I really must remember to get this game sometime. And show it to my friend.The Madman said:
Can you tame any creature if you capture it in your cages?
Let's Play Dwarf Fortress: Syndrome Conundrum
- Thread starter Internet Kraken
- Start date
Can you tame any creature if you capture it in your cages?
In vanilla DF you can tame the vast majority of wild creatures, though some can not be domesticated even if caught in a cage. However, if you do a tiny bit of modding, you can tame around 99% of all creatures. By adding the [PET] tag to a creatures RAW file, you will be able to tame it. It can be done in less than a minute and doesn't even require creating a new world.OhJohnNo said:
There are some exceptions to this though. If a creature doesn't have a RAW file, you can't add the [PET] tag, and thus can not tame them. Most creatures have raw files, but the few ones that are procedurally generated do not. Also, if a creature has the [TRAPAVOID] tag, they will be able to bypass your cage traps. You can only tame animals that are caged at the moment, so these creatures are impossible to tame under normal circumstances. Though it is possible to build ridiculous devices that cause cave ins, stunning any creature near them. When a creature is stunned, its [TRAPAVOID] tag is null, so it can be caged/stabbed with repeating spikes. I've never done this though, and honestly thought it wasn't true until recently.
One more thing I should probably mention is the [PET_EXOTIC] tag. In vanilla DF you'll find this on some creatures. What it means is that said creature can be tamed, but only if you have a dungeon master noble. Now currently the dungeon master is bugged and never shows up, so if you leave in the [PET_EXOTIC] tag you won't be able to tame a lot of creatures. Hence why I have replaced it with the [PET] tag in this LP.
Well, so long as I can capture and tame big enough beasties to tear holes through Goblins I'm fine. What about Ooze Pods? I quite like the idea of a legion of disposable cannon-fodder troops that can shoot things into the bargain.Internet Kraken said:
How do you go about modding? Is it just looking through the data files and altering specific variables? or is there a tool for mucking about?Internet Kraken said:
Chapter 22: From the journal of Stinthad Kekimtobul
__________________________________________________
6th Hematite, 1052, Early Summer
I should probably ask Goden to engrave some images that are more, um, pleasant. I figured as her skills increased she would produce some better images, and I guess that's true in a way. But while her engravings have become more detailed, they've also become increasingly unsettling.
This seems to be the pinnacle of her series of engravings depicting elves being slaughtered. No longer satisfied with showing them being crushed by cyclops, she has moved on to full scale battles. Here we see Spiders of Stability goblins butchering Intricacy of Praises elves in a particularly gruesome conflict. I'm glad the elves didn't see this when they came. I'm not sure what place this picture has in our fortress, as it shows a guarnteed enemy triumphing over a potential ally.
And here's an engraving of Goden being worshipped by several dwarves. This is only one image in a series, all of which portray Goden as a hero of Reveredtour. Now I'm not trying to undermine all the good she's done for Reveredtour in my absence, but this all seems a little selfish. I mean what about Momuz and the rest of the Immortal Rags? They're the reason Reveredtour hasn't been consumed by zombie trogs. Well, I could only find one engraving of him.
It shows him being appointed to the position of sheriff. This would be nice, but Goden took that position away from him. So it's kind of pointless now, and if anything is a testament to her dominance as she surrounded this engraving with more ones of herself. You can also find an engraving of that creepy hammer Nirdomas made nearby.
I feel like there's some hidden message here.
11th Hematite, 1052, Early Summer
Oh no, everything's gone awry again. Today Solon ran up to me with a look of panic on her face. I'd never seen her so distraught before.
Solon: "Stinthad! Have you seen Monom?!? I can't find her anywhere! She can't be trusted to wander around on her own!"
Stinthad: "Don't worry; she has to be around here. I made sure she only was responsible for hauling and some basic construction projects. There's no reason for her to have gone anywhere dangerous!"
Solon: "I know, but no matter where I look I can't find her. And worse yet, I thought I heard her screams coming from somewhere in the crypt! I think she got confused and wandered in there!"
Now I was worried to. There's no reason for Monom to wander off into the crypt. That's a dangerous place for any dwarf, let alone ones with severe head trauma. I told Solon that Monom would be okay, and sent the Immortal Rags down to look for her. But to be honest I'm not sure Monom can survive down there for long. I hope she doesn't encounter any danger before the Immortal Rags arrive....
Kraken's notes: Buck maggots are huge, aggressive, and generally unpleasant when not under your control. A fully grown buck maggot exceeds a grizzly bear in both size and temper. They will attempt to gore victims with their massive tusks, which pack quite a punch. The main weakness of the buck maggot is that it never travels in groups larger than 2, and is also slightly slower than most creatures.
Though dangerous as animals, the buck maggot serves as an excellent pet if domesticated. They have a high pet value, and their body materials are worth 3 more than the average animal. They can also be milked, unlike most wild creatures.
