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Author Topic: Vigorrack  (Read 1718 times)

WE_Bearth

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Re: Vigorrack
« Reply #15 on: June 17, 2021, 10:26:59 pm »

Within a few days, the library had somehow become the most popualr place in the fortress. Dwarves would sign up on a waiting list to have a table for the day. Nish was frantically running around teaching, while Oddom continued to ponder some of his own ideas. The problem was, there were only 14 desks in the library. That meant that at any given point, 25% of the fortress population was sitting in the library, reading. Sibrek did not mind the idea of his population reading. He actually quite liked Nish and Oddom's idea. But he couldn't have the entire fortress shut off while the entire population read every book in the place. He did not yet let them install any more desks, knowing that once the books they had were read, the dwarves would largely move on until the next caravan with books. By the time winter came around,

Oddom was hard at work, trying to describe what he saw when he was in the forge. They had always built steel benchtops, and set them upon golden sawhorses. The steel did not yield, but over time, the gold settled somewhat. It was also much easier to work with. He had seen something similar with the silver still. Same steel workbench, but on silver. Of course, the blood of the mountain was bountiful, and the dwarves had followed many productive veins of gold. There were even some of the surface, next to the pit. He wrote out an extended theorem on how certain materials can scratch other materials, and called it "Mysteries of Hardness". Not to be outdone, Nish wrote his own manuscripts. "The Wizard's Guide to Lenses" concerned the lens. "Combustion in the Time of my Ancestors" was next, concerning combustion. Oddom countered with his own followup manuscript on Logic, while Nish was busy scribbling out arcane algebra onto scrolls. The titles grew needlessly editorialized over time as the academics began their little academic battle, writing scrolls and theorems that no dwarf would ever read. To break up the monotony, they did experiments that no dwarf ever considered intelligent. Why would you ever spend hours polishing a piece of metal, only to scratch it with different rocks the next day? Or polishing a piece of glass when there were much more valuable gems to use? Or simply lighting small fires in different places and watching them burn? Even if Sibrek wanted to stop them, he doubted he could. Academics were an interesting bunch. They would go to great lengths to find a place to do their work, which seemed to Sibrek to consists of a lot of sitting, arguing, and wasting perfectly good materials. Individually though, Nish and Oddom were some of the smartest dwarves he had ever met. Nish's talents were clearly wasted making deals in the trade depot. Plus Rigoth had so far been a superior host. If Nish chose to use his talents focusing light and burning things, that was his business. If they could design things like the wind-powered millstone nearly 80 meters under the earth spontaneously and then carry them out fairly independently, Sibrek wanted them happy.

Mistem Niringiz gave birth to a baby girl, and named her Stinthad Oraban.

Kib Nishlolor, the captain of the Bejeweled Gears, had a sudden inspiration. It would be Dobar's watch for another few weeks as winter came to a close, and Kib squirreled himself away at the carpentry benches. He had once been a master woodworker but found that he much preferred the life of a fortress guard. For now though, he would make use of his talents once more. He collected materials from all over the fortress, including some bits of rose gold left over from the bookcase and some indigo tourmalines from the gem piles. In the end, he made a willow bow named Luthozozor for the Rocks of Virtue. He presented it to Sibrek, along with the suggestion that they form a ranged combat squad. Sibrek didn't exactly like it, but he knew Kib was right. He also knew that one of the migrants was a ranger, coincidentally also named Kib. Kib Onolniral had pestered Sibrek to go hunt local wildlife often, and after hunting most of the sparse local wildlife, had become dejected. Sibrek called for him, and made him the commander of a new squad. He had some ideas on how to defend the fortress, and was sent off with Tosid and Logem to design an indoor archery range.

The dwarves had an innate preference for melee combat whenever possible.

