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Author Topic: Ice Station WereZebra  (Read 53543 times)

Salmeuk

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Re: Ice Station WereZebra
« Reply #90 on: June 28, 2015, 06:17:43 am »

Expect an update a day or two from now.

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Gojira1000

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Re: Ice Station WereZebra
« Reply #91 on: June 28, 2015, 10:13:47 am »

Yeah we're looking at over 40C today in my bit of snowy BC. The bears are going to melt.
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Salmeuk

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Re: Ice Station WereZebra
« Reply #92 on: July 01, 2015, 01:24:35 am »

"Zaneg Såkzuliklist?"

Zaneg stepped forward from the crowd of recent arrivals. Having completed their journey past desert wastes, sprawling jungles and over a mountain or two, the immigrants were tired. Cold, too, but mostly tired.  It had been a week since they stepped onto this glacier, a slowly moving frozen ocean of such expanse that it's greatest reaches were yet uncharted. Their food was gone, pack animals wounded from yeti ambushes, and even their booze had been guzzled by a particularly rude polar bear. Since no one in their right mind would equip a caravan of convicts with weaponry, they just had to stand and watch him tear open the casks of ale, one by one, watching the slushy (it was cold up here) booze glug onto the ice. It was only after the bear fell asleep that the dwarves could move on.

"Zaneg, do you still have your sentencing papers given to you by the court clerk?"

Zaneg didn't. Or, rather, he did have sentencing papers but they weren't the same ones he started his journey with. He knew how these things worked, and embarked with a few extra scrolls and some ink. Given plenty of chances to wander off during night watches, he found the time to forge a new set of documents. A few key changes were made:

1. He changed his last name from Estherith to Såkzuliklist (roughly translated "Soldthroats" to "Trumpetwhispered").
2. He changed his listed profession from "peasant" (for in his time spent thieving he never learned a trade) to "Carpenter".
3. He changed his conviction from "18 counts of trespassing, 4 murders, untold amounts of thievery, fraud, and arson, and general uncleanliness" to "failure to pay guild taxes".


He wanted to make sure no one knew who he was. His famous exploits involved backstabbery by the bucket, and most of the dwarves who knew of him hated him for one reason or another. Traveling to a prison camp undoubtedly full of said dwarves? Certain death, unless he could pull of a transformation.

His name was well known to most thieves, so he changed it to something less threatening. That was enough, however, as Zaneg was sure no one would recognize his face. Before he was given the choice to come to Icehold, he had spent time in the royal dungeon and his face bore the resulting scars. Deep, charred scars that would never heal and made him nearly unrecognizable. Zaneg was the sort to recognize this as a odd sort of boon to his future survival, and only felt moderate rage towards the torturer. His death would come later. After he escaped.

"Zaneg, you have officially become part of the royally-mandated prison colony known as Icehold. Were a little short on sleeping space but perhaps you could help. As it stands you're the only one who knows anything about woodworking, so that's who you are now.

Remember, were all convicts here. We're also just trying to survive. Make a clean life for yourself and you might just learn to like it here." There was a hopeful tint to this dwarfs voice, something unique in a place like this, a barren wasteland of cold death. Zaneg would later learn this dwarf was known as Honeymoon.

Zaneg laughed to himself, and walked across the ice bridge into the fortress proper. These dwarves had no idea who he was or what he was capable of, and that's the way he liked things.
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Salmeuk

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Re: Ice Station WereZebra
« Reply #93 on: July 01, 2015, 06:17:24 am »

---

When Neblime gave that slab to a random dwarf, he gave it to Mistêm Sôddeduk, "Mistymanors".

To give credit to Neblime, he couldn't possibly have known that this decision had effectively doomed half the fortress to death. Perhaps he could have been a bit more selective, not choosing a worshiper of Vesh, an undead dwarf corpse-turned-god responsible for releasing untold horrors upon this plane, but again Neblime had no real way of knowing. Here's what happened:

---
Mistêm Sôddeduk, Spring 253


It has happened. Not due to my subtle attempts at hypnotic suggestion, however powerful they are, but instead due to the lazy judgement of the last overseer. I've been told to make the decisions around here, seeing as I was presumed to be a minor administrator in my past. I'm glad I payed for those forged documents.

