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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 46048 times)

Cathar

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Re: Cog the Blind Drunk
« Reply #45 on: November 11, 2018, 10:35:47 pm »

Unfortunately there was very little to see in the town

"There's very little to see anywhere, anyway" - Cog

Loud Whispers

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Re: Cog the Blind Drunk
« Reply #46 on: November 12, 2018, 12:04:13 pm »

Not counting the brand new threads, Cog's shopping list was extensive.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Some initial cultural miscommunication required Cog to swap Ezum's armour with Yare's, after Yare refused to wear some bronze boots engraved with bands of crystal glass, but they were both bronze high boots of excellent quality so the transfer was easily made for the both of them. Ezum helped cut costs by providing their own bismuth bronze breastplate, while Cog decided to keep his original silver warhammer in the end, saving costs there. Cog would also end up finding a masterwork training sword (520 coconuts) for free, cutting more costs.

Thus not counting any other expenses, the totals came to a total bill of 17,717 coconuts worth of equipment, which rapidly exhausted all of Cog's gem reserves and 90% of his coconuts. The only real item he would miss was an exceptionally large emerald, but it would be appreciated alongside all the coconuts by Dwarves of a mountain home, so all was proper in the world. Each gem would go to the very noble cause of keeping the adventurers in the good fight.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Traveling to see the other Fortresses was a long and worrisome process, especially since Cog couldn't reach the deeper Fortresses without risking getting lost under the caverns for a long, long time. Nevertheless, the promise of finding treasure or more merchants selling the glory of Dwarven steel was worth pursuing! At the crossroads of four paths, leading all the way through the Mountain (by Avuz! The Dwarves of the Outrageous Hame owned the whole Mountain), Cog made his way Westward.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)
After a day's travel he stopped to rest, waking up on the top of the mountain. It seems we're still being affected by the bug where sleeping underground transports us above ground - note to self, if we ever travel for long underground, we'll have to add [NO_SLEEP] in order to not suffer this bug.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)
All was not lost, as climbing down from the mountainside showed us we were still close enough to walk to a surface entrance to another Dwarven Fortress. The lands around this Fortress were full of savage beasts, the kinds of dingoes which once made Cog flee for his life. Yet bedecked in armour befitting the Lord of the Respectful Steel, with the good companions by his side, Cog was confident. Ezum was an effective fighter. Though he was no legendary macedwarf, he was a seasoned veteran, who would only get better with time. Yare on the other hand had spent every fight waving around a wooden sword, and he'd gotten exceptionally good at using it - if he could kill someone with a stick, swapping it with a bronze one promised to yield spectacular results.
Cog on the other hand desperately needed to sharpen his skills with the warhammer, as while he was talented with it... Talented was not good enough. The wolves had shown him that. He had adopted the short sword too, yet knew very little about swordsdwarfship, so had to train all of that from scratch.

With a bayberry training sword he ventured out into the wilds, telling Ezum and Yare to wait for him to return.

While Yare and Ezum camped, Cog trained.

While the mountain Dwarves ate and drank merry, Cog trained.

While the moon and sun fell and arose, Cog trained.

When he was close to passing out from exertion and the dingoes were chewing on Cog's arms, COG TRAINED.

Caked in blood and sweat Cog exercised, fought, practiced and trained with the jaws of the savage beasts never far from his neck - whittling away at the predatory pack with only a stick and a shield for defence. Fighting blind, Cog had to anticipate where the enemy was in relation to himself in perfect awareness, responding to every attack through sound and intuition alone.

Cog trained. He still had room to improve but he had at last reached the point where he was worthy of his title, a legendary swordsdwarf, hammerdwarf and all the necessary auxiliary skills needed to stay alive whilst shortening the enemy's. Bathing first in the river to wash away all the blood and sweat, Cog returned to replace his broken clothes, setting off with Ezum and Yare for the humans in the far west.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)
It was a really inviting road, it was impossible not to follow it. If the charts were to be believed, what lay at the end of such a magnificently horizontal road was the urban center, the capital of the Ageless Nations. The charts even offered tantalising visions of a perfectly horizontal road even further on!

