Undated
Ever since I died, it's been a lot easier to scheme. Things just fall into place. I'd say the universe feels like it owes me, but that's superstitious drivel.
If Fractal keeps up the way he's been going, I'll have my rebellion ready by next spring. I'm fairly certain now that he blames Corley for Rhaken's current condition. Of course, it's not that his senses truly have been dulled - he's just taking instructions from the masked dwarf now, without realizing.
Fracal doesn't realize that antagonizing Corley means getting on the badside of our most prominent family. Asmoth might not be quite what she used to be, but only a fool would antagonize our resident mother-daughter malpractice team. And the clan goes farther than you'd think - Lenehan's family is all over the fortress. I wonder if criminality is an inheritable trait; that would explain why there's so many of them in Steelhold.
Rhaken's status as alive is common knowledge now, but so is knowledge of his, ah, absent-mindedness. His orginization is almost wholly disbanded by now. Smart of Maskdwarf, making his move like that. He assumes this will leave his cult as the strongest of our local factions. He didn't factor, however, on me.
While Rhaken's wife has won over many of Rhaken's lower-level lackies, most of the military dwarves turned to me. It's far from subtle now, the affect magic's had on the fort. Spreading fear and suspicion is easy. Especially when magic's made you an abomination, like myself. Nobody here wants to wake up as another dwarf.
Every day, more believe that all of our misfortunes since Lenehan have been the fault of the magic users. Lenehan's plot to turn everyone into elves? Magic. Modi coming back from the grave to stop him? Most don't believe it, but if they did they'd see it as unholy, a desecration of her memory. The anarchy after Lenehan let the cult do whatever it pleases, and then suddenly Rhaken takes ill. And if his "illness" is not the final nail in the coffin, there's the matter of the adamantine.
The dwarves are already furious about the adamantine spent decorating the entryway; it could have been made into enough wealth or arms to keep Steelhold secure for the next hundred years. I know of course that the portal serves a purpose, but believe you me, we wouldn't need to patch reality if we just removed the dimensional interloper that is our Overseer.
If I tell them that large quantities of adamantine have gone missing, suspected stolen by the cult, there will be a riot. But we're not ready yet. There are too many cultists right now to risk civil war. Their numbers will continue to fall, however. And eventually we shall take back this fortress for our father's gods, and restore some semblance of sanity and stability to Steelhold.
Conservative revolution is difficult to foment among convicts, but these have seen their gods desecrated, their reality twisted, and their fellows killed on the mad whims of their overseers. When the time is right, I'll deliver the news of the missing adamantine, and take the reins of this counter-revolution my associates have been fermenting.
After the purge, I'll have to find someone to rule Steelhold. I have no wish to; as soon as the fort is secure and a successor whose competence I trust is found, I'll step down. But there's so much to do. The entryway is decently secure, but could be improved. It's the defenses below that worry me. The masked dwarf's (if it is a dwarf) gods might not react to well to their cult being dismantled. I'll trust my protection from the magic for now, but we must be ready in case they try anything.
If anyone reads this, don't worry, I'm probably mad! This place would certainly drive you to it. I've been having evening chats with the ghost of a sadistic butcher who once ran this fort, and she runs messages from the previous overseers to me. Strong evidence of madness, in my books. If I weren't currently inhabiting the body of some random convict, I'd ignore it all.
And if the magic users should read this? Well, that's why I wrote this. You've received your warning. I didn't want this to happen, but your scheming has forced my hand. Order will be restored to Steelhold and it's associated expanse of desert, or we'll meet in Armok's Halls. Not for long, of course, since you'll have appointments with the hellspawn, but long enough for me to gloat. This body seems to like gloating.
The PDF is comming along. The next release will come after my turn. It'll include all character's backstories, and if applicable the circumstances of their death. That will take some snooping - I'll use DFhack to tell me the explicit death cause, peer into the legends file, and extrapolate from people's turns.
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Topic: The Insidious Sons of Steelhold -- Revival Succession Fortress (Read 271465 times)