones) and I will try to bring along any extra equipment you'd like.
And remember, we're here to fill Warholla with victorious dead....so your dwarf very well may die. I will try to make any deaths as glorious as possible in writing (even if they are lame in-game). Players with dead dwarves may ask for another dwarf, and I will try to satisfy all requests. In the past I have always had more dwarves than requests.
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Rules:
Dwarves for the Dwarf God! - Because of the nature of the world, Elves and Goblins hate us. Humans, in an effort to pursue peace with the Elven Empire, have elected to forego trading with us. While occasionally a human trader will brave the fort for our wares, we should not expect them frequently (Self-imposed rule. Elves have been modded to be hostile from the start. We will only trade with humans on years divisible by 4, representing the occasional human willing to trade with us).
Military Bastion - This is a fortress whose sole purpose is to kill as many goblins and elves as can be sent against it. As such, we shall build up a mighty fighting force of dwarves, build massive fortifications from which to rain down bolt, ballista and catapult fire, and should the enemy make it through they will face the steel of a fully trained military force. Fully 1/4 of the dwarf population must be active-duty military at all times after year 4.
No such thing as a civilian - All dwarves who enter the fort (including children when they are old enough) must be trained in one weapon skill, wrestling, and armor and shield use if possible, to the no-adjective skill level.
Traps are for cowards - The only traps allowed are cage traps.
War touches everything - Raws modified so that all creatures can be trained as war and hunting animals (War Bears! War Hippos! War Carp!)
We will starve but we must export! - To help setup other outposts and ensure dwarvendom will survive, after year 2 no food or finished goods can be imported. Resources can be imported, but not finished goods. In addition, we must strive whereever possible to export weapons, food, and other supplies neccesary for the creation of additional fortresses (including caged war animals)
Previous forts in this storyline:
The Crazed GeneralThe General Reborn(Several years after RL issues forced me to disappear off of the face of the Earth, I am back and wanting to run another community fort.)
