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Author Topic: Smallhands - nearly 40 years and still tiny!  (Read 402632 times)

StrikaAmaru

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Re: Smallhands - it's like a tiny home but filled with ghouls
« Reply #840 on: December 02, 2020, 02:36:50 pm »

Wait, 50? My init file for SmallHands says 40...

[POPULATION_CAP:40]
[STRICT_POPULATION_CAP:45]

[BABY_CHILD_CAP:100:1000]

[VISITOR_CAP:5]

[INVASION_SOLDIER_CAP:60]
[INVASION_MONSTER_CAP:30]

[SPECIFIC_SEED_CAP:40]
[FORTRESS_SEED_CAP:600]

Edit: On one hand, I'm of the strong opinion that 40 dwarves is too little to get anything done, even without the fever cratering all productivity. On the other hand, my work PC is beefy enough to run most forts at near my FPS cap of 50. Only SmithSoldier drops below, and even then it hovers around 35 (except in sieges where it's 25).

Do we have a mayor? Obviously, we have a baron, but what about the other nobility?
« Last Edit: December 02, 2020, 02:52:30 pm by StrikaAmaru »
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[Sigtext. Contains links to mods, LPs and an index of all the things I wrote on this forum. Does not contain a viable sig. http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=49316.msg6860463#msg6860463]

delphonso

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Re: Smallhands - it's like a tiny home but filled with ghouls
« Reply #841 on: December 02, 2020, 05:57:09 pm »

I may have never updated the OP, but I believe we discussed increasing it to 50 (for a baron) somewhere in the thread.

recon1o6

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Re: Smallhands - it's like a tiny home but filled with ghouls
« Reply #842 on: December 03, 2020, 01:52:53 pm »

I thought we had 50 cap with 60 strict cap, 5 visitors and 5:10 children

60 and 30 for the enemies

idk on seeds
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Salmeuk

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Re: Smallhands - it's like a tiny home but filled with ghouls
« Reply #843 on: December 05, 2020, 03:14:03 pm »

update coming today, with hopefully the significant readjustment of some recent population trends
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Salmeuk

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Re: Smallhands - it's like a tiny home but filled with ghouls
« Reply #844 on: December 06, 2020, 05:12:12 am »

Diary of Salmeuk, Year 169, Autumn and Winter

Due to a clerical mistake, I have invited far too many dwarves to live here at Smallhands. Our population rests at a solid 70, far above the agreed upon 50. The citizens are restless, so something will have to be done about these extras. For the time being, they are being ordered to clean and organize the hellhole that is the labyrinth stocks.

=====

The massive power generator at work:



=====

Around mid-autumn, Smallhands was besieged by a flying Pterodactyl who spewed disgusting webs.



You can see it there, menacingly glowering at the base of Spriggans prison fortress tower thing. With the guy locked in the bathroom upstairs? Look, I don't understand it either. Some kind of kink or something.

Anyways, we're looking at the pterodactyl murder some humans and thinking, "Dang, I really hope that thing doesn't fly over and kill us." As a precaution against that wish remaining unfullfilled, we dove underground and locked the gates.

Still, I remained worried as so much unknown construction had occurred over the last ten years that, well, I don't think anyone could guarantee our walls were free of cracks.

However, after murdering the humans and eating their innards, Fath the Ptero just stood around, contemplating something or other, and failed to attack or move towards the now open-for-business labyrinth entrance. Hmpf. I'm patient, we'll see what this beast is thinking in a week.

=====
about a week later

I was feeling bored and claustrophobic, so I gave the miners new orders to clear the stalagtites from the 3rd cavern. With the chamber turned into a proper void, a tree farm could be created.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Not that we really need one, but again, I was pretty bored. The Ptero-beast cared not for dwarven innards, apparently, and continued to sit underneath the southeastern tower (this Ptero can definitely fly but didn't see to want to . . ) .

=====

Last night I came up with one solution for two problems. First, take the new migrants off hauling duty and assign each a shield and a weapon of their choice. Second, order them aboveground, for uh miscellaneous security purposes. Most hadn't heard actually seen the pterodactyl and didn't really believe it was a threat. Third, wait for the ensuing chaos and bloody fighting to wind down, before cleaning up whatever bits and pieces were left of both sides. If the Ptero wins, great, no more migrants, and we can just keep the gates closed for the time being, or maybe even trap the thing! If the haulers win, great, no more Ptero, no more awful webshooter threatening a fortress wipe.

Well, this plan was successfully enacted, though of course, not all went according to plan. The haulers were assigned a super squad



and sent out the labyrinth to the edge of the swamp. It was here that I noted how the gate to the swamp only opens from the inside.. blas tthis confounded design! I order the miner to dig into the earth itself and release the Ptero.

And well, this was when the Ptero decided to literally disappear from view and I was so fucking confused. .  where did it go? So I check the unit list and 'z'oomed to it and ...