13th Hematite, 1052, Early Summer
Well, we finally found Monom. Much to my relief, she wasn't harmed, though she came close to death. She had been wandering around in the crypt, when two zombie buck maggots began to chase her. Of course, zombie buck maggots aren't particularly agile, so they had little chance of catching her. But due to her confusion and fear, she merely ran further into the crypt. Fortunately, Alath arrived before the buck maggots could trap her.
The buck maggots never stood a chance. Alath leapt onto them, prying off their tusks and rendering them harmless in the process. Due to the decay, the tusks were easily dislodged or destroyed. Alath was able to take down both buck maggots alone due to his superior speed and strength. He's starting to rival Momuz when it comes to power.
Forgetting for a moment the futility of doing so, I tried to question why Monom was down in the crypt.
Stinthad: "Monom, what were you doing down there? You could have gotten yourself killed!"
Monom: "Huh? What are you talking about right?"
Stinthad: "Of course, well nevermind-"
Monom: "Oh wait!"
She proceeded to pull a note out of her pocket, which had some cryptic instructions written on it.
Monom: "According to this, I'm supposed to be building Goden's special project. She says I'm "unique" so I can be trusted to do it by myself."
Stinthad: "Special project? What are you talking about?"
Monom: "Oh, it's the...wait; apparently I'm not supposed to tell you about it. Never mind!"
I tried to get more information out of her, but I was fighting an uphill battle just trying to get her to remember the conversation we had in the first place. I have no idea what this "special project" is, and Goden never said a word to me about it. I'd ask her about it, but she's nowhere to be found. I don't think she's purposely avoiding me; it's just that she's been acting very strange for the past few weeks. Always trying to remain out of sight, like she's trying to keep an eye on someone in secret. Or, she's paranoid that someone is watching her.
15th Hematite, 1052, Early Summer
Still can't find Goden. Now it does seem like she's avoiding me on purpose. The only evidence that she's even still here is that she keeps making new engravings when no one is around. All of which are even worse than the old ones.
Why must she torment me like this?
24th Hematite, 1052, Early Summer
Oh no no no no. It's happening again. Some of the farmers told me that they saw a dwarf being chased by monsters on the other side of the underground lake. I told them it was impossible, as there was no way to the other side. It turns out I was wrong, for even as I write this someone is being chased by some horrific little beast!
Kraken's notes: Amphibian men are one of several species that form underground tribes. These tribes can be found throughout all 3 cavern layers, and there's a good chance that your embark site will be right above at least one tribe. These tribes general keep to themselves, but will aggressively defend any area of the cavern they consider to be their territory.
Amphibian men are the same size as kobolds, which results in them being about as effective as them in combat. Though they can use weapons, they will always start equipped with primitive wooden gear that is of little threat to armored soldiers. However, these harmless weapons can sometimes be coated in deadly poisons, making them far more dangerous.
I don't even know what it is! It looks kind of like a little frog person, and makes croaking sounds to match. It'd probably be kind of cute if it weren't trying to kill us. The Immortal Rags are already rushing to defend haven from this new threat, but we're not even sure how that dwarf got over there in the first place. I pray that they reach her in time.
27th Hematite, 1052, Early Summer
I...I am amazed.
I, along with many other dwarves, had watched the frog man attack from haven. We could do nothing but watch and wait for the military to arrive. As usual, Alath showed up first. His speed is incredible and he passed right by us in only a few seconds. He then searched for a route to the other side of lake as quickly as possible. Fortunately he located a passage we hadn't seen before, which the dwarf had apparently used to reach the other side. He managed to drive off the frog man and rescue the dwarf. We were all relieved, and were about the head back to work when disaster struck.
Alath suddenly found himself surrounded on all sides by the frog men. They had apparently set up some kind of ambush, somehow. At this point the rest of the military had arrived, and we thought they could reach Alath before he was overwhelmed. However, they could not locate the passage Alath had used to reach the other side. It was almost as if someone had removed it as soon as Alath was attacked by the frogmen.
I was terrified, thinking that the little frogmen would overwhelm him due to their superior numbers. However, I had underestimated Alath. We all had.
As the frogmen sprung to attack, he responded with brute force. Severing and crushing several limbs of the frogman that had originally lured him into the trap, he made it clear that he had no intent of going down easily.
He then turned his attention to one of the blowgunners. A look of pure terror emerged on the blowgunner's face as he realized that Alath was coming straight for him. In one swift motion, Alath put an end to the creature's life.
At this point the rest of the frogmen were somewhat shaken, but still believing they had the advantage of numbers, they continued to fight. They didn't realize that their attacks had almost no effect on Alath.
The frogmen desperately tried to overpower Alath, but for every attack they inflicted with minor damage, Alath responded with a fatal blow.
