[X] Station

oh my word a dwarf fortress CYOA yes

[x]Station

Adventure, ho!

[X] Station

[X] On Break

You follow after. You could never call yourself a dwarf if you abandoned your duty, after all. Your squad works its way down the staircase the miners dug out. You enter into a small chamber, adamantine lining the walls, protecting you from the magma sea around you. You look towards the next staircase you need to descend, when something instead ascends up it.

It’s not a miner. It’s not even a dwarf. It is a terrible creature, standing on two legs and gaunt, its three horns protruding from its skull. And it is joined by more. Towering slugs of salt, giant spiders of snow, one-eyed dimetrodons with charcoal scales, wraiths made of fire. Horrors, all of them, demons of the deep!

In an instant, you and the rest of your squad know what you must do. Loosing a guttural cry of war, you all charge the demons, bringing your axes to battle. Some, like the salt slugs, go down easily. The dimetrodons are not so simple, though they eventually fall before the might and aggression you display. The spiders, though made of fragile snow, compensate by spitting immobilizing webs, like their giant cave cousins.

And as it turns out, the fire wraiths explode when killed. One such explosion knocks you down the stairs that lead below, singing your beard a bit in the process. You tumble down, bruising yourself a bit in your armor, before you drop your axe and grab onto the stairs to stop yourself.

The stairs open up into an eerie cavern. The air above the dark stone floor is alive with vortices of purple light and dark, boiling clouds. Seemingly bottomless glowing pits mark the surface of the ground far, far beneath you. And the demons, hundreds, maybe thousands of them, everywhere. One of them flies up to you, some sort of giant fruit bat with vicious-looking mandibles, and it latches onto you. It pulls at you, and you feel your grip on the stairs slipping. You’re not sure what’ll give first, your grip, or your gauntlets.

Finally, your grip gives out, and you flail about in the demon’s grasp. It flies around the cavern, carrying you along for the ride. Its mandibles exert a crushing pressure on your abdomen, bending your metal breastplate. You feel your consciousness slipping, but you refuse. You refuse to die like this. You reach up, and with all of your might, you slam your fist down on the bat’s eye. It shrieks, a horrifying sound, and releases its grip on you, causing you to plummet.

So this is the end, then. Falling to your death, about to become a splatter on the ground. If you’re lucky, you’ll only break your legs. Well, that would leave you with broken legs in a realm infested with demons. Perhaps a quick smash against the ground is the better death here. With the last of your willpower, you turn yourself in the air, so you can face your death like the dwarf you are. And before you black out, you notice something.

You’re falling into a glowing pit.

----------

You awaken in a bed. Immediately, you can tell that it’s not your bed, nor is it one of the hospital beds. There are too many sheets, too many pillows, and they’re all so… decorated! Frilly! You’d expect a noble to sleep in a bed like this. You pull the sheets off of yourself, and realize that you’re not wearing your armor anymore. You’re in your underclothes, a simple tunic and loincloth that you wear beneath your armor. Beneath them, you see bandages wrapped around your midsection. Someone had been tending to you while you were unconscious.

You look around the room you’re in. As fancy as the bed you’re in. You spot your backpack and flask on a table next to the bed. You look through them; the flask is still empty, but you still have some plump helmets in your backpack. They haven’t rotted yet. You look around again, and spot a cabinet on the far side of the room. Acting on instinct, you get out of the bed and head over to it, opening it up. You find your armor within. You start slipping it on, noting that the breastplate is a little tight now after that demon had its way with it.

You look around one more time after getting your equipment in order. Nothing else catches your attention, except for the door…

[] Drink
[] Get Provisions
[] No job
[] Soldier (unreachable location)

[x] Get ye flask

[X] Drink

>>12680

[X] Drink

As a dwarf, drink should pretty much be the only option right after waking up from a physical-trauma induced coma.

[x] Drink
Time to weaponise hospitality.

[X] Soldier (unreachable location)

So, after digging in the raws due to insomnia, our name translates to:

Datan=Iron
Darùd=Climate?
Nish=Trade

...I can't even begin to divine a meaning from that. Then again, meaningless names are the dorfiest.

This vote now with 200% more translated names.

[X] Drink
This story has promise.

Right. First thing’s first, you need a drink. You exit the room, intent on finding wherever the booze stockpile is in this place. As you wander the halls, checking through doors, you make some observations. Firstly, this definitely isn’t Atölcog. The floors all sport a checkerboard pattern, red and black. The windows are also interesting: they’re colored in a pattern that makes them look like some kind of… bird, you’d guess. How do they even color glass? You’ve only seen them come in green and clear colors. And crystal, from what the actual glassmakers say.

Your wandering finally takes you to what seems to be a kitchen. You’re on the right track, kitchens are never far away from food and alcohol storage. You search around, and eventually find a staircase leading down. You descend the stairs, and find yourself in a chilly room filled with barrels and bottles. Stockpile found! You walk between the barrels, trying to decide which one you want to drink from, when you hear a sound.

Mreeeeeow

You look towards the sound, and find yourself looking down at a cat. Well that’s interesting. Atölcog was never a safe place for cats. If a migrant ever brought a pet cat along with them, the cat would get itself into an unfortunate accident within a week. Strangely, the dogs never got hurt. Regardless, you ignore the cat, and grab a barrel off one of the shelves. Out of the corner of your eye, you see the cat turn and run off. You look at the cat again as it leaves, noticing something odd.

Do cats normally have two tails?

You pass it off as your eyes playing tricks on you. Probably a lack of booze messing with your eyesight or something. You’re not a doctor, you don’t actually know anything about how the dwarven body works. You rip off the lid of the barrel, and start pouring the contents into your mouth. It’s some kind of alcohol, to be sure, but you’re not familiar with the taste. Some kind of wine? It takes a few minutes, but you eventually drain all of the booze within the barrel. Now that you think about it, it was a rather small barrel, just enough for one dwarf. You set the empty barrel down, and turn around.

A girl is staring at you.

You’ve never seen a girl like this before. With how thin she is, you’d peg her for an elf, but she’s not nearly tall enough, only a bit taller than you are. Her hair is some kind of pinkish-purple. That’s certainly not normal. She wears some fancy looking clothes, and she’s got… an eye… hanging by strings on her front. More importantly though, she doesn’t look happy with you.

“And why should I be happy? I treat your wounds and take care of you, and you repay my hospitality by drinking from my wine cellar.”

Ah, well, you… suppose it’s a bit inconsiderate to drink another’s booze.

“A bit inconsiderate, yes.”

“Er, look.” You start, holding your hands up, “Mebbe we got off on the wrong foot. Ahm Datan Darùdnish, cheese maker.”

“Interesting name…” She mutters.

“Whut, yeh got a problem wit mah name?”

“Oh, no, no…”

[] “It’s an excellent name for a man like you.”
[] “It’s a fine name for a… woman… such as yourself.”

Choose wisely. Also you’re going to have facial hair regardless of your choice.

[X] "It's an excellent name for a man like you."
As tempting as the bearded lady option is, I gotta go male. Just feels right.

[X] “It’s an excellent name for a man like you.”

Well, at least we weren't from Boatmurdered. Considering how that story ended, I feel nothing but relief.

[x] “It’s an excellent name for a man like you.”

[X] "It's an excellent name for a man like you."


Eh, female dorfs don't have beards anyway.

Also, I'd like to input the command chain: "u v" and, assuming there are no other dorfs at this location, "↵"
Clearly we're not a proper dorf unless we know the distance between our eyes compared to the average, and whether our sideburns are combed, shaved or braided.
That is, of course, unless it's too much trouble to write up a "dorf character sheet". I'd just like to see it for the sake of it.
The one thing I can say for sure, though, is that he needs alcohol to get through the working day and he is a short, sturdy creature fond of drink and industry.
Hopefully he's at least one of those dwarves who likes working outdoor and only grumbles mildly at inclement weather so he's been out on patrol outside the fort a few times.
Cave adaptation would cause quite a faux pas if we ever go topside.

>>12700
>cave adaptation.

My dwarves never live that long, sadly.
I wouldn't know how to deal with that.

>>12700
Eh, female dorfs don't have beards anyway.

They don't? Huh, they actually don't. Well it doesn't matter, since nobody's voting for bearded lady anyway. Also sure, let's have a character sheet. Update to come in a few hours or so.

Datan Darùdnish has been ecstatic lately. He had a fine drink lately. He slept in a fantastic bedroom recently. He took joy in slaughter lately. He complained about long patrol duty.
He is a worshipper of Udar and a worshipper of Dostob.
He is the son of Feb Fortressoranges and Erush Merchantsoothe.
He is a citizen of The Hall of Beauty. He is a member of The Turquoise of Ghosts. He is a former member of The Lens of Clams. He is a former member of The Climactic Citadel. He is a former member of The Flaxen Crypts. He arrived at Kosothberubal on the 1st of Granite in the year 117.
He is fifty-four years old, born on the 13th of Felsite in the year 49.
He has incredible muscles stretched over a broad body. His sideburns are clean-shaven. His very long moustache is neatly combed. His very long beard is arranged in double braids. His very long hair is neatly combed. His nose is slightly hooked. His nose bridge is somewhat concave. His ears are somewhat short. His skin is peach. His eyes are ochre.
He is mighty and slow to tire, but he is quite susceptible to disease.
Datan Darùdnish likes sandstone, platinum, red flash opal, the color tan, boxes and bags, amulets, anvils, and horses for their strength. When possible, he prefers to consume Dwarven Wine. He absolutely detests leeches.
He has a great sense of empathy and a very good sense of the position of his own body, but he has poor focus and very bad intuition.
He doesn't often experience strong cravings or urges. He can handle stress. He is very friendly. He is not a risk-taker. He is often cheerful. He does not have a great aesthetic sensitivity. He is slow to trust others. He is candid and sincere in dealings with others. He sacrifices his own needs to get along with others. He is modest. He is not easily moved to pity. He finds rules confining. He needs alcohol to get through the working day.

A short, sturdy creature fond of drink and industry.

If you don't mind me asking, what are our skill levels? Master-to-Legendary Cheesemaking, yeah, but what about weapon and interpersonal skills?

>Kosothberubal
I see what you did there.

>>12704
Our guy dorf sure sounds dependable.

>>12704
>>12707
... under the circumstances, shouldn't that be Berubalkosoth?
(If any readers are having trouble following along, your Googlebait is "T_WORD:ABBEY:kulet".)

>>12707
I would assume some training in armor, dodging, axe and shield. He was drafted into the army after all. Not likely to have any other weapon skills, or he would have been equipped with that weapon instead (mace, hammer, sword, spear or crossbow). Since the fort's main wealth came from mining, there shouldn't have been any shortage of materials to make custom weapons for each militiadwarf. (And you always make custom weapons, because it takes fucking forever to train a skill from scratch since they barely even know which end of the weapon goes towards the enemy.)
Might have some random skills at low level besides cheese making since he was an immigrant coming because of wealth rather than one of the founding seven. Possibly milking and other skills in the farming category. They usually have at least some logic in which skills they arrive with.
Not hunting though. Hunters always come with a crossbow and at least some skill with it, so he would have been drafted as a crossbowdwarf instead of an axedwarf.

Also, 117 eh? That would be a world with short history, meaning he should probably feel relatively at home in Gensokyo since it was probably still the Age of Legends when he fell through the portal, or it had very recently passed.
So when you're used to Dragons and Bronze Colossi wandering the land, with Forgotten Beasts burrowing through the caves underground I don't think Gensokyo will be such a major culture shock besides all the little girls.


Also, here's to hoping he gets moody at one point.
I want to see the touhous' reaction to him screaming about green glass and leather, before making something ridiculous(ly awesome) like a stone toy boat encircled with bands of leather and menacing with spikes of alpaca wool.
On the boat is an image of a dwarf and demons in green glass, the dwarf is striking a menacing pose, the demons are crying. The image refers to the slaying of demonic invaders by the Axedwarf Datan Darùdnish in Kosothberubal in the (season) of (year).
On the boat is an image of cheese, in yellow beryl.
All craftsdwarfship is of the highest quality.


But since he was possessed by one of his dead squadmates, he doesn't remember anything and gained no new skills.

>>12710

Likotul, "Inkedpants," a green glass maul.

This is a green glass maul. All craftsdwarfship is of the highest quality. This object is adorned with hanging rings of cat leather and menaces with spikes of obsidian.

On the item is an image of Datan Climatetrades the dwarf and a demon in obsidian. The demon is in the fetal position. Datan Climatetrades is laughing. The artwork relates to the slaying of the snow wraith by Datan Climatetrades in Atolcog in 116.

On the item is an image of Datan Climatetrades the dwarf in obsidian. Datan Climatetrades is falling. The artwork relates to the arrival of Datan Climatetrades at Kosothberubal in the early spring of 117.

On the item is an image of a raven in crystal glass. The image is the symbol of The Hall of Beauty, a human(?) government.

Just don't ask where he got the cat leather.

“It’s an excellent name for a man like you.”

You nod a bit, agreeing with her and feeling just a tad bit proud of yourself. Then you remember you’re talking to her. “Oh uh… and ye’d be…?”

“I am Satori Komeiji.” Huh. Now that’s a name you’ve never heard before. Definitely not Dwarvish, to be sure, and it doesn’t sound like a human name either. Could it be Elvish? “I’m- it’s Japanese.” You’ve… never heard of anything like that before. “Never heard of Japanese? You must be far away from home indeed, then.” Right, home at Atölcog. You’re obviously not home, so where are you now? “You are in The Palace of the Earth Spirits, and I am its mistress.”

