Intermezzo

markus_cz wrote :-

An Illustrated Tour through Gemclod
...or there through blood and back through vomit again...
by the Mountainhomes Immigration Agency

Hello and welcome to Gemclod. The emperor Yeol build a wall and towers all around the older and smaller keep. We couldn't get them all in one picture so here is just a snapshot. Note the blood! The black splotches come from a giant mole.


This is Yeol's elf corpse incinerator. Note how it is connected to the power grid. There's also an insanely complicated knot of magma- and water-tubes right below the ground, but they're not very photogenic.


The Great Hall, the checkers-room council room Emperor's office, and outlying barracks. Note the vomit everywhere! Lately the brave dwarves of Gemclod contracted a disease from the forgotten beast Nol. It's been spreading rapidly amongst the population, causing vomiting and pain under the left lung. But we've been assured it's nothing!


Minty's new hospital, cleverly hidden behind the stairs. Don't expect me to tell you how you get there! You see, you have to twist like this and slip under the stairs...


This has been here almost since anyone remembers. Built by Boing, it is a flushing trade depot. Oh, those were the days. We rarely ever use it now.


Just a small peak at the undercaves. We've walled them off and almost never go there, they're full of dangerous mud and treeshrooms. Besides, it's a winding maze and you can't get anywhere for all the trees.


The Hall of Heroes, conceived by Vox Nihili and greatly expanded by Minty. We're getting really deep in the fortress now but we'll go even deeper.


Here we are - the Emperor's throne room. It's locked behind an iron door and there is a ballista pointed at any unwanted visitor. There is a small hallway leading to a doomsday lever... and the whole throne room is slowly being flooded by magma from a magnificient magmafall.


That's it! See you next year when the hottest pictures from Gemclod arrive.

Krysmphoenix wrote :-

Mega-Statistics for after Year 268!

Thadius wrote :-

My journey to Gemclod.
As written by Thadius, Mechanic.

"Blue."

The human nodded vigorously. "I dunno what it was, but the High Ones said they could not long stand against the axe that was made of sharpest, brightest blue."

The dwarf sighed. "So I suppose you'll be wanting something extra for your trouble."

The human trader shook his head. "Just your usual fine wares for mine, if you'd be so kind."

The dwarf sighed again. "Let me tell you something, friend. You travel a route. You journey from Gemclod to me, then to five other dwarves, two male, three female. One's a farmer, one's a brewer, and the other three are masons and stonecrafters. They live by trading you knickknacks for supplies that you buy from other humans and do not sell to Gemclod. You then sell many of these knickknacks to the humans again for more supplies."

The human was dumbstruck. "How! How do ye know? I never told ye!"

The dwarf motioned to the -idol- hung on one of the human's beast-of-burden's bags. "Engravings in dwarven, they tell the stories. Ye canna read them, but I can. And I've been sending messages back with my mechanisms. Hidden, but there."

The human cursed. "And why do ye tell me now?"

The dwarf went into his home for a moment and came back out with arms filled with mechanisms. "I trade to ye now all that remains of my work. I need a mule and enough ale and meat to last until I can travel back along your trail to Gemclod."

The human scowled. "Why should I trust your mechanisms? You've told me of the messages you hide in these things."

The dwarf grinned. "I've just inscribed the dwarven runes for all that you've told me. You take these mechanisms, hang them on your beasts, and every dwarf you find will trade you everything for a beast of burden, burdened down with food and ale. You could do a roaring trade that way, be rich and fat for the rest of your life."

The merchant grinned at the thought of this new business opportunity. "Friend Thadius, you've got yourself a bargain. Take this Mule, these five barrels of meat, and these three of various boozes. The path to Gemclod is a long one, but travel south, keep a sharp implement on you, and you should make it."

The two parted ways, then. Thadius to go to Gemclod, and the human? Well, we're not interested in him...

Thadius wrote :-

I intend for this to be a two, maybe three, part thing showing what the average dwarf has to go through in order to find Gemclod. To wit, I am playing on peasant mode. This means I get to choose, essentially, one attribute to 'max out' (In this case, I added it all to strength.) I also get to choose a very small set of skills. (Hammerdwarf, shield user, and swimming.) Let's see if I die!



