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25th Moonstone
As with all mornings since Ase left his village, he is simply glad to be alive. With no particular bearings on where to go he sets of East South East for the lake he spied from the mountains. Ase is careful now, always creeping along, giving all creatures a wide berth.

It is not long before he comes upon a coven of falcon women. Ase has never seen a half beast half human before. He has also never seen a naked woman before. He is simultaneously fascinated by their naked breasts but repulsed by their enormous bird heads. He leaves unnerved and confused.

Mid-morning Ase happens upon a flock of mountain goats. Although he still has some meat left he would prefer more. Also these goats don't look to obstinate. Ase uses his tried and true jump-out-of-the-bushes-screaming-and-throwing-rocks technique with great success.

Further into the lower hills the wildlife become more dense. Ase is forced to make more detours to get around the many herds and flocks of beasts.

As the sun goes down, Ase feels comfortable sleeping here. There were no aggressive creatures in sight for the last few hours. Crawling into a crevice, Ase sleeps.

26th Moonstone
Expecting the dawn Ase is startled awake. In the gloom he cannot see well but he is uneasy. He is hungry and parched but dares not light a fire. Quietly he gathers up his belongings and creeps away hoping that whatever was hunting him would not see.

After some time, Ase finds another nook to squeeze into and sleeps again.

Upon waking Ase finds the sun up and the weather warm enough to melt the ice in his waterbag. He continues East in the hills and the going is much faster.

Hardly a mile goes by before Ase sees some new creature. In this case it is a herd of camels. He ponders the idea of killing one and eating it. Realizing that their feet were the size of dinner plates and that a single kick could easily kill him, he moves on. He makes a mental note to ask someone about camel barbecue (if he should survive).

It is the afternoon as Ase comes upon a might lake. It is so large he cannot see the opposite side.

He decides not to cross, not knowing what might be living in these waters. Instead he decides to follow the river and stay close to the cliffs where there are no bogeymen. He fills his water bag to the brim and turns south.

As he travels south the lake turns to ice. Ase knows that sudden warming could melt the lake so he stays on the shore. His progress is good til he meets his most frightening sight yet.

Ahead on the shore is an enormous leech. It wriggles and writhes but does not notice him. It is covered in sores and smells horrific. Although Ase has never seen a risen undead creature, he is fairly certain that he should give this thing a lot of room.

It is not a solitary leech. There are many and soon Ase finds himself travelling on the surface of the icy lake.

Night falls again and Ase is faced with a difficult situation. He has been forced to stay on the frozen lake during his travels and now must sleep out here as well. He gets as much distance as he believes will keep him safe and lays down. This night, he sleeps at the ready axe in hand, backpack on his shoulders.

27th Moonstone
Ase is awoken in the early morning hours by a giant leech corpse. It is swift and Ase cannot outrun it. As the creature comes for him Ase throws bronze arrows at it. It is killed instantly by a single throw. Flustered, Ase looks about and sees many more of these creatures walking on the lake ice. He was wrong to assume that the worms would fear the unstable ground.

With great care Ase approaches near sheer cliffs rising in the South. The cliffs climb up to what seem were the cloud tops and a vast flat plateau. Following the cliff edge and avoiding the undead Ase comes upon strange geological formations.

After following the cliffs South for the entire day Ase finds a way down.

It is snowing as Ase lays down in a crevice to sleep. He recalls being told of the lands beyond the mountains, they were called "The Peaceful Dunes". It occurred to Ase that whoever came up with name had not actually spent any here.

He dreams. Ase 2 stands next to him on the cold hill side.
Ase 1: Where do I go now?
Ase 2: You keep going?
Ase 1: Yes, but where do I go.
Ase 2 shrugs
...

28th Moonstone
He is still alive. It is freezing cold. For the first time Ase notices that his clothing is wearing thin.

Travelling South along the river the ground turns a blood red. Ase is relieved to find out that this is simply clay and not blood soaked dirt. Ase spies a giant wren. He ambushes the bird and harvests the meat. As he butchers the bird he realizes that these hills are populated with a great many different varieties of birdmen.

Wanting to stay near hills where he can find hiding, Ase crosses the river.