Hrm… Kosoth Ber Ubal… not a bad name, definitely. And did she say she was its mistress? “I did indeed.” Then she’s the one in charge here… “I am.” Then she’s some sort of noble, then. “I… suppose you could say that.” You can’t help but wonder if she’s a baroness, countess, or duchess, or maybe she’s even-

“Okay, wait a moment.”

“Whut?” You blurt out, snapped out of your thoughts.

“You are… unusually comfortable with having your mind read.”

…Eh?

“I’m reading your mind. For quite a bit, now.”

You’re not quite sure what that means.

“Really? You… don’t even know what mind reading is?”

You shake your head no. Satori takes a moment, thinking to herself.

“…Let’s not ruin your opinion of me, then.” You don’t know what she means by that. “Precisely. In any case, how are you going to repay me for the wine you just selfishly drank?”

[] Work
[] Money
[] Leave
[] Write-in

>>12710

I like my worlds around the 100 mark. Old enough for developments, new enough that megabeasts are still around for some Fun...

>>12714
[X] Work
-[X] Station
---[X] Get Provisions

There's no cows in Kosothberubal, and we can't guard on an empty stomach. Or without booze.

>>12709
Well, the dwarves doesn't use words like "the", "of" and so on. No articles, prepositions or conjunctions. Their spoken language is very simple and straight to the point, since they pretty much just use nouns, adjectives, verbs (except the verb "to be" i.e. "is", "are", "am" and so on) and adverbs. The rest is filled in by the listener through context.

So it simply depends on your specific phrasing, but both Kosothberubal and Berubalkosoth are correct. (You could even call it Ubalberkosoth if you want and it's still technically correct, just a different phrasing with the same meaning.)

It's the difference between, say, "I'm going aboveground because I have to meet with Reimu ("berdan lar Reimu") and "I have to meet with Reimu so I'm going aboveground" ("lar Reimu berdan").

And this means we obviously have to introduce Gensokyo to Dwarven culture.
I suggest starting with drinking songs, since we're nearest to the Oni anyway.
Surely, no truer words have been spoken by dwarves than the famous lyrics
"ór deb avuz
råsh numol libash thol"

Although in an effort to bond with the locals, we might want to change "avuz" to "bardum", and find a way to switch "libash" for "og" without breaking the flow too badly. Maybe "etgog"? Still close enough to the original to not lose it's dwarven appeal, but the oni could connect more easily with it that way compared to the original.
Well, technically it's "et„gog", but I have no idea how the inverted quotationmark is supposed to be read...

[X] Work

Haha! Time for the old ucpl again.

[X] Work

There's always hauling to be done.

[x] Work

[x] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a30tg02JwDc#t=9

>>12716
>The rest is filled in by the listener through context.
See pic. See filename. What you're describing isn't a language; it's at best a pidgin.

>[quotes from "The Tankard Basher"]

It's a good song, but you probably shouldn't try to canonize it.

>"et„gog"
I assume you mean "etägog". There are a lot of corrupt versions of the file floating around. A valid one is here: http://pastebin.com/raw.php?i=uRbfweAM

(You may or may not find the URL at the top interesting.)

“I have no money to pay yeh with, and to leave now would be a blemish upon meh honor.” You place your right hand over your chest, above your heart. “So I, Datan Darùdnish, swear to serve yeh until this debt be settled.”

Satori seems a bit taken aback by all of this. “You’d willingly become my servant so easily?” You nod. “And… you’re completely sincere about it too… my. I’ve never met someone quite like you before.” She mutters under her breath a bit, looking down at a cat by her feet… is that the same cat you saw earlier?

“Very well then, I think I have just the job for you. Come with me.” She turns and starts to leave, and you depart after her, along with that cat. She leads you through the palace, talking all the way. “Orin brought in quite a few corpses, and she hasn’t properly disposed of them yet.”

“Corpses? Why would she be bringin’ in corpses?”

“It’s… her job, you could say.”

“Relly. And what would yeh be doin with the corpses?”

“If you really must know, we use them to keep the fires of Hell going.”

“…Whut.”

“This palace is built directly above The Hell of Blazing Fires, and I am also its overseer.” …Have you been talking to a demon this entire time? “I am no demon. I am Satori.” You’ll have to take her at her word then, though it doesn’t mean much to you. “Hmph.”

You are eventually brought out into a courtyard. You look up, expecting to find the blinding sun, but instead find a vast cavern ceiling high above you. If her claim about being directly above Hell is true, then you would have to be deep underground indeed. You turn your gaze back to the ground in front of you, and you find something odd. There’s a massive hole in the center of the courtyard, circular in shape. You look around, and in one of the corners, find a number of corpses, piled haphazardly on top of each other.

“The corpses need to be thrown down the hole. It’s as simple as that.”

“If it’s that simple, why hasn’t it alreddy been done yet?”

“Orin likes to make a large pile so she can throw them all in at once.”

“Hmph. She sounds like the kind to leave a job half-finished.”

The cat mewls at your statement. “Well, she is rather temperamental…” Satori adds. “Regardless, this is all you need to do. I’ll know when you’ve finished.” And with that, she turns and takes her leave.
The cat stays behind, staring up at you as you consider this.

[] Dump Item
[] Get Provisions
[] On Break

[X] Dump Item

[X] Dump Item

Here's hoping they magma'd the chasm beforehand.

[x] Dump Item
Cat first, yes?

>Atölcog was never a safe place for cats. If a migrant ever brought a pet cat along with them, the cat would get itself into an unfortunate accident within a week.

You mean there are people that just don't do pest control at all? That's just shoddy my friend, you gotta keep those mice away from your food and booze. Catsplosion was fixed ages ago.

[x] Get Provisions

[X] Dump Item

[X] Dump Item
Time to train our throwing skill?

[X] Dump Item

This story is relevant to my interests.

[x] Dump item


If there's one thing I've learned from years of playing DF, it's that dorfs are exceedingly efficient at hauling items. Especially when they should be doing something else. She should just have told him that the pile existed and given him another job that didn't need to be done.
Anyway, with the short distance between the stockpile and the dump zone this should be over quick.


>>12724
I think it's more like a magma vent, really, since it leads directly to the Hell of Blazing Fires.


>>12727
There is another, less efficient and more micromanaging (and thus, more dorfy), way of doing pest control. It's called the Trapper profession.
All those immigrants bringing the cats have to do something when their skills aren't needed and the militia is overflowing...

Well, nothing to do except to get to work. You head over to the pile of corpses and pick one of them out at random. As you walk to the pit, you inspect the corpse. It’s clearly a human corpse, and it was clearly attacked by something, if the slash marks across its abdomen are any indication. You’re not a doctor though, you can’t say for certain about anything. When you throw the corpse into the pit, you spare a moment to look down after it. You can see a reddish-orange glow from deep below, and can feel a small bit of heat emanating from there as well. Your first instinct tells you magma, but Satori did say Hell was down there…

You continue working. Hauling was always the most boring job, but also the most vital. Nothing would get done if everything wasn’t in its proper place, after all. You can’t help but notice that the cat is watching you as you work. Has it taken a fancy to you? Well, nothing to be done if that’s the case. Just keep working. As you haul the corpses, you count them off.

Two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen, fourteen, fifteen. Fifteen corpses total. A fair amount, must’ve been a bloody battle… if all of them had wounds. Some of them were completely spotless. Well, as spotless as a dead body can be. When you finish, the cat wanders off. Must’ve gotten bored now that you’re done.

Your job finished, you look around, thinking of what to do next. Satori said that she’d know when you’ve finished, and you don’t doubt her. The manager always had a way of knowing when a job was completed. Then again it’s not like dwarves lie about doing their job. They might procrastinate and take a year and a day to complete a simple task, but they never lie about having done it.

You wander the courtyard a bit, having a better look around. There’s definitely some kind of subterranean grass and bushes growing here, along with some flowers of a kind you can’t recognize. There are doors on each of the four walls, no doubt leading back into the palace. But there’s one door in particular that catches your attention. It’s a yellow and black door, with a symbol you don’t recognize carved all over it, along with words.

CAUTION
NO ENTRY

Well that’s just odd. You wonder if this door is locked…

[] Passable
[] Forbidden

[X] Forbidden
[ETHIC:TRESPASSING:PUNISH_SERIOUS]

[x] Passable

Hoping this leads to Okuu rather than radioactive death.

[X] Forbidden

[X] Passable

Must be some kind of water reactor in there. We must see it in operation.

[X] Passable

Might as well explore our new fortress.

[X] Passable.
If it isn't locked, they clearly don't mind us being in there.
Also, the only dwarves I've ever had that had been a part of that many forts before mine were all vampires.

[x] Passable

CAUTION
NO ENTRY

NO ENTRY

MEETING HALL

[x] Passable

[X] Passable

[X] Passable

Time to hop on this bandwagon.

You place your hand on the door and apply a bit of pressure. The door opens without complaint. Clearly, if you weren’t allowed in, the door would be locked to you. Confident in your logic, you stride through the door, and down the stairs behind it. You’re not sure what could even be here, anyway. You had heard that some fortresses contained advanced mechanical equipment, the likes of which would boggle most minds. You’d even heard of one fort in particular that had a device that could actually do math on its own!

As you contemplate just what could be down here, you note something peculiar. The temperature is steadily increasing. Actually, given that you’re going down, and Hell itself is apparently below you, perhaps it’s not that peculiar. Still, that raises another question: What could be down here so close to Hell? Perhaps a device powered by magma? You know for a fact that it can be used to power forges and smelters, what if you wanted to power something bigger?

Finally, you reach the bottom of the stairs, and find another door. You’ve already come this far, you shan’t be turning back now. You open the door, and peer into the room. You find a brightly lit room, as bright as – nay – brighter than the surface! Walkways are suspended over a massive pit, converging into a platform in the center of the room. You look up, and nearly fall over at the sight. This chamber is massively tall, so massive it actually pierces up to the surface, if the light blue backdrop all the way at the top is any indication. But the light is coming for below, and so you look over the edge of the walkway and look down. What you see is enough to almost stop your heart.

A sun. An honest to gods sun is down here, deep beneath the Earth’s crust. You can’t even begin to wrap your head around it. The sun is an entity of the surface, a great ball in the sky that provides the world above with life. To find one down here… it defies all your beliefs and logic. You can’t find the words, nor can you stand the sight of it.

You slouch a bit, trying to comprehend this subterranean sun, when you hear a voice call out.

“Foreign substance detected!” A figure flies out from below the walkways. You can’t begin to identify it, between it swiftly flying through the air and the contrast from the light, but it loops around and lands on the walkway in front of you.

“Foreign substance sighted!” It repeats, and now that it’s still, you can take a good look at it. It appears to be some kind of woman, and from the great black wings behind her, a raven woman at that. One of her legs is encased in stone, while the other has a couple of glowing orbs floating around it. She wears a white dress with a green skirt, though there seems to be some kind of red… eye, on her chest. She seems to have the most ornate cape you’ve ever seen draped over her wings, and a green ribbon in her hair.

But it’s the orange rod of metal that she points at you that catches your attention the most. “Upon contamination within the nuclear reactor core, reactor operations are to be halted
and the foreign substance eradicated immediately!”

Sensing hostile intent, you quickly duck to the ground, and a great beam of light pierces through the air from that rod she’s holding. She clearly doesn’t want you here.

[] Fight
-[] Strong
-[] Agile
-[] Tough
[] Flee

[X] Flee

Well, shit.

[x] Flee
FORGOTTEN BEAST
AND NOT A SHITTY ONE, EITHER

[x] Fight
-[x] Agile

[X] FLEE
Run, little Urist, run!

I kinda sorta not really feel bad about voting for passable earlier.

[x] Fight
-[x] Strong

What kind of dwarf runs from a fight?

[x] Fight
-[x] Agile

Her clumsy linear fighting is no match for our 8-directional movement skills!

[X] Fight
-[X] Agile

Fliers are overly dangerous unless we can cripple a wing on the first strike, and since she's firing fucking lasers, being agile is the best way to do that and not get murderized in the process.

>>12753

The Forgotten Beast Shashtoltot has come! A raven twisted into humanoid form. It has a stone leg and metal arm and induces nuclear fusion in all it encounters. Beware its deadly lasers!

[X] Flee

Clearly it is break time.

[X] Flee

>>12757
>What kind of dwarf runs from a fight?
Unarmed civilians. We don't have an axe and we're not in a squad. Do the math.

[X] Flee


>>12759
Ten-directional.
They can move up and down as well, even if it almost never happens in combat.

>>12764
Actually, we did gear up after waking up. And as far as I know we were never actually taken off duty. We've just been drinking, hauling and on break.
Hauling usually requires an idle month on the schedule, I think, but the rest are done while still on duty.
On the other hand, since Datan is currently "on break" he won't fight even if he takes a goblin to the face.

>>12765
We're armoured, yes, but not armed.

>>12766
A.k.a. a Wrestler. Not having an axe is no excuse for not participating in combat when on duty.

Nope, you’re not dealing with this. Not without your axe, anyway. You turn on the spot and immediately start running for the door you came from. You hear a rustle from behind, a whoosh from above, and then the next thing you know, tiny suns are raining down on you, great balls of fire. You’re not the fastest dwarf in the world, so you start weaving erratically between the fireballs as they come down on you. One ball comes dangerously close to you, heating your metal armor to an uncomfortable degree.