Sibrek wandered off to attend to other business that he had been putting off for some time. There was still a shortage of permanent bedrooms, as Sibrek wanted to plan out the main production halls first. However, the beds at the inn were beginning to be used in shifts after the last few migrants waves, and this was not an ideal situation.  But the Mason's workshop was complete, and Sibrek ordered bedrooms to be dug directly below it. There was space for eleven more permanent rooms. This would cause quite a commotion for some time, as the masons reshuffled themselves into their newly dug spaces. At least the commotion would be deeper in the fortress and not in Sibrek's office. That would be a welcome relief.



The respite was short, however, as within a few days the first wave of human bards began filtering through his door. As it was the 1st of Obsidian, 253, they had worked off two years in the tavern, and formally petitioned for citizenship under dwarven law. Unfortunately, the first few were also refused by Dobar as unfit for military duty due to various reasons. Nish and Oddom, on the other hand, were prepared to take anyone as a scribe. And so, Ino Sacathirum became the first human citizen of Vigorrack. She would live under the earth, and spend her days copying manuscripts in the library. This was a welcome change for Ino, who had been wandering aimlessly ever since she aged out of the military.
« Last Edit: June 28, 2021, 08:12:43 pm by WE_Bearth »
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WE_Bearth

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Re: Vigorrack
« Reply #16 on: June 17, 2021, 10:28:53 pm »

It was the second of Obsidian, in the year 253. A full moon, for those that paid attention. Unfortunately, some did not pay attention. Rushan Tirinsmoma, one of the visiting human bards, did not pay attention. Perhaps she did not realize what she was attacked by before. Perhaps she did not care. Perhaps she had simply lost track of time, like humans tend to do when they are 50 meters below the surface, and do not see the sun. Either way, she shuddered, collapsed, and as the dwarves in the tavern slowly backed away, transformed into a were-lizard, hideously twisted into a humanoid form. Absolute pandemonium broke out immediately. Everyone fled to the doors. Usbu Nonuzolak, a visiting goblin poet who had been conversing with Rushan, was not so lucky. Rushan grabbed him by his sleeve and leg, and bit down on his lower torso. The bite itself was likely not that bad, but the spray of blood when Rushan shook him about confirmed that the curse had been transferred. Unfortunately, the shaking only stopped when a snap was heard. The goblin fell from Rushan's jaws crying out in fear and disbelief.

Urdim Bisekfath was not yet as skilled as Dobar and Kib, but she was quite handy with an axe, and happened to be in the tavern at the time of Rushan’s transformation. She leapt at the weremonitor. Corud Otirume, a mercenary that had largely stayed quiet in the corner, jumped forward as well. Urdim yelled at him to get back, as he was unarmored, but the weremonitor managed to bite him in the chest nonetheless. Urdim hacked the lizard twice in the lower body, finally seizing an opening and beheading it. Only Usbu and Corud had been bit. Some werebeasts could live peacefully, retreating to a secluded place on the full moon. The dwarves did not elect to openly execute either. They would be allowed to remain, but if they did not leave before the next full moon, they would be chained and killed.

In reality, Rushan Tirinsmoma was not Rushan. She was Thrun Pokeangel, born over 100 years ago. She had been a mercenary and with the quality of the equipment she still carried, she must have been highly paid for her work. Some of that work included desecrating a holy place honoring Bastsan, the human deity of courage. Unfortunately for Thrun, Bastsan was a fickle deity, and cursed her to take the form of a monitor lizard on the day of the full moon. Thrun had gone on a series of rampages, and even passed the curse onto another, who had passed it once again before they died. Thrun's equipment was saved for now, as it was of very high quality. While the smiths did not know the original artisan, they could not bring themselves to erase their efforts.

Tekkud had interrogated a passing merchant in the confusion, who went by San Threnanba. The merchant confessed that he was actually Tulon Abbeycontains, come to spy on the fortress for Risen Rackknights. This did not bode well, especially since “San” seemed to have no foreknowledge of the beast-infiltrator. Tulon was still imprisoned for a time, in the luxurious prison of the dwarves.



