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Author Topic: The Hastening of Doomforests  (Read 426813 times)

Taupe

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Re: The Hastening of Doomforests
« Reply #1470 on: September 14, 2015, 07:32:56 pm »

PsychoAngel sat across the desk, his report in one hand, a bar of soap in the other. It smelled like crundle. Should soap smell? Doesn't that defeat the whole purpose? The Prime Minister dared not to ask.

''Are these numbers correct?
-Yes, my dear Prime Minister. Sixty-four bars of soap. Six units of ash. Twenty-three urists of lye, all of which forbidden.''

The Health Inspector seemed unhappy about this. Smunstu was about to ask how many bars would be acceptable, but he knew the answer would probably be a ridiculous number. Still, infections and war injuries could deplete their stocks quite rapidly. Given Doomforests' history, that would not do. Thankfully, doom and forests were the prime ingredients of soap.

''I'm told that you have produced zero bars of soap yourself so far. This will not do. Obviously, past overseers have disregarded the importance of cleanliness and health in this fortress, which is a shame. Thankfully, you are the dwarf we need. Tallow and wood are in no short demand. Take what you need, and make sure our stocks are at 200 by the end of the year, with half as much raw materials secured by the end of this year.
-It will be done, sir! I will honor the name of PsychoAngel and become a world-renowned soaper!
-You'll be more than this if you play your cards well. I've heard of someone choking in the hallways last month. we need to know if a sickness is incubating in Doomforests. Find out what's happening, and I'll name you... Minister of Health and Safety!''

Spoiler (click to show/hide)
And with that, PsychoAngel was off. Sixty soaping jobs were queued in the Health department. The next appointment was a disgruntled brewer.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)
The strange and charismatic man had asked for an interview as soon as he heard the rutile hat had switched heads.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)
''Sir, our head brewer Stukos is endangering this fortress. Despite the 7 thousand plump helmets produced by your agricultural plans, our alcohol stocks are at critical low.
-Yes, very disconcerting. It seems that this Stukos is more concerned with stockpiling mushrooms than he is with brewing them.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)
-So true! I myself have tried to reason him, but he replied by dispatching me on bucket-carrying chores across the whole fortress to silence me.
-I'm glad you brought this matter to my ears, dwarf. Clearly this Stukos is mad, and should be moved to a less critical area of the kitchen.
-Yes, without Stukos around we brewers could produce over a thousand drinks by the end of the year.
-Interesting. I'll make you a deal. Prove to me that you can double that number by reorganising the brewing department, and I'll name you chief brewer.
-It will be as you ask, altho we brewers are almost like a clan, so I'd prefer the title of Klan-master.
-I don't care about syntax, i only care about result. Do not make me regret this.''

On that, Dark Two was gone, as silently as he entered the room. ''Miss TaupeIII, please have a brewer named Stukos Pinkpaddle relocalised to butchery and tanning by tomorrow.''


*   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
The search party was a success! Major Doran's file, of Homeland security, reported her missing in action. She'd been the wife of the previous overseer Shortshanks (not to be confused with the largely different Longshanks) and got locked into the caverns during the assault of Snustrok's son. Clearly the files were not up to date, as she now stood in his office, in full uniform. A messenger found her praying in the suspended garden statue, and summoned her at once. The minister still remembered their previous meeting. She'd been invited to a private event, after they found out the then-named captain of the guard was still alive, despite her file saying otherwise. as such, she missed the main reunion led by Pencil_Art. The bad news is, she wasn't warmed up to the idea of a goblin leading Doomforests beforehand, unlike the others. The good news was, it was too late for her to go against the idea. Smunstu was confident that he could win her to his cause. They shared a common trauma, after all.

''You may have heard that I was recently promoted to Prime Minister of this fortress. This probably seems weird to you, shocking even. You've heard the tales about my kind. Of kidnappings and endless sieges, war and carnage. Our young goblins also get to hear similar tales, gruesome stories about their fellow greenskins being assaulted and tortured by murderous animals in arenas, for the entertainment of dwarves. I've spent some time here, amidst your kind, and I find such stories to be... wildly exaggerated. not akin to how every dwarf I talk to swears he hates the elves more than anything else, yet happily trade with them every spring and share stories about the world. No, what I've found here is much worse and terrifying than any racial rivalties that may tear us apart. You've seen it too.''