This scene was a few moment later after the main squad, the Siege Breakers, were called in to defend. Somehow, that Pterodactyl shot itself straight into the heart of the fortress, in the blink of an eye. Some flaw or hole must exist to have let this happen!

In any case, our Siege Breakers shot inside the stockpile room and were immediately beset by thick webs, and soon could make no progress. Fath, however, did no attacking and simply continued to shoot webs. And our soliders continued to fight as best they could, in a sort of slow motion dodge-fest that went no where for literally two in-game weeks.



I was in the middle of walling off the room and entombing all the participants forever, when something miraculous happened. The webs slowly began to fall from Vabok and Rakust, our ghoul warriors, and they managed to push towards the beast and slice into it's thick scales. This took many hours of hacking and slicing, but eventually one of them cut into the Ptero's head and kill it. Oddly enough, the killing blow was never listed in combat reports, and I could never find the kill credit in the dwarfs I searched, so to this day I'm unsure who actually killed Fath the webshooting Pterodactyl.



Malfoy, a named dwarf, took some heavy wounds during the fight, after apparently diving headfirst into the web filled room in a fit of vengeful rage.



In any case, it was a miracle for sure. The room was unwalled and the bodies were picked up. No one significant died, and to my sadistic pleasure, our population had dropped to 61 dwarves.

=====

Dodok was hunted down a killed by a grimeling.



Yeah, I had never heard of the thing either. But it was a ruthless killer and tore at Dodok's ankles as he tried to run. Vabok ran after hearing the screams, and managed to slice the murderfoilage in two. In a heartbreaking turn of events, it was only then that Dodok bled out from his wounds.


The final moments of Dodok, the Mason

This event forced me to re-wall the swamp. No one likes that place, and only bad things will come if we leave that gate open.

 =====

An artifact golden earring was created during all this chaos, and apparently, or so I heard down at the tavern, I appear in the thing's decorations in a sort of cameo. Featuring cows. I'm still not sure I believe the whole thing, I'll have to track this artifact down and take a look myself.



 =====

The year has come to a close. I submit as a gesture of recognition towards the 20 previous years of ridiculous and entertaining carnage that has been Smallhands, a sort of memorial shrine, constructed throughout the year. It's %99 complete, and I suppose as complete as it will ever be.



Multiple white columns extend from the earth surrounding our surface entrace. At the top of the columns, a circular platform was constructed, and here were placed 20 statues, one for each year of overseer-ship, and each statue representing that overseer. For those overseers who chose no mortal avatar, MKO was honored with a statue of an echidna as a nod to their part in the Great Echidna Battles, and Applet the Overpaca was honored by statues of, you guessed it, alpacas. Proud alpacas.

They are not placed in any particular order, and they are (mostly) made of steel, as a nod to the gods of warfare and metallurgy, who had most certainly profited from Smallhands existence. There is room for another 7 years of overseer statues so the monument can continue to grow.

Also, I created a strange sort of woodworking room with an abstract sunset piece, for no particular reason other than I enjoyed the thought of it.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)


And with that, year 170 has arrived. Save is linked here. Not much to report OOC, I believe the fortress to have a majority of the hauling backlog taken care of, so the next overseer can dedicate the majority of the workforce to whatever strange projects they feel are necessary.

Thanks for reading!
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recon1o6

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Re: Smallhands - it's like a tiny home but filled with ghouls
« Reply #845 on: December 06, 2020, 05:46:49 am »

awesome work Salmeuk, a good gesture to this fort and grats on the ptero kill. Hauling is never fun but it is neccesary

looking forward to Delphonso's reign!
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Salmeuk

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Re: Smallhands - it's like a tiny home but filled with ghouls
« Reply #846 on: December 06, 2020, 01:02:15 pm »

I'm just now realizing the only reason we managed to kill Fath was that it was so busy choking Vabok the (non-breathing) forlorn ghoul that it had no time to actually attack. I suppose it got tired and let up the webs, long enough for the ghouls to get a few feet closer and finish the job.

I dunno, maybe I shouldn't have provoked it, but honestly I wanted revenge against webshooters in general. Almost every time I see one appear it wipes my fortress. Perma-stun that is getting trapped in webs is pretty much death for any dwarf, no matter how legendary, and even if they dodge the web attack they will just step into the previously-deployed webs. ahhhh
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delphonso

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Re: Smallhands - it's like a tiny home but filled with ghouls
« Reply #847 on: December 10, 2020, 11:16:35 pm »

Vabok just starring daggers at the pterodactyl as it tries to strangle him to death, and slowly hacking away at it's scales is a pretty great mental image.

Webs are the worst. I don't think I've ever killed a web-slinging proc gen beast. Instead, I tend to capture them and use them for production. Or lose the entire fort in that effort.

Great job, Sal, glad to have you in the fort 20 years on. Can't wait to scope out the monument.

I'll be away from my computer for a couple days, but expect a new update and overseer soon. I've got a few...plans.