Sibrek had once again ordered more bedrooms dug. A new year would bring new migrants, and Ber had proven the worth of the clothing industry. He could accommodate more workers, and they had left room for clothier’s quarters too. Vigorrack was expanding rapidly, and that was both a blessing and a curse, as they had just seen. Muthkat reported no identifiable markings on Thrun’s equipment. It was richly decorated yes, but there were no insignia of civilizations or groups Muthkat had ever heard of. Yet she was a mercenary, and that probably meant that she was being paid by someone.

The more Tekkud thought about it, the more she decided that she had acted rashly in imprisoning Tulon. It seemed entirely pointless in retrospect. If someone were here to spy on the dwarves, they were free to do so. The dwarves had nothing to hide. Instead, the fact that others found them interesting enough to spy on could be taken as a point of pride. Tekkud resolved to do so in the future. She still remembered the disappearance of Lisidost, though. There was a fine line between justice and tyranny, and she feared she had erred on the side of tyranny in this particular case. Then again, the case of Lisidost she also believed to me a misapplication of justice, as imprisoning Logem got them no closer to the perpetrator. That was a job that Dobar would have to carry out at some point. Not yet, because Dobar would be needed in the fortress at least until after the next full moon, but after that... it seemed to Tekkud that it was about time for the dwarves to reclaim their property from the thieves that had taken it. All they had was a name, Mede Lesserfights. It was not much to go on, but it would have to be enough once the current crisis had passed.

In the meantime, Edzul and the other bonecarver-smith had decorated the next batch of axes Mebzuth had sent up. There was now enough for both squads, as well as a few to spare. Dobar actually welcomed the shortage, in a way. It was not bad enough that the fortress was put at risk, but it did cause some of the recruits to fight unarmed. At first, this seemed like a waste, because any weapon-wielding opponent would face a significant advantage in combat. However, Dobar also found himself needing to dodge the occasional punch, and those recruits were much more capable with their shields. Dobar clearly understood the tactical value of a variety of approaches to life in every endeavor and decided there should be some artificial shortages once in a while. With Tekkud as the new sheriff, he figured that there would be need of their talents. Ideally, they would be issued gauntlets and boots first.
« Last Edit: June 28, 2021, 08:14:02 pm by WE_Bearth »
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WE_Bearth

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Re: Vigorrack
« Reply #17 on: June 17, 2021, 10:29:30 pm »

It was the day before the full moon, and Usbu the goblin had still not left the fortress. It turned out that Usbu’s spine itself had not collapsed, but only a tendon in her back. After being bandaged, she was able to make a mostly full recovery. In the weeks since, she had made full use of the dwarven hospitality, and could be found drunkenly belting out various poetry at the tavern every night. She happened to be an extremely skilled poet and a talented speaker, so this was welcome entertainment for a majority of the patrons. As the dwarves of Vigorrack had settled far from the mountainhomes of the other civilizations, it was not unusual for visitors to stay for weeks at a time. However, Usbu had been cursed by the bite of a werelizard and made no indications to leave. This was unusual. Tekkud found her in the tavern, reciting one of her later works. Tekkud stopped by the entrance, allowing Usbu to finish her piece to rousing applause. Upon spotting Tekkud, Usbu came to her table. Tekkud had some questions for Usbu, but they could wait until after the encore. Usbu stepped up onto another table and began reciting one of the local favorites. After the recitation, Tekkud took Usbu to her office to be interrogated.

Tekkud and Usbu spoke of the weremonitor, and the cursed bite. Usbu feigned surprise with her words, but her tone and expression betrayed the obvious resignation to her fate. The curse was difficult to live with, and those with it were shunned even if they kept it under control. For someone like Usbu, who had dedicated her life to entertaining others, this was an unbearable burden. Tekkud suspected as such and offered Usbu her office to get her affairs in order and locked the door on her way out. Bim Idenisan stood in the hallway, axe in hand. Two recruits stood behind him, holding their own axes. A single glance told Tekkud that everything was in place. She wandered off to the tavern to inquire about Usbu’s room. The sheriff’s quarters would not be available as accommodations for the evening.

