CHAPTER 61: Enemy at the gateMid 229
MyselfHoly crap, 87 screenshots. This one is gonna hurt! But who doesn't like big chapters? They are a pain to type, but hey...
Not as much as magma can be. I say that because the magma generator has been activated, and Zefon just won't leave. Maybe you want to move out of the way before the burning wave of death gets to you, Zefon?
Or that.
Well, Zefon just commited suicide. She had been with us since before the skypig incident, and now she's simply... gone. She burns, slowly, brightly, like the hopes she had of living a happy life by moving to this fortress. Alas, everyone she ever loved have died over the years, often in gruesome fashions. Quula herself, goddess of death and tragedy, has gazed upon the place they call Whisperwhip, and it shook her very soul. Zefon is a mere dwarf, and no deity. She cannot take it anymore, and so she simply let herself be devoured by magma. She had no reason to be there, her squad is not allowed to patrol anywhere near BASE1. She was alone when she met her end.
Nobody will know what happened to her.
Goodbye Zefon. You were a brave soldier.
I watch Zefon's demise as it unfolds, and within moments nothing remains of her, save for her military equipment. she was carrying some of the best gear known to the fortress, decorated high-quality steel garments, including her prized shield. They float there for a moment, but soon enough the reservoir fills, and they melt like their former owner. In a few months, the dwarves will use this cooled lava and carve blocks of them, unaware that within them lie the remains of their old friend. Zefon will soon be once with the earth, one with the fortress. I remember her spending a lot of time in the temple of Kadol, goddess of mountain and fortresses. Maybe she is happier now...
I muse over the dwarven afterlife, until I notice something peculiar. A gigantic wave of magma mist erupts from where Zefon once stood, and traverses the reservoir. further inspection reveal that it is actually made of... boiling dog blood clouds. This fortress never ceases to weird me out.
Back in her office, the mayor is working on the generator's updates, unaware of the tragedy it is housing. With one of the pipes down, it makes no sense to keep the reservoir's shape unchanged. water will take forever to cool down the top and east patches of lava. Once this activation is complete, she leaves a note to the miners. Don't channel those parts anymore. They won't fill with magma, so the dwarves won't have to wait until water reaches the farthest corners of the generator.
A few days pass, and people slowly notice that Zefon is missing. After a week, they decide to create a slab to honor her presumed passing. little do they know, they'll be carving the memorial from the very remains of the one they seek to commemorate. Dark irony shall not be the only thing to decorate this slab. The statues are moved upstairs by the various iddlers, freeing the furniture stockpile. The slab is created and placed there, where a nearby craftdwarf workshop will decorate it with the shell of Galka, an older forgotten beast slain over a decade ago.
The generator is excavated, with the top right corner being left untouched. Next time it's turned on, I'll make sure to note where exactly the water flows immediately, and which spots it fails to reach quickly.
As I begin engraving the memorial to Zefon, I notice that the son of Drokles has raised from the dead as an angry ghost. This is very strange, especially because I don't recall said son dying, ever.
To celebrate the new year, Droklesson finishes an earring, which frankly is amazing, if absolutely useless. it features dying elves, giant monsters, and the artefact throne presiding over the temple to Kadol. at least the son of our new commander has a bright future as a craftdwarf. Assuming he survives...
Those were the last words I typed about Droklesson. He just finished an artefact. I know a child died this year, but i know it wasn't Droklesson, the kid was alive and well very recently, and I received no messages about his death, nor did the number of dwarves go down, up until zefon a few minutes ago.
As I read back to make sure I'm not going crazy or making dumb mistakes, I can't help but shiver when I control-f the last thing i said about the kid '
''At least the son of our new commander has a bright future as a craftdwarf. Assuming he survives...'' It was meant as a joke, a mere storytelling device meant to keep readers on their toes. ''Everyone could die, people'' was the message here. And then suddenly I notice the kid is actually dead.
What the fuck is wrong with this fortress.
Then, just like he appeared, I'm told the ghost of Droklesson has been put to rest. I did nothing, ordered no slabs. i know this because i was carefully managing the decoration of exactly one slab, that of Zefon, as it was being adorned with shells and bones. No slab was ordered for Droklesson. His ghost vanished forever just like he came to be: Unexplained, with none of my knowledge or involvement. What is going on here...?
Thank armok, there's a siege. It's been so long. The army isn't what it used to be, but it can hold goblins just fine when the wall is manned... erhm, dwarfed. Strange ghosts, happy dwarves commiting suicide and esotheric waves of blood magma erupting out of the blue, I can't deal with, but sieges I understand.