Rolling into town ransacking some abandoned buildings along the way for all the valuable (or even just semi-valuable) trinkets that time had forgotten amidst a sea of banditry and beastliness, Cog was weighed down heavily by the quantity of newfound gems and cabochons. Cog needed to lighten the load lest he be crushed by the weight of his compulsive salvaging. It was honestly crazy just how much salvage was lying around; the gems were just the lightest amongst a cityscape of discarded wealth. It seems that besides a few stubborn shop keepers, the only thing the people under the Old Society cared about was power.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Cog learned this quickly when he turned in the gems by the bucket-load in exchange for a handful of bone carvings. In particular, the hook-nosed priest whom Cog sold the gems to was in the middle of a fist fight with another human whilst they conducted business... And there was an attack by a criminal organisation of reptile men which resulted in the human mobs uniting to rout the reptile men & ritually delimb the crime boss. In what would have been a stunning event in any other city, was just business as usual in the Old Society. The market would be attacked by criminals, the criminals attacked by bandits, the bandits attacked by the guard, the guard attacked by vampires, the vampires attacked by my companions, and all of this would be entirely ordinary in the day of life in the Old Society. The true name of this city was Pokedated, but their government was called the Old Society, which I felt far more aptly described the state of perpetual accommodated anarchy which blanketed its streets.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)
With a new fight every hour between every group of the hour, Cog thought it was worthwhile to see the Old Society in their Fortress, and try and determine what brilliant administrators or fearsome warlords were capable of staying in power amidst such total chaos. It was one thing for the regional Lords to disobey the central government, but for the central government to have no control over its own streets? Cog had to see for this land of miracles with his own eyes to believe it.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)
So yeah the central government were ocean cultists. Pump operators who became so enamoured with the idea of the ocean that they turned to utter devotion, setting up the Old Society to govern the Ageless Nations in accordance with liquid principles. They all adopted titles relating to waves or the sea, and they were without a doubt the worst government Cog had ever witnessed. Within their castle keep, they maintained very little contact with the outside world willingly, convinced everything was fine. This exceeded even the most ludicrous of expectations, as the Priests calmly explained there was an active civil war going on, with at least twenty different groups fighting to take control of their city. Amidst the pandemonium of civil war, sprawling criminal organizations keeping the people living in fear, bandits causing the town hardship, and Avuz knows what else lived in the sewers with the Vampire infestation... The Old Society felt that their rule was unchallenged. Either they were incredibly deluded, or the sheer level of revenue gained from their vast trade with other human cities / the Dwarven mountain halls allowed them to continue hiring replacement guards.

The trio left the Castle Keep and wandered around the town for the day, witnessing the battles in the streets from safe distances, staying out of the way of the various street wars. As night fell, Cog noticed something peculiar - a group of people were sneaking into the Castle Keep. Returning to investigate, Cog barely made it past the outer wall's gate before bumping into a fleeing vampire. Cog didn't like getting involved with local politics, but killing vampires was something he could always condone.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)
The reptilian vampire spearwoman was surprised, and worse still surrounded, trapped within the wall's gatehouse with the three adventurers. Cog used his hammer, striking for the easy opportunities, still testing out his newly practiced capabilities. Ezum wielded his new mace well, but the greatest improvement was from Yare. Where the previous vampire had made a mockery of his wooden sword, his new bronze sword proved entirely adequate to the task at hand.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)
A second vampire was found attacking a hammerdwarf defending the various ocean priests hiding behind his back. For this one, Cog used his steel short sword, finding that this vampire was far keener to put up a fight than its slain kin. It struck at Cog, Cog brought his shield to match and parried, striking into the air. Cog missed again, the Vampire struck, once more finding Cog's guard was strong. With growing confidence Cog rendered the vampire's every strike harmless, whilst for every few hits Cog missed, a wound to its foot would bring the vampire low, a wound to its arm would lower its spear - it was getting weaker from blood loss by the moment. In desperation it tried to drain Cog of his blood, but Cog was too well-armoured & too skilled at breaking grips for the vampire to find the necessary purchase on his skin. With the vampire trying to sink its teeth into Cog's neck, Cog drove the short sword through its left lung, desperately trying to keep the vampire at bay until it finally bled to death. When Ezum and Yare arrived the fight was done, and they had already set off to chase a third vampire, followed closely by Cog.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Facing four warriors the olm man vampire spearman wisely tried to flee, but was incapable of escaping all three of the adventurers. Its limbs disabled by sword and mace, it could neither run nor fight, and Cog ended its accursed life with his steel short sword.
The Old Society were grateful for the assistance, and Cog wished the hammerdwarf the best of luck in defending those special humans from the innumerable threats lurking the wartorn streets of Pokedated.

