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DF Community Games & Stories / Re: Smallhands - from cowering to echidnas to training grizzlies
« on: December 20, 2021, 07:37:05 am »
Before I begin, I would like to clarify something.
This :
is NOT me.
This is Spriggans the Sparkly. A great dwarf. One of the greatest to live.
He has been gifted the great Power of ressurection.
But fever and depression melted his (and his necromancers friends) brain.
He now lacks any intelligence, and only raises corpses on instinct.
I am not at all like Spriggans.
I am not stupid, nor can I revive dead things.
I am just a mere student. Trying my best to use Spriggans' power to understand the ghoulification process.
This process, could I master it, would greatly benefit dwarven-kind.
Now back at it !
Summer has been productive.
I was really really not expecting the Osprey men to move at all.
Dwarven records state that their carcasses were several years old !
They were in a very dry state, and should really not have risen.
Yet here they are, skinless, muscleless, lacking fleshy tissues and organs :
Even without eyes, the birds have the intelligent cyan glow in their orbits.
They even OPENED THE DOOR by themselves (the cage traps I placed prooved useful there).
They look intelligent.
They are intelligent.
This is a success ! I produced forlorn ghoul !
Could it be concluded that the state of freshness of the corpse is not of primal importance ?
But I must admit these birds still look like beasts to me. They are wild, and un-civilised.
The next specimens will need to be of a civilised specie for more interresting results.
I placed the bird men in a cozy room designed especially for them.
I will give them time to recover after years without moving.
I'll let them stabilize before interrogation. I hope they communicate. But I have little hope, as they lack any organs.
Maybe the state of freshness WAS important after all...
A few months have passed.
The birds were mute and deaf.
Interrogation was unproductive. In the end, they were just animals.
Intelligent animals, granted. But birds anyway.
The dwarves refuse to tame or train them.
The birds are useless...
Yet, this experiment was not a complete failure.
The lack of organs, (esp. the lack of lungs) of the risen birds made me realise something.
Undeads do not breathe...
I would turn this to my advantage.
I started working on a little project which would help me acquire deceased specimens of satisfactory quality.
This is Smallhands' tree-farm-water-supply :
It is conviniently placed near the Surface.
I asked the dwarves to build a little contraption for me near the bargaining area.
It will be used when given the chance.
I must acquire more interresting studying material.
During the last months, I searched our fortress for ANY supply of interresting biomass I could get my hands into.
Apart from boring dead animals, the only accessible materials I could get were :
- N : Racon. A wormy titan. Not at all dangerous. But unique enough to warrant study.
- Ñ : Kol Rimtarbuzat. A "yellow tainted" dwarf. Strangely, the dwarves were afraid of him.
- Experimentations on the body of Racon prooved fruitless.
The worm raised as a mere crude and mindless animated flesh.
Was I really expecting a worm to be intelligent ?
Such a waste of my time !
On the other hand, on the body of Kol, my knowledge prooved sucessful !
I did it again !
This time, it was not a fluke !
Welcome back agonst the living, Kol, my friend.
My dear, intelligent friend.
I will escort him in a resting room for a while. Let him regain his senses.
I realize his body was not perfectly fresh, having been drying out under the Sun for who knows how long.
Still, I have good hope he will be more compliant than the birds.
I will soon examine his body. I must know if his organs are intact.
Interrogations will have to happen.
This summer was productive
I think I begin to understand ghoulification better.
But I need to test things further !
I am about to make a breakthrough that would benefit all dwarven-kind.
My work has to continue.
The time has come to test the process on a larger scale.
Smallhands corpses are lacking, but I have to get more !
I must find a much, MUCH larger supply of fresh corpses.
This :
is NOT me.
This is Spriggans the Sparkly. A great dwarf. One of the greatest to live.
He has been gifted the great Power of ressurection.
But fever and depression melted his (and his necromancers friends) brain.
He now lacks any intelligence, and only raises corpses on instinct.
I am not at all like Spriggans.
I am not stupid, nor can I revive dead things.
I am just a mere student. Trying my best to use Spriggans' power to understand the ghoulification process.
This process, could I master it, would greatly benefit dwarven-kind.
Now back at it !
Summer has been productive.
I was really really not expecting the Osprey men to move at all.
Dwarven records state that their carcasses were several years old !
They were in a very dry state, and should really not have risen.
Yet here they are, skinless, muscleless, lacking fleshy tissues and organs :
Even without eyes, the birds have the intelligent cyan glow in their orbits.
They even OPENED THE DOOR by themselves (the cage traps I placed prooved useful there).
They look intelligent.
They are intelligent.
This is a success ! I produced forlorn ghoul !
Could it be concluded that the state of freshness of the corpse is not of primal importance ?
But I must admit these birds still look like beasts to me. They are wild, and un-civilised.
The next specimens will need to be of a civilised specie for more interresting results.
I placed the bird men in a cozy room designed especially for them.
I will give them time to recover after years without moving.
I'll let them stabilize before interrogation. I hope they communicate. But I have little hope, as they lack any organs.
Maybe the state of freshness WAS important after all...
A few months have passed.
The birds were mute and deaf.
Interrogation was unproductive. In the end, they were just animals.
Intelligent animals, granted. But birds anyway.
The dwarves refuse to tame or train them.
The birds are useless...
Yet, this experiment was not a complete failure.
The lack of organs, (esp. the lack of lungs) of the risen birds made me realise something.
Undeads do not breathe...
I would turn this to my advantage.
I started working on a little project which would help me acquire deceased specimens of satisfactory quality.
This is Smallhands' tree-farm-water-supply :
It is conviniently placed near the Surface.
I asked the dwarves to build a little contraption for me near the bargaining area.
It will be used when given the chance.
I must acquire more interresting studying material.
During the last months, I searched our fortress for ANY supply of interresting biomass I could get my hands into.
Apart from boring dead animals, the only accessible materials I could get were :
- N : Racon. A wormy titan. Not at all dangerous. But unique enough to warrant study.
- Ñ : Kol Rimtarbuzat. A "yellow tainted" dwarf. Strangely, the dwarves were afraid of him.
- Experimentations on the body of Racon prooved fruitless.
The worm raised as a mere crude and mindless animated flesh.
Was I really expecting a worm to be intelligent ?
Such a waste of my time !
Spoiler: OOC (click to show/hide)
On the other hand, on the body of Kol, my knowledge prooved sucessful !
I did it again !
This time, it was not a fluke !
Welcome back agonst the living, Kol, my friend.
My dear, intelligent friend.
I will escort him in a resting room for a while. Let him regain his senses.
I realize his body was not perfectly fresh, having been drying out under the Sun for who knows how long.
Still, I have good hope he will be more compliant than the birds.
I will soon examine his body. I must know if his organs are intact.
Interrogations will have to happen.
This summer was productive
I think I begin to understand ghoulification better.
But I need to test things further !
I am about to make a breakthrough that would benefit all dwarven-kind.
My work has to continue.
The time has come to test the process on a larger scale.
Smallhands corpses are lacking, but I have to get more !
I must find a much, MUCH larger supply of fresh corpses.
Spoiler: OOC (click to show/hide)
