It's the gratitude, polish and story update!
Sheesh, I didn't check on the forum thread in a week and suddenly there's a flood of responses!
Thanks for the overwhelmingly flattering comments, it really motivates me to keep going in such painstaking detail. I love me some Dwarf Fortress, but even I get tired of micro-managing Multi layered dome construction after a while. The fact that there's people who're inspired makes it all worthwhile.
Now, as I type this I'm designating up a storm to conjure up a palace worthy of a grand king, and my miners are toiling away at the first steps of what might be my most ambitious in-fortress design yet. I haven't had too much time for Dwarf Fortress in the past week, but I
have been doing some maintenance and fixing stuff I never got around to before. Here's a rundown, followed by some stories for those who enjoy a bit of fluff.
Fortress polish: outsideOn the surface I've gotten some work done on the battlements, I'm raising up two terraces connected to the barracks, which will also serve as startoff point for two bridges and towers watching over the entrance. As an added bonus I've added in a screenshot of our military during training at the West end of the map, it's one of the two major entry points for goblin incursions, so I like having the soldiers on guard there.
Fortress polish: insideOn the inside there's been work on the interior of the great hall. The final four pillars have finally been laced with eighty bars worth of gold, and the walls of the taverns have been heightened for a clearer outlook on the great hall. After about twenty years we have a floor in the hall, hooray for milestones!
Everyone helping out to place down the floor.
The eventual 'clean' result.
Coming down the stairs.
Widened tavern windows.
For those lovers of lore I thought I'd write up some background on the world and founding of Prophetmirrored.
Here's a map of the local area;
And an account on the founding of Prophetmirrored;
The Founding
Ezum scooped up great handfuls of earth, throwing them skyward as he laughed hysterically.
Behind him, six compatriots were indulging in their own displays of delight and madness in equal measure. Stukos was dancing in frantic circles with Udib while Kogsak had dropped to her knees weeping.
The caravan had ground to a halt in the middle of a seemingly insignificant plateau. A brook meandered between a forest and a peculiar three-pronged mountaintop before falling off into the valley beyond.
A fine location for any prospector, to be sure, but little that might explain the fanatic displays of the seven dwarves before the peak.
In fact, anyone not accustomed to the traditions and customs of the ‘Razor of Partners’, one of the great dwarven civilisations, would be hard pressed understanding the situation.
Ever since the founding of the first mountain halls, a myth had propagated amongst the dwarves of the Razor; a story that told of the fortress of prophecy, the ‘Geshud Arkoth’.
During the founding of the mountainhome, one of the high priests was struck with a divine communion. Decrying that this was not the destined capital of dwarven kind, he foamed at the mouth as he spewed forth divination:
“One day, the king of dwarves
Shall sit astride the three-pronged peak
Of nightly hues
In eternal watch
Over kin below
Kin above
And friend that travels
To dwell within the hallowed halls
And endure
Until the very world unravels.”
After this revelation, the ‘prophet’ as he would later be known, flung himself into the abyss.
Although multiple scholars and fellow priests dismissed his words as mad ravings, a great many members of the civilisation took heed and maintained a firm belief in the tale and prophecy.
Inspired by this legacy, every few years a group of dwarves would set out into the wider world to find the peak of legends with the ambition to found the fabled fortress.
It was thus that, after many months of gruelling travel across the western fringes, when faced with a three-pronged peak of obsidian stone overlooking a fertile valley, the dwarves of ‘The granite rooms’ engaged in frenzied celebration.
They were the chosen ones, and soon the earth was struck to lay the foundations of legend.
They dubbed the site Lashëdonul, Prophetmirrored.
Now, during the twenty to twentyfive years in the lifespan of the fortress there's been a fair share of Fun trying to visit itself onto the fortress. overall nothing too dangerous - at least nothing as disastrous that it made me want to savescum to save the project. Earlier this week however there was a terrifying visitor: a fearsome forgotten beast.
An enormous feathered alligator. It has large mandibles and it squirms and fidgets. Beware its deadly dust!
Trying to avoid undue casualties I resolved to sacrifice a lone legendary swordsdwarf with some motor nerve damage, he would heroically put the beast down and woulden't be the biggest loss due to his minor disability. Our would-be hero dissapointed however, although he punctured the beast's lung, he got smacked into a wall before scurrying off and getting knocked out by the dust. Turns out the dust made everything bloat with blood and rot. Hooray for gruesome miasma-filled death! Now I was preparing myself for disaster and the need to savescum, such a dustmonster on the loose in my forges would cost the lives of too many legendary craftsmen and sacrificed military for me to bother with it all. I resolved to watch the trainwreck unfold.
That's when it happened. In front of my cavern bridge I placed several stonefall traps to deal with the crundle pests and it just so happened one of my mechanics, Obok Zuglarrorun, was going about his merry business reloading a trap. When faced with a screaming and stumbling swordmaster dashing by Obok seemed unphased. Even when the enormous feathered monstrosity shrouded in gray death peeked his head around the corner Obok dutifully continued loading microcline into his trap. It didn't take long for the Allirog (as I've come to call him) threw itself upon our hero. Miraculously level-headed considering the situation, Obok defended himself, punching the beast straight into the left mandible. In the ensuing struggle, the two moved slightly, and that was enough.
You see, seeing as my cave entrance is there to facilitate my forges, it's located right next to a magma shaft.
In his struggle, Obok and the beast came crashing down over 100 z levels before being dashed into the lava sea. Here's some impressions and screenshots;
And thus, Obok gave his life so that the beast did not pass. The hero of Prophetmirrored!
PS; The swordmaster somehow made it to the hospital, stank up the place with his miasma but actually got cleaned up and survived.
Thanks for all the support!
PPS;An extra shoutout to Japa and Armok Vision, his mod goes above and beyond to visualise projects like this!
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