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Author Topic: Dawnpick (My Little Fortress)  (Read 223704 times)

Telgin

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Dawnpick (My Little Fortress)
« on: November 19, 2011, 12:29:48 am »

Welcome to Dawnpick

I hesitate to post this in light of the events earlier today, but I think Toady will be sparing his wrath for the mod and community threads related to My Little Pony.  At least I hope so.  They aren't going into the dangerous territory the main pony thread has continuously drifted into.

Anyway, this is the account of my current fort running the My Little Pony mod by Nidokoenig, v 1.71.  It's fun stuff.

At the moment, I'm just planning on making this strictly a story told from my perspective, since I have no experience running a community fort of any sort.  That, and KingStrongbeard's Glitterglen fort thread is still going pretty strong, and I wouldn't want to step on his toes too much.  If this turns out to be interesting enough for people to ask for it, I may turn this into a similar fort to his where people can claim ponies, but for now just a story.  In particular, this is my first time running a (mostly) above ground fort, and all of my ponies just might die horribly before it can even get interesting.

Already have a few pony requests so I'll open this up like Glitterglen.  We'll see how it goes.

I'm also borrowing a bit from KingStrongbeard's backstory (hope he doesn't mind!) in that this would presumably take place quite some time before the events of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic.  Celestia and Luna probably aren't born yet, and Discord (among other bad things) still runs rampant across the land.

In these dark times, King Golud Thebilstetar has sent out several parties to begin scouring the lands for new viable mining settlements.  This is the story of The Light of Dawn, a group of seven volunteers from the homeland Coupledye, searching out new resources in the king's name.  It has been some months since they set out on their journey, and now, with supplies running low, the expedition leader Virtue has called for the party to set up camp.  I'll let her tell the story herself.  But first, here's the seven starting ponies:



From left to right:

Ashwood (Male Pegasus) (Taken: Heavy Weapons Pony) - Woodcutter - Sociable, nervous, modest.
Saw Dust (Male Earth Pony) (Taken: WolfeyS) - Carpenter / Mason - Open minded, a bit reserved, dutiful.
Longshot (Male Pegasus) (Taken: ansontan2000) - Hunter - Self conscious, non confrontational, enjoys thrills.
Virtue (Female Earth Pony) (Taken: Telgin) - Expedition Leader - Slow to anger, assertive, but doesn't handle stress well
Harvest Moon (Male Pegasus) (Taken: Nyxalinth) - Farmer - Very self confident, open minded, slow to trust others
Panacea (Female Pegasus) (Taken: UnHerpers) - Doctor - Very calm demeanor, unassertive, likes helping others
Halberd (Male Earth Pony) (Taken: The Master) - Axe Pony armed escort - Confident under pressure, avoids crowds, often discouraged

Most of the ponies like each other, but Halberd seems to have rubbed most of them the wrong way at some point.  He's got grudges with everypony but Panacea.

Other currently taken / not taken pony list:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

IRC Link: Mibbit IRC Channel

If you want to be part of the roleplaying, come by the chat room and get to know everyone.  Just follow the link above.


Virtue's Diary - 1st Slate

Well, we're here.  Wherever here is, exactly.

We left Coupledye just over four months ago, checking each of the previously marked potential sites on our map.  The unicorn teams sent out last year must have found three dozen sites where they could detect metal ores underground, but we've only explored eight so far.

Today I made the decision for us to stop here and begin setting up a more permanent camp.  Every site we checked previously had either little to offer, or the metal ores were of little value.  King Thebilstetar was pretty clear that we were looking for iron if at all possible, but so far we've only found copper, among a few other less valuable ores.

We're pitching camp here because this marks the turning point of our little endeavor.  We've used up more than half of our supplies already, and so we can't make it back home easily.  The reports of this site look more promising than any we've checked so far, so I'm hoping that my decision will prove to be a good one.  Even if we only find copper again, at least there might be enough to make our expedition economically viable.

I have a lot of confidence in the team sent with me, and they've proven their worth up to this point.  I'm growing to be quite fond of them as a whole.  The only exception is our armed escort, Halberd.  None of us really seem to be making any sort of headway with him.  He stays to himself all the time and rarely speaks to anypony.  Well, I guess after four months of being on the road with people you don't really know, I can kind of understand.

Anyway, now that we're setting up a more permanent position, everypony will get a chance to put their skills to the test.  Saw Dust didn't need any instruction, and went straight off to begin prospecting like at the previous sites.  I hope he turns up something valuable this time.

We'll be needing something to start setting up proper shelter as soon as we can, and it will be some time before the quarry will produce anything of use, so I've asked Ashwood to begin clearing out some of the trees near the campsite.  With a little wood, he and Saw Dust can begin working on some shelter.