Ase happens upon an odd outcropping of cliffs and boulders and decides to sleep there. As he drifts off to sleep he reassures himself that if the ethereal Ase 2 should visit him again, he will lecture the ghost on giving helpful directions.

He dreams. Ase 2 is on a hill above him. He is shooting at something out of sight. Ase 2 returns to his mortal companion's side.
Ase 1: Where do I go now?
Ase 2: You keep going?
Ase 1: Ah ha! Yes! This time you tell me where to go and don't give me that smug look and a shrug.
...

1st Opall
Ase awakens.
"What a jerk..."

His journey along the river is uneventful this day.

As night falls he has trouble finding a secluded place to sleep. The low hills allow a bitter cold wind chilling Ase to the bone.

He dreams. Ase 2 sits on the ground next Ase 1.
Ase 1: Where do I go?
Ase 2: You're almost there?
Ase 1: What, really?
Ase 2: Look, why are you listening to me, I'm a figment of your imagination. Seriously, if you don't know where you're going then neither do I.
Ase 1: I thought you were the spirit of Ase 2 visiting me to prophetically lead me to salvation and safety.
Ase 1: Ha! Would you listen to this guy!
...

2nd Opal
Ase awakens
"I swear by the gods..."
He has survived another night.

With the first morning light Ase crawls up the limestone rocks. He steps upon a wide and very flat plateau. A desert. But beyond that some mountains, and in the middle...a needle of black.

Ase stifles a cry of triumph but, for the first time since his failure at the volcano summit, he feels alive!

Ase follows the river East for one final day.

3rd Opal
Ase awakens in the dead of night. The hair on his neck standing up. Some creature is stalking him. Carefully sneaking out of his hole he sees a giant leopard. It must have picked up his scent. Ase quietly sneaks a good distance and sleeps one hour at a time.

Ase only dares to venture out with full daylight. He can now see the looming mountain range but cannot see the spire. He believes he can make it to the base of the mountains by nightfall.

Sneaking along that day he saw many different kinds of man-creatures. Some were rather cuddly looking, like the wombatmen. The dingomen however were a frightening sort. One would think, being somewhat anthropromorphized that they would be more human like in their behavior. They are not, they are dogs that look like people.

Ase successfully makes it to the feet of the mountains. Breathing a great sigh of relief he goes more slowly now.

Creeping along the ridges he approaches the spire, now in full view. It is magnificent and more amazing than he had envisioned it. But dusk is upon him. He decides to chance sleeping in the wilderness one last night. He desires to be well rested when finally approaching his goal.

He sleeps with a smile on his face.

He dreams.
Ase 2: I told you so.
Ase 1: Shut up!
...

4th Opal
The air is warm this morning. Ase can see the spire, he does not veer right or left in his approach.

He passes by a place of battle. All that's left is giant chinchilla blood and a bronze crossbow. It is difficult to tell who the victor was.

Approaching the spire Ase can now see it widening. He clambers up one last rise and there, before him, is the outer wall.

He stumbles up to the wall momentarily forgetting to be silent. He places his hands and head against the stone. He feels the smooth chisel work and smells the dust. The tears roll down his cheeks.

He has made it.

After some time his ears pick up the sounds of battle. Animal screeches, the shouts of humans? No. Dwarves. He remembers that he is not hidden, that any creature could come along and pick him off.

He sneaks North, keeping to the wall, towards the sounds of chaos. He hears the sound of a crossbow twanging. Occasionally there is a screech. There are Kea men flying over the walls of Bloodspire. On occasion one falls from the sky.

The ground below the wall is littered with iron bolts. The dwarven guard here are well armed.

Some distance down Ase happens upon a dwarf planter. Ase does not risk exposing himself and continues North.

Coming down the hill the great wall veers to the West. A yeti corpse lays in a pool of blood. Just as Ase proceeds a swarm of coyotes, mountain goats and kea men rush toward him. Ase is sure that he has not been spotted. Nonetheless they charge upon him. He will be spied! He scrambles backwards hoping to get out of their path...

Just as they come upon him, the planter Ase had forgotten comes down from the hill and gives chase to the pack. All the animals scatter. Ase spends a few moments to allow his heart to stop beating so quickly and to evaluate his situation.

