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DF Community Games & Stories / Re: DF from scratch: The entirely player-made universe succession.
« on: July 19, 2013, 02:48:10 pm »
Update 4: In Which Spring Arrives and Preparations are Made for an Expedition
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Nothing has emerged to massacre us yet, so I'm going to find them. Blade will be digging a staircase to Cav2 while Chief and his boys reveal the rest of Cav1. Hopefully there's an underground passage to Cav3 or - gods help us - something more interesting down there
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Spoiler (click to show/hide)
24 MOONSTONE 126
Ye gods, we've found them! We've found it! The Underdark! The caverns! Ah, and it's such a wonderful sight. My sketches cannot adequately convey it - not the soft luminescence of the glowing moss, nor the height of the aspergillum trees, nor even the soft lapping of tiny waves against the shore of the lake. The silence is imposing, as well - on the surface, there is always the quiet roar of the river, the incessant chatter of the idiot brigade, the delightful sound of a hobbit retching up his last meal. Here, though - ah, it's blissful!
And the stone! Gods, I've never seen anything like it. I've no idea what it does, or what it's useful for, but Blade has tentatively identified it as Tetraline. We'll have to extend the staircase down the side of the rock arch that dominates this area and carve a few samples out.
Gods, this is incredible!
21 OPAL 126
Sadly, the drudgery of managing a village of seventeen must come first. New houses must be built in anticipation of any future refugees. Roads must be paved over to keep them traversable for when the spring rains come and drown us in mud. Food must be managed. Life goes on.
Thankfully, two of my greatest annoyances have been taken care of: the idiot brigade's vodka is gone, thank the gods, and Chiefappletree and his horrific yowling have been moved to a sealedcompartment apartment across town from me. I can finally sleep and even walk three feet without slipping on someone's lunch.
21 OBSIDIAN 126
We have breached the caverns. I'm going to assemble a squad of men to accompany me into the depths - we shall find the dwarves! We shall hunt the golden spiders in their shimmering webs of aurum! We shall face the Pale Riders, and claim their hearts as our prizes. Once we are safely through this cursed winter, I shall take my squad into the deeps, and we shall conquer
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1 GRANITE 127
The wounded hound was filled with the clamor of a dozen happy halflings eating second lunch. The last of the old year's pumpkins had been brought out of their caskets, with a few left in reserve, to hold a worthy feast in celebration of the river's thawing. Chiefappletree was gracing the gathering with verse 834 of "Tit Lovelytit's Titillating Tits", in which the titular character's pet tits do more rather unfortunate things; the others did their best to tune him out. I wish I had that kind of self control, but alas, I was forced to use my mayoral station to silence him upon my stately arrival.
The door slammed against the wall with a crack like a cave roof collapsing. The carousing ended at once, except for Chiefappletree, who proceeded on singing inanely.
"For the love of Wave, shut up!" I roared at him. He opened and closed his mouth a few more times like a marionette before staring at me with his mindless eyes, and then the only sound in the room was the furious quacking of two mallards in the dueling pit.
"Wotcha need, master Mayor?" One of the original settlers asked from his chair, leaning it back against the wall.
"I need two able-bodied halflings willing to follow me into the Underdark," I answered, sweeping my gaze over the assembled Wooddeathites. "We'll be armed with cudgels, bucklers, and the shirts on our back. We'll likely face down horrifying beasts of myth and legend, in pitch blackness. We'll - "
"And what exactly do we get out of it?" The halfling named Whelp Teawhite interrupted. "The satisfaction of having beat a legend to death with a stick?"
"Well, that," I answered. "And - "
"Count me in, master Mayor," Whelp grinned. Blossom, however, didn't look nearly as pleased.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?" she glared at him - they were lovers, I recall, discussing marriage. "What about us? Gods, what about you? This is madness!"
"Ah, dear - would you rather marry a farmer - " He ever-so-not-subtly stretched and flexed his biceps at the same time. " - or a farmer who clubbed a legend to death with just his brawn and a stick?"
Blossom snorted and rolled her eyes, but she let the matter drop.
"And what else would we get?" Another halfling - Dragon, the herbalist from the first group of refugees - asked.
"Gold," I said. I could see the eyes of every halfling man in that room widen, and more than a few of the women's as well. I knew the thoughts they were thinking - Aurum. The myth-metal. The metal so fine and so flexible and so soft that clothes could be made of it. Even a single scrap of Aurum would make a hobbit wealthy beyond his wildest dreams; the finest stews, the most impressive clothes, the purest tobbacco, the most intricate pipes - all available at his request, waiting only for him to ask to be brought out. Even Whelp looked more interested than before.
"I'm in," Dragon nodded slowly. "Blade's going down with you to dig already, eh? It's a cowardly man that won't go where his wife is willing, doubly so when they'd be going together."
I smiled. "We'll depart within the week. Cudgels and shields are in town hall. Maybe we'll find a few dwarves down there willing to trade for something sharper, too, eh?"
