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Does Armok approve of goblinny dwarves and dwarfy goblins

Yes
- 10 (15.4%)
No
- 7 (10.8%)
Acquire alcohol to resolve philosophical quandary
- 48 (73.8%)

Total Members Voted: 65


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Author Topic: Cog the Blind Drunk  (Read 46049 times)

TheImmortalRyukan

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Re: Cog the Blind Drunk
« Reply #30 on: November 01, 2018, 11:20:10 am »

It Lives! May Cog never be sober! Also a polite reminder, Cog is only 2 votes away from being inducted in the HoL.
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The Tale of Runlance - A Succession Fort in a Dying World

While the drink stocks run low and violence is rampant, the narcissistic tyrant demands a monument to his name

Loud Whispers

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Re: Cog the Blind Drunk
« Reply #31 on: November 01, 2018, 08:30:33 pm »

It Lives! May Cog never be sober! Also a polite reminder, Cog is only 2 votes away from being inducted in the HoL.
That's pretty awesome

Spoiler (click to show/hide)
In other awesome news, Cog can swim rivers without drowning now. Once you've crossed oceans it seems rivers are no longer a concern in the grand scheme of things. We no longer have to worry too much about drowning in a pond, though I don't intend to jinx it.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Traveling on a Northeasterly bearing from the coast, Cog made his way from the shore to Shoreblunted, a small Forest Retreat, stopping briefly only for lunch. Lunch was sweet cooked pears and hot water, eaten until he was full.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Cog prayed to Avuz, asking how the Dwarven god was feeling, explaining to Avuz how they had mastered swimming. The prayer focused Cog's mind as he prepared to meet the Northern shore Elves of the Mythical Pines. Reaching Shoreblunted, Cog discovered it was an exceedingly small Forest Retreat, having only a half dozen or so treehomes, and the forest itself was dead quiet. Cog went from tree to tree loudly announcing his presence, but no one ever replied. Concerned over the possibility of staying the night in a ghosttown alone, Cog searched for hours calling out to anybody.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Refining his search, Cog mentally mapped out the area in his mind, walking from tree to tree. Each one had been planted in rows and carefully maintained, the clear mark of Elvish design, or a conspiracy of trees. Widening his search, he would be startled to find one of the trees was markedly different from the rest, possessing a floor formed from a woven canopy typical of an Elven treehome.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Climbing up the treehome, a short way to his right Cog heard someone calling. At once he climbed down and rushed to the source of the noise - another treehome, and clambered his way up.

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Cog made the acquaintance of the Retreat's administrator, Tawki Omontar, who was delighted to hear Cog's awful but interesting renditions regarding the tales of southern lands. Tawki did his best to answer Cog's queries about the surrounding area, but was unable to help all that much. One tree-floor above, several Elves argued amongst themselves, but besides the four Elves it seemed as if the Forest Retreat was empty. Cog stayed for the night with Tawki's blessing, arguing with Tawki over the differences in Dwarven & Elven law, trading stories or discussing the myriad array of problems plaguing the Elves.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Cog left the treetop village with genuine sadness, leaving so soon after having just acquainted with the first friendly face in ages. Having rested well in the safety of the treehome, Cog intended to set off in the dark before dawn, but was surprised by someone calling out to them. Impossibly, unbelievably, the Swordself Yare had made it to the Northern shore to follow Cog to the ends of the Earth and back. When asked about what happened to Liyiyi and Narena, with sadness they explained how the other two had not survived the journey north, drowning in the Perfect Waters. Cog was not exactly going to tell Yare to go home, even if they could at that point - and so the two set off into the wilds together. Yare was still shaken from the horror of their journey, mumbling about death being all around them. When questioned by Cog, they put on a brave face about how they were determined to see the adventure through to the end. Secretly, Cog was concerned Yare would not survive the adventure - he would have to find Yare some better armour. He'd have to find some armour for himself too.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Traveling East along an ancient and well-maintained road which soon wheeled South, the Forest Retreat of Raysglade was absolutely massive - yet, disconcertingly empty. Rows and rows of shaping trees stretched on as far as Yare could see, but there wasn't a single treehome. The retreat was large enough to have its own market, but the market was empty. No animals or people roamed the streets or spoke in the trees, while the stench of humans hung in the air.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Following the source of the human smell led to what was unmistakably a camp of some sort - there were campfires and it smelled like a lot of humans and elves all in one place. They didn't make any noise, which suggested to Cog they were still all sleeping.

