Part 11

Official Records of the Fortress, Excerpts from the Journal of the Former Mineral Overseer, From the Desk of Administrator Phrog

Winter
Yes, the news is true. Mad queen Sankis insisted she will live here no longer, for the conditions were not befitting of royalty. Frankly, the conditions are not befitting sentient life in the least, but of course the queen is hard to please. And then she roamed the halls like a vengeful spirit, screaming and babbling and tearing off her leopard leather dress and generally making quite the scene. Then, she locked herself into her palatial quarters and refused to take food nor water. Now, she is dead. Had she lived but a few weeks longer, her rooms would have been adorned with gold and adamantine statues, but now our kingdom has no monarch. All is lost.

As a servant of the monarchy I feel personally responsible- was it not my job to protect her? I consider ordering the miners to dig straight down through the adamantine... but what is there to gain by killing everyone else here? Suicide by demon is no honorable end, but perhaps I will find a more fitting demise before the year is out.

In positive news, we've had our first strange mood. Drakenel, one of two lowly leatherworkers that showed up with the immigration, grabs three pieces of pretty standard leather and a bar of gold and gets to work.



I suppose a celebration is in order. Drakenel did manage to sew the most splendid leather dress I've ever seen, studded with gold nonetheless. Valued at around 44,000 ingots, it is something to be proud of. Drakenel is now a legend in his craft, and I have aassigned him to create backpacks, bags, waterskins, and other leather goods for the fortress.



Disaster! Orangesoda was out doing who knows what, possibly trying to collect from the vast field of cave spider silk that I had forbade anyone to get near, when a massive skeletal bat ambushed him.



He has been seen running over hills in the distance. I consider sending Phrog to end the creature, but suddenly I realize it is for me to do. I call a few peasants to arms, pick up a shield and sword, and sprint out the gate.



I hear screams as I approach the top of a hill. Orangesoda has been cornered! The skeletal monster tears at his face...



And in moments his head is removed entirely! My recruits are hundreds of meters behind me, but I see the undead beast coming back. This is it! I shout and rush to intercept its flight back to the chasm, and it sees me. We charge.



My companions are no where to be seen. Within seconds I will be in combat...



I score the first hit! Its hand is severed neatly from its body, but before i can take a breath I am knocked to the ground by its massive, bony wings.




The beast grabs my ankle with its remaining hand and attempts to tear me apart. I slash at it again and again, but its girth is too great, its reach is too long...



Claws and teeth rake my body. Everything is dark. Someone is shaking me. I open my eyes. The three recruits that came out with me are here. I cannot feel my legs. My right arm has been torn right out of the socket. There is a gaping hole in my chest. I hear sucking as air goes directly into my lung through the gap. Beside me lie dozens of bones and bits of my body. How am I still alive? My companions look stern, but I see they are faltering. They are asking themselves the same question. I draw FebrezeNinja close and whisper in his ear. I tell him the plans I have made to keep the fortress afloat until winter. I tell him the dark secret of the so-called queen sankis. Before I die, I tell him that he is a hero. He has slain graspcyclone, who tore me asunder after murdering orangesoda. I hear Nish, my god of creation, calling me. The end is here.





(next update will be a quick recount of the end of the year and will have the file. There are some amazing treats for the next player in line. Anyone care to guess the value of the 2nd artifact created at Headshoots?)