I browse through the burrows, as I don't want people to waste time and go idle when i raise the alarm. The first floor, for example, is not properly updated, as it doesn't include the new stockpiles. For reasons unknown part of the dorms/sweatshops aren't either, nor are some halves of the staircases on some floor. Sloppy. Sometimes i wonder just how many mistakes I've made like that, that went unoticed, slowly gnawing away on the fort's efficiency. At least this one is resolved.
It seems the goblins have come with lots of ranged weapons. Our archers are better, thankfully.
Avengers assemble! I want the best squad downstairs, keeping the doorway safe. I ask them to wait in the trade depot, as putting them too close to the entrance means they'll spot people, run off outside, and get shot by like 70 archers. Everyone else gets to dwarf the wall.
A swarm of trolls are there first, and they charge right at our entrance. As always, they spend a few moments trashing every statue placed there, before facing our army.
I grimace for an instant when the two most eager defenders are punched aside by the marauding trolls. They stumble down the ramps, and are briefly stunned. thankfully, they are well trained, and get back on their feet to clean the mess. Even if trolls charge the inner gate, most of the army can shoot at them from the walls while they try and force their way through. Whisperwhip doesn't have doors or bridges or anything to guard the main entrance 9shame on you, cage spammers) but even minotaurs cannot force their way through when the army is mobilized there. now, the trolls are dead, and we wait for the rest of the army. The main squad retreats inside. Begin the sniper fight!
Immediately, something goes wrong. A farmer wanders outside (What the shit people?). Nothing can save him. Not against seventy archers. Zasit tries his best, but foolishly find himself alone, his ward dead within the moment.
Here's a fact about Zasit. Zasit is a badass. He enters a trance, and fend off most of the attackers, while everyone else gets off the walls to charge. The goblins are massacred on our doorstep. I smile. Not because I'm proud of the dwarves, even tho I definitely am. But everyone dying on the porch means we get to safely celebrate a new clothsgiving this year!
a few stragglers were left behind, and the army charge at them. They escape when they see the full might of Whisperwhip exiting the fortresses' gates. Less clothes to carry from across the map, i suppose...
I take a quick look at zasit, to see how many enemies he managed to cleave in his martial trance, when... Holy crap, Zasit has a
lot of kills under his belt. He was one of the dwarves who moved to Whisperwhip in 102, shortly after the civil war decimated most of the fort. In truth, he was already a decent soldiers, dispatched by the queen to secure the outpost from itself. he arrived alongside the late Lady Asmel, his grandmother.
there are a lot of dwarves in Whisperwhip, and i can't understand each and everyone's connections or perks until they are pointed out to me by the game. I had no idea Zasit had become such a baller over the years. For a moment, I hesitate on whom to give the title of champion. Kel is the sister of a main character, so it made sense to give her the title when Asmel died. Now, seeing zasit's profile and history makes me doubt. before I hastily switch some nobility spot, i decide to inspect the fortress for some more over-the-top heroes.
I thus stumble upon another Asmel. This one has a bit less kills than Zasit (like 120 or so) but they include one of the original titans that roamed the continent in the first years. when such a beast tried to murder the infighting dwarves in 102, Asmel was the one to murder it, as our initial hero Olin Bookdeer had just starved herself in her bedroom to avoid witnessing the carnage. His kill count is absurd, he has been with us through the worst period of the fort, and he has noteworthy kills, despite being a nobody. Angry Asmel, as i immediately name him, is also worthy of being our champion. I call him angry, because he fucking hates a lot of different nations.
At the end of this chapter, I will make a poll, and let people decide on whom shall be our true champion. Kel has ties to the previous general, and she is a dashing beastslayer who vanquished little foes, but her kills were epic. Zasit is overall a killing machine who gives zero fucks, in addition to being the previous champion's grandson. Angry Asmel has been there all along, kicking butts left and right. Plus, he's also named Asmel like the previous champion.
* * *
The next months go by without much trouble. everyone is busy, everyone has a cool job to do, and nothing really happens. The gneiss tower is expanded as we are running out of storage for our food. Slowly but surely I'm turning the peasants into artisans, each in charge of slowly building the missing industries. Glassmaker, dyer, weaver, miller...