I left then. As soon as the door shut, the partying started up again, but it barely registered. I had a cavern to explore.
Ye gods, we've found them! We've found it! The Underdark! The caverns! Ah, and it's such a wonderful sight. My sketches cannot adequately convey it - not the soft luminescence of the glowing moss, nor the height of the aspergillum trees, nor even the soft lapping of tiny waves against the shore of the lake. The silence is imposing, as well - on the surface, there is always the quiet roar of the river, the incessant chatter of the idiot brigade, the delightful sound of a hobbit retching up his last meal. Here, though - ah, it's blissful!
And the stone! Gods, I've never seen anything like it. I've no idea what it does, or what it's useful for, but Blade has tentatively identified it as Tetraline. We'll have to extend the staircase down the side of the rock arch that dominates this area and carve a few samples out.
Gods, this is incredible!
21 OPAL 126
Sadly, the drudgery of managing a village of seventeen must come first. New houses must be built in anticipation of any future refugees. Roads must be paved over to keep them traversable for when the spring rains come and drown us in mud. Food must be managed. Life goes on.
Thankfully, two of my greatest annoyances have been taken care of: the idiot brigade's vodka is gone, thank the gods, and Chiefappletree and his horrific yowling have been moved to a sealed
21 OBSIDIAN 126
We have breached the caverns. I'm going to assemble a squad of men to accompany me into the depths - we shall find the dwarves! We shall hunt the golden spiders in their shimmering webs of aurum! We shall face the Pale Riders, and claim their hearts as our prizes. Once we are safely through this cursed winter, I shall take my squad into the deeps, and we shall conquer
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1 GRANITE 127
Village in spring, just before the meeting
The wounded hound was filled with the clamor of a dozen happy halflings eating second lunch. The last of the old year's pumpkins had been brought out of their caskets, with a few left in reserve, to hold a worthy feast in celebration of the river's thawing. Chiefappletree was gracing the gathering with verse 834 of "Tit Lovelytit's Titillating Tits", in which the titular character's pet tits do more rather unfortunate things; the others did their best to tune him out. I wish I had that kind of self control, but alas, I was forced to use my mayoral station to silence him upon my stately arrival.
The door slammed against the wall with a crack like a cave roof collapsing. The carousing ended at once, except for Chiefappletree, who proceeded on singing inanely.
"For the love of Wave, shut up!" I roared at him. He opened and closed his mouth a few more times like a marionette before staring at me with his mindless eyes, and then the only sound in the room was the furious quacking of two mallards in the dueling pit.
"Wotcha need, master Mayor?" One of the original settlers asked from his chair, leaning it back against the wall.
"I need two able-bodied halflings willing to follow me into the Underdark," I answered, sweeping my gaze over the assembled Wooddeathites. "We'll be armed with cudgels, bucklers, and the shirts on our back. We'll likely face down horrifying beasts of myth and legend, in pitch blackness. We'll - "
"And what exactly do we get out of it?" The halfling named Whelp Teawhite interrupted. "The satisfaction of having beat a legend to death with a stick?"
"Well, that," I answered. "And - "
"Count me in, master Mayor," Whelp grinned. Blossom, however, didn't look nearly as pleased.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?" she glared at him - they were lovers, I recall, discussing marriage. "What about us? Gods, what about you? This is madness!"
"Ah, dear - would you rather marry a farmer - " He ever-so-not-subtly stretched and flexed his biceps at the same time. " - or a farmer who clubbed a legend to death with just his brawn and a stick?"
Blossom snorted and rolled her eyes, but she let the matter drop.
"And what else would we get?" Another halfling - Dragon, the herbalist from the first group of refugees - asked.
"Gold," I said. I could see the eyes of every halfling man in that room widen, and more than a few of the women's as well. I knew the thoughts they were thinking - Aurum. The myth-metal. The metal so fine and so flexible and so soft that clothes could be made of it. Even a single scrap of Aurum would make a hobbit wealthy beyond his wildest dreams; the finest stews, the most impressive clothes, the purest tobbacco, the most intricate pipes - all available at his request, waiting only for him to ask to be brought out. Even Whelp looked more interested than before.
"I'm in," Dragon nodded slowly. "Blade's going down with you to dig already, eh? It's a cowardly man that won't go where his wife is willing, doubly so when they'd be going together."
I smiled. "We'll depart within the week. Cudgels and shields are in town hall. Maybe we'll find a few dwarves down there willing to trade for something sharper, too, eh?"
I left then. As soon as the door shut, the partying started up again, but it barely registered. I had a cavern to explore.
Nothing has emerged to massacre us yet, so I'm going to find them. Blade will be digging a staircase to Cav2 while Chief and his boys reveal the rest of Cav1. Hopefully there's an underground passage to Cav3 or - gods help us - something more interesting down there
Things are progressing nicely anyways. No severe issues detected, only minor issue is that Honeywine does not appear in the still reactions list 
I shall press on, nevertheless.