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Creeping closer under the cover of fog, Cog could hear the movements of patrols searching for him, and sneakily crept deeper into the unknown army's camp.

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Calling out to the figure ahead proved to be a wise decision. The Human hunter lowered his bow at the realisation it was a Dwarf. Whoever they had a quarrel with, it did not include any Dwarves. Though Cog could only see the human hunter, he could tell from the scent that this army had humans and elves in its number. He struggled to figure out if the army belonged to the Elven civilisation of the Mythical Pines, if it belonged to the Human civilisation of the Ageless Nation, or if they were bandits. The hunter didn't divulge any information about their own army's mission, but did give us enough information on who to seek if we intended to find out more about what exactly was going on. Evidently there was a great state of war between the humans and elves, but the presence of humans and elves fighting alongside one another amidst a sea of conflicting loyalties made things a byzantine political mess for an outsider to try and begin to understand.
At least it explained why a forest retreat as large as Raysglade was empty. Either all the elves were dead, or they had been conscripted into an army to fight elsewhere.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Setting off East on the ancient road, Yare and Cog were accosted by no further armies or bandits. After a day of quick and easy travel along the road, at last they reached it.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)
A genuine human hamlet lay just a few hours march away.

TheImmortalRyukan

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Re: Cog the Blind Drunk
« Reply #32 on: November 01, 2018, 11:32:09 pm »

The first Human Civ Cog has yet reached IIRC. I wonder how well Cog will handle the bustle (and FPS drop) of a Human City ::)

Also, congrats on Cog making it into the HoL  ;D
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The Tale of Runlance - A Succession Fort in a Dying World

While the drink stocks run low and violence is rampant, the narcissistic tyrant demands a monument to his name

DG

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Re: Cog the Blind Drunk
« Reply #33 on: November 03, 2018, 09:58:18 am »

Ah, I'm glad you managed to drag Cog back from oblivion. The world map overview is interesting. He still has huge expanses to see visit.
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Dunamisdeos

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Re: Cog the Blind Drunk
« Reply #34 on: November 03, 2018, 12:38:02 pm »

Woop woop Cog is back and he finally made it into the Hall of Legends too!


I am very excited.
« Last Edit: November 03, 2018, 01:01:16 pm by Dunamisdeos »
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Loud Whispers

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Re: Cog the Blind Drunk
« Reply #35 on: November 03, 2018, 02:38:57 pm »

Wow. This mess started in 2015, and now it's in the Hall of Legends. It's unbelievable how far this has come, three years of playing without graphics, the Monoscii dream is real

Woop woop Cog is back and he finally made it into the Hall of Legends too!


