''What do you mean, my office isn't ready?
-There seems to be some confusion, right now.
-Confusion.
-Yes, nobody knows what happened during the last months.
-I see. Well, have the office prepared as soon as possible, and make sure the miners choose a non-retarded location. Something that's not above a pit of lava or inside a forgotten beast belly. If they can't find anything, just give me the golden room.
-Right away sir.''
Before the secretary leaves, Smunstu hands her a small parchment roll.
''Get me the dwarves on the list. Let's hope everyone plays their role well.'' A few hours pass, before Pencil_Art arrives, leading a group of misfit dwarves.
Pencil_Art begins the meeting, explaining diplomatically why a goblin, of all things, is now in charge of the fortress. Had Smunstu or his secretary made the announcement directly, it may have shocked many a soul. Pencil_Art, however, was quite the diplomatic and beloved fellow. His social skills once managed to thwart and surpass the mental influence of a vampire residing in the fortress. By the end of a long, passionate narrative, the meeting room was left without a doubt: Smunstu was the new Overseer. Truth be told, the dwarves present in the meeting room had already been persuaded individually, and Pencil_Art's performance was mostly meant to officialize the deal, and shake any doubts some of them may still have. Once most of them stood up and agreed, it was too late for second thoughts.
His secretary had spent the last year slowly working up Pencil_Art to the idea, often speaking favorably and nostalgically of her predecessor. She often reminded the mayor that she, a mere replacement, could never replace the dwarf who single-handedly salvaged the fortress from a giant snail monster. She left subtle cues that she was only fullfilling her duties as chief Medical Dwarf thanks to the guidance and expertise of Smunstu, the late doctor's most trusted friend. The second snail attack saled the deal. If the mayor had his doubts before, the coming of Snustrok's son to Doomforests convinced him that an overseer who'd faced their enemy before was a ood idea, goblin or not. Hell, he'd seen worst dwarves take up the job.
Engraver Guy, now known as Frankensteen, was also a friend of the mad doctor, and owned him his life. He remembered the snail's attack, and how the carnage left nobody standing, save for two dwarves and a goblin. Smunstu and he hadn't seen each other in a while, but surviving the attacks of Snustrok and Supergoat left a strange bond between them. His role as a survivor was often dismissed, as people mostly remembered the deeds of TaupeII. But the goblin knew the truth, he knew Frankensteen's importance.
''If I ever get the rutile hat, I swear old friend, you will be known thorough the fortress. People will regard you as the autority in Arts and Culture, just like the fabled Atir Idsanad who engraved the early parts of the fort before you.''Longshank was one of the tougher nuts to crack. He was new around, and understood little of their history. He saw the mess that Doomforests was, but rightly doubted that a goblin of all things was the key to their problems. Thankfully, Miss Taupe III was his grandmother, and knew exactly what to say.
''You are not so different, you and him. Both of you have been stuck in the middle of a disaster, dealing with it as you could, surviving. He sealed our farms and protected our fields, securing our crops from his own kind, keeping us fed and drunk. You built a tower, and walls, to keep us safe.
-He's a
goblin, grandma!
-Yes, yes he is. And what are you?
-I'm Longshank, I'm a mason and an ex-overseer.
-Well, yes of course you are, but nobody seems to remember. Overseers come and go. You've done all you could for this fortress during a year, but now they threat you like anyone else. Hell, you don't even have a custom title.
-I don't see how naming a goblin will solve
that!
-Smunstu wants to decentralise power. He has been in charge of agriculture for a long time, and he knows that spreading tasks around and putting a competent person in charge will lead to sounder results.
-Well, I guess we have been alright on the food front but still...
-Smunstu knows you saved this fortress, and worked wonders to improve the infrastructure. He values your experience, and your talent. He wants you to continue your good work, as a leader. Once he becomes overseer, he'll rise you to Minister of Masonry. That's more permanent than an overseer title, I tell ya. People will respect you. All the masons and miners will work under you!