A good drink of water and some goat meat replenish his fortitude. He continues on. Along the wall he continuously dodges creatures running to and fro. The screeches and baying continue, though now Ase can tell that they are coming from inside the fortress.

Ase finds a hole in the mountain. It is not smoothed. Perhaps an entrance. Ase enters with little deliberation, he must escape the chaos outside.

It is a long tunnel. In the gloom Ase can only hear the faint sounds of creatures meeting their end. Strangely he stumbles across a dead mountain goat. What was it doing in here?

All is quiet now except for a steady rapid drumming noise.

Ase continues and runs directly into a dwarf cook standing in a cubby. Ase screams and falls backwards.

Ase: WHO THE HELL ARE YOU?
Cook: I am the cook.
Ase: WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?
Cook: It was loud out in the courtyard. In a little while I will go outside and collect carcasses for our meat stores.

Ase stares at the dwarf still shaking from the shock. As he calms down he realizes the drumming was his own heart. It beats more slowly.

Ase stands and begins to walk again in the gloom. He nearly falls into a deep pit.

Ase: Gods! Why is there a huge pit?
Cook: It keeps the beasts out.
Ase: Weren't you going to tell me about it before I fell to my death?
Cook: You looked a bit shady to me. But since you didn't fall in I feel obligated to tell you about this lever behind me. It is for the bridge that crosses the gap.
Ase: What other surprises are down here?
Cook: None.
Ase: Can I trust you on that?
Cook: Probably not.

Ase glares at the cook as he pulls the lever. After some seconds and a generous amount of squeaking the bridge extends. He crosses gingerly waiting for any more surprises. From behind him he hears.

"Please raise the bridge once you've crossed."

Ase gropes about and finds another lever. Although he cannot see it, he hears the bridge raise. He creeps along the passage way. After some time he sees the tunnel's end, a bright light.

He emerges into a bright courtyard where a lone marksdwarf stands amidst dozens of corpses, body parts and enough blood to feed a village of vampires for a year. Ase makes no attempt to hide. The marksdwarf regards him for a moment then returns his gaze to the sky.

He notices a door next to him, inside everything is dark, he does not see anyone. He creeps slowly along the passageway. The hall is lined with fortifications. The architect of this fortress was clearly interested in pin-cushioning any unwelcome guests with lines of marksdwarves. Carefully he walks along the hall where he finds two slabs and two magnificent statues. He goes down the stairs. There is little light down here, there are no sounds.

He feels his way about to and finds a room of fine beds and beautiful golden weapon rack. On it is a splendid artifact weapon.

Looking back at the beds, Ase realizes that he is tired. He has never been more tired in his life. He has not slept in a bed of this quality in all his life. It beckons him. He drops his pack, his weapon and shield clatter to the  floor. He lays gingerly on the bed realizing for the first time how sore he is, how his clothing is falling apart. He is dirty but does not care. He sleeps.

He is too tired to dream.

The End.



Ase's stats at retirement

I've written the Cliff's notes version of this journey which involved very little fast travel. My numberpad 6 and 3 keys are noticeably looser and I think I have carpal tunnel. Also once I got within the vicinity of Bloodspire my FPS dropped to about 3. So it was about 10 seconds between key presses. Seriously the scale of chaos at the entrance to Bloodspire was incredible. I didn't show too much in the screenshots because I don't want to ruin it for everyone else. But the place was a goddamn bloodbath.

To me this was one hell of an epic journey, I hope you enjoyed reading.

Here's to the shortlived but lovable Ase 2!

Here be the save:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/3uvx2o91gt4fo05/Necropia.zip

21st Moonstone Continued

The travellers march through the bleak forests, completely drenched in
the blood that falls from the sky. The stench is incredible, the
ground slippery. Because it is the day time, they are not accosted.

Around mid day they encounter a large paved highway leading
north/south. It is the last recognizable landmark they are likely to
see.

Climbing the steep hills it continues to rain blood.


As the night closes in, the two make camp on an open plateau.


"At least there’s no bogey men up here" mutters Ase 1 before rolling
over and trying not to shiver in the sanguine rain and freezing air.