Dobar heard the scratching first. Almost like a scuttling, of scaled reptilian feet scurrying across a stone floor. He was unwilling to risk fighting the beast in a group due to the curse, and he would not send one of his dwarves in his place. He had been sitting still in Tekkud’s bedroom for the entire day now, waiting for this moment. He charged shield first through Tekkud’s bedroom door, and leapt at Usbu, who was now a massive humanoid lizard. He was able to immediately take an arm and a leg, slowing the beast down. Two more powerful strikes to the body followed. The beast convulsed and lay still.



Dobar unlocked Tekkud’s door and greeted Bim with his axe dripping in stinking gore. Their job was done, and their rotation on duty was to end in two days, with the turn of the year. Urdim Muzishmelbil stopped them by the tavern. Kib had already taken the watch while Dobar did his work. Dobar and the Ultimate Furnaces retired to the tavern for the new year.
« Last Edit: June 28, 2021, 08:14:57 pm by WE_Bearth »
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WE_Bearth

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Re: Vigorrack
« Reply #18 on: June 17, 2021, 10:29:59 pm »

By now, the entire first wave of human petitioners had become lawful citizens among the dwarves. This had been a minor point of contention at first, but the humans had been living among the dwarves for two years now. Unfortunately, none were deemed fit for duty by Dobar. They found employment with Oddom in the library, copying books. He always needed scribes, and it was tedious work with few volunteers. One of the humans, an old man named Eve Desliceru, had some skills as a tailor, and found a job working with Ber in the tailor’s benches.

Along with the humans, the marmot bard Histek Mukarat was also granted citizenship. There was no formal procedure the dwarves knew of for intelligent squirrels, but they figured they would just use the regular procedure. He had spent a lot of time with the smiths and began working at the magma forges, smelting the endless supply of tetrahedrite and gold nuggets that Tosid and Logem had dug out of the depths. The ore was piled high in the storeroom below the forges, glittering almost menacingly in the darkness. It seemed that every time one of the forge workers grabbed a sack of ore to bring to the forges, one of the stoneworkers would haul in another from some freshly excavated extremity of the fortress to replace it.

Tekkud, in the meantime, had overheard something interesting in the tavern. A passing elf bard had mentioned an interest in Lisidost. So Tekkud took the elf Defiyi yemicuthefi to her office. It turned out that the elf Defiyi yemicuthefi was actually the elf Conibo Entrancewaxes. Not only that, but the elf had fooled Kib, now the commander of the Bejeweled Gears, into a plot to steal Lisidost on behalf of another. This plan was also foiled by the untimely theft of Lisidost. Tekkud went off to find Kib, who was drilling his squad in the barracks by the entrance. The tunnel was his for the spring. Nothing came of it, though. Kib was under the assumption that his job would be to prevent a theft in the future, and that he had failed his duties. Tekkud informed him of the duplicity of Conibo, and Kib was quite relieved. As far as Tekkud could tell, no crime had been committed.

Sibrek was once again thoroughly annoyed. Somehow, a large bird had appeared in the temple. None of the dwarves exactly had an answer as to why there was a large bird in the temple, yet there was a large bird in the temple. It had somehow taken up residence in the catacombs, about which Sibrek was only now finding out. He was quite pleased to learn that the catacombs were otherwise empty, and he had not lost a citizen without even knowing about it. This did quite a bit to explain the blood-smeared dog Sibrek had seen a day or two ago, trotting happily along the first loop. Turns out that the bird had recovered from that particular encounter and was now quite thoroughly annoyed with its new residential situation. Or quite pleased, quipped a visiting pilgrim. He had a point; the dwarves honestly could not tell. Either way, it was clear to Sibrek that there was no ambivalence about the situation on the part of the large bird, as it was vocalizing quite loudly and insistently.

