Bay 12 Games Forum

Please login or register.

Login with username, password and session length
Advanced search  
Pages: 1 ... 4 5 [6] 7 8 ... 14

Author Topic: LCM - Dungeonevened - The End  (Read 38143 times)

SQman

  • Bay Watcher
  • Gnot a gnelf
    • View Profile
Re: Less Crazy Modpack - Dungeonevened - Enter the Cannon
« Reply #75 on: June 14, 2018, 05:10:09 pm »

I must have overwritten More leather mod at some point. GG past me, GG. That's why I was reluctant to publish the modpack. I'll fix it later, along with the diamondite smelting situation that I messed up even further.



MottledPetrel ran into the entrance corridor screaming. SQ, who was picking up spare shell amulets in the trade depot, was surprised to see the fisherman so emotional about something, but she still didn't understand what this 'something' was.
"Petrel? Explain yourself, why exactly is this a bad thing?." The overseer asked.
"Why? WHY?! Boss, this is outrageous! Stealing fish from a fisherman is unforgivable! What if someone stole a miner's pick, a manager's papers, or a patient's kidney?" MottledPetrel was just getting warmed up. "They need to pay with their lives! I am obliged to hunt them down and use them as fish bait! No more mussels, only merchant-fed fish now!"
"Those weren't even our fish." SQ noticed.
"Oh, okay." The fisherman said, instantly calming down. He then turned on his heels and walked away as if nothing happened.



Meanwhile, Darkening Kaos was working furiously in her private forge. She couldn't let another anvil crysis happen, so she 'appropriated' a few bars of diamondium to forge more anvils. She was already reaching into far future with her plans. More pickaxes were needed in near future, but at the same time only two militia members had weapons. So much to do, so little time.



Fred the Mitey was mining out a vein of sphalerite, when suddenly something felt different. This wasn't normal rock anymore, it was something... organic. The texture was simillar to the hide of a giant drowspider, but whatever Fred struck was much tougher, more metal-like and less leathery. Then he remembered that Imic had a helmet made of something like that, but more refined. It was chitin of some massive creature that perished in this very place millenia ago.
Darkening Kaos could make use of this material in her work.



Biretha, one of the Helmet Snakes, made a peculiar discovery too. Something or someone killed a giant iron-shelled crab outside of the settlement. The gangster-manservant wasn't sure what to make of it, or even who should he report it to, so he just carried the carcass to the refuse stockpile. On his way he met Freshcannon who was carrying a severed head of an abrian to the butcher's workshop.
"Hey, mistress take a look at this. I found this thing just laying there, so since you're already butchering some stuff..." Biretha said, presenting the crab to the priestess.
"Are you suggesting we should just eat whatever dead thing we find on the ground?" Freshcannon asked, with an extremely stern expression.
"It was alive at some point, and someone must have killed it, probably the caravan guards. I think it went something like that:




"That's bullshit, but I believe it. I'll chop this thing up later."



Darkening Kaos wiped sweat out of her forehead, and looked at her latest masterpiece. ZM5 will be getting a new toy later that day...



...because Imic allready called dibs on it.



The first tavern in Dungeonevened, the Mahogany Hall was about to be opened. Nobody was really excited about that, because pretty much everyone have spent the morning hauling chairs and tables, so it was hardly a surprise. SQ called everybody over anyway.
"I know, I know, you have stuff to do, but please understand where I'm coming from. I'd rather be doing literally everything other than giving a speech, yet Scourge told me that if I won't say at least a few words to you all, she will take an eri..."



"...and keep trumpeting straight into my ear literally until the end of times. She says it's supposed to help me overcome my anxiety, but the only thing keeping me from a total breakdown is the fact that none of you is actually listening. Oh, and Liceyi wanted to recite a poem." After SQ finished her 'speech', she stepped into the crowd and stood next to Scourge. A young man with sunken eyes and a man-bun stepped out to take her place.
"Mussels in Broth, a slam poem by me, Liceyi Vicepointy" he said. The audience groaned in irritation and disappointment.