22nd Moonstone
Ase 1 awakens to the sound of giggling some distance away. The weather
has mercifully turned from human blood downpour to hail. He notices
that Ase 2 is gone. As Ase 1 eats his morning meal Ase 2 returns as
gaily as ever. Ase 1 can't help but notice that his companion is
sporting some errant feathers on his hair and shoulders.

And so they walk East, through the mountains and the freezing cold. On
occassion Ase 2 breaks away and expertly brings down a kea or
peregrine.

"Surely we will be tracked by the trail of carcasses leading up the
mountain" thinks Ase 1 grimly as they trudge along.

As evening closes in, Ase 1 regards his tattered notes and determines
that they are still very, very far away from where Bloodspire is
fabled to be.

For a second night, the two travellers sleep on the high cold plain.


23rd Moonstone
On the third day the men climb East. But Ase 1 is beginning to have doubts.

Ase 1: We're getting close, why can't we see it yet?
Ase 2: See what?
Ase 1: The spire you dolt!
Ase 2: Are you sure you're reading that map right?
Ase 1: It's not a map, just some scribbles I made from the legends
back in the village.
Ase 2: So it's not a map.
Ase 1: No, shut up! It should be looming ominously over us now. It's
supposed to be enormous. A spire of pure obsidian defiantly piercing
the sky! A beacon of hope in the wo...
Ase 2: How does something loom?
Ase 1: It just ...looms...shut up!


The trek continues.


Evening approaches and the two men finally come to what they hope is
their final stop. It is too dark to see so yet another night is spent
in the cold.


24th Moonstone
They are still alive but it is very cold. Even Ase 2 is lower in
spirits this morning. They must melt ice into water for drink.


Ase 1: WHERE IS IT DAMNIT!!!!
Ase 2: I think something's wrong with your map.
Ase 1: It's not a a MAP DAMNIT!
Ase 2: Okay, okay. So what do we do now?
Ase 1: It's supposed to be East up in the mountains.
Ase 2: Well, could it be more East?
Ase 1: Maybe. Maybe I misheard the elder when he was telling his story.
Ase 2: Wait, so you listened to some old codger tell a fairy story and
something in that told you to actually pursue it?
Ase 1: Well I, uh, yes. Yes I guess I did. He was very convincing...
Ase 2: And then you recruited me to go with you.
Ase 1: You did say yes. Rather boistrously if I recall.
Ase 2: You're almost as dumb as me.
Ase 1: On that subject, what's with you and birds?

But Ase 2 is already dressing and preparing for the trek before them.

With quite a few words of encouragement, Ase 2 propels his friend
Eastward again, down the mountain side. In front of them they see a
great plain. It is not the prettiest of sights but it is a welcome
change from the snow and rock.

Not suprisingly going down the mountain is easier and much faster than
going up. The temperature begins to warm and the wildlife become more
frequent. A brief glimpse of a Wolverine humanoid gives them pause.
Ase 2 decides to stay by his friend's side.

Ase 2 is no longer chasing after birds. Either he has finally made
peace with the concept of flying creatures or, more likely, he has run
out arrows.

In the low hills Ase 2 is ambushed by a wolverine man. A short scuffle
ensues as Ase 2 bludgeons the beast with his iron bow while Ase 1
shoots arrows from a distance.

Ase 2 is victorious!

It is but a few hours before Ase 2 is again ambushed. This time by a
Giant Wolverine. The beast is enormous and terrible but Ase 2 is
unafraid. He charges into battle.
Seeing the state of his friend, Ase 1 contemplates the obviously short
life he will live if he tries to save Ase 2.

He turns.

He runs.

Ase 2's screams ring out for only a moment before they are silenced.
Ase 1 is already far from there, half tumbling down the slope of the
mountain, his breath and heartbeat in his ears.

For the rest of the day Ase 1 sneaks along in the scrub seething in
his own shame and grief.

The moon is rising just as Ase 1 finally descends into the valley. He
is tired. Distraught. Frightened.

As he lays down to rest many questions roll through his mind. "How
could I have gotten the location so wrong? Can I survive out here
without my friend? Do I have enough food? ...Why did he hate birds so
much?"

