18th Hematite:I've ordered all the captured trolls and ogres tossed into the Gobtech Death Shaft.
20th Hematite: Work goes slowly, but steadily on all my major projects. It'll be a little while before any of them bear fruit. The artifact puzzlebox is still refusing to open.
22nd Hematite: I've got Larix started on making some more blocks for the Citadel.
23rd Hematite: I've gone and gotten the goblin general. I'm going to toss him in the Gobtech Death Shaft. With my own hands. Its the closest anyone in Charmcrafted will get to using a weapon for premediated violence. Except the fortress is my weapon.
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I go into the prisoner stockpile. I unlock the door of the iron cage. Why is it made of sturdy metal when the rest are glass and wood? Suddenly the pig tail fiber restraints I'm holding the General by seem inadequete. The General himself does not seem intimidating. A dwarf-sized, slightly overweight goblin, long since stripped of his weapons and armour. But they could not strip him of his bearing. He carries himself like he was still a general commanding an army and not a prisoner languishing in a cage. I escort him along the corridor for a while before he speaks.
"You are leader here, are you not?"
I jump, startled by his oddly flawless dwarven.
"Yes, I currently hold the position of Overseer."
He chuckles.
"It is rare for the leaders among your people to do these kinds deeds themselves, no? I salute you, for coming to deal with me yourself. It shows great courage, that you are willing to do what you make others do. It is an honour to die by your hand. You are a worthy opponent."
We walk along in silence for a while longer. After a while I can't hold in my question any longer.
"WHY?", I shout.
"Why what?", he replies, infinitely more calm.
"Why do you walk among us, taking our young and killing our people? What purpose is behind your rampages?"
He walks along in silence for a time before replying,
"What do you know of Goblins?""
"You kill and steal and ravage everywhere you go."
He chuckles again.
"True enough. Although the same could be said of your own people from my point of view. But I supposed it is hardly common knowledge."
He sighs.
"Goblins are not flesh like you or the humans. We are kin to the elves. We need not food or water or sleep. We do not die from old age. Our civilization became perfect and self-sustaining before the beginning of time."
"I hardly see how a "Perfect Civilization" means bringing death and ruin to most of the world"
He sighs again.
"I am older then most goblins. Perhaps many among us DO personify what you describe. You want to know why? Do you have ANY idea how weary we became of life eternal?"
"That hardly sounds like a curse. Imagine what you could accomplish during that time."
He chuckles again. That and sighing appear to be his primary vocalizations.
"I suppose it would occur that way to you. For a long time, we dedicated ourselves to lengthy projects. We created the great obsidian towers we inhabit from magma we hauled ourselves in iron buckets and combined with water. It took our race thousands of years. But those years passed. And we were still weary."
He sighed.
"Some among us took solace in nature and their descendents became the elves. But most of us stayed. We observed vermin build nests. We crafted great works of art. We traveled the world. Then, in a chance encounter, one of us wandering the caverns discovered the trolls. Back then, they lived in tribes in the caverns. The goblin visited them and lived among them for a hundred years. He was enthralled by them and their culture and their ways. More then that, he was enthralled by their lives. So short, yet so long in interest. He studied and watched them. And then he returned to us. We invited the trolls among us. For a time we lived in harmony. The trolls farmed crundles for food and we sheared them for clothing. This was our first introduction to food, and we discovered we COULD consume it. Some of us devolved into hedonism and it had to be rationed. Those in positions of management and power had more food and the common people had less. The trolls gradually became more civilized and most served as legislators and law-givers and makers. For even then, there were those who reveled in death and destruction. And they had to be regulated and punished. That was the province of the trolls. But soon we lost interest in the trolls. They became mundane to our eyes. We turned to another race, the ogres and took them in in the same manner. They became cooks and farmer in the most part, catering to the needs of both trolls and their own. But in time we tired of them as well and needed stimulation again. And then, in the year 20 by your calender, we found you. Amazing creatures. Industrious, long-lived for mortals, creative and curious. You were all we had wanted and more. But you did not want to live among us peacefully. And you did not appreciate us studying you. So some among us began taking your young and raising them as our own. These dwarves wrought many wonders and lived long lives among us. But always, we needed more dwarves. We made them work for us, marveling in their efficiency, brought on by their mortality and intelligence. You were master artisans and learned more quickly then any among us. Had you been like the trolls or ogres, you would have been assimilated into us and the world would have been better. But you were more advanced then either of them."
He sighs again.