Doren had been listening with caution. Every part of her brain told her to be wary of goblins, especially one so bold as to walk openly in a dwarven-crafted office. Her expression changed all of a sudden, shock and anger, then fear. ''The snail'' she whispered with an almost childlike voice. She told him of the horros she had withnessed, the friends she had lost. She whispered of the [SNAIL_NOISES ]. Then smunstu offered her the finest wine Doomforests had to offer, and began a tale of his own. Of lone dwarves stuck inside a lever room, with bodies piled into a barrack turned into a hospital. Of the hospital turning into a morgue. The tale went on for almost an hour. few of the new migrants had heard of this story in details, now that the old Mad Doctor had passed away. By the end of the tale, and of the wine barrel, Doren was all hears, ready to defend the fortress against future creatures of nightmare. She was impressed by the tales of the legendary hero Senshuken, who faced Snustrok heroically. She asked to know more about the soldiers who took upon the name, and took good note of their deeds. Of senshuken  II who was a bonecarver who was visited by the ghost of the fallen and took over his title. Of Senshuken III who was known as the Swordleader, and of Senshuken V who followed in his tracks, not forgeting Senshuken IV the Unruly, who forsake the sword to become a spearmaster. Once she knew everything there was to know, she chose to continue the tradition.

''Major SenshukenVI, your expertise in cavern survival is unmatched. Let's put it to good use. By the end of the month, I want to know of every cavern access that are, and once were. Any hairpin-sized hole you find, you will report to Minister Longshanks, so his department can take care of them. You'll also give a copy of all access points to TexchnoXanII, so his engineers can visit every bridge and lock to make sure they comply with ministerial standarts of quality and shit-containment. I'll also need a list of the cavern's creatures, as exhaustive as you can get make it.

Once this is done, I will have a very important job for you, maybe the most crucial of all. Our general will be drilling troops, but I've been told you lack any squadmates. After your survey of the caverns, I want you to schedule training for each important dwarf of this fortress. Have them master dodging and increase their agility. teach them how to escape grapples, and hamstring pursuers with misc objects. They are too valuable to send into any fight, regardless of situations, so the squad will be immediately diasbanded at the first sign of trouble. The ministers should not enter any fight, but if a fight comes to them, they should be able to repel themselves and run to safety. You will also brief them on the various waypoints and safe areas of the fort, and schedule emergency drills. Make sure they know which treacherous, counter-intuitive set of forgotten corridor they shoudl take when trouble arises.''
« Last Edit: September 14, 2015, 08:15:29 pm by Taupe »
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Drazoth

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Re: The Hastening of Doomforests
« Reply #1471 on: September 15, 2015, 11:51:44 am »

Nice writing Taupe. 

Journal of Drazoth III:
So many years since my return to this fort.  So many years of waiting, of testing, of searching.  My bone constructs got scattered everywhere during the fighting between the Inquisition and the MechaTechno.  They hid, as per my orders, and I finally got around to finding them.  Then came the tests.  The gifts that the Dark One gave me all those years ago.  Now I know their secrets.  They shall me most helpful in my plans.  Then came those few months that nobody seems to be able to remember.  Perhaps there was a booze shortage and we all got hung under.  Or maybe it was Nifh, or the necromancers at SanctumCoal.  No matter.  At any rate, Minister Smunstu has the purple hat now.  I guess I should refer to him as Prime Minister now.  The time has come for me to get back to work on the plan.  I think that our new Prime Minister will be able to help greatly.  He shall make DoomForests great, or at least put it on the right path.  Then, in time the hat shall return to me.  Once it does, not only will DoomForests begin to take it's proper place, I shall make certain that my family does as well.  Then, the REAL plan can begin.....
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Welcome to Doomforests, please, choose a cult of your liking or head to the overseers office to register your own cult. Religious freedom is pride of this fortress!

Dark One

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Re: The Hastening of Doomforests
« Reply #1472 on: September 15, 2015, 02:02:31 pm »

Journal of Dark Two

The First Entry

My name is Monom Ulzestbomrek. In my childhood I was living in Rampartglides, where I spent days happily working in brewery, butchery and plump helmet farms. From those three I like brewing the most - I could brew the whole day, distilling various beverages and learning about alcoholic properties of random plants. I always dreamt of crafting a masterwork. Many dwarves dedicated their lives for masonry, carpentry, craftsdwarfship or metalsmithing. However, I wanted to achieve my dream another way. I spent hours on planning and bringing my ideas to reality. According to my research, changes I have made to our stills would boost the booze production to extreme levels! The only problem were other brewers - they never wanted to listen! They told "We're the elite of brewers in this part of dwarven empire! We don't need any changes to our stills to keep the booze stockpiles full!" My modified still was destroyed, and I was degraded to butchery works!

Around 1061 or so I received a letter from my younger brother, Mate the 880th, and my beloved niece, Mate the 888th. They wrote me about a place of chaos and despair... halls cluttered with bones, ashes and rotting flesh... a place frequently visited by snack-hungry forgotten beasts.... but also about a home of absolute freedom, where an ordinary carpenter, mason or farmer after a day of usuall work turn into insane necromancers, vampire worshippers or inquisitors. This was the freedom I needed to bring Brewing Revolution to life, and my family was there too!

It was then that I have decided to leave Rampartglides and settle of Doomforests. My first impressions of this place was: A crundle ridden hellhole. Now I know that a hellhole, even if crundle ridden is a much more pleasurable place to stay. I don't regret this decision though. As soon as I reached the stills, I presented my notes on modificating the stills. The group of brewers split up between conservative dwarves and revolutionists. However, the situation resolved itself when the butchery industry was in dire lack of working force, so I was assigned to butchery again.