Curious to see what is going on with the main characters, I decide to check on their skills. The game runs in the background, while I use dwarf therapist to get a better look at our protagonists, nobles and named alike. discovering the hero that is zasit got me curious, and i want to know who those dwarves I'm writing about are. I'm assuming some of you are also curious about your dwarves as well, so here goes!
Dumat, the founder and overseer, is also the broker, and he's mastered 2 crafts beside appraising.
Dumat's oldest friend, Squiddwarf is a great miner, and many of the oldest and greatest engravings were of his doing. He's also credited with saving the generator, alongside manager Stukos.
Speaking of which... Whisperwhip's manager is Immortal-D's father, and sadly outlived his son. Despite being primarily an organiser, he used his very rusty masonry skill to save the generator by almost drowning himself. Some would say he knew the pipelines better than anyone after he inadvertantly locked himself inside them a while ago...
Here's Zasit, one of our candidate for the title of champion. He's a great fighter, but remember that the fortress is over three decades old, so some legendary skills across the board are the norm rather than the exception.
And here's Angry Asmel, the other candidate. he's mighty, he's brave, and he's killed many a goblin, and even a titan.
Ustuth the hammerer, I find out, is actually a chick just like the mayor. She was once a simple fisherdwarf, until the population dropped so low that I had no use for more food-gatherers. instead, i named her hammerer, as to help with the overwhelming amount of criminals and the lack of jails. Her description paints her as a sort of crazy daredevil, which I found out is definitely true. Since she can't bash people in the face for crimes, she instead spend her time hunting, or butchering, or fishing, or shooting things, critters and forgotten beasts alike. Being mauled various times has done nothing to lessen her bloodthirsty thrills, and every time something dire is happening, you can be sure Ustuth is nearby, ready to get in trouble.
tun was once a hunter turned briefly chief assassin, before his quad was dismissed due to being mostly all killed during training against live targets. Now he just acts as the leader of the citadel of clutches in absence of the queen, since Whisperwhip has become the capital. In case you didn't know, Tun has a certain interest for querns. he actually likes them a lot. Surprise, his highest skills include miller.
SkaiaMechanic, your dwarf is, well,
less than remarkable. Still, the engineers of Whisperwhip are all a strange lot. Or a dead lot. Being part of the former group instead of the latter is actually a great thing, regardless of how weird and incompetent one may be.
Orion has never really talked to anyone in the fortress. because he's too busy doing push-ups. He's still the strongest non-FB creature on the continent.
Mutkath was the leader of the qQueensguard, until he misplaced the queen he was guarding. now he's in charge of the magical Glove, which is a fancy way of saying he trains cooks on how to stab goblins. Still, it's a better fate than ending up dead in a foreign alleyway.
They have the same first name, but this one is the Bronze general. He still leads the ferocious tools, or what's left of them, but many years spent hauling corpses, deciphering cryptic doom prophecies and learning the truth about the royal family from Lady Asmel has made him... unfit for command. So has the death of most of his men. Nowadays he mostly keep to himself. like many in Whisperwhip, his very soul has been crushed into dust over the years.
Mistem was once a brave soldier and goblin killer, until Rifi's curse got hold of her eyesight, as it did with most of her squad. She is blind, and hates her life half the time, but she is dutiful and helps train new recruits. Her efficiency on the battlefield is less than great, but then again there's nothing else she can do around the fort either.
The chief medical Engineer was responsible for turning most of the soldiers into super-warriors by pouring troll blood in the water supply. His wife is a true monster in battle, thanks to various... experiments. He doesn't talk about it much. Over the years, he's been a good advisor to the overseers, altho his dedication to his medical role is less than strong. he mostly let his apprentices do the work, so much that they have surpassed him. But honestly? If my workplace was constantly full of deadly diseases and miasma I'd be playing golf all day too.
The mayor has no friends, despise social interactions, and prefers to tinker or watch things burn slowly. despite this atrocious display of aspergher, she has been re-elected mayor for 30 years, except for a brief moment when a magical tiger took over her office. the tiger then became suicidal and resigned, navigating the dark hallways aimlessly ever since. the mayor designed most of the cage systems, the bridges, and the obsidian generator, helped by her lazy assistant other Mebzuth, aka SkaiaMechanic.
Bookkeeper led is an acountant, but also a dutiful soldier. He has little combat experience, but he has been training eagerly over the last few decades. He has been a faithful assistant to the Bronze general during his time as overseer, despite enjoying none of it.
