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Author Topic: The 14th Expedition  (Read 3005 times)

Graysire

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The 14th Expedition
« on: November 30, 2018, 10:51:22 am »

(Some background, my first-ever fort had a copious lack of Fun, so I decided to go to treeless scorching, terrifying mountains, on my 14th embark, I kinda made it, because the only evil weather that seems to exist is a kill-make-husk-cloud)

It was Spring 550 when Astmîshak, “Sabrespeechless” in the human tongue was founded. It quickly grew to be the center of The Helm of Chains, it found mass quantities of gold, it hoarded its riches in legendary halls, but then it suddenly fell in 554, the only news of how, were the stories of elves driven mad, babbling about “clowns” unleashed to kill them. Astmîshak was deemed a place too dangerous to return to, for while the elves are fragile and weak, their words ring with a strange truth that brought shudders down dwarven spines…shortly before said elves were punched in the face.

So, it was that The Glad Smith, The Reputed Fortification, The Cheerful Swords 2, The Rags of Hailing 2, The Gravel of Mastery, The Matched Paper, and The Gorge of Senses each decided that now was the time to bring their brand of dwarven ascendancy to the world. Nine expeditions were sent to the desert mountains of The Unholy Spines, legend held that The Unholy Spines were cursed with scorching heat and terrifying wildlife to defend hidden treasures.

They failed. In the summer of 555 a collection of ghosts appeared briefly before the dwarven kings and queens begging them not to send any more to die in the mountains, for not one of them had managed to set up so much as a basic tunnel before being devoured by soot and bones.

Some were not convinced. The Rags of Hailing sent a secret expedition to another part of the mountains, but they were never heard from and the caravan sent never returned. The Gravel of Mastery claimed another area, sending 2 separate groups in hopes that 1 would survive, unbeknownst to them, The Glad Smith and The Dike of Nights had both laid claim to the area, but one group was delayed. This, is their story.

What follows is from the journal of Feb Adillîlar (Walledpatterns), The Expedition Leader

Early Spring – 556

   This is it! Out of all the groups that petitioned, mine was selected to go to the new fortress site! Well actually we’re a part of the second group, the first is going to go ahead with the skilled labor and we’ll arrive shortly after to provide our axes for defense. Our company consists of myself, Mosus Datanasiz (Ironflashes), Momuz Sherikudib (Perplexedsyrup), Olon Enkosudil (Takenlatern), Bomrek Ilralzágod (Treatygripped), and Endox Zithistobul (Meshcanyons) as axedwarves, we’ve been training all week, and we also have Erib Aranlikot (Sculptedinks) who’s another miner, to help with expansion of the outpost. We’ve not been equipped with much more than food and drink; the other group has tools such as anvils and picks in their wagon to set up the fort.

   We’ve almost arrived at Rovodâvid (Archlistened), finally this journey is at an end, Olon and Bomrek have become insufferably in love, they’re practically acting like elves near trees! It’s ridiculous and will distract from the challenges we’ll face on the frontier. It was no jest when they said the heat would be scorching, even wearing our light clothes we’re sweating out all the booze! It’s a terrible thing.

   We’ve just passed the corpse of a miner, his pickaxe and clothes are stained with blood, more than could possibly be his, and this strange brown soot, this doesn’t bode well.

   Damn Bomrek! So distracted by Olon he barely saw the other wagons in time, he managed to swerve our wagon through the stone door and into the entrance hall of the outpost. Of course, we’ve now realized, that we weren’t the only ones seeking to settle here, but us seven are the only survivors, tattered clothing and empty barrels scattered all over the place, and worse, this place makes the dead walk! Or…crawl, the mangled bones and hands of some kind of birdman attacked us, though with our skill they were easily dispatched. I must continue this later; A survivor has been spotted.

   It was no survivor we saw, a dead dwarf covered in dark brown soot, his eyes glowed red and rotting muscle rippled beneath his torn skin, his strength was beyond that of any dwarf I’ve ever seen, his fists were covered in dried gore, and it was only with a lucky strike that I decapitated him and sent him to his final rest. I see a cloud of that same soot moving in the distance, we must avoid it.

   A ghost has appeared! It claims it was struck down by the miner we saw earlier, who was a similar monstrosity to the one I dispatched, the ground here is cursed, we would leave, but a group of peregrine falcon people corpses are now flying above the river across from us, were we to leave the shelter of these wagons they would surely spot us and be on us in mere moments, we are skilled, but I still do not fancy our chances against the dozen of them. In the meantime, we must entrench ourselves in the stone-works started by previous groups, and lay this ghost to rest.