They set off north to another city, one which was entirely unremarkable in its peacefulness and proper administration, with especial note of its city walls being fashioned from native gold. It was evidently the place where the nobility and well-to-do lived, and while Cog was sure there must be something terrifying hiding behind this civilised and opulent visage, it didn't compare to the anarchy of the Old Society, so Cog set off to explore more of the world.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)
One such sight was a large rock block structure of some sort. Searching for a door into the first chamber, Cog felt rather silly realising that the only way to progress deeper into the building was through a staircase in the centre of the room. Navigating by touch has its downsides - but really, who puts a staircase in the middle of a room? It's just non-sensical building planning, this structure was clearly made by humans.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Navigating by touch however did have its advantages! Cog found an area of the wall in the corridor above the stairs which was unmistakably occupied by nothing. Creeping through led to yet another corridor.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)
This corridor was occupied by two elf skeletons and a staircase. Cog wasn't too concerned by the skeletons, they were ancient and showed no sign of battle damage or butchery. They had died a long time ago, and whatever had put them here was long gone. The staircase at the end of the corridor led up to yet another room.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)
This room appeared to be some former dining hall, as there were tables stacked up on the wall leading to another staircase. Some treasures lay on the floor, but there was nothing worth picking up - it was all either human-sized armours, or treasures too low in value and high in weight to bother encumbering himself with.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Climbing up the stairs, Cog was close to giving up on finding anything interesting in this labyrinthine structure. Walking onwards, Cog's foot kicked something heavy and metallic. It clinked sonorously in the dead silence of the building, ringing a call to be found. Picking up the object, Cog found it was immensely heavy, heavier even than his bronze breastplate. It was not a weapon, but a pure gold sceptre, a symbol of sovereign rule. Cog heard the sound of movement as Ezum and Yare joined him, but he was sure there was something else... Banishing the thought, they left the way they came. Yet still Cog was sure there was something awry.
'What's wrong?' Yare asked.
'Listen,' Cog whispered.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)
'It's in the dining hall.'
Yare and Ezum strained their ears to listen.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)
'It's walking down the stairs. These are heavy steps, like the last steps a dying man takes. Listen, can you hear it?'

Spoiler (click to show/hide)
'It is following us.'

The three left at a sprint going northwest, far away from the source of noise.
'What is following us Cog?' Yare asked.
'I don't know for sure.'

Spoiler (click to show/hide)
'We've been traveling now into an uninhabited icy wasteland, and it's still following us. If they were bandits they would've given up by now, and we're too far away from any towns for it to be vampires.'

Spoiler (click to show/hide)
'It doesn't tire, it hasn't stopped to eat or drink, it doesn't sleep and it follows us wherever we go. It is best if we never discover what it is.'
'We have another problem,' Ezum said. 'The sun is going down, there's no way we'll be able to tell where we're going.'

