Topic: The End of Days (Mod Tales): Epic of Lashlong & half-a-dwarf Zan (Read 1383 times)

KaelGotDwarves · « **on:** August 14, 2008, 05:33:52 pm »

The End of Days: Tales from the Dwarf Fortress Modification
And here we chronicle legends of famed heroes of the land, desperate defenses, glorious victories, epic deaths, cautionary stories of miserable failures to drink to in these End of Days!

The mod can be found here
http://www.bay12games.com/forum/index.php?topic=22934.0

Chapter 1: The Epic of Lashlong & half-a-dwarf Zan + The Friendship of Asmel
A story in which few hundred dwarves defended the Southern Reaches of Licevadef¡ni from thousands of the spawn of hell thrice their size- the friendship of heroes 'Zan Cloisterenters the Fenced Sister of Laws' of Lashlong and 'Asmel Polishedpages the Basic Twigs of Partnering' of Towermastered who led her dwarves north to defend her sister town of Lasnhlong - Famed bastion of the Dwarves whose walls may never fall as long as stout dwarves defend them!

TL;DR - Skip and continue reading if you don't want spoilers - I will repost this near the end of the chapter

A Dwarven representation of the battles in defense of Lashlong:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

The story continued...

"It's done."

The elf sat still as he committed the last details of the story to memory. He needed not any books, tomes, or to kill any of the sacred trees to record what he had just heard.

The old battlescarred dwarf closed her eyes and leaned her leather-armored back against the wall. A dented steel crossbow lay where her legs would have been if she still had any legs left. The elf crinkled his nose gingerly at the once living armor and the weapon, which smelt of strange, old blood.

The dwarf let out a low chuckle as she intoned, "Old habits die hard, friend."

The elf might have taken that as an insult, but he still had nothing but respect for the dwarf as he sat on the ground across from her.

"Madam Mayor Cloisterenters, please do not be as presumptuous as to assume that this Emissary of The Land is discomforted by your..."

"Cut the bullshit," interjected the dwarf, "call me Zan."

"Zan, allow this youthful Emissary to speak freely when he says he is but an Elven rarity in seeking out the tales, counsel, advice, and help of the Earth-hole dwellers."

"Point taken," the dwarf slowly struggled to reach her crossbow.

The elf reached out to push the crossbow towards the old dwarf, but in a deft movement she reached her crossbow and propped it into the ground and swung herself onto what was left of her abdomen.

"I don't need your help, tree hugger," she said as she levered her crossbow to hobble over to the table to grab some ale, "My family is dead. All of them. All of my kinsdwarves. My parents, my husband, all my cousins, my aunts and uncles, my grandparents died before or during the Fetid War, most of them in the first battle, the Brutal Siege in 164 AH. Lashlong was almost emptied, drained by war. The entire kingdom watched with bated breath as we held them off in our town, the most South Eastern."

"Where were the elves when the hellspawn came for us? No, don't answer that. I only have my people now... and Asmel. Thank Ral for Asmel and the dwarves of Towermastered."

The elf was silent.

Zan continued, "I lost my entire lower body in the first battle. I slew 331 spawn of hell. For that I was elected Mayor. Asmel lost her parents, brothers and sisters, husband, and only child. The she was elected Mayor of Towermastered... for what?"

"We led our fellow dwarves to their death. Heroes, all of them. Heroic fools. I remember the first battle when I was just a young Ranger of the Guard. We stared out at those writhing masses across the rocky plains. The dwarves of Towermastered appeared when our need was greatest, and we let down the drawbridge to do battle in the field. We killed almost 3000, and lost almost 300. The other battles... Asmel always appeared in our defense. Even after the Onslaught of Flight when we 2 were the only survivors of 16, slaying 284 hellspawn, Towermastered sent their guardsdwarves to Lashlong even though Asmel was the only one to ever return."

"Considering the odds..." the elf mumbled.

The dwarf mumbled through her ale, "Imagine a creature 3 times your size, with armor and weapons jutting from tentacles and even uglier than you spindly bastards."

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Zan closed her eyes. "That was our darkest hour. A few of us, against dozens."

Then her eyes opened and shined bright, "Yet, for every dwarf of The Sandaled Hall that fell, we slew many more of them! FOR THE MOUNTAINHOMES!" she bellowed.

The elf quietly shouldered his elemental bow and gear and got to his feet. As he made his way for the exit, he leaned over and grabbed Zan's arm holding her mug of ale and pulled her into a warm embrace.
"The world shall know of your victories... and of your losses. This Servant of Rivers salutes you and your kin."

The old dwarf's eyes fought back tears as the elf bowed low and stepped outside into the grueling sun. Finally, with her mug of ale still in her hand, she lost conciousness due to phantom pain in her lower body.

Outside, the children of Lashlong were playing. Most were the sons and daughters of immigrants, who had not seen or remembered the vicious battles for Lashlong. Very few adult dwarves were around. An entire generation of dwarves of the 2 fortresses of Lashlong and Towermastered had been devastated, but more seekers of riches and glory were pouring in from the southwest Dwarven Capital. To the dwarves here, if they were lucky, the Hellspawn would become a myth - bogeymen of bedtime stories to scare the children at night.

But one major thing troubled the elf as the playing dwarven children accompanied him to the fortress gates where the Guard-dwarves acknowledged his departure.

For all of The Sandaled Hall's battles to save Lashlong, no peace had ever been established with the Hellspawn.

But the elf was certain, when battle again came to Lashlong, 'Zan Cloisterenters the Fenced Sister of Laws' and 'Asmel Polishedpages the Basic Twigs of Partnering' would watch over the Dwarves, even if only in spirit. The elf would implore his brethren for the Elves to come from the North to attack the Hellspawn.

Because the elf knew, as he was sure Zan knew, that a ceasefire was merely time to reload your bow.

And in the desert to the East, a vile force of darkness menaced.

FIN Chapter 1
A history of the war Sospuaslez waged on The Sandaled Hall at Lashlong, or Mengromek as it is known in the Dwarven tongue. May their glory never fade!

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

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Author Topic: The End of Days (Mod Tales): Epic of Lashlong & half-a-dwarf Zan (Read 1383 times)

KaelGotDwarves

The End of Days (Mod Tales): Epic of Lashlong & half-a-dwarf Zan