"Your leader, King Arcvasti, engineered a rebellion against us. You took metal and wood and bone and used them to kill. For the first time, goblin lives were lost en masse and many among us perished. And, unknowingly, you solved our problem. For what gives meaning to a meaningless life better then having it almost lost again and again? We turned to war. It was almost sport at first, another hobby for us to pursue. We snatched your young and you butcher those who try. You attack our soldiers and we counter-attack yours. It was almost peace. The thrill-seekers went out to snatch dwarves and if they didn't come back, they didn't come back. Our soldiers were the same, craving the excitement of battle. But your leader, my counter-part, did the unthinkable: He turned to necromancy. The only thing we hold unholy. We do not believe in an afterlife. We live forever, who would want more after that? But necromancy defiled our memory and our souls. It was intolerable. So we sought to kill you, to eradicate the necromancer and the legions that protected him. That is the struggle that has raged on forever. And the necromancer still lives. And we will not rest until he is put to justice."
"By necromancer, do you mean Vucar Mothtrade, our first general?"
He shrugs.
"He has changed names many times. And I suppose you could also call him your last general."
We reach the hatch leading to the Gobtech Area.
"And here it ends. I hope you take my answer to heart. So few know the truth, even among our own people. Our young do not remember why we fight anymore. Its going to be us or you at this point. Perhaps, with the necromancer dead, we could call off the 70-year quest for vengeance that has consumed us. We still could stop if he died. We could restore what was lost. And THAT is why we kill and pillage and burn. Partly for protection, partly for vengeance and partly as a distraction from an empty immortal life. It has been an honour being here. This place is truly the best of your kind. You create much and it has great potential. Take care not to waste it."
We arrive next to the Death Shaft and the hatch that covers it.
"You hate us because we take your people and use them as weapons. Take care to not become what you hate."
He breaks free of the bindings with a twitch of his wrist and opens the hatch. Glass spikes gleam in the darkness below.
"Well, what are you waiting for?"
I gather my resolve and shove.
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24th Hematite: The general falls into the darkness below. Silent, awaiting his death stoically. His last words echo in my ears as I walk away from him. I was later told by someone who looked down the pit that he was impaled through the heart by only one spear. He'd contorted in mid-air to dodge the rest. He could have survived the fall or the spears. But he didn't. To prove a point. He lies there now, suspended, forever gazing upon his murderer. His skeleton will lie there for years. Always watching. Always judging. I'm never setting foot in Gobtech again.
25th Hematite: The puzzlebox seems to glare at me accusingly, stubborn as ever. It almost seems to menace me. I decide to make a couple modifications to the Gobtech Enlightenment Facility. The General does not matter. It is for the survival of MY people. I will do what I must. A voice seems to whisper in my ear. "Because you must? Or because you can?"
26th Hematite: A member of Construction was possessed by a ghost today. Upon seeing that the ghost in question had a memorial ready, I have it put somewhere in the Ticking Catacombs. Where doesn't matter. Most of it is a huge graveyard now. I think the General deserves a memorial too. I'll have it set in my office once I can. As a reminder. That seems to be the right choice.
27th Hematite: I've started on making the componants for the pit trap for the Citadel. Don't think they'll be finished any time soon.
28th Hematite: Most of the fort is asleep. Understandably, production has slowed down. Unlike me, they have not mastered how to work and sleep at the same time.
1st Malachite: Things continue to drag along. The puzzlebox still condemns me and I've made no progress with it. The voice speaks again "Solve yourself first, Leader of Dwarves"
3rd Malachite: The gargantuan food cellar is complete. I'm going to wait until Construction finishes making its latest section of floor in the Citadel before enlisting them in moving all the food in the Ticking Catacombs into it.
6th Malachite: The Gobtech Enlightenment Center is almost complete and ready for testing. The voice speaks again, this time admonishing "Be careful up there on the moral highground: Its slippery with blood."
9th Malachite: To speed up matters, Larix has been producing some more blocks on site. I've had the memorial to the goblin general placed in my office. The puzzlebox no longer seems actively malevolent like it did before. Still can't get it open.
10th Malachite: I officially dissolved most of the stockpiles in the Ticking Catacombs. And mandated that all the food be put in the colossal food cellar underneath the Citadel. The few stockpiles I left should probably be relocated, but are fine where they are right now.
16th Malachite: The Great Food Hauling has only begun. Very little is going to hapen until it is done. The Gobtech Enlightenment Center is finally ready, but I can't spare the personnel right now.
18th Malachite: Some migrants have arrived. I'm just going to put all of them in Construction.
@Arcvasti: I love your updates, please do continue^^
Thanks~! Although I'll be handing in the save on wednesday/late tuesday, so the continuation might not last for much longer.
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Topic: CharmCrafted, Citadel of Mechanisms[Game Open, still recruiting] (Read 53672 times)