I can see some ominous looking clouds on the horizon heading this way.  I'm sure they'll be here before anything is ready, but I think everypony understands the circumstances.  We're working as fast as we can, and we've all slept in the rain a few times.

Anyway, I've drawn up a map of our immediate surroundings, which I'll try to keep updated as things move along.  I've noticed a few of the others finding ways to amuse themselves while we wait for the wood to get cut.  Panacea painted what she called a "quick doodle" of us all founding this little campsite.  I think it's quite nice, perhaps I'll have it mounted somewhere once we get some buildings up.  She's more talented than she says, I think that pony might have missed her calling!


Map (not very interesting yet):
Spoiler (click to show/hide)

More to come soon.  I've played a little ways into the game without any incidents, but painting that picture took too dang long so I don't have cleaned up "avatars" of all of the other ponies to post their diaries just yet.

Ending Disclaimer

As of today, June 9th, 2013, this game has been over for almost a year.  For anyone interested, I hereby grant permission to use the world of Dawnpick and any content produced by me in relation to it in the use of any further stories, games, artwork or any other media.

Postmortem Analysis

Spoiler: Contains Graphs (click to show/hide)
« Last Edit: September 03, 2017, 12:21:23 pm by Telgin »
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Zecro_The_Scourge

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Re: Dawnpick (My Little Fortress)
« Reply #1 on: November 19, 2011, 07:34:31 am »

I'm not a fan of my little pony, but I shall signup anyway just because the amount of insanity this offers in the future.

Make me into a mason please!
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antymattar

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Re: Dawnpick (My Little Fortress)
« Reply #2 on: November 19, 2011, 09:37:14 am »

Umm... My little pony.... plus goblins............ U jelly?

Telgin

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Re: Dawnpick (My Little Fortress)
« Reply #3 on: November 19, 2011, 12:00:20 pm »

Actually, no goblins.  The mod removes the goblins and replaces them with evil ponies because ponies are larger than goblins and tend to destroy them in combat.

Zecro_The_Scourge - I've got some more gameplay to catch up on before I can fairly ponify anyone.  Stay tuned, I hope to get it up in the next day or so.
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Nyxalinth

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Re: Dawnpick (My Little Fortress)
« Reply #4 on: November 19, 2011, 03:42:46 pm »

Your art is very nice! Would you consider doing a 'pony pack' for graphics for the mod some time?  Also, I missed the even you mentioned, what happened?

And, I'll be taking Harvest Moon.  He sounds lovely.
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Nyxalinth likes the color blue, gaming, writing, art, cats for their aloofness,  Transformers for their sentience and ability to transform, and the Constructicons for their hard work and building skills. Whenever possible, she prefers to consume bacon cheeseburgers and pinot noir. She absolutely detests stupid people.

Telgin

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Re: Dawnpick (My Little Fortress)
« Reply #5 on: November 19, 2011, 03:57:36 pm »

Thanks!  I'm not sure what all goes into making graphics packs, but I might check it out.  Be forewarned that the only mod I use in the game is the Pony Mod, so no graphics packs or hacks.

The event in question was a few of the members discussing some things about My Little Pony fanfiction in the main pony thread in general discussion.  It drifted towards how to classify things such as whether or not there was rape in the fanfiction.  Toady locked the thread and said no more pony threads (in general discussion anyway).  I kind of see his point.

Anyway, that's two requests for ponification so I suppose I'll go on and make this a general community fort like Glitterglen.

Zecro_The_Scourge: If you want a mason, you can take Saw Dust (who is a carpenter and mason), or you can have a migrant when they show up.  I was aiming at keeping the pony names sort of in universe, but I won't make that a requirement.

I've got "avatars" of the starting 7 ready and will be getting them uploaded shortly.  Once I have I'll post the little bit of history that's already happened in game.  I'll link in the images in case you guys want to use the avatars in your post like I did for Virtue above (and will be doing from this point on, since I may have multiple "journals" per post).
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Dsarker

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Re: Dawnpick (My Little Fortress)
« Reply #6 on: November 19, 2011, 04:15:13 pm »

Posting to watch.
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The Master

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Re: Dawnpick (My Little Fortress)
« Reply #7 on: November 19, 2011, 04:20:08 pm »

I'll take Halberd!
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Telgin

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Re: Dawnpick (My Little Fortress)
« Reply #8 on: November 19, 2011, 04:23:27 pm »



Virtue's Diary - 3rd Slate, 251

We've been out here two days, and things are already beginning to shape up!

