Ｃｈａｐｔｅｒ 5: The Rise of the Dwarven Kingdom
"There is a saying that all roads lead to Ankh-Morpork. And it's wrong. All roads lead away from Ankh-morpork, but sometimes people just walk along them the wrong way." -Terry Prachett
With the dawnin' o' the new millenium, numerous proojects are embarked upoon by various nations. First o' all we get word from soome traders who toold oos that the scaeley lizardmen were workin' on a great silk trade route. (Historian's Note: 1010 IC Lizardment start on Silk Route; Player's Note: Silk Route is a Great wonder, requiring silks, that acts as an additonal marketplace as well as increases trade in all tiles around the city that builds it) Shoortly thereafter, a group o' sturdy lads goo Noorth and foond the town o' Sto Lat near Ankh-Morpork. (1020 IC). Ta the far Sooth, Captain Muradin Bronzebeard sends a carrier pigeon reportin' that we discovered a new country called Brettonia. The Brettonians are soo far behind oos in technology and soo broke that we dinnae even
coonsider tradin' with 'em.
Painting of the Party Barge
off the east coast of Brettonia
Muradin's letter also reports that Ind is ALSO booldin' the same silk tradin' route that the scaely Slann are! Too bad there ain't soome kinda great gem trade route WE kin boold, because them gems that come from the Lonely Mountain sure are great, as far as Ah'm cooncerned! (1030 IC)
Several Years later, we get anoother message froom Bronzebeard's expedition oon the
Party Barge. (1050 IC). In this message, he describes a great and powerful race o' big-jobs (nae, they're NOOT Oz) callin' themselves Reikland, oor the Empire for short. These guys are actually a wee bit ahead o' oos, an' they aren't willin' ta trade any o' their technoology fer oor faine Dwarven gold, soo the Low King orders Captain Bronzebeard ta keep movin' along.
In the same year, Carrot Ironfoundersson, oor Foreign Advisor, coomes ta the Low King and reports that Ind has forged an alliance with some nation callin themselves the Amazoons, and the Amazoons have entered the war against Chaos. Since we still dinnae knoow
where either the Amazoons or Chaos are, we decide ta sit this one oot. While we're tryin' ta find more information oon the war between Chaos an' the In-Amazoon alliance, Lord Vetinari, Patrician o' Ankh Morpork as well as oor doomestic advisor, coomes ta the Low King and reports that the coonstruction o' oor grat harbor, the Suiddock, is noow coomplete.
Painting of the Suiddock district in Ankh-Morpork by the great artist, Leonard of Quirm
After tourin' the various merchants guilds, docks, warehouses and coostoms agencies, where an increased amoont o' raw materials and gold are floowin' inta the city, (Player's Note: the Suiddock is a great wonder that increases the shields and trade in all sea, coastal and ocean tiles as well as reduces population pollution and allowing a city to grow beyond 12 pop) King Gotrek praised Lord Vetinari, and soogested that we boold a keep (Player's Note: basically the same thing as Civil Defense) ta help defend the city. Lord Vetinari aggrees, and says that for a reasonable price, he coold hire some extra stainmasons an' have it finished in less than 10 years (Player's Note: I rushed the keep because I WAS planning on using the SGL to rush Tarnhelm's Keep In Ankh-Morpork, but since that wonder has very little culture or benefits, not to mention that noone else was building it, I decided to go for something else instead....). Low King Gotrek aggrees and signs over the requested money to Lord Vetinari's coonstruction prooject. (1060 IC) Noot ta be ootdone, the Slann an' smaelly Doolgans start booldin' the Lighthouse o' Manaan, the Empire is workin' on a great spice tradin' road (Player's Note, the Spice Road is essentially the same as the Silk Route, but it requires spices), an' the blood-suckin' Sylvanians start workin' on the Great Forge. Soome o' oor troops, hearin' roomers that there is still some unclaimed land ta the Sooth, blunder right accross Sylvanian boorders!! (Player's Note: I had started training some settlers and moved two dwarf warriors to some empty land, just big enough for a town that was in-between several Sylvanian cities, when all of a sudden at least two towns expanded, and the empty space completely disappeared) Vlad von Carstein waren't noone too happy with this development, boot we aggree ta a right o' passage aggreement, and oorder oor stoopid warriors ta get back ta Uberwald as fast as they kin.