Finally you reach the door, and practically fall over as you slow yourself to open it. A lucky fall at that, if the beam of light impacting the door where you were is anything to go by. The beam blasts the door clean open, saving you the trouble of opening it yourself. You pick yourself up and flee through the door and up the stairs. But with the door broken, you doubt the monster will be that far behind.

You never look back. You flee up the stairs as fast as your legs will carry you. This staircase didn’t seem that long going down… You blame your panicked mind. You can’t think straight as you flee from that terrible beast. You’ve never seen anything like it, a monster that can attack with light itself. It’s a terrifying prospect to behold.

You finally reach the top of the stairs, passing through the door and slamming it shut behind you. Only now do you finally stop your frenzied fleeing, leaning back against the door as you catch your breath. That monster… something must be done about it. It’ll destroy the entire palace! You have to warn-

Satori. She’s here, standing in front of you, and she doesn’t seem happy. “Of course I’m not happy. You were trespassing in the Underground Geyser Center, along with the nuclear furnace!” You don’t understand a word of that, you have more important things on your mind. “Like what?” You have to warn her! “Warn me about what?”

“A Forgotten Beast!” You start, “A raven twisted into humanoid form! It has a stone leg and a metal arm that-“

“You’ve met Okuu, of course you have…” O…kuu? Is that its name? “Yes, and she is one of my pets.” That… that thing is her pet!? “Yes, and I’d appreciate it if you didn’t think so rudely of her.” You… you don’t… “Calm down. She won’t chase after you, not while she’s working. She’s quite docile, as long as she isn’t interrupted in the middle of her work.”

You don’t know what to say. “How about you start with an apology, for trespassing. And while you’re at it, swear that you’ll never do it again.”

“Er, yes, ah… I apologize for trespassing into the… furnace, as you called it. And I do sware on mah beard to never do so again.”

“Hm… again, you’re completely sincere about this… very well then. I think that’s all for today. Why don’t you go back to your room to rest, or maybe take a bath? I’ll send for you when dinner’s ready.”

That’s… quite forgiving of her. Trespassing is a serious offense in dwarven culture. Still, you seem to have some free time now, and now you know where you don’t belong. Perhaps you should…

[] Rest
[] Clean Self

[X] Clean Self

Make sure to use the soap from the clinic first.

[x] Clean Self

[X] Clean Self

Preferably with soap; this dwarf needs some happy thoughts.

[X] Clean Self

Let's hope there are soapmakers around here. And lye makers, and wood burners...

And that no one built a fifteen or more z-level statue out of all the soap. Happens more often than you might think.

[X] Clean Self

>“How about you start with an apology, for trespassing. And while you’re at it, swear that you’ll never do it again.”
Wait, [ETHIC:TRESPASSING:PUNISH_REPRIMAND]? That's elven behavior! There won't be any soap.

>>12776
And we have to look more carefully at our food at dinner as well.
Might want to avoid any kind of meat...

[X] Clean Self

[X] Clean self.
After a scare like that, one must clean oneself.

[X] Clean Self

“P’rhaps I will…” You say to Satori, before turning to leave. Between the heat of that “furnace” and running up an uncountable number of stairs, you’ve worked up quite the sweat. A bath would do wonders for you now. You start walking, and it is only after a few minutes that you realize that you don’t know where the water source is for your bath. You’d assume that there’s a well somewhere, but this palace is quite large, and you don’t want to go somewhere you’re not allowed again.

Your questions are answered when you hear a mewling from below. You look down and spot a cat by your feet. It looks up at you, and then gestures its head forward, all before taking off down the corridor. This is a new experience for you. You’re pretty sure that cat told you to follow. Still, you’ve seen enough craziness by now that you just nod your head and follow.

You are lead to another outdoor area, this one separate from the courtyard. The ground here is mostly smoothed stone, around a large pool of water. There are shelves along a nearby wall holding towels, buckets, and soaps. That at least clarifies that Satori isn’t an elf. Elves hate soap, for some reason.

You mutter a quiet thanks to the cat, which mewls and leaves the bath area. Well, nothing to be done but get to it. You strip off your armor and your undergarments, leaving you in nothing but your beard. You take a bucket from one of the shelves, filling it with water from the pool. The water certainly looks clean, and when you dump it over your head, you note that it’s also quite hot! It’s a relaxing sort of heat, one that you enjoy immensely. You lather up some soap and wash yourself down, before rinsing it all off with another bucket of water.

That was quite refreshing, but it kind of left you wanting more. You look at the pool of water before you. You peer down into it, trying to get a measure of how deep it is. It doesn’t seem that deep, but you can’t tell for certain. You must be mad for even considering this. Entering such a pool of water, when you can’t even swim? Still, the hot water…

You decide to take the plunge, as it were. You sit yourself down on the edge of the pool, and slide yourself in. Much to your pleasure, the pool is not that deep, and you find that you can stand with your mouth and nose above the water level. Much to your greater pleasure, the pool water is just as hot as it was in the bucket. It’s intensely relaxing. You lean back against the wall of the pool, and feel content to stay here all day.

Sadly, it seems that you can’t. After a time, you hear a mewling from behind your head. Turning around reveals a cat standing by the pool. It gestures with its head again, indicating for you to get out and put your clothes on. You sigh and start to pull yourself out of the pool. As you do, the cat turns away, as if giving you some privacy. You’ve never seen a cat behave like this before. Then again you’ve never seen a cat for a very long period of time.

You dry yourself off, don your clothes and armor again, and follow the cat once more. It leads you back into the palace, through the somewhat familiar halls, and to a dining hall near the kitchen. Here you find, in addition to the actual dining table, bowls spread all across the ground, with numerous cats and birds eating from each one. You can’t help but note that they’re all black cats and ravens. Still, you ignore this bizarre sight, and head for the table, where Satori and another is already sitting.

It’s the raven girl.

You’re about to cry in shock, but then you spot the glare Satori is giving you. It immediately tells you to calm down and not cause a disturbance. You swallow your screams and slowly approach the table, never taking your eyes off of “Okuu”. Now that you’re looking at her, you can’t help but note a few difference about her. That orange metal rod is gone, as is the stone foot, replaced with an ordinary one. She also isn’t attacking you on sight, like the last time you saw her.

“Hi! I’m Okuu! Miss Satori told me about you!” She starts, beaming at you with a large smile. It’s hard to imagine that this girl was trying to kill you some time ago.

“Er… greetins, m’name’s Datan Darùdnish.” You reply, still on guard.

“Calm down already.” Satori starts, looking at you. “I’ve already told you, she won’t harm you now.” It’s not very reassuring, but there’s not much else you can do about it.

Satori looks around for a moment, before gazing out into the field of animals that surrounds the table. “It seems Orin doesn’t want to join us at the table…”

“Unyuu? Why not?” The raven – Okuu – replies.

“It seems she’s having a bit too much fun right now.”

“Eh, she’ll eat when she wants to.” You add. Dwarves never had a set time for eating. It was always ‘whenever you’re hungry, grab some food and a table’.

“Hm…” Is all Satori says at first. “Well regardless, let’s eat.”

You look down at the food in front of you. It appears to be some sort of fish, cooked in a manner unfamiliar to you. It’s joined by vegetables of some kind, and… you’ve never seen this stuff. It appears to be some kind of soup, but the stock is…

“They’re noodles.” Satori clarifies for you. You don’t know what “noodles” are, but you’re willing to give them a try. You dig in to your meal, and by dig in I mean you tear into it. You didn’t realize how hungry you are. And the food is… quite delicious, actually. You’ve never tasted anything quite like this before, but it’s all rather enjoyable.

Satori and Okuu both stare at you before they eventually start eating as well. Well, Satori does, Okuu needs to be told to start eating before her food gets cold. The first few moments of eating pass by in silence. Then Okuu looks over at you and speaks.

“So where are you from, Datan?”

You’re about to answer her when Satori interrupts you, “Don’t talk with your mouth full.” You give her a hard stare before swallowing down your food.

“Ahm from Atölcog, one of the finest fortresses in Orid Tadin.”

“Ooh, a fortress!” Okuu responds, eyes alight with wonder. “With really big walls and towers that you shoot at people from?”

“Aye, battlements manned by the finest military the world had ever seen. “ You would know, you were part of that military.

“You’re quite proud of your military, was it really that impressive?” Satori asks. In truth, your squad didn’t see much action. Your squad was a melee squad, rounded up from the leftovers of those who didn’t have proper jobs to do. It was the marksdwarves squads that saw most of the action. The fort’s entrance was designed specifically with them in mind. Your squad was thrown together to act as a last resort should all else fail. All of your battle experience came from sparring with your squadmates. And that one fight with the demons. “I see…so even in your world, ranged combat was preferred.”

“Well, the manager preferred it as ‘is main form o’ defense. ‘E’d also devise complicated traps to try and kill invaders without havin to put dwarves at risk. They usually didn’t work.” You never quite understood the dwarf’s obsession with complicated traps and devices. You never asked him about them though.

By this time the three of you have finished your meals. Satori takes your plates and heads off to the kitchen with them. You are left alone with Okuu, in a room filled with cats and ravens, with nothing to do.

[] Sleep
[] Fill Waterskin
[] Socialize
-[] About what? (Write-in)

[X] Socialize

We're in the dining room, a.k.a. meeting hall, because there's no statue garden or zoo around.
Only two things are done in the meeting all. Socializing and parties, and I don't see any Oni around here so that kind of narrows it down.

[x] Fill Waterskin
Boooooooze.

[X] Socialize.
This story keeps on being excellent.

[X] Socialize
-[X] Cheese making. Ask about cows.

[X] Socialize
-[X] The Palace, what's it like?

[x] Socialize

Datan Darùdnish has made a friend lately.

[X] Socialize
-[X] Booze

[x] >>12808

[X] Socialize
-[X] Booze

Datan Darùdnish has been very happy lately. He made a friend lately. He had a truly decadent drink lately. He talked with somebody lately. He had a fine meal lately. He had a wonderful soapy bath recently. He was glad to have punishment reduced recently. He has been attacked lately. He was irritated by a sun lately.

[X] Socialize
-[X] Cheese making. Ask about cows.

Let's talk shop.

[x] Socialize
-[x] MAGMA

It can solve all your problems. Including lack of conversational topics.

Seems like we could include all the different socialize votes in one conversation if you wanted to, Sulac.

>He is a worshipper of Udar and a worshipper of Dostob.

I'm curious about them, are you willing to give us their basic information?

Lacking anything else to do, you default to the old dwarven standby of finding a guy and talking to them. Unfortunately, the only person here to talk to is Okuu, and you’re not too keen on that after your initial encounter with her. Well, maybe you can smooth things over with her. The only question is, how do you break the ice?

“So, eh… got any cows down ‘ere?”

“What?”

No, that was dumb. You’re dumb. Why did you say that. Well, nothing to do now except follow through with it.

“Yanno, cows. Great, big, lazy beasts that do nuthin’ except eat grass all day.”

“Ohhh. I think I saw something like that in the city once!”

Well, apparently there’s a city nearby, but it sounds like there aren’t any cows here at the palace. It looks like your cheese making talent will once again go to waste. Now you’re a little curious though.

“So… what do yeh have in this palace, anyway?”

“Oh, we have lots of things! Like cats!” You figured that already. “And hell ravens, like me!”

“Hell… ravens?”

“Yeah! Born from the darkness of Hell and all that!” That sounds… incredibly demonic.

“Whut about magma? Yeh got any o’ that here?” The blood of the earth always was fascinating to you. Then again you’re a dwarf, it’s fascinating to all of them, really.

“Magma? No… I don’t think we’re near any volcanic vents… Oh, but we recently had some modern amenities installed!”

“Modern… what?”

“Pipes! We had pipes put in that bring water to all over the palace! And not just any water, heated water! Or cold water, if you really wanted.”

That sounds interesting, though you’re not certain what purpose it would serve. In-palace waterfalls, perhaps?

“We even have electricity here! Although I’m not certain what we’re gonna do with it…”

“Elec- what?”

“Electricity! The set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and flow of electric charge. The movement of electric charge is known as an electric current, the intensity of which is usually measured in amperes. Current can consist of any moving charged particles; most commonly these are electrons, but any charge in motion constitutes a current.”

What. You don’t even begin to understand what she’s talking about. Current, like… a river? And charges that…

No, you don’t understand, and she’s speaking far too quickly as well. She’s talking like she’s reading a well-rehearsed script, and she shows no signs of slowing down. She drones on and on about concepts and physics that don’t even begin to enter your mind. You need to find something else to talk about… but what?

Ah, of course…

“So how ‘bout the booze here?”

“The inductor is a conductor, usually a coil of wire, that- what?”

“Booze, alcohol, whaddya got down ‘ere?”

“Oh, that? It’s usually sake, although Satori has imported some more exotic wines for herself.”

“Sake?”

“Yeah, it’s like, a rice wine, I think?” Rice? You’ve never heard of that plant. “I don’t really know much about alcohol, even though everyone here drinks it. If you really want to know more, you should ask some of the oni in the city.”

“Oni?”

“Yeah, they’re these big guys. They’ve got horns and stuff. They’re super strong and they love alcohol. They also love a good party. And contests, too!” These oni sound like your kind of people. You’ll have to try and meet some of them eventually.

