The Reproach
On the 20th of Galena, 205, Enzer Furnacetoned, the Bejeweled Jungle of Mobs, celebrated hero of Gemclod, was slain.
And promptly forgotten.
The dwarf that everyone cheered, that everyone had lined up to congratulate on her latest victory, who had been held as the pinnacle of dwarvenness, now laid rotting on the hillside in full view of the fortifications.
People occasionally spoke of her, a word here or there about how things might be better if she were still around. Mostly, they concerned themselves only with their own well-being.
Minty was horrified. If this was the treatment reserved for Gemclod’s greatest, what was in store for him? Would his body be fed to the purring maggots? Would his bones become some drunken lout’s toothpick?
Enzer, of course, was not the only body. The fortress and surrounding lands were filled with the uninterred, from those who died during medical treatment left in their beds, to those who died in construction accidents shoved out of the way, and of course those who fell in battle left to whatever scavengers lurked in the swamps.
This was merely a symptom of Gemclod’s societal breakdown, which is unsurprising as Boing abandons the overseership and no one takes the mantle for months, when it is claimed by the returned-from-the-dead mad-dwarf Bad Munki.
It was during these troubled times that a string of victories by his Gilded Men inspired hope and awe amongst Gemclod’s citizens. His ranks grew with volunteers from both the common dwarf and Gemclod's former rulers. He capitalized on this surge of popularity to wrest control from the mentally deteriorating
One of his first acts was to retrieve and inter Enzer’s remains.
Minty Starcrypt the Moral Shrine of Courage
The Regime
Gemclod society as envisioned by Minty
So then, we have a self-conscience passive-aggressive super-soldier who is mortally afraid of being forgotten. How the hell is this guy going to rule?
Well, since he had the highest organization of anyone in the place, very carefully. I planned out a set of goals as well as timeframes to reach them (within 6 months, within 12 months, etc). In fact, you can probably see that just about everything Minty accomplished he generalized in my very first overseer post.. It’s also why I created that schedule (that in retrospect people seemed to loathe) of detailing the plans that month every month prior to the action. It also came up in his detailed after-action reports.
Just to assure you, no I never fucking do that when playing on my own.
Secondly, despite being a military captain, the guy is still unassertive. Which means he only bosses around people he sees beneath him. So how could he enact any sweeping social change I might be planning? By gaining the consent of his peers, the nobles and the formal overseers. Thus, the Counsel of Will was born, which consisted of the Nobles Screen with their wants and needs (so it had an in-game reflection) and their reflective posters in the thread (so it wouldn’t be nothing but DON’T EXPORT BUCKETS and NEED A BIGGER BED).
Chance II’s “First Council Session”
So yeah we got how he’ll do it but what is he going to be doing? I wish I could answer that exactly, as I actually did keep a .txt containing the goals, but I deleted it upon finishing my year. Ah well, I’ll guess by looking over my year:
-Making nobles happy, and giving them some semblance of power even after their overseership is up
-Creating a culture of honoring the dead, injured, soldiers, etc.
-Ensuring the sustainability of Gemclod
So here’s his accomplishments:
-The Counsel of Will, which prevented former overseers from being rendered utterly powerless (and helpless) to a successor (which of course was rendered moot by the immediate abolishment by the successor), as well as ensure stability by preventing a no-overseer situation
-The Hall of Wisdom which would ensure former rulers wouldn’t be forgotten (as all the tombs were right there, and the living quarters “converted into museums” upon death).
Naturally, these were also forgotten as soon as the overseership changed
-The Hall of Champions, which are huge shrines dedicated Gemclod’s exceptional (hint hint)
-Huge expansion of the military and their needs, which he just happens to appoint himself to lead at the end
Chance II’s “Dwarven Royalty Outfitted in Battledress”
-Use of Commatoes’s squad as a retirement of the critically injured dwarfs, which surprisingly enough is a tradition that seems to have stuck. (At least until Mr. Vile gives them a shield and throws them to the wolves.) Oh, and pampering the until-then largely ignored Commatoes, a fallen soldier (hint hint).
-The Shorter Than Some Memorial Hospital, which is not only a memorial to a fallen soldier (hint hint), but another attempt at preventing the hurt from rotting in a field. As an aside, I (out of character) entirely intended it to be a bunch of deathtrap drowning rooms. The Nolio spreading machine aspect of it was unintentional but hilarious.
And as for the “bravery” the overseer showed upon charging into battle; I was hoping to get him killed both in- and out-of-character. After all, who would forget the brave final charge of the ruler of the fortress? Eat that Enzer.
Minty the Overseer
The Retirement
PublicOpinion’s “Mintieta”
After overseeing I was happy to let other overseers do whatever with the character. I guess he wound up just playing with his military until he got killed? Dunno, he seemed happy enough with it. I only broke in once with a not entirely sincere note which was more of an attempt to keep Yeol away from any ideas of punishing military types for some inexplicable reason.
So there you go.
Minty’s Mudstone Coffin
TL;DR: he was afraid of being forgotten.