Me and Avuz, my wife, have understood the glory of Vesh for some years now. It began with a dream, a nightmare of untold horror that shocked me out of my soft, flesh-bound existence. I was more than a dwarf, I was a vessel for the will of a god. My wife was made to understand soon after, much as my son will in time.

This prison is an opportunity. Nearby a tower full of Vesh's minions wait for the signal. Should it arrive, a billowing army of rotting corpses would soon envelop this poor outpost. We weren't ready to give that signal, however. Certain individuals posed a problem. Now that I've been given power, things can begin.

First, we need to earn their trust. I order a census of both living and deceased, as well as a count of our current wealth and food.

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Two facts are established: We have too much Yeti meat. We also have too many children. The obvious solution (mystery stew for all!) isn't feasible since children aren't usually used as cooking ingredients.

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Instead, I order all the yeti meat placed in a newly-carved room, and lock the door.



I explain it away as "needing an emergency stockpile, safe from vermin and thievery" but you all know the real reason. A few dwarfs later thank me personally, and I note their names. They will die first, without pain.

Next, I establish a dwarven day care of sorts. It's location? Behind the kennels, of course.

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I also expand the current refuse room, and order all the corpses to be thrown into the moat. I can't let the dwarves get too used to death.

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These things take some time. Apparently the miners only had one pick between the three of them, and I quickly sorted that out, ordering Honeymoon to craft a few extra just in case. She's pretty handy, apparently she's not a half bad woodworker too. There was a new guy, forgot his name, with some impressive court papers detailed a long history of successful carpentry. Perhaps he might eclipse her skill?

Generally speaking, the dwarves are confused out here. Most tend to just mill around and eat food, occasionally moving a block or a stone. There's no sense of organization or purpose to them. During the census, it was established that a full quarter of our population lack any skills except food processing. We have seven rangers all claiming great skill in animal training and trapping, skills fairly useless on a glacier like this. And, well, we have 35 children. No wonder things aren't getting done.

Some time passes, and strange news is heard: a child's dessicated corpse was discovered underneath a staircase, halfway to the magma forges. Perhaps he became lost, and no one took that route? A mystery.
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Later on that same day, three crundles dropped through a previously unknown hole in our cavern wall. They were quickly ripped apart, but in surprise, one of our dogs managed to jump right over the stone wall!



It took a bit of digging but we coaxed him back and patched the hole. After this event, I double checked the perimeter and discovered two other entrances. We were lucky it was just a few crundles.

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A child has been possesed, it seems. Ral Monkwheel, son of our Chief Medical Dwarf, took only two items with him to the workshop he claimed. The fingerbone of a Yeti and an iron bar.



Later on, he finishes. A gauntlet made from the massive yeti fingerbone!


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Ral embedded iron spikes into the knuckles, and a complex bone chainmail protects the lower arm of whoever wears it. A very interesting artifact, for sure, but I have a feeling the bone won't stop a well-place blow. Ral returns to daycare, confused and thirsty.

As time passes I order the metal stockpile to be expanded, and further enlarge the crafting floor.


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A number of puppies come of age, and I order them trained for war.

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The process involves dangling a yeti corpse from the ceiling, and slathering it in melted fat: the dogs learn to enjoy biting the thing. Eventually you remove the fat and find yourself with a large pack of ferocious yeti-killers. The dogs are then thrown outside the fort, acting as sentries and guards. This was good, because not a week later we were visited by a familiar sight:

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Next up: Puppies vs. Weremammoth - place your bets now!
« Last Edit: July 01, 2015, 05:57:37 pm by Salmeuk »
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Taupe

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Re: Ice Station WereZebra
« Reply #94 on: July 01, 2015, 12:50:39 pm »

Yo. That last screenshot, the ice view depicting a weremammoth arrival on a baren icey landscape full of sacrificial puppies and vomit everywhere? It would make a great intro to the OP. Like, just a spoiler image depicting ICEHOLD in a single pic.