"WHAT DOST LIFE?!
AAAAAAAAAH!
YOU ARE JUST A LITTLE CHICKEN! CHEEP! CHEEP! CHEEP! CHEEP!
TURNING THE BATTLESHIP!
THIS BEEF IS RAW! WHERE IS THE LAMB SAUCE?!
KING CRABS ARE NOT REAL CRABS, EVEN THOUGH THEY ARE MORE CRAB-LIKE THAN SPIDER CRABS THAT ARE ACTUALLY CRABS!
IT'S HIP TO FUCK BEES!
..."

The aspiring poet showed no signs of stopping, and each new line was more nonsensical than the last one.
"Psst, Scourge? I think we should drown him in the river." SQ whispered.
"I don't like it when you're making jokes like this, SQ." Scourge whispered back.
"That was not a joke."
"That's why I don't like it..."

"...
PIZZA MOZZARELLA PIZZA MOZZARELLA!
AY, WHERE THE SURFACE WOMEN AT?!
LONG BEARDS ARE A MAJOR FIRE HAZARD! DWARVES WOULD AVOID A LOT OF ACCIDENTS IF THEY DIDN'T INSIST ON BEING SO HAIRY!
WHY IS EVERYONE WEARING THOSE WEIRD SHELL AMULETS?! IS IT A CULT THING?!
I REALLY GOTTA PEE, AND THIS IS NOT A PART OF THE POEM. OR IS IT? FIGURE IT OUT ON YOURSELF!
I'M DONE!"

The drows stared in silence. It was this kind of uncomfortable silence that happens when someone says something stupid, and everyone pretends nobody said anything, but they know this was horribly embarrassing.
"That was... something." SQ said quietly "Everyone can go back to their work now."




SQ led Freshcannon to the second, and last as for now, level of the tower. It took some courage to do, after making the priestess listen to Liceyi's poetry, but Scourge was right - giving the speech gave SQ a slight boost in confidence. The women stopped in front of the statue of The Ignited Steam, the god of chaos.
"The Ignited Steam, huh? You said your patron god was Nelare Maroonoils, why not build his shrine first?" Freshcannon asked, more because she was expected to say something than out of curiosity.
"Seems like more people here would worship him, at least to me. Oh no, have I done something wrong?" SQ's confidence boost was wearing off.
"No, surprisingly. At least you're good at following simple orders... I mean suggestions. Of course I meant suggestions. A lot of drows can't do even that."
"Does that mean I can become a Helmet Snake, and you will teach me how to do my hair like you do? I bet people would take me more seriously if I looked as imposing as you."
"Not a chance, princess!" Freshcannon responded, surprised by the overseer's weird assumptions. The irony of a priestess calling a former rothe handler a princess was lost on SQ.



The last day of winter passed peacefully. The arrival of spring marked the beginning of Dungeonevened's second year.



We have a metal and gem industry, a tavern, the first temple, a place for our (now armed) militia to train in. Things are looking good so far

Darkening Kaos

  • Bay Watcher
  • Legendary Gibbering Idiot +5
    • View Profile
Re: Less Crazy Modpack - Dungeonevened - Enter the Cannon
« Reply #77 on: June 14, 2018, 10:25:11 pm »

     ^^ ... or infamous first words.

Spoiler: OOC (click to show/hide)
« Last Edit: June 15, 2018, 12:09:18 am by Darkening Kaos »
Logged
So! Failed to make peace, war looms, kill the infidels... what are our plans for the weekend?
The Giant Moles in the caverns of my current fort breed like crazy, even while regularly being decimated by other beasts entering them...

SQman

  • Bay Watcher
  • Gnot a gnelf
    • View Profile
Re: Less Crazy Modpack - Dungeonevened - Enter the Cannon
« Reply #78 on: June 15, 2018, 07:46:50 am »

     ^^ ... or infamous first words.

Spoiler: OOC (click to show/hide)

If you want to give those reactions to a civ, copy the content of that one file to the entity cile of your choice.
It would be wise to check if I hadn't already done that before.
You also should fix the more leather mod, if you want to play with the current pre-alpha  version. The reaction is modded, but the material for leather is not changed to glob, so there will be no tanning. When I get home later today, I'll post fixed raws.