   Armok has turned a baleful eye upon us! Mosus, Erib, and I were moving items to our stockpile when we heard a gurgling neigh, upon the hill above us was perched a horse mangled almost beyond recognition with its guts trailing behind it, it glared at us and slowly started forward, the other four rushed to meet it in combat, it was just another zombie and thus it shouldn’t have been a problem for four experience fighters, and they were winning, at first, but suddenly it started lashing out with a terrible fury, and it SLAUGHTERED THEM. We’ve hidden inside, we’ve barred the door, but we can hear it waiting for us outside, as it occasionally stomps on the wagons, it’s waiting for us, and we cannot escape, we have food and drink, we’ve made some farms, but we have no hope of stopping the monstrosity, we’ve named it Eslek Tumamîtat (Clearbristles the Moral Chill), and it hungers, our only hope now is for migrants or the caravan to arrive and kill the beast, for we have no hope of stopping it.

   I have a small office now, I’ve counted our supplies and we can survive for the year, longer with the farms, but our pack animals are starving, and we cannot feed them, if they die they may rise as strong as Eslek, that cannot be allowed to happen, we’re sealing them in a side room, may Armok have mercy on them.
« Last Edit: December 02, 2018, 01:43:05 am by Graysire »
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PlumpHelmetMan

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Re: The 14th Expedition
« Reply #1 on: November 30, 2018, 12:25:50 pm »

Great story, dude. Reads almost like an apocalypse log out of some creepypasta. Gave me chills! :)

Also welcome to the forums, always great to see new blood around here.
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It's actually pretty terrifying to think about having all of your fat melt off into grease because you started sweating too much.

Graysire

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Re: The 14th Expedition
« Reply #2 on: November 30, 2018, 04:37:21 pm »

(Thank you! It's my first time writing this kind of story so I'm hoping it turns out well, glad to be on the forum, always wanted to play dwarf fortress, finally sat down and started to learn it)

21st Felsite – 556
   We have been cursed with visions of the dead, dwarves whose names we do not know haunt our dreams, I have commissioned a memorial hall for all the dwarves that died here, something about these dreams, they can make use carve names and events into rock, ones of which we have no knowledge.

24th Felsite – 556

   Erib is not taking this easy, he was holding one of the memorial slabs and just stopped, shaking, then he dropped the slab on the ground and left, we’ve lost good friends here, and this isn’t easy on any of us, but we don’t have the luxury of time to mourn, every moment we waste is a step closer to death

1st Hematite – 556

   Summer has arrived, the stone near the entrance is warm to the touch during the day, and chilled during the night, that and we can smell the corpses rotting outside, to help keep our minds off it we’re digging deeper into the mountains, an area for a still and an area for our main stairway have both been created, unfortunately I’m unable to help because I’ve been stuck in this meager office counting supplies for days, trying to figure out some way we can metalwork with what we have, besides our lack of ore we’d need the sacred earth’s blood, magma in order to forge anything, our wood supplies will not last.

3rd Hematite – 556

   We’ve heard Clearbristles leaving, it’s still too dangerous to go outside, but hearing it walk away has been a weight lifted off our minds. We’re all in much higher spirits and enjoyed some fine dwarven alcohol to boost our spirits higher.

12th Hematite – 556

   In digging out a central stairway we’ve struck aquamarine, I’d be happy about it but the chance any merchant will come by to purchase it is slim, on the other hand, with the central stairway complete I’ve ordered a set of bedrooms constructed, that and our still is now operational and our harvests are coming in well. I think we might be able to survive without the caravan, difficult as it may be.

15th Hematite – 556

   A windstorm is howling outside, we can feel the clouds of soot moving through the area, as if the three clouds – I don’t know how I know there are 3 – are seeking us out, to snuff out the last sentient life in The Unholy Spines.

6th Malachite – 556

   One of the animals starved to death, we can hear its corpse fighting the other one, wait, it’s faint, but I think I hear the sound of dwarves! We might be saved if they can slay Clearbristles! Or perhaps at least get inside to aid us.

7th Malachite – 556

   I doubt those dwarves will make it inside, we can hear their screams, more horrible horrible screams to haunt our dreams, more memorials to make for dwarves we will never know, more death dealt by Clearbristles.