The present day

I still remember the day when overseer assigned me and my followers to butchery duty, and I still remember the argue between my group and the conservative brewers. With The Overseer Rutile Hat changing it's owner again, I can go back into brewing, and raise my rusty skills to acceptable levels again. I did some reconnaissance while working in the stills, and I noticed that they were working with all the brewing power that unmodified stills can work with, but nearly 75% of final product was missing! This was weird, and the Chief Brewer Stukos blamed the low quality of plump helmets grown in local farms, and a barrel shortage.

Upon further inspection of farms and carpentry workshops, we have noticed that the plump helmets produced in our farms are in fact a high quality product that can be used in the most complicated alchemical concoctions! There was also the fact that the fortress has got plenty of highly skilled carpenters! It was obvious that Stukos is the source of missing booze problems. With all the knowledge I have gathered, I decided to visit the current overseer.

When I reached the office, someone was already inside. When he was going out of the office I recognised that dwarf as PsychoAngel. I don't know what he wanted from the overseer, but surely there's some soapy intrigue involved with it. Then I entered the office and quickly moved to the point - Stukos, missing brew, and the foundation of Order of The Ale, officially accepted by the overseer, with me as the Klan Master!

I went back to brewing area, thinking about all the modifications I can do to our stills. And since now I'm in charge of Alcohol Industry, only the overseer can stop me... and this is highly unlikely since he's more interested in results than the way they were achieved! If only I could proceed to do all the changes needed without any interruptions, I can achieve the goal I set myself - brewing over two thousand drinks during the reign of current overseer.

As I reached the stills, I saw Stukos dragging a wheelbarrow loaded with barrels of dwarven ale into a secret passage. He opened the gate and dissapeared in a dark passage covered with cobwebs. I immediately proceeded to sneak behind him all the way to a strange chamber. It had traces of wild fires burning in it, burnt skeletons and torn notees scattered around a huge stockpile of empty barrels. Stukos left the wheelbarrow and started to drink the ale hastily. I saw regret in his face... I entered the room, and picked up one of the notes. After reading it I came to conclusion that it was torn out of a journal of some necromancer-cult leader called Dark One. Thinking about all the horrifying deeds that were written down in that journal gives me a strange feeling, as if someone stabbed me with a dagger and twisted it in my guts. Stukos cried when he said:

- Now you know where most of the fortress booze ends. I... I have... I found this place a few weeks ago, looking for a new place to stockpile our final product. Then I found this burnt chamber with a journal of some sort lying in the middle of it. Strangely it was the only thing left after the fire raged here before. I started to read... All the horrors of Doomforests that were hidden from our ignorant eyes opened to me in one second, leaving my soul shattered and my mind crippled for the end of my life... I couldn't... Booze was the only thing that could soothe the pain...

Stukos charged at me, and forced me to leave the chamber. He sealed himself inside, and after a while I smelled booze in the air. He shouted:

- Run Monom! Leave this madness behind you!

I heard strong hissing, and then something exploded. The force of shockwave pushed me back from the gates of chamber... Stukos was no more. I decided to go back to the stills and called for all the brewers. I presented them with the new organisation they were part of - Order of the Ale. As a Klan Master I had to choose myself a new name. Somehow that journal came to my mind, and I said to the brewers:

- I am Dark Two, Klan Master of the Order of the Ale, and soon to be the Chief Brewer of Doomforests. With my guidance, we'll make those stills work with unspeakable power, producing barrel after barrel of various beverages. This is our chance to become the elite of brewers! The Order will prevail!

Taupe

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Re: The Hastening of Doomforests
« Reply #1473 on: September 15, 2015, 03:27:47 pm »

(Nicely done, you two! Also, the fucking stock screen is laggingn while the game is running at 27 fps. It takes five seconds of downtime whenever I pass over the cloth section. This is a special fortress. Also also, I just read a hundred pages of Syrupleaf recently, which may have inspired the disjuncted narrative bits, instead of the clear monthly reports I had in mind initially)

*   *   *   *   *   *   *   *
''What do you mean, it's *missing*.
-Sir, I have no idea where...
-Find it.
-I looked. Everywhere. I even consulted the official record books, the journals, everything. It's gone. Nobody has seen it in the recent years. I even went back to previous files about Doomforests, to make sure it didn't disappear in the last months.
-There has to be something left.
-Not... not if lava swallowed it, sir. Then there would be no trace.
-You damned dwarves and your obsession with destroying things...
-Should I... tell everyone to cancel their current assignments?
-NO! No. That would just be a waste of resources. Everything is already in motion, we'll just have to tweak things a bit. You deal with the next meetings in my stead, I'll need to overhaul the farming division again. ''