Initial attempts to shoo the bird up the temple steps and into the main hallway were unsuccessful. Clearly, the bustle of the tavern was quite distracting, and there was no way that Sibrek could get sixty or so revelers in varying states of intoxication to stay silent long enough for a large and extremely frustrated falcon to make its less than graceful exit. The falcon was clearly not a very solution-oriented bird and fled back to the catacombs to continue its existential wail.

The commotion had attracted the attention of Zutthan Otadcatten, one of Dobar’s recruits. He offered Sibrek his axe, and Sibrek decided this was an adequately effective response to the problem of the large bird. Sibrek uttered a quick prayer to Kitig, and left Zutthan to deal with it. Sibrek had never had tiercel before, and idly wondered what it would taste like. He made a point to ensure he got a piece.

« Last Edit: June 28, 2021, 08:16:10 pm by WE_Bearth »
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WE_Bearth

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Re: Vigorrack
« Reply #19 on: June 17, 2021, 10:32:14 pm »

Sibrek got back to work on the basics. The bedrooms had been mined out, but the dwarves were starting to complain about the pig hallway. It was becoming, for lack of better term, a pigsty. The pigs the dwarves had brought were reproducing quickly. The addition of various pork products in the local diet was a welcome change, but the associated smells coming from the entrance where the pigs were kept were not. Sibrek ordered a new room for animals dug below the tavern storehouses. This would further centralize the food industry in the fortress, allowing Melbil to work more efficiently. More warehouse space was ordered dug for the magma forges, as there was no longer room for all of the ore. The newly excavated bedrooms had gone directly into a sizeable vein of gold and a network of tetrahedrite veins, for the stoneworker’s quarters and the clothier’s quarters, respectively. This meant more piles of gold nuggets and tetrahedrite, with no space to put them. The dwarven furnace workers were already producing more gold, silver, and copper than they knew what to do with. Every goblet in the tavern was made of finely worked silver, and the dwarves turned a blind eye to any that occasionally wandered off with a visitor. Several staircases in the fortress were made of copper, as well as several walls. And, of course, the dwarves had built a rose gold bookcase for the library. They had also recently refinished the stone staircase in the forges with rose gold as well.



The more Sibrek thought about it, the more he realized that the dwarves were now much wealthier than they could ever imagine. Vigorrack now had a population of 43 dwarves, including five children, 17 humans, an elf, and a sizeable sentient squirrel. Of those, 38 of the dwarves and six humans did their share of the work and were entitled to a share of the value of the fortress. The children and the rest of the petitioning bards were entitled to the full hospitality of the dwarves, but until they became productive members of the fortress, they were not entitled to the wealth of Vigorrack. The stacks of gold and silver ingots, the steel carried by Dobar and his soldiers, the rose gold bookcase, among other things; split 44 ways would make any of the citizens among the wealthiest individuals in the world, second only to perhaps some of the monarchs of the dwarven mountainhalls. Sibrek found the thought amusing.

Of course, the population of Vigorrack would not stay this small for long. The remoteness of the location was helpful, but Sibrek knew that after some time, family would start trickling in. Then friends. The news of wealth had likely spread around the world by now. At minimum, it had spread out among the Nets of Blunting. There was no way that Olon, the old trader with a single wagon that Sibrek had paid to come by four years ago, was able to afford six wagons and a mercenary company of over a dozen without attracting some attention. Now, it was simply a question of time. For now, Vigorrack was still an outpost. A haven for the poor and the desperate. Each dwarf knew that they owed a debt that they could never repay to everyone else, for together, they had created the wealth of Vigorrack. Each dwarf toiled happily each day, knowing that they were working to pay off that great debt, that each owed their fellow dwarf.

As Vigorrack proved its worth by existence, older and crueler evils than goblin war parties would take notice. First lesser evils, like status and wealth, followed by the greater evils of bloodlines and inheritance. Then, Sibrek knew that dwarves would begin to quantify that priceless debt that was the wealth of Vigorrack, and the burden of each citizen. They would try to settle that great debt amongst themselves. Sibrek feared that those desires had already begun to seep in amongst some.