Most importantly, I'm pretty ecstatic that Saw Dust turned up some magnetite underground.  I'm so relieved, I was worried that we'd have to send word back to the king that not only had we failed to find any useful ores, but were basically stranded in the wilds.  Now I can send him word that we've done exactly as he asked.

By now we've set up a temporary stockpile and moved everything from the wagon train.  Halberd seemed a bit upset that we dismantled the wagons for their wood, and I can kind of see his point.  We're completely committed at this point.  Still, we weren't going to make it back home with what supplies we have, so the extra wood seemed like a good idea to me.

The other big thing is that we've got a small farm going, which should be more than enough to sustain us.  I must admit that I was a bit surprised when I first met Harvest Moon.  I haven't met many farmers in person, but I've never seen a pegasus farmer.  He assures me that he's up to the job, and I trust him.  He claims he knows a few special tricks for farming that only pegasi can use, but I don't know what that could be.

We also had our first setback today.  While looking through our stocks I noticed that all of the crossbow bolts we brought with us were gone!  It turns out Longshot used them all up hunting the guinea pigs in the area.  I suppose it makes sense to start hunting to keep our food stocks up while we wait for the farm to start producing, but we don't have any way to process the meat yet!

Oh well, guess we'll make do with what we've got.  It's going to be a long time before we can replace those bolts.




Halberd's Journal - 3rd Slate, 251

Things could be going worse, but I'm already worried about our future.

First off, I can't believe Virtue would dismantle the wagons.  I can understand that we'll be needing all of the wood we can get, as soon as we can get it, but those wagons represented our only realistic chance of getting out of here if we had to.  The others don't seem to appreciate how dangerous the untamed wilds can be.  I've been a soldier long enough and been in enough campaigns to see things they can't.

Then I hear that Longshot used up all of our ammunition shooting rodents of some kind.  What was he thinking?  If we come across something large and dangerous out here, he'll be wishing he still had something to shoot in that crossbow of his.  An axe is not the right choice when you have a means of fighting the enemy at a distance.

I'll let it all slide this time, since they're all new to this.  I wouldn't want to be in Virtue's position, but maybe she should consult me before doing anything else drastic.

On that note I think I may have offended some of the others on our trip out here.  They probably think I'm stuck up for not wanting to talk all the time, but that couldn't be farther from the truth.  All the yammering on the way out here just kind of gets under my skin.




Longshot's Journal - 3rd Slate, 251

Oh man, today has to be one of the lowest points in my career.  I got a bit bored sitting around waiting for things to happen, so I took it upon myself to go find some critters to bring back for us to eat.  I used up all of the ammo I had with me, but it never crossed my mind that we didn't bring any more!

Virtue seemed a bit surprised, but mostly because we didn't have any way to prepare all of them before they rotted.  Oops.

I think I really ticked off Halberd.  Actually, I think he's always been ticked off at me, but he just sort of stared a hole in me when he heard what happened.  Never said a word though.  Guess he didn't have to.
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Telgin

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Re: Dawnpick (My Little Fortress)
« Reply #9 on: November 19, 2011, 04:25:28 pm »

Alright, Halberd goes to The Master.

I just realized that those "avatars" are kinda huge.  I'm probably going to downsize them a bit.  I'm also going to be trimming my post length some, I get a bit long winded sometimes, heh.

Oh, like I said, I've already got some history in place since I've played through a few months in game already.  I'll let everyone start speaking for themselves from this point on.  Sorry The Master, you ninja'ed me while posting Halberd's first journal.
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ansontan2000

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Re: Dawnpick (My Little Fortress)
« Reply #10 on: November 19, 2011, 09:08:41 pm »

I'l take Longshot.
Just a tip: Whenever I bring along a hunter, I set up a butcher and crafts pony workshop immediately and process the remains into bones, then make bone bolts. That way your hunter is self suffiecient.
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The Master

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Re: Dawnpick (My Little Fortress)
« Reply #11 on: November 19, 2011, 09:28:07 pm »


Halberd decides to talk to Longshot about his utter failure to provide food.
"Longshot, you really have take into consideration how much ammo you have left. When an enemy attacks you, you're going to need to be quick and have enough bolts left to put the bastard down before he can hit you. Also, we won't be able to hurt for food now without the ammunition you completely exhausted. I am letting it slide this time, but only because of our farmer." Halberd says, with not even a hint of emotion in his voice.
« Last Edit: November 20, 2011, 12:30:22 am by The Master »
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Telgin

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Re: Dawnpick (My Little Fortress)
« Reply #12 on: November 20, 2011, 12:27:22 am »

I'l take Longshot.
Just a tip: Whenever I bring along a hunter, I set up a butcher and crafts pony workshop immediately and process the remains into bones, then make bone bolts. That way your hunter is self suffiecient.