Alath wiped the frogmen out. Soon the majority of the tribe lay on the ground, their bodies severed into many pieces. The only two survivors were a pair of blowgunners, spared only because they had been behind their unfortunate compatriots.
Realizing they had no hope of taking down Alath, they instead tried to flee into the depths of the caverns. However, Alath would not allow this.
Some say that was the very last of the tribals, and that he had wiped them all out. However, I swear I saw one manage to slip away while Alath butchered the other frog man.
Ultimately it doesn't matter though. One frog man can't threaten us, especially not while the memory of this slaughter is fresh in its mind. We all cheered for Alath, who had brought glory to Reveredtour. Well, everyone except Erithidok, who was mourning the death of the "gentle tribals". I think she might have some serious mental problems. Maybe being around elves really does make you crazy.
I didn't let it bother me though, as I was simply in to good a move to care about elves and their silly beliefs. For once everyone had worked out in my favor. The dwarf was rescued, Alath was victorious, and the enemy was utterly crushed. It was a truly glorious moment for Reveredtour.
Then Goden managed to ruin it for me without even saying a word to my face.
Damn it all.
__________________________________________________
I'm willing to bet Alath will die from some random disease within the next year. This game never lets me have anything nice.
__________________________________________________
6th Hematite, 1052, Early Summer
I should probably ask Goden to engrave some images that are more, um, pleasant. I figured as her skills increased she would produce some better images, and I guess that's true in a way. But while her engravings have become more detailed, they've also become increasingly unsettling.
This seems to be the pinnacle of her series of engravings depicting elves being slaughtered. No longer satisfied with showing them being crushed by cyclops, she has moved on to full scale battles. Here we see Spiders of Stability goblins butchering Intricacy of Praises elves in a particularly gruesome conflict. I'm glad the elves didn't see this when they came. I'm not sure what place this picture has in our fortress, as it shows a guarnteed enemy triumphing over a potential ally.
And here's an engraving of Goden being worshipped by several dwarves. This is only one image in a series, all of which portray Goden as a hero of Reveredtour. Now I'm not trying to undermine all the good she's done for Reveredtour in my absence, but this all seems a little selfish. I mean what about Momuz and the rest of the Immortal Rags? They're the reason Reveredtour hasn't been consumed by zombie trogs. Well, I could only find one engraving of him.
It shows him being appointed to the position of sheriff. This would be nice, but Goden took that position away from him. So it's kind of pointless now, and if anything is a testament to her dominance as she surrounded this engraving with more ones of herself. You can also find an engraving of that creepy hammer Nirdomas made nearby.
I feel like there's some hidden message here.
11th Hematite, 1052, Early Summer
Oh no, everything's gone awry again. Today Solon ran up to me with a look of panic on her face. I'd never seen her so distraught before.
Solon: "Stinthad! Have you seen Monom?!? I can't find her anywhere! She can't be trusted to wander around on her own!"
Stinthad: "Don't worry; she has to be around here. I made sure she only was responsible for hauling and some basic construction projects. There's no reason for her to have gone anywhere dangerous!"
Solon: "I know, but no matter where I look I can't find her. And worse yet, I thought I heard her screams coming from somewhere in the crypt! I think she got confused and wandered in there!"
Now I was worried to. There's no reason for Monom to wander off into the crypt. That's a dangerous place for any dwarf, let alone ones with severe head trauma. I told Solon that Monom would be okay, and sent the Immortal Rags down to look for her. But to be honest I'm not sure Monom can survive down there for long. I hope she doesn't encounter any danger before the Immortal Rags arrive....
Though dangerous as animals, the buck maggot serves as an excellent pet if domesticated. They have a high pet value, and their body materials are worth 3 more than the average animal. They can also be milked, unlike most wild creatures.
13th Hematite, 1052, Early Summer
Well, we finally found Monom. Much to my relief, she wasn't harmed, though she came close to death. She had been wandering around in the crypt, when two zombie buck maggots began to chase her. Of course, zombie buck maggots aren't particularly agile, so they had little chance of catching her. But due to her confusion and fear, she merely ran further into the crypt. Fortunately, Alath arrived before the buck maggots could trap her.
The buck maggots never stood a chance. Alath leapt onto them, prying off their tusks and rendering them harmless in the process. Due to the decay, the tusks were easily dislodged or destroyed. Alath was able to take down both buck maggots alone due to his superior speed and strength. He's starting to rival Momuz when it comes to power.
Forgetting for a moment the futility of doing so, I tried to question why Monom was down in the crypt.
Stinthad: "Monom, what were you doing down there? You could have gotten yourself killed!"
Monom: "Huh? What are you talking about right?"
Stinthad: "Of course, well nevermind-"
Monom: "Oh wait!"
She proceeded to pull a note out of her pocket, which had some cryptic instructions written on it.