I am very excited.
A C T I V A T E   I T

Spoiler (click to show/hide)
The sun had fallen by the time Cog & Yare arrived at the town of Faintbored; it was a compact little town, but was bustling with people. The streets were narrow, hemmed in by many abandoned buildings. Somewhere the sound of priests and bells indicated the general location of the Last Cathedral.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Following the outline of a wooden log wall of what was unmistakably a human building, Cog made his way towards the noise of general commotion, seeking to introduce himself to the human town.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)
It was a tremendous mistake, with everyone shouting over each other in their own various conversations. From what Cog could understand, talking to the various priests, the town of Faintbored was a commercial centre of the area. Seven villages traded at faintbored - intriguingly, one of them was the Forest Retreat of Raysglade. The Forest Retreat of Raysglade was ruled by the Dangerous Council, a government formed after the invasion of the Elven civilisation by the Human one known as the Ageless Nation. This accounted for the curious mixed armies, or the presence of Elven noblemen with metal weapons and human fashion. Evidently the Elves themselves were split between those who owed their allegiance to the Ageless Nation, or held onto the old ways under the Mythical Pines.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Cog however had no real stake in the matter, being a distant adventurer and all. Nevertheless, here was an assortment of human priests and nobles, and they all had a tremendously impolite habit of talking over Cog. So, first he finished telling the stories of his companions, the tales of his civilisation (as it happens, most of the tales involved the Dwarves of the Infinite Cheerful Crafts optimistically settling a town, and subsequently having the town destroyed by creatures from the forgotten deep). Then, he began arguing with the human elite - the human nuances of law, versus the Dwarven truth of law.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)
It was at this point that Cog revealed the true diplomatic prowess of a drunk Dwarf.
'Even a human should know everyone always ought to follow the law,' said Cog to the exasperated Lady Consort Amak Orifamo.
'You are thinking about this all wrong, some laws are just and should be followed, but others are more like suggestions.' Lady Amak seemed pleased with her argument, believing with patience that the Dwarf adventurer could be brought to concede.
'I don't follow.'
'Some laws are just, while others were made to be broken.'
'No, you should always respect the law,' said Cog. 'Making a law to be broken is like making a house to be demolished, it's a stupid idea. Oh, but you are so clever I see the merit in breaking houses now.' Pride kept Lady Amak from giving up, but Cog's attempts to imitate the courtly flattery of far better sycophants was straining her brutalised patience.
'If a law is unjust, then it stands to reason that you wouldn't follow it. What would you do if the King of your Mountain Home made a bad law?'
'That's impossible, everyone knows making bad laws is against the law.'
Lady Consort Amak Orifamo began to feel a visceral and primitive rage, most unbecoming of nobility. Cog would spend the night regailing tales of distant shores with oratory expertise, so much so that everyone begged him to stop. While most of the Priests must have thought about kicking out the Dwarf and the Swordself, a general sense of intimidation set in, with the thought that offending the adventurers was not worth the pain of putting up with them for one night.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)
In the morning they explored the town - it had a few stores and an exceptionally large market, with a big fortress in the south. Unfortunately the clothestore was too large, and they had no interest in the market or fortress.
OOC: I tried visiting the fortress or the market but the game kept crashing, I suspect some historical figures who are supposed to be there aren't, as the game doesn't crash anywhere else.
« Last Edit: November 03, 2018, 02:45:39 pm by Loud Whispers »
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Dunamisdeos

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Re: Cog the Blind Drunk
« Reply #36 on: November 03, 2018, 06:12:10 pm »


~Cog
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Loud Whispers

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Re: Cog the Blind Drunk
« Reply #37 on: November 03, 2018, 10:33:15 pm »

Spoiler (click to show/hide)
~Cog
Tfw brainlets haven't learned this one neat trick to make your Kingdom bigger

Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Everyone in Faintbored was talking about the excitement in Letterwhirl and Longclinches, two towns situated north of Faintbored, sitting on the end of the ancient road by the river. Naturally Cog and Yare traveled north up the ancient road, seeking to find out what all the commotion was about. According to the rumours, an army led by a human was marching on Letterwhirl, while an army also led by a human was marching on Longclinches. Yet all the forest retreats Cog had visited were mostly empty or appeared to be subjugated, with a large occupation force of humans and elves doing -something- outside the retreat. But if the Elves were conquered by the Humans, then who was attacking their hamlets? This was worth investigating.

The town of Faintbored was fairly large. With its own castle, temple and a massive market, they stood out over the area's decrepit Forest Retreats or small hamlets. They were at a major crossroad, controlling many of the bridges needed to cross from one side of the river to the other. They had defeated all of their foes in the past to secure their own prominence in the land, clearly standing above all the nearby conquered forest retreats and hamlets. Yet it seems the far east was a lawless frontier, plagued by wild creatures, bandits, potent criminals, ambiguously loyal armies and worse things than humans with axes and ambitions, and against so many threats even Faintbored was suffering. If the stories were to be believed, several vampires responsible for hundreds of deaths each were born in Faintbored. First as a human, then as a blasphemer of the Last Cathedral, cursed to prowl the night in search for blood.

Standing on the bridge to the east of the river bank, feeling the warmth of the morning sun against the biting cold of the northern winds, Cog could smell something pungent on the breeze. It tied knots in his stomach, as if someone had made a stew out of rotten Dwarven milk, plump helmet vinegar and dog's vomit. The stench only increased in strength as Cog felt uneasy, hearing something rushing quickly towards them with intelligent purpose. They spoke no words, though Cog swore the wind carried a sinister hiss with it. Cog dodged out of the way of the dart, charging with Yare at their attacker.