ZM5

  • Bay Watcher
  • Accomplished RAW Engineer
    • View Profile
    • Steam
Re: Less Crazy Modpack - Dungeonevened - Enter the Cannon
« Reply #79 on: June 15, 2018, 07:50:17 am »

I'm sort of imagining the slam poem night to have gone something like this.

Darkening Kaos

  • Bay Watcher
  • Legendary Gibbering Idiot +5
    • View Profile
Re: Less Crazy Modpack - Dungeonevened - Enter the Cannon
« Reply #80 on: June 15, 2018, 09:08:46 am »

Spoiler: OOC (click to show/hide)
Logged
So! Failed to make peace, war looms, kill the infidels... what are our plans for the weekend?
The Giant Moles in the caverns of my current fort breed like crazy, even while regularly being decimated by other beasts entering them...

SQman

  • Bay Watcher
  • Gnot a gnelf
    • View Profile
Re: Less Crazy Modpack - Dungeonevened - Come get your copy!
« Reply #81 on: June 15, 2018, 01:58:32 pm »

Pre-alpha 1.1 is out

Leather is fixed, diamondite smelting fixed, drow weapons tweaked.

     I can wait for it to be fixed.  I mean, holy shit, I have been trying to play for the last few days, but after a few years off from playing DF, I have completely forgotten how to keep a fortress going for more than six months.  I didn't think I ever played this bad ... several fortress have ground into the dirt, half of my shit has been stolen as soon as I arrive, drow have gone insane 'cause they don't like sleeping in the dirt for the first year.  Back in my day, you slept in the dirt, and you thanked the overseer for giving you dirt to sleep on.  FFS.  Time to start again, maybe I pack a few more War Boars this time.
     Oh, and homunculi are super awesome to have as slaves ... well they are not slaves, they are constructed magical beings.  Relatively fast, strong, don't eat, sleep, drink booze ... at least not that I have seen.


Weird, my drows weren't such whiners. Having said that, it's spring year 2, and they still dwell on drinking without cups in spring year 1.
Homunculi are cool, but can you shear them? I thought not, trolls all the way.

Darkening Kaos

  • Bay Watcher
  • Legendary Gibbering Idiot +5
    • View Profile
Re: Less Crazy Modpack - Dungeonevened - Come get your copy!
« Reply #82 on: June 15, 2018, 06:15:57 pm »

Spoiler: OOC (click to show/hide)
Logged
So! Failed to make peace, war looms, kill the infidels... what are our plans for the weekend?
The Giant Moles in the caverns of my current fort breed like crazy, even while regularly being decimated by other beasts entering them...

SQman

  • Bay Watcher
  • Gnot a gnelf
    • View Profile
Re: Less Crazy Modpack - Dungeonevened - Come get your copy!
« Reply #83 on: June 16, 2018, 11:28:37 am »

You know what I did? I somehow managed to delete material_template_default. Pre-alpha 1.2 is up. Link in the first post.

Darkening Kaos

  • Bay Watcher
  • Legendary Gibbering Idiot +5
    • View Profile
Re: Less Crazy Modpack - Dungeonevened - Come get your copy!
« Reply #84 on: June 16, 2018, 07:52:48 pm »

Spoiler: OOC (click to show/hide)
Logged
So! Failed to make peace, war looms, kill the infidels... what are our plans for the weekend?
The Giant Moles in the caverns of my current fort breed like crazy, even while regularly being decimated by other beasts entering them...

SQman

  • Bay Watcher
  • Gnot a gnelf
    • View Profile
Re: Less Crazy Modpack - Dungeonevened - Come get your copy!
« Reply #85 on: June 17, 2018, 08:14:02 am »

    Ah, I wondered why I suddenly had a lot of CTD during world gen, thought it was something I was doing wrong.
     Also, why is every world generating a drow society that is on the verge of dying out?  Is this the same for your current world, SQ?  The last Drow civ and dying out.......would be happy just to have a choice of civs, even upping the number of civs and sites in world gen options doesn't help.