*   *   *   *   *   *   *

The general sat in her chair, twisting and crossing her legs. Edêm was a ranger by profession, and they hardly stodd still for too long. The threads of politics and bureaucracy made her uneasy. She stared at the secretary before saying:

''Where is the Prime Minister?
-He is currently unavailable. I will be discussing the matters at hand with you. A treacherous dwarf has been hoarding and sabotaging the booze distribution, and Minister Smunstu is busy handling the aftermath. better not disturb him, unless we want to skip our next mug of ale.
-Hum, yes, I suppose. I have the list of our soldiers right here. Three squads, all of them full.
-What are their status? Could they defend the fortress against a snail at the time being?
-The Constructive Cups have trained long and hard, and they are now masters of their chosen weapons. I'm currently training a group of marksdwarves. Militia captain Ast Oddomlikot is forming a new batch of recruits.
-So 10 able soldiers and 20 on the way. However, your own squad currently contains Major SenshukenVI, who is bound to detach herself from the Large Picks and attend other duties. that puts us at 29 soldiers.
-That is exact.
-Most of them still untested in battle.
-Well, miss, I'll have you know that being tested in battle and living to tell the tale is a strange and difficult experience here is Doomforests.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)
-True. Here's a list of creatures stalking the caverns, and associated entrances. Try and give the soldiers some first-hand training. Keep in mind, Minister of Engineering TechnioXanII requested a no-crundle agression clause as part of his cooperation. For now, the list safe opponents are mostly Dralthas and magma crabs. Major SenshukenVI will keep you updated on any new creature, so make sure to give the freshest troops some combat experience appropriate to their level. Keep our elite troops on standby near the used gateway into the caverns, to avoid any surprise or sneak attacks.
-That seems reasonable.
-You will also select 20 additional recruits once we receive new migrant waves. anyone who claims to be a peasant, a hauler by trade, or has some combat qualification should be drafted. In the meantime, try and identify four weapon masters from our elite troops who will be promoted into squad leaders. Their expertise will greatly speed up the drilling process.
-I will need equipment. The state of our gear is definitely not what it used to be, what with steel and all, but 20 more soldiers will spread our ressources.

-Glad you asked. The metalworker Flame has been informed that she is to be made quartermaster. She will respond to you, and be in charge of any equipment request. She will also personally craft the new steel suits of armor.
-Excellent! I will request 40 quivers, backpacks and flasks. 30 additional steel suits too. This fortress is large, and things get misplaced. the last thing I need is for my guys to spend two days looking for the last pair of steel greaves instead of joining a fight. I say, ten spare sets of full military gear is a good idea. There's also a few used and damaged leather items I'd like replaced and dumped in lava when we have a chance.
-Excellent. Quartermaster Flame will also supervise the metal industry, to ensure that the flow of steel bars and melted equipment does not go stale.
-Well, if that's all, miss TaupeIII, I'll be leaving. Don't wanna get my crossbow muscles rusty, heh.''

*   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *
Flame was in a serious discussion with the miners. Apparently they were used to dealing with the overseer directly. Answering to a smith was uncommon.

''Well, ma'am, usually we just drink booze until the overseer comes with his big ol' purple hat, and tell us to dig random tunnels. sometimes it's a big giant room, and people forget about it after a year and we spend the next year just hauling the rocks from that room to the stockpiles, until the new overseer tell us to dig an all new fortress sumwe're.
-Do you seriously think this fortress needs any more redundant digging?
-Well hum, I ain't in charge of the where, I just do the diggin' is all. Plus I get maybe the new Prime ministr'seer busy half the time dealin' with bein' sober, what with bein' a goblin an all. But I assumed we'd be working under that dude Longshank. Mining and masonry are basically the same thing.
-No, you dimwits, they are actually the exact opposite. Mining is creating holes everywhere, and masonry is patching those holes to make sure a fucking monster doesn't kill us. And you guys have dug an awfull too many holes, so we also need arms and armors to deal with them monsters. So we need metal. That means we need hematite, and we need flux stone.''

She laid out the plans of Doomforests before them, as clumsy and vague as they were.
''See, you can find a lot of flux stone between astville and Old Doomforests. We won't have to open any caverns, just dig a few veins starting from the central staircase and following them. You'll be focusing on large veins, and important stones. digging a few spare gem clusters is fine, creating a 10x10 square everywhere just to ''See what's around'' is a big no.
-Ma'am, that's called exploratory minin', where's ya sense o' discovery?
-If I wanted to be an adventurer I'd be outside travelling to Datetatooed or some other dumb place. We need flux stone, and we need hematite. If you dig anything other than that, I swear I'll make you haul it without a wheelbarrow. Or worse, make the next armor suits your size, and tell the general that mining has made you beefy enough for military duty.
-Aye, aye, ma'am, I get it now. no tunnels leading nowhere, no giant rooms, no digging orthoclase just cause it looks like gold, just hematite and chalk.
-Good.''

