I always wanted to make a coastal fortress, and I've just been able to find the perfect spot, devoid of annoying aquifers no less. Then I thought to myself, why not make this a story game? I've no idea if this has been done before, but here goes my first 'story' game. Everything I write will be from the perspective of either a dwarven narrator, or one of the dwarves in the fortress. Comments by me will be within ()s. Feel free to suggest things or make comments, I've never actually written anything before.
Table of Contents
1. The Beginning - First Page
2. Summer of Year 1 - First Page
3. Late Summer of Year 1 - First Page
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It is the year 126 of the Dwarven calendar. It is an age of plenty; the kobolds and other evil creatures have retreated to their southern safeholds, pushed back by the combined efforts of Dwarven and Human armies. Despite the largely prevailing peace, strife still exists in some pockets. Rumors exist of strange creatures to the north-east, tall savage forest-dwellers who attack human loggers. Undead creatures from the sea have emerged upon Dwarven settlements to the west. But that is not the focus of this story, this is the story of Drumboulder, or as the humans call it 'The Great Dwarven Bridge'.
Nearly 20 years before the founding of Drumboulder, in the year 105, a terrible war raged throughout the world. Kobolds and goblins, their numbers uncountable, marched into the Northlands to conquer for their necromancer masters. The Humans were safe for most of the war, isolated on their north-eastern island, but the Dwarves were directly in the path of invasion. Though they fought valiantly, with every dwarf life costing the enemy dozens of soldiers, they were eventually pulled back to a stronghold situated in a deep canyon. Deeptrenches, the name itself a descriptor of the place, it was the only pass in the mountain line which separated the Dwarven nations of the north from the necromancer hordes. The enemy assaulted the dwarves relentlessly, giving no pause between siege attacks. Night was no barrier, for the kobolds and goblins, reinforced by undead from necromancers, could see equally well in darkness. The dwarves were beleaguered, and were nearly defeated had the Humans not arrived.
Unknown to either the Dwarves or Necromancers, the humans of the north-east knew that if the dwarven nations were to fall, nothing would stop the necromancers from turning towards their island home. They sailed their army past the battle, and landed on the deserted, ravaged areas that the war had claimed. Marching north, they formed the southern pincer against the Necromancers, and grinded them into the walls of the canyon and fortress itself. Had there been an escape, there would have certainly been a rout among the enemy, but they had nowhere to go, and were slaughtered to the last goblin. The Necromancers, seeing their army destroyed, used their magic to flee, and so the battle was one.
After decimating the kobolds, and banishing their necromancer masters, the Dwarves and Humans emerged from the war with greater respect for one another. Before the conflict, both civilizations kept to themselves, distrustful and unwilling to chance making another enemy. But the Humans had not endangered themselves needlessly. They were traders, merchants and businessmen. They hoped that by aiding the dwarves, they would not only halt the threat from the south, but convince them to open to trade. Their plan worked better then they had expected. Not only did the dwarven coastal settlements open their ports to human vessels for trade, but the dwarven king himself proclaimed that a bridge would be built between the north-eastern island home of the humans, and the mainland continent housing the dwarves. This bridge would be built at a narrow channel between the two, far to the north-east, and would grant both civilizations access and a land route to the interior cities and mountainhomes. The dwarven king picked seven stout dwarves to board a departing human trade vessel, and journey with the humans to their island, and once there, begin constructing the bridge. (This is just an explanation for why the dwarves are on the right side of the map, instead of the left. I wanted them on the left but after embarking they were on the right. Oh well.)
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This is the journal of Rimtar Zirilamost, if found please return to me. I'm writing this as the King has mandated that the leaders of the colony keep records of the events of Drumboulder. He says its for the historians, but I have a feeling its just for his amusement.
Day 1 of Spring, year 126
We've finally reached the site. The coast of the human island proved to be more rugged than we had anticipated, but this spot is fairly level. At least its away from those damn humans, loud stinky giant things they are. The trip on the boat was hellish, but that's all over now.
Best to start simple. I've instructed Oddom (the miner) to hollow out an entrance along the beach, along with a storage area to the south, a location for farming to the north, and the beginning of some stairs going downward. I can't wait to get inside. Being outside is all fine and dandy but our wagon has broken down right in the path of the ocean waves, and I don't fancy getting entire lower body wet every few minutes. Besides, I can't swim. Now that I think of it, none of us know how to swim. Who was in charge of selecting the people to build a bridge for Armoks sake? You'd think they would pick dwarves who wouldn't immediately drown. At least they were smart enough to include a veteran fisherdwarf, seeing as how we are on the coast. Which reminds me, fresh water could be a problem, but there are numerous pools near the construction site. Once we have basic amenities up and running, we can drain those into a cistern. Hopefully the frequent rain around here will fill them back up. I've included a sketch with this entry of what the site looks like as of this writing.
(The dwarves and wagon aren't actually in the water, thats just an ocean wave. The wagon is almost DIRECTLY next to the water though.)
Author
Topic: Drumboulder, The Great Dwarven Bridge (Read 3117 times)