the ghosts are everywhere
all those dead, and no one knew their names...
(ooc: challenge for myself: cannot simply carve slabs, but must recover bodies of these so-called 'un-tested')
at least six spirits haunt this fortress. scaring child and warrior alike. here are the few I saw:
Story of the Sword MilitiaAfter the death of
Tun, the trio of Smiths was now a mere duo. They seemed skittish around us, as if we might rise up in rebellion. So when the next wave of migrants arrived, they gave them a set of training weapons and locked them in the stonewall barracks, on the surface.
"Train. Fight. If you do not die, you will become one of us!"
Story of Dead Third SmithTun's death seemed a random occurrence, but that did not stop
Olon the Smith from interrogating each and every one of us on his last known whereabouts. Nothing ever came of this interrogation, at least that us underlings know about. And as far as we could tell, the smiths had zero suspicion of one another.
Story of the Ghost of TunTun's return shocked us. His ghostly apparition floated up from the floor and grasped at the many barrels of stocked booze. "One last drink! I need one more drink before I go!" he would wail.
. . .continued building . . .
The Smiths decided to brick up the cavern entrance. That
bird thing was too much to fight, with the paltry recruits from this last wave. More training was ordered.
one of the orphaned children went beserk after being haunted by her ghostly parents for many months.
The Spry Volcano is not a happy place.
=========
Below, the under-dwarves, the fugitives, hatched a plan. Escape. Dig straight up. And bring enough fish-pots and wine-pots to satisfy them during the desert crossing.
Then, a siege. Fighting. Death. The Smiths did not allow the recruits weapons, and we could see them smiling as they were pushed out of the gate into the waiting bolts of the goblin horde.
Some survived, but our forces were decimated, maimed. The Smiths seemed jubilant, and we heard a passing comment as they reviewed the casualties.
"This is just as good a test of their capabilities, and much more efficient. Olon, I think we're on to something here!
If only Tun was here."
=======
A successful prison break!
The fugitives escape through the side entrance, narrowly avoiding the sieging goblins, and leave Spry Volcano forever, hauling their pots of cavern-brew on makeshift sand-sleds, escaping to the west and towards the Mountainhome.
Except one. One dwarf
Zas Stroketome returned to the fortress and snuck their way down to the caverns. There, she lay in wait, until she saw
Lorbam the militia commander, and pounced.
"You will die for entombing me and my kin!"
"Wha . . ? Who the hell are you?"
Lorbam, of course, had no idea who or what the 'untested' were as he had migrated after the first deadly attack by the forgotten beast, and the subsequent decision to wall in the first cavern. As far as
Lorbam knew, there WERE no other dwarves in this desert. The shock of this appearance of allowed
Zas to sneak in a few hits.
But
Lorbam had led sparring demonstrations for a few months now, and was well versed in fistfighting his own kind. The felling blow was a punch to the head.
The fight between Lorbam and the vengeful Zas.
"Who was this woman? Covered in dirt and stinking like distilled mud. Did we forget her in a locked room, or something. . ? I'll have to ask the Smiths about this."
....
"Why would she try to kill me?"
==========
Below, in the second cavern, 8 legs crept up the wall. Waiting. A dwarven child stumbled upon the drained corpse of
Vucar. A wounded giant spider lurks nearby.... how could it be dangerous, with all those broken legs?
But those eyes, so alive. . .
No!Four dwarves dead before anyone could halt them. The spider was freakish and strung huge curling webs from the cavern walls. Dwarves, locked in place, their swords and spears caught in the goo.... eaten alive. Envenomed, crushed, pulpated.
Then, while the created munched upon a hapless Mason, Heroic
Ezum landed a killing blow on the spider's midsection. The creature whipped around to attack, but tore itself apart, leaking a brown fluid and screaming as it died.
the death of the cave spider
Then, shouting. The drink pile! Fuck!!
Iden snapped, he's ballistic!
But heroic
Lorbam is there, with one of those freshly-forged iron swordblades.
Wow, the precision! His first strike blinds
Iden, cutting out his eyeball. Quickly followed by a decapitating blow.
======
the following images tell the sad story of
Ezum, hero, killer of Ilunesdor, giant cave spider, who turned to thievery and was subsequently beaten to death after our Spearguard caught up to him. I wonder who he was working for?
======
The fourth years summer solstice is heralded by this masterful creation, by
Olon the Smith himself:
The total population is 65, after four years, and the escape of the fugitive 'untested'.
The flooding of the smelt-channels:
space made for future craft shops:
the base takes shape:
yeah, it's that kind of fortress
:
um, I'll just let this one go:
The supporting ramps are almost complete:
Author
Topic: The Spry Volcano (Read 3106 times)