Monom: "According to this, I'm supposed to be building Goden's special project. She says I'm "unique" so I can be trusted to do it by myself."
Stinthad: "Special project? What are you talking about?"
Monom: "Oh, it's the...wait; apparently I'm not supposed to tell you about it. Never mind!"
I tried to get more information out of her, but I was fighting an uphill battle just trying to get her to remember the conversation we had in the first place. I have no idea what this "special project" is, and Goden never said a word to me about it. I'd ask her about it, but she's nowhere to be found. I don't think she's purposely avoiding me; it's just that she's been acting very strange for the past few weeks. Always trying to remain out of sight, like she's trying to keep an eye on someone in secret. Or, she's paranoid that someone is watching her.
15th Hematite, 1052, Early Summer
Still can't find Goden. Now it does seem like she's avoiding me on purpose. The only evidence that she's even still here is that she keeps making new engravings when no one is around. All of which are even worse than the old ones.
Why must she torment me like this?
24th Hematite, 1052, Early Summer
Oh no no no no. It's happening again. Some of the farmers told me that they saw a dwarf being chased by monsters on the other side of the underground lake. I told them it was impossible, as there was no way to the other side. It turns out I was wrong, for even as I write this someone is being chased by some horrific little beast!
Amphibian men are the same size as kobolds, which results in them being about as effective as them in combat. Though they can use weapons, they will always start equipped with primitive wooden gear that is of little threat to armored soldiers. However, these harmless weapons can sometimes be coated in deadly poisons, making them far more dangerous.
I don't even know what it is! It looks kind of like a little frog person, and makes croaking sounds to match. It'd probably be kind of cute if it weren't trying to kill us. The Immortal Rags are already rushing to defend haven from this new threat, but we're not even sure how that dwarf got over there in the first place. I pray that they reach her in time.
27th Hematite, 1052, Early Summer
I...I am amazed.
I, along with many other dwarves, had watched the frog man attack from haven. We could do nothing but watch and wait for the military to arrive. As usual, Alath showed up first. His speed is incredible and he passed right by us in only a few seconds. He then searched for a route to the other side of lake as quickly as possible. Fortunately he located a passage we hadn't seen before, which the dwarf had apparently used to reach the other side. He managed to drive off the frog man and rescue the dwarf. We were all relieved, and were about the head back to work when disaster struck.
Alath suddenly found himself surrounded on all sides by the frog men. They had apparently set up some kind of ambush, somehow. At this point the rest of the military had arrived, and we thought they could reach Alath before he was overwhelmed. However, they could not locate the passage Alath had used to reach the other side. It was almost as if someone had removed it as soon as Alath was attacked by the frogmen.
I was terrified, thinking that the little frogmen would overwhelm him due to their superior numbers. However, I had underestimated Alath. We all had.
As the frogmen sprung to attack, he responded with brute force. Severing and crushing several limbs of the frogman that had originally lured him into the trap, he made it clear that he had no intent of going down easily.
He then turned his attention to one of the blowgunners. A look of pure terror emerged on the blowgunner's face as he realized that Alath was coming straight for him. In one swift motion, Alath put an end to the creature's life.
At this point the rest of the frogmen were somewhat shaken, but still believing they had the advantage of numbers, they continued to fight. They didn't realize that their attacks had almost no effect on Alath.
The frogmen desperately tried to overpower Alath, but for every attack they inflicted with minor damage, Alath responded with a fatal blow.
Alath wiped the frogmen out. Soon the majority of the tribe lay on the ground, their bodies severed into many pieces. The only two survivors were a pair of blowgunners, spared only because they had been behind their unfortunate compatriots.
Realizing they had no hope of taking down Alath, they instead tried to flee into the depths of the caverns. However, Alath would not allow this.
Some say that was the very last of the tribals, and that he had wiped them all out. However, I swear I saw one manage to slip away while Alath butchered the other frog man.
Ultimately it doesn't matter though. One frog man can't threaten us, especially not while the memory of this slaughter is fresh in its mind. We all cheered for Alath, who had brought glory to Reveredtour. Well, everyone except Erithidok, who was mourning the death of the "gentle tribals". I think she might have some serious mental problems. Maybe being around elves really does make you crazy.
I didn't let it bother me though, as I was simply in to good a move to care about elves and their silly beliefs. For once everyone had worked out in my favor. The dwarf was rescued, Alath was victorious, and the enemy was utterly crushed. It was a truly glorious moment for Reveredtour.
Then Goden managed to ruin it for me without even saying a word to my face.
Damn it all.
__________________________________________________
I'm willing to bet Alath will die from some random disease within the next year. This game never lets me have anything nice.
Just...eugh.
I'll tell you who has feelings. Blokes that bludgeon their wives to death with a golf trophy.
