Well if you don't count an Octopud death, the last non dwarf death update was 13 chapters ago, right when Yara the Forgotten Beast finally killed the Octopud it desired to kill so badly. After that the goblin siege found out that it could pepper your hospital with death, which started this series of unfortunate events. Though I must say that it is nice to see things have stabilized themselves for now.Internet Kraken said:
Let's Play Dwarf Fortress: Syndrome Conundrum
- Thread starter Internet Kraken
- Start date
IDEA!
We want magma, right?
And we want to kill all the invaders, riiiiiight?
What we want, is a MAGMA PISTON [http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=59894.0]
Way less time and effort than any of the other superweapons, (kindof)safer and quicker than a pump stack, and if done right, will drop the ground out from under the enemy and then before gravity even has time to let them fall any distance at all, BATHE THEM IN MOLTEN LAVA!
We want magma, right?
And we want to kill all the invaders, riiiiiight?
What we want, is a MAGMA PISTON [http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=59894.0]
Way less time and effort than any of the other superweapons, (kindof)safer and quicker than a pump stack, and if done right, will drop the ground out from under the enemy and then before gravity even has time to let them fall any distance at all, BATHE THEM IN MOLTEN LAVA!
Chapter 71: From the journal of Stinthad Kekimtobul
__________________________________________________
7th Slate, 1056, Mid-Spring
Things have been pretty calm lately. The goblins aren't doing anything at the moment, work is progressing as planned, and the military has been able to handle the local wildlife with ease. It's weird, I'm so used to things going horribly wrong that this peacefulness seems unnatural. Like something terrible is about to happen. But everything is perfectly fine! I mean, aside from the massive goblin army camping outside the fort, but their keeping to themselves for now. I think things may finally be looking up for Reveredtour!
13th Slate, 1056, Mid-Spring
Or not. This is more of what I'm used to seeing at this point. As part of one of my projects I needed a long shaft dug straight down to the magma sea, and appointed Atir to do this. It may sound dangerous, but I thought it was safe! He was just supposed to tunnel into a chamber we dug out in advance from above. He had to endure a very small drop after doing so, but I thought it wouldn't be an issue. Unfortunately I forgot about wounds he had sustained in the past, which reopened when he fell.
Okay, so I screwed up again. On reflection I probably could have made that safer. I'll make sure to give the remaining diggers better orders.
18th Slate, 1056, Mid-Spring
Some of the dwarves have been spreading rumors about monsters in the deep. Not the abyss, since it being filled with monsters is no secret, but rather the magma sea. They tell tales of strange and bizarre creatures that live in the magma, feeding on the molten rock and spewing flames at any living creature they see. Ushrir says she even saw something swimming in the magma when she was mining down there.
But she must be mistaken! The idea of something living in magma is ridiculous! It melts basically anything you put in it. How could something survive in it? It's just not possible...I think.
Kraken's Notes: Fire imps are tiny, being much smaller than dwarves. As a result they can't take a punch and can be killed rather easily. However fire imps can be incredibly dangerous due to their ability to spew fire. Fire is one of the most destructive forces in Dwarf Fortress, as there is currently no reliable way to combat it. An unarmored dwarf that catches on fire is likely to burn to death, but only after running around and spreading flames onto everything else in the fortress. One fire can also light an entire forest ablaze. So a single fire imp can cause a lot of destruction, despite their small size.
Being creatures that live only in magma, their attacks are rare and unpredictable. The best way to combat fire imps is to design a system to keep them out of any magma workshops in the first place.
The dwarves are worried because any creature that does live in magma would have direct access to the fort. I don't think it's necessary to do so, but I've ordered cage traps placed in front of magma access to prevent this from happening. I doubt they're ever going to catch anything though.
24th Slate, 1056, Mid-Spring
The soldiers performance has greatly improved since their acquisition of steel gear, and they definitely appreciate it. However I'm worried that they may be somewhat overconfident now. They've grown sick of slaying bumbling zombie trogs and want to try taking on something bigger. I don't want to offend them, but they haven't had that much time to train yet. Plus the current size of the military is pitiful compared to what it used to be, and back then the military wasn't full of soldiers with only one arm as well. Though apparently Root says this is no longer an issue for her.
I have no idea how she manages to do that. Still, I don't believe they are ready to take on the threats Momuz tackled. Not like it really matters at the moment since the only major threat is the goblins, and even the old military wouldn't have stood up to them. Well there's also Yara, but does he even count at this point? He hasn't done anything in months. I'm pretty sure almost everyone here has forgotten that he exists.