Once the keep is boolt oon Treacle Mine Rood, and the Ankh-Morpork watch is re-organized under the leadership o' Sir Samuel Vimes, makin' it moore difficult ta invade the city, Lord Vetinari unveils a secret prooject o' his.
It seems that oor domestic advisor and the great scientist, Kurgaz, had managed ta get a boonch o' lads together, and they report that they can finish the Lighthouse o' Manaan in record time.... which is good since we get word that the dairty Gooblins are also booldin' it. (1070 IC) (Player's Note: LH of Manaan = the Great LH, but in the WH mod, it is useful all the way until the end of the third era...) Sure enoogh, the Lighthouse o' Manaan is boolt on the Noorthern point o' the Ankh-Morpork harbor, makin' the rows upon rows of docks and fishing quays even more impressive than before... Noow Ankh-Morpork has been established as the world's leadin' seaport an' all o' oor ships are able to travel faster because o' the crews bein' motivated by oor magnificent lighthouse. (Historian's Note: Dwarves build the Lighthouse of Mannan in 1080 IC). Word reaches oos that the Ind and Slann cities that were booldin' the Lighthouse have decided ta cut their losses and put the salvageable materials towards their great silk tradin' route.
Lord Havelock Vetinari's Secret Project:
In 1100 IC, Foreign Minister Ironfoundersson reports that Ind and Chaos have finally signed a peace treaty, bringing their 140-year long war ta an end. Also during that year, a group o' smaelly Orcs coome ta Ankh-Morpork and boold an embassy their, so's we dinnae have ta goo soo far ta talk ta them.... We make sure that all the taverns only serve them oor cheapest an' moost watered doown ale. We ain't lettin' noo stinky Orcs have any o' oor good Bugman's Beer, that's fer sure! We also get word from oor embassy in Indic capitol o' Karabad that the Indics were booldin' Vaul's Anvil (Player's Note: Vaul's Anvil is basically the same as Sun-Tzu's Art of War, but it becomes obsolete in the Foruth era, whereas the Dwarves have a wonder called the Anvil o Doom, that only they can build, that not only puts a barracks in every city on the continent, but also increases city defense, like te Civil Defense, as well as produces a "Lightning Bolt" (high-power cruise missile type unit) every 12 turns). Noot lang after, Lizardmen and Ind start booldin' Vaul's Anvil as well, and the scalely Lizardmen boold the Great Forge, which, in turn lights a fire under Ind's arse, and they boold Vaul's Anvil right after that. (1110-1120 IC). We get word from the stinky Orcs at the embassy in Ankh-Morpork that they are workin' on the secrets o' the Chaos Moon, which we coold care less aboot. (Player's Note: The Chaos Moon acts like the Longevity wonder in the epic game, but it also makes 2 people happy in all cities, and is only available to Chaotic (evil) civilizations and becomes obsolete with Astronomy in the third age).
In 1150, due ta overcrowdin' and lack o' jobs and entertainment, the citizens o' Uberwald riot!! We send in some more dwarf warriors ta get the crowds oonder controol, and send some o' the good fer noothin' loafers ta work fer Giott's research team. The Low King then makes a goodwill tour ta all o' oor cities ta make sure that this doesn't happen elsewhere. Koom valley is foond ta be oon the verge o' goin' crazy, so some o' its citizens are given jobs workin' fer Giott's science team in order ta keep the peace. (Player's note: Uberwald rioted that turn, so I made sure to double-check all our cities and found Koom Valley would riot on the next turn, so I used sages to get the number of unhappy people down below the rioting threshold). Once order was finally restored ta the streets o' Uberwald, Giott, oor science advisor coomes ta the Low King with the newly expanded science guild's latest discovery: Magic! Oonfortunately, oos dwarves are noot the Wizardy types, soo magic dinnae do oos much good, however, it allows oos ta start workin' oon Artificin' which, if the rumors are correct, will allow oos ta start searchin' fer artifacts o' great power (Player's Note: Artificing allows the construction of the Thirst for Power, a small wonder that allows the faction that builds it to start building the 10 Artifacts for the Quest Victory... basically a fantasy version of the Space Race victory in teh epic game).