-Ok, but only if I can get a less dumb name for it.''
TechnoxanII was miss Taupe III's son, and Longshank's father. His crundles were weak, damaged, scattered. The inquisition was tracking the last few ones, and soon his wonderful projects would be no more. It was just too easy.
''Minister Smunstu is to be the next overseer. Even your own son supports him. I'm told the inquisition will side with him too. If you were to denounce him, and he got elected, then surely he'd be on Mate's side.
-That treacherous scum, he killed so many of my crundles!
-Careful, son! Talking about the inquisitor like this could be dangerous. If he has the overseer's support, he has the army on his side too... You don,t want to end in jail.
-Does he think he's so clever? He's just a dumb, angry violent dwarf who doesn't understand anything! Well I'll beat him to it! If I declare for the goblin minister first, then Mate won't be able to get him on his side! I can even ask for a ceasefire against my crundles. I'll even get the mechatechnosect recognized as the ONLY certified mechanics of the fortress if I play my cards well.
-I'm so proud of you son, you are so smart!''
Then she went to His Heirless Holyness and gave essentially the same speech in reverse.
Eden was the trader. Despite Doomforests' shaky militia and gruyere-esque defences, caravans were still coming in and out of the fortress undisturbed. The broker knew why that was: Smunstu was the heir to a mighty goblin tribe, or something. So long as he remained safe inside their walls, then the goblins would not attack them. Well hey, if the little bugger was the key to that impossible peace, then why not make sure that the goblin feels at home here, and won't escape given the chance?
He hated to admit it, but their soon-to-be-promoted general knew that to be the truth as well. For good or ill, little Smunstu was the key to the lack of goblin hostilities. He was still rebuilding his squads after the disaster with Snustrok's son. Now was not the time to risk war with the goblins. He'd support Smunstu if that meant one more year of undisturbed training for his recruits.
PsychoAngel was the broker's wife, and nobody really cared about her. When she heard that Smunstu wanted to acknowledge her title as Health Inspector, and actually let her do official health inspections, she was immediately on board.
As the mayor finished his speech, the dwarves stood up and applauded. Phyllite Cabinet was missing from the event, as the Prime Minister knew this would probably undermine his credibility. He recognized the inanimate object as a friend and confident, mostly out of loneliness, but was still sane enough to recognize it as non-sentient. Still, he often addressed the cabinet, to honor the memory of his old friend the doctor. He was also getting fond of his new secretary. At first she seemed like just a generic replacement for an invaluable dwarf, but he expertise and subtletly in preparing his rise to power left him with a very good impression of her. respect, he'd even call it. Miss Taupe III stood up and passed each dwarf present a roll of parchment, containing instructions and charts.
''Now, I'm glad to have all of you here. I believe that in time, and with enough effort, we can turn Doomforests into a productive, well designed and socially-adapted fortress. In fact, if we all try hard enough, and work our best, we could even become the Capital! A marvel of dwarven history and bravery, standing to the test of time. A haven far away from this senseless war that tears our two people appart. There will be a reform. In fact, when historians read the history of this year, they will simply see
''Minister Smunstu's government reforms Doomforests''. You will be a part of this, and history will remember you as grand dwarves, leader and experts in your field.
Before we can begin with the reform, tho, we need to do one important thing: understand exactly
what the fuck is going on here. You each have a roll of paper with instructions on them. By next meeting, I want each of you to know at least coherently where we stand regarding your assigned field of expertise.
Meeting dismissed.''
* * * * * * * * * *
There will be a lot of ''Browsing things and pondering about what the hell I should do, and how the fort is doing'', so that's now actually canon. I started giving custom titles to some dwarves, and then I noticed that a lot of them were conveniently connected, especially to the secretary herself. From there on the rest wrote itself.
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Topic: The Hastening of Doomforests (Read 430926 times)