Hey, I'm not the one that came up with milkable maggots in the first place. [http://df.magmawiki.com/index.php/Purring_maggot]The_root_of_all_evil said:
Interestingly enough, purring maggots used to be the sole source of milk in Dwarf Fortress. Even when cows were in the game, they couldn't actually be milked until DF 2010 was released.
Soap: The one true cure for infection.
Also, here's a quote on infections from the bay12 forums:
"Picture a dwarf, warrior, mechanic, or some other incredibly useful profession. Now picture him dead. That's what infections do."
Also, here's a quote on infections from the bay12 forums:
"Picture a dwarf, warrior, mechanic, or some other incredibly useful profession. Now picture him dead. That's what infections do."
Well you can find creatures like that regardless of where you embark, provided you're willing to dig deep enough to find them. An army of war dogs isn't good far anything other than being meat shields, but jabberers [http://df.magmawiki.com/index.php/Jabberer] will fuck any foe up.OhJohnNo said:
Well like I mentioned in the first post with them, ooze pods are a mod so they don't show up in vanilla DF. I don't think they are particularly effective as soldiers either, as they spit a very weak inorganic blob of ooze. Their usefulness would depend entirely on whether or not your foe of the moment has access to ranged attacks or flying units. Being first layer cavern dweller, I didn't want ooze pods to be death incarnate.
In vanilla DF, the only creature I know of that can spit inorganic blobs are magma crabs [http://df.magmawiki.com/index.php/Magma_crab]. I imagine they have all the same flaws as ooze pods due to their small size, but I wouldn't know since they are about a hundred times harder to catch as they live in magma.
It depends on the type of modding your doing. Though as far as I know, unless you're making a utility for DF, all modding is done by altering variables in the data files. Which is both simple and stupidly complex in a lot of ways. My modding is mainly limited to creatures, and even then I don't know everything about that. I've only just recently figured out how to properly create new tissue materials.The_root_of_all_evil said:
Oh... crud. I missed that bit, I thought Oozies (Uzis?Internet Kraken said:
) were in vanilla as well. Ah well, I guess I could build some magma-resistant cages if I tried hard enough. This is Dwarven engineering after all . I agree with this guy.Engarde said:
Well if people actually want me to I could put them in a mod at some point and put it up for download. Just be warned that while I test each creature to ensure that they are functional, I haven't actually been able to see how all of the work in fortreess/adventure mode due to biomes and spawning limits. So don't blame me if you embark in a forest and suddenly a giant slug eats everyone. Though most of my modding is limited to savage biomes and caverns, so you'd be asking for danger in the first place.Engarde said:
I'll get that done sometime today/tomorrow.
Somehow I only just now noticed this post. The fact that your dwarf sleeps with the ghost of her deceased husband is quite amusing. The most logical explanation behind it is that the game still treats ghosts as citizens in some ways. For example, the pets of a deceased dwarf will still attempt to follow the ghost of said dwarf around. It's actually kind of sad, and I'm guessing some of these things were intentional on Toady's part, as he could have easily made it so that ghosts were considered nothing more than monsters.The Madman said:...
You actually inspired me to start a new fortress awhile back myself, and I just noticed the... the strangest and possibly creepiest thing I've ever seen in Dwarf Fortress. I thought I'd seen it all, but now I have to wonder how many other quirky little possibilities I've missed.
Ever seen that 90' romantic flick called Ghost with Patrick Swayze, the one with the dead guys ghost trying to protect his still living girlfriend? Yeah... I got that going on in my fortress. Seriously. There's this little chubby goth-dwarf, low self esteem but tons of enthusiasm, who's job is as a bone carver (Go figure!). Anyway...
Yeah, she sleeps with her dead husbands ghost who occasionally pops up to haunt my fortress lower levels. I didn't even know that was possible. Creepiest part? She's happier than ever, and the daughter is cheery that she sees her father every once and awhile.
God I love this little game. Anyway, sorry to interrupt, back to the main story!
However, obviously there were unintended side effects. I seriously doubt Toady meant for ghosts to be able to organize parties from beyond the grave.
Chapter 23: From the journal of Stinthad Kekimtobul
__________________________________________________
1st Malachite, 1052, Mid-Summer
A thought just occurred to me; if the elves sent a caravan, perhaps the humans will send one as well? It isn't that unlikely, as we were already conducting trade missions with the local human civilization before Reveredtour was settled, due to their dominance over the northern region. Humans actually make some decent equipment, so maybe I could purchase some from them to better equip the military. They may not rival dwarven works, but then again nothing really does! Better than having the military run around punching zombies out of existence, I suppose. However, Alath seemed less than thrilled with the idea of getting new gear.
Alath: "Keep your fancy weapons. I have all I need."
Stinthad: "What? I mean, normally I wouldn't second guess the decisions of trained soldiers, but all you have is that dagger."