While Sibrek continued his dark thoughts of the future, an elven caravan had arrived. Rigoth bought up the caravan’s entire stock of wood, fruits, and vegetables, while feigning interest in the rest of the useless trinkets the elves had brought. At least the dwarves could eat, or better yet, brew the plants. What were they going to do with a wooden sword? As always, the dwarves overpaid significantly, while Muthkat and Sibrek plied the elves with the richest foods and alcohols the dwarves produced. There was no obvious indication of a goblin assault on the horizon, and so they rested easily. Rigoth offered the elven merchant one of the finer silver goblets from the tavern as a personal gift. After all, the dwarves needed something to do with all the silver.
« Last Edit: June 28, 2021, 08:19:28 pm by WE_Bearth »
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WE_Bearth

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Re: Vigorrack
« Reply #20 on: June 17, 2021, 10:33:03 pm »

Rigoth Nabaslogem, broker, was yelling about something. By the time Tekkud had gotten to the trade depot, he had realized that Kod Vathsith, the tetrahedrite crown created by Fath Eraldakon, was missing. It should not have been at the trade depot to begin with, as Fath claimed it as a family heirloom, but it was. And now it was not. And this was a problem. Tekkud immediately ordered the doors to the inner fortress shut behind her. The elven merchants would still have no trouble leaving, but Tekkud would be questioning many dwarves. She did not need another Lisidost situation. Kib sent Urdim and Kadol, both masters with their axes, to ensure none passed the inner door of the fortress until Tekkud allowed the doors opened.

One of the elf merchants, Enure Afiethithi, got Tekkud’s attention. He had seen one of the humans grab it. By his description, Tekkud figured it was Ebka Mothecare. She was one of the scribes that Oddom had recently hired on for the library. The 28-year-old had been one of the first humans to petition for residence. Considering that Kod Vathsith had not existed when she petitioned, this led Tekkud to believe that there was an external influence at play. She found Ebka in the tavern and led her to her office.

Ebka confessed that a dwarf in the tavern had convinced her first that the crown needed to be moved to the trade depot for the elven caravan, and then that the dwarf would put it back. Ebka described the dwarf, whom Tekkud did not recognize.

The commotion at the entrance to the fortress was growing exponentially. Kadol and Urdim had each taken position on opposite sides of the door. A number of travelers had gathered on both sides of the door, exasperated by the inconvenience. Tekkud appeared in the hallwayleading up from the fortress. Kadol, who was facing a half dozen angry bards, went to open the doors, but Tekkud motioned for him to stop. Ebka followed Tekkud up the stairs and pointed at one of the dwarves in the hallway. Tekkud immediately grabbed the scruffy vagabond and dragged him down to her office. He was left locked up for now, while the dwarves considered their course of action. Considering the information they had collected about the number of groups that were interested in Lisidost, and the fact that the tavern was attracting a fair share of regulars, any harm that befell the thief might not go over very well. While the dwarves knew that they needed to send a message, this was a delicate situation that needed to be handled with utmost care.
« Last Edit: June 17, 2021, 10:45:33 pm by WE_Bearth »
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fatcat__25

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Re: Vigorrack
« Reply #21 on: June 18, 2021, 12:28:05 am »

My land! This is an admirable endeavor in the field of writing. I have thoroughly enjoyed reading what you have written so far. My only critique is that it feels a little difficult to keep track of who is who and such, but that is the very nature of DF, so it is only a minor inconvenience.
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Fort is running at 21 FPS, the ground is having a panic attack in places, and what looks like a conga line of zombified Hungry Heads has formed on (I think) Z-level 32 of the caverns.
I love dwarven status reports.