She'd still need some charcoal. They had 200 bars of iron, 9 chunks of hematite, and about 70 charcoal lumps. They'd need 130 more to convert all the iron into steel, which was a no brainer. steel was always superior to iron, and worth more anyway. She told one of her apprentices to unforbid some logs and have the haulers bring it inside. The idlers went down by ten in an instant. Now she just needed to convince PsychoAngel that the wood furnace should be used for charcoal, not ashes. She'd talk to the Prime minister about splitting the wood furnaces into two departments...
« Last Edit: September 15, 2015, 08:27:36 pm by Taupe »
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Iamblichos

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Re: The Hastening of Doomforests
« Reply #1474 on: September 15, 2015, 04:26:59 pm »

Looking for this?  *innocent look*

Overseer's Log - Winter 1064
Well, it's been quite a year.  I'm over me upset about the news, but I'll tell you all right now, don't ever, ever, EVER keep a secret like that again from someone in the purple hat.  To think there was one o' them bloodsuckin' beasts hidden in the very walls of the place!  Fair makes m' flesh crawl!  We'd all be murdered in our beds, and all you lot would say is "oh, we forgot".  Same as you forgot to close the holes into the caverns so old Shedim could get in!  I do appreciate the effort you all spent in throwin' the vile thing into the lava, though.  Poor Kronk... losin' his wife like that!  Who would have thought the beast could be that quick?  No sooner did we break open the prison than it slipped by us all and claimed its prey.  Faugh!  No wonder we have such a problem with evil spirits here, if you have things like THAT about!  I hope for the sake of future overseers there's no other horrible monsters sealed up in here anywhere...
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I'm new to succession forts in general, yes, but do all forts designed by multiple overseers inevitably degenerate into a body-filled labyrinth of chaos and despair like this? Or is this just a Battlefailed thing?

There isn't much middle ground between killed-by-dragon and never-seen-by-dragon.

PsychoAngel

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Re: The Hastening of Doomforests
« Reply #1475 on: September 15, 2015, 04:30:25 pm »

Just so as long as there's enough wood to go around, I don't mind splitting it with the smiths.

I just need enough to get a good supply... Maybe more than a good supply...

Let's just say we'll probably have more soap than the Prime Minister ordered...
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Our forward thinking overseer at the time devised a way in which werebeasts can live in peace with other dwarves by utilizing the mysterious magical properties of soap!

Quote from: PsychoAngel on January 19, 2016
Don't worry. I've got extremely volatile exploding fish.
My friends and I say a lot of fun things to each other.

TheFlame52

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Re: The Hastening of Doomforests
« Reply #1476 on: September 15, 2015, 04:35:02 pm »

Nice to see that Flame is doing well even in my absence. Have you found my gift yet? I refuse to give any hints.

Taupe

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Re: The Hastening of Doomforests
« Reply #1477 on: September 15, 2015, 04:35:45 pm »

Looking for this?  *innocent look*

Overseer's Log - Winter 1064
Well, it's been quite a year.  I'm over me upset about the news, but I'll tell you all right now, don't ever, ever, EVER keep a secret like that again from someone in the purple hat.  To think there was one o' them bloodsuckin' beasts hidden in the very walls of the place!  Fair makes m' flesh crawl!  We'd all be murdered in our beds, and all you lot would say is "oh, we forgot".  Same as you forgot to close the holes into the caverns so old Shedim could get in!  I do appreciate the effort you all spent in throwin' the vile thing into the lava, though.  Poor Kronk... losin' his wife like that!  Who would have thought the beast could be that quick?  No sooner did we break open the prison than it slipped by us all and claimed its prey.  Faugh!  No wonder we have such a problem with evil spirits here, if you have things like THAT about!  I hope for the sake of future overseers there's no other horrible monsters sealed up in here anywhere...
I fucking hate you. Now I have to roll with it and actually made the fortress a better place...

Iamblichos

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Re: The Hastening of Doomforests
« Reply #1478 on: September 15, 2015, 04:40:13 pm »

I fucking hate you. Now I have to roll with it and actually made the fortress a better place...

Quoth Longshanks "Aye, so get ta brewin', ya posh-talkin' greenie!"
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I'm new to succession forts in general, yes, but do all forts designed by multiple overseers inevitably degenerate into a body-filled labyrinth of chaos and despair like this? Or is this just a Battlefailed thing?

There isn't much middle ground between killed-by-dragon and never-seen-by-dragon.

Taupe

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Re: The Hastening of Doomforests
« Reply #1479 on: September 15, 2015, 10:17:45 pm »

Longshank was browsing the various blueprints, trying to figure out which one he liked best. The fortress was busting with activity, and few dwarves were available for massive construction projects. Whatever they meant to built had to count. The Prime Minister was overseeing the fort's entrance, pointing out various locations.

''What about... there?
-Too far away.
-And this section?
-Nah, if we are building an extension to our surface farms, I think the best idea would be to place them between our current farms and the tower.''