In search of Gemclod, you've found elves!

My name be Thadius. My last name, Olonrigoth is really more of a reminder of my profession on my journey to Gemclod.



My human friend had told me to go south to find Gemclod. He also gave me a mule that was burdened with meat and ale. Bloody thing ran off not five minutes after he left. It was a good thing I thought to take some meat off it and make an aleskin, but I hadn't got to fill the thing with ale yet. I guess it'll hold water just as well.

Oh, wait, you're wondering about the hammer, aren't you? Well I'll tell you. The most important tool in the mechanic's arsenal is in fact a hammer. All the others can be made by bashing two rocks together, or sometimes they are the two rocks! No, a hammer is the most important tool a mechanic could possibly need. Mine just happens to be a steel warhammer. I was going to ask for such a thing from my human friend, but it turned out to be unnecessary.

One day I was out gathering stone and I tripped over a boulder I hadn't noticed was there. As I lay on the ground, I guess one of the gods must have taken it as a sign that I was praying to them. For lo, the heavens did open, and a hammer did fly from on high and embed itself in the ground near me. I picked myself up and took the hammer, turning it over. It was smooth on one side, but on the other, I could make out runes. They read as thus:

MY NAME IS PATSY, HAMMER OF KINGS.
LOOK ON THE CARNAGE I LEAVE AND DESPAIR.

Ever since I've kept it near me. Anyways, enough about the hammer. I've a journey to make. First thing I have to do is see who lives here.



...Armok preserve me. High elves. Okay. Back away slowly...



Okay, whew. South, my human friend said. Right. Not an issue. There's another settlement just up the road, maybe I can get better directions to Gemclod from there.



Or...not. He could just be an unhelpful High Elf. Okay, I can do this. It's not like I don't have any supplies or directions or clues at all.



...The hell? This elf is following me. Okay, I'll stand on the bridge and talk to him.

"High elf siege engineer! What is it you seek?"

"YOUR DEATH!"

Oh hell. Quickly I pull my hammer up and strike at the elf. His right leg happens to be closer to me, so I swing for that. He punches me hard enough that I know my liver will feel it in the morning. I go for his upper body next, striking him repeatedly there. He tries to counter, but he can't focus through the pain. He's gripping his body with his right hand, I decide to smash that. The elf screams and passes out for a moment. I take my chance.



The elf is no more. I rummage through his pockets and find a newsletter distributed to all High Elves, detailing the location of Gemclod and what every elf is expected to produce so that it may be destroyed.

The location is to the far north-east.

...That ratbastard human.

Thadius wrote :-

As it turns out, I didn't die!



Where in the world is this bloody fortress?!

After having slain that elf, I began to head north-east. For some time. But then I found this problem.



This is only one part of the mountain range that spans from the north-west to the south-east. I cannot pass it by walking over it, for some reason, so I have decided to go around.

The next journal entry is some months later.

Well the mountains have finally turned to the north. I might be able to find my way over after all. But what's that...strange feeling going down my spine?...



ARMOK PRESERVE ME. Okay. There's got to be an easy way. I'll bash his leg first and- He fell! He's writhing about in agony! I think I kneecapped him! Ha! Sasquatch aren't so bad after all!

Some months later, again.

You'll never guess what I found!



Directions! Helpful humans that don't want to kill me! If all goes well, I should be at Gemclod within the month! Finally I may put my hammer to stone again!

So what can we draw from this test run? Well the main reasons immigrants might not come in large quantities or often are twofold. First, their current civilization, where my dwarf spawned, has been razed and taken over by high elves. Mostly. I think. Anyway, any dwarf that gets created had either be able to defend itself, or learn very quickly! The second reason is the civilization is half the world away, on the other side of a huge mountain range. By the time any dwarf actually gets there, the Sasquatches, beak dogs, and other assorted nasty creatures have had a go at them. And in case anyone was wondering, yes, that is the extent of what I did. It was a peaceful enough walk up to Gemclod, once you got around the mountains. Seriously, the biggest hazard in this world was the geography. I'm kinda disappointed. I thought a Voxmod game would have, I dunno, High Elves raining from the skies in full battle gear to kill me.