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Author Topic: Channeldawn, or "Why the hell are we here?"  (Read 1887 times)

GreatWyrmGold

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Channeldawn, or "Why the hell are we here?"
« on: May 13, 2012, 08:43:11 pm »

From the journal of Logem Vigorbridges, dwarven mason:
I dunno how we got here. We were seven hearty dwarven women*, planning to set up a nice fort in some nice forest, full of trees to fuel our forges. Somewhere, something went wrong.
(Add pic here when tinypic works)
Things started going pear-shaped once the wagonwheels broke. Well, it wasn't so bad, right? We'd set up some signal fires to let people know where to find us and build a damn fine fortress right here. So, we set our horses out to pasture, Rigoth started mining, Bim began chopping wood, and good old Kosoth, our fisher and expedition leader, started fishing. Soon, we had some basics: A hole in the ground, stone, and a couple workshops. Kosoth had even started preparing some of the fish for consumption, when disaster struck. See, Tobul had started to carve a chink of sandstone into a place for our marble beetles to drop their chunks of marble into when the undead started arriving. We knew they were there; a carp that died somehow reanimated, lurking near the edge of our vision. More importantly, there were some ogre corpses across one of the four river-branches we crashed near who killed a couple alligator snapping turtles, one by ripping her shell off. Thankfully, the rivers had thawed enough to keep the undead ogres from getting us, but they didn't do much for the horned owl.
Rith, bless her heart, was our only defense. And she did damn well, too! But the corpse of the shell-less turtle was more dangerous than it sounds. After easily dispatching the owl (and a live owl appeared, apparently glad for the chance to hunt without so much interference from the dead), Rith had to face the dead turtle. She fought bravely, but the turtle felt no pain and was far too fast. It sustained wounds that would kill a mortal turtle, but ripped a hand and a foot off poor, poor Rith! I couldn't stand it. I helped build a wall, sealing me, Mafol, and Rigoth inside. Tobul put the last chunk in place, choosing to help the others aboveground.
Things look bleak. We couldn't bring any supplies inside, so we've just got two of our three cats (a breeding pir, at least), a few dogs, the five marble beetles, and the three of us, as well as a pick and all the stone and gems we've found so far.

Then, we heard a voice from the depths, offering us salvation in exchange for sacrifice. None of us know the ultimate price, but we really have no choice.

-----

From the "journal" of Kosoth, expedition leader of Channeldawn:
Channeldawn? Hah. How about channeldusk? This is the end, my only friend, the end. Mobwebbed, that damn turtle corpse, is on a rampage. It's chasing Bim, Tobul, the horses, and that cat who fell into the river when it thawed around. I'm safe for now, since I'm hiding in the fishery, behind the wagon and craftsdwarf's workshop. This place is a deathtrap. Zombies. Ogres. Zombie ogres. Shellless zombie snapping turtles. Carp, both living and dead. Glumprongs. Ugh, what a place to die. I no longer hope that I live, only that I can enjoy one last feast before I die.

*Seriously, I EVERY dwarf here is a female.

-------

This is a story of a dwarven fort I'm doing. Basically, it's a haunted-biome embark turned, well, bad. I decided to go ahead and mod a little, to let the dwarves trapped underground have a chance. You'll barely notice. Probably.
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GreatWyrmGold

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Re: Channeldawn, or "Why the hell are we here?"
« Reply #1 on: May 14, 2012, 08:13:01 pm »

Kosoth's "journal":
I decided to spend my last hours doing what I love: fishing. My total, here at Hellshole, as I like to call it, is four brook lampreys, a couple perches, three mussels, and a steelhead trout. Mobwebbed is aproaching. I'm not likely to be able to do anything else in peace, so I might as well see how well the trout's named.
...Ah, hell, I can't do it. Thank Bal* the other turtle hasn't crossed the river yet.
Now the owl's back. I can't not do anything. We need to act. I'm calling Tobul and Bim to arms. I call the sword...hell, there's no time, not even time to eat. No. Damn. Time. Bim's keeping her axe, though. Took down the owl corpse, again...and Mobwebbed is chilling by the pond over there...Maybe I will try for that sword...

----

Logem
We're seeing if we can get the guy offering us the stuff for a sacrifice appeased soon. We (specifically, Mafol) made our fist appeasal today.
And what do we get?
A goblin-cap log.
Think. What can we get from logs? Wood. From wood? Well, maybe more gifts, which will be vital unless we want to try our luck with turning the cats or dogs into food and crafts before they turn into undead, but also importantly, we can turn wood into a screw pump, which we can use to try and get through the aquifer, which lets us get to the caverns and maybe sever our contact with this damn power.

-----

Kosoth

Rith's moving again. One of the horses is pawing at the stone wall to try and get in. Bim collapsed from exhaustion, she didn't last long. One punch and she died. It really...sucks. Tobul's distracting Rith "Equaledfrill." The carp corpse showed up, stopping me from getting a much-needed last drink. The carp corpse, who killed another carp, too, broke a couple of my limbs. I'm dying...Rith's probably killed Tobul...it's over. Logem's** gonna need to lead pretty well...

-----

Logem

I'm hungry, so hungry. The others didn't care much for authority, so I appointed myself manager and bookkeeper. Hell, I hope this gets better soon.
I heard Kosoth's dying whimper. I decided to call whatever killed her Roundedechoes.
Something's scraping on the walls. It knows we're here...I wonder who it is. Rith? Kosoth? Bim? Maybe Tobul? One of the critters? Some new horror, maybe a mussel shell? Urvad*** knows what it could be.
I hear some wild boars snorting around up-top. I wonder what they're doing, and if any of them will die. If they do, will they leave? I hope so.
I finished building mechanisms for the new thingy--I was a mechanic before joining the Mason's Guild, to try and bridge the gap between the guilds--and Rigoth's getting to work. We're working on getting food. Hopefully...maybe...we could survive.
...Skin chops? What the hell?

-------

What the hell, indeed. Let's try that again, neh?

*Bal Baerdedsuns, associated with fishing, water, and fish. Kinda redundant.
**Side note: I guessed right. Logem really got chosen.
***Urvad the Constructive Coal, goddess of crafts and metals.
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GreatWyrmGold

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Re: Channeldawn, or "Why the hell are we here?"
« Reply #2 on: May 14, 2012, 09:09:40 pm »

Logem

We ate the skin, we're so hungry. Eventually, we got meat. Smells like elf, though. We got a bunch of other stuff, too.
I spend my free time listening at the wall. Sounds like all four of them are up and moving, along with Rith's hand and a few shells or something. And the carp, and the turtles...
The cat's still alive, although something hit it a couple times. Same with a horse--I think it tried to crush a shell.
Poor Rigoth needs some consoling. Rith was her best friend, Kosoth her only other one, and she lost both. I was Kosoth's friend, too, but I guess it hit Rigoth harder. Well, as the expedition leader of Channeleddawn, I will console Rigoth until she can work again.

-------

Just wanted to get this wrapped up for tonight.
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[GreatWyrmGold] gets a little crown. May it forever be his mark of Cain; let no one argue pointless subjects with him lest they receive the same.