The assailant was fast, sneaky and quickly fled from the bridge - not quickly enough to keep the two adventurers off its tail. Cog tried to grab the assassin's leg and break it - only to realise that it didn't have any legs. It was a serpent woman

Spoiler (click to show/hide)
It was a serpent woman vampire with a blowgun

Cog and Yare worked together to harry the serpentine vampire (gods, to be bitten by a venomous vampire would be a bad way to die). When it attacked Yare, keeping his distance behind his shield, Cog tried to grab the vampire's arms. While the vampire turned to deal with Cog, Yare stabbed it with his wooden sword, unfortunately the stake wooden sword failed to do anything more than bruise the serpent woman's left hand. Cog pulled out his tools of trade, hitting her left arm with his silver warhammer, only bruising it. Whilst everyone attacked her left arm, the serpent woman vampire panicked and understood rapidly that she'd made some poor life choices - these were not defenceless peasants, these guys were veteran lunatics. It was readily apparent that people usually ran away from her, not chase her down. With a stereotypical lisp, the serpent woman blowgunner vampire fled in a panic, 'I musst withdraw! I yield!'

Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Cog chased her for half a day across the plains, she was incredibly fast and Cog was not going to drop all of his coconuts just to catch her. At a sprint Cog could catch her even with the weight of all of his coconuts, allowing Cog to catch up any time the serpent woman wasn't slithering evasive maneuvres. Lunging after her, Cog fell into a river, swam across and continued the chase, falling in again. Each time he fell he lost precious time, he could hear her slithering away. As he reached the other side of the river he ran towards the sound - only for the creature to be lost in a load of noise.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Cog felt a wooden wall and realised that the vampire had given him the slip by rushing through a human hamlet.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Once the noise trail was lost, there was no way of finding the serpent vampire anymore. On the plus side, Cog had arrived at Longclinches, and after some brief questioning of the villagers regarding any vampire sightings, Cog settled down and began telling everyone about his adventure. Every slain foe, every fallen companion. Asen's battle with Winesieges the Blind Cave Ogre, Onget's battle with Flaxtrax the Black Bear, Lesana's battle with the Thilu Ettin. Of Narena & Liyiyi, lost to sea - Cog spoke of the battle with Zaneg the Cyclops, and how Narena had nearly been murdered 554 years ago, securing revenge before their journey to the afterlife. He spoke of his home, the people who lived there, the people who ruled and who founded each Mountain Hall or Hillock, of the people who got married or settled down, or ventured forth as mercenaries or hunters.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)
He was still awful at telling tales, but the tales still remained interesting to everyone who heard them. On the way out of Longclinches they encountered a building called the Slayer of Homages. Given the name, Cog and Yare returned to the village to ask what the deal was with the Slayer of Homages.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Turns out it was some kind of hall/fortress and Cog was received hospitably by the hall's Lord and all of their incredibly well-armed soldiers. Whilst Cog rifled through their surplus stocks for anything useful (a bronze shield, a waterskin, nothing much else), all of the soldiers talked intensely amongst themselves or ran in and out of the Fortress in a flurry of activity.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)
They were anxious: An army was on the march to attack them. Talking with the humans was illustrative. I had first thought their civilisation was called the Ageless Nation - in truth, they were called the Ageless Nations. Outwardly they all owed allegiance to their sovereign law-giver, and when it came to war with the Elves and Goblins the humans were capable of amassing thousands under their war leader. In "peacetime," each settlement was quickly taken control of by their Lord, with each Lord practically independent to the point where they started contending with one another, a patchwork of nations at each other's throats. The truth was that the humans were not being attacked by the Elves, the humans were attacking themselves. How puzzling!

Cog considered recruiting some of the human soldiers to his adventure, but thought better of it. The soldiers who wanted to join wanted to join him so they could avoid the battle about to happen. Joining his adventure would be like leaping from the fire into the magma forge, while recruiting their best soldiers might end up involving Cog in their own domestic political affairs.

Loud Whispers

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Re: Cog the Blind Drunk
« Reply #38 on: November 04, 2018, 04:30:59 pm »

Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Whilst telling his stories to the ruler of Longclinches, Cog found the ruler to be exceptionally worried with the coming war. Lord Hibor Tacathili kept reiterating how fine they were feeling, while his soldiers noticed he looked extremely worried.
'W... worried? Do I look worried?'
If it wasn't his frantic concern and panicked self-reassurance, then perhaps it was his weeping which gave away his utter dread. Subsequently Lord Hibor didn't much appreciate Cog's story-telling, as it seems he was distracted by the prospect of impending battle. Cog wished him the best and set off for Lord Hibor's rival city - it was less than a day's march away, which probably explained why Lord Hibor was so worried. The attack could arrive at any moment.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Cog arrived at the Hall of Letterwhirl just after sunset. The soldiers there were calm and stationary, talking amongst themselves in an ordered manner. Their Lord Oce Idilronik was the polar opposite of his colleague in Longclinches. Instead of weeping, he was stoic. Instead of panicking, he told his visitors that he was Oce Idilronik, Lord of Letterwhirl, ruler and the right in all matters. Acknowledging that the Council of Renown in charge of Longclinches was vying for control over Letterwhirl, Cog asked him how he felt. Lord Oce Idilronik replied that he felt very content. He had recently acquired a well-crafted item, which greatly pleased him.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Cog was disturbed to find the item in question was a bracelet fashioned from human bone. On his head the Lord wore a crown of human nails, a rope of human hair around his neck, covered all over in jewelry fashioned from goblin or human ivory. At once Cog dropped all of his coconuts and drew out hammer and shield, accusing Lord Oce of being a vampire.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Lord Oce told Cog to calm his insane accusation as there was a perfectly logical explanation for why he was bedecked in goblin and human bones. Over the course of his life he watched everyone in his family be killed by goblins and their creatures, until only he remained. He responded to this by becoming a mercenary, killing many humans and goblins alike, turning their bones into trophies. When he retired from his mercenary career, he convinced the locals of Letterwhirl to make him their Lord, after which he put his martial skills to use against Letterwhirl's enemies. It certainly explained why the Lord of Longclinches was so worried, while the Lord of Letterwhirl was positively tranquil in spite of the war. Content with this explanation, Cog put away his weapons and picked up his coconuts. After he retold his epic to Lord Oce, Cog visisted the village proper to retell his tales there too.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)
By this point Cog had retold his stories a lot of times to every human settlement along the way. I was glad to have gotten that done with and so made for the Northwest, searching for the human capital city at the end of the ancient road - after all, these were the lands they conquered, I wanted to see the lands they came from.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Travel was interrupted by a big haunted patch of wriggling meat grass, which Cog decided was not worth wading through.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Turning south from the meatgrass inadvertently meant discovering more human towns, and subsequently more hours spent regailing to them the story of the Dwarves & the adventure.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)
The travels through the human halls has been thoroughly rewarding materially. We've since swapped our willow shield for a +bronze shield+, picked up many gems for trading, in addition to a +silver warhammer+. I haven't gotten rid of the old warhammer yet, I want to trade it with some Dwarves who can better appreciate the hammer which has saved our lives many times before, than leave it in the wilds to an unknown destiny. I gotta say, part of me is inclined to keep using the inferior warhammer anyways, just because that's the one we started with. I'll leave it to vote. Whilst traveling south, night fell. This meant traveling ran the risk of inadvertently running into the meat grass and any potential acid rain or horror mist, so I decided to wait out the night searching for slugs and snails. I picked the meatiest ones and put them in a waterskin, which I intend to regularly water and feed, so we can have some pets for the journey. Also of note, is that every time Cog eats some of his produce, I have him collect the seeds for trading. The seeds are lightweight & are valuable currency wherever they are sold!

Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Getting back on the road, Cog and Yare ended up at Fancylures by nightfall without incident, another Forest Retreat, probably under the governance of humans of the Ageless Nations.

TheImmortalRyukan

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Re: Cog the Blind Drunk
« Reply #39 on: November 04, 2018, 11:20:23 pm »

I saw Keep using the old Warhammer until it's extremely worn out then keep it as a memento
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The Tale of Runlance - A Succession Fort in a Dying World

While the drink stocks run low and violence is rampant, the narcissistic tyrant demands a monument to his name

Loud Whispers

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Re: Cog the Blind Drunk
« Reply #40 on: November 05, 2018, 02:21:27 am »

Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Cog discovered the homelands of the Mythical Pines. There were many of them, their capital was vast in size, but every single one of them was an increasingly depressing and empty ruin of an independent past. Even the capital of Fogreigned was devoid of all Elves, with its massive market full of empty barrels, bins and presumably, Elven dreams. No Elves were to be found, nor even any humans, even in the Home Tree. There was no one to sell coconuts to.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)
It was gargantuan, massive, yet this only made the sheer scale of its abandonment more striking. If all the Shaping Trees weren't planted in ordered rows, you wouldn't even be able to tell it apart from a regular forest. Besides the names on the trees and the settlement itself, the legacy of the Mythical Pines was buried in time.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)
This did however mean there was tons of loot up for salvaging. Cog grabbed everything he could find, filling his rat pack with gems :]