You let out a yawn. You’re getting drowsy. And when you’re drowsy, there’s only thing that can fix that. “Well, ‘sbeen fun talkin’ wit’ yeh, Okuu. But I need to git some sleep.” You turn and start to walk off, Okuu letting out a quiet “Aww…” as you leave.

As you walk towards your room, you take the time to gather your thoughts. Satori is… strange, though you can’t place your finger on how. Was it because she forgave you so easily for trespassing? Is it that… “mind reading” thing she spoke of? You’re not certain, but she did treat your wounds, so maybe she can be trusted.

Okuu on the other hand scares you somewhat. When you first saw her she had been intending to kill you with strange magicks that you had never seen before. And then later, at supper, she was perfectly ordinary and happy, if a little excitable. That’s not normal. You still don’t trust her yet, and you definitely can’t call her a friend yet.

And then there are the cats. You’re not certain if it’s all the cats or just one that you keep running into. But they seem… unusually intelligent. You’ve never owned a cat yourself, sure, but this level of intelligence just seems odd. Cats are clever, but this seems to be a bit much.

You enter your room, the same one you woke up in earlier this day. You don’t even know what time it is. Although that never mattered to a dwarf. They sleep whenever they got sleepy, and that was that. You drop yourself onto the mattress, not even bothering to remove any of your armor. You’ve long since gotten used to sleeping in it, even if the breastplate is a little tight from the bending. It doesn’t take you long before you drop off to sleep…

[] Udar
[] Dostob
[] Armok

>>12836
>I'm curious about them, are you willing to give us their basic information?

Funny you should ask that...

[x] Armok

[X] Udar

Our arms are OK, let's try another god.

[x] Armok

[X] Dostob

No clue who this is, but no one's voted for him (her?) yet.

[X] Armok
Forever a slave.

[X] Armok
This can only lead to trouble.

[X] Udar

Dream sequence time? Dream sequence time.

[X] Armok

Slaves to Armok, God of Blood: Chapter 2: Dwarf Fortress
Histories of Gluttony and Labor

[X] Udar

Let's find out who the mystery god(s) are.

[X] Udar

Yay, mystery option!

[X] Udar

Sounds like a fun dude. Armok is always all "I'm the God of Blood and you are my slaves!" and all that.


>not understanding how Okuu can go from "murder all dorfs" to "bubbly happy"
Bro, do you even tantrum?

Sulac cancels Write: Interrupted by Tie Vote.

I was not expecting Udar to make such a comeback like that.

>>12857
>Bro, do you even tantrum?

There's a difference between tantrum-murder and straight murder-murder. Dwarves won't flee from tantruming dwarves, after all.

[X] Armok

There. Tie-breaker.

It is placed on top of an anvil, for it needs to be reforged. But it is not a weapon, no sword or axe, nor is it armor. It is a world, a small world containing mountains and rivers, oceans and forests, deserts and swamps. But the life in this world has grown dull. It has spread out from where it originated from, claiming land for its own. The harsh wilderness has been conquered, the beasts of old, slain. Life has become peaceful, and in that peace, stagnant. And in that stagnation, it has become boring. So it needs to be reforged.

A hammer is brought down upon the world, and in an instant, it is forever changed. Mountains are crushed, hills are flattened as new ones pop up elsewhere in the world. Another hammer strike, and forests are destroyed, replaced by deserts. Again, and trees spring up from the swamplands. Again and again the world is changed with each strike of the hammer.

Eventually it stops, and he pauses to admire his handiwork. Perhaps this world would hold his attention for a longer time. He stands in darkness, no light around save for the dim glow of the forge, and the weak light provided by a ball of fire floating above the world. He leans down, and breathes over the world, instilling into it life. Perhaps it will hold his attention.

Perhaps it would, if another light didn’t appear a distance behind him, catching him unawares.

----------

You awaken, and immediately begin to rise out of your bed. You try and focus on the dream you just had but no, it’s already slipping away from you. Something about a forge and hammers, and… no, it is gone now. You shake your head as you climb out of your bed. You never could remember your dreams, nothing off about that.

As you exit your room, you spot a cat waiting outside the door. It mewls at you, nods its head down the hall, and then takes off in that direction. Well, it looks like you’re expected to follow again. You oblige the cat and follow after.

You are led to a room filled with books. More importantly, it contains Satori, sitting at a desk with one of the books in front of her. This must be her office, then. She turns to look at you.

“Ah, good.” She starts, “Orin brought a few more corpses while you slept. I’d like you to take care of them.”

“Thas’ it?” Is your reply.

“I have another task for you, but that can come later. Take care of this first.” She turns back to her book, although that… third eye continues to look straight at you.

Well, you supposed that’s that then.

[] Dump Item
[] Fill Waterskin
[] Socialize

Wow, this update came to me fast. Almost as if by divine inspiration...

[x] Fill Waterskin

Well, time for a nice, fortifying drink before a hard day's work!

[x] Socialize

Dwarves are highly social animals.

[X] Dump Item

No corpses in the fortress!

[x] Fill Waterskin

We do need alcohol to get through the working day.

[x] Dump Item

[X] Dump item
It was tempting to make it a three-way tie though.

[x] Dump corpse


Silly dorf. Filling waterskins is only for when you're on active military duty.

[x] Fill Waterskin

When was the last time we drank booze? A whole day ago?! By Armok's bloody tears, better get a drink before we go mad!

[X] Dump item

[x] Fill Waterskin
-[x] Dump corpse

First things first.

[x]>>12947
Indeed! Can't pass a workday without booze after all

You turn and depart for the courtyard. It’s best to get this out of the way now, especially if Satori has even more work for you afterwards. You navigate the halls, getting a tad bit lost along the way. You still haven’t fully learned the layout of this palace yet, and it bothers you that you haven’t. You were able to navigate Atölcog practically by memory alone, although you did live there for several years. It’s only your second day here, after all.

Still, you eventually find your way back to the courtyard. Four corpses sit in a pile in the corner. That’s significantly less than yesterday, although it only has been one day. You suppose Orin could only bring so much in a day. That does bother you a bit; it seems this Orin fellow is the only other worker here in the palace. Well, her and Okuu. Did something happen here?

Well, there’s no sense in thinking when there’s work to be done. You grab one of the corpses and start hauling. One at a time, just like always. Ensures that the job will get done… eventually. At least, it’s one at a time for such large items. You know that the farmers would run around scooping up plants and seeds into their barrels and bags by the dozen without rest. Regardless, there’s only four corpses here, so it doesn’t take long for you to dump all of them. You set about returning to Satori’s office.

“Good, you’ve finished. You work rather quickly.” She states as you enter.

“So whut was this other job yeh have for me?”

In response, she takes out a satchel, and beckons you to take it. “You arrived at a convenient time. I’m running low on food for the pets, and need someone to go to the nearby city to restock.”

“Yeh want me to… leave the palace?” You wonder if you’ve done something to offend her.

“It’s nothing like that. Normally I would send Orin to do this, but since you’re here, I might as well have you handle it for her. Besides, you should probably meet the locals.”

You wordlessly take the satchel, shaking it a bit. From the clinking sound it makes, it seems to be filled with money. You’re still not sure what to think of this. You’re sociably of course, every dwarf is, but you’ve never done any trading before. That was always a noble thing, for the mayor and the broker. You’d think that Satori herself would take care of this task.

“I’m… not particularly liked in the city. Most people don’t like my kind.” Well. You would say that’s quite rude of them, but you have to admit, you’re not too fond of elves. But then those pansies kind of deserve it, what with constantly making short jokes about you and not liking how you chop down trees.

“Yes, it’s sort of like that.” Satori adds. “In any case, I’d appreciate it if you’d take care of this immediately…”

“Er… right.” You nod, though you can’t help but realize that you don’t even know where this city is.

“Oh, it’s not too far. Let me show you.” She stands up, and leaves the office, beckoning you to follow her. You oblige, and she leads you through the palace to a set of large, double doors, most likely the front entrance. You would think a girl of her size would have difficulty opening such large doors, but she manages it with complete ease.

Stepping through the doors, you see far off in the distance, numerous lights coming from numerous buildings. You can’t say anything about the architecture from this distance, but it is most definitely some kind of city there. You also can’t help but notice that the massive underground cavern you’re in also encompasses this city as well. You’ve never heard of humans building a city underground before.

“It’s not a human city. You’d be extraordinarily lucky to find a human down here at all, really.” You hmph. If it’s not a human city, then what kind is it? “You’ll find out soon enough. Oh, and just a warning: you’ll be fine as long as you don’t start any trouble. If you do… well.” You wave her off. You’re not in nearly a bad enough mood to cause trouble right now. “Glad that you’re content enough to not start anything then.” She remarks dryly.

You give her a short wave as you head off to the city, coin purse tucked away with your flask. Now that you think about it, you still haven’t refilled that yet, despite your mind almost constantly reminding you to do so. And you haven’t had a drink yet today. Maybe you can find something to drink in the city.

It’s a boring walk, made in near-total silence. Some ravens fly over your head as you walk – are they hell ravens? You pay them no mind; as long as they don’t bother you, you won’t bother them. The walk takes some time though. The palace is quite a distance away from the city. Usually such important places would be right in the center of the city, but then, these apparently aren’t humans you’re dealing with.

Finally, you arrive in the city. You stand in what appears to be a residential area. There aren’t many people around here. But you can hear the sounds of socializing and community further in. You follow the noise, hoping to find some kind of market district to purchase the food for the pets. As you draw closer, you pass by more and more people, people of all sorts. Burly men with horns, thin women with scarily long nails, winged fairies flitting about above you, and you even see a child in a bucket hopping around on their own.

You arrive in what must be the market district now, judging by the stands set up around you. You look around at your surroundings, taking everything in. You see numerous stands offering food set up; as your eyes settle on a forge and anvil set up, you remember you bent armor; you spot a raised platform where a particular amount of noise is coming from, and in addition to those selling food to be brought home, there are stands with benches, offering to food to be eaten then and there.

It’s a lot to take in.

[] Trade
[] Blacksmith
[] Commotion
[] Drink
-[] Eat too, probably

Apologies for the wait. Blame a combination of classwork, writer's block, and skin infections.

[x] Blacksmith
Armour repairs!

[x] Drink

We've not had a drink since we woke up after all

[x] Commotion

Maybe it's a party!

[x] Drink

Gotta scratch that alcohol itch. Hopefully Satori gave us some extra money.

[X] Trade

We're Broker of Kosothberubal, like it or not, and brokers that go On Break when they should be trading tend to have Unfortunate Accidents.

[X] Drink
-[X] Eat too, probably

[x] Blacksmith

[x] Drink


>>13041
Only if the caravan manages to leave before the Trader goes back on duty. As long as they catch the foreign traders, they stay.
A skilled trader is a valuable member of society (unlike e.g. nobles).

[x] Drink

Dwarves need drink to get through the day. As long as we don't spend too much, it should be fine.

[x] Drink

We need alcohol to get through the working day.

As you look around, you find yourself having trouble focusing on anything in particular. Which means only one thing: you need a drink. You look around once more after coming to this decision, and head over to one of the food stands, chosen at random. Any will do, as long as they offer booze. As you sit on the bench, the owner, one of the burly horned men, nods to you.

“What’ll it be?”

“A strong drink. I have a headache.”

“Anything in particular?”

You mull the question over. You don’t know what they serve here, and you don’t feel like asking. “Yer strongest drink.”

The man shrugs, and turns away to get your drink. After a moment, he turns back around, placing a large cup filled with liquid in front of you, naming a price. You search the coin purse Satori gave you, looking for the proper change. Fortunately the coins have their value stamped on them. You pay the man with little difficulty, and take your drink.

The drink is pleasantly warm, and you find the burn in your throat soothing as you drink. You take the time to slowly enjoy the drink. Its flavor isn’t quite like anything you’ve had before. You soon find your faculties slowly returning to you. The noise from that platform even seems less intrusive than before. Although that could just be the noise level dying down on its own.

As you’re almost finished with your drink, someone takes a seat next to you. It’s definitely a woman, and a tall one at that. But she can’t be Elven, she’s far too muscular in build for that. She also has a single, red horn jutting out of her forehead. That’s distinctly un-Elven as well.

“The usual, Hoshiguma?” The man running the stand asks her.

“Of course, Daichi.” She responds. As the man, Daichi you assume, turns to fill her order, she turns to look at you. “Huh. Never seen anyone like you before. You new in town?”

“Mhm. Name’s Datan Darùdnish.” You answer.

“That’s definitely not a local name. You’re not from around here, aren’t you?”

“That I ain’t. Is it obvious?”

“Very. Where are you from?”

“Atölcog. In Orid Tadin.” You quickly add that second part in, seeing how you might not even be on Orid Tadin anymore.

“Never heard of the place. Are you an outsider then?”

“I s’ppose I am.”

“Interesting… I’ve always wondered how outsider humans match up compared to locals.”

“I ain’t no human if that’s what you’re saying.” You feel a tad bit offended that you could ever be mistaken for a human.

“You’re not human?” You shake your head. “Then what are you?”

“I’m a dwarf.”

“A dwarf, you say. Very interesting… I’ve heard of dwarves…” Her eyes have lit up, and she boasts a scary grin on her face. “They say that dwarves are champs at holding their booze…”

That sets you a bit at ease, though you’re not sure if you like where this is going. “Are ye meaning what I think ye’re meaning?”

“What do you say? Wanna compete against an oni?”

[] Accept
[] Decline

[x] Accept

As Yuugi collapses under the table, we'll just have a good stretch and get on our way.