28th Slate, 1056, Mid-Spring
I noticed that Goden has been looking a lot better lately. Seems that she managed to get over that infection she had, even though there wasn't anything my medical skills could do to help her. In fact, she seems to be perfectly fine now!
To be honest I was really worried for a while. Infections can often be fatal, as even the best dwarven medicine can't do much to cure them. All you can do is patch up the wound to keep it from getting infected again and hope the dwarves immune system is good enough to keep them alive. I bet there would be a fortune to be found in a cure for most common infections. Shame most doctors back in the capital are more interested in surgery and dissection than anything else.
1st Felsite, 1056, Late Spring
Okay, I said I was going to make things safer for the diggers. I made sure that every job they performed that was even slightly dangerous had an easy way for them to avoid harm. So when I told the diggers we needed to flood a room with magma, I wasn't worried. I mean, all they had to do was break open the wall and then run back up the ramps.
WELL THEY DIDN'T DO THAT!!!
They just stood there and let the magma engulf them! It was horrifying! Their bodies melted away almost instantly...
Why didn't they move? Why'd they let themselves catch aflame? Now Ushrir is...gone. All that's left out of the starting seven is Goden and me. Is it my fault that they all died?
...I need a drink.
__________________________________________________
And this is why I don't use magma that much. Typical dwarven stupidity combined with highly lethal magma can only lead to disaster.
__________________________________________________
7th Slate, 1056, Mid-Spring
Things have been pretty calm lately. The goblins aren't doing anything at the moment, work is progressing as planned, and the military has been able to handle the local wildlife with ease. It's weird, I'm so used to things going horribly wrong that this peacefulness seems unnatural. Like something terrible is about to happen. But everything is perfectly fine! I mean, aside from the massive goblin army camping outside the fort, but their keeping to themselves for now. I think things may finally be looking up for Reveredtour!
13th Slate, 1056, Mid-Spring
Or not. This is more of what I'm used to seeing at this point. As part of one of my projects I needed a long shaft dug straight down to the magma sea, and appointed Atir to do this. It may sound dangerous, but I thought it was safe! He was just supposed to tunnel into a chamber we dug out in advance from above. He had to endure a very small drop after doing so, but I thought it wouldn't be an issue. Unfortunately I forgot about wounds he had sustained in the past, which reopened when he fell.
Okay, so I screwed up again. On reflection I probably could have made that safer. I'll make sure to give the remaining diggers better orders.
18th Slate, 1056, Mid-Spring
Some of the dwarves have been spreading rumors about monsters in the deep. Not the abyss, since it being filled with monsters is no secret, but rather the magma sea. They tell tales of strange and bizarre creatures that live in the magma, feeding on the molten rock and spewing flames at any living creature they see. Ushrir says she even saw something swimming in the magma when she was mining down there.
But she must be mistaken! The idea of something living in magma is ridiculous! It melts basically anything you put in it. How could something survive in it? It's just not possible...I think.
Being creatures that live only in magma, their attacks are rare and unpredictable. The best way to combat fire imps is to design a system to keep them out of any magma workshops in the first place.
The dwarves are worried because any creature that does live in magma would have direct access to the fort. I don't think it's necessary to do so, but I've ordered cage traps placed in front of magma access to prevent this from happening. I doubt they're ever going to catch anything though.
24th Slate, 1056, Mid-Spring
The soldiers performance has greatly improved since their acquisition of steel gear, and they definitely appreciate it. However I'm worried that they may be somewhat overconfident now. They've grown sick of slaying bumbling zombie trogs and want to try taking on something bigger. I don't want to offend them, but they haven't had that much time to train yet. Plus the current size of the military is pitiful compared to what it used to be, and back then the military wasn't full of soldiers with only one arm as well. Though apparently Root says this is no longer an issue for her.
I have no idea how she manages to do that. Still, I don't believe they are ready to take on the threats Momuz tackled. Not like it really matters at the moment since the only major threat is the goblins, and even the old military wouldn't have stood up to them. Well there's also Yara, but does he even count at this point? He hasn't done anything in months. I'm pretty sure almost everyone here has forgotten that he exists.
28th Slate, 1056, Mid-Spring
I noticed that Goden has been looking a lot better lately. Seems that she managed to get over that infection she had, even though there wasn't anything my medical skills could do to help her. In fact, she seems to be perfectly fine now!
