And the three great deities sat down together and converserd.
Speaking for the good was Ogred, the deity of food, fertility, agriculture, the rain, nature, the sun, the sky and oddly enough, suicide. One can only assume that in that case suicide means a glorious self-destruct lever in a fortress far away... the evil in the world was represented by Sikel Unseenpoisons the Witch of Unholiness, deity of lies. Keeper of the balance between these two is the higherst dwarven deity of them all, the god of labor: Ikul Pokeyegged the Creamy Theatric Bunnies of Artifice.
"We shall tesssst these puny mortal dwarves, and sssssend them on a quest to pleasssse us godssss...." hissed Sikel. "We will all contribute from it... they will labor for you, oh mighty Ikul... they grow food, multiply and pray this way to you, Ogred... yessss"
"Yes. We shall send them a message, requesting a holy pilgrimage and the construction of a great monument."
"I agree. The other races with their detestfull gods grow stronger as they labor every day, coming closer to our pantheon. You have my support."
And so the god-witch Sikul was sent to the dwarven king, to appear in a dream and speak to him of great honour, great rewards... without knowing what the god of lies really planned.
The next day the king set down with his most trustworthy advisors. Preparing for the holy quest he was gathering information about the land and possible settlement spots for what was to lie ahead. The dwarven kingdom, The Volcanos of Conjuring, lead by King Tekkud Chasmblazed IV. was not the only civilization that had settled here.
The Confederations of Brew, HumansPray to: Giki Shingledpadded, the deity of dance, music, festivals
Ruled by: King Penoc Righteouslone, never married.
The Rock of Tin, ElvesPray to: Capi the Growth of Blossoms, deity: rebirth, creation, birth
Ruled by: Princess Fidale Smiledkiss, never married.
The Deep Terrors, DrowsPray to: Vothu the Terrible Mist, deity: chaos, darkness, the night, nightmares, dreams
Ruled by: Matriarch Menoru Tenaciousmidnights the Shady Lucid Plague-Devourers of Attacking, never Married
The Scourge of Demons, AutomatonsRuled by: Father of the machines; Ummur Dreadfulticks
The Devils of Deciding, GoblinsRuled by: Chief Olngo Fiendishevils
The Thief of Spring, Frost giantPray to: Polta Growlcombats the Strong Standard, deity: war, valor, strength
Ruled by: Titan Marh Shadowblade the Fierceness of Skinning
The Disloyalties of Play, WarlocksRuled by: Shadowmaster Alesm Drilledhex, Inherited from father, Never Married
The Slippery Monsters, OrcsPray to:Raslost Felinelaces the Everseeing, Howl of Deities, happiness, revelry, song, poetry, fate
Ruled by: Clanlord Bax Midnightsuppers
There are also some kobold tribes scattered around, doing their usual shenanigans.
Shalathrayker, KoboldsPraying to: Lradabagrabis, deity: luck
Grisheelbis, KoboldsPraying to: Krostibis, deity: laws, oaths
Plukreegus, KoboldsPraying to: Lrilidisheembis, deity: murder, death
On a far away glacier another thread loomed...
The Temptation of Punching, Frost giantRuled with iron fist by: Titan Neslu Perfectionlancers, the Frenzy of Slaughters
And in the depths of the earth, countless antmen and batmen colonies wage war against marauding troglodyte groups and small gremlin tribes.
The different empires looked upon showed this:
1483 Warlocks
769 Orcs
1101 Drows
1103 Frost giant
681 Dwarves
1678 Humans
2098 Elves
241 Goblins
559 Kobolds
A couple of dozens of red X on the map kindled the kings interest. He pointed at one at random "What is this place?"
""The Haunted-Mine of Suicides", a cave. Sir, we dont speak about it, Sir."
"Oh... ok. And the rest?"
"All caves sir. Similar to this one. They serve as lairs for beasts, Sir."
"But... how many can there be, I have never seen a great beast myself."
"Sir, according to our reports there are at least 100 titans and 80 true megabeasts alive"
"..." "..." "...they cant be all that bad?"
""Screamshafts", lair, 1 beholder outcast... "The Strange Deep", lair, 1 ogre outcast... "Ghosttwilights the Ashen Tomb", lair, 4 dusk creature outcasts... "The National Sewer", lair, 1 umber hulk outcast... "Bonecrypt the Ghostly Graves", lair, 1 man of evil outcast..."
"ENOUGH! I undestand what you are saying. We should probably stay far away from those places, I get it"
"Yes, Sir."
"And.. we have a national sewer?"
"Apparently we do, Sir."
...
"Anything else I should know?"
"Budbottles", hamletOwner: The Group of Dying, humans
Parent Civ: The Playful Empires, humans
20 humans
"Probably a kind of hippy suicide cult of the humans. I dont really know what they are up to these days... taking up elven hamlets and all that."
"Bothereddrove", townOwner: The Group of Yellowness, humans
Parent Civ: The Confederations of Brew,
Inhabitands: 13 kobold outcasts
"This is a human ghost town, they abandoned the settlement long ago. Caravans reported it is now used as a kobold camp"
The Band of Flowers, humansParent Civ: The Playful Empires, humans
Inhabitants: 309 humans, 1 vampire lord
"The drunken, partying humans are being ruled by King Righteouslone, never married. There is also 1 vampire lord in their capitol. Keep that in mind when doing business with their caravans. Bloodwine is probably a fitting gift."
"Roadscar", our mighty Mountain hallsOwner: The Chaotic Torments, dwarves
Parent Civ: The Volcanos of Conjuring,
Inhabitants: 9 drows, 412 dwarves, 32 landmines, 2 prototype golems
"Our Mountainhome, Sir. We also rule over 4 smaller cities, and "Daggerabyss", a fortress in the south."
"Ok, let me summarize this. We shall send forth a small group of settler on a holy mission into... THIS? Our allies are a drunken vampire king, praying to a god of dance and festivals... A elven princes named Smiledkiss, who probably never did anything usefull in her life... and a seriously freakish drow matriach. I dont even know why we are allied with them, they probably backstack us at the first opportunity and gnaw on our corpses or something.
Never minding the small goblin tribe, we go against... a Titan calling himself Shadowblade the Fierceness of Skinning, Clanlord Bax of the Orcs, who seems to be some kind of philosopher, the Father of the Machines and his Automaton Empire, 1500 messed up warlocks and a couple of hundret megabeasts. And that is not even counting the civilizations that lurk under us in the deep.
All this to fullfill a promise I made to the gods themselves."
"Yes, Sir"
"Jolly good then, lets get to work. You will lead the group."
"Ye... What?"
"You heard me right, now of you go. Have fun."
"But... I dont even know what the holy mission is, that you have been mentioning all this time"
"I'll let you know when you established yourself in Bronzewicked."
"Bronzewicked?"
"Yes. Your new home. Right now it is not much, just another X on the map. But you will get there"
And thus a group of sturdy dwarves was called forth to conquer the world... well, at least to complete the holy quest. The unknown, but yet very holy, quest. Meph and six so far unnamed dwarves are sent forth. Well, 5 unnamed peasants, and one even slower learner... but apparently good at making randged weapons. So, who is in for a journey ? 
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Topic: MasterworkDF V.2a - Official Succession Fort. (Read 20021 times)