   Clearbristles is inside! It is 9 of us vs that wounded monstrosity, surely, we can handle it now…
*blood stains the remainder of the journal, making it unreadable*

1st Hematite

   Summer has arrived and with it the dreams have become even worse, the dwarves are being replaced by the visage of Clearbristles, by its unblinking stare, I dreamt that Clearbristles was inside the fort and nothing could harm it, no blow could wound it, it slaughtered us all and laughed. That door must never be opened lest that dream come true, no migrants, no traders may enter unless the rotting corpse of Clearbristles is truly dead. I think the others are starting to question my sanity, thinking the decay of the corpses just outside our door is getting to me, but they are wrong, the dreams have power, I think they may be sent by Armok to help us fight against this cursed place, we must heed the dreams. After I’ve finished counting our supplies we will get to work, we must finish the memorials, so the ghosts don’t cloud my dreaming sight, and create a still and stairwell, if we are to live here, must have beds.

17th Hematite – 556

   We have found golden beryl when excavating the soon-to-be bedrooms, these gems shall prove useful if the caravan survives the storms of soot and hooves of Clearbristles, if we have time we shall see to cutting them, it will be a good distraction from the horrors this place has visited on us.

27th Hematite – 556

   Two bedrooms have been completed, since Mosus and I would be the ones to defend this home of ours should we be attacked, we have claimed them, Erib will have his bedroom if he wants to finish digging it.

8th Malachite – 556

   Three dwarves have arrived, I saw them in my dreams, mere peasants, though they scream loudly, we cannot help them, to open the door invites our own certain doom, so we must stay inside and wait it out, either Clearbristles will fall, or more likely, it will end the screams, I have already commanded more slabs be made, the dreams will show us what to engrave.

10th Malachite – 556

   Blood is oozing through the wall we locked the animals behind, they have risen, but they are sealed away and pose no threat as long as we are not careless with our pickaxes. Perhaps in the future we may find a way to capture them for some form of training.

21st Malachite – 556

   Erib’s bedroom has been completed, but we’ve discovered that we have 5 beds! A waste of our valuable wood resources, I don’t know who made them, but wood is our most limited resource! If I did not need the dwarfpower to run this outpost I would surely consign someone to a hammering…if we had a hammer that is.

1st Galena – 556

   The dreams have shown me something new, a migrant lives! He has been running away from the dead horrors, when the others fought Clearbristles he ran, and has not stopped, if her survives till autumn perhaps the caravan may save him, with such a strong survival instinct he may be a valuable addition to our outpost.

10th Galena – 556

   I’m afraid I spoke too soon, the undead caught up with the migrant and after 9 days of beating him to a pulp he has finally given in to death’s embrace, on a lighter note we have started smoothing parts of our outpost, it is a distraction, but it helps make the outpost feel like home, and almost all the memorial slabs have been engraved, soon my dreams will allow me to see farther, unhindered by spiritual clutter.

1st Limestone – 556

   This season shall decide whether this outpost may grow or whether it must continue with only its three pioneers. The caravan will arrive any day now, my dreams have shown it to me. Clearbristles has been stomping on our roof, it knows that something is coming and we have heard the flapping of rotten wings, Clearbristles brings allies, it knows, and it still hungers for dwarven flesh.
« Last Edit: December 02, 2018, 01:44:39 am by Graysire »
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TheImmortalRyukan

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Re: The 14th Expedition
« Reply #3 on: November 30, 2018, 08:20:19 pm »

Wow, this is good, PTW
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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

Graysire

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Re: The 14th Expedition
« Reply #4 on: December 02, 2018, 09:27:28 pm »

4th Limestone – 556

   The memorials have all been finished, no longer do ghosts cloud my dreamsight, I shall see all that may befall us and guide us through the safest roads. My sight has already made a bountiful insight, we must make a wheelbarrow to cart the stone away from where we work, and it is time to dig deeper for coal and ore. We are dwarves, and we shall dig deep and smith metal regardless of the attempts of the undead, Clearbristles cannot harm us where it stands, pounding the roof above our heads is a uselsss act of frustration that is almost pitiful! WE ARE DWARVES AND NOTHING SHALL STOP US. SO MY DREAMS SAY, SO IT SHALL BE.

8th Limestone – 556

   My dreams tell me of another cloud of soot seeking to enter our outpost, nay, it is secure enough to be a fortress, my dreams warn of the caravan, should Clearbristles fall, the soot will be its avenger.