Also, that was a great intro post. I take it that ''attrition'' won't be what kills the extra population in the end?

Gojira1000

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Re: Ice Station WereZebra
« Reply #95 on: July 01, 2015, 05:37:20 pm »

I think we may be developing a death-cult. I am all for it. And yeah, I'm so linking that pic to the initial post. (Edit - I updated to your new resized pic, Salmeuk)
« Last Edit: July 01, 2015, 07:29:11 pm by Gojira1000 »
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Salmeuk

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Re: Ice Station WereZebra
« Reply #96 on: July 01, 2015, 06:01:10 pm »

hehe it seemed awfully appropriate. There must be a whole colony of those fuckers out there, living underneath some snowpile.

I resized the image so it would play well on smaller screen resolutions, so you might want to re-quote it.

« Last Edit: July 02, 2015, 10:03:58 pm by Salmeuk »
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Salmeuk

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Re: Ice Station WereZebra
« Reply #97 on: July 02, 2015, 10:04:11 pm »

Stosbûb Azstrogogusp Busmas, "Stosbûb Devilportents the Natural Mystery"

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Nish Endokdetes was the first to see it. As she led the wardog into the midst of the pack, she heard the first
bark. Her screams alerted Asmel Keskalkilrud, "Asmel Shootbronze", Captain of The Bronze Tangles. Asmel
and his squad burst from the stone barracks, expecting another yeti. What greeted them was a beast of
nightmare.


Stosbûb charged the dogs first, shredding through the mass of panicked canines. Like a wagon wheel through
a puddle the dogs were splashed aside. Then, Olon was there.

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Weilding her copper sword, Olon stuck thrice in quick succession. A few light cuts began to weep red, but
Stosbûb remained unfazed. Faster than any creature as large as that has a right to move, Stosbûb stomped down
on Olon's foot, flattening bone and muscle alike. In a fluid motion, Olon was lifted, disarmed, and
decapitated.

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Asmel and Mebzuth were murdered in similar fashions, and Stosbûb focused it's attention on Nish and her
child, Unib.

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Nish almost made it across, but then it was right behind her. Stosbûb grabbed Unib right from her mother's
arms, and then Unib was gone. Crushed. Eaten. Nish witnessed it all - staring into the dripping maw of
Stosbûb, unable to comprehend.

Overtaken by fury, Nish scrambled over the ice and struck Stosbûb in the foot. Perhaps surprised at the audacity, Stosbûb casually flung Nish off the bridge and moved on to other prey. Stunned by the fall, Nish lay in the pit next to the rotting corpses of beast and vermin. Nothing meant anything anymore, not without Unib, and when Stosbûb himself crashed to the floor of the pit she failed to react.

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You see, after Nish was flung away, Stosbûb focused his attention on the nearest creature: an already-
crippled puppy attempting to crawl away. Perhaps blinded by his thirst, the weremammoth stumbled over the mangled corpse of a wardog and fell. Hard. The puppy remained in his grip, and was killed as soon as Stosbûb came to his
senses. Nish was next, run up against the ice and eaten alive. There was no hope here, not anymore.

The dwarves inside knew something was wrong when Nish never came back from the surface (she had just
come from a party, you see, and everyone wanted to see more of the cute, little Unib), and one of the 
masons ventured above. Greeted by the sight of Unib's corpse strewn across the portal, he shouted for help.

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The Bolts of Flying responded, a mixed-arms military squad and the oldest soldiers at the fort. Domas led the
charge with his silver mace, vaulting over the edge of the pit and onto the pile of corpses below. He landed
poorly, along with the rest of his squad, and were stunned for the start of the fight.

Wait, you ask who was fighting if everyone in The Bolts of Flying was incapacitated? Well, duh, the rest of
the fort
. That mason had gone and told everyone at the party about Unib, which had about the same
effect as a bomb. Dwarves of all professions rushed to the surface, lunging off the bridge and into the moat.