Spoiler (click to show/hide)
The river-marked forests of the Mythical Pines were full of various settlements which never grew larger than one or two tree homes before the humans invaded. It seems that with the invasions the art of growing more tree homes was apparently lost to the Elves of these lands, and most of the Elves moved out to join the armies, criminals, bandits or human towns. Cog and Yare visited one just to see if their suspicions were true - that the entire Elven civilisation had indeed been annexed by the Ageless Nations.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)
A human soldier living in a tree full of Elves confirmed all of Cog's queries, all of the Elven lands had been annexed by humans. The rule of the humans was absolute, with no challenge to their rule at all - the Elves who lived under the rule of the humans or even took up positions of nobility within the Ageless Nations all wore human clothes, believed human things and forgot their former Elven ways. Yare surprisingly responded well to the humanised-Elves, moving more towards their line of thinking in the various arguments Cog overheard them having with the locals. Whatever war had occurred between the Humans and Elves, the Humans had won it a long, long time ago.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)
The existence of an Elven Furnace Operator who burned trees to refine metal seemed to disturb the Dwarf Cog on a deeply philosophical level. It made him question every assumption that he knew of the world: It was no longer a fact that what was so was always so, nor what is so always being as so. Perhaps in another world, an Elf could be a mighty Dwarven King. Madness!

Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Leaving the Elf remnants to their idle business, Cog and Yare returned to the ancient road only to be attacked by Wolves. Holy Avuz, that was a lot of Wolves. GOOD AVUZ THAT'S A LOT OF WOLVES
There was no logic or strategy to this fight. Cog and Yare split up and ran for their lives chased by a lot of Wolves. This was unfortunate for Cog, because Yare was faster.
Cog dropped his backpacks full of gems and coconuts and drew out his warhammer & shield. Unfortunately, he forgot that his brand new warhammer was in his backpack, and he was still using the old one.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)
He was already having trouble hitting the Wolves, it didn't help when a lot of the successful hits were just glancing blows. Perhaps it was the speed of the Wolves, the quality of the warhammer, the great size of the wolves, or the fact that there were so many of them chewing on him, but Cog struggled to land any meaningful hits.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Biting the paw of one Wolf, breaking the spine of another with his warhammer, if Yare hadn't come back to finish off the Wolves Cog would have been a goner. Cog snuck back to retrieve his backpack full of fruit and treasure, escaping north up the road. Badly beaten, nearly eaten, Cog was still very much alive.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)
'I think my toe is broken, Cog. You?'

Spoiler (click to show/hide)
'I'm fine. I think my nose is gone. How's it look?' Cog asked. Yare grimaced, Cog's nose was mangled beyond recognition. 'I see. The wolves were hungry.' Cog started eating a pear. Cog checked his damaged finger, it smelt of infection, his nose... It felt bad. The pain in his toes was gone, which made him more worried. 'Yare, you have family right?'
'I have a father, mother, wife, six daughters, innumerable cousins, the usual.'
'That's good. Family is important. How are you finding the adventure?'
'This is the life for me, even if I hate being in the cold and rain!'

Spoiler (click to show/hide)
They walked through the cold and rain down the road and away from the Wolves until they met an unexpected fork in the road. One path led off into the North, a continuation of the ancient road. Another went West, and seemed much younger.
'Well what now?' Yare asked. Cog shrugged and started setting up a campfire, it might be some time before they came to a decision.
'Thanks for saving me back there with the wolves,' Cog said earnestly.
'You dealt with our cyclops problem. I wasn't going to leave you to the wolves.' Yare practiced with his sword, proud to have the cyclops-slayer indebted to him.
'But you did leave me to the wolves.' Yare frowned.
'I wasn't going to leave you to the wolves for too long.' They laughed.

I saw Keep using the old Warhammer until it's extremely worn out then keep it as a memento
I've since decided that keeping the old warhammer is not a good idea if a higher quality one is available. Cog really needs the odds stacked in his favour, and for that matter if he survives the road then I'm going to spend some days just training Cog to raise his stats/skills. We can't keep nearly getting killed by wildlife, while I think recruiting some metal-armoured humans would go a long way towards nature-proofing our adventure ;P
The terrible news is all those broken bones aren't healing nor is the flesh because there's no adventure mode medicine in game yet. Cog is probably going to die of the infection he's contracted because his disease resistance is so low. If we can find a doctor of some sorts I can probably justify modding in some healing, but I don't know if I want to go down that path. I wonder if Cog retires for a while, would his wounds be treated, and could he then resume his adventure without starting all over again at the mountain home? This is probably the only alternative to dying that isn't editing raws, lucky amputations or supernatural means.