12th Limestone – 556

   The caravan will arrive today, and just before it a cloud of soot, the dreams do not lie, the dreams show me the truth, I needn’t trust anything but the wonderful dreams. Two marksdwarves and two hammerdwarves guard the caravan, each experienced in combat, where our four axedwarves fell they shall succeed.

13th Limestone – 556

   Battle is joined, the first bolts fired against the peregrine allies of Clearbristles.

14th Limestone – 556

   The last of the peregrine have fallen, as I foresaw they now move to challenge Clearbristles…

20th Limestone – 556

        Clearbristles is no undead horse, it, no, SHE as the dreams have shown me is a demon-beast far beyond the capabilities of mere dwarves, even with steel and silver, armored head to toe, we are no match for her eternal might, no matter what wounds are dealt her, she is beyond any of them, no pain, no exhaustion, nothing but a hungering fury can be seen in her eyes. Where here peregrine allies did nothing, she has slain guardsdwarves armored in steel and bronze, silver hammers and bolts do nothing but annoy her, she is a demon-beast and no dwarf can kill her.

          The last hammerdwarf and our outpost liaison have not moved from the hill upon which they entered, they merely stare at the carnage, they shall leave, and tell no one to return here, for Clearbristles is beyond any of there skills, they we have fallen under her hooves, perhaps it is for the better. For the dreams have shown me a new purpose, Clearbristles is more than powerful enough to break any barrier we erect, she must be letting us live, and for her to do that, she must have a reason, perhaps to attract more dwarves to slay, perhaps we merely bait for the living so that she may destroy all that breathes. Regardless we have but one way to thank her for her mercy, we must construct a grand temple, I have drawn up the plans already, Erib and Mosus clearly do not know our purpose here, so I shall hide the truth from them for now. They already believe I am going crazy, citing my dreams as proof, but they simply lack the vision I have, and I am still expedition leader, they shall do as I say, and my visions shall come to fruition.

(I'm not super forum-savvy, so if someone coudl tell me how to upload images properly that'd be appreciated)
« Last Edit: December 02, 2018, 10:54:53 pm by Graysire »
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Graysire

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Re: The 14th Expedition
« Reply #5 on: December 04, 2018, 01:19:45 am »

7th Sandstone – 556

   I have been shown the coming of more migrants, they must seek to become some of those few who shall be sheltered from Her wrath. Little do they know that they will be nothing but sacrifices for her to kill at her whim, the door is closed to all and no living being may cross it. This is the will of Clearbristles and so it shall be. Construction on the temple must begin soon if we are to retain her favor, but my foolish companions think it far more important to smooth the stone of our home. Smoothed stone shall simply display our blood in grander pools should we displease Her, but I will let this continue, for now, the temple simply must be all the grander to make up for our delays.

   A baron arrives with her consort, as if to claim this land as his own, Clearbristles will allow no challenge to Her authority, and I’m sure the baron’s insolence will be punished swiftly and without remorse.

15th Sandstone – 556

   I have been so distracted by the sacrifices hopelessly attacking Clearbristles that I have missed the construction of our great temple! Each strike of pick on stone is a death knell for the baron’s migrants and a singing note for our continued survival, I drink to our good health and Clearbristles’ blessing.

11th Timber – 556

   The baron has finally fallen to Her hooves, today is a glorious day, their sacrifice buys us our lives, the others do not understand my celebration, it’s as if they don’t understand how Clearbristles gives us our lives! She who has killed so many dwarven warriors, including our four friends! Were it not for her patronage we could not still dig this rock, eat these mushrooms, and drink this ale! We live on her charity and they do not see it! They must be taught, if the temple fails, I shall need to find a more…direct solution to the non-believers.

1st Moonstone – 556

   The season turns to winter, I doubt it shall do anything to relieve the blistering heat, we can easily feel it upon the stones, since it will bring no cold weather, winter only has one more meaning, it is soon to be a year spent under Clearbristles’ watchful eye, and should we hold to our faith in Her I have no doubt we should survive indefinitely, but after the temple has been complete, what next? How else can we please our protector and keep Her merciful? We may have few options, perhaps a gift of metal and jewels? We have the latter, but the former is locked in the earth and we have found no coal, our wood supply is too limited for us to forge much with it…we must be cautious in our course and pray for deliverance.