Kel, the modest goals, is the Bronze general's sister. she is one of the most succefful beastslayer this fort has known, and her willingness to sacrifice herself against deadly monsters is matched only by her baffling survival against said monsters. For her glorious victories over the forces of darkness, she was named Champion after Asmel's death, despite her lack of experience in facing goblins.
Just like his father, young Immortal-d the second is well loved in the fort thanks to his friendliness. Inspired by the stories about his father, whom he never met, he already strives for excelence and seeks to become a great man. Born almost 9 month after his father tragically passed away, some murmur that he is actually Immortal-D himself born again.
Proud, dutiful, and also striving for excelence, this is how most would describe Firsal. For many years, he was responsible for providing food to the soldiers, until the fort ran low on soldiers and way too high on food. On that day he began training in the Magical Gloves, quickly becoming one of the best new recruits. Some agree that in time, he may well become a squad leader.
Now the new general, Drokles is pessimistic and has a dark view of life. Despite all that, she has grown into a tremendously badass dwarf over the years. Her mental stats are matched only by her mastery of basically every single weapon known to dwarfkind.
Atir and Aban are the 2 last militia captains. They are good leaders, and despite never taking the spotlight of this story, they have always served me efficiently, leading their tropps to victory and defending the fort against goblins. they live in the shadows, unnoticed but essential.
* * *
Those two squares are bothering me. they are sand patches, over which lie either a mechanism, or a boulder. Both spaces were once covered in a stockpile that was removed. Building over them wont work. Dumping the stuff on them never happens. Channeling there doesn't work. Anyone has an idea? This is driving me insane.
* * *
as i said, for many months, live in the fort breezes by, with everyone going at their job like little bees. Eventually, some guy is taken by a fey mood. He claims a craftdwarf workshops, and the worst ingredients ever. right off the bat, I know I'm in for something underwhelming.
Surprise, a earring! Again! When it comes to being disappointed, i am definitely not disappointed. I guess I'll have to use gems and bones to create my own artifacts, really. Sadly, most of the mining areas are unavailable to us, what with the thousand forgotten beasts plaguing the caverns. The second layer is half-explored at best, and I know many flyers reside there. digging foolishly to grab more ressources could too easily open a breach to the depths. I have heard of adamantium, yet i am destined never to gaze upon it. How sad. there are so many gem clusters waiting in the subteranean complex...
Then I spot it. fensast, the stupid fucking beatle. For far too long the dwarves have been keeping him at bay by dumping trash relentlessly. We can no longer afford to discard everything we have. thankfully, the beast seems rather dumb, and even after it spotted the shaft, never used it. It is, after all, a beetle. beetles aren't
smart, man. It mostly wanders around, aimless, like our depressed magical tigerman diagnoser.
fuck this beetle tho. I,m tired of checking on it every 5 minutes, just to know wether or not it is safe not to employ most of my workforce toward dumping. there it is, right across the raised bridge. we are ending this. we will send soldiers, shoot it many times, and retreat. Other creatures can't cross the chasm. You, kid, deconstruct this wall. Drokles, get your buddies down here. We are ending this Beetlecunt.
The wall is breached, and the army waits by the catapult, but Fensast the beetle is still dumb as bricks. It barely sees the squad, and wanders down the hole in the northern cavern. Ugh. We wait, in case it comes back. I don't want to stay here too long, tho, as maybe some other monsters aren't as stupid as Fensast. Some of them have ranged attacks. but Fensast is so close! It could very well turn around and get in range of our crossbows.
Bingo! It goes down, turn left, run around a huge stone formation and return in the familiar triangular room, at the left end of which lies the raised bridge, and our army. It is flying over the ground, apparently right out of crossbow range. I wish people would just shoot it. They are getting hungry, and annoyed. This is the best chance we'll ever get. I'm about to do something incredibly stupid.
You. Pull the bridge lever.
I send the squad across the bridge, and tell them to attack Fensast. they don't react. I move them closer, and closer. Go! What are you waiting for? Now is your chance! 4 of them wander off back to base. Of the four left, I realise, three of them forgot to bring any bolts. those are our elite soldiers, in our most dire moments.
And as they lay right under our most dreaded enemy, ready to strike the killing blow, they realise they forgot to bring any bolts.
Out of the shadow, north of us, appears a new foe, bugsit the antlion. We must retreat now. What ill timing! we had one chance to kill the beetle and you guys blew it by being morons. Quick, across the bridge. Our thin window of opportunity is gone.
Three of the four soldiers cross the bridge. i order it raised. Behind are left zasit... and the child he stayed to escort. A hero as always. Then appears Abe, another of the cavern resident, bouncing near zasit. the child escapes, as Zasit stays to hold them off.