Alath: "And?"
Stinthad: "Well, uh, it kind of sucks. You looted it off a kobold after all."
I hadn't anticipated how offended he would be by this. He told me to leave him alone, and I didn't hesitate to do so. He may just have a rusty dagger, but I still wouldn't want it in my face. Especially not after seeing what he did to the frogmen. Speaking of which, one of the dwarves found out what happened to the frogman that supposedly escaped whilst tending to the war beasts.
Apparently it took them 2 hours to get all the chunks of bone out of the elephant's foot.
5th Malachite, 1052, Mid-Summer
I heard that the cage traps I had installed in one of the deep roads had caught some invaders. I was very pleased with this, as my brilliance may have saved the lives of dwarves that would have been ambush and killed by the vicious cavern beasts. I rushed to see what vile fiend was now at our mercy and found...mole dogs.
Not even zombies ones, just regular mole dogs. Apparently their sensitive noses picked up the scent of food wafting from Reveredtour, and they blundered into the cage traps in search of a meal.
But you know, when their flesh isn't rotting off and they aren't trying to tear your limbs off, these mole dogs are actually kind of cute! I wanted to keep one as a pet, but apparently they have tragically short life spans. I guess there's only one sensible thing to do.
I hope they at least taste good...
Whoa, maybe not. I don't know why, but when I thought about eating those mole dogs I felt a cold chill run down my spine and a horrifying scream echo through my ears. I must have eaten something bad to have such a bizarre hallucination.
8th Malachite, 1052, Mid-Summer
I finally managed to pin down Goden, but I didn't learn much. All she told me was that the project had been discontinued and that I had no need to dwell on it. I was tempted to ask more, but when she pulls out the hammer my curiosity fades away. Apparently Monom was the only one who knew anything about it, and she doesn't remember anything. I guess Goden will just keep this as her little secret for now.
You know what's weird? I can't find Dashy the gazelle anywhere. Normally you see him sitting near the entrance, chewing on little clumps of grass. But now he's nowhere to be found.
I hope he didn't wander somewhere dangerous.
13th Malachite, 1052, Mid-Summer
I've finally begun the process of setting up the H.F.S. Obviously, one of our first goals should be to capture as many of the local hippos as possible. Technically all we need is one breeding pair, but the more the merrier! I have designed an ingenious trap to do so.
Stonesense Version [http://img641.imageshack.us/img641/5858/hfssense.png]
It's rather simple; we fill the dugout corridor with several rows of cage traps. Once this is done, the final wall is torn down granting access to the river. Hopefully, the local hippo population will investigate the new passage out of curiosity and enter the traps on their own. If not, one of the dwarves can use a crossbow to "encourage" the hippos to enter the trap corridor. I've heard concerns about this being dangerous, but I've assured everyone that this is perfectly safe. After all, there's no way weak little wooden bolts could significantly harm those wonderful hippos!
15th Malachite, 1052, Mid-Summer
I don't think I'm going to be able to sleep tonight. Not after what I saw.
A gazelle had been roaming near Reveredtour for the past few days. I was hoping it was Dashy, but sadly this wasn't the case. It wasn't bothering anyone, but at some point Goden decided it would be best to kill it. However, Momuz said that stopping training just to take down one gazelle was a waste of time. So to my surprise, Goden set out to kill the gazelle by herself.
I went to watch her from across the ditch, and many other dwarves did as well. They were amused to see an engraver trying to harm anything. I guess Goden was right, the other dwarves really don't respect her. Well right after exiting the fort, she almost tripped over a small creature crawling through the grass. The creature, surprised to have been seen, suddenly bolted upright and revealed itself to be a kobold thief.
Goden, upon viewing the pathetic kobold, was filled with an enormous amount of rage. The mere idea of it trying to steal from Reveredtour seemed to offend her deeply. She raised her hammer to strike down the terrified kobold. The other dwarves were laughing at this point, as Momuz told everyone that while her hammer looks intimidating it's actually harmless. It apparently weighs less than a pound, and even a legendary hammerer couldn't hurt someone with it. So we all assumed she would spend the rest of the day chasing the kobold around Reveredtour, beating it with the hammer in futility as it does little more than tickle the thief.
Instead she reduced the poor little kobold to a shattered mess with a single blow. Somehow the "harmless hammer" had torn up parts of the kobolds spine, rendering it incapable of running properly. The kobold let out a number of wretched sounds which disturb me to even think about them.
Momuz was only half-right. While the hammer couldn't kill you easily, that didn't stop it from turning you into a bloody mess. As the kobold tried to crawl away, Goden simply beat it over and over again with the hammer. The whole time kobold howled in pain, hacking up blood bile as it sustained both internal and external injuries. It was a grim thing to watch, but we just couldn't turn away.