To be honest I was really worried for a while. Infections can often be fatal, as even the best dwarven medicine can't do much to cure them. All you can do is patch up the wound to keep it from getting infected again and hope the dwarves immune system is good enough to keep them alive. I bet there would be a fortune to be found in a cure for most common infections. Shame most doctors back in the capital are more interested in surgery and dissection than anything else.
1st Felsite, 1056, Late Spring
Okay, I said I was going to make things safer for the diggers. I made sure that every job they performed that was even slightly dangerous had an easy way for them to avoid harm. So when I told the diggers we needed to flood a room with magma, I wasn't worried. I mean, all they had to do was break open the wall and then run back up the ramps.
WELL THEY DIDN'T DO THAT!!!
They just stood there and let the magma engulf them! It was horrifying! Their bodies melted away almost instantly...
Why didn't they move? Why'd they let themselves catch aflame? Now Ushrir is...gone. All that's left out of the starting seven is Goden and me. Is it my fault that they all died?
...I need a drink.
__________________________________________________
And this is why I don't use magma that much. Typical dwarven stupidity combined with highly lethal magma can only lead to disaster.
Internet Kraken said:Though apparently Root says this is no longer an issue for her.
I have no idea how she manages to do that.
It's a TRAP!
Hold on a moment...
Have I had another wedding? What happened to "BodiceStabbs"?
SPYCHECK!
What's the giant yellow O in the center? Did you add some awesome new magma creatures too? Probably letting an engraver enter the room to smooth and carve fortifications into the wall would have been better then sending in miners to their dooms, but hindsight is 20/20.Internet Kraken said:
That would be an octopre. I'm not sure what it was doing wandering around down there but pets do go everywhere. To further highlight the stupidity of this the octopre managed to escape unharmed.TheHaunted said:
Huzzah, at least your cephalopod brethren can claim more intelligence then dwarfs! So, can we expect any tantrums from the populace?Internet Kraken said:
So octopre can handle anything from Forogtten Beasts to lava seas. Also after just lurking on this thread to watch the tale unfold, I guess I'd like to be dwarfed, if possible.Internet Kraken said:
Yes, they apparently can. They have the [SWIMS_INNATE] tag, granting them naturally swimming abilities.Engarde said:
Chapter 72: From the journal of Stinthad Kekimtobul
__________________________________________________
3rd Felsite, 1056, Late Spring
Goden says I need to focus on the positives again. Which makes sense, after all there's no point in dwelling on deaths I can't do anything about, right?
Horrible, magma deaths...
No, focus! Okay, so we did lose all our diggers, but at least they finished the project I had planned. You see I wanted to find magma for a lot of reasons. It can help with many problems! And one of Reveredtour's biggest problems is that it's filthy. There's trash all over the place. Most of the dwarves are used to wading through piles of bones and decaying clothes just to get something to eat, but we didn't always live like this. And I believe with a little bit of effort we can make Reveredtour clean again!
So every hauler now has instructions to take any trash they pick up to a hole conveniently located right on the surface.
Of course throwing trash into a hole wouldn't really solve the problem. But this is no ordinary hole! It goes deep. Really deep.
Straight down to the magma sea. So anything thrown into this hole will plummet hundreds of feet into boiling magma. It's the perfect disposal system! The useless trash gets incinerated, and because the hole is right on the surface the haulers don't have to walk all the way down to the magma sea! Commander Cowabunga says it could have other uses as well, but I'm not sure what he means by that and don't really care. I'm just glad I got something new accomplished, despite the goblin siege.
6th Felsite, 1056, Late Spring
Unlike the goblins, some of the trolls are wandering close enough to the fort to bother the dwarves. I'm not very concerned about them though. All I see them doing is observing from afar, inspecting our designs and scribbling notes on parchment. The only disturbing part about that is the parchment appears to be made from elf skin. But it's not like the trolls can pick up crossbows and start shooting at us, so they're not much of a threat at the moment.
9th Felsite, 1056, Late Spring
It seems that the military's latest hunt didn't go well. The farmers claimed to have heard the howls of a blind cave ogre down in the crypt, so I sent the Immortal Rags to dispose of it. A cave ogre is a threat to a civilian, but they don't post much danger to an armed soldier. Lord Shonus knew this, and decided it would be okay to run ahead as a result. And while he did dispose of the cave ogre easily, he didn't expect to be suddenly attacked by a hungry deep kraken.