Spoiler (click to show/hide)
'Do not worry, I am experienced in night-navigation. We keep a steady course westwards, and we keep going until we find a settlement.'
They lost track of it. Cog did not worry, they were well-supplied and ready for a long journey, even one made through the ice. With hoods and cloaks wrapped close against the biting wind and snow, the three continued marching through the night, weariness taking its toll. After they couldn't run any more, they walked, and when they couldn't walk any further they set their packs down by a fire to camp.
Cog slept for an hour by the fire, waking up in a panic. He listened to the wailing of the wind on the flat icy plains, listening intently. Ezum and Yare clutched their weapons in anticipation.
The wailing subsided. The world was silent except for the sound of their breathing, and the crackling of the dying campfire. Cog added more fuel to the flames, then went back to sleep.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)
He slept for four hours. Cog wasn't sure if he overslept. In that time it had reached them, it was out there in the dark. Cog grabbed his packs and his companions and resumed the long march in the dark, fighting to gain some much needed distance. No natural creature could have tracked them in the snow, the snowstorm covered their tracks as soon as they made them. Salvation lay in the settlement ahead, but as Cog sprinted towards it he was held back by the stench.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)
The settlement was a dark fortress.
Seeing no other choice, Cog crept into the city of goblins.

TheImmortalRyukan

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Re: Cog the Blind Drunk
« Reply #47 on: November 12, 2018, 10:27:40 pm »

This chapter of Cog was one of the best yet. From the active Civil War to the chase across the Ice Wastes by Armok-knows what. Then ending it off by Cog stepping foot in a Dark Fortress. Bravo sir, bravo
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Loud Whispers

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Re: Cog the Blind Drunk
« Reply #48 on: November 13, 2018, 03:48:31 pm »