[c] Accept.

As if we can refuse.

[x] Accept

Can Dwarf's even get drunk?

[x] Accept

Ahahaha we're gonna get so fired.
Worth it.

[x] Accept

[x] Accept

Like it's even a choice.

[x] Accept
Not enough Yuugi in stories these days. Let's impress her.

[X] Decline

Token decline. Before we lose, and lose all the money Satori gave us anyways on drinks.

[x] Oh, would you look at the time; It's time to Duel!

[X]Accept
Maybe we should have done the shopping first but whatever.

[x] Accept

As long as you're buying Yuugi. We don't have the money to spend.

[X]Accept, as long as she pays our tab when she loses.

Because Toady may have programmed just about every pointless little thing into the game, but not the ability to get drunk. It is literally impossible for us to lose!

You could have declined, but the thought never crossed your mind. She challenged you, and it is only fair that you accept. As large as she is, she is facing against a dwarf, and, as she herself admitted, dwarves are champions at holding their liquor. And you might have accepted just so you’d have an excuse to get completely smashed.

Daichi places two shallow bowls in front of you, and then pours a clear liquid into each. Hoshiguma takes her bowl, and quickly downs the drink. You look at your bowl. An unusual vessel for alcohol, but who are you to judge? You take yours and drink. Daichi refills both of your bowls, and you both drink again, this time at the same time.

Three drinks, four drinks, five, ten. You start to lose track of the number of drinks the two of you have taken. At least twenty by now, and this Hoshiguma lady shows no sign of stopping. But then, neither do you.

Time keeps passing as the two of you drink. You must be at around fifty drinks now, and still neither of you show any weakness. A crowd has formed around you two, in awe of the sight. They seem more surprised by your tenacity than hers.

Finally, at around eighty drinks, you feel the alcohol start to actually affect you. You feel particularly merry, and your vision blurs slightly. But you can’t back down now. This woman… she’s something amazing to bring a dwarf to inebriation. You continue drinking, though each drink becomes harder and harder, as muscles become less responsive to your thoughts. You spare a glance at her while you drink, and you find her skin to be particularly flushed. She must be succumbing as well. You just need to last a little longer.

One hundred and twenty-eight drinks. That is how far you go before you finally fall. You are still conscious, but you can’t bring yourself to drink anymore. Above you, Hoshiguma stands, shakily holding her arm up in triumph. She sways a bit in place, clearly inebriated for all to see. The crowd applauds, and she clumsily claps her hands as well. It feels like they’re not celebrating her victory, but your determination. That is your last thought before you slip into unconsciousness.

----------

He observes the world before him. It is tiny, practically miniscule, but filled with so much. Vampires and ghosts, rabbits and gods, men and monsters, all of them. And yet, despite such a varied population, it is a peaceful place.

This will not do.

It would be rude to reforge another’s world, but perhaps he does not need to. Perhaps all it needs is his personal touch. He looks around the world, searching for an adequate starting point. The mansion by the lake is already home to their brethren, perhaps it would serve them well? But the inhabitants of the mansion are powerful and commanding; they would curb their outbreak with ease.

Then perhaps this fortress on the mountain. Home to a race of birdmen, they will do little do deter weapons of iron and great beasts of strength. Yes, it is decided. This is where they will begin, and they will spread from this mountain like wildfire across the land.

He reaches out with his mighty hand, intent on bringing them into this realm. But his hand stops when it touches a barrier, protecting the land. This is hardly an obstacle. A little pressure, and the barrier cracks and shatters before his might. But it is a powerful barrier, and well-made at that. It does not break completely; only a single large hole where his influence pierced it. A hole rapidly repairing itself, he notices.

He finishes his task quickly, then. A single touch, and they will rise. They will emerge from the shadows, the alleys, the darkness. And they will conquer. Or at the very least, they will stir up trouble, send the locals into a frenzy to defend themselves from this new threat. And it will be very Fun to watch…

----------

You awaken in the palace. At least, you think it’s the palace. The bed is certainly fancy enough to be in the palace. You had another strange dream, though you can’t for the life of you remember it. Not with this splitting migraine you have. Why do you have such a colossal headache? What were you doing yesterday? You try to think, but this headache!

The door opens, a voice coming from it, “You’re finally awake, I see. I was starting to grow worried.” It’s Satori… you think it’s Satori. “Yes, it’s me. Tell me, what were you thinking, challenging Yuugi Hoshiguma to a drinking contest?”

You try and think back to yesterday, though your headache makes it difficult. You remember a woman named Hoshiguma. You… you faced her in a drinking contest, yes. Wait… she challenged you to a contest, not the other way around! “It does not matter. And I don’t care if you can apparently outdrink a tengu, I thought I told you not to start anything.”

You also can’t help but feel like you’ve forgotten something. “Yes, you did. Your errand, the one I sent you out on.” Ah yes. The… the… “The food for the pets.” Right! That. You’d be able to remember things better if you had a drink in you, honestly.

“You… you just woke up from a four-day alcohol induced coma, and the first thing you want is more alcohol!?” Wait… what was that first bit? “You were unconscious for four days! I was starting to think you’d never wake up!” Oh…oh dear.

Satori sighs, “At least Yuugi was kind enough to buy the food in your place after she brought you back. She said it was out of respect for a ‘worthy adversary’.” Well, that was awfully kind of her. “Yes, and as for you, I’m cutting you off.”

What.

“You heard me. No more alcohol for you.”

She can’t be serious.

“I am. Be grateful I’m not kicking you out. Though I doubt you’d have trouble finding a place to stay in the city, if you can drink like a tengu…” You’re not sure what she means by that. “I don’t have any work for you at the moment, so just… do whatever. As long as it doesn’t involve alcohol in any way. And you can take your hangover as a lesson in obeying orders.” With that she turns and leaves.

So, you have nothing to do, and a splitting migraine to deal with.

[] Drink
[] No Job
[] Socialize
-[] With whom?
-[] About what?

[X] Socialize
-[X] Okuu

Or anyone who isn't Satori, really, because talking to her might not be the best idea at the moment.


Well, dorfs can drink water if they have to... But lets see how Satori likes a dwarven tantrum, caused by sobriety.
I'm sure the oni will love him though. Hardcore enough drinker to get one of the four Devas of the Mountain pretty badly drunk, and dear Armok he will fight when he finally goes full tantrum.
Dwarven brawling is not for the faint of heart, because they will grab/punch/scratch/kick/bite just about any part of any body, even in ways that should be physically impossible.
A dwarven fighter can grab your third toe on your left foot, lock your right wrist, scratch you in stomach, kick you in your left upper arm, punch you in the third front tooth (in your lower jaw) and bite you in the right lower leg. ALL AT THE SAME TIME!

Once they've seen him fight, they'll probably declare him honorary oni because he drinks like a drainpipe and he'll fight like A Hidden Fun Thing, only his violence is distilled and compressed into a quarter of their size.

[X] Datan Darùdnish is throwing a tantrum!

This is what happens when you make a dwarf sober.

Also, oni are not tengu.

>>13122
No, they're not but they can still drink almost as well as oni. Just like our dorf just did.

>>13122
We just got into a drinking contest with an Oni, lost, forgot about the errand we were sent on, and spent 4 days in a drunken coma. Can we not act like a petulant child now?

[x] Socialize
-[x] With Satori
--[x] About alcohol
Explain to her exactly what happens to a fortress without booze.

>>13124
...No?
We're a dorf.

The fact we have higher thought at all is a miracle.

>>13120
[X]Hangover? Whats that?
But more seriously.
[x] Socialize
-[x] With Satori
--[x] About alcohol
This works.

[X] Datan Darùdnish is throwing a tantrum!

>>13128
my actual vote [X] Socialize
-[X] Okuu

[x] Socialize
-[x] With Satori
--[x] About alcohol

Alcohol is a necessity for a dwarf. It's part of our biology, not just an addiction. But yeah, Oni drinking contests are a bad idea.

[x] Socialize
-[x] With Satori
--[x] About alcohol
Because you cannot take the blood away from a dorfs body, it might go insane

[x] Socialize
-[x] With Satori
--[x] About alcohol

We almost literally need booze to live.

>>13144
Almost?

[x] Socialize
-[x] With Satori
--[x] About alcohol

[X] Socialize
-[X] Okuu
-[X] Anything other than Alcohol

No, this cannot stand. You can’t take booze away from a dwarf, it’s unethical! It’s cruel and unusual! It’s absolutely torture! You have to do something about this. There’s only one thing you really can do, you figure, and that’s to complain to a noble. Someone in charge. But it seems like the only noble around here is Satori herself. But if you ever want to drink again, you’ll have to.

So you march yourself down to Satori’s office. Or you try to, anyway, this blasted headache makes it hard to concentrate. But you are a dwarf, you won’t let a migraine stop you! You finally reach the door to her office, and dramatically slam it open, bellowing as you do.

“Yeh can’t do this to me, Satori!”

You hear a long sigh from within, and the chair turns around, Satori sitting in it with a book in her lap. “Of course I can’t. Alright, let’s hear it.” She stares at you with a tired look on her face, though her third eye is as attentive as ever.

“Yeh can’t take alcohol away from a dwarf! Yeh can’t!”

“And why can’t I?”

“Dwarves need alcohol! It fuels our bodies, our very spirits! A dwarf without booze loses his will to work! His body slows down to a snail’s pace, he can’t focus on what’s in front of him, he can’t move his limbs right!”

“Are you saying that you would become completely incapable of any kind of action without alcohol?”

“Aye!”

“And you genuinely believe this. Even the oni don’t need alcohol to perform their everyday tasks.”

“And that’s not all! Not only does a dwarf loses his faculties without alcohol, his mood plummets as well!”

“Are you implying that you’ll throw a tantrum if you don’t get your alcohol.”

“A tantrum is no joke! All it takes is one, just one unhappy dwarf among them to break someone’s favorite statue in a fit of rage. Then the statue owner gets upset, and accidentally kills someone’s pet dog! And then the dog’s owner, who happens to be a woodcutter, decides to use his axe to cut dwarves instead, and the next thing yeh know, everyone is trying to kill each other and the fortress goes up in flames! It’s happened, Satori!”

“That implies to presence of multiple dwarves. You are the only one here. I think that my pets and I would be able to handle you if you became so out of control.”

“Yeh… you…” But before you can continue, you heard a mewling from below. A cat wanders past you, trotting straight up to Satori. It looks up at her, and she looks down at it. There is a brief moment of silence, before Satori lets out another sigh.

“Fine, have your alcohol.” Your heart lifts at her words. “But, my wine cellar will not last you forever, especially not at the rate that you can drink. You were in a military, you were taught to ration, yes?” You nod to her. “Then make that wine last you as long as possible. Do not drink any more than is needed. Am I understood?”

“Aye, Satori! Thank yeh!” And with that, you turn and run off for the wine cellar, leaving Satori before she can speak further.

----------

Ah, you needed that drink. You honored your words to Satori by taking it slow with the drink, letting the alcohol slowly work its magic on your headache. You didn’t even drain the entire barrel, which you find remarkable, given how small it is. You only drank about three-quarters of it. You’re tempted to just finish it off, but you remembered what Satori told you about rationing.

And so here you are now, wandering the halls of the palace, wondering what to do. You don’t have any work to do, so you suppose you could drop to the old standby of socialization. Although you don’t know who to socialize with. Okuu, maybe? Perhaps Satori will allow you to go back to that city, the people there seemed rather nice. As long as you don’t get into another drinking contest, you suppose.

You pause, as something has caught your attention. It is a conversation, by the sound of it, though you can’t make out the words. Of course, you could easily follow the voices and find out what’s going on. One of them even sounds like Satori’s…

[] Ignore
[] Eavesdrop
[] Interrupt

[X] Eavesdrop
-[X] If caught, casually offer the remaining wine to them.

[x] Eavesdrop

We're a sneaky dwarf.

[x] Eavesdrop
Koishi time?

[x] Interrupt

>Implying Dwarves have any concept of privacy.

[x] Eavesdrop

We're just seeing if our employer needs any help, that's all.

[x] Interrupt

We have poor intuition.

[x] Interrupt
that went better than expected.

[x] Interrupt

Dwarves are anything but subtle.

[x] Interrupt

What could go wrong?

You follow the voices that you are hearing. As you walk along, you realize that you are approaching the front entrance of the palace. And as you walk, the voices get clearer, until you can make out what exactly they’re saying.

“I still don’t see why this is of any concern to me.” That is, undeniably, Satori speaking. But who is she speaking to? Okuu?

“It’s a concern to everyone!” No, that is definitely not Okuu’s voice. It’s a lot younger sounding, to your ears. “They’ve practically taken over the Tengu Fortress already, it won’t be long until they pour out into the Kappa Valley and into the shrine proper. And from there, who knows!”

“This palace is located deep underground, and behind a city full of oni and the other sealed youkai. Even if these creatures can defeat the tengu, there’s no way they could possibly stand up to the oni, especially not having to deal with the other youkai down here.”

You finally reach a door, likely the final obstacle between you and the two arguers. You take a moment to contemplate eavesdropping, but that just seems rude. So instead you open the door, marching straight into the room without heed.

On the other side, you find Satori, sitting on a chair at a table in the room. Standing across the table from her is a human woman. At least, you assume she’s human. The vivid green hair seems rather odd to you. Both of them look toward you as you enter, though the questionably human girl continues talking as she does.