WE_Bearth

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Re: Vigorrack
« Reply #22 on: June 27, 2021, 10:57:05 pm »

Tekkud came up with a most ingenious solution. It was a terrible, cruel solution, but ingenious, nonetheless. First, she questioned the miscreant, who revealed first his assumed name, Likot erithudos, followed by his true name, Dastot Cobaltbends.  She then found that Dastot worked for someone else, but Dastot protested that he did not know a name. Tekkud did not exactly believe the dwarf but was unable to pry forth any other information. Tekkud left her office once again and shut the door. Dobar stood behind it, at the ready. This time, Tekkud just had him post an armed guard, with strict orders that the door remain closed at all costs. This way, she figured, the dwarves would technically not be killing anybody. Given enough time, the problem would sort itself out.

The fortress doors remained shut for three more days. Sibrek had objected to this at first, but Tekkud insisted that the doors remain shut. Ultimately, he did not care too much. Most of the dwarves that lived in the fortress did not mind, and the militia was trained to do unpleasant work as a matter of course. The visitors were about to have a much nastier shock anyway.

The announcement came on the 11th of Slate, 254. The dwarven doors would be shut to newcomers. Until the thefts could be properly resolved, Dobar and his squad were in charge of hospitality. Muthkat ordered barrels of wine and fine roasts sent up to the fortress entrance. Tekkud had never explained her plan to him or Sibrek, but they trusted her to do her job. Sibrek could see through Tekkud’s deliberately vague language, and he knew well enough to leave the matter alone. Either way, they all realized that the reputation of Vigorrack as a hospitable location was about to take a hit. All they could do was soften the blow. Barrels of the finest dwarven provisions, given freely to those that had already begun their journey, would do a great deal to assist in that aim. This was, at best, a temporary solution while they actively turned all travelers away.

Once again, the sounds of violence echoed down the tunnel. Dobar laughed. A particularly feisty honey badger had taken up residence in the tunnel, and this helped his task of turning away newcomers. This particular honey badger had been smart enough to flee and avoid the dwarves, and had proved quite wily, as well as willing to attack any visitor. Dobar had watched as it picked targets carefully, harassing the unarmed travellers while keeping its distance from the young and those with weapons. A sudden, piercing yowl told Dobar that the honey badger had made a bad judgement.

The next shouts were decidedly dwarven. Dobar sprang up from his seat in the tunnel. Something was wrong. The shouts continued for a time and ended as suddenly as they began. The hair on the back of Dobar’s neck stood up. Even when the werebeast attacked there was some warning. He grabbed his trusty battle axe and strode up the tunnel. Kib ended the training, and the rest of Dobar’s squad filed up the tunnel behind him. Kib and his squad remained at their post for now.

Dobar was greeted by a terrible sight. A massive giant, easily five time his size, lumbered towards him, with blood splattered up its left arm. The giant’s head nearly scraped the ceiling of the entrance tunnel. As the giant stomped towards him, a twang rang out, and a single crossbow bolt flew by, barely missing the giant’s head. Dobar used the short distraction to full effect, leaping at the massive humanoid. The archery range was not ready, but Kib the archer, or more likely one of his recruits, was eager to prove their talent.

Dobar caught the giant’s punch on his shield and used the momentum to swing his axe into the giant’s chest. The strike opened a large gash in the giant’s torso, and it howled in pain. However, unlike the goblins Dobar had dealt with earlier, a giant was a much hardier opponent. Instead of a collapsing chest cavity, Dobar was greeted by anger. The giant lunged at him, and Dobar was more than happy to chop into it next. The resulting spray of gore told Dobar he had struck true, but the hand remained. By now, the other dwarves had arrived. Urdim was next, chopping the giant in the leg, bringing it down to one knee. Then Dishmab swung his axe into the giant’s head. The giant cried for help, though it took another chop from Dobar and two from Urdim before the skull gave way, and the giant fell to the ground, dead. Urdim placed his boot on the giant’s nose and wrenched his axe free from the cranial cavity of the great beast. They would likely have to carry it to the body hole.