Dangerously quiet... Cog knew not what to expect creeping into the city of goblins, nor I for that matter. I had never had a positive experience with goblins in all my years playing DF. I wouldn't say I was optimistic about the matter, as I was sneaking through the city in the dim light of dawn, but I was certainly willing to entertain the possibility that the goblins would not send hundreds to murder me at first sight.
Perhaps it was a matter of good fortune then, that finding any goblins proved to be a difficult task. Cog climbed through empty trenches and empty towers, hearing not a single sound. Nothing stirred to alarm Ezum or Yare either. Following some stairs to a lower level leading to some tunnels in a cave revealed a deafening level of noise coming from a large chamber to his left.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)
As Cog crept closer, the noises grew in intensity, but something seemed altogether wrong. Telling Ezum and Yare to wait safely behind a rock wall, Cog alone snuck closer, crawling unseen towards the source of the racket. There were anywhere up to a hundred different voices, though it didn't sound like any language, nor did it sound like any goblin. Cog called out to them and bumped into one - immediately regretting this life choice.
It was a troll, amongst a horde of trolls.
Each one four times larger than Cog.
And they were not friendly.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)
The fat troll gored Cog but his steel chain leggings saved his life. Cog had to survive four rounds of combat in order to escape. If the troll damaged either of his legs, Cog was certainly about to die. If the troll successfully grabbed Cog, then Cog was also certainly about to die. Each individual troll was devilishly strong and easily capable of breaking all of Cog's bones if they managed to get any of his joints in a lock. Fighting against this many trolls at once was certain death. The first of the troll's attacks missed. The second and third bruised him through his breastplate but failed to pierce the bronze. The fourth, an attempt to grab Cog, barely missed.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)
It was all Cog needed to flee up the ramp and sprint to Ezum and Yare, hurriedly climbing up the stairs to escape from the charging army of trolls.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)
The trolls produced the loudest of noises, but intelligible speech...! Now that was something worth pursuing. Cog rushed towards the speaker with haste, confident in the stone wall separating him from the countless trolls he could hear nearby.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)
His faith paid off, as he encountered a goblin. This goblin was named Zolak, who was most informative. Zolak seemed panicked that a human army was marching upon his city. Zolak was the first goblin civilian I had ever seen in Dwarf Fortress, so I figured it was worth a shot offering them safe refuge with Cog - I like to think it was Cog giving the goblin a chance on a whim. I didn't expect Zolak to accept! When I asked if Zolak had any family to move to, I was saddened to find Zolak had none, and expected to go wherever Cog went.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)
I wished to learn more about Zolak but at that moment we were attacked by more trolls, an obscene and grotesque number of them, some of them even armed with iron picks. Cog took out his sword, shield and hammer, adopting a fighting style which proved exceedingly effective against the trolls. Cog needed to minimise the risk each troll posed to him and his companions, but Cog also needed to kill the trolls as quickly as possible lest they be overwhelmed by their size and numbers. Cog would open with quick strikes to the legs and hands to knock out any weapons or topple the troll; if the attacks failed to cause any serious wounds or missed altogether, this did not matter, the attacks were merely to bring Cog closer to the troll. From there Cog would throw a heavy strike with his short sword into the troll's chest whilst reciprocating with his warhammer to their guts - either way this resulted in broken ribs, lungs, bruised guts, and a very winded, vomiting troll. The sword would be thrust into the upper body again until it stuck in the chest, allowing Cog to keep the troll in place and stop them from dodging away. This all greatly reduced the troll's mobility, allowing for attacks of opportunity to the arms or legs, but all focus would be towards an opening to the neck or head, where the silver warhammer could end the fight quickly. With new armour, weapons and tactics, the troll vanguard was annihilated by the adventurers - and surprisingly, by Zolak the goblin, who fought alongside us the entire time.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Zolak was valiant. Even lacking armour, they fought with ferocity, punching a troll in the face so hard the strike obliterated the troll's lip and left it stunned. Cog would finish the job with a sword thrust to the lungs, a hammer strike to the guts, a hammer strike to the spine and a sword to the skull. The trolls were pouring out of this building in ever greater numbers, leaving all four of the adventurers isolated. Teamwork had made the dreamwork, but now everyone was on their own. Cog fought one muscly troll nervousnesly, the enraged beast successfully grabbing Cog's breastplate or hood, thankfully failing to tear it off or successfully put any of his joints in a lock. Repeated heavy strikes from his hammer and sword brought the troll low, allowing him to be better dispatched. A troll miner proved to be a far more fearsome opponent, even parrying some of Cog's strikes, forcing Cog on the defensive with his shield. Only the intervention of Zolak allowed Cog to press close to the troll and shatter its ribcage with a hammer strike, followed by a devastating swordthrust through its lower body. Dazed and wheezing, the troll miner did not see Yare's strike, beheaded with one clean slash.
Cog was efficient, methodical. Cog would approach the sound of combat, locate the troll, immobilise it with a sword thrust through the chest and once caught - attack with the hammer upon its head until the troll died or broke free, freeing the use of the steel short sword.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)
The final three trolls put up a vicious defence but were unable to withstand the adventurers: the trolls fought as three individuals, where the adventurers fought as a team. In the end the three of them were close to passing out from exhaustion with eighteen dead trolls at their feet. Terrifyingly, it seemed that there were vastly more trolls than that nearby. Unable to fight for much longer, Cog bid a retreat, passing by Zolak's mangled corpse along the way. That goblin had defended Cog to the death against his own civilisation's trolls. Cog's opinions of goblins rose dramatically that fight. Leaving the corpse piles covered in troll ichor and goblin blood, Cog encountered towers full of conversation, leading him to towers full of goblins.

They were empty of trolls. Cog was happy about this.

The goblins at first worried they were under attack, but then realised that Cog was just passing through. Cog warned them of the human attack about to commence. From the goblins he learned that their city was principally defended by its trolls, with what few goblin soldiers stationed in the city serving as token garrisons meant to slow down human invasions. The humans attacked with immense regularity, with each of their wars usually ending in the deaths of thousands of goblins in exchange for a handful of humans - if it weren't for the monkey-demon they called their law-giver, it seems the humans would have conquered the goblins long ago. The monkey-demon had the brilliant strategy to exhaust the human armies by making them slaughter so many goblins, they got tired & ran out of supplies, forcing them to retreat home. It seems the specific goblins on the frontlines weren't too keen about this strategy in spite of its success, and unanimously elected to join Cog if he would lead them away from the city. Cog wondered what the goblins thought about him, he who they would join so willingly, deserting their city in its hour of need.