14th Moonstone – 556

   The ground for the temple has finally been cleared, it shall take much time to smooth it and prepare the furniture, but it can be begun. This grand construction will take much time with only three dwarves, but Clearbristles desires it this way and thus shall it stay. We do not have enough space to stockpile the stone, luckily due to the volume needed to create the furniture, it should not prove a problem

23rd Moonstone – 556

   Despite their initial doubts, the others have taken to smoothing the stone for our temple with gusto, perhaps they may indeed become true disciples after all. The walls here shall be microline, the floors, schist, we shall build great pillars to gird our hall, and a central altar for whomever shall lead prayer. Yes, our project has begun, and as dwarves we shall ensure this temple’s craftsdwarfship is of the absolute highest quality for Her.

(Clearbristles now has 24 kills, 23 of which are dwarves, she has about half of her parts at red and the other half yellow, she is missing her left eye, she can only crawl on the ground, and still 5 migrants with weapons couldn't kill her, muscular zombie horses are scary as heck)

Meng Lolorked

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Re: The 14th Expedition
« Reply #6 on: December 04, 2018, 01:06:54 pm »

Absolutely great story. Moar!
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Graysire

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Re: The 14th Expedition
« Reply #7 on: December 04, 2018, 05:27:45 pm »

(ask and ye shall receive)

4th Opal – 556

   I had forgotten…forgotten that the outpost liaison had arrived, clipboard and parchment in hand he has been standing upon the hill across the river, watching and making notes since the caravan arrived. He had been untouched by all that transpired, but the soot decided that he had seen enough, it was upon him in an instant, it brought choking and blinding, it twisted his mind and body and now he stands as another victim of this place, the dreams show me his eyes, solid orbs of glowing red, his clipboard forgotten with his newfound duty to end life. Suddenly he moves, the first time since he arrived and darts to the north, seeking some target my dreams will not show, he sprints deeper into The Unholy Spine, perhaps never to be seen again, or perhaps to return to the mountainhome and slay all he finds.

9th Opal – 556

   Progress on smoothing the temple is slow, made slower by the rubble and boulders still left upon the ground, no matter, it shall be simple to transport these boulders once Mosus starts building the furniture as I’ve asked. I’ve also sent Erib to dig deeper, he shall seek the coal we require to power forges, or failing that, hope to find the blood of the earth.

14th Opal – 556

   Erib has taken to a rather odd working pattern, part of the wall of the temple is schist instead of microline, so it is being mined to be replaced, however Erib will mine part of the wall, and then proceed to smooth the floor next to it and then move on from there. It is the strangest thing, and they called me strange. More importantly I have finally designated the temple as The Convent of Neutralization, though I pretend it is without a specific deity to appease my fellows’ delicate sensibilities, as it is only with small steps that they shall become truly faithful. Truly the name is fitting, for in our gathering we shall neutralize Clearbristles’ threatening aura and allow Her benevolence to shine upon us.

   More ghosts have arisen to haunt my dreams, they demand memorials so that they may rest. They can have their memorials if it means that I can get my rest! A devotee such as myself needs their beauty sleep, it is impossible to properly pray to Clearbristles if one is fatigued and drowsy.

18th Opal – 556

   Mosus has been jumping at shadows the past few days, our ghostly companions decided to single her out for haunting in waking hours and me in the sleeping ones. Altogether I am proud of Mosus though, she took it upon herself to lay down the slab that ended the restless spirit, but she understood where her loyalties lay and did so only after installing the doors to our new temple. Truly her faith is coming along nicely.

20th Obsidian – 556

   The surface has been lost to us for a long time, yet that does not dull my anger that kea corpses have decided to steal giant silver axe blades. Just because we cannot take advantage of the valuables on the surface does not mean a pathetic undead bird should do so, I am surprised Clearbristles allows her domain’s treasure to be so easily taken.

5th Granite – 557

   I have been so busy hauling rock and ordering constructions I have not even had time to write about the coming of spring, filthy elves reside nearby, the dreams refuse to show me if they have sent a caravan, it would be a welcome sight to see them fall before Clearbristles. Though I’m sure their arrival would do little but clog the ground with useless wood products and valuable logs.

10th Granite – 557

   I have awoken from a deep slumber, and the dreams have delivered upon me memories I thought long lost to time. My dreams showed the initial expedition planning where we were told of deep metals and how they said that with no trees expected at the site we might dig for fungiwood in the caverns. I have been a fool. With the presence of so many trees outside I had not thought about our ability to seek them in earth and stone. I shall have Erib start digging, even if we find no metal, the fungiwood has many uses.