Eventually, Goden ended the poor kobold's life by smearing its skull and its contents across the sunbaked soil. Yeah, that sure is a harmless hammer! Apparently not content with mutilating the thief, Goden then turned her attention to the gazelle she had originally set out to kill.
Nobody was laughing now.
Goden casually strolled back into the fort, clearly pleased with her ability to crush tiny kobolds and defenseless grassland critters.
Still, nobody was mocking her now, because they were all worried about being on the receiving end of that hammer. I don't like that everyone is so nervous now, but I can't really blame Goden for killing a thief, even it was done in an incredibly horrific manner. I just hope she doesn't get any bad ideas from this.
25th, 1052, Mid-Summer
I was working in the masons shop today, figuring I could help the other dwarves out with some of the more menial tasks. Suddenly, one of the diggers burst the door open. Apparently her name is Aban Kekimzulgar. I don't know much about her, other than that she was the dwarf that was attacked by the frogmen. I figured this might be a chance to make a new friend, but instead she threw me out of the masons workshop and demanded isolation, claiming she had a "brilliant idea".
Well she didn't have to be so rude! I told Goden about this, hoping she could persuade Kekimzulgar to obey the workshop protocols for custom projects rather than throw people out during the middle of work. However, she said it was best to let her be, as I would be "interfering with the will of the gods", whatever that means. I don't get Goden some times. What do gods have to do with a complete lack of manners?
26th Malachite, 1052, Mid-Summer
I was talking to some others, and they said that Kekimzulgar is experiencing a "fey mood". I don't recall actually seeing one of these in years, so I just assumed she was being rude. I suppose it's not her fault, though I still don't get why every dwarf who gets an idea for an artifact has to lose all manners. Anyways she's been scurrying across the fort grabbing all sorts of things, so who knows what she is making. I hope it's something all of us can enjoy though.
Say, who's that off in the distance?
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1st Malachite, 1052, Mid-Summer
A thought just occurred to me; if the elves sent a caravan, perhaps the humans will send one as well? It isn't that unlikely, as we were already conducting trade missions with the local human civilization before Reveredtour was settled, due to their dominance over the northern region. Humans actually make some decent equipment, so maybe I could purchase some from them to better equip the military. They may not rival dwarven works, but then again nothing really does! Better than having the military run around punching zombies out of existence, I suppose. However, Alath seemed less than thrilled with the idea of getting new gear.
Alath: "Keep your fancy weapons. I have all I need."
Stinthad: "What? I mean, normally I wouldn't second guess the decisions of trained soldiers, but all you have is that dagger."
Alath: "And?"
Stinthad: "Well, uh, it kind of sucks. You looted it off a kobold after all."
I hadn't anticipated how offended he would be by this. He told me to leave him alone, and I didn't hesitate to do so. He may just have a rusty dagger, but I still wouldn't want it in my face. Especially not after seeing what he did to the frogmen. Speaking of which, one of the dwarves found out what happened to the frogman that supposedly escaped whilst tending to the war beasts.
Apparently it took them 2 hours to get all the chunks of bone out of the elephant's foot.
5th Malachite, 1052, Mid-Summer
I heard that the cage traps I had installed in one of the deep roads had caught some invaders. I was very pleased with this, as my brilliance may have saved the lives of dwarves that would have been ambush and killed by the vicious cavern beasts. I rushed to see what vile fiend was now at our mercy and found...mole dogs.
Not even zombies ones, just regular mole dogs. Apparently their sensitive noses picked up the scent of food wafting from Reveredtour, and they blundered into the cage traps in search of a meal.
But you know, when their flesh isn't rotting off and they aren't trying to tear your limbs off, these mole dogs are actually kind of cute! I wanted to keep one as a pet, but apparently they have tragically short life spans. I guess there's only one sensible thing to do.
I hope they at least taste good...
Whoa, maybe not. I don't know why, but when I thought about eating those mole dogs I felt a cold chill run down my spine and a horrifying scream echo through my ears. I must have eaten something bad to have such a bizarre hallucination.
8th Malachite, 1052, Mid-Summer
I finally managed to pin down Goden, but I didn't learn much. All she told me was that the project had been discontinued and that I had no need to dwell on it. I was tempted to ask more, but when she pulls out the hammer my curiosity fades away. Apparently Monom was the only one who knew anything about it, and she doesn't remember anything. I guess Goden will just keep this as her little secret for now.
You know what's weird? I can't find Dashy the gazelle anywhere. Normally you see him sitting near the entrance, chewing on little clumps of grass. But now he's nowhere to be found.
I hope he didn't wander somewhere dangerous.
13th Malachite, 1052, Mid-Summer
I've finally begun the process of setting up the H.F.S. Obviously, one of our first goals should be to capture as many of the local hippos as possible. Technically all we need is one breeding pair, but the more the merrier! I have designed an ingenious trap to do so.