The goblins smiled and complimented him in the way goblins do: You are a killer.
Yare told them he was the great Beast Hunter, Asno Slavetorments, and that Cog was a fell and macabre lord of murder-steel. Ezum said he was Ezum the macedwarf. All of the goblins, even the soldier goblins were in agreement: They would all have made very good goblins. When they found out Yare had lied about being Asno Slavetorments, they were only further convinced of Yare's superb goblinity.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Cog continued searching for as many goblins to save until he heard something approach the city. Whether it was the army or something else, Cog didn't intend to find out, especially if it was the thing from beyond the blizzard. With his goblins in tow, he brought them out of the city in search of greener pastures.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Cog had learned it was a dangerous world out there, and he struggled to imagine how he would keep them all safe.
For better or for worse, Cog was now a reluctant Goblin Prince.



This chapter of Cog was one of the best yet. From the active Civil War to the chase across the Ice Wastes by Armok-knows what. Then ending it off by Cog stepping foot in a Dark Fortress. Bravo sir, bravo
Ayy thanks dude, it was worth the effort if you enjoyed it

Cog can now name his very useless work out items and Chuck think into a river for a hundred years and if anything interesting happens to them it will be noted in legends mode.
That might work for the bayberry training sword, but as of now Cog doesn't have any useless work out items. He's only just reached the point where he's wealthy enough to provision himself & others fully

"There's very little to see anywhere, anyway" - Cog
Cog would make an excellent world tour guide

Also this is now an goblin oregon trail thread

Urist9876

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Re: Cog the Blind Drunk
« Reply #49 on: November 16, 2018, 08:28:50 pm »

Great story!

I hope to hear many more tales of Cog.
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Loud Whispers

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Re: Cog the Blind Drunk
« Reply #50 on: November 22, 2018, 07:38:30 pm »

The fire burned a warm circle in the snow, around which Cog slept in his armour. He'd been attacked too many times in his sleep not to consider the safety of a helmet and breastplate mandatory sleep-wear, especially with thirty-one goblins watching over him.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)
In the night a pack of ferocious wolves found the fire an irresistible target for a quick dinner in the brutal fields of ice. Before Cog could react, the goblins swarmed over the wolves, their relative lack of weapons no obstacle to dealing with wolves.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)
33 vs 8 tipped the scale decisively in favour of Cog's legion. With the goblins incurring only a few minor injuries, Cog butchered the wolves and let Zolak Olsmobosa the Cook do the rest. The goblins roared merrily around their spoils whilst Cog tried to sleep, thinking intensely about what to do with all these goblins. Snodub Usmdasarstruk was a crossbowgoblin, Ago Zolakurer with his iron pike was a pikegoblin, but they were the only goblin soldiers out of the whole bunch. Aslot Matoser the woodcutter could probably find good use of her silver great axe, while the myriad goblins with experience as hunters - or whom found a career change in Cog's ranging as rangers & hunters themselves, might prove adequate if given weapons, crossbows and bolts.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Perhaps there would be a dark fortress far, far away where Cog could resettle these goblin cheese makers, gem setters and troll shearers. Cog would have to wander far across a barren and featureless wind-swept tundra, stretching on for an eternity. The tundra was known as The Winter of Violators, and it would be impossible to tell the passing of time but for the frequent attacks by wolves. This would provide Cog's hungry goblins with adequate sustenance for the journey.

After a few days of freezing monotony, the sounds of a vast goblin city cluster could be heard not too far in the distance. Cog's plan was to try and locate a goblin armoury and sweep it clean of weapons, armour & ammunition. The goblins were woefully lacking in supplies, and Cog was certain that without any protection, the horde would gradually be whittled away one injury after another.