To be continued...

This is a story about two men named Ase.

18th Moonstone

A man stands in a town. He is an average looking fellow with nothing particularly interesting about him. He stands in the hamlet of Stormdrive in the Hills of Entrancing pondering the same question he has for the past several weeks.

Where do I go now?

His name is Ase Throatjustice (Ase 1) and despite having a brash, bold family name to him, he is gutless and completely useless. In fact, the way he holds his crude copper spear is a testament to this. Ase is sure of one thing though, the pointy end goes into the thing he wants to die.

Some weeks ago he decided that, following another string of death-by-exsanginuations in his home town, sticking around was not a good idea. A local legend told of the Bloodspire: tucked away in the Eastern mountains, it is supposed to be a refuge from the evil that haunts the world. A place to finally rest. He had also heard of the dangers involved in getting there. It seems, he thought, that they always put the best places far away and hard to get to. Why?

But back to the story...

Ase 1 ponders the scratches on his bare legs from the brief and disturbing encounter with an alley cat he had earlier. Perhaps, he thinks, it is time for some better garb. Also a better weapon to poke into creatures. He stops a nearby pig farmer and inquires about supplies. The villager scratches his head momentarily, grounded by the depth of a question unrelated to pig farming. He only knows of the nearby abandonded fortress "Hugmoon".


Since it is nearby Ase 1 heads straight for it.

Walking through the morning, Ase 1 finally comes upon the gates of Hugmoon. Sevearl herds of Emu mill about the area, careful to keep their distance. In the distance he hears the call of langurs.

"I'm not sure about langurs, but I bet emus are tasty" he says to himself.

Sneaking inside Ase 1 finds the keep and enters. Like the villager had said, this place is abandoned, with only a few meager piles of equipment left. Luck is with him today and he finds shark leather armor, iron low boots, some copper arrows, a nice leather bag for water, some woolen mittens and...

A copper cleaver.

Ase 1 grins, he knows how to use one of these. Mother could take the head off a duck with just one hack from one of these. Without ceremony Ase 1 drops his copper spear to the floor and hefts the cleaver.

Feeling a great deal more confident Ase strides out into the daylight. Once outside he realizes that he is nearly out of water. Annoyed and muttering to himself, he heads back to Stormdrive seeking their well.

Back in Stormdrive Ase 1 fills his new bag with water, enought to last a month he thinks. The bag is very heavy and weighs him down considerably.


Inquiring with another villager, Ase 1 asks about any other locations that may prove worthwhile for looting. The villager told him a great deal more about the area than the previous fellow.

His thirst quenched, and water bag filled he heads back to the previous fortress for game hunting.

Upon arriving back at Hugmoon, Ase 1 begins picking up basalt rocks and hurling them at the local emu population. Despite his enthusiasm, he is completely unable to hit a single one. After yet more muttering and embarressment he decides to simply throw rocks at the fortress wall.

As the afternoon approaches, Ase 1 decides that maybe, if he could just find a bow, he would be better at murdering the emu. He heads for Breedseals to the Southeast.


Upon arriving, lo and behold there are even more emu here. Dozens milling about the place. Inside too.

Sneaking into the keep he finds many goblin slaves and plenty of equipment. He finds an iron cap and more arrows. But no bow. He goes back outside to find dinner.

Luckily, just after stepping outside, his dinner goes running by in a flurry of leathery legs, a furry neck and grey feathers. Dinner looks like an emu.

He devises a technique whereby he runs into the entrance of the fortress and sneaks his way back into the courtyard area, hidden from the emu's gaze. Once within a few yards of the birds he throws a rock at one in hopes to bring it down.

After several tries he manages to hit one in the leg sending it crashing to the ground. With a cry of triumph he lunges upon it just as it staggers to its feet and he grabs the creature by its throat. Emus have a lot of throat real-estate, so this is not particularly difficult. The following exchange of blows is quite comical at best, neither party being able to do much to the other til Ase 1 comes to his senses and simply strangles the bird.