He tried putting up a fight but such a massive beast is not easily subdued. I remember how one of these creepy things rampaged through Reveredtour years ago, and then Alath took it down. If only Lord Shonus was as proficient with a spear as Alath was with his knife. Things weren't looking good for him, but fortunately some of his allies showed up in time to rescue him.
So while the deep kraken was killed before Lord Shonus died, he's not exactly well. Root has told me that he's bleeding a lot and currently lacks the strength needed to stand on his own.
I was about to go help him, but Silent Thunder was already on the way. It's good to see that she has a strong sense of duty.
Hopefully Lord Shonus will be able to make a full recovery. I'd hate to see another soldier permanently confined to the hospital. It never ends well...
14th Felsite, 1056, Late Spring
Oh no, why do the elves have to come now? They're just going to be slaughtered by the goblins again, and there's not a thing I can do about-
Wait, where did the goblins go?
Wow! They left! We didn't even do anything and they already left! I guess they must have run out of supplies, or maybe morale became an issue. I suppose all that really matters though is that we can open Reveredtour again! And the elves don't have to die horribly!
I hope they don't get offended by the elf corpses lying outside. We just haven't had the time to move them.
25th Felsite, 1056, Late Spring
Seems we had a bit of a kobold problem. The opportunistic scavengers had apparently followed the elven caravan looking for places to loot, and decided that Reveredtour was the perfect target. Kobold sightings usually aren't a cause for concern, unless they happen to pop up inside the fort.
Which is exactly what happened. I decided to call upon the entire military to drive the kobold out. The kobold made a mad dash for the exit, and in the process of doing so exposed one of his compatriots.
The two kobolds were now in a panic and scrambled to escapes. Kobolds are fast and agile, so one of them managed to slip away.
However, the other was not so fortunate.
With one kobold cut down and the other running off into the wastes, one might think our kobold invasion was at an end. However, the cries of a dwarf down below proved this wrong.
One of the kobolds had managed to work his way down into the deep roads, presumably hoping to find valuable riches we had dug up. In a panic the kobold made the foolish decision of running into a random tunnel, which would normally be certain death as it would lead to a dead end. However, this recently dug tunnel actually leads to the surface. So by pure luck the kobold had stumbled into a quick path to the surface.
However Volstag knew about this tunnel as well, and did not allow the kobold to escape.
I think that's all of the kobolds, but there might be more of them skulking around somewhere. I've ordered the military to stay on alert. Poor kobolds, if they didn't feel the need to steal everything they wouldn't be so despised by every society. Only the goblins tolerate them, and I'm not sure why. Probably because they give them info about fort layouts so they can plan invasions.
28th Felstie, 1056, Late Spring
One might wonder why I had another tunnel dug to the surface. At first glance it appears to be nothing but a glaring security flaw. However, it is actually one of my brilliant plans! It's part of a system I designed to hopefully allow migrants, caravans, and other visitors to have a chance at entering Reveredtour during a siege.
See, the tunnel leads to a drawbridge that is normally retracted to prevent access. However, if a group of migrants arrived and were near the tunnel, the bridge would be lowered. This would allow them to enter Reveredtour before the goblins catch them. The bridge can then be raised again before the goblins can get inside. It's use largely depends on where the travelers arrive from and where the goblins happen to be, so it can't be used to save all of them without to much of a safety risk. However I'm sure we can get some of them inside. More sieges are inevitable, so we have to start designing systems to get around them.
__________________________________________________
__________________________________________________
3rd Felsite, 1056, Late Spring
Goden says I need to focus on the positives again. Which makes sense, after all there's no point in dwelling on deaths I can't do anything about, right?
Horrible, magma deaths...
No, focus! Okay, so we did lose all our diggers, but at least they finished the project I had planned. You see I wanted to find magma for a lot of reasons. It can help with many problems! And one of Reveredtour's biggest problems is that it's filthy. There's trash all over the place. Most of the dwarves are used to wading through piles of bones and decaying clothes just to get something to eat, but we didn't always live like this. And I believe with a little bit of effort we can make Reveredtour clean again!
So every hauler now has instructions to take any trash they pick up to a hole conveniently located right on the surface.
Of course throwing trash into a hole wouldn't really solve the problem. But this is no ordinary hole! It goes deep. Really deep.
Straight down to the magma sea. So anything thrown into this hole will plummet hundreds of feet into boiling magma. It's the perfect disposal system! The useless trash gets incinerated, and because the hole is right on the surface the haulers don't have to walk all the way down to the magma sea! Commander Cowabunga says it could have other uses as well, but I'm not sure what he means by that and don't really care. I'm just glad I got something new accomplished, despite the goblin siege.