Stonesense Version [http://img641.imageshack.us/img641/5858/hfssense.png]
It's rather simple; we fill the dugout corridor with several rows of cage traps. Once this is done, the final wall is torn down granting access to the river. Hopefully, the local hippo population will investigate the new passage out of curiosity and enter the traps on their own. If not, one of the dwarves can use a crossbow to "encourage" the hippos to enter the trap corridor. I've heard concerns about this being dangerous, but I've assured everyone that this is perfectly safe. After all, there's no way weak little wooden bolts could significantly harm those wonderful hippos!
15th Malachite, 1052, Mid-Summer
I don't think I'm going to be able to sleep tonight. Not after what I saw.
A gazelle had been roaming near Reveredtour for the past few days. I was hoping it was Dashy, but sadly this wasn't the case. It wasn't bothering anyone, but at some point Goden decided it would be best to kill it. However, Momuz said that stopping training just to take down one gazelle was a waste of time. So to my surprise, Goden set out to kill the gazelle by herself.
I went to watch her from across the ditch, and many other dwarves did as well. They were amused to see an engraver trying to harm anything. I guess Goden was right, the other dwarves really don't respect her. Well right after exiting the fort, she almost tripped over a small creature crawling through the grass. The creature, surprised to have been seen, suddenly bolted upright and revealed itself to be a kobold thief.
Goden, upon viewing the pathetic kobold, was filled with an enormous amount of rage. The mere idea of it trying to steal from Reveredtour seemed to offend her deeply. She raised her hammer to strike down the terrified kobold. The other dwarves were laughing at this point, as Momuz told everyone that while her hammer looks intimidating it's actually harmless. It apparently weighs less than a pound, and even a legendary hammerer couldn't hurt someone with it. So we all assumed she would spend the rest of the day chasing the kobold around Reveredtour, beating it with the hammer in futility as it does little more than tickle the thief.
Instead she reduced the poor little kobold to a shattered mess with a single blow. Somehow the "harmless hammer" had torn up parts of the kobolds spine, rendering it incapable of running properly. The kobold let out a number of wretched sounds which disturb me to even think about them.
Momuz was only half-right. While the hammer couldn't kill you easily, that didn't stop it from turning you into a bloody mess. As the kobold tried to crawl away, Goden simply beat it over and over again with the hammer. The whole time kobold howled in pain, hacking up blood bile as it sustained both internal and external injuries. It was a grim thing to watch, but we just couldn't turn away.
Eventually, Goden ended the poor kobold's life by smearing its skull and its contents across the sunbaked soil. Yeah, that sure is a harmless hammer! Apparently not content with mutilating the thief, Goden then turned her attention to the gazelle she had originally set out to kill.
Nobody was laughing now.
Goden casually strolled back into the fort, clearly pleased with her ability to crush tiny kobolds and defenseless grassland critters.
Still, nobody was mocking her now, because they were all worried about being on the receiving end of that hammer. I don't like that everyone is so nervous now, but I can't really blame Goden for killing a thief, even it was done in an incredibly horrific manner. I just hope she doesn't get any bad ideas from this.
25th, 1052, Mid-Summer
I was working in the masons shop today, figuring I could help the other dwarves out with some of the more menial tasks. Suddenly, one of the diggers burst the door open. Apparently her name is Aban Kekimzulgar. I don't know much about her, other than that she was the dwarf that was attacked by the frogmen. I figured this might be a chance to make a new friend, but instead she threw me out of the masons workshop and demanded isolation, claiming she had a "brilliant idea".
Well she didn't have to be so rude! I told Goden about this, hoping she could persuade Kekimzulgar to obey the workshop protocols for custom projects rather than throw people out during the middle of work. However, she said it was best to let her be, as I would be "interfering with the will of the gods", whatever that means. I don't get Goden some times. What do gods have to do with a complete lack of manners?
26th Malachite, 1052, Mid-Summer
I was talking to some others, and they said that Kekimzulgar is experiencing a "fey mood". I don't recall actually seeing one of these in years, so I just assumed she was being rude. I suppose it's not her fault, though I still don't get why every dwarf who gets an idea for an artifact has to lose all manners. Anyways she's been scurrying across the fort grabbing all sorts of things, so who knows what she is making. I hope it's something all of us can enjoy though.
Say, who's that off in the distance?
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Armorers are actually considered to be one of the more useful professions, as when you get into equipment production you want skilled dwarves making gear for your military rather than novices.Engarde said:
The thing with migrants is that they can have points in every skill in the game. However, many skills are incredibly minor when compared to others. A legendary miner is great because they tear through stone in seconds. A legendary soap maker on the other hand....well, how useful does that sound? Your legendary at soap making. What a way to spend your life.
You can even get dwarves that are skilled blowgunners, a weapon which can only be utilized by tribals. Utterly useless.