Drows always sucked at surviving worldgen, and since I lowered their size they are probably even wimpier. You just have to be lucky to get a stable civilization.
I still have 65k - 70k sized drows, and the civ isn't dying, but isn't doing that great either. From what I understand, there is just one site besides ours. It has about 200 drows and is surrounded by dwarven fortresses. I wouldn't be surprised if one of our girls became a grand matriarch in a couple years.

One more thing: diamondium smelting is still fucked up.



SQ and Fred the Mitey were standing near the almost-finished barracks, watching the drows build the roof.



"Fred, why do we even need this building? They could just train outside. Scourge and Imic did just that before." The overseer said, frowning at the building. She didn't like change, even in the horizon, and now that life in the settlement was getting comfortable, it was less distasteful to complain about things no one else cared about.
"Scourge touching Imic inappropriately wasn't training." Fred replied. "Besides, do you like getting caught in the sandstorm?"



"It's the worst thing ever. Good enough reason for me, though." SQ agreed with the administrator, training outside might have not been the most pleasant after all. "But... why do we even need a militia for? We're not bothering anyone."
Fred was amused by SQ's naivete, but at the same time he understood that a simpleton born and raised in the capital's slum may be ignorant to the world. "Heh heh, you do understand we're a part of a great drow nation, right? We can't just do our own politics, we're nothing on our own. I took a look at the map, and it turns out..."



"...we're near the border of the dark elven empire. Those cousins of ours hate our guts, and the general consensus is that we should kill them on sight too. I'm not saying you have to agree with that, but they know and they aren't happy about it.
Besides, the frontier is crawling with the most disgusting criminals to have ever walked the surface. The degenerate outcasts formed their own society centered around pillaging and murder, and it's just a matter of time until they come here looking for easy loot.
If that wasn't enough, clacker necropolises sprung into existence for some reason. It probably has something to do with the tombs of sorcerer-kings in the west. Those skeletons hate the living, and there's little point in attempting diplomacy. Any questions?"

"I'm... not comfortable with so many people wanting to kill me." SQ felt a little sick. She was very much content not knowing about the dangers from outside. "I think I need a drink."




SQ went down to the animal pens hoping to find Scourge. She did, in fact. Scourge was crouching by a nest box in the drowspider enclosure, poking egg sacs.
"Scourge, I'm not feeling too good." SQ informed her friend from behind the fence. "Can you take my place and oversee for a while?"

"Come here, then. This will cheer you right up." Scourge said, making an inviting gesture.

SQ came into the enclosure, crouched by the nest box next to Scourge, and stared intensely at the eggs. She couldn't see anything out of ordinary. "Scourge, we've been unraveling those egg sacs since we got here, there's nothing special in..." before SQ could finish, Scourge cast faerie fire on the eggs, causing them to glow. Outlines of two tiny spiderlings could be seen inside. "They have your eyes, Scourge! If you had eight tiny red eyes, that is."

"See? You're fine." Scourge said with a cheeky grin on her face. "Kaos is making something in the forges, let's go bother her a bit, okay?"

The two women headed down to the metal works where Darkening Kaos was working on a statue. SQ and Scourge were looking from a distance as Kaos was making basic mistakes, burning her hands, and making a complete mess in the forge. She was absolutely livid about something, and it wasn't about shaping the gleaming chitin.

"Argh! What are you two looking at? Can't you see I'm trying to work?" The smith growled upon noticing the onlookers.

"Are you always this angry when you work?" SQ asked timidly. "That would explain quite a lot, actually."

"Believe it or not, I've finished one statue already. I turned away for just a moment to get more of this shiny chitin, and look what happened!" Kaos didn't have to explain anything - the statue wasn't there. "I bet it's Imic again! He has no respect for other people's property! He even broke into my room to take stuff from my personal forge!"

"He's training with the priestess and her thugs right now." Scourge said with a hint of disgust. "He does have an apprentice. Tharumi, if I'm not mistaken. The small guy who wanted to be a soldier."

"And he taught that Tharumi fellow to steal from me whenever I'm not looking. For a person calling himself a vigilante, your boyfriend has a bizarre sense of justice." Darkening Kaos calmed down somehow. "Oh, SQ, that statue was for your room, so it's your problem now.