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Stosbûb dealt with the first few accordingly, maiming and killing all. Mistem, who despite all his mad
intentions had taken a liking to Unib, takes a massive hit and his hand is crushed. One of our swordsdwarfs,
the only remaining member of The Bronze Tangles, is instantly killed when Stosbûb turns around and
punches her head clean off.

Then, the tide turns. Stosbûb slows, and punches start to land. He isn't hurt by them, however - his thick
hide-covered muscle deflects everything. That is, until Amost Nomalziril shoots him in the stomach!

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No one had ever told Amost to carry a crossbow, or allowed him to access the ammunition. Apparently he
thought himself above those rules and thank Armok he did. A second bolt buries itself into Stosbûb's right
leg. At this point The Bolts of Flying have unburied themselves from the rotting corpses and entered the
fight. As they engage the beast, it's form starts to shrivel and collapse upon itself, and soon a small goblin is
standing before them. It doesn't take long for Domas to land the final blow: a strike to the neck that severs
the spine.

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Only dwarves and dogs remain. Many are bleeding, crying, screaming, or some combination of the three.

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Engok, the still-breathing gem setter, has no right leg and his head sits at a strange, inhuman angle. The few
who avoided injury are breathing heavily, exhausted after rushing to the fight. That's when they hear the
slam of the ice bridge, shutting them out amongst the dead.

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They shout and scream to open the gate in case there's another mammoth, but no one responds. They then realize they are the dead.

Werecurses transmit through wounds inflicted by those accursed. This means that, out of the 16 dwarves
now locked outside, 11 might be cursed. Those safe inside face a difficult question: how do we
deal with eleven potential Stosbûb's?

Spoiler (click to show/hide)
« Last Edit: July 02, 2015, 10:06:09 pm by Salmeuk »
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Taupe

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Re: Ice Station WereZebra
« Reply #98 on: July 02, 2015, 11:53:59 pm »

People fighting Weremammoths over a pit of slippery ice is something you truly have to play in order to truly comprehend. You think you get a good idea by reading the story but it's one of those things were you just had to be there...

This guy understands. This guy sees that someone left the party, so he goes to see if they are smoking a cigarette outside or something, and this is what he sees. This guy understand the true mess that is Icehold.

Quote
Those safe inside face a difficult question: how do we
deal with eleven potential Stosbûb's?
Make a weremammoth pit out of the moat...Surround the fort with raising drawbridges that send people sliding into the pit. Create a dumping pit to offer food to the dwarves locked outside between transformations. Like, if you micromanage it well you can have an offshoot community digging themselves a new fort right under the glacier surface, connecting to the moat, but never to the fort itself.

My god this truly is another Doomforests...
« Last Edit: July 03, 2015, 12:08:55 am by Taupe »
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Gojira1000

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Re: Ice Station WereZebra
« Reply #99 on: July 03, 2015, 12:58:27 am »

*Slow, awed clap*  :o
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neblime

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Re: Ice Station WereZebra
« Reply #100 on: July 05, 2015, 10:28:11 pm »

well, hopefully we will have the population back down to a sensible level after this hehe
did any named dwarves die?
also wow those wardogs did jack :\
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I am quite looking forward to the next 20 or 30 years or so of developmental madness

Gwolfski

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Re: Ice Station WereZebra
« Reply #101 on: July 06, 2015, 03:38:50 am »

me wanna go pls
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Deus Asmoth

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Re: Ice Station WereZebra
« Reply #102 on: July 06, 2015, 04:00:59 am »

I imagine that everyone else is going to die off at some point and leave us with a fortress of nothing but weremammoths.
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Salmeuk

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Re: Ice Station WereZebra
« Reply #103 on: July 06, 2015, 07:00:56 am »

well, hopefully we will have the population back down to a sensible level after this hehe
did any named dwarves die?
also wow those wardogs did jack :\

They were utterly ineffective, beyond that puppy somehow forcing the weremammoth off the bridge.

me wanna go pls

I will have time later today to post.
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Gojira1000

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Re: Ice Station WereZebra
« Reply #104 on: July 06, 2015, 08:52:43 am »

me wanna go pls
Added! Sorry your lawyer was so terrible, but welcome to Icehold. Please don't feed the weremammoths.
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