“They have uncountable numbers, can the oni really fight against- is that a dwarf?”

You give her a wave and a “Hallo.”.

“You underestimate the power of the oni,” Satori responds, “And yes, that is a dwarf.”

“Why is there a dwarf here.”

“Good question. Why are you here, Datan?” Satori levels a glare at you.

You can only shrug. “I heard arguin’, so I came to have a look. Wha’s all the arguin’ about?”

The green-haired girl is apparently too stunned by your appearance to reply, so Satori responds instead. “Sanae Kochiya, that’s her there, is requesting aid against a sudden invading force of… what did you call them? Ah yes, goblins.”

Goblins!?

“Ah, right! Goblins! Well, the small ones, anyway. Dunno what to call the big hairy ones with horns and tusks. Hairy onis?”

Trolls, too!?

“…It seems that Datan knows what you’re talking about.” Satori remarks.

“Wait, he does?”

You nod your head, thinking. Goblins have always been a major threat back home. Sworn enemy to the dwarves, nay, enemy to all civilized life, goblins are naught but pure evil. Scum of the earth, they bring terror everywhere they go, and the dwarves have always exacted vengeance upon them in return.

“This is the first time I’ve heard of these goblins,” Satori remarks. “If they’re as terrible as you believe they are, they would have attempted to conquer Gensokyo ages ago.”

“I’m not lying!” Sanae shouts.

“I never said you were,” is Satori’s leveled response. “If they’re as violent and evil as you two make them out to be, then they must be a recent arrival in Gensokyo.”

“Whatever, they need to be exterminated! They’ve taken practically all of the Tengu Fortress in as little as three days! We need help! They don’t fight by the spellcard rules, so we have to respond in kind! We need Utsuho, she can wipe them off the face of the earth with her power!”

Utsuho?

Satori spares a glance at you, “Okuu is merely her nickname,” Before turning back to Sanae, “And I will not endanger my pets in a fight that does not concern them.”

“It is by the grace of Lady Kanako that she has her power, it is-“

“Grace she so mercifully extended without my permission. You remember what happened to Utsuho.”

“How dare you!”

The two ladies are at an impasse, neither one willing to back down from the argument. Maybe if you intervened?

[] Argue
-[] For Satori
-[] For Sanae
[] Nope

I ran out of pre-plot shenanigans. Time to barrel into the plot at high speed without warning!

[x] Argue
-[x] For yourself.
They're both idiots. We'll solve this problem with good old-fashioned dwarven ingenuity. And traps. Loooots of traps.
And if the Oni are as capable fighters as Satori thinks, we should take some of them to assist.
Yes, I do want Yuugi Route.

[X] There's a spark in your mind, and you Remember.
Remember the time a small crew of Dwarven miners broke through into an underground cavern, massive in size. Remember when the miners, lost in the dark, we're beset upon by Goblins. Remember the screams of your fellow Dwarves, and the sick laughter of the Goblins as they butchered your friends. Remember as the Militia Dwarves finally found you, and what was left of your friends, before the Goblins could finish you off. Remember little Vuleya, crying as she was dragged into the darkness, before the Militia Dwarves could save her.

You Remember the Goblins.

...

Where's your axe, Dwarf? There are GOBLINS to kill.

[x] Argue
-[x] For yourself.
-[x] Against Goblins.

Fuck Goblins.

>>13215
[X] THIS!!!

[x] >>13215

Epic write-in is Epic.

>>13219
>>13221
It kinda takes some liberties with the character's history.

[x] Argue
-[x] Against Goblins.

Why should we take sides here, when the gobbos are the true threat? We gotta put those green-skinned suckers in their place, we do!

[x] Argue
-[x] Against Goblins.

[x] Argue
-[x] Against Goblins.

We need to fortresstize the city from the overworld in the near future, nothing we don't want in should be getting in.

On another note, It would be funny to see Datan enter a Secretive Mood and Satori's reaction to his insanity.

>>13229

>Why should we take sides here, when the gobbos are the true threat? We gotta put those green-skinned suckers in their place, we do!

...Isn't that the same thing as arguing for Sanae? Sanae wants Satori's help in defeating them, Satori wants nothing to do with the situation and the 'Arguing for yourself' option is volunteering to take on the goblins ourself (possibly with Oni backup).

[x] Argue
-[x] For Sanae

Honestly, this is what arguing against the goblins boils down to. Let the little buggers multiply, and it's only a matter of time until they come down here.

Hey all, writer of epic write in. Apologies if it takes liberties with characters background, but this set up seems perfect for it.

When I tried Dwarf Fortress the first time, I did have most of my Dwarves set up as miners to open up an underground fortress faster.

Then I managed to open up a cavern filled with Goblins. And a Troll.

That killed everyone in my fortress, and was my shortest Dwarf Fortress game ever.

Here, I'm thinking when it became necessary, the Administrator of our Dorfs Fortress had his extra guys help with the digging and mining and such. And our Dorf was with an unlucky mining party that found a cavern, and was dwarf napped by Goblins.

Who violentlyand horrifically butchered several fellow Dwarves, before the Administrator managed to find them again with his Militia Dwarves.

Our Dorf, and maybe a few others, we're still alive when the then Militia Dwarves came to the rescue. But not before a young female Dwarf our Dwarf was sweet on got dragged into the dark by the Goblins.

I really Really REALLY hate Goblins. Made a write in for hating them even Harder.

Apologies if it isn't fit for the Character.

>"Remember little Vuleya"
>one word
Goblin Snatchers -> MAGMA

>Datan Darùdnish has become a Militia Captain.
[x] Argue
-[x] Against Goblins.


And Yuugi Route best route. ONLY ROUTE. Ok, maybe Suika too because they are both in similar "pocket" size. Damn... What will happene when he will see a FAIRY? "A Flying Child of Elf and Dwarf?? BLASPHEMY!"

[X] Argue for Sanae.

Or, rather, we go with whichever alternative ends with the most dead goblins.
Fuck the murderous, back-stabbing, baby-snatching little bastards.
Well, okay. Maybe that is a bit much. Most goblins aren't actually born out of wedlock, after all.


Also, Dear Armok! The Tengu, who are pretty militaristic and xenophobic, can't deal with trolls and goblins?
What happens when Gensokyo sees it's first Forgotten Beast?

>>13232
>>13233
>>13238
Sanae wants to hit the problem with a tactical nuke. None of you see anything wrong with using Okuu as a weapon?

>>13241

No, I personally want our Dorf to grab his Axe, something vaguely assembling armor, and then go slaughter goblins. Slaughter them Endlessly, in there Homes, like the festering little monsters Deserve.

Single dwarves have done more glorious things on there own, with less. This Dwarf at least knows where his enemy Is, and has a real weapon. Now its time to get to Work.

>>13241

Speaking as >>13232, my point has nothing to do with that. My point is that, as far as I can see, there are three options currently being chosen; Satori is for not getting involved, Sanae is for wiping out the goblins (through Okuu naturally, as she's the only help Satori can send other than us) and arguing for ourself is for heading out to kill them ourself (possibly recruiting Yuugi and some Oni to help).

If you pick 'Against Goblins', you are either voting to argue for Sanae or for yourself; which one isn't entirely clear from your posts, so I'd request that anyone voting for 'Against Goblins' to clarify their votes like >>13217 and >>13217 did.

If I'm missing something, feel free to explain it to me.

[X] Argue
- [X] For yourself
- [X] Against Goblins
-- [X] >>13215

>>13243
I did clarify. >>13213 is mine.

>>13245

I know. I fucked up my quoting;

>so I'd request that anyone voting for 'Against Goblins' to clarify their votes like >>13217 and >>13217 did.

was meant to be

>so I'd request that anyone voting for 'Against Goblins' to clarify their votes like >>13213 and >>13217 did.

I only noticed it after >>13244 had already posted, so I decided to leave it and hope no one noticed. My apologies.

By the way, who need axes when you can have THE SOCK?

I need to check on this story more. If the goblins are a problem now, what would be like later when they can use kidnapped Tengu as part of their forces?

. . . Dwarves?
I mean, a sock in the hands of a minotaur may be deadly to dwarves, but a fungiwood spear in the hands of a cave swallow man can be just as deadly to Forgotten Beasts. Neither guarantees that the weapon will be good against goblins in the hands of anybody, especially dwarves.

>>13272
;___; Damn you. You lucky bastard, damn you... ;___;
Now I cry, I cry and cry. And If you say "The Immortal Onslaught" then I will cry AND hug a tree. You don't want to make me hug a tree, understood?

You focus your thoughts, thinking about what to say. You already know your stance in this argument, this is without question. You just need to put it into words.

“Lady Satori, Sanae here is right.”

“Wait what?” Sanae turns to look at you, a bit surprised, but she quickly gains her bearings, “Yeah! See, he agrees with me!”

“The goblins are truly a threat to our lives,” You continue, “They will not rest with one fortress taken, they will continue until all life has been brought underneath their heel!”

“I never doubted the existence of these goblins. I have read Sanae’s mind, I know that she is speaking the truth.”

“Then you must see the danger they present!” Sanae cries, “Which is why we need your help! We need Utsuho to-“

“However, I will not contribute to your campaign against them. I will not risk my pets’ lives so callously.”

“Argh! You are impossible!” Sanae’s frustration hits a high point, when an idea suddenly strikes you.

“What if we asked the oni to help?” Satori thinks quite highly of the oni’s abilities, you noticed. Perhaps they can be recruited into helping with this fight.

“I already tried asking them.” Sanae slumps a bit, “They called me a liar. They said that no invading force could take the Tengu Fortress so easily. Then they started glaring at me, so I kinda ran away.”

“I will talk to them,” You offer.

“What difference will it make if you talk to them?”

“He’s impressed them.” Satori remarks, “When he nearly defeated Yuugi Hoshiguma in a drinking contest.” Satori still glares at you, despite complimenting your drinking prowess.

“Hoshiguma… isn’t she one of the Four Devas of the Mountain!?” Sanae seems rather shocked. When Satori nods to her, Sanae’s awed gaze turns to you. “You almost beat her!?”

You nod in reply. You’d have much rather actually beaten her, but you did come close, and you can respect anyone who can drink like a dwarf can.

“…Remind me to never go drinking with you. But okay. Let’s try talking to the oni again.” Sanae pauses for a moment, thinking. “…I’m not certain how the tengu will take to oni coming into their lands, but desperate times, I guess.”

You turn to Satori, bowing slightly, “By your leave, Lady Satori.”

“Yes, yes. You may go.” She replies.

You turn, and start to leave. Sanae spares one last look at Satori, before following after you. Exiting the palace is done in complete silence. You’ve more or less learned the layout by now, you are capable of finding your way to the front doors on your own. Once you’ve exited the palace proper, is when Sanae finally speaks to you.

“So… are you really a dwarf?”

You can’t help but feel a tad bit offended at that. The two of you walk towards the city as you reply. “Hmph. Are yeh really a human?”

“Okay, maybe that was a bit rude of me. And I’m not just a human!” She responds, excitedly, “I’m a living god!”

At this, you can’t help but scoff. The gods were always silent observers, only taking action if one were stupid enough to vandalize their temples. They don’t interact directly with mortals, only acting through subtle, and unnoticeable means. You yourself are a worshipper of two gods, Udar, a god of food and agriculture, and Dostob, a god of nature and weather. They seemed like appropriate gods to follow, what with your vocation as a farmer. But even with your worship, you’ve never actually seen them take a human, or dwarven form, even if both of them are imagined as male dwarves. You’ve never seen them at all, nor can you know for certain if you’ve ever felt their effects during your work. But that is how it is with gods, you pray, and hope that they are kind enough to bless you in their mysterious ways, never knowing if they actually have. Is that not what faith is?

So you can’t quite believe this girl when she claims to be a god herself. “Of course yeh are.”

“I am! I seriously am!”

“And what makes yeh think yer a god, now?”

“I’m descended from the native god, Suwako Moriya! I can create miracles!”

“Miracles, eh?” You honestly doubt her claim to be a descendant of whatever the local gods are here. If gods never took mortal forms, then how could they have children?

“I can call forth great winds! I can make withering plants recover and bloom! I can make frogs and toads rain from the sky!”

“And I suppose yeh can even split the seas in two?”

“Totally! …If there was a sea here to split. Maybe the lake?”

You scoff again. You don’t believe this girl for a minute.

Your theological debate continues in this immature manner until you finally reach the city. Now all you need to do is find an oni to talk to.

[] Find Yuugi
[] Nearest Oni
[] Drink
[] Eat

This massive delay brought to you by classwork, showing the house off to potential buyers, and a stomach virus.

[X] Find Yuugi

[X] Find Yuugi

[X] Find Yuugi
only logical option.

[x] Nearest Oni

Just how far does our new reputation reach?

[x] Find Yuugi

[X] Find Yuugi

We know her, she's influential, and can't be that hard to find. "Where's Yuugi?" should suffice.

[X] Find Yuugi

I can only hope that Oni are suitable replacement for Dwarven Master Warriors.

[x] Find Yuugi


Since she's our "in" into Oni society, and she's like an army by herself, it's a good place to start.

[X] Find Yuugi

If we can convince her, the others may follow.

The first thought that enters your mind is to find Yuugi. Both Satori and Sanae seem to hold her in high esteem, and she holds a title, Deva of the Mountain. With how they speak of her, you think that she holds a great deal of respect in the oni society.

Now if only you knew where she is.