The need for more surface crops had arisen, after many dwarves complained that they were tired of plump helmets. Stukos the ex-brewer had apparently burnt a lot of the spare crops, in an attempt at alchemy or whatever. the details mattered not, only the result; Doomforests had plump helmet and a bit of cave wheat, but not much else. Sure, they could build more farm plots underground, but replacing plump helmets by cave wheat was hardly a great accomplishment. If the fortress was to become a renowned dwarven society, they'd need a larger variety of crops.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)
There was also a rising need for more storage space, as counter-intuitive as this could sound in Doomforests. Dumping stacks of bolts everywhere would be a terrible idea in the long run. The general insited that bolts be kept near the entrance, or deep in the fortress near cavern entrances. yaknow, places soldiers would usually be. Their legendary bonecarver Callista came to them everyday to show her newest creations. she was turning the remains of every creature, from mighty forgotten beasts to lowly crundle, into bolts. ''Sure they be beautiful, but damn are those buggers space-consuming.'' Longshank complained. He'd been the one to design the courtyard and finish the guard tower atop the entrance. that was a year and a half ago. Now he was mostly just giving the thing glimpses, hoping someone would continue his work. when he heard of the bolt storing problem, he came to the Prime Minister with an idea:

''We'll just continue the tower, and add a few levels of bolt storage. If ye want more farms, we could add a second floor above them and use that as well. we'd need to make the thing two high anyway, to avoid climbers.''

The main problem they experienced right now wasn't the lack of idea. it was the lack of available dwarves. In the last two months, every minister had claimed the dwarves he could, bringing them under their department's own juridiction. Some problems were easily addressed, like adding 4 more wood furnace to share between soapers and smiths. Others were not as easy to manage. Every dwarf he assigned to an area meant withdrawing it from another. I'm not even sure how I'l even man those new farms, he found himself thinking. The solution would probably be to downsize the plump helmet farms, to make up for it.

Flame came to them, visibly upset. She was carrying a long list of inventory in one hand, and a small shard of iron ore in the other.

''Great news! Here's all the iron we have right now!

She explained that despite the ledgers mentioning 194 spare iron bars, they had currently access to none of them. Where were the ores? She had no clue, and Drokles was busy filling work orders for the soapers.

''What do you mean, more orders for the soapers? they told me they passed all their work orders two months ago, they haven't even made the first 30 buckets of lye.
-PsychoAngel says they need more soap. Way more.
-I asked for 100 extra bars and he's already filled requests for about twice that. What is he hoping to accomplish?
-Yeah hum, breaking news the guy looooves his soap. a little too much. The other dwarves don't want to stop, they workship him as the Grand Soaper. A lot of common folks think soap is magical.
-Uggh, tell him to stop, and tell Drokles to stop validating any more orders for lye, ash or soap. And while we're at it, have this bookkeeper actually locate the thing he's been counting.
-Makes sense. In the meantime, I got no iron to work with, the miners still ain't done with digging out your office, and we have two thousand copper bars. Obviously half of it is probably sealed under some forgotten beast corpse, but that's still more than we could ever use. Not when we have half that much silver. It's clogging my stockpiles...''

Longshank reflected on the matter for a moment. He looked at his blueprints, then concluded: ''I don't have enough dwarves to carve a thousand stone blocks and work on construction projects at the same time. If we were to build a copper farm enclave, tho, that could free the space flame needs for better materials.'' They talked about it for a moment, long enough that Pencil_Art noticed and showed up to join them. She loved her meetings, that girl. After two hours of debate under the sun, it was agreed: Longshank's department would be emptying the copper stockpiles to build a farm enclave, atop which they'd build a bolt storage facility. The whole thing would be easily accessed from the barracks, allowing for the quick resupply of ammunition. The new building would shine under the sun, showing Doomforests' wealth to outsiders and travellers.

Then Callista showed up as well, with a bin full of totems. ''I heard the caravan from the human lands arrived. it's quite late already, so i took the initiative to bring my crafts to the depot, i hope that's alri --...'' The General's voice interrupted her, echoing loudly across the courtyard above. the soldiers were mobilising, and surrounding the caravan, preventing any hauler from bringing things to the depot.

''Remember the briefing, people! Seal the gate! Considerate Cups, you surround the wagons and keep all humans contained! The Large Picks, mobilize on the barricade, and grab your crossbows! Anyone starts twisting or making antelope sounds, you shoot them in the head! Until the next full moon has come and gone, nobody's moving an inch!''

Drazoth

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Re: The Hastening of Doomforests
« Reply #1480 on: September 15, 2015, 10:24:08 pm »

Glad to see that one of us is capable of learning from history.
Very nice turn you've got going.  For now anyway. 
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Welcome to Doomforests, please, choose a cult of your liking or head to the overseers office to register your own cult. Religious freedom is pride of this fortress!

Taupe

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Re: The Hastening of Doomforests
« Reply #1481 on: September 15, 2015, 10:49:58 pm »

The human caravans were stuck in place, unwilling to go any further. the soldiers were on the ready, and Smunstu spent most of his days atop the tower, waiting. When his secretary came to him, he expected something minor, maybe a complaint about a lazy dwarf or something misplaced. He definitely wasn't expecting... this.