Eldritch presence could be felt once again, but this time it weren't just urhags. Creatures of the deep decided the drows were worthy partners in trade. Two wagons pulled by giant crabs of various species accompanied the fish people.



Most of the drows of Dungeonevened gathered in front of the entrance to see the peculiar guests.
"Cloth and amulets to the stockpile! Quickly, before someone spooks them!" MottledPetrel was yelling like a madman, and in fact there was some madness in his eyes. "I've never caught a fish like this before! Our crafts will make great bait! We'll eat like high matrons!"

"Have you gone completely insane, you moron?" Freshcannon scolded the fisherman. "Those creatures are tainted with darkest influence, eating them would probably turn you into some kind of freaky monster, and I'd have to put you down. They are disgusting, and whatever the hell they worship is an affront against Lolth and the lesser gods. I think we should just slaughter those fuckers and bury them somewhere where no one's ever gonna dig."

"Umm... what if... what if we just trade with them?" SQ suggested "They have cages with exotic creatures, and look at those crabs."

In the end Fred the Mitey managed to exchange all amulets and cloth for animals, crutches, buckets, sheets of kenaf paper, and bars of iron and aether.

"What do we have here..." SQ and Scourge were inspecting the newly bought animals.



"It's a stork!" Scourge exclaimed instantly after seeing the black and white bird. "They deliver babies to people!"

"I don't think that's true, Scourge. Or is it? Maybe that's how it works on the surface?" SQ suddenly realized that storks may in fact deliver babies to non-drows. She's never seen a human or a dark elf being born after all.

"I was just kidding, but now I'm not sure myself..."



"Those things are huge! I wonder if we could breed them." SQ said, sliding her hand over the mottleworm's smooth mottled skin. She then realized her hand was covered in thick slime. "They could make good war beasts, or if that doesn't work out, meals." The overseer took advantage of Scourge being distracted by the worms, and wiped her slime-covered hand with her friend's dress.

"HEY! Don't ever do that again! I don't know if I'll be able to wash it off!"



"This thing is creepy... it doesn't belong here... it... it feels wrong." Scourge tried not to look directly at the monster, but her eyes were somehow drawn towards it. She was shivering as if in fever. She wasn't really scared, she was deeply disturbed.

"It's an animal like any other, just uglier. You're really judgemental towards animals, Scourge." SQ joked to lighten up the mood, but Scourge still stared at the fisher from Outside wide-eyed, breathing heavily. SQ was getting worried, so she cast darkness at the cage, covering it with a veil of pitch-black smoke. The monster started screeching in surprise and savage fury. "Woah! I didn't know what I expected, but at least you don't have to look at it anymore, eh, Scourge?"

"T-thanks SQ. I could almost forgive you ruining my dress. Gods, what a horrible creature, that bird! Is this how you feel all the time?"

"Only sometimes..."



"Look at this! If I had a human frame of reference, I'd compare it to a lignified flower of a coniferous tree." SQ said weirdly specifically.

"What?"

"What?"



"A thunderlizard, not made of thunder and not actually a lizard. It's for people who think they're too cool for a good old riding lizard, but too cowardly for an Allosaurus" Scourge said.

"Nobody said anything about riding it. And who in their right mind would want to ride an Allosaurus? That's madness!"

"You're a boring riding lizard person, aren't you, SQ?"



All that really happened was trading with pelagics and building the barracks. I've started making diamondium armor for the militia

I learned a few things:

-Aether is comparable to iron in its properties, but can be used to make hettlion.

-Drows love trinkets. Lunardog is currently wearing three shell amulets.

-Abrians aren't from the D&D pack after all. I thought they were.