You decide to simply ask around for her. You find the nearest oni you can, and inquire about Hoshiguma’s whereabouts. The horned man looks at you strangely for a moment, before a look of recognition enters his face. He gives you directions to what he assures you is Yuugi’s place of residence, and then asks if you intend to challenge her to a rematch. You respond that you have no intention of such… yet, anyway. He smiles at you, and you head off with Sanae.

The house you arrive at doesn’t seem that out of the ordinary, compared to the rest of the city. It’s certainly larger than any lodgings that you had back in Atölcog. It looks more along the lines of what a noble would have. You suppose it’s fitting, given her title.

“Okay, this is it.” Sanae says nervously. She takes a step forward, and knocks politely on the door. Then she takes a few steps back, and noticeably, places herself directly behind you. This strikes you as very cowardly.

Still, after a few moments of silence, the door opens, revealing the blond-haired woman you drank with before. She looks down at you and smiles widely. “Well, if it isn’t the dwarf! What brings you to my neck of the woods?”

“Lady Hoshiguma, there is a grave matter that we must discuss.” You respond, placing your hand over your heart.

She looks you over, eyes drifting to Sanae behind you, who cowers even further. “Alright. Come on in.” She turns and reenters her home, beckoning the two of you to follow. As you enter, you notice Sanae quickly removing her shoes, and placing them on the floor next to the front door. She gives you a scared look, and then nods her head towards the shoes. You figure she’s urging you to do likewise. Sadly, you’re not of the mind to remove your steel high boots. You continue into the house regardless of Sanae’s wishes.

You spot Yuugi taking a seat on the floor in front of a low table. You can’t but wonder why she doesn’t have any chairs, and why her table stands so low to the ground. Still, Sanae takes a seat opposite Yuugi, and you do likewise. It’s a bit uncomfortable in your dented armor, but you’ll manage.

“So,” Yuugi begins, “What would this ‘grave matter’ be?”

“A force of goblins, terrible little creatures, hell-bent on oppressing all life, have invaded and conquered the Tengu Fortress.” You respond, as gravely as you can manage.

“I’ve heard this story. The other oni told me about a green haired girl spouting nonsense about the Tengu getting overrun by little monsters.” Her eyes turn to look at Sanae, who squirms slightly in her seat.

“It’s no joke…” Sanae mutters weakly.

“Lady Satori believes Sanae here.” You remark.

“Does she now?” Yuugi looks thoughtful at that comment. “That’s a different matter entirely. If she’s read her mind, and knows these ‘goblins’ you speak of to be real…”

“Yes!” Sanae practically leaps at the opportunity, “It’s all true! Satori believes me!”

Yuugi turns to look at you, silently asking for you verification. You nod, “You have my word.”

“…Even if the oni believed you, they still wouldn’t agree to helping.”

“What!? Why!?” Sanae is completely distressed by this.

“Years ago, we made a pact. The oni were banished underground. They were deemed too powerful for Gensokyo, and so they were sent away.”

“I’ve heard of this!” Sanae exclaims, “Yes, there was a pact and all that, but it was broken! People would call upon the earth spiders for their architectural needs! And after…” Sanae stutters a bit, “After the… the geyser incident, the pact has been all but nullified.”

“Even so,” Yuugi responds, “We oni are creatures of our word. We would not venture aboveground, even with the pact effectively broken. We’ve grown to like the underground, and we doubt the Tengu would enjoy our company again, even if we were rescuing them.”

Sanae looks absolutely crestfallen. You suppose you could understand why. She had been sent on a mission to gather reinforcement against a terrible force, and it seems she will be going home in failure.

“That’s not to say that there’s no hope for you, though.” Yuugi adds. Sanae immediately looks up at her words. “After all, there is an oni aboveground that you can recruit for your mission. I’m sure she would be more than willing to help… and more than enough to handle this.”

Sanae looks confused at this for a moment, before a look of realization dawns on her face. “That’s right… but. I was hoping to keep her out of this…”

Yuugi looks a bit surprised at this. “You were hoping to keep Suika away from the Tengu Fortress?”

“No, not Suika! Reimu... I don’t want her coming in and saving the day, like she always does! I want to be the hero this time!”

“Ha ha, well. Sometimes you can’t always be the hero, kid.”

“Where can we find this… Suika, was it?” You finally ask.

“I hear she stays at the Hakurei Shrine these days. I’m sure your friend here can show you the way.”

“Thank yeh, Lady Hoshiguma.”

“Just call me Yuugi. You’ve earned that right.”

“Then, we’ll be leaving.” You say as you rise to your feet. Your legs are a little sore, but that’s nothing a little walking won’t take care of.

Sanae follows you to the door, where she collects her shoes. “Well, I guess we gotta find Suika. Not the help I was expecting, but I’ll take it, I guess. Shall we go?”

You think to yourself. Was there anything you need to do here in the city before you go find this Suika girl?

[] Stock up
-[] On what? (Write-in)
[] Embark Now
[] Drink
[] Eat

So the oni won't go above ground. What if they didn't have to?
[x] Investigate the possibility to tunnelling to the Fortress.

[X] Investigate the possibility to tunnelling to the Fortress.

[X] Investigate the possibility of tunnelling to the Fortress.

While we definitely should see if we can get in touch with Suika as well, this is actually pretty genious. (Not to mention Dorfy.)

We open a tunnel up there, we can probably put the exit near the shrine seeing as how Sanae is the one to ask for help.
We lure as many goblins as possible to our new "dwarven fortress", and anyone entering will end up with a facefull of oni-fist.

When the goblin trouble is over, the newly built guard post can be used as a more accessable meeting place for those wishing to meet with the oni, all the while without them breaking (the letter, even if stretching the spirit of) the old agreement.

[x] Investigate the possibility of tunnelling to the Fortress.
[x] Eat
[x] Drink
[x] Stock up
-[x] On booze

[X] Investigate the possibility of tunnelling to the Fortress.
[x] Stock up
-[x] On booze
-[x] Get your armor fixed

Tunneling does sound like an appropriately dwarfy solution. Can't forget the booze, and we might not be seeing another blacksmith anytime soon. Thanks for mentioning the dents, Sulac.

Bit of tide-pissing here. I don't think the Oni are gonna go for tunneling into the fortress. They'll probably see it as violating the spirit of the agreement. On the other hand, if we can get a solid work force with the help of Suika, we might be talking...

Anyway, no reason not to get some booze. We can have a drinking challenge with Suika.


[x] Stock up
-[x] On booze
-[x] Get your armor fixed


[x] Stock up
-[x] On booze
-[x] Get your armor fixed

>>13488
If they don't like it, they can say so. But if the vote wins we will at least suggest it.

>>13488

...and for some insane reason, I managed to copy-paste my vote twice. Go me.

[X] Stock up
-[X] On booze
-[X] Get your armor fixed
--[X] Investigate the possibility of tunnelling to the Fortress

Tunneling is dwarfy, but having proper booze is more dwarfy. Getting randomly one-shot through dented armor is also dwarfy, but we should avoid that.

>>13488
>I don't think the Oni are gonna go for tunneling into the fortress.
Which is why I my suggestion was 'investigate the possibility', not 'go for it right now regardless of what anyone else thinks'.

[X] Stock up
-[X] On booze
-[X] Get your armor fixed
--[X] Investigate the possibility of tunnelling to the Fortress

JUST make tunnel into Tengu's home fortress, then just wait for all those goblins/trolls/cave dragons to come into HELL (literally).

And cages, cages and bridges...

>>13493
Opening up Hell to the surface to deal with seiging goiblins is an old dorf tradition. I like it.

The digging might be too slow to be useful, though - even in DF you'd be lucky to finish a tunnel of that size within a week, and this is kind of an urgent matter.

>>13495
Yeah but Oni.

You’re about to leave Yuugi’s home when an idea strikes you. You turn back around to face the oni woman, gazing up at her.

“Yuugi, would it be possible to tunnel up to the fortress from here?”

“What,” is Sanae’s deadpan response. Yuugi looks at you a little oddly, but she allows you to continue.

“It would connect the city directly to the Tengu Fortress. It would offer a direct path to the goblin menace, all while remaining completely underground, remaining within the bounds of the pact. Would that be satisfactory?”

“Wait just a minute!” Sanae cries, “I don’t think the Tengu would appreciate a tunnel leading from their fortress directly into hell!”

“I doubt the oni would go along with it.” Yuugi replies, “It would obey the letter of the law, but we oni care more about the spirit of the law.”

“Hm. ‘Twas just an idea, nothing more.” You’re a bit disappointed, but you suppose there’s nothing you can do.

“Plus, we’re all the way underground.” Sanae starts to add. “And the Tengu Fortress is high up on a mountain. With the amount of digging we’d need to do, it’d take weeks, maybe months of work to make the tunnel.”

To that, Yuugi just laughs. “You underestimate the oni. If we really wanted to make that tunnel, it would take minutes at most.”

“Tha’s all I wanted to say. I’ll be leaving now.” With that, you turn again and depart from Yuugi’s home with Sanae. The tunnel seemed like a good idea, though maybe a tad bit desperate? Connecting the surface with Hell does seem like a last-ditch attempt to save yourself from the goblins. You suppose there are better ways to take care of this situation.

“Okay, let’s get going.” Sanae turns and heads one way, but you find yourself going another way. “Where are you going?”

“I need to stock up on some supplies before I leave.” You explain. Sitting in Yuugi’s home also brought something rather urgent to your attention, you’re glad to say. “I also need to have my armor repaired. Rather not head out into danger with dented armor.”

“…Fair enough, I guess.” Sanae turns and starts to follow you. The two of you wander the city as you try to remember where the blacksmith was. Eventually your wandering pays off, as you find a forge manned by a rather muscular oni. You approach the oni, removing your breastplate, revealing the tunic you wear underneath it.

“I don’t suppose yeh’d be able to repair this, would you?” You hand the piece of armor over to the oni, who begins inspecting it.

“Hrm… this is some fine steel… finest I’ve ever seen…” The oni remarks, “Must’ve been something strong to dent it like this.”

“Finest dwarven steel, worked by a master.” You boast proudly, even if you weren’t the master that worked the steel. “It was damaged by a great demon, its powerful jaws clamped around my midsection.”

“Hm… did you say dwarven steel?” The oni looks at you a little more closely, his brow raising. “…I can repair this. For you, free. Just give me half an hour or so.”

You give your thanks to the oni, and then head out into the city, having business elsewhere. Sanae seems a bit impressed by the exchange.

You find your way back to that food stall, the one where you faced Yuugi in a drinking contest. The same oni is there, working the stall. What was his name, Dachi?

“Ah, if it isn’t the dwarf! What can I do for you?” He greets you, rather cheery.

“Looking to stock up before leaving on a journey.” You take out your flask, woefully empty. “I don’t suppose yeh could fill this up for me, could yeh?”

“For you, anything!” Daichi happily takes your flask, unscrewing the top and pouring some alcoholic beverage into it. As he does, Sanae turns her head to look at you.

“They… really like you here.” You suppose that they do, though it doesn’t really strike you as all that odd. Daichi hands your flask back to you, now filled to the brim with booze. You thank him, and head back for the smithy.

You have to wait a bit at the forge; your trip to Daichi’s didn’t take long at all. But eventually the oni blacksmith returns your breastplate to you, fully repaired. You don the armor, still warm from the smithing. You give your thanks to the blacksmith, and head off.

Booze in hand and armor repaired, you and Sanae finally depart from the city. You head in the opposite direction from the Palace of the Earth Spirits, Sanae leading the way.

“So you’re really a dwarf… where are you from?” She asks you.

“Atölcog, in Orid Tadin.”

“I… don’t know where that is, nor do I know what that even means.”

“The fortress of Foundboots, in the Universe of Enchanting.”

“I’m sorry, what? The fortress of Foundboots?”

“That is that human word for Atölcog, is it not?”

“I- Well I don’t know Dwarvish so I wouldn’t know! But to name your fortress something like that[i]?”

“It’s a traditional name for dwarven fortresses!”

“It is the [i]dumbest name I have ever heard!”

“How dare yeh!”

You’re about to continue your retort when you spot something behind Sanae. Acting almost entirely on instinct, you grab her by the arm and pull her back. She yelps in surprise, as a mace impacts the ground where she was. The two of you look towards the wielder, and find not one, but half a dozen macegoblins, lead by a single swordgoblin. An ambush, curse them!

You release Sanae and reach for your axe, only to realize with fear that you lost it back when you fought the demons! You don’t have a weapon!

You could stay here, and try to fight the goblins regardless of your lack of weapon. Or you could flee, but the goblins would be sure to chase you down…

[] Fight
-[] Strong
-[] Agile
-[] Tough
[] Flee
-[] Toward the city
-[] Toward the surface

[x] Fight
-[x] Agile
Disarm a macegoblin and take his mace. Then,
-[x] Strong
Time to break some skulls.

[X] Fight
-[X] Strong/Agile
--[X] Wrestle with swordsgoblin, take possession of iron sword. Swords are kinda like axes, right?
---[X] Maybe send Sanae around and behind them to reduce the number of macegoblins that want to cave our skull in.

We need a weapon. Hopefully we saw at least one wrestling demonstration.

Also, hopefully Sanae has some sort of dodging skill.

[] Flee
-[] Toward the city
--[] By Sanae flying

No need to fight goblins while ambushed without a weapon and with a civilian, when you can just out run them to get a weapon at the city.