Dishmab pulled open the giant’s hand, retrieving a large limonite earring studded with steel. The dwarves did not know it, but the earring was a religious artifact sanctified in honor of Rorte Baldcradled, a skilled physician that became a prophet after being publicly disgraced. The giant had smashed up the temple and taken the earring 53 years earlier. By dwarven standards, the craftsmanship was not particularly impressive. But someone had clearly taken care in creating the thing, and it was clearly of value to the giant. The dwarves carried it with them.

That they did, once Dobar gave the order. Kib’s squad came to help, as the great humanoid was lugged, heaved, and manhandled by the dozen dwarves. Eventually, they had managed to drag the body to the edge of the body hole. As the one who dealt the final blow, Urdim kicked the great carcass into the depths. It slid over the edge, and several seconds later, a great thump was heard. The bard, Urvad Uzolkir, was tossed in after the giant. Both would spend eternity in the body hole of Vigorrack. Both clearly were not interested in the fate that befell them, but their fate was now inextricably intertwined with that of the dwarves. Their deaths would be recorded in their engravings.
« Last Edit: June 28, 2021, 06:59:41 pm by WE_Bearth »
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WE_Bearth

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Re: Vigorrack
« Reply #23 on: June 28, 2021, 07:00:06 pm »

The rest of spring passed uneventfully, and the dwarves completed a number of projects they had undertaken. This was a load of Sibrek’s mind. He had, after all, put a lot of work on the schedule. Now, dwarves were beginning to finally move into the bedrooms set up for the clothiers and the masons. For now, a mixture of dwarves was moving in, but Sibrek figured they would slowly segregate out as other living spaces were created.

Mebzuth had come to Sibrek raving something about blue garnets. Having spotted some, she quickly grabbed them and retreated back to the magma forges before he could utter a word. Sibrek had gotten used to this treatment from the forge dwarves. They had become an interesting lot. Meng and Mebzuth’s single-minded drive towards perfecting their craft had created a feedback loop and infected all that worked with them, resulting in the forge dwarves rarely leaving their anvils. On the rare occasion the forge dwarves were seen outside of the magma forges, they appeared flustered and rushed, quickly grabbing whatever they needed before running off. Long-term, this could not possibly be healthy, but for now, Sibrek was willing to take advantage of the steady stream of quality metalworking that was produced as a byproduct of the hectic pace.

When a commotion soon developed at the magma forges, Sibrek was somewhat surprised. Most of the other dwarves in the fortress steered clear unless they needed something, and it was rare that more than a third of the fortress simultaneously needed the metalworkers. Sibrek went to check it out. When he arrived, he saw the source of the commotion: a beautifully worked steel hammerhead, jutting with spikes of brilliant blue garnet and steel, inlaid with more blue garnets around the hammer shaft. It was a stunning display of craftsmanship, and Mebzuth sat nearby looking quite proud of herself. She had named it Nabarbisol Kathildomas and named it an heirloom. For now, it would remain in the magma forges, acting a symbol for the metalworkers. Sibrek ordered a display case brought down.

Sibrek began to consider the next grand project. Dwarves were an interesting lot, and they preferred working towards a grand project. They were never content otherwise. Especially the lot that had shown up to Vigorrack. The first migrants to any newly settled community are rarely a content and stable sort of folk, instead preferring adventure and occasional spectacle. Somehow, the grand spectacle of Vigorrack never pleases the dwarves. They need to expand it. And so, expand it they did. Sibrek ordered the construction of a massive vault system below the fortress, nearly the entire size of the fortress itself thus far. Clearly, he planned this vault to hold great wealth. This implicit promise of great wealth pleased the dwarves, who happily got to work. Of course, there was another reason for the massive underground vault system: The recent rash of thefts. Along with a number of other valued items that were currently haphazardly piled in various nooks and crannies, the items of great value could be piled in the vaults. The dwarves would commission figurines, statues, and other replicas for display.
« Last Edit: June 29, 2021, 07:03:25 pm by WE_Bearth »
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