Whistling as he goes, Ase 1 neatly begins cutting off pieces of the unconscious emu, starting at the feet and working his way up. Good practice, he thinks. Once butchered, he grabs the meat and has his hard earned supper.

This night he sleeps in the fortress entrance way.

19th Moonstone

Ase awakes and continues his grizzly business inside and outside of the fortress for several hours. The goblin slaves in the keep were provided much needed entertainment that morning, watching the small insane man chase the emu about, occasionally pelting them with rocks and screaming.

Facing exhaustion Ase makes his way to a small pool just to the west of the fortress to bathe. Quite by accident he also finds out that he cannot swim. More floundering about and several lung fulls of water ultimately teach him to, at least, float.

Freshly cleaned and in high spirits Ase heads back into Breedseals for one last round of slaughter. This time he spies a pack of langurs near the keep. Rubbing his hands together he throws his rock and brings one low.

Ase manages to grab its tail before it promptly gives in to pain. This is, honestly, less fight than he's hoping for. He was expecting ferocious monkey claws and bites, perhaps some good natured screeching. He smacks it once or twice with the flat of his cleaver in hopes to wake it up. Not surprisingly, he brains the creature. After butchering, Ase determines that langur meet is edible but a bit stringy.

Seeing the noon day sun, Ase began to tire of the mindless mangling of the local fauna and decided that it was time to proceed vaguely towards Bloodspire. Perhaps now someone would join him in his journey.

His first planned stop would be Brimjuggled to the Northeast.

While travelling towards Brimjuggled, Ase stops in a small hamlet. Along with asking for permission to stay the night he also asks if there is some small service of the homeowner.

Ase 1: "Is there some small service I may perform for you in return for granting me board here?"
Cook: "Yes! I ask that you fell the terrible fiend Usbu Wipedhated. He is a days travel Southeast."
Ase 1:" A vampire?"
Cook: "A terrible one, yes."
Ase 1: "Murdered hundreds in thirst for blood etc?"
Cook: "Oh yes, plenty"
Ase 1:"I did say 'small task' didn't I? Killing the immortal is a bit more difficult than, say, sweeping floors."
Cook:"Perhaps but that's what we need."

Ase thanks him nonetheless and prepares for bed.

20th Moonstone
Ase travels in the early morning to the gates of Brimjuggled. It is a mighty fortress and must have held thousands of humans at one time.

Despite its size and grandeur, Ase only finds an iron bow. The bow is good and solid. Now if only he could find a quiver.

Disappointed with his finds here he moves on towards Dunechanced.

The trek is long but he makes it to Chanceshin hamlet just shy of Dunechanced. Haggard from his journey Ase stumbles to the first house he sees and asks for board. It is readily granted.

While preparing for sleep Ase spies a bowman across the room. He staggers over to the prone man...

Ase 1: Ho there! I am Ase Throatjustice, a bowman such as yourself.
Bowman: Well met. I am Ase Lulledfern.
Ase 1: Your name is Ase?
Ase 2: Yes, Ase.
Ase 1: We are both bowmen as well.
Ase 2: So it would appear.

An awkward pause ensues.

Ase 1: Would you consider joining me in my...
Ase 2: FOR BLOOD AND GLORY!!!!!!!

Another awkward pause.

Ase 1: Would you like to know where we're going first?
Ase 2: uh, yeah sure.
Ase 1: We are journeying to the fabled Tower of Bloodspire that lo...
Ase 2: TO BLOODSPIRE AND GLORY!!!!!!

Ase 1 is beginnig to regret approaching this fellow. The other lodgers stared unabashedly at the two.

Ase 1: Oh..uh..ok. We'll be off in the morning then.
Ase 2: Righto! Goodnight.

Ase 1 goes back to his makeshift bed wondering if he has made a mistake.

21st Moonstone
Ase 1 wakes early and rouses his companion(thankfully no screaming is involved). They walk towards Dunechanced. They walk for hours through the hail in the Malign Forests before making it to the fortress. Upon entering, it begins to rain human blood.



Ase 2 pauses to open his mouth and attempt to catch the drops of blood falling from the sky. After some time he returned his gaze to Ase 1 and perceived the look of disgust.

Ase 2:"No sense in wasting all that water you carryi..oh look, a peregrine!"