''Well, this is... interesting. At the very least we know what happened to our iron stocks. This raises so, so many questions tho.
-Prime Minister, the full monthly report from Dark Two came in a few hours ago, and there is something related in it.''

The goblin took the parchament stack and began reading. Dark Two had exceeded his expectations, raising their stocks to 750 in record times. Out of good faith, Smunstu had raised him to Klan Master of the brewing division. Unless something catastrophic came to pass, the current production rate proved that Dark Two would indeed meet his requirements in time. The most interesting part of his report were not in the numbers, though, but in some comments about the ex-brewer Stukos. Dark Two affirmed that in a fit of insanity and cult-related activites, Stukos took his own life. One particular passage was of special interest in the light of recent events:

'''I proceeded behind him all the way to a strange chamber. It had traces of wild fires burning in it, burnt skeletons and torn notes scattered around a huge stockpile of empty barrels.'''

The Prime Minister took a pause, and rolled the parchment.

''Tell the smiths to reduce the noted iron bar count by 194. Once my office is dug, miners should locate hematite. Have the furnace operators smelt redundant iron gear until we can resume pig iron production.
-Shall I have the dwarven alchemists arrested for questioning?
-No, not yet, but take the most loyal recruits and have them follow anyone associated with occultism or alchemy. If anyone asks, they are securing the halls until the caravan is gone, in case a wereantelope snuck inside. They aren't experienced enough to secure the wagons, but they can put their competent observing to good use.
-Very well, sir.
-Oh, one last thing. I'll need to meet with both TechnoXan and His Heirless holyness. Ideally we'd have a nice civilised talk, but I sincerely doubt we'll get any answers with them in the same room together. Schedule one this afternoon, and the other after supper. ''

One was skilled with technological progress and could provide answers on the ritual used by brewer Stukos. The other had... ways of handling supernatural elements and cleansing cults. It wouldn't be long before people figured out what had just happened. Once rumors spread about brewer Stukos and the ritual he performed, dwarves the fortress across would be running around and ignoring the curfews and burrow to locate what hidden lore Dark One may have left hidden. They would already be doing that, if it wasn't for Doomforests residents' utter disregard for their deceased ones. he could try to cover up the incident, but sooner or later, someone would go to press E to pay their respects to a loved one. Then it would be chaos. Dwarves were renowned for their greed, not their decision making abilities. He had inherited Dark One's tomes and journal from TaupeII, but obviously more of his knowledge had survived, hidden somewhere else.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Using unknown alchemical rituals, brewer Stukos had transmuted every engraved stone slab into iron. The next time, it could be something much worse...


*   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *

Why can't we have a normal fortress?
« Last Edit: September 15, 2015, 10:54:43 pm by Taupe »
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Max™

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Doomforests: Why can't we have a normal fortress? Oh yeah, snails.
« Reply #1482 on: September 15, 2015, 11:15:37 pm »

Why can't we have a normal fortress?
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Taupe

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Re: The Hastening of Doomforests
« Reply #1483 on: September 16, 2015, 01:45:14 am »

Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Smunstu and Pencil_Art were busy exploring the future new office. Sure, it wasn't finished yet, and still needed smoothing, but at least it was dug out. There was room for a central, impressive hallway leading to a desk, with pillars aside which they'd place golden statues. The area around the walls were meant to hold various coffers and cabinets, for file holding. the bottom area would be a dinning meeting room, and the bottom area would be his bedroom. all and all, an interesting suite. PsychoAngel was across the hall, with his young heir PsychoIII.

''Well, I think we are done here, mayor. You should go and talk some sense into PsychoAngelII, about the soap thing. And remember to do the poublic public announcement.
-Why, yes. I'll be off now!''

The mayor then begins a long, boring meeting with PsychoAngel, at the end of which he litterally falls asleep on the Health Inspector's desk. Smunstu could hardly believe they were doing this, but... it was the only way to avoid cults from rising again. better soap fanatics than seekers of old lore. If PsychoAngel wanted to make more soap, there was sadly no way of stopping him, short of decapitation. It was simpler, wiser, more beneficial to use it to their own advantage. The day passed, and Pencil_Art convoked every member of the fortress, for his special public announcement.

''Ladies and Gentlemen of Doomforests. Come and listen, for  I have important news! Now, some of you may have witnessed something... odd. We tried not to talk too much about it, lest our soap stores run dry. This is not something we can keep secret too long however. Someone, --We are still investigating who this is -- has been spending the last years polishing all the slabs of our fallen with some of the finest soap this fortress has ever created. We have reports of a mysterious hooded dwarf, travelling at night to clean different items in the fortress in secret. The result was... unbelievable. It seems that those slabs, over the years, have gradually been turned into iron slabs. We are still investigating those unknown properties of soap.

