Wednesday, July 15, 2009

The History of Phantomdaggers, Chapter VII

12th Slate

Blood! The walls are covered in dwarven blood! Oh, I am saddened for the future of Phantomdaggers. We shall not stand long if dwarf continues to batter and maim fellow dwarf.

I found Benjamin’s Body near the gory accessway to the glowing pits. Kumil was slain in his quarters in the night. Melbil’s body has been broken, and I doubt he shall ever recover. We now have no butchers, except for butchers which crush and slice dwarven flesh. Vabok the mechanic had both his legs cruelly broken. Sarvesh the trainee lies mangled! Iden the miner received a comparatively light sentence of sixty days in prison.

And who has perpetrated these foul acts? None other than the captain of the guard, Oddom Solameral! He has corrupted the Secretive Brunch and fortress guard into following the vengeful agenda of the tax collector, who was enraged that we traded away idols to the elves. Just now, news reaches me that Lorbem the guard recently threw two more dwarfs to the dungeon.

I must move swiftly if this fortress is to survive.

16th Slate
During a party I organized in the zoo, I talked with several members of the fortress guard, Shorast Momuz and Degel. Lorbem I believe is a lost cause. I pleaded with them to think of the safety of Zimehurst and its residents, not the whims of the non-native tax collector. The ravings of the goblin thieves served well to hide our talk, from the Baron who poked his bald head in from time to time. I do hope they will make the right decision.

Afterwards I closed the great hall to the public in the hope that those with warrants for beating may hide a while longer in the tunnels. The sculpture garden and zoo are likewise no longer public meeting spaces.

Iton Zudenducim the Mechanic has had most bones in her left arm broken, and now both our primary mechanics are hopeless invalids. The children attend to them, since no grown dwarf will bear the scrutiny from Captain Oddom.

17th Slate
I entered the Sodel the tax collector’s ridiculously opulent quarters. His tables and shelves are saturated with idols…and not just any idols, but many figurines bear his likeness. What madness is this?

I told the tax collector of a new chamber that I was assigning to him, so that he might better store and protect his “goods” without appearing as vastly wealthy as he really is. He gleefully began moving microcline idols. He knows not that the room was dug out long ago to follow a cassiterite vein, and is now long forgotten. It is on the far side of the magma chamber which borders the dungeonmaster’s room. Indeed, the miners who dug it are long dead from the demons they so carelessly released. I ordered only fellow metallurgers of Omer to place a door and furniture within.

I heard Kadol the farmer being dragged away as she was walking to the clothing shop this afternoon. My determination to cleanse Phantomdaggers is only stronger with each day.

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19th Slate
I sent a miner in to hack away at the wall of the tax collector’s treasure room, and a flood of magma issued forth. Sodel barely looked up from his figurines to see the miner run by, until he saw the tide of molten rock. Once the miner was through the door, I sealed it shut. It is being walled up with magma-safe material as we speak. Urist was happy to do her part to make an end of her master’s murderer.

Meanwhile, the trustworthy members of the fortress guard followed through and sealed Oddom in his quarters, placing him under house arrest. I constrained the movements of the Baron and his spouse as well to be cautious. I remember the better times.

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21th Slate
The trials today revealed that Oddom “the beardless” killed Kumil just days after being appointed to captain of the guard. When Benjamin discovered him by the glowing pits, he was struck down likewise.

In light of his “honorable” military service to Phantomdaggers, he pleaded for his life. Looking through his kill record I saw the strange death of another dwarf that had been overlooked, that of Minkot Strongtomes. He numbered as one of the poor half-born found in the pits. Perhaps Oddom thought to put him out of his misery, but regardless, the dwarf is a murderer, through and through.

Before sentencing, the former captain also incriminated the Baron, who, upon questioning revealed that he was not of noble blood. Instead, he admitted to be nothing but a profiteer, intent on seizing the riches of the city. We have no case against his consort, pregnant and worshipper of Omer, whom I shall allow to go free.

The body count shows 4 dead, and 7 more who are too badly injured to leave their beds.
Eshtan Twisttome Edanison Deleth is the new captain of the guard. He killed ten demons at the head of the Free Lancers during the breach of the glowing pits. His wife (also named Eshtan) was tragically slain in the same engagement. Some think him not quite right in the head, as he still behaves as if she still lives.

27th Slate
With the purges complete, a long retinue of dwarves was spotted from atop the new watchtower. The train of dwarves and their pets stretched as far as the eye could see. But, that’s not the best part!
As I live and breathe, I know I saw the royal banner of the Blockade of Ticks unfurl.

1st Felsite
The fair Queen has arrived, closely guarded by a new hammerer. Benjamin had suspected this day would come since our adamantine strike, and had the foresight to carve out chambers for her. The freemasons Ingish, Stukos and Tulon are most welcome here. With Benjamin dead, rebuilding the fortress shall rest on them. Urist will show them the ways of Phantomdaggers once they are settled. Another fellow armoursmith of the third degree has also joined we metallurgers.

104 dwarves in all are now residents of Phantomdaggers. Long live Zimehurst, Mountainhome of the Hames of Adventuring!