Not a bad idea.  I'll have to remember that for my next embark.  This is actually only my third, still getting used to starting up forts.  Longshot is yours, by the way.

Next diary dump, not much interesting has happened yet:



Virtue's Diary - 7th Felsite, 251

Things are still chugging along slowly.  I had no idea it took this long to get a settlement up, but we're finally getting some buildings up.  I really should have brought another carpenter with us, poor Saw Dust wasn't making much headway alone.  I've got everypony without anything more important to do helping get some living quarters put together.

Similarly I've lent a hoof getting my new office put together.  It's pretty small, bu it'll do for now anyway.  I never knew how hard this sort of work was!

The good news is that the strawberries Harvest Moon planted are coming in finally.  I see that pony wasn't kidding about knowing how to grow food.  I can taste the strawberry wine already!

Speaking of which, I realized that we don't have anypony who knows a thing about cooking or brewing among us.  I haven't had much to do lately, so I think maybe I'll try picking that up.  I hope it's not as hard as building an office.


26th Felsite, 251

It took a lot longer than I anticipated, but the office is finally done.  Now I can get to work sorting out our stocks and figuring out where to go from here.

Turns out that Harvest Moon actually knows a thing or two about brewing, so he's taken to tending our still when I don't have the time.


17th Hematite, 251

I've been going through our stocks again, and despite some fears earlier that we might fall short on our food supplies I think we'll make it.  I passed some thanks off to Harvest Moon for the good job he's doing keeping the fields going.  He tells me he's got prickleberries growing now, which sounds reasonable.  Something about keeping the fields in rotation.

Ashwood has been busy, and we've got a lot of wood stockpiled now, which is good since we'll be needing all we can get.  We now have enough bedrooms so that everypony can sleep indoors, but only in shifts.  Even little Panacea is helping out with the construction work as best she can, but it doesn't look like she's having much more success than I had.  But her heart is in the right place.

I've asked Saw Dust to hold off on the quarrying for now and focus on the construction.  We're going to need a dining hall soon too.  If I'm not eating in my office, I can't spill strawberry wine on paperwork anymore.


Nobody's claimed Saw Dust (for sure), Ashwood or Panacea yet, so here's a little character development for them:



Ashwood's Journal - 28th Felsite, 251

I've never written a journal before, but I've heard that a few of the others have started keeping them.  Sounds like fun, maybe some day I'll come back and reread the memories here.

More to the point, I've been too tired to really write anything until now.  Virtue's had me cutting down trees all day.  Not like it's new to me, but nopony can do that for too long without getting dirt tired.  I've basically fallen unconscious in bed every night this week.  We don't have a lot of choice though, since no matter how much wood I cut, Saw Dust and everypony else use it up just as fast.

I wish we had somepony else to help out, but for the forseeable future it's just me.  At least with some of the granite mined out we can start setting up some stone structures instead.




Panacea's Diary - 18th Hematite, 251

Life has been a bit boring the past couple of months, but considering the alternative it's probably for the best.  As the only doctor among our little group, being busy would imply a lot of bad things I don't want to contemplate.  I've come to really enjoy the company of everypony here, I dread the day that I have to tend to one of them.

I spoke to Virtue a while ago about getting a hospital set up, but she simply sighed and pointed to the half built dorms.  I understand her point, but if something bad does happen I'll need somewhere clean to work.  Let's just hope that it doesn't come to that soon.  I offered to help in any way I can, so Virtue set me to work helping Saw Dust.  I don't know a thing about working with wood, but I'm hoping Saw Dust understands.




Saw Dust's Journal - 20th Hematite

The few months we spent on the road checking out the other sites before settling here must have gotten me rusty.  Putting up Virtue's office alone took three times as long as it should have, and the plans for the dorms I've drawn up aren't going to go any faster.  At least the others have been helping out however they can, but it's not the same as the trained carpenters I worked with back home.

I talked a lot with Panacea while she helped drag some lumber around the past few days.  She's probably one of the nicest ponies I've ever met.  She's not much good with a hammer, but at least talking with her alleviates the boredom a bit.

Diamond Shard taking over the quarrying is probably the best thing to happen since we got here.  I couldn't hope to finish building everything while digging out magnetite underground.
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Khenal

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Re: Dawnpick (My Little Fortress)
« Reply #13 on: November 20, 2011, 04:10:27 am »

Also posting to watch.  Claiming a pony is tempting, but I'm a bit involved with Glitterglen and I don't think I could handle playing two ponies :P
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Dsarker

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Re: Dawnpick (My Little Fortress)
« Reply #14 on: November 20, 2011, 04:17:22 am »

Tempting to claim Panacea and call her Friesden...hehehehe
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