In the meantime, I ask of you, dear friends, not to do any unrequired cleaning. Do NOT start keeping this fortress clean and tidy. Please leave everything where it is, don't do too much hauling, do not sort out the stockpiles... and most importantly, do not use our soap supply to clean everything from blood and spilled drinks to pools of vomit and miasma. Please. I beg of you, and call to your common sense. Do not use our soap stockpile in vain just to harness the magical properties of solidified lye and tallow.''


Pencil_Art finished hew speech, and bowed to the audience. People looked at each other, and slowly flocked to Psychoangel, asking for soap. Some of them began scrubbing the floors and polishing engravings the second they were out of sight. The Prime Minister and the mayor met once more in the unfinished office.

''And so it is done, said Pencil_Part. Now they'll be making this place as shiny as it ever was.
-Yes. I don't like the idea one bit, but at least it will keep the fort from overflowing with soap. PsychoAngel's obsession had to be contained.
-Aren't you afraid that they'll turn everything into iron tho, minister?
-Ah, whomever has been turning these slabs into iron using soap has been working on this for years. Scrubbing every night, always in the same fashion. I doubt anyone else has this kind of dedication. They'll probably be very focused on cleaning for a year or so, then they'll get tired of it before we can really see the results.''

There, it was done. Plots within plots. By convincing Pencil_Art that she was in on the secret, she wouldn't think twice about doubting it. The iron transmutation had to be explained to the public, ideally before they grew suspicious of the whole thing. that way they'll be keeping the fortress clean, instead of poking around for secret lore left by some monstrous aberration. To celebrate this grand scheme, miss TaupeIII entered the office, followed by two haulers carrying a special coffer.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)
''Your personal safe is ready, Prime Minister! Artefact cobaltine.
-Most excellent. This should match well with my golden statues. Put it against the back wall, behind where my desk will be. I was thinking... mahogany? Or should i stick to all gold?
-I'll have Frankensteen look over the various option, if you'd like. It seems the miner forgot to include room for an archery range. I'll have that fixed soon.
-Yes, please do so.''

With this artefact coffer safely stored in his office, nobody but him would be able to access the most sensitive documents. Now, the journals and notes of Dark One would not fall into prying hands.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Later that day, a recruit came to deliver a message. The human traders stayed no longer than three days when they realised the dwarves of Doomforests were suspicious and wary. They didn't even unpack their goods, instead choosing to leave right way, before the full moon. no doubt they were hiding something. They stayed a total of 6 days, under the scrutinous gaze of the dwarven General.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Shortly after, the soldiers are dispatched to deal with wildlife, including a tribe of wren people. Some echidnas and dralthas are also squatting the future farms location. They are dealt with first, and the troops march south, trying to murder every wren men they can, to improve their skills. Callista's bolts are put to good use. As a wren man crashes to the ground, the bone carver smiles. ''I bet those will make some pretty light bolts! They'll fly far.'' The troops, on their rampage, come across a group of ten migrants, looking for the fort.

''We were told to follow the brook, but got lost. The riverbed is empty...''

Nobody really knows why that is. The soldiers locate a small building, blocking the river's flow. Some half-finished flooring has been left there, and rubbles litter the bottom of the strange construction. ''Never seen that before'' says a ranger. ''Must be new. Some of the Mechatechno sect project maybe?'' In any case, the soldiers guide the new residents toward the fortress, while dragging a few corpses with them. The migrants are given a tour of the place, as confusing as it may be. They are told to stay on the top floor until they understand the layout. ''Wow, the place is so... clean. It's way different than in the brochure!''

Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Some weeks later, SenshukenVI requests barges in the Prime Minister's office, visibly excited. she talks of a mighty beast, a flaming pteradon, wandering in the caverns.

''I'm pretty sure there are no ways in, but I'll keep our soldiers ready to intervene for the time being, just to be sure. The creature is mostly just setting fields of fungi aflame, and tearing appart rats. I've even double-checked the water and magma pipes, and none of them seem to be at risk.
-Well, that is excellent. Good job, Major. Speaking of tunnels and pipes, have you located the source of our problem?
-Ah, yes! Dralthas on the surface! I've been exploring the mines, and found a secret staircase leading from the surface straight to the cavern layers, right on the edge of our territory. I had the thing blocked with walls, of course.
-Nice!
-Oh, and while exploring the old tunnels near the cemeteries, I found something worth mentionning. If we open a few doors leading to abandonned, safe mine shafts, we could harvest a vein of Hematite.
-I'll inform Flame and her miners at once. That will be all major, you are dismissed.''
« Last Edit: September 16, 2015, 04:42:06 pm by Taupe »
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Max™

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Re: The Hastening of Doomforests
« Reply #1484 on: September 16, 2015, 04:09:56 am »

I'm not saying I'm waiting eagerly for something awful to happen and everybody but a couple of dorfs die on your turn, but I'm not saying I'm NOT waiting for it either.
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