Anyways while you guys decide whether healing mod is acceptable / which road to take I'll keep things idle. Any updates will be legends mode stuff to find any details that Cog might have missed in his travels. I don't know what's at the end of either road but I do know the road north will bring us closer to the civilisation in the mountains, which must be Dwarven. The mountains are far away however, while the young road might take us to human soldiers & doctors.

Loud Whispers

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Re: Cog the Blind Drunk
« Reply #41 on: November 06, 2018, 04:03:52 pm »

Spoiler (click to show/hide)
A map of the known world so far and the location of its sites / political borders. I can't do this for the whole world as that's too much detail to fit onto a map, but I think I can probably use this to make a more artsy simplified version if I still have the energy for it. Collecting all the population data from legends mode requires doing it per site and tabulating it, which all in all takes a lot of time for very little reward. It does occasionally revel some gems: The island Elves really do have 3,500 tame grizzly bears, while of the various Dwarven ruins, some are occupied by forgotten beasts.
From the looks of things, Cog is going to go West, so pardon the legends filler.

Loud Whispers

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Re: Cog the Blind Drunk
« Reply #42 on: November 10, 2018, 09:06:43 pm »

The road west turned into a snaking, winding dirt road, bringing Cog close enough to smell the ocean's edge. After half a day's travel the road led them to a small human hamlet, safe from the wolves outside. Sore, battered and bruised, Cog resolved to hire a human mercenary to join the adventure - but finding the proper human for the job proved to be a difficult interview process.
The human crossbowman Mater Isdiudi had all the equipment and skill needed to be a valuable sentry in the wilds, but they were unusually shady, refusing to answer nearly every single one of Cog's questions regarding their personal background. Besides his skill with the crossbow, Cog learned nothing about him, and decided trusting his back to the unknown crossbowman would be a bad idea.
The human spearman Erod Anstridinu was highly suitable, having their own equipment, skills and tragic backstory. Most of their family had been struck down in battle or devoured by a variety of enemies of the human race, so they had very little to lose and an axe to grind with enemies of all innocent peoples. The only downside was that he was already a hearthperson of Lord Istro, and reluctant to leave this duty.
Cog was close to giving up when he overheard a particularly familiar sounding accent.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)
It was a macedwarf.
Ezum Solozshem was not just any macedwarf however, he was born in Newwhip - a settlement of the Infinite Cheerful Crafts, a neighbour of Razormanor, Cog's own home. It's even possible that once upon a time 58 years ago, a younger Dwarf called Ezum Solozshem gave up everything to become a mercenary, and walked past a drinking mound for the last time, passing by many drunk Dwarves without any notice.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Ezum left 58 years ago, fighting around the world until he ended up in the employ of Lord Istro in the far northern shore of the world. Ezum & Cog were in perfect accord: There was no use in standing watch over a well-defended meadhall when the real life of death and glory lay outside its walls; two sons of the Mountain Tooth meeting on the far side of the world was no coincidence, it was the will of the Gods!