And then, blocking all escapes, within second of the antlion and abe showing up, comes Tofi, also prowling into battle. Upon seing all those monsters working together ambushing us, I realise the true nature of fensast. for it is not a stupid beetle wandering aimlessly. It can fly and it knows it can enter the fortress at any time. the reason he made circles around the shaft and our troops without attacking was not because it was too dumb to do it. Fensast is not the braindead creature I mistook it for, for it knows a single forgotten beast could never bring ruin to this fortress. Fensast isn't a moron.
It is the bait.
...I whisper, shaking, slowly realising what is truly happening. I know i am done for. There is no time to seal the caverns, and they are all rushing in. This is the end.
I order every single soldier to the bridge.
Bring crossbows, I murmur almost to myself. but i know most of them are sleeping, and unequipped, and too far away. I will get as many as i can to hold them off, then seal the fortress in two.
I'm sending half of them to die, so the rest can survive.
Between the moment I unpaused after the new beast arrived, to the moment i paused again after the two other monsters ambushed us, maybe 20 seconds took place. This was almost instantaneous. The fortress has been doomed in an instant. I order the place sealed in the middle, and everyone downstairs. from then on, there is nothing more i can do but hpe the soldiers can hold off the full fury of the underworld long enough. whatever happens, something somewhere will curse them all. there are too many syndromes. defeated or victorious, they are not coming back.
I unpause. immediately, it goes down. Explosions, clouds of death, deadly dust, strange breaths and deadly emissions. The forgotten beasts are unleashing hell. then the dust settles, revealing...
Yet another mystery.
Zasit was the target of the whole thing. He was just shot with basically three simultaneous forgotten beast attacks. yet there he lies at the bottom of the caverns, stunned but somehow mint.
Those two soldiers/cheetah were barely out of range of the megaflare, yet they were stunned and injured as well. I spot pieces of dogs and lion all around.
But the battlefield is empty, safe for Fensast still floating a bit above.
What the fuck. What is going on. what happened. how did everything stop being there within a single second of unpausing? i browse around, and find Abe... Shot trice with a crossbow. Zasit's weapon.
Decrypting this will be a mess, but i do it. I piece out every single combat log to understand what the shit happened in that moment of overkill. Let me recap where every beast i can see on the map is first.
Three of them have rushed from the north, then tried to go around. Tofi was the first to get there, but in the heat of the moment, one of them started secreting something, and something else started bleeding, and something else died from it. they are all allied, but that doesn't mean that they can survive each other's attacks when moving incredibly too close to each other for confort. One down. Mebzuth is still alive, and is trying to avoid the deadly shit left around by going through the river. 'Racoon wants some dwarf is what I'm saying.
Snang wants some fun too, but there are no holes in the generator for now. We are safe from it.
Enure is right above him, but he's been sealed from using the pipe, and he's not as mobile as he used to be now that his brain has rotten.
Quamund and hum... whatever this is called are in the lower caverns. The last picture shows just how annoying the situation is down there. we can't move easily because of water and fungi, and most of it is unexplored. there are more monsters there than i can see on my list.
Meanwhile the newcomer is coming toward us, and is pretty close to where Mebzuth the racoon is.
And here's tofi, litterally chopped to bits by some strange turns of events.
There were 24 dead beasts when I unsealed the bridge about a minute of gameplay ago. Now there are three more. One died from being too eager to join his two friends in a narrow corridor full of deadly stuff and deadly blood. What about the others?
Zasit was alone, and cornered. fensast was further back, above them all. Tofi was nearby, and Abe was cutting his escape. As they see him, all of them unleash their superpowers at Zasit. Zasit backflips and dodge them all, by jumping into the southern pit where he now lies. basically all three fire at a dwarf in the middle who jumps out of the way. tofi is torn in bits by a wae of energy. Abe is knocked out and into the bridge hole, and hits the wall. Because the caverns are weird, Zasit as a clear shot, and shoots Abe three times while they are both falling, before hitting the ground and passing out.
He back-flipped and killed two forgotten beast mid-air while willingly jumping into a pit. No poll. This guy is the new champion.
The army is still rushing downstairs. I cancel the bridge-raising order cancelled. We are no longer going to our doom.
We are going to war.
Poll
28 (57.1%)
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Topic: Whisperwhip: a megabeast steakhouse (Circus Edition) (Read 143961 times)