6th Felsite, 1056, Late Spring
Unlike the goblins, some of the trolls are wandering close enough to the fort to bother the dwarves. I'm not very concerned about them though. All I see them doing is observing from afar, inspecting our designs and scribbling notes on parchment. The only disturbing part about that is the parchment appears to be made from elf skin. But it's not like the trolls can pick up crossbows and start shooting at us, so they're not much of a threat at the moment.
9th Felsite, 1056, Late Spring
It seems that the military's latest hunt didn't go well. The farmers claimed to have heard the howls of a blind cave ogre down in the crypt, so I sent the Immortal Rags to dispose of it. A cave ogre is a threat to a civilian, but they don't post much danger to an armed soldier. Lord Shonus knew this, and decided it would be okay to run ahead as a result. And while he did dispose of the cave ogre easily, he didn't expect to be suddenly attacked by a hungry deep kraken.
He tried putting up a fight but such a massive beast is not easily subdued. I remember how one of these creepy things rampaged through Reveredtour years ago, and then Alath took it down. If only Lord Shonus was as proficient with a spear as Alath was with his knife. Things weren't looking good for him, but fortunately some of his allies showed up in time to rescue him.
So while the deep kraken was killed before Lord Shonus died, he's not exactly well. Root has told me that he's bleeding a lot and currently lacks the strength needed to stand on his own.
I was about to go help him, but Silent Thunder was already on the way. It's good to see that she has a strong sense of duty.
Hopefully Lord Shonus will be able to make a full recovery. I'd hate to see another soldier permanently confined to the hospital. It never ends well...
14th Felsite, 1056, Late Spring
Oh no, why do the elves have to come now? They're just going to be slaughtered by the goblins again, and there's not a thing I can do about-
Wait, where did the goblins go?
Wow! They left! We didn't even do anything and they already left! I guess they must have run out of supplies, or maybe morale became an issue. I suppose all that really matters though is that we can open Reveredtour again! And the elves don't have to die horribly!
I hope they don't get offended by the elf corpses lying outside. We just haven't had the time to move them.
25th Felsite, 1056, Late Spring
Seems we had a bit of a kobold problem. The opportunistic scavengers had apparently followed the elven caravan looking for places to loot, and decided that Reveredtour was the perfect target. Kobold sightings usually aren't a cause for concern, unless they happen to pop up inside the fort.
Which is exactly what happened. I decided to call upon the entire military to drive the kobold out. The kobold made a mad dash for the exit, and in the process of doing so exposed one of his compatriots.
The two kobolds were now in a panic and scrambled to escapes. Kobolds are fast and agile, so one of them managed to slip away.
However, the other was not so fortunate.
With one kobold cut down and the other running off into the wastes, one might think our kobold invasion was at an end. However, the cries of a dwarf down below proved this wrong.
One of the kobolds had managed to work his way down into the deep roads, presumably hoping to find valuable riches we had dug up. In a panic the kobold made the foolish decision of running into a random tunnel, which would normally be certain death as it would lead to a dead end. However, this recently dug tunnel actually leads to the surface. So by pure luck the kobold had stumbled into a quick path to the surface.
However Volstag knew about this tunnel as well, and did not allow the kobold to escape.
I think that's all of the kobolds, but there might be more of them skulking around somewhere. I've ordered the military to stay on alert. Poor kobolds, if they didn't feel the need to steal everything they wouldn't be so despised by every society. Only the goblins tolerate them, and I'm not sure why. Probably because they give them info about fort layouts so they can plan invasions.
28th Felstie, 1056, Late Spring
One might wonder why I had another tunnel dug to the surface. At first glance it appears to be nothing but a glaring security flaw. However, it is actually one of my brilliant plans! It's part of a system I designed to hopefully allow migrants, caravans, and other visitors to have a chance at entering Reveredtour during a siege.
See, the tunnel leads to a drawbridge that is normally retracted to prevent access. However, if a group of migrants arrived and were near the tunnel, the bridge would be lowered. This would allow them to enter Reveredtour before the goblins catch them. The bridge can then be raised again before the goblins can get inside. It's use largely depends on where the travelers arrive from and where the goblins happen to be, so it can't be used to save all of them without to much of a safety risk. However I'm sure we can get some of them inside. More sieges are inevitable, so we have to start designing systems to get around them.
__________________________________________________