Crossing the frozen river amidst the cold marshes the goblins named the Murk of Ferocity, Cog encountered another group of goblins. Walking forth with his gold sceptre, Cog introduced himself as the Lord of the Respectful Steel and asked the goblins who ruled this area. The goblin responded by shooting Cog with a silver bolt, the missile deflecting painfully from his bronze breastplate. That would leave a bruise. Seriously pissed off at the goblin's attitude, Cog drew his weapons and charged. Before Cog managed to land a single blow, the crossbowgoblin loudly surrendered.
Cog demanded the goblin drop its crossbow and was happy with the outcome: At this rate he'd be able to collect weapons from all of these enemy soldiers without a single drop of blood shed.

Unfortunately Cog's goblins witnessed Cog's brilliant ruse and took this as the perfect opportunity to attack surrendering troops, rapidly raising the conflict level as the enemy goblins realised they had to fight to the death to survive. There were less of the enemy, but all but one of them had weapons and armour, with only one strike needed to take a goblin out of the equation.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Cog squared off against a goblin maceman, witnessing firsthand the capabilities of his horde of malnourished goblins, hungry for survival. Zolak's silver great axe hit square in the goblin maceman's side, but was deflected harmlessly by its copper mail shirt. While the maceman was preoccupied, they were punched in the back by Ngerxung so heavily, that her strike broke one of the maceman's ribs. Cog's own hits grazed the goblin, tearing apart its silk robe - in a tremendous display of the power of quantity, the macegoblin's own attack was interrupted when it was immobilised by Nguslu. Biting its ear off, punching and kicking through copper armour, Cog's goblins were unskilled but fought like madmen possessed. The enemy soldiers were more disciplined; half of Cog's goblins ran away from the fight, the other half were berserk brawlers, and were it not for the reliability of Ezum & Yare some more of Cog's goblins might have gotten hurt. Surveying the aftermath, most of Cog's goblins had sustained injuries which would heal over in time. Only Uts Strodnonung the carpenter was severely injured - their left lung had collapsed, and they would survive to live from that day on with a characteristic wheeze with their every breath. Covered from his upper body to his left leg in scars, Cog gave Utes a crossbow and some bolts to keep him away from the frontlines, but still useful to the army.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)
The rest of the spoils were collected and divided between the army. It was nowhere near enough to provision anything more than a fraction of the army, while almost all of the equipment was low-grade copper, much of the armour still broken from the strikes which killed their previous owners. Azstrog Ekxoxnguslu the troll-shearer received a considerable promotion in life, taking up the silver scourge and iron armour of the enemy officer. That the iron helm Azstrog wore was mangled to pieces didn't seem to bother Azstrog, who wore it with the pride of a golden crown. Another half dozen received full copper sets, another half dozen received just a mail shirt, the rest who ran away from battle received nothing. It wasn't a disciplinary measure as Cog had run out of equipment, but it didn't stop the goblins from treating it as such.

