Part 132: Globofglob: Update 25
Apparently, Queen Sankis has been angered by my living arrangements. Apparently a champion of the fortress and the eternal overseer doesn't "deserve" a bedroom worth so much.
And what the fuck did the Queen do for Syrupleaf, besides whine and complain about our lack of glass!? Nothing. Abso-fucking-llutely nothing.
And a kid, Leperfish, just organized a party. About time. Too bad I'll have to break it up. See that tower there? I need it done by the end of this year. It's for good luck, you could say.
It's 3rd Moonstone.
I also reassigned Kitan and Skanky Burns to the New Guard. Both are new arrivals, and are unlikely to object.
15th Moonstone
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I'm reminded of an old legend I once read when I was a child. There was once a mountainhome called Godenabod, or Girderwad in the modern way of speaking. See, they were prosperous. No threat could stand up to them, neither frost giants nor spawn nor sand raider. They ate food that would bankrupt a king, and they lived happily and healthily. Their champions were unmatched, their wealth unlimited. And how did they achieve this? With sacrifice, of course.
Every year, at the end of winter, they would sacrifice someone to their god. Two warriors, of a sect that only left their halls to make war, would come out. The sacrifices were numerous and varied. Exotic creatures, enemies, valuble possesions, foodstuffs and beer, etc. But at the end of the festivities, the final sacrifice was always a dwarf. A dwarf of skill and worth of course, not some useless peasant. Usually it was a craftsman or a migrant who volunteered so that the rest of their party would have permission to enter the mountainhome. In times of great need, a champion, a noble, or even a king would be sacrificed.
It's just a legend, but legends aren't always false. I had thought the spawn, Holistic, and Headshoots a legend before coming here. I had thought ressurection was impossible before coming here. And Syrupleaf is always in need of luck.
I've finally decided what to do with the tower. It will be a pyramid. At it's apex, I will put the artifact hatch cover "The Prowler of Crazes" on top.
Then I shall begin the sacrifices.
I don't know who I shall sacrifice, truthfully. But I know that it must have great significance. A champion, perhaps, or a former overseer. Though we are doing well for ourselves, a little luck can't hurt, right?
Bobbin Threadbare wrote :-
Without meeting the man himself, I went once again to Chance II's quarters and placed the strange sphere upon a table in his room, along with a note which explained from whom I obtained it. I do not believe I will ever know what happened to it next.
Sometime after, the doom which all dwarves must face, the harrowing of champions that all fortresses undertake to prove their right to the adamantine we covet, befell SyrupLeaf. But this time, there was a difference; rather than the demons of the fiery pit which normally appear at such times, our impenetrable prison held something far worse: They occupied the chamber, a breed of Them which even the most fevered of dreams could only shadow in their depiction. I was fortunate to not be present at the confrontation, but from the reports I heard, I gathered this about them:
The Greater Spawn, as I have termed them, stand near twice the height of a dwarf, their vertical maws opening full to the midpoint of their stomachs, the opening wide enough to fit a dwarf whole into what strange and bilious innards it must have. Apart from the excessive strength granted by their larger frame, a thick layer of callous skin has formed over every portion of their body, fusing the smaller joints and preventing their head from turning. While the thick tissue covers them with a strong layer of biological armor, this thankfully reduces their ability to move their limbs to the degree of a normal dwarf, though they seem to retain their unnatural speed.
The incursion and a subsequent invasion attempt were repelled with only minor casualties, but the effect of the discovery disheartened the population, and my own worst fears had been realized. Aside from the Spawn which plagued this corner most of all the world, the depths themselves contained even stronger variations never before seen by the living. The Presence I felt in the adamantine could only be one being.
And even now, more of her offspring lie waiting beneath the mountain.