Failing that
[]Fight
- []Agile
disarm mace goblin, of mace.

- []Strength
fight with mace

-[]Have Sanae fly
to protect her.

[X] Fight
-[X] Strong

I'm against trying to steal a weapon. Unless trained in the use of that weapon, a Dorf is often more efficient going unarmed since they usually pick up some wrestling skills in the army, regardless of their assigned weapon.


Also, I kind of want Datan to scare Sanae with how ridiculously brutal dwarven unarmed combat can be.
They're basically military trained street fighters with gouging and biting being used just as much as kicking, punching, or grappling.

[X] Fight
-[X] RAGE

We may not have weapons. We may not be the fastest of the Dwarves, or the strongest, or the swiftest. But what we do have, is More than enough for these wretches.

UNLEASH THE FURY OF ATÖLCOG UPNO THESE BEASTS!

HAVE AT THEE!

>>13527
>RAGE

You seem to have misspelled "Martial Trance".
(Actually... Come to think of it. Dwarves are the only ones capable of entering a martial trance, and it only happens when they are fighting against several opponents at once.)

[x] Wrestle a mace from one of the goblin's mitts
[x] Fight
- [x] RAGE

Let's smash some heads lads!

[x] Wrestle a mace from one of the goblin's mitts
[x] Fight
- [x] RAGE / STRONG

>>13520
>[X] MARTIAL TRANCE
>[X] WITH YOUR BARE HANDS

>>13520
Engage in Martial Trance
Bite necks
Shake necks

[X] MARTIAL TRANCE

[X] MARTIAL TRANCE
[X] WITH YOUR BARE HANDS

Because stomping goblins with your bare hands is far more satisfying

[x] Fight
-[x] Agile
Disarm a macegoblin and take his mace. Then,
-[x] Strong
Time to break some skulls.

A weapon in our hand would allow us to do more damage.

I'm choosing this. It reminds me of this, but wit dwarves (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J6bx-hwURvI&list=FLCVGQ5SqmSJB73qymeR24ig&index=17)

>>13539
You clearly don't know what a Martial Trance is...

[x] MARTIAL TRANCE

[x]KILL GOBLINS
>With what, your bare hands?
[x] YES

>>13544

That only works on dragons. Sorry.

Wow, I needed to physically tally the votes in order to figure out what won here.

Overwhelming support for fighting strong, with bare-handed just barely edging out stealing a weapon by one vote.

Sulac works secretly...

Without a moment of hesitation, you charge at the goblins. You have no weapon to wield, so you’ll have to make due with your bare hands. You bull rush the centermost macegoblin, and as you do, a gust of wind blasts around you, somehow not disturbing you or your chosen opponent, but sending the rest flying.

As you charge in, you bring your hand forward, curled into a fist to punch the goblin square in the face. The goblin, surprised by your ferocity, is unable to avoid your strike, and loses several teeth. While he is stunned, you grab his mace-arm, and begin twisting and bending it at an awkward angle. After a moment, you hear a satisfying snap, followed by a howl of pain. The goblin’s arm is broken, and he drops his weapon on the ground. You release his arm, done with it, and grab his other, repeating the process of breaking it. The goblin passes out from the pain; you allow him to fall to the ground, whereupon you stomp your foot, steel high boot and all, on his skull, crushing it, along with his brain.

Satisfied with your kill, you turn towards the nearest, still living goblin. You find him on the ground, about to pick himself up after having been sent flying by the wind. You charge in again, this time delivering a kick to the goblin’s left leg. The force of your kick, combined with your forward momentum, is enough to shatter the goblin’s leg bone on the spot. The goblin grunts in pain, and tries to swing his mace at you from the floor. But before he can manage it, you kick his mace-hand, shattering the bone once again. You then grab the goblin’s head, and smash it into the ground repeatedly, crushing the goblin’s skull after a few strikes.

The next goblin is about to swing her mace into your back, when another gust of wind blows past, buffeting the goblin and stalling her attack. You spin around, extending your arm to clothesline the goblin. Your strike connects, and the goblin is knocked prone. You plant your foot on her chest, and begin compressing. Her ribs splinter and break, shoved downwards into her lungs and heart. Suffering a mortal wound, it does not take long for her to die.

You look to your right, finding another goblin running at you, mace ready to strike. In a flash of reflex, you grab the goblin’s arm just as the mace is coming down, stopping it cold. You twist and turn the arm, breaking it in short order. Then you get a wonderful idea. Still holding the broken arm, you quickly bend it backward, swinging the mace into the goblin’s own skull. You repeat this, forcing the goblin into hitting itself over and over, until his skull is utterly destroyed.

Another goblin runs at you. You take one step forward, and punch into the goblin’s chest as it approaches, sending it flying back. You run after the goblin, catching up with her as she comes to a stop on the ground. You pick her up, and plunge two fingers into her eye sockets, utterly destroying her eyes in the process. She shrieks in pain, but you are not finished yet. You lean forward and bite into her neck, mustering all the strength your jaw can manage. Once you have a good grip with your teeth, you begin to shake. You tear the neck apart, exposing essential arteries and veins. She bleeds, fatally, all over you. All over your face, all over your body.

You turn around upon feeling a strike on your back. It is the swordsgoblin, and he just swung at your exposed back. A shame that his iron blade could only be deflected harmlessly by your steel armor. Now he pays the ultimate price; you grab him by the throat, and you squeeze. Your hand is locked around his neck in a vice grip, crushing the life out of him. Unable to breathe, the goblin struggles impotently against your grasp. It takes minutes, but you watch the life slowly fade from his eyes, and then the goblin dies, suffocated.

You look around. By your count, there should be one final macegoblin. Where is he? Ah, there he is! Trying to skulk away from the fight, having witnessed his comrades struck down, one by one. You won’t show the coward any mercy, and he will pay for his crime. The crime of living in a world in which you exist. You chase him down, tackling into him and sending the two of you sprawling. You end up on top of the goblin, a perfect position to make him suffer. You grab one of his hands, and then one of his fingers. And then you pull. You rip the finger from his hand, eliciting a cry of pain and a small fountain of blood. Then you grab another finger, and you pull again. One by one, you rip off each and every one of the goblin’s fingers, all ten of them. And it is only after you’ve had your satisfaction is when you finish him, holding his head between both hands and crushing it between your gauntlets.

Seven. Seven goblins dead by your hands. You feel… positively elated. You had never been in a real fight before. You had never realized that it could be so… fun! Your commander had told you of the joy to be had with slaughtering goblins and other filth, but to actually experience it yourself… It’s positively breathtaking!

You look around, and find Sanae. She is… standing a far distance away from you, a look of utter horror on her face. You take a step towards her, and she takes a step away from you. You wonder what’s got her so spooked? Must’ve been the goblins. Maybe if you said something to her?

[] Socialize (Write-in)

[x] "Never fear, milady! With these foul creatures slaughtered, you needn't fear what horrors they were planning to inflict upon you! And can I assume that wind was your doing? Well done! It was what sealed our victory here! Why, I daresay that all of this is because of you! Let there be many more such battles in the days to come, eh?"


Attempted encouragement. Driving the dagger home. Warning of what is to come.

[x] Tell her not to worry, the goblins are dead and you'll do the same to any more you see.

Now seems like a good time to stay in character. That was some impressively gruesome work.

[x] "Never fear, milady! With these foul creatures slaughtered, you needn't fear what horrors they were planning to inflict upon you! And can I assume that wind was your doing? Well done! It was what sealed our victory here! Why, I daresay that all of this is because of you! Let there be many more such battles in the days to come, eh?"

I love this write-in.

[x] Tell her not to worry, the goblins are dead and you'll do the same to any more you see.
-[x] What're we waiting on? Lets get back to moving.

First write-in is way too out of character with what's been established so far.

[x] Tell her not to worry, the goblins are dead and you'll do the same to any more you see.

>>13551
Yeah, the write-in is just way too out of character. Datan doesn't sound at all like a medieval knight.
It would be something more like:
"Don't yeh worry, the goblins are all dead an' can't do anythin' to yeh anymore. An' I guess the wind was yer doing? Mighty impressive of yeh, probably wouldn't have gone as well without yer help. Let's hope there'll be more fights like that later, eh?"


Also, nice work on the brutality of Dwarf Fortress combat.
Only thing that maybe went too far was ripping off fingers. The fights tend to be brutal, yes, but never in a way that causes pointless suffering.
Ripping out someone's neck with your teeth is a perfectly acceptable alternative to using your hands, but extending the fight for no reason other than extending it only happens in adventure mode. (I mean, how else are you going to safely practice your skills? Fighting someone without all their limbs broken in at least three places is dangerous.)

[x] Tell her not to worry, the goblins are dead and you'll do the same to any more you see.

DF combat was always brutal, but seeing it expanded into prose is something else. Of course Datan doesn't understand why Sanae is spooked, this was just normal fighting to him.

[x] Tell her not to worry, the goblins are dead and you'll do the same to any more you see.

[x] Tell her not to worry, the goblins are dead and you'll do the same to any more you see.

[x]"Don't yeh worry, the goblins are all dead an' can't do anythin' to yeh anymore. An' I guess the wind was yer doing? Mighty impressive of yeh, probably wouldn't have gone as well without yer help. Let's hope there'll be more fights like that later, eh?"

[x] Tell her not to worry, the goblins are dead and you'll do the same to any more you see.

[x] "Never fear, milady! With these foul creatures slaughtered, you needn't fear what horrors they were planning to inflict upon you! And can I assume that wind was your doing? Well done! It was what sealed our victory here! Why, I daresay that all of this is because of you! Let there be many more such battles in the days to come, eh?" 

[x]"Don't yeh worry, the goblins are all dead an' can't do anythin' to yeh anymore. An' I guess the wind was yer doing? Mighty impressive of yeh, probably wouldn't have gone as well without yer help. Let's hope there'll be more fights like that later, eh?"

[x] Tell her not to worry, the goblins are dead and you'll do the same to any more you see.

“Don’t yeh worry, the goblins are all dead an’ can’t do anythin’ to yeh anymore. And I’ll do the same to anymore that I see, I assure yeh.”

However, your reassuring words don’t seem to actually reassure her. She takes another step back, still wide-eyed, and cries out.

“What did you do!?”

“I killed the goblins, what do yeh think I did?”

“You brutalized them! You… that last one, you practically tortured!”

Well okay, maybe you went a bit overboard with the last one. “I did what I had to. Goblins are scum, and I will not show them any mercy.”

“Mercy! That was downright cruelty! Are you going to do that kind of stuff to every goblin you see?”

“I already gave yeh my assurances that I would, lass.”

“Ugh, I don’t think I can stomach this. You’re covered in blood, and you’re only going to get worse, aren’t you. This was a mistake…”

“Come now, lass. There’s nothin’ wrong with killin’ goblins. They would’a done worse to you an’ me if we allowed them.”

Sanae slumps, “I don’t like this incident. I want it over with as soon as possible…”

“Then we’d better keep walkin’, lass. Come.”

The two of you resume your slow march through the underground. Sanae keeps a fair distance between you, four or five steps’ worth. She’s still clearly in a foul mood, and you can’t comprehend why. The walk continues in silence, neither of you exchanging words. At least, it did until Sanae straightens herself up some, and looks towards you as you walk.

“Can’t you show some measure of mercy to them? Or at least, be a little less cruel when you kill them?”

“Maybe if I had me axe, I could kill ‘em faster.”

“…That’ll do, I guess. Where is your axe?”

You shrug. “Dunno. I lost it while fighting some demons.”

“’Demons’ is kind of a broad term. What kind of demons were they?”

You didn’t realize that there was such a thing as different kinds of demons. “I dunno, they were terrible. The forces o’ Hell and all that.”

“Oh so like, classic Christianity demons? Or was it Catholicism? I never understood Western religions…”

You don’t understand what she’s talking about, nor do you have time to try. For the two of you finally emerge from the underground, having reached the surface. The sun shines down from above you, blessing the land with its light. You seem to be at the base of a mountain, and- wait.

The sun.

[] No cave adaptation
[] Mild cave adaptation
[] Severe cave adaptation

You guys seem to have forgotten that Datan has poor intuition. He wouldn't be able to figure out that the wind was Sanae.

[x] No cave adaptation

[x] Mild cave adaptation
Because grumpy grumblebutt dorf is fun.

>[] Severe cave BLUARF
Q: How long ago was it that Datan last ate a plump helmet?
A: Not that long ago, apparently.

[X] Mild cave adaptation

[X] Mild cave adaptation

Didn't we already see a sun? Granted, we were underground at the time, as well as getting lasered in the face, but still.

[X] Severe cave adaptation

[X] No cave adaptation

>>13588 raises a good point. Also, if Datan was a cheesemaker and immigrant, it's likely he spent a decent amount of time on the surface.

[X] No cave adaptation

[X] No cave adaptation

[x] Mild cave adaptation

[X] No cave adaptation.
The benefits of living with sun generating Forgotten Beast.

>>13582
[x] Mild cave adaptation

[x] No cave adaptation

If you can stay next to a sun generator/hell crow who is freakishly close to you without puking your booze filled guts out then you are definitely able to remain abovegound where the sun is like fucking far away.

[x] Mild cave adaptation


Not enough to be "Welcome to FUCKING Boatmurdered" level of cave adaptation, but at least some queasyness.

[x] Mild cave adaptation

No adaptation would be boring, while severe adaptation would have real detrimental effects. Therefore, this.

Next thread: >>13603