Graysire

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Re: The 14th Expedition
« Reply #8 on: December 05, 2018, 12:27:18 pm »

11th Granite – 557

   The elven caravan has arrived, foolish elves thinking that we would welcome them, even in the absence of Clearbristles this mountain is no place for tree-hugging, I shall laugh at their misfortune, and for once, I think the others will laugh with me. Very little unites dwarves in the drinking spirit like the screams of elves.

13th Granite – 557

   Only a mere pair of elves arrived with simple pack animals in tow, perhaps they thought to test the waters as it were, well…their soot covered corpses have tested the waters and found in them a new purpose, I pray to Clearbristles these elves return to home to spread the “gift” they have been given.

20th Granite – 557

   We have struck the caves. Erib reports that the caves are filled with blood and gore, bits of crundles lie all over the place, and some of those bits still move. My dreams have also finally shown me the cavern, it has our much desired fungiwood, and even tetrahedrite, but it also harbors the remains of giant bats, if I remember correctly, they are ferocious while living, and death will only make them stronger. However even then there is hope, for the bat seems to be missing its bite, quite literally, it has no teeth. I have decided that the caverns shall not be sealed. Instead I shall take up arms as Her holy warrior and defend the temple unto my dying breath.

22nd Granite – 557

   A multitude of peasants has arrived, but seeing the remnants of far greater dwarves than they on the surface, they are turning back, though their heading seems to be towards the elven lands, perhaps they seek to bring back beasts and pitiful elves to aid them, it’s unlikely any of them shall return. Additionally it appears that Clearbristles has decided to destroy one of the undead elves, even She looks down upon them, and even in death they shall not escape her wrath.

23rd Granite – 557

   I do not know what to say, they seemed to turn back, but then suddenly charged forward in a sprint, and even though the door was barred, 4 of the 8 that had arrived have made it inside and the door is closed once more. While the soot zombies fought amongst themselves and against Clearbristles’ reign they were allowed through. Perhaps truly we have been blessed by Clearbristles with more servants, I shall set them jobs immediately. Wit this new influx of people it seems I may not need to be a warrior to defend us, one with such vision as I have should not be needlessly risked in combat when we have unskilled labor for that purpose

   I…cannot believe this most recent and darkest event that has happened! Shortly after the peasants were inside, while I was busy assigning their duties in Her honor, my dreams did not show me it for I was too busy. Clearbristles the Moral Chill, our merciful protector, our sacred guardian, has fallen to a petty migrant possessed by the soot.


(I knew once Clearbristles was fighting the soot zombie she'd lose, because she was winning because everyone would over-exert themselves, but still, to have one so great fall so quickly is a shock)
« Last Edit: December 05, 2018, 01:15:42 pm by Graysire »
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Meng Lolorked

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Re: The 14th Expedition
« Reply #9 on: December 05, 2018, 01:05:19 pm »

Oh noes! ...can Clearbristles be reanimated by soot somehow?
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Graysire

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Re: The 14th Expedition
« Reply #10 on: December 05, 2018, 01:15:21 pm »

Sadly the eerie soot is a thrall-cloud and only takes over the living, also in my experience an unskilled soot dwarven jeweler can single handedly beat multiple military reclaims (this is my 14th expedition...), so outside really isn't any safer either.

GPeter

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Re: The 14th Expedition
« Reply #11 on: December 05, 2018, 03:12:40 pm »

Clearbristles deserves a statue on the Temple, ASAP!
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Graysire

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Re: The 14th Expedition
« Reply #12 on: December 06, 2018, 11:33:16 pm »

*This journal is old and weathered, bound in patchwork rat leather. The first half of the pages have been ripped to shreds, whatever was written on them long erased in some vicious fury, the journal is titled “Property of Tosid Lightningoars, mitts off*

23rd Granite – 557

   Well journal, Archlistened ain’t some paradise in the middle of nowhere. Everything up here is hot as magma without being half as useful ta start with. Oh, and there are massive clouds of soot wandering all over the Armok damned place, if ye could see ye’d know that anything they touch turns inta some kinda monster tryin’ ta kill us. Which brings me ta my last point, it’s full of walkin’ corpses, of the 8 of us that arrived only 4 of us made it ta the door, and even then, they almost didn’t let us inside. I was told that there were a dozen or more dwarves, but I’ve only seen three that weren’t dead. The lead one seemed to mutter something about a holy gift, and he’s right, thank Armok we made it past everythin’ into this blasted place. Then he asked us about that horse we saw fightin’ some of our friends turned to soot, so I told him rightly enough the horse was in bad shape, probably wouldn’t last the day, and know what he did? He laughed at me, ye shoulda seen his smug smile as if I didn’t know more than a child! Just cause I was raised in goblin captivity don’t mean I don’t know more than “wild” dwarves who decided to settle in this damned place.