After several years o' boorin' routine reports, Captain Bronzebeard sends a message that he's met anoother group o' Dwarves! (1170 IC) It appears that these guys are noot proper dwarves; they oopenly assoociate with dairty Gooblins and smaelley Orcs as well as worship evil gods!
Party Barge
off the SE coast of the Chaos Dwarven kingeom
They call themselves Chaos Dwarves, and they are soo far behind oos in resaerch that we give them Irrigation oot o' pity. Sometime after that, we also get a report that the dairty Goblin's are tryin' ta beat the Orcs at figurin' oot the mysteries o the Chaos Moon, but more importantly Ankh-Morpork boolds oor first bloodbowl arena. The first Bloodbowl championship game (which was held that year) was the Ankh-Morpork '75ers (Historian's Note: the team is calle that because that was the year the Ankh-Morpork siver mine was completed) vs the Orcland Raiders. The Halftime shoow consisted o' a live re-enactment o' the battle o' Koom Valley, complete with real troolls and weapons..... The final score o' the game was Ankh-Morpork: 27, Raiders: 15 (the Orcs managed ta get a 2-point conversion on their first touchdown by throwin' a snotlin' holdin' the ball inta the end zone). The Orcs were so upset aboot loosin' that they ate their coach! (Historians Note: Blood Bowl I was held on January 28th, 1180 IC)
In 1190, we get word from some travelling mummers that the Brettonians are tryin' ta beat the Empire at establishin' a great spice tradin' network... Like
that will ever happen! Noot lang after we recieved that bit o' news, when word coomes froom Tetsuyama that the Low King's soomer home, the Palace Fortress (Forbidden Palace) is finished!
Painting of teh Palace Fortress in Tetsuyama by Leonard of Quirm
Oonfortunately, word also reaches oos that Karl Franz o' the Empire is booldin' a great Hall o' Kings! That means he's even further ahead o' oor scientists, but hoopefully noot fer lang! Shoortly after that bit o' disturbin' news, we get word from the
Party Barge that Captain Bronzebeard has finally made contact witht the rumored Amazoons... It turns oot that they're ruled by a boonch o' mean scary wimmen! Good thing fer oos that they're soo ignorant o' basic technology as ta noot poose any threat ta oos at all. (1210 IC).
Lord Vetinari reports that the Library o' Ankh-Morpork is finished an' that he's started oon a project ta upgrade oor keep, soo the Watch can be moore effective (Historian's Note: 1220 IC, Ankh-Morpork builds a library and starts construction on Tarnhelm's Keep. Player's Note: Tarnhelm's Keep acts as a free/additional courthouse, in addition to reducing war weariness in all cities, like Universal sufferage) The Orcs at the embassy tell oos that they're booldin' the Cursed Pit... They can keep it, because we dinnae want any kind o' curse oon oor lands!
So it is, after the first 250 years o' the new millenium that we find oorselves, noot in last place as we were before, but near the toop o' the game, with the Empire bein' aboot the only nation larger than we are. We also stand oon the brink o' a new era, but that is anoother story, my friend......
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), however I can promise that I will post an update tomorrow... I've got the text typed out, but I'm about dead on my feet, and don't have the concentraion right now to sort out and post the screenshots, but I guarantee that you won't be disappointed with the next update. 
I'll also try to post new installments at least once a week, but keep in mind that I am also involved with modding the game, and I've got a new unit project I'm going to start on soon....