Cog would wander from city to city searching for equipment, failing to find a single armoury. To make matters worse, as night fell and a blizzard beset the war party, miscommunications were abound.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Repeated clashes with enemy units would see Cog searching piles and piles of dead goblins to find with some distaste that they were mostly unarmed conscripts, led by a few officer goblins armed with crossbows. With almost no armour or weapons to take, the scale of death inflicted was unjustifiable. Cog noticed with concern that the enemy goblin conscripts were trying to run away, yet even his most cowardly of recruits had given up their green ways in favour of brutal bloodlust.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)
There was almost nothing to gain from these repeated encounters, except to turn 31 goblins into ready killers. Perhaps it was an accident spurred by the weather, or the goblin administrators were sending armies of recruits out to hunt the rumoured horde of tattered turncloaks marauding through the Western frontier, but the encounters increased in frequency so much that Cog found little use in counting the number of goblins slain. He himself was responsible for the death of one officer and five young recruits, there was no telling how many the rest had killed.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)
There was no telling how many more they would have to kill fighting through the cities of goblins. Past a certain point, Cog believed it would stretch the imagination of the already unforgiving goblin Lords to say that he had done his best not to kill several goblin armies.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Because they killed a lot of goblin armies. A tremendous number of dead goblins were left in their wake, and with each victory the confidence of the goblins grew. They were no longer refugees fleeing human warlords: they were victors, conquerors taking the spoils under the banner of their Lord. Their morale was high, their conviction in the adventure certain, and each night they talked and debated by the campfire the goblins spoke less and less of their fears and more and more of the thrill of battle.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)
And at least some material good would come of it, with a few more goblins taking up arms.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Fighting their way West into even colder glaciers and frozen marshes, the army tore their way through savage lands infested with dingoes. In the human lands I met a human Lord, the one known as Lord Oce. This Lord Oce had once been a mercenary, whose family had seen much death at the hands of goblins and even a sasquatch. The sasquatch was an immensely rare creature, capable of tearing apart twelve humans limb from limb with its bare hands. It did not seem capable of doing so to an army of 33, and so was torn to pieces. More sasquatches would be slain along the way, in what was no doubt a severe dent to their global population. Cog bid no ill-will to the sasquatches, but if they felt compelled to attack his army, there was nothing he could to stop them - just point them in the right direction and let nature ensue.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)
For days they marched past cold, snow, rain, ice and marsh, a seeming combination of the worst elements. Cog made sure no goblin straggled behind, lest they fall in a freezing pond infested with alligators. With no knowledge of the local area and no civilisation in sight, Cog led his troupe west of the volcano-range hoping he would encounter some sign of friendly people.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Backtracking at the sight of an ocean, the days would come and go that Cog would fear they were all tremendously lost. The goblins were all in high spirits however, as frequent dingo attacks meant they always had full bellies when it was time to sit by the roaring campfire.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)
An eternity away from their homes, at the break of dawn they discovered the unmistakeable trappings of a Forest Retreat in the distance. Cog just wondered how his goblins would react to Elves. Cog wondered just how the Elves would react to his party.

TheFlame52

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Re: Cog the Blind Drunk
« Reply #51 on: November 23, 2018, 01:30:54 pm »

Excellent storytelling as usual! I especially like the description of life in the Old Society. In fact, I think I'll start playing a new adventurer!

Dunamisdeos

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Re: Cog the Blind Drunk
« Reply #52 on: November 23, 2018, 04:29:25 pm »

Which one of you heathens answered Yes.
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Loud Whispers

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Re: Cog the Blind Drunk
« Reply #53 on: November 23, 2018, 05:06:39 pm »

Some men want to watch the world burn

Truncatedurist

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Re: Cog the Blind Drunk
« Reply #54 on: November 23, 2018, 06:20:40 pm »

Great story... And I believe there is a way to Df hack Cog's social awareness to Increase the size of your legendary goblin horde.
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DG

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Re: Cog the Blind Drunk
« Reply #55 on: November 23, 2018, 08:50:16 pm »

Do goblins eat in adventure mode for reasons other than having to, or are you roleplaying that? I've never taken on a goblin companion.
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Loud Whispers

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Re: Cog the Blind Drunk
« Reply #56 on: November 23, 2018, 09:21:47 pm »

Great story... And I believe there is a way to Df hack Cog's social awareness to Increase the size of your legendary goblin horde.
I believe the maximum with max social awareness and fame would be 22 normally. The only ways around this is with traveling bands of musicians, necromancers, drunks, guides & refugees, with this case in particular involving 2 normal adventurers & 31 refugees. But because they have no family I can bring them to, we're a family unto ourselves now

Do goblins eat in adventure mode for reasons other than having to, or are you roleplaying that? I've never taken on a goblin companion.
Just RP, only Cog can die from starvation/thirst in adventure mode

Also thanks for the generous appraisal guys :P I hope to bring more tales until the tales naturally end, however that may be.

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Re: Cog the Blind Drunk
« Reply #57 on: November 23, 2018, 09:27:45 pm »

Gotcha, thanks.
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4powerd

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Re: Cog the Blind Drunk
« Reply #58 on: December 13, 2018, 07:33:42 pm »

Amazing as usual, as for the vote, alcohol solves most problems and makes you forget the rest
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bloop_bleep

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Re: Cog the Blind Drunk
« Reply #59 on: December 13, 2018, 07:51:11 pm »

PTW
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