Dwarf Fortress (2) - Team Liquid Project - Page 10

I am Am. For most of my youth, I have struggled to train myself in the way of the sword. This may have been a mistake. It turns out, practicing with a sword in my parents' basement all day does not bring in much gold. Nevertheless, I am confident I shall find purpose in this world! Only yesterday, I received word of an adventure to be had - a mine where dwarves live in the sky, and treasure is unlimited. I shall depart immediately.


We're that little grey '@' near the bottom.

Now, this 'Skyhall' place is meant to be somewhere to the East. It turns out, I have no idea where it is. Or where I am. Man, this is going to be hard.

In adventure mode, you realize how big the world really is. To travel by foot takes forever to get anywhere, and the hardest part is knowing where you need to go. All I know is our fort is to the east, so to the east we go!

Before I leave, I figure we could use some help on our journey. I recruit another brave soul to join our quest.


I'm 'Swordmaster' because that's what I'd appear as in-game to others. I'm not sure how they know this. Maybe they tattoo your head when you join the Swordmaster club.

Lirgir warns me about bogeyman. It is no idle threat. Should you travel alone at night, they will hunt you down. However, one who is swift and patient can simply run from them and hack them as they attempt to catch up. It would take a superb warrior to manage it, but have I mentioned I like swords? Regardless, traveling with Lirgir will prevent such a problem.

Soldiers will join you freely, up to a limit based on your reputation. We've done nothing, so the limit is 2, and I grab another soldier from the town. These guys will fight and die for you, so they're handy to bring through the wilderness. We could quest to raise said reputation, but we already have a key quest to handle.

Collecting our belongings, we set off, east. Always into the east.

I really wish I knew where we were going.


All I can think of is how many bolts this would make.

This is the travel map. It shows you your surroundings, and lets you fast-travel one square at a time, but it consumes the same amount of in-game time as walking normally. You can be attacked in this mode - you'll be forced out of it.

It doesn't take long before the three of us are hopelessly lost. We are somewhere within the Remarkable Forests. I do not see what is so remarkable about it. Perhaps elves named it - Lirgir notes that there is an Elven Retreat fairly close. You'd think with how much they live in the forest, it would not be remarkable to see another one. The world is a curious place.

We have been lucky so far - no ambushes. No wolves, and no bandits. The latter, I am grateful for. The former is actually a concern. It is winter, and it's so utterly ball-shatteringly cold that my waterskin has frozen solid. I try to drink it anyways, and merely manage to lick the ball of ice within. It takes me ten minutes to free my tongue from the frozen mass. This is a problem. No water and limited food means we need to rely on what we can forage.

And this is Dwarf Fortress, we can forage everything.

Continuing on our journey, we encounter two bursts of luck. A small pool of stagnant water, unable to freeze. I cannot drink it, for stagnant water is hideously... stagnant. However, I recall an ancient filtration trick. Carefully, I lower myself into the pool, recalling what skill in swimming I can, then climb back out.


Have you ever been so thirsty you'll drink the water off your eyeballs? We have.

I consume the water coating me. Meanwhile, a small animal has been spotted, and our third member who's name I cannot recall nails it with a bolt. The echidna is immediately killed and I move to butcher it. It is unfortunate I did not kill it myself - being coated in its blood from the gory massacre would have provided me with another layer of fluid to drink. Well, can't have everything in life!


I like to picture dabbling butchers just hacking away with a longsword, then trying to find scraps of meat in nearby trees.

Our supplies are replenished, and our quest can continue!

Before long, we pass an imposing fortress. I have been on the lookout for this, because frankly, my equipment is so pathetic a kobold wouldn't steal it. A lord, however, has far too many things.

Fortresses are where major faction leaders can be found - they give the highest quality quests to hunt megabeasts and other major creatures. They also have a fair amount of soldiers, that you can either slaughter if you wish, or recruit. More importantly, they're often strewn with random human items.


Look at the size of the wall around the central keep. This is the kind of thing I want to see, iGrok.

Moving quickly and quietly, I avoid the Human Lord - we're nobody to him, and probably cannot handle whatever quest he would give us even if we qualified. No, our goal is something simpler. Unfortunately, this fortress was nearly empty - but we snag some Bronze Chainmail before leaving. I am now better protected against the horrors of the world. I hope my companions are equally well armored. But let's be honest - they're more expendable.

To the east, we encounter a river that isn't frozen. Most surprising, but this lets me refill my waterskin and stave off death. Less surprisingly, there are wolves here, probably driven by the same desire to find a source of running water within a hundred miles.

Combat in adventurer mode is as complex as you'd expect in Dwarf Fortress. You can choose your type of attack and where to aim it on your opponent. Each attack will have a rating for accuracy and damage - generally, more powerful attacks like a stab to the head aren't going to hit as easily, but it's a little random anyways. Since we have a sword, I start by aiming slashes at whatever limb is easiest to hit, hacking them off, until I can get a clear stab at the head or torso.

The wolves are no match for the three of us. The one I attack first simply bleeds to death before I can strike it down, and the remaining stragglers are swiftly killed. Fortunately, we all avoid any major wounds.


If the characters of 'The Grey' were dwarves, we'd have drunk the Alpha Wolf's blood twenty seconds into the movie.

Back to our eastward trek, then. It's uneventful. I know we need to head south-east, and the fortress lies along a stream. As we travel, I recall the names of the places we move through, but they mean little to me. I only know that Skyhall lies on the eastern edge of the world. We pass forests, deserts, rivers. We pass a frozen river in a desert. This world mocks me.