It is at this time that Ase 1 realizes, much like his own disposition, Ase 2's personality is at a odds with his surname.  Ase 2 proceeds to run about and kill two peregrines with an unsettling amount of glee in the pouring blood-rain.

Ase 1 enters the keep to look for shelter and equipment. A good find it is! He picks up an iron battleaxe, bronze chain leggings, a bronze mail shirt and an copper breastplate.

Upon coming out Ase 1 encounters his companion coming in, who is quite a sight. Completely drenched in human and peregrine blood, Ase 2 cheerily sits down to rest.

Ase 1: "This fortress is the last bit of civilization we will encounter from here on. Should we proceed. It's a straight shot East now.
Ase 2: How are we on water?
Ase 1: Including the blood? Good.
Ase 2: Food?
Ase 1: Good, though your insistence on killing everything in the sky should help.
Ase 2: Right, let's go then.

Ase 1 drops everything that is not needed for the journey, lightening his load. He leads his companion out the Eastern gate and towards (what he hopes) is his destiny.

To be continued....

These are the kinds of stories that make me say "God, this game is merciless."

Magma would definitely be one effective way of solving the problem. You'll need one hell of a magma pump stack to get it up to the surface and possibly above the southern hill. You can always make the pump materials from green glass in case you run out of magma-safe metals. Before I managed to put a bunch of dwarves in the hospital I could see it getting accomplished in a year. For the purposes of survival, though, it would be a race to make the area safe enough for the liaison to get in. I'm tempted to try the year again, this time basically turning the area south of the depot into one long green glass serrated disk trap fest and welcoming in some of our undead friends. But that would require another 6 hours at 60-70FPS while feeling like the captain of the Titanic.

Triple Post!! This time with violence!

4th Hematite
Another pig has gone wild so I decided to just have the Ochre Bells have fun chasing and murdering it. Got to keep these military types occupied.

The spear dwarf Unib chased the pig for sometime before finally stabbing it cleanly through the head. Now I’m off to the butcher’s workshop to make sure the pig doesn’t come back for revenge.


11th Hematite
Today we finally crushed the last of the original 5 caged undead. Time to reset.

13Th Hematite
Atir the child has been possessed and has claimed the southwestern Craftsdwarf’s shop. His list of demands is substantial so the fortress is now mobilized in finding everything. An extra pig will be slaughtered for its hide. Damn thing would probably revert to a wild state anyways.

20th Hematite
Since the only construction that’s going to occur is in the central and North Towers, I’ve had the masons  add a floor above the trade depot level on the central tower. For the time being it’s just another block storage pile but I hope it can be used for workshops or bedrooms eventually.

27th Malachite
Despite having all of the materials Atir desired, we were not able to satisfy his mood.

It is sad to have to put down a child.

2nd Galena
A cave in occurred while trying to remedy the new stockpiles level.

4th Galena
I noticed that we had a rather large dormitory that was likely constructed when we actually had things like migrants so it has been appropriated as a hospital. 3 dwarves lay there now: Sibrek, Mekkud, and Microcline.

6th Galena
Another collapse, this time with our own Chief medical dwarf taking serious injury. Construction has been halted on the new floor. For the time being we will take care of the wounded and clean house.

15th Galena
8 goblin ambushes showed up today.
The battle was amazing to watch.

Outside the Eastern Gate

The Southeast

The Northeast

Goblins sprang up from every direction and the battle was spectacular. Nearly every able body dwarf came up  to the top of the central tower to get a true panoramic vision of chaos and violence. It turns out that these goblins are surprisingly efficient at mowing down the undead. In just one day the number of enemies had been reduced by 100.

19th Galena
Although the ambushers were ultimately pushed back, the enemy count now rests at 212.  It would appear that the three necromancers causing us trouble have either fled or were struck down in the melee. For the time being corpses won’t be getting back up.

20th Galena
I spoke too soon. Another necromancer has survived.

28th Galena
The scheming necromancer has begun raising the dead again.


OOC:And that's summer.  This is a seriously difficult fortress.

Alrighty I'm on it.

EDIT: So...380ish undead and 39 surprsingly content dwarves.