   Later in the evenin’ we were smoothin’ this massive room they’d made, impressive given there were only three of ‘em, he decided to nominate me commander of the militia! What militia? We’re seven dwarves and we ain’t got a proper forge, we got more memorials than we have ore, the only thing going for us is we don’t got no hippy elves prancing around singin’ praises to the trees! I don’t even know how to swing an axe properly! I was a farmer! And I wasn’t good at it either, the folks in the mountainhome said I couldn’t even be called dabblin’. Oh, but don’t ye worry journal, it gets better, just after saying that he turns away and suddenly starts clutchin’ his head, yells somethin’ like “She has fallen!” and then hasn’t said a word since, I’ve basically become the honorary leader at this point. At the moment I’m trying to get them to get me a barracks to work from, but what after that? I hardly know what’s going on, I just got here.

2nd Slate – 557

   They finally built me an armor stand I can use as some kinda trainin’ dummy, but lookin’ for a place to put it, there’s practically nowhere for it. Best place I could find was some random tunnel they built goin’ west, called it “exploratory minin’”, exploratory my ass, what were they lookin’ for? All that’s here is schist and microline, the only interesting things ever found here are all deeper near the cavern they showed me. What were they explorin’ for? Not a single one of ‘em wants to tell me, elfshit is all it is. Suppose it doesn’t really matter though, got my own “barracks” down there now, and I can even hide ye there since the bedrooms aren’t complete yet.

9th Slate – 557

   Finally seems the bedrooms are done, noticed somethin’ weird though, remember that dwarf who stopped talking despite being our “leader”, I’m sure ye do, she still hasn’t said a word, but the mason is producing tons of statues. I don’t know who told him ta do it either, but he says he got an order to make 40 of the things, Armok knows why, and we won’t even listen ta me ta do more important things like smoothin’ our new bedrooms.

19th Slate – 557

   That silent dwarf has a sudden steel in her eyes now, she’s found some kinda purpose, though I have no idea what, perhaps it’s related to us finally finishin’ the floor on that great hall room? Besides that, I’ve been thinkin’, I got no notable combat skill of my own, we need wood and the caverns got it, the stairs that uncovered it are practically dug into fungiwood! SO, I think that we should finish the stairs to the cavern floor, all I can see down there are undead crundles, undead are scary sure, but they’re crundles, how bad could it be?

5th Felsite – 557

   What’s the weirdest thing I’ve told ye journal? I couldn’t quite think of it either, but I’ve got somethin’ disturbin’ to last our memories a good long while. The wind was howlin’ outside and ye could practically feel the soot scrapin’ the walls and then this tiny bit of soot actually got through the door, a little cloud that slowly moved towards us, I had no idea what ta do, this is the same soot that makes ye a zombie after all. But then the silent lady came down from her room, she stared at it for a moment before kneellin’ down and beckonin’ it towards her! It actually seemed to follow her voice, and I realized I needed to be ready to strike her down once she turned, but it reached her and just coiled ‘round her arm like a snake, didn’t turn into a zombie or anythin’. She started cooin’ to it as if it were a child and then left with it up to her bedroom. It’s the weirdest and creepiest thing I’ve ever seen, the ones that were with her before we got here barely reacted, they just shrugged and said that they were “satisfied with their work”. This place is givin’ me the chills, and now it’s more than just living up ta the name “The Unholy Spine”.

(thought I'd try changing the perspective for a bit, let me know what you think, also, thank you GPeter, by trying to assign 40 statues in hopes of getting lucky and getting one with Clearbristles I made 7 and then discovered how to specify the image)

GPeter

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Re: The 14th Expedition
« Reply #13 on: December 07, 2018, 06:42:16 am »

also, thank you GPeter, by trying to assign 40 statues in hopes of getting lucky and getting one with Clearbristles I made 7 and then discovered how to specify the image)

Specify image! Make a Clearbristle statue, and 2 ordinary zombies statues, then put them in the temple, Clearbristle in the middle, and the other two statues as It's bodyguards!
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Graysire