10th Felsite
Olon Kolkokeb the trainee was possessed by unknown forces to produce Tomen Zodost, “The Group of Rot.” It is a figurine of the King, made of raw adamantine.

1st Hematite
The Tax Collector was given a funeral of sorts today. Some chert blocks were placed in his coffin and his tomb was sealed with all his once precious idols within. No one came.

14th Hematite
A human diplomat and his retinue were seen walking along the Trifling Bands. I am not thrilled by the prospect.

15th Hematite
A caravan comes as well. It may as well be an entire traveling village. This sour news was however made better by a strike of bauxite in the chert. It bring some interesting magma control ideas into the realm of the possible. I’ve already started drawing up plans.

17th Hematite
The last human stragglers have arrived. We are hosting nearly 30 unwelcome guests. Many of them are armed to the teeth. They make me uneasy.

18th Hematite
The hatches were sealed. The Baron stood miserable in the lever room. Oddom Nationvessels, the Muddled Trails of Clearing’s sentence was read at every gathering place, and once more from in front of the drawbridge before we sealed him in with the humans, the mud, and the water.

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Prafumis the kobold theif was torn apart by a war dog. He dressed like a human, but it did him little good. Even the dogs have become uneasy at their foul scent. We stand wholly opposed to the humans’ corruption of spirit.

21st Hematite
The depot is now completely inundated. I had feared that with the new arrangement a human might have been able to swim up into the holding tank, but their ridiculous armours and weapons must have held them down.

22nd Hematite
Perhaps I spoke too soon. I can hear their feeble cries for help beneath the hatch which leads to the holding tank (it has not yet refilled, giving them a short respite). The windmill continues drawing water, and soon their will be nowhere left to draw breath.

24th Hematite
The screams have stopped. It had begun to wear on my nerves. Draining has begun, and the windmill was disconnected from the pump system.

5th Malachite
For some reason, the humans brought forty of what the Queen informs me are “chausses.” I cannot begin to discern their functions. She tells me that their poleyns are of excellent quality.

The wicked Baron starved to death. Thob conveniently forgot to schedule him any feedings.

7th Malachite
‘Been overhauling the trade depot as it drains. I decided to set one lever to control each portion and installed a new system for closing the drawbridge.

6th Galena
Recent rainfall has exposed a vein of gold on the hillside.

There’s a human guild member walking about the fortress demanding to see me. I think it wise that we keep the trade depot closed a little longer.

Three trainees were crushed under the drawbridge due to sloppy maintenance of the trap system. Several corpses are still clogging up the floodgate. Emptying the depot will have to stop until someone can be sent in to push them out.

17th Galena
The baroness has taken to staring for hours at a time into the underground pool. I need to keep an eye on that one.

The trade depot is now fully drained, but needs repairs before the multitude of human trade goods can be claimed and sorted.

1st Limestone
Food stocks are increasingly running low, and booze is (as usual) very difficult to come by. The dwarven caravan should arrive soon though.

Urist has begun construction of a lovely golden tower that will soon rise above the keep. She stupidly made the staircase out of obsidian. Maybe it will wear better?

6th Limestone
A goblin siege has come, dashing our hopes of seeing the dwarven caravan this year. Eshtan had been hassling the rhesus macaques nearby and began battling the goblins tooth and claw, killing three before they destroyed his left eye and he had to retreat. His new adamantine shield is serving him well, and no doubt helped him to take on an entire platoon by himself.

10th Limestone
The magma execution chamber is a pretty sight. With those mechanisms done, I thought another whip trap might do well for the maze well before I open it.

2nd Sandstone
The grand opening was today. We’ve begun to dump creatures down into the maze.
The queen has been melancholy as of late, so I had a wall punched through so she could admire her furniture from every room.

14th Sandstone
The maze, it’s wonderful! It’s positively brimming with goblins, kittens, and horse foals, all running about. From the observation room, I saw a goblin fall unconscious from the pain of the bronze whip. He landed on the plate which triggered it again, and again and again. My only worry is that the bodies might eventually clog up the traps. Perhaps I should have built more of them before throwing the goblins in there. Next up, Lizardmen!!

20th Sandstone
I hope to try out the magma chamber on the traitor Lorbem soon.

9th Timber
Some problems hav ari s

10th Timber
By the gods, it seems the maze is not completely inescapable! Damn Vabok for telling me the mechanisms were failsafe! By working together to trigger the pressure plates in the correct order, several goblins escaped, lead by the master thief we held in the zoo for so long.

23rd Timber
When the lizardmen cages were opened up to bring them to the maze, they escaped and have begun to terrorize the main storage level. I do not know how this could have happened, but they are no longer accounted for. Neither are the Olmmen. Nor the Snakemen.

I can’t deal with this myself, as another issue has arisen. I had a meeting with the queen today in my dining room. Despite her luxuriant quarters, she had still been claiming that her office was not up to snuff. Seeing my golden dining set pushed her over the edge. After a brief interview, the hammerer gave me this report on her psychological well-being. It does not look good.

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25th Timber
It’s been extremely difficult to protect her in this state from the goblins. I’ve spent all day trying to console the queen, but she now runs about the Great Hall babbling orders to “increase the width of the plump helmet biscuits.” Perhaps she will come out of it, but if not, I have prepared her tomb.

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