-Schmendrick is so weak, she's being slowed down by her own clothes. I've never seen anything this pathetic.

scourge728

  • Bay Watcher
    • View Profile
Re: Less Crazy Modpack - Dungeonevened - Come get your copy!
« Reply #86 on: June 17, 2018, 10:49:23 am »

A. This continues to be hilarious
B.Schmendrick really IS pathetic

ZM5

  • Bay Watcher
  • Accomplished RAW Engineer
    • View Profile
    • Steam
Re: Less Crazy Modpack - Dungeonevened - Come get your copy!
« Reply #87 on: June 17, 2018, 11:02:36 am »

Aside from that weird bird-thing, those are some oddly normal animals the pelagics had. Kinda wonder what they'd even use the storks for.

Darkening Kaos

  • Bay Watcher
  • Legendary Gibbering Idiot +5
    • View Profile
Re: Less Crazy Modpack - Dungeonevened - Come get your copy!
« Reply #88 on: June 17, 2018, 04:40:38 pm »

    Obviously, they cut the legs off the storks and use them as straws to suck out the souls of their victims.

« Last Edit: June 17, 2018, 07:34:13 pm by Darkening Kaos »
Logged
So! Failed to make peace, war looms, kill the infidels... what are our plans for the weekend?
The Giant Moles in the caverns of my current fort breed like crazy, even while regularly being decimated by other beasts entering them...

SQman

  • Bay Watcher
  • Gnot a gnelf
    • View Profile
Re: Less Crazy Modpack - Dungeonevened - Yeah nah, she'll be roight
« Reply #89 on: June 19, 2018, 02:11:38 pm »

Aside from that weird bird-thing, those are some oddly normal animals the pelagics had. Kinda wonder what they'd even use the storks for.

Babies.



Spoiler: ??? (click to show/hide)

SQ woke up in her bed. The vision of the events from twenty years ago made her realize - she needed to see ZM5 as soon as possible. The overseer put on her clothes, including her new piwafwi...



...and headed to ZM5's room. She knocked on the dolomite door, expecting to wait for a while, since it was still very early in the morning. To her surprise ZM5 opened the door almost immediately. He was dressed and ready for the day. "Oh, SQ! Did you have a bad dream and need comforting?"

"ZM5, I think I got it! I've solved the case from twenty years ago!" SQ was whispering not to wake everyone up, but at the same time she was shouting out of excitement. The resulting sound was as loud as her usual voice but raspy and awkward.

"Hmmm? Tell me about it, baby doll, who is the culprit? Without knowing that, you surely wouldn't be able to go any further." ZM5 had an ironic smile on his face. Was he not taking SQ seriously?

"It's none other than Fred the Mitey, our administrator. He was forced to work in the mines after losing his nobility, and ended up in prison for starting a protest. Check."

"Good job, SQ, but I knew that from the start, I just didn't know his name back then. To truly end this, you'd have to know which of the great noble houses assisted him. Where was he redirecting the money?" ZM5's relaxed expression hasn't disappeared even for a moment. SQ was getting worried.

"House Drilledterror, Lunardog's family. They own most of the capital's plantations and breweries, so no one would ask questions if they started opening hospitals, museums, and other businesses that get funded straight from the treasury. Since they worked with Fred, those places only needed to exist on paper. Checkmate." SQ grinned widely, proud of herself for solving the case that ZM5 has been struggling with for twenty years.

"You're awfully hasty with your 'checks'. If I didn't know about this, I wouldn't have come here in the first place. I've already finished the investigation. Checkmate."

"WHAT?! You knew about all of this? Then why haven't you done anything?" SQ forgot about being quiet. The case didn't seem closed to her.

"Fred was already punished for his crime and then some more, and Lunardog's mother is out of reach. Everything that could have been done has already been done." ZM5 shrugged. "Honestly, I've grown tired of it all. Since we're both up, how about we get breakfast together?"

The two drows went up to the Mahogany Hall to eat some mussels in peace, but there was one thing they didn't know:



'Some' was an understatement - it was nineteen drows, mostly male, loafing around in the tavern. They must have arrived at night, when everyone was sleeping, because SQ had no idea they were there.

Suddenly a woman came up to SQ and ZM5. She was easily the most beautiful drow the two have ever seen. She had snow-whie waist-length hair, smooth skin the color of polished obsidian, slender, yet well-shaped body, and delicate facial features accented by her gentle and innocent expression. She did a graceful courtsy, and asked politely: "Excuse me, could I speak to the overseer? My friends and I would like to settle in this fine town."