Darkening Kaos

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Re: Smallhands - it's like a tiny home but filled with ghouls
« Reply #848 on: December 11, 2020, 02:42:17 am »

« Last Edit: December 11, 2020, 02:45:14 am by Darkening Kaos »
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King Zultan

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Re: Smallhands - it's like a tiny home but filled with ghouls
« Reply #849 on: December 11, 2020, 06:47:23 am »

Have we ever considered trying to cover the entire surface with vomit on purpose?
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recon1o6

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Re: Smallhands - it's like a tiny home but filled with ghouls
« Reply #850 on: December 11, 2020, 07:09:43 am »

Have we ever considered trying to cover the entire surface with vomit on purpose?

bad idea, it gets laggy
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delphonso

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Re: Smallhands - it's like a tiny home but filled with ghouls
« Reply #851 on: December 11, 2020, 07:27:16 am »

It's been decided. The surface should be covered with magma or vomit. Anything else is an insult to dwarvenkind.

Spriggans

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Re: Smallhands - it's like a tiny home but filled with ghouls
« Reply #852 on: December 11, 2020, 09:23:01 am »

Vomit-laced water ? Flowing through pipes to our well, and drank by the dwarves ? Starting the cycle anew... Amen !
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fatcat__25

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Re: Smallhands - it's like a tiny home but filled with ghouls
« Reply #853 on: December 15, 2020, 01:09:35 am »

Here is another draft of a concise description of Smallhands. It is based on Murr2's idea, but with more mention of Nogood.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)
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delphonso

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Re: Smallhands - it's like a tiny home but filled with ghouls
« Reply #854 on: December 16, 2020, 07:21:26 am »

Journal of Kikrost "Elpho" Ustuthdeleth, Elf-lover
written in 198, Spring

A pleasure, dear reader, to meet you, though we must meet through the written word and not in person. You see, this is a story about Smallhands, the great tiny citadel on the sun-bleached sands in the south. There is - in all such places which skirt the frontier - a deep catacomb of stories, tales, legends, and lore. I, one Kikrost "Elpho" Ustuthdeleth - your narrator and guide - named after the first letter in the dwarven elphobëmbul, that which is often written as "ë", connoisseur of the arts, written works, and tales most tall, shall recount for you the many adventures which occurred on that auspicious year after my arrival in Smallhands, that year being 169, and these stories being in 170. 

Where to begin, dear reader? Well, certainly in the mysterious machinations that were the Smallhands politic. You see, one never truly ran for office in Smallhands, as it was not so much a race as it was an out-rushing of the door. The last soul through the vomitorium would get the job of overseer stuck to them, like a purring maggot sticks to the cavern walls. Now, the rare soul volunteered for the position - one recon - well, two, technically - often enjoyed the job, but the sane dwarf knew to avoid it.
[Footnote: For more information on how "last past the post" governance better supports the lower class, read Kûbuk Mengzasit's "The Many Varieties of the Fortress", 188. For more information on Recon, I suggest the accounts of Ònul Ubbulfath in her 124 work "Body Swapping and the Morality Therein".]

As it was, dear reader, that I became the overseer of Smallhands in just my first year there. I had proven myself most disastrously useless in fighting that titan I'm sure you're all aware of by now. Ninur Brainbastion gifted me not with strength, but rather a penchant for the written word, the gift of gab in social situations, and the unbelievable luck of the dwarves. We all know that a dwarf's life is but a series of close calls lead merely by the hands of our gods.

Before I begin recounting the greater and lesser events of Smallhands in 170, I suppose it is the author and narrator's duty, dear reader, to introduce oneself most thoroughly. You already know me as the overseer, but now I shall explain the name "elpho" in the style of The Mirth of Hardness.
[Footnote: The Mirth of Hardness was originally an elven style of poetry, but was adopted by goblins, the abductees of which introduced it into dwarven society after the Gobbo-Dwarven skirmishes over Cactushexes. Its popularity has been meteoric.]

Artificially attributed to arborial aggression, elves are attacked and antagonized ambitiously. Brainbastion besets broad-minded believers to benefit those belittled brownies. Cautiously categorizing my character as creative, comrades commenced calling me a certain catchphrase. Dutifully determined to deny any derogatory descriptor, the dramatist decided to declare the designation de jure. Elpho, an epithet excellently enjoyed, encapsulates the energy and enticements of the essayist. Familiarity formed fastening from fellow to fame.

And thus, Elpho became my name, quite proudly. In the following chapters, I shall lead you, dear reader, through those dwarvenly endeavors which can only happen in a true dwarven fortress, so you may better understand those stout laborers with which whom you may rarely exchange knowledge.

-=-=-=-=-

OOC:
Things have been slow going - lots to do with the baby and work has been swamping me. Rest assured the game has been picked at a bit, but not enough for a full update. Here's a little introduction to hold you over.

fatcat, I quite like that description.
« Last Edit: December 16, 2020, 07:25:21 am by delphonso »
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