Spoiler (click to show/hide)
They stayed for the night, Lord Istro wishing Ezum well in the journey ahead. Lord Istro was an interesting fellow of an old and distinguished noble family, whose members counted many priests and lords. What truly set him apart was that Lord Istro had lived such a sufficiently long life that he even had younger siblings who had died of old age. An ancient lord is a dangerous thing in a profession where the careers usually end dramatically, and fatally.
In the morning Lord Istro bid them farewell, seeing out Cog, Yare and Ezum for the last time. The sun arose and the trio made for a human town by the seaside.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Unfortunately there was very little to see in the town, as the interesting sites made my game crash. So they moved on from Shotpokers with the only interesting feature capable of being observed being the presence of something significant moving in the ocean. Philsophically opposed to death by gargantuan sea creature or arctic waters, Cog instead decided to go to the human Hamlet in the Northeast.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)
The Hamlet of Tickergarnish was an exceedingly well-designed Hamlet, beautifully centered around a bridge crossing of the rivers which ran through its heart. Tickergarnish was a welcoming village, even though much of its houses had been burned down by bandits. In glad and good company, for the night they stayed trading stories with the villagers by the campfire, there were no bandits to be seen.
Traveling northeast from Tickergarnish they arrived at Reclusefins, where they discovered that an extremely large gang of Elven bandits was harassing the humans there. The Elven bandits still fought the old Elven way; disregarding the appropriateness of intervening in human-elven relations, there was no way Cog and Yare could survive a fight against so many bandits. They left Lord Urir to their troubles, unable to help.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Traveling northeast from Reclusefins to reconnect with the ancient road, Cog was startled to walk into a rock block wall. This structure was huge, and whatever it was the humans either didn't know it was there or deliberately kept its location a secret. What's more: There was someone, or something inside.
Curiosity demanded an investigation of this uncharted structure. The first clue was a large stone slab. Although Cog could not read it, nor anyone else in his party for that matter, they could tell it had writing on it.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Navigating the structure was difficult, with Cog having to hold his hand to the wall to find where the myriad doors were. The overall structure was divided into several chambers, some of which held various trinkets, treasures or ancient human skeletons. All of the equipment up for grabs was too large for any of Cog's party to wear, so Cog searched for treasures instead.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)
A resounding counter-argument to further exploration came in the form of ancient traps hurtling blades and high-tension cables at Cog. His near-death experience convinced him that whatever secrets this building held, it was not worth the risk of having his knees sawn off by a 100 year old copper disc. Leaving the building, they encountered a human spearman going by the name Renus Rusnutsuru, a lieutenant in service of Captain Isa Bluntflickered of the Calm Blades. Cog had no idea who this Captain was or what the group they purported to represent was, Cog suspected banditry. Whoever they were, Cog let them go about their business - hearing them walk deep into the mysterious structure, their footsteps fading away into the deep interior of those corridors.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)
The trek northeast brought them back in contact with the ancient road, the ancient road brought them into contact with a most unexpected surprise. As the roads began to climb higher into what was unmistakably a mountain, Cog realised with elation that they had reached the foot of a Dwarven civilisation.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)
The mountain was alive with Dwarves!

Rushing hurriedly up the mountain road, the trio were eager to see a proper mountain civilisation. The first to see them was a Dwarven child, Fath Atolsazir, who greeted Cog Dentedpages as a Lord. This curiosity continued as Cog delved deeper into the hustle and bustle of a true Dwarven Fortress, with everyone remarking about his Lordship: Cog Dentedpages, Lord of the Respectful Steel. So it was that Cog discovered that around the time he recruited Ezum, the general populace of the Ageless Nations had been so compelled by the threat of violence that they made Cog a Lord. As Cog made no such threats, I am beginning to wonder if Ezum did some rounds, or if Cog was generally intimidating enough to warrant such a title. I am really not sure who gave it to Cog, or when or where exactly he gained the title, but the title has stuck amongst the civilised peoples of the world. It certainly added to the excitement in the Fortress when Cog began regailing the people with stories of distant lands, showing off his thousand coconuts or myriad gemstones, his every scar or torn clothing proof of his fearsome battles. I also found an Elf doctor called Thelire Lightbeasts, with whom I justified the healing of his broken fingers in exchange for some coconut. Thereafter Cog went on a shopping spree, selling hundreds of coconuts, gemstones and tattered clothes to purchase a refreshing new wardrobe. It was time for the blind drunk to swing low the coconut merchant's banner, and in its place raise high the sword of the Respectful Steel.

TheImmortalRyukan

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Re: Cog the Blind Drunk
« Reply #43 on: November 11, 2018, 01:59:24 am »

Ah, nothing like a ceiling of good cold stone to sleep under. Ive never had an adventurer adventure long enough to become a lord without even trying. So that's cool
« Last Edit: November 11, 2018, 05:14:41 pm by TheImmortalRyukan »
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The Tale of Runlance - A Succession Fort in a Dying World

While the drink stocks run low and violence is rampant, the narcissistic tyrant demands a monument to his name

Truncatedurist

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Re: Cog the Blind Drunk
« Reply #44 on: November 11, 2018, 04:04:21 pm »

Cog can now name his very useless worn out items and chuck them into a river for a hundred years and if anything interesting happens to them it will be noted in legends mode.
« Last Edit: November 17, 2018, 03:39:24 pm by Truncatedurist »
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