"I'm the overseer, but I'm not sure if we can accept this many..." SQ started, but she didn't finish, because the beautiful migrant looked at her pleadingly with her big black eyes, sending chills down her spine.

"SQ, stand by your decision, I don't like the look of this." ZM5 whispered. He was leering at the woman suspiciously.

"ZM5, we don't even know what these people have to offer to us, and we could really use some workforce." SQ broke under the woman's gaze. "You and your friends can stay... umm... what's your name again?"

"Nunore Riddletunnels, pleasure to meet you, mistress SQ. Thank you very much for letting us stay." Nunore grabbed SQ's hand enthusiastically. "That's true that most of us have no skills whatsoever, and we're not fit for soldiering, and we didn't bring any riches beyond our crossbows, but I promise you won't regret your decision."
ZM5 looked at SQ in a way that said 'I told you'.

"Let's check out what animals they brought with them." SQ suggested, pretending she didn't notice her friend's stern look. "I assume they left them outside."



"Oh, a riding lizard! I always wanted to try riding one." ZM5 tried to pet the creature, but it snapped its jaws just an inch away from his hand. "Yikes! They were supposed to be easy to work with!"

"You should never touch someone else's lizard, they are trained to attack strangers!" SQ warned ZM5. "If we just let them be ridden by anybody, we would have all our enemies riding lizards."

"Whatever you say..."



"Sporewing, we had them in the bird section when I still worked in the menagerie." ZM5 said. "Nasty stuff, once you get into a swarm, you're not coming out."

"Why were they in the bird section? Those don't even resemble birds."

"Someone must have confused one with a fungal crow. It doesn't take much for them to take over.



"Who... who are you, stranger? Why... why aren't you saying anything?" SQ said to the menacing armored figure. She didn't get an answer.

"Maybe she's shy? Or maybe she's a magical construct, not a person?"

"She could at least answer my questions. Being a fancy golem isn't a reason to be rude."



"And this is..." SQ couldn't even guess. It was a large bipedal insect with impressively large mandibles. "ZM5, I have no idea what this is, but I feel like I won't be able to have out of body experiences when I'm around it."

"You say the wierdest things sometimes. If you're right, then maybe it's an ethereal slayer? Ha! As is a bunch of good for nothing slackers could bind a powerful outsider. It's probably just an uber hulk nymph."

"I don't know..."



"...and this is a spike rat. They spike your drinks when they get into the tavern, so watch out." ZM5 chuckled at his own joke.

"They do? Thanks for the warning! This could end really badly really fast!" SQ seemed completely serious. She looked at the rodent suspiciously as if she thought it was up to something. Maybe she did.

"Are you making fun of my jokes or..."

"What jokes?" The overseer looked clueless, but ZM5 still had no idea what was going on in her head. "Nevermind, let's go tell all those new guys to get to work. We can't let them eat our mussels for free."

"Now you're talking like a real overseer, maybe you've grown as a person after all." It took some time for ZM5 to realize what he just said. "Having said that, I'm sure you'll prove me wrong by having a mental breakdown talking to the migrants."

"Thanks for believing in me."

The two drows went down to the tavern to give orders to the newcomers, but instead of a crowd of useless bums, they only met Nunore digging through the tavern's chests.
"Now what do we have here..." ZM5 crossed his arms, looking down on the woman.

"I'm just checking the stocks, I can't be a good tavern keeper if we don't have enough cups, mister Five." Nunore winked at ZM5 flirtatiously, hoping to wrap him around her finger.

"Baby, only four women can call me 'Five', two of them I've known all my life, one won't ever call me that, because she's kind of a bitch, but she's still perfect in every way, one is a living goddess. You'll never reach their level, so stay in line. Who made you a tavern keeper anyway?"



"I did. This place needs some loving touch." Nunore answered. She wasn't upset in the slightest by ZM5's rejection, and she wasn't going to give up at the first sight of resistance. "It pains me so much that you don't trust me, but maybe you'll appreciate my work one day." The barkeep put on the most pleasant smile she could muster, which was extremely pleasant.