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Re: The 14th Expedition
« Reply #14 on: December 07, 2018, 03:00:50 pm »

16th Felsite – 557

   Aside from the strange events I’ve already told ye, ye ain’t missed much. Mostly we’ve just been finishing up that large room, making the walls all uniform and such, our mason, Mosus is her name, says she’s only got one more statue to make, which doesn’t make any sense, we don’t have nearly 40 statues. But she told me that “the order has changed, I’m merely accommodating”. So I suppose we’ll just have to deal with inconsistency, though on the brighter side I finally feel like I could be called at least a novice with the axe, it’s an improvement and means I can properly call myself some kinda militia. The miner is currently digging out the stairs, so hopefully we’ll be getting’ some fungiwood soon.

20th Felsite – 557

   I’m sure glad we didn’t make the stairs any sooner, a full trio of blind cave ogres just stormed through the caverns and smashed up everythin’ undead, aside from a few severed limbs trailin’ behind ‘em there ain’t much left threat-wise, the ogres moved on as quickly as they came. I hope that’s the last we’ll see of ‘em, if we see ‘em again when they can actually reach us, I’m not sure we’ll survive.

1st Hematite – 557

   As we get closer ta the caverns I get more and more nervous, I was confident before, but ye can understand a little change of heart when ye see zombified cave crocodiles swimmin’ lazily near where we’re buildin’ stairs right? I’ve ordered some cages to be built, it uses up more of our limited wood supply, but if they help us secure the caverns then they’ll be getting’ us more in the longer run, it’s an investment ye see? Between those traps and my axe I think we got a good shot at taking those caverns for ourselves.

21st Hematite – 557

   It is done. Our stairs have been carved to the floor of the cavern, it’s not the beautiful wonderous kind of cavern ye hear the mountainhome talk about. Blood is streaked all over the walls and floors, pools of are just lying around like rain does on the surface, except of course there ain’t anythin’ to wash it away. From the landin’ we can see corpses of crundles, dismembered brutally, there is a faint but growing stench of miasma. Caverns have always been a bountiful resource for dwarvenkind, but here they just seem like a cancerous growth inside the pure mountain stone.

22nd Hematite – 557

   I ordered the cavern walled off, or rather, floored off, I could hear screeching echoing through the caverns, as if an army of the damned was just waiting for the last part of the stair to be carved out, we desperately need that wood, but I can’t sacrifice all our lives for a few logs. I had a strange vision of a living giant rat luring an army of undead troglodytes to destroy us, and novice as I am, I could not protect us. We can actually hear the rat scurry around beneath the new floor, the vision seems to have been predictive, but having sealed the cavern we aren’t in any immediate danger.

   Migrants seem to have arrived, I don’t know how but the three here before us all seem aware of it, their leader still won’t say a word, but both Mosus and Erib agree that migrants have come and that to unbar the door would be the height of foolishness, they say that the dead guarding this place are more hostile than before we made it here, and so should the door be unforbidden for a moment they would surely enter and slay us. I’m not so sure about that, but they’ve been surviving here far longer than I have, so I’ll leave the door alone and focus on my training.

2nd Malachite – 557

   Even in my barracks under the earth I could still hear their screamin’. It just stopped today. Nine migrants just like us sought to call this place home and they all died before even touchin’ the door. Not that there’s much we could do for ‘em in here, we can’t get to wood, we can’t smelt our ore, we’re dwarves and we can hardly mine for fear of the undead above and below. How am I supposed to lead any of this? Half a year here and I can’t say we’ve done much except smooth the walls to pretty the place up. That and despite being a “leader” the original three here hardly listen to me, Erib will mine where I tell him, but Mosus seems stuck in her own head, and only barely acknowledges any construction orders I give her, of course that’s not even including starting he own masonry projects when we have more important things to be doin’. The only advantage Mosus has over the bunch is when their group has something to say she’s the one who relays the message, which is mighty helpful considerin’ that Feb still hasn’t said a word since appointin’ me militia commander, just goes around starin’ at the smoothed walls of the great hall, the closest to a sentence I’ve gotten outta her was her pointin’ at some rutile and walkin’ off. We’re in a sorry state, and the screams of migrants aren’t helpin’ matters.

(That Giant Rat was such an a-hole, I had to reload about half a dozen times before I managed to build a floor over the stairs, he kept running from across the caverns up the stairs and dragged about 4 zombie troglodytes, a zombie elk bird, and a zombie cave croc straight towards me)
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