Surprisingly, we run into little other wildlife on our way east. I had heard Skyhall was meant to be in savage lands. Someone must have made an error. We have run out of food as a result. We have run out of water. Licking the snow brought no comfort to my dry mouth. This place is known as the Forest of Executing. It may execute us yet.

But what is that to the south?


You have no idea how long it took me to notice this.

Could it be?


I've gained new appreciation for how hard goblin sieges work to even get here.

Scattered refuse lay upon the ground, and a stone wall rose from the snow.

We had reached Skyhall, but what could lie inside?

In a daze at my luck, I began to move around the walls of the mighty fortress. It had clearly been abandoned - it lay in disarray and disrepair, with items tossed around. Yet in the distance I noticed a small figure - a dwarf was still here! I moved quickly to greet him, and learn what I could.


An abandoned fortress sends the dwarves to various places, but some stick around. Look who it is!

The dwarf I encountered claimed he was a 'boss of macro'. He did not have much else to say, nor did I end up asking him anything in detail. I had secrets to uncover and treasure to find. As soon as I figured out how to get inside this damn wall. To the south, I discovered a bridge, and a way in.


A steel bridge along a river? Who built this, and have they ever heard of rust?!

Peering in, I was taken aback by the disorganization I found, not at all like the courtyard of the human fort. Endless amounts of stone lay discarded within the walls, more like a goblin's cave than a hallowed place. I approached the marble tower nevertheless and began to climb. From the tops, I was able to get a decent view, and find some more dwarves. I also grabbed some dwarven ale, one of the greatest contributions to the world the dwarves had ever made. That, and releasing demons from the depths of the earth, but the dwarves don't like to talk about that one.

Positioned in the tower were several statues. I moved closer to investigate.


If this is dwarf-sized, and I assume it is, that's one horrifying statue to have standing around.

I have revised my thoughts about this place. Apparently man-sized mosquitoes were a part of its downfall.

I am regretting coming here.

The tower is a marvel, but largely empty. I decide to head below ground in search of food, since I've run out. I find nothing but more trash.


This was acutally Xeen's grave until I had the body moved to the main tomb and forgot to turn pets off again.

It appears the dwarves of Skyhall venerated cats enough to inter them alongside dwarves themselves. I understand this. In the face of the giant mosquito menace, cats may have been a great ally to the dwarves. No doubt this Captain of Cats slew many in life, before meeting a heroic end.

Looping back to the west, I discovered more statues that merely confirmed my theories.


Maybe these symbolize the vampire? Both are bloodsuckers. Whoever's got the save file, investigate!

Another hideous statue adorned a hallway that led towards a grand room.

I entered this chamber, and found a simple statue of a dwarf. But in the center of the room, a raised platform loomed. I climbed it. Surely this is where I would find riches, the vaunted treasure of Skyhall.


Who's up next, Obsidian? Trap the hell out of this place, I can't have random adventurers just walking in!

Hey, what are you doing?

Stop that!


NO

I have obtained a precious relic from Skyhall, the bones of its former leader! With these, I can truly cement my place as a mighty adventurer and return to my village in triumph!

The dwarves around here don't seem all that cheerful about this, though. I tried to escape. I went down into the depths, but they were walled off. My followers are dead. I have no choice.

I must fight.


I hope you guys trained the militia well.

My sword is drawn and ready. Uvash Lancelimb awaits, but all my life has lead to this point. Charge!


Yeah, 'view other pages'. You can aim for toes. You can aim for individual teeth.

I refrain from the opening Uvash gives me at his lower body. His armor is thick there. Instead, I aim for his right upper arm, a clear attack. My sword flicks out and severs the limb neatly. The hammerdwarf is no longer a threat.

Now, I go to work.


You can level up 'Biter'.

After ramming my sword into Uvash, I go for a bashing attack against him. My sword is not an option, being lodged in his wound - I can twist it to inflict pain, but I go for an attack of opportunity here. My right foot sails into his lower body, and with a twist of my sword, the dwarf keels over in pain.


Also known as the 'gg' menu.

With a single, direct strike, I plunge my sword through the Hammerdwarf's head.

The battle is won.

Having defeated the militia of Skyhall, I feel no fear as I return to the surface. Victory is mine, and glory shall be my reward. I just have to get these bones back to aaaahgrthgrhj


Even the game knows the panic-mode response of drafting everybody!

In a single second, I am beset by all manner of scraggly, bearded dwarves! There is nowhere to run, nowhere to hide, and scarcely space to swing my sword.

I swing it anyways.


How does he bleed out so fast? Picture that scene from Kill Bill.

There are too many. Skyhall descends on me, a monstrous horde. Crushing. Suffocating. They raised a tower to the sky, but beneath the earth is where they are strongest, as dwarves should be.

I probably shouldn't have taken those bones.


If he had taken iGrok's, however, he'd already be back home and waist-deep in peasant wenches.

Thus, so ends the tale of Am, who was ignobly beaten to death by a horde of dwarves. He is no legend, no hero to be remembered.

He's a jerk who robbed my tomb, and was bitten to death.

Sadly, Skyhall doesn't have a lot to explore. We haven't done major engraving to look at, nor are the caverns currently open to wander around. Of course, a good adventuring fortress isn't the same as a good fortress-mode fortress, but hopefully Skyhall survives to actually grow into a something sizable. So get on it, future leaders!