"ZM5, could we focus on the main issue?" SQ interrupted. "Nunore, what happened to your 'companions'?"

"I told them to find the manager and ask him for assignment. We can't have this many drows doing nothing all day."

"You still think Fred wasn't properly punished for his crimes?" ZM5 asked SQ. Although this was a joke, they both shuddered at the thought of being woken up by a crowd of nineteen drows pouring into their bedrooms.

"Ah, one person started screaming for no reason, just to let you know. I think he went... you know... fey." Nunore added.

"What does it mean to be 'fey'?" SQ asked.

"It's when a man likes men or a woman likes women." ZM5 explained, with a cheeky grin on his face.

"Scourge has been 'fey' all her life, and nobody ever made a big deal out of it."

"She likes men too, in fact she's engaged to one. She's 'fi', not 'fey'.

"Ooooh..."




It didn't took long for the wood burner to finish his work. He emerged from the workshop with a perfectly made jet mechanism:



Engraving of giant rats was a strange design choice, but the craftsmanship was beyond masterful.



Unfortunately it was not the only unusual thing to happen that day. Someone outside started screaming, which reached SQ's ears. The overseer grabbed the eri from the tavern's coffer, and blew as hard as she could.
Freshcannon must have understood what that meant, because the second sound that echoed through the settlement was her shouting "Snakes out!".

The snakes gathered outside to see a hideous kangaroo monster slaughtering a giant longboar.



It was a horrible sight - the monster was ripping chunks of flesh from the giant beast's face, covering itself and its surrounding with blood. The sound of snarling and crazed squealing was terrifying in and on itself, but the snake knew they would have to face the werebeast sooner or later.



"Petrel, you idiot! Go inside!" The priestess shouted at the fisherman. MottledPetrel obeyed the order without complaining. "Snakes, hide among the rothe, they will distract the monster... I hope.

"Mistress, I'm scared. Rattusites and abrians are one thing, but this..." Imic mumbled. He was shaking uncontrollably, but his grip on his sword wasn't getting any weaker.

"I'm gonna tell you something, kid: we're all shitting our pants right now, you're not alone, but if you let the fear overcome you, you'll never become a hero." Freshcannon looked him straight in the eyes. The vigilante thought the priestess was lying to get him to obey, but Freshcannon's eyes were as full of fright as his.

"Looks like this might be our final hour... Not how I imagined it, but all things considered, it could be much worse... I guess..." ZM5, unlike Imic, looked calm. He was staring straight at the red morning sky. "Freshcannon, It will be a pleasure to fight and die by your side. Too bad you never got to warm up to me. Heh... heh..."

"This is not the time..." Freshcannon tried to sound stern, but she was moved in a way. The words got stuck in her throat.

"If there ever was the time it's now. Someone will die today, I can feel it."

The growling continued, but the squealing was cut short. The longboar was dead, and the kangaroo monster turned towards the drows hiding in a herd of rothe.



"Ready your weapons, Helmet Snakes. We either become heroes or leave our loved ones to die, so you better give this freak everything you got!

Spoiler: BATTLE (click to show/hide)



"Huh, so much for drama..." ZM5 looked somewhat disappointed. "Checkmate, I guess?"

"Yeah... I have to admit I expected something more from a monster like this. "Freshcannon said, pulling out her axe from the werekangaroo's mangled corpse. "If anyone asks, this was a difficult fight, and we barely came out of it alive. Biretha, we gotta bandage you up like there's no tomorrow."

"Boss, I'm not even hurt!"

"That's the point, fool! Others don't have to know the moster was a wimp!"



First random migrant wave (full of mechanics, gem cutters, and an accomplished soaper), first artifact (a pretty lame one), and a first real threat (not really). We're becoming a proper fort!
If only the tavern and temple worked it would be neat. People are distracted, but won't pray or relax in the tavern, and there are no visitors, even though we have three free rooms for them. Is there a minimum size for dance floor in taverns and temples or what?
Pages